Soon to leave this wonderful place and say farewell to these unforgettable characters

Jinghong is a strange and beautiful place that I have come to love. The people here are so incredible, both the lawai(foreigners) and the locals of which I have met many. I think of Jinghong as a magical place full of mystery and superstition... maybe that's just me and Alex. Soon I'll be leaving here since my teaching job is over now. Alex invited me to bike with him to Kunnming which we figure should take about 2 weeks with our slow lazy biking style pace, so we'll have a crazy wonderful adventure with Jiay his 1 year old black pup. Today I found a bike in a second hand market that's just right for the trip, but when I tried to find someone to pay there was no one around. So 1 free bike later I'm almost ready to go. I also found a big pot so that we can cook enough food to keep us energized.

I'm going to miss Sunny my first friend here who invited me to live with her in Banna College dorms. My first day back from Laos I had somewhere to stay with her. Sunny found me a job teaching with Jung Xiao Dong(my boss) at Zhou Nong Xiao(agricultural college). She's a spontaneous girl only 18, from Dali North of here. She works so hard everyday to pay for her education and I respect her so much. On Valentines Day a bunch of us went out to dinner and Alex offered all of my Chinese friends a drink of Baijo(56% alcohol) and me and Sunny were the only ones who had some.

I'll miss Vicky my other roomate for a week. She's a bit shy and has a bigger build than most Chinese girls but I'd say normal for in Canada. Vicky blushed easily and asked me to show her how to do make-up and what clothes to wear to a party. She doesn't like dancing like me and Sunny and is very methodical. She was so curious about foreingers though and really bright too. She learned english so quickly and eagerly. On Chinese New Years Vicky and Sunny cooked me a meal in their dorm room at 1AM because it was the only time that they had free after work and all. It was so sweet. Vicky is the same age as me, 20 so I gave her a year of the rabbit necklace and she gave me a vile with good luck pills in it that mean 'meet someone'.

I'll miss Sarah, we could spend more time together because she didn't work everyday. We'd go biking around Jinghong, eating ice-cream and sugar canes. Her boyfriend Jason would come with us, we'd exchange english and chinese, ideas and dreams. Sarah is so cute and girly, very patient. I'll remember the way that she spoke english, opening her mouth very wide and speaking so slowly. Her and Jason want to buy a boat and float down the Mekong River from Jinghong through Laos and then into Thailand after they're done school and can afford it. They said they'd give me a call and we could all go together maybe I can bring someone too.

Mark is a lawai from Britain but he lives here and has a local girlfriend named Yubu. He's a really nice guy and I want to keep in touch with him. Last night we went out to have a few drinks and then went back to his place and listened to music sharing our travelling experiences and looking at pics.

Fee my student is so nice. She'd bring me and Jung food that her mom would cook at the beginning of class sometimes. mmm so delicious! Fee wants to run her own Hotel one day and is really smart and devoted to getting her education. She's even more methodical than Vicky, and dresses clean and crisp. Something that's hard to do everyday in China. Fee invited me to her house for dinner a couple nights ago and I helped her Jo Jie(friend) and her mama to make Jiao-ze or dumplings. It was so nice because they made them especially for me and waited until I got back from a bike trip to Mengyang with Alex to have the dinner. It took us 3 hours at least to roll out all of the dough and make hundreds of dumpling circles then fill them and close them. Her mama was so good at it, me and Fee made a jumbled mess of the matter. Soo delicious though. mmm.

Jung Xiao Dong my boss, will be missed as well. He's a speedster, "let's go!!" when we're on a bike ride. He speaks a million miles a minute and all that he wants is to run his own successful business. He's studying Tai language and wants to go to Thailand to find work in a few years. His voice is pretty unforgettable, high pitched and airy sometimes. I wish I could record it, but my memories will have to be enough. They'll bring a smile to my face for certain. "No way", "No I don'ta think so"(with laughging in between), " Oh you must be crazy", "Where are you?", "Let's go baby", "What's the matter baby?", "How much it cost you?" He was always concerned with money and stuff. I brought Jung to a poker and pizza party at Mark's house and taught him Texas Hold'Em. He learned so quickly and won so many hands, we were there until 4AM and I left before him. I asked the next day who won and he told me the American. Mark told Alex that Jung won though. I"ll never really know, but Jung for sure is a trickster when it comes to business and money. I just think that it's funny really.


Christina, how could I forget Christina!! She's been so great, I met her through Alex because she was one of his students. She's so outgoing and hilarous! She has a dog that matches her completely. Christina is like a bubble of happy loud energy that I'll sincerely miss. We loved singing together, busting out to Whitney Houston while driving around town in her company car. Also, since she has her own place it was our home base for everything. :)

Goodbye Jinghong, until we meet again.