May 6, 2013 - Family time in Changsha.

The family have arrived safe and sound, It was so god to see their smiling faces, It brought tears to my eyes. Harley and Kadyn gave me the biggest cuddles it was awesome, It is very late by the time we get out of the airport as there flight arrives at 2230, It was an uneventful trip back to Matts parents house, Belle and the boys Awe inspired by all the lights and a little freaked out by driving on the wrong side of the road. We arrived at the apartment and got the boys settles into bed, and then got some sleep ourselves. We were given the...

May 5, 2013 - Changsha

I have been in Changsha for week now, Chinese life is now starting to become the norm, I can cross the street with out being skittled by the traffic this is just a game of who has the stronger will. I have been very busy shooting a wedding and also 4 mini movies. These have been very long days, Shooting up to 12 hours a day. but in saying that it has been very interesting learning new things, the Chinese shooters that we are training seem to be learning some of the things we try to teach them, the hardest thing for them is a sense of...

Apr 27, 2013 - Changsha

The first thing that is very apparent is the pollution in the air. There is a haze over the city something like the haze over Brisbane after the bush fires. It is quite shocking, I have been warned about it but it is very different when you actually see it. Now where do I start - the drive to Matt's house was, well, Ummmm, Eye Brow raising to say the least. Road rules are there really any here? Lanes what lanes - 3 lanes marked on the road but 5 lines of actual traffic, you push to get where you want, sometimes there is only a centimeter or...

Apr 27, 2013 - Australia to Changsha

Wow what a week. Absolutely chaos. Thursday Kadyn and I were involved in the Anzac day march with the Capalaba Cub Scouts, Kadyn looked great in his cub scout uniform with his great grandfathers' medals. After the March Belinda and the boys spent the afternoon at the park enjoying the great weather. I had to take a short drive to Toowoomba to have a client meeting to try and obtain a large corporate job for Puremotion. The client was very happy and will be booking the job with us. The drive home wasn't bad as I was on a high from gaining...

Sep 22, 2011 - Drag out Any Brand New Lifestyle

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Mar 17, 2010 - Final Days of Hunan

The last days of Changsha had two of the most memorable parts of my stay in China. One of them is the baby dinner I went to with ZhouTian and celebrating this little baby girl who was only one month old with a big dinner filled with many family and friends. It is an traditional custom, which reflects the times when it was really uncertain whether a baby would make it through the first month of life. It was just a big garage filled with tons of people and a cute little baby. Such a valuable thing. We got to the party in the mid-morning. We...

Mar 15, 2010 - Active Aging in Changsha

More Social Policy Investigations Coming Your Way: Active Aging! Everywhere in the world there are worries about what we need to do with the increasing amount of elderly people living in the world. In the U.S. we have the baby-boomer scare, and in Japan this is much worse as they have an extremely old society that's only getting older. There is a horrible scare about social security and pensions and health care and what happens when the elderly people use up all the resources. Through discussions with Candy and through discussions in my...

Mar 12, 2010 - Development?

Another interesting story from Changsha... Candy's uncle invited Candy, and two of our other friends to his family's apartment for a dinner one night. The apartment was beautiful and elegant and extravagant. For China, Candy's immediate family must rank pretty high socioeconomically, but they live pretty ordinarily. Her uncle, on the other hand, lives it up. He is involved in construction in a city that is developing at an incredible rate, and the opportunity for wealth in these times is huge. He is the most perfect case-study of the...

Mar 8, 2010 - Getting educated

Back to Changsha....once again. Lesson for today: Education Policy I got to see ZhouTian's elementary school. I have pictures. I will post them. The same desks are there that she sat in. She's just as smart as me, actually more so, and she didn't need white boards or lap-tops or a television in her class-room for that matter. Did I? Was watching Bill Nye the Science Guy really a successful aspect of my education? I would argue otherwise. The opportunity costs of all these stupid things are enough to drive me insane. Less things and better...

Mar 6, 2010 - Another Hospital Visit

Candy took me with her to visit her Grandmother on the other side of the family in the hospital. Her grandma had a stroke a few months ago and so she had been in the hospital. She and Candy are close so she was so happy when we arrived. Her grandfather from the other side of the family was there keeping her company as well. She couldn't speak and could only move a little, but she seemed alert and I can only imagine how she had battled to regain as much of herself as she had already. I couldn't stay long. I'm bad at hospitals. They make me...

Mar 1, 2010 - Happy Easter: The first day at Changsha

Hello my dear friends and family, It's me again. Writing. Whoohoo. I feel so badly like all of my good stories are leaving my memory, but truly I must tell you about Changsha more. Fujian got so many blogs and I'm afraid it is impossible to do the same for Changsha, although Changsha deserves it. I will just highlight a few things here...awww...so much to tell. The day after I arrived in Changsha I got pretty clogged up in the stomach. I think it had something to do with my crazy traveling schedule...my poor body. The food is hot and...

Feb 16, 2010 - Sustainable Living in Changsha

Hello everybody, Glad to be back. More from Changsha. Candy and I have studied social policy and social welfare in Chinese society together all year this year and so it would be fitting that I format my blog entries about her home into categories that fit very well with our social policy study. So here's a little about sustainable living that I learned in Changsha: One of the best parts of Candy's village in Changsha was the garden, and the market, and the family pig. Behind her house is the most beautiful garden I have ever gotten to be...