Well, I've officially been away from Ayr for a month now, which is crazy as it only feels like a week or so!
We did eventually make it to Shawan after all the hoohah with our trains.. (See last blog post..) Upon arrival in Shawan we were greeted by two of the English teachers, who took us to our apartment and then out for dinner. We thought that we'd get to come home and simply rest, but no.. After closer inspection of our apartment we decided that a big clean up was in order..

After successfully cleaning our house and having a good nights sleep we were straight up and into the school the next morning. Here we had one day to observe classes, and by the time Wednesday came we were in classes teaching.. I found this very daunting but also exciting! The more classes I teach the more confident I become, and I'm finding it more and more enjoyable working with the children! I also don't think I'll ever get tired of "hello teacher!!" Every morning from the children, it's just to lovely!

At the end of the week we found out that we had a three day weekend to celebrate mid-autumn festival! Due to this we decided to head to Urumqi and then onto Fukang to visit two other volunteers, Brian and Reece, and stay with them for the weekend! This was my first time in Urumqi and it was crazy. Due to the differing minorities you could be in one part of the city, but feel like your in the Middle East, not china! Seeing the boys was great, as we've all become a sort of family (it was also good to see other British people..) and from there we went to Fukang!

We spent Sunday at the Red Mountains which was amazing, with some stunning views, and also a nice camel.. And then had a lovely evening meal, followed by checking out Fukang nightlife.. That was, eh, different..

Returning to Shawan was a much harder task than it should have been, as we somehow managed to take the wrong bus.. However after some intense charades trying to communicate with chinese people, and a lift home from the police... We were back safe in the apartment!

The following week of teaching was great, and I now find myself excited to go into a class, and the kids make it even better! The following weekend we were invited out to lunch with some of the English teachers, which was great fun! This was followed by a night of KTV with a group of people we'd met the previous night... Now for those of you who don't know KTV, it's basically a group of people in a small room singing karaoke with a few drinks... It was genuinely one of the best nights id had since getting here!

We are currently trying to sort out October travelling, which is sounding exciting already! But that's all for now,

Until next time,
See ya!