The Journey(s) of Ian

Getting from the capital of Laos to any of its outlying towns is not a difficult task, but one that requires a little planning and knowledge, so to be accomplished without trouble or annoyance. In this case let us examine a trip from Vientiane to Savannakhet. First, a sleeper bus. These depart from the Southern Bus Station, with is a dozen kilometres to the north of Vientiane. The VIP bus departs at 20.30, an overnight sojurn. Tickets can be purchased at any tourist place in the tourist area, or at the bus station itself. Just walk into the station and there are the ticket counters. Most signs are in Loas, but there is sufficient English to find your buss. A ticket is 120,000 Kip (400 baht, $13)—not expensive, however… Each ‘bed’ on the sleeping bus is for two people. Fine, if you are a couple, but if not you will be bunking down with a stranger for your overnight recline. Also, the ‘beds’ are not overly large. For an average height westerner, too short for a comfortable trip. My...

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0360556   This movie review will not hold you to final word suspense. It will not dilly dally on its way to its ultimate opinion. Rather, the truth will be revealed expeditiously. Immediately. Now, in fact. Ta Dar—the movie is great—a true and correct cinematic interpretation of Ray Bradbury’s 1953, short novel, the dystopian masterpiece “Fahrenheit 451”. I first read the novel in high school, where I am sure many others also first read of the terrifying and wilfully illiterate world of the protagonist, Fireman Guy Montag. I also recall seeing at about that same time the 1966 film version by François Truffaut. This was a movie adaptation approved of by the author. Sadly, Bradbury is no longer with us, but what is there about this new version of his novel that renders it successful? The reason for my approval is that the novel’s mood and theme of anti-intellectualism and alienation are successfully transmitted into a near future, all too possib...

Ian, please tell us about your education background. My educational background reflects my interests and work history. I have a Phd, Masters, and Honours degree in ancient history from the University of Western Australia. Ancient history has been an interest of mine since primary school. Secondly, reflecting my employment career, two graduate diplomas in Information Technology from Edith Cowan University. I put these to good use, having been a programmer for three decades in Australia. Both institutions are found in my home city of Perth, Australia. How long have you been teaching at 51Talk and how did you land the job? I have been teaching with 51Talk for two years. The job was recommended to me by one of my education students in Bangkok. I will admit that at first I was reluctant, as I believed that online teaching would be too distant and too impersonal to be effective. Until two years ago all of my teaching had been face to face. Now, I am pleased to say that I have found...

What can one say about Beijing? A city shrouded in history, pop-culture, and importance. All my life I have read about Beijing, and wanted to visit, now in July 2017 have finally achieved this! Overall, I feel truely pleased and happy to be here. Both for the city and my ESL students who I have met, in particular Jeff, Kevin (and his parents), Lydia, Tom and Holly, and Silence (cool name). Beijing, it is big, more than big, it seems huge and uniform over a large area. By this I mean travel a dozen stops on the subway, exit, and things look the same, tall buildings, shops and so forth. Big. It is also a little bland in design. The same style of buildings, condos, and the like all over the city. Not exciting architecture. The key reason I travelled to Beijing was to experience the historical sights of the city. It was a wonderful feeling to see these sights, the forbidden city, the museums, the ancient artefacts. After seeing them on tv! Also appreciating their longevity. I did feel grea...

My thoughts on China fall into two categories: good and bad.  The good is the people, culture, historical sights, and most importantly my students. Seeing my students in Shanghai and Beijing was wonderful. I just wish that I had more time and opportunity to see more students. Next time! Other people—I found helpful people everywhere I went, from a Kunming bus station guard who spent half an hour showing me to a cheap charlie hotel for an unplanned overnight stay due to a transport screwup (my own fault), plus many other locals who helped me, even taxi drivers. The sights, were many, varied, and endlessly pleasing. I visited museums, art galleries, and a myriad of other tourist destinations. Simply seeing the Shanghai ‘Bund’—the pre-communist buildings along the foreshore, the Hong Kong nightlife, and of course the famous historical sights in Beijing. I want to go again! The bad is subtle, essentially the Chinese government is fascist and dictatorial (to make a distinction ...

Always preferring the more civilised form of travel, train over plane, I decided to make the 1,300 kilometre journey between Hong Kong and Shanghai by train. Overall, a pleasant and easy experience. I booked a ticket at one of the three train offices at the Hung Hom Rail Station. This station is near the city centre, and is also a subway (MTR) stop, so easy to get to. The cost for a second class ticket was $467 Hong Kong dollars (us$60). A fair price. Apparently, there is no online booking service offered by these offices. Limited English spoken, but enough to communicate my simple needs. The day of departure arrived. With my two bags I took a taxi from my hostel to the station (hk$40 and 15 minutes). Then, wait, and then follow the crowd into a waiting area, with a duty free shop (I thought all of HK was duty free?). Then, more waiting, then into immigration. The HK office only checks you out. The inward China immigration is at Shanghai.  The trip, comfortable. I had ...

I only spent 5 days in HK, but I loved it. A different culture from mainland China, and I want to return, maybe for a month. The city has a rich culture, a myriad of small shops and businesses, and an active outdoor social life. HK is an interesting city to explore. A mix of west and east, impressive architecture, tiny shops, and it is a tourist town. The subway (MTR) is a great to get around. As usual, I believe making it free and removing the obstacle course of turnstiles etc would greatly increase its efficiency. There is such a thing as an “Octopus” card. This is a prepaid swipe card that can be used on the subway, and in many other retail outlets. Interestingly, it is anonymous. No id needed to buy. You can get one on arrival at the tourist office. Coincidentally, today, my last day in HK is the 20th anniversary celebration of the reunification of HK with the PRC. I spent the day wandering the city. There is a lot of not entirely happy about the decision. There were in fact lots o...