Wish I was that supple. This boy definitely doesn't need more Yoga too.

This photo was taken on Saturday in the local park, a small oasis of green amongst the urban sprawl.

I have got up to 75 students spread over two rooms. I wander between the two and try to spot obvious glaring issues (like the student is doing the wrong exercise and doing it in VB, for example). I don't worry if they are asleep or playing Solitaire, that's their problem. Most are really hard working. There is a high percentage of girls on this course, which is quite different to IT courses in NZ and UK.  Sometimes they put their hand up and ask for help. A few cluster around in groups and help each other out. Somehow it all seems to work out.

This video does get to be a bit of a blur at the end. That's because I had it directly streaming from my brain receptors so you get to feel how I feel too.

Students in C# Lab, China from Andy Scrase on Vimeo.

I had a complaint comment made this morning that my so called Blog wasn't a Blog because I didn't write anything apart from annotations to my photos and videos. Well, that comment is justified to some degree because you'll never get found by search engines if you don't have any relevant text. And no-one knows what you are thinking either, which in my case might not be a bad thing.

So just to redress the balance a bit, here are a few thoughts from one week down in China.

First of all, if you are coming here to work, it is a really good idea to arrive a day or to early to get your head in the right place. The people and culture are so different to our Western ways that it takes a while to adjust.

I had the fortune of only having a three day week followed by a three day weekend, and that break really saved my sanity (and of those unfortunate enough to be near me).

The weekend brought a flurry of photo and video blogging, but above all I got a chance to explore and really get a feel for the people. There is this strange sense of calm here that I haven't experienced elsewhere. The Hangzhou town is busy but somehow you don't feel your energy sapping like you might in a city like London or Delhi. I have never seen a hint of aggression or anti-social behaviour since I have been here (apart from some raised voices at immigration, but that's understandable)

There's some much crazy stuff happening on the streets. It might be normal to the Chinese, but to my Western biased eyes it all seems like sensory overload. I have seen street dancing (videoed here), women dancing the Jive together in the park, hairdressers on the street having some kind of motivational pep talk, and spoken to some really genuinely nice people. And of course, the really enigmatic T Shirt slogans for which China is so well known.

Now starting the second week of teaching here at the Water College, (on a Sunday because of the public holiday on Thursday) I feel more at ease, and I am enjoying getting to know the students. It's hard to teach because of the language issues, but at least with programming we have a universal language to converse in. Debugging C# programs in Chinese Visual Studio is not for the faint-hearted though!

If you are coming here from a western culture for a while, there's a few things that I would recommend bringing:

Coffee and Tea. If you need these, then they are hard to come by.

For kiwis, Vegemite, Marmite. Spreads are not that commonplace. Dairy produce in particular is a bit of a luxury item, and you really have to go to a bigger shop to find milk. You certainly won't find milk in the corner shop.

The bread is pretty average, most food seems to have too much sugar in it for my tastes. Watch what you eat at the street stalls. I am usually pretty adventurous in this department, but I am now convinced that the "meat" I started knawing into yesterday used to be something's tail. Eeww yuck. I had to "protect circumstance, begin with me" and dispose in the bin.

Books and DVDs. Give yourself time to zone out. There's nothing on telly that I could find anyway.

If you don't like hard beds, then a sleeping mat is useful. Mind you, I was happy with my hard bed.

At this time of year, you don't need a lot of warm clothes. It is warm and humid, so you have to pace yourself. Today, for example, is over 30 degrees, and humid. No one is moving very fast. 

The internet here is a saviour. Being able to Skype from my apartment is great, and I get a chance to talk to the dog and the cat too. Yes I really am that sad.

In my first session, I showed lots of photos of New Zealand and my family. The students loved the dog and cat pictures especially. They also liked the New Zealand "lollies" (sweets) that I handed around. Makes you more human I think.

We still have three weeks here. I am looking forward to seeing some of the older China if there's any of it left here. Gavin, my assistant here, told me that Hangzhou used to be the capital of China many centuries ago, so there must be some hidden treasures out there.

And Gené thought so too

Now this guy could really shake, and he looked just like Millhouse out of the Simpsons, to boot.

Robot dance competition, Hangzhou from Andy Scrase on Vimeo.

These guys really could strut their stuff.

Robot dance competition, Hangzhou from Andy Scrase on Vimeo.

I am sure that is useful advice here

I was thinking about stealing a bicycle, but then they came to take me away...

Thought Police from Andy Scrase on Vimeo.

Do you have something slightly larger, perhaps?

Improbably small underwear from Andy Scrase on Vimeo.

Will she ever ring?

Just don't press the red button...

You want to buy mobile?

Mobile phone shop, Hangzhou, China from Andy Scrase on Vimeo.

Well, we are all trying to get somewhere, kind of...

Random Traffic, Hangzhou from Andy Scrase on Vimeo.

That's what it said on the bin, anyway..

These Chinese supermarkets love their packaging.

The two carrots on plastic tray with clingfilm wrapping got my award for most over-packaged product of 2009.

This photo demonstrates the standard etiquette on Chinese pedestrian crossings (you have to imagine the horn tooting).

You can't argue with that really, can you?

Here's a few pictures from the neighbourhood near my appartment. The locals are keen to try out their English, and when you are the only Westerner you get a lot of stares.

It's pretty urbanised here. The scary thing is that 6 years ago this was all green fields.

Most of the food here is Chinese. However, the Colonel has made a few inroads too..

Here's an interesting juxtaposition. Traditional foot remedy versus China mobile shop. The street was absolutely teeming with Mobile Phone shops. There was a guy with a T Shirt with the slogan "Nothing Rhymes with Pirate", but I didn't get time to capture that ancient Chinese proverb on film.

Here's some pictures of me in my lab of 75 students. There's actually two rooms, and I have to run between the two of them helping them with C# problems in Chinese Visual Studio. I have to carry my laptop so that I know what the menu items are in Chinese.

This is a bit of a challenging job.

Just arrived in China for my month of teaching OO programming at Zheijiang Hydropower and Water Conservancy college in Hangzhou. As you can see from the picture, we got a royal welcome. This is me and Gene van Heerden from South Africa who is teaching a marketing course.

First two days have been crazy for both of us, no chance to recover from jet lag. The students and staff are great though.

We have a three day weekend coming up..