It had been five years since I’d last been to Hong Kong, nexus of east Asia. The city remains the same outwardly, spindly concrete jostling each other to crowd out the sky, hemming in narrow pavements thick with people walking and carrying out their commerce. The same calls for copy watch, copy suit, copy handbag… Read More Hong Kong & Shenzhen: The Reboot
Daybreak brought the soggy, humid wet season weather with it. While the week itself, when we are in theory hard at work but really just when we teachers confined to a narrow orbit of our respective campuses, the weather is warm but gorgeous and clear. In most countries this would make a lovely excuse to… Read More Anatomy of a Day
With apologies for a lengthy layoff, I have refrained from writing for the simple purpose that I have very little news of note to share with the world at large. There are the small victories of acclimitization and adaption that I have written about before, the joys (and pratfalls) of teaching, and the ongoing challenge… Read More The #18 Twilight Blues
I’ve been somewhat inactive the past few weeks on the blog. This is in part owing to the current firewall block of Facebook in China, which I’ve been using to host my photos. The other component of this is that there has been little big news of note. The days and then weeks have gone… Read More Etched in Lore
I’ve been settled back in Shenzhen now for nearly almost two weeks. Spent time first in the hotel with all the other teachers, mostly the group of new folks who were up in Beijing for training with Tori. It was a bit overwhelming to be around so many foreigners in this town and some of… Read More Back in the Saddle
As seems to happen when the year runs out, time moves faster and faster. Myself and the other foreign teachers all realize how little time is left here, in Shenzhen, and the pressure builds to get out, to see the city, hang out together. Unfortunately it has been incredibly humid and hot the past month,… Read More Marathon Karaoke
A couple weeks back I had, as alluded to in the last post, a visitor from the States, my ever upbeat friend Susanna, came to stay with me in Shenzhen for a week. Counting my time traveling with Tori last summer, this made for a grand total of 2 visitors in my time here, a… Read More Eight Days a Week
Having a had a couple weeks now to acclimate myself to Shenzhen once more, I find myself increasingly comfortable in my new version of my old life. As regards to my school, I’ve already detailed the good parts of the apartment. When it comes to the classrooms, the luxury factor is not so evident. Like… Read More Back With the Streets I Know
For those who were unaware, the past six months or so have been a bit of a challenge. Work has been hard to come by, especially as someone looking for entry-level type work without the benefit of experience. My savings have been steadily depleted, leaving me with stress and worries. It seemed that ever since… Read More New Day Rising
Time is winding down rapidly as the school year (or at least the portion I am contracted for) peters out. As of next week, our finals will be past and from here on, be freed from work and duty obligations. So that has also meant a flurry of recent activity trying to maximize my time… Read More Helter Skelter
Zak Abroad 