Tag: Singapore
Australia Trip Summary
by Sean on Jan.11, 2010, under Australia, China, Malaysia
At the time this summary was published, the conversion rates were as follows:
Chinese RMB to USD 6.85
Malaysian RM to USD 3.43
Australian AUD to USD 1.14
China (1 day in transit)
Transportation = 62rmb ($9)
Food = 127rmb ($18.50)
Misc = 30 ($4.30)
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Total = 219rmb ($32)
Malaysia (4 days)
Transportation = RM22 ($6.39)
Food = RM189.90 ($55.44)
Misc = RM77 ($22.48)
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Total = RM288.90 ($84.35)
Singapore (4 hours)
Food = 7.90 ($5.53)
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Total = 7.90 ($5.53)
Australia (20 days)
Food = $253.53
Transportation = $111.9
Gifts = $192.55
Amenities = $51
Entertainment = $425.5
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Total = $1034.48
Total Spent = $1151.01 not including flights (altogether flights were about another $300)
Getting Better
by Sean on Jun.11, 2009, under Daily Life
I’m completely at a loss for words in the sense that there is so much crap going on that I can’t think straight. When it rains, it pours. Cliche, I know, but it’s how I feel. I often wonder if what I did by leaving was the right thing, especially because being a teacher in a developing nation is so hard, and it’s even harder to leave because you can get so comfortable and stuck in your ways.
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That first portion was written a few weeks ago, when I was going through a rough time. Since then things have been looking much better. I’m getting ready to sign a contract with a primary school for 1 year, commencing September 1st, 2009 and ending June 30th, 2010. I did a demonstration class in front of the woman in charge of hiring foreign teachers, and she was extremely happy with my performance.
I had originally mentioned how I had my trip to Australia planned out for the middle of December. The school said this was a huge problem, as their winter holiday was from the middle of January to mid February. As a result, I’d be missing a month of work, something you just can’t do in a public school when the students are meant to have one stable teacher for the entire year.
As a result of my performance and attitude towards the job, the woman said she’d push the principal to accept my trip and let me go. The only downside is I would be unpaid for that period of time. The upside is I’d have 8 weeks off from school instead of only 4! I will know in a day or two what they say. If they agree to it, then I’ll go to Australia and then probably do a second trip for the following month either to India, Malaysia/Singapore, or Vietnam.
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I decided to go to a remote village called Fenghuang (in English “Phoenix Towm”) for my birthday.
I must endure a 16 hour train ride to a city called Huaihua, and then a 3 hour bus ride through the mountains into this remote and untouched landscape. I’m really excited to see an area of China that’s not a metropolis! Because my birthday falls on a Friday and I have to work on the weekend, I’m leaving Sunday night the 21st after I finish work, and coming back Friday the 26th before I have to work the next day.
On the 17th of August, Alfred, Richard, Melba, and Emma (Alfred’s gf) will arrive in Shenzhen from Hong Kong, where I will meet them to begin another trip! I will leave them on the 27th to return home to begin moving to the new apartment before my job begins, but they will stay here until September 6th. I wish I could stay with them the whole time, but I’m just glad to get 10 days with them, and a chance to see them travel outside of America (one of the main goals for my travel website: getting people to travel).
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