Well a lot has been going on since my last post. Since May, I’ve traveled to a city called Da Tong in the Shanxi province, finished my semester at Shandong University, and performed at the international student graduation ceremony.

Da Tong was a very interesting experience to say the least. Since Da Tong is not a very big city by Chinese standards the only way to get there from Jinan(where I was staying) was by bus. The trip by bus takes about 11-12 hours. My friend suggested we take a sleeper bus. I thought a sleeper bus was going to be great, but the conditions of the bus was far below my expectations. The bus basically has twenty beds about 16 inches in width and 5 feet in length, no bathroom, and 20 pairs of feet. I don’t know about you guys but that smells like a good time. Anyways, Da Tong itself was a great city to visit. The city is a lot smaller than Beijing and Shanghai, but the cultural experience, natural, and industrial scenery is amongst the best in China. You can check out this link My Pics for photos of my travels.

Shandong University was a great experience, I met great people, had a good time, and my Mandarin has improved tremendously. By meeting all these people I now have a place to stay in Australia, Canada, England, France, Germany, Holland, Israel, Italy, Korea, and Malaysia. Through school, interaction with the locals, and tutoring I am now able hold a decent conversation using Mandarin. After the final examinations, there was a graduation ceremony for all international students. At this ceremony I sang a song and performed a skit from a popular Chinese sitcom. Video footage coming soon….

I am currently living in Beijing waiting anxiously for the Olympics to start (I found a job). Thank you Allie!!!! Well hopefully it will not take another two months before my next post. Talk to you next time!

Steve