Tonight, I was sitting with some friends and we were discussing where to go for some travel this upcoming November break.  You have to keep in mind that these people have been living abroad for quite some time.  They were throwing around countries, cities, resorts that I didn’t even know how to spell, let alone know the location of.  I was such a rookie siting amongst the veterans.  As we started to zero in on our destination, I finally admitted to my lack of Asia geography skills, at which they gently laughed as they remembered what it was like to…

My first trip to Hong Kong yesterday – what an amazing city.  We went on a photo tour and I can’t wait to go back.  I got only a small taste of it but it reminded me so much of New York.  I was under the weather for a couple of days and wasn’t sure if I was even going to be able to go, but I made it!  Enjoy the photos!

This weekend marks my second weekend in a row of professional development, so I am a bit burned out.  However, this weekend’s workshop is in Guangzhou (Gwong-Joe) which is about 2 hours north (west or east) of Shenzhen. As we were heading to the conference in the school van, I realized how much I miss driving and the freedom it brings.  It made me homesick for road trips.  Sometimes, people have a tendency to not always appreciate a moment when it is happening.  It takes a hard times or some just good old reflection to understand what you had.  Well,…

For those of you that don’t know, I have a website dedicated to my photography.  My friend Aaryn of aaryn.com recently updated my site to include Asia.  Please check it out when you get a moment! http://www.butterflyonsleeve.com/index.html – enjoy!

So last weekend I went to pick up two dresses that I had made in Lowu (Low-woo).  I was really excited because I think they are super cute and I haven’t had new clothes in like, forever.  However, last weekend I was exhausted.  I almost can’t imagine being more tired than I was. The only reason I left my apartment was to pick up these dresses. The taxi ride to this place is about 30 to 45 minutes depending on traffic.  We get there and it’s kind of a nightmare.  It’s hot and busy; the people I am with want…

There have been the craziest thunderstorms around here lately.  There was a major one the other night.  The God of Thunder must have been sitting on top of my building because it was just booming.  Think windows shaking and car alarms ringing in the street below.  As for the lightning, I liken it to a red carpet event, with millions of flashes going off.  The sky was blazing, like someone had the sky’s light switch and was moving it up and down very quickly.  CNN reported that there were approximately 20,000 bolts of lightning that night.  It was relentless and…

There is something that I have witnessed several times which I am told is quite common here is Shekou.  I didn’t really want to write about it, but I realized it’s a must. It’s important to carry an umbrella around right now because it rains often.  One minute it’s sunny, and the next the sky has opened up and it’s pouring.  The drainage around the city isn’t so hot and when it rains, there are lots of puddles.  This is where the concern lies. It’s normal to see small children using trashcans and/or the streets as public toilets. Small children…

Okay, so I got my hair done last night and it cost me a pretty penny but this guy knows Western hair and that’s not the norm around here.  We end up going a bit blonder for me and he did a really nice job – I am dead seksi with my new do… however, I digress. The hair appointment was in Futian, which is about 40 minutes outside of Sheko.  It ends up taking about four hours to create this blondeness.  As a side, I have learned that everything in China takes a longer so it’s about 10PM by…