Hey all, Jacquie here. Arron's having some problems posting new pictures/comments (they have insanely slow internet connections over there for some reason...like, DIAL-UP speeds) so be patient.

He's doing well right now. He started teaching last week and is really enjoying it. He's glad he put his lesson plans together BEFORE he got to China!

As for the food situation, it's getting better. He's embraced tofu, it's been his saviour. Protein, people...protein. Also, he's been chowing down on lots of fruits and veggies, junk food and I believe he's finally tried chicken and hasn't had any problems.

What else...hmm....that's about it, really. He's done some other stuff but to write about it just won't do it justice. When he posts (or sends me) pictures, we'll elaborate on them.

So, yeah...gotta go work now. Talk with everyone later!

I thought you all might like to know what the standard connections look like over here. They are a little different. I was surprised to see that all outlets in my apartment included one western style socket as well as a standard Chinese outlet. Oh, and the light switches are opposite from ours. Up is off and down is on. Go figure. I also have like 8 cable connections for some reason. I bought one of those international converters, which has come in handy.

This is my office at the university. Everything here is under lock and key. Every drawer, every door. It's the land of pirates, and nobody can be trusted. It's a different world over here.





One of the cool things about this gig is the monster computer I got. Two Duo Core proccessors (Quad Core) with 8 Gb RAM! These things are absolute beasts! Mmmmm power.....

A Wild and Crazy Saturday Night in Harbin, China:

This is Arron, Mansoor, Mark and Gary. They put on their party shoes and headed out for some beers on Centre Street. Not a very happenin' place on a Saturday night, apparently, because everything was closed. Except good ol' McDonalds. Big Mac's for all! They did end up getting a beer at a place called "USA Bucks". It was also a coffee bar. It had stereotypical American nostalgia all over inside.
Arron in front of "USA Bucks". Green sign over there kinda looks like a Starbucks sign, n'est pas?

Hey guys, Jacquie for Arron again. I'm having a hard time actually posting comments about what these pictures are exactly in the actual post, so I just wrote them into the 'Comment's box....check it out if you want to know exactly what's going on with these pics! Cheers!

Jacquie here, posting again for Arron.

The 'mystery' restaurant. Which door will you choose? #1, 2 or 3?I believe these are toads/frogs for sale...and not as pets.More toads/frogs. Anyone hungry?
Don't know what this is exactly...I think I forgot to rotate the image before posting it. Maybe it's a shower? I'll have to ask Arron.
THIS is the metal railing that Arron flew into at the university and screwed up his side. (See earlier injury pictures). Very painful.

Some familiar 'western' foods that Arron has managed to pick up. Not the healthiest options though....

Good ol' Pringles.

Haha, why can't our Bugles bags look as fun as this?!

Chips A'Hoy

Arron had an accident at the university. Because the university isn't finished construction yet, there's lot of dust and garbage laying around, making all the surfaces pretty damn slippery. Arron was walking down some stairs with the other instructors and took a nasty fall. Thankfully, some steel handrails stopped him from tumbling down too many flights. It knocked him out for about 5 minutes. He's alright now, a little sore and brusied.

Hey people. Here is my mailing address at the University:

Arron Robinson
Harbin University of Science and Technology
International College of Culture and Education
Mail Box 141
52 Xue Fu Road
Nangang District,
Harbin Heilongjiang
China 150040

I still haven't figured out my phone number yet, so be patient. Here is some other contact info for those of you who have been blessed with computer knowledge:

Skype: arron.robinson
MSN: arron_robinson@hotmail.com
gmail: arron.robinson@gmail.com

This is the main gate to the University. The Chinese like to glorify their building fronts with grody gold lettering. This school is no exeption.
Check out the Harbin University's site if you like:

http://wwwe.hrbust.edu.cn

Well, I made it to Harbin. This is me in front of Harbin University, where I am a 3D Animation Instructor. I have experienced more culture in the last 4 days than I have in my entire life. My flight was about 11 hours to Beijing, and then I transfered to Air China for 1.5 hours to Harbin. The in flight movies was Nacho Libre. Nice. I ate the chicken, not the fish. Not so nice. I have taken lots of pictures so have fun. I miss you all!

Arron Eating His First Prepared Meal in China

Hello All. Jacquie here again. Received some pictures from Arron last night that he took his first night in Harbin. He's doing alright, managed to find some 'western' food. Some interesting purchases included 'peanut jam' (peanut butter) and Minute Maid orange jucie....that isn't orange juice at all. It's like...Sunny D or something. He hasn't mentioned if it's really cold or not yet, but he says the pollution there is just atrocious. It's like...breathing pea soup. So, he may buy a face mask or something, who knows. *wink* He hasn't given me his address or phone number there yet but as soon as I get them I'll try and get ahold of everyone to give it to them. Anyways, gots to go. Ethan's killing Schwarz. Again. Ciao!

Arron's Living Room
Arron's Bedroom
Arron's First Prepared Meal in China
Arron's Kitchen
The Airplane That Took Him Away

Here is Arron's blog! I (Jacquie) created one for him because he was just so darn busy! 1st post!

Today being October 4th, Arron went out on his journey. At the moment, he's still in the air, about 1/3 of the way there. Once he lands in Beijing, he'll be transfered to another flight that will take him to Harbin where he'll be living for the next four months. I'm going to miss him like crazy (all ready do) but it's a great opportunity for him.

Anyways, this is where I'll leave off and let Arron continue. On with the blog!