How about some more info?

Hey Friends and Family,

The first couple postings were pretty brief, I was excited to try this thing out! I thought I could try posting a couple of more pictures of where we are going to be teaching at so I could practice posting pictures. We had a great time with the Mid-High kids last night and they were really supportive when we told them we were heading to China. We are still waiting to hear back from the university with final contract information and from WOU on the visa and ticket, but its only been a day. It is hard waiting around and not being able to do anything but I suppose it is good practice in patience. Plus Kealy and I are so busy doing other things right now that it is probably good.
This kind of gives you an idea of where Nanning is on the map. We are close to Vietnam and the South China Sea which is cool, maybe we'll even get over to the Phillipines. Its only three inches away on the map, shouldn't take too long.

A lot of Guangxi (the province/state where Nanning is the capital) is made up of a lot of minorities and has a lot of different cultures within the overall Chinese culture. Because of its tropical location, villages and rice farming districts are prevalent outside of the city. Our university is within the city limits of Nanning and so we won't be in these rural areas, but we won't be far from them either.




The city of Nanning is a city of about 1 million people, a small city in China, and is nicknamed
'The Green City' I think because of its tropical climate and that the foliage is year round. The President of WOU said that the smog/pollution was almost non-existent in the city and the university is located in an 'environmental, economic' zone, so hopefully that will make the air even cleaner but I know that we are spoiled here in Oregon where the air is so fresh.

The skyline is beautiful and it looks like a really exciting city to explore so hopefully we will be able to go into the city often.

The food will be another interesting adventure. Dog and Snake are the delicacy meat, so watch out Fido, but there are a lot of chicken and beef dishes, with lots of vegetables. There are many different kinds of fruit that we will be able to try as well, probably better than here in America, where we usually get the leftovers from other countries.


Guess I better learn how to use chopsticks...Hopefully my lovely wife will teach me.

This is another kind of fruit that sounds really exciting called a lychee. It is a top produce in Nanning and I am really looking forward to trying it.

They look like strawberries on a tree...yum.

Anyways, I hope this was interesting for anybody that wants to take a look and learn more about what/where we will be. You can send me an e-mail at ryan.thorson@state.or.us if you have any comments or ideas about what to post or questions you have about Kealy and I's future plans. Thanks.

Sincerely,

Ryan and Kealy Thorson