The travels of Justin

I left Dalian a few days ago to meet a train traveling from Beijing to Nanchang. I learned that — for reasons beyond my understanding — it is impossible to buy a train ticket for a Beijing train from anywhere outside the capital. A friend who happend to be visiting Beijing purchased the ticket for [...]

I’ve just wrapped up a week in Dalian (大连市) and I can tell you it’s been nice. Staying with friends, I’ve had access to the internet long enough to upload a lot of photos that have been waiting for such an occassion. Here’s a view from the 29th floor apartment I’ve been staying: Dalian skyline [...]

Happy Canada Day! I just finished school yesterday. It’s so amazing… my first school year in China. Not my last. Some great times and some very difficult challenges. The last month of school has been very intense which is why I haven’t been writting. Tomorrow, I’ll be doing a voice-over for an advertisement at the [...]

In 9-months Tianjin has become a familiar place for me, just as Kamloops did in my single year of living there. From the cosy dorm at TUT, it’s hard to imagine the amazing growth that this city will experience over the next 5-years. With its population of 10-million people (about 1/3 the population of Canada), [...]

The roof tiles just collapsed in the internet bar I’m using. It’s not a building collapse, just the tiles. Everyone looks okay, but it was pretty shocking. Crazy! Roof collapse I was just talking about how lovely this internet bar is a few days ago.

Is “good morning” China’s favourite greeting… even in the evening? One of the TRU teachers visiting Tianjin has discovered how common this greeting seems to be. A few months ago I learned this for myself. When walking into most restaurants and other businesses, sometimes a worker will say a polite and respectful Chinese greeting that, [...]