Taïwan...

Quelques autres photos de Taïwan envoyées par Antoine, qui a maintenant fini son semestre là-bas...et qui est maintenant en stage à Hong Kong

"Familymart est une des 2 chaines de "supermarchés" ouverts 24/24 où les gens achetent des produits tout pret!

Kenting est l'endroit (ou un des seuls) où on peut se baigner à Taiwan.

Et enfin le drapeau Taiwanais avec le ciel bleu de Kenting derrière!"

Un Week-end camping (4/4)

And to conclude that great day, some hot dogs around a warm fire!
Awesome!



An internship, it's not only some work, it's also a lot of fun if you
find a good place to go.
I recommend it to all of you and hope that some of you'll dream a bit
with those few words and pics.

I'm almost done here, in less than three weeks this adventure will be
done.
I'll try to do a final article to conclude this great story.

I wish to all of the second year students good luck for this hard
month of June at ESLI, keep in mind that the best is coming if you want!

See U soon!
___
Bastien

Un Week-end camping (3/4)

We've got to stop there, so close to the summit but thunder start to
make sound and the strong wind decide us to go down, a lightning
strike on the rocky top doesn't worth it.



Nothing better than a fresh beer after an intense day to recover some
strengths.



(à suivre...)
___
Bastien

Un Week-end camping (2/4)

Now lets go for a nice 5 hours scrambling in a steep mountain, and the
name Rockies is TRUE! It's completely different from the Alps or
Pyrenees, and pretty hard to climb.


Thankfully, I'm not scared of height, and the RandoRaid is a good
school for that kind of trip.



(à suivre...)

___
Bastien

Un Week-end camping (1/4)

Hello!

After a long time without new stories, I wanna share with you my last weekend.

Winter is gone now and summer is eventually coming. That's the favourite season of most of Western Canadians, they can start Camping again with their tent, trailers or motor-homes.

Then, on Friday after work, we load the car to go with another student to the Rocky Mountains, enjoy the sun and climb a mountain.

First step, a good breakfast and study the map of the area to find a good spot, south oriented to avoid snow.


My Canadian adventure friend, Kyle, studying in a mechanical
engineering school in Edmonton but doing a coop in the company as mine.



(à suivre...)
____
Bastien

Shanghai News 5: Markets around Shanghai (3/3)

Fake market:
Do you want to buy a Longchamp or a Calvin Klein for 4€? Or Ray Ban classics for 1€? In the fake market impossible is nothing (or anything is possible if you prefer the Chinese copy…haha).



The quality is really bad of course (be careful if you buy shoes) but for sunglasses or bags it is fun!! Chinese will tell you the products are real ones (but cheaper for you, special price for you…etc).



See you and have fun!!!!!!
_ _ _
Lucile

More pictures from Taïwan

A very multicultural campus!
First on the left, Antoine- Esli Student doing an exchange program in National Chiao Tung University, Taïwan.
_ _ _
Photos envoyées par Antoine

Shanghai News 5: Markets around Shanghai (Part 2)

Dongtai Lu:
This market is near Dongtai Lu (the antiquity market)!
You can find lots of things funny and beautiful at the same time.
Do not forget to negotiate the price! Negotiation is a game here and it is really funny.
It is impossible to know the real price of something in China!
That is why the best way to buy something is to decide before what is the price you want to pay (for example, I want to pay 0,5Y for a postcard and no more: negotiate until the price you want is achieved)!
And after let's play: laugh, let them think you are leaving, prance…
Most of the time, you will buy something you just don't care about but it is so funny!! At the same time, it is also boring to negotiate all the time (tiring) and to have the impression of getting ripped most of the time!

"A qui a la charge, nul moyen de se défiler"

_ _ _
Lucile

Shanghai News 5 : Markets around Shangai (Part 1)

Animals and plants market:
Last weekend I went with two friends (try to guess who…☺) to the animals and plants market. There you can find cats, dogs, gold fish, locust (or grasshopper), frogs, chickens…
The smell is hard to bear and the conditions the animals are living are quite hard (6 little cats in a hamster coop).
I already went there one month ago and the weather was cool (20°C) but now it is more than 30°C and the animals are dying in their coops.

Click to enlarge

À suivre: Dongtai Lu & Fake Market

_ _ _
Lucile

Security in Taïwan

_ _ _

Photos envoyées par Antoine

The Great Wall of China & Tian An Men

_ _ _

Photos envoyées par Lucile

Taïwanese Market

_ _ _
Photos envoyées par Antoine

The Summer Palace & the forbidden City

_ _ _

Photos envoyées par Lucile.

More photos from Taïwan

_ _ _

Photos envoyées par Antoine

Shanghai News 4

I will now try to write in English please forgive me for my numerous mistakes.

Last weekend I went to Beijing and I saw famous places:

-Summer Palace

-Museum Palace (la Cité Interdite)

-The Great Wall

-Olympic Games Stadium and Swimming Pool

-Lamas Temple

-Tiananmen

It was great and interesting. The Museum Palace (La Cité Interdite) is quite empty but if you have already read Pearl Buck or Shan Sa you will only feel the story that happened in this place: love stories between concubine and emperor, conspiracies for power or just feasts!

It is the same for the Great Wall: just look at the land in front of you and try to imagine Gengis Khan and his army 300 meters away from you with a flaming torch and a sword!!! The Great Wall is impressive because of its length (5000km) and the legend tells that workers died during its building and that their bodies have been buried in the Wall during the building.

Lamas Temple is also a great place, quiet and peaceful and it is impressive to see the biggest Buddha in the world (29 meters tall) and also interesting to see Chinese people praying.

For Olympic Games Stadium and Swimming Pool you can feel the emotion and try to imagine Usain Bolt just be the first to break the record in 100 and 200 at the same games and to imagine people applauding and chanting his name.

The most beautiful place is the Summer Palace with the Lake and the beautiful buildings (18km far from Beijing Downtown).

The Court was going to Summer Palace during summer because the Palace Museum was too hot!

Beijing is more Chinese than Shanghai because of the history and also because it is the capital. The army is everywhere and in the subway stations in the city centre they check bags and people (like control in the airport).

Tiananmen is also a strong place for emotion: it is hard to imagine what happened in 1989 because the place is beautiful with trees, tourists and sun.

This is one thing to do in your life: visit this city and feel the long and strong history at each street corner.

More pictures coming soon!

_ _ _

Lucile

Quelques photos de Taïwan

Photos envoyées par Antoine
- - -

Petite note du webmaster:
Cette dernière photo me fait penser à cet article très intéressant du Taïpei Times dont je vous recommande la lecture...

Spring is coming!!

Hello guys!

After a long and cold winter, longer and colder than usual from my colleagues testimonies, the weather is better now. It's freezing only during nights and it can be until 20°C during the day.

The nature is waking up, it's the perfect moment to visit the many national parks that the Canada counts.

Then, I've been to Waterton Park, last saturday. The lake is still frozen but it's the good moment to see animals...

A gopher!!

A deer licking my camera!

Of course, feeding wild animals is forbidden.

Waterton Lake, the end of the lake is in the United States. A famous spot for scubadiving.

A grizzly bear, taking a nap after a long 6 months night! It's not the best time to meet a bear, they are hungry!

This place is the kind of areas where canadians are used to go on weekends as soon as the sun shine. The winter is long but spring is not as long, it's quickly gonna be summer time! Most of Canadians have a trailer and a pick-up ready to move.

But now i know why a tent is risky to spend a night outside, unless you need a big teddy bear!

See you soon, have fun and take it easy!!

_ _ _

Bastien

Quelques photos de Chicago...

Frédéric nous envoie quelques photos de Chicago:

Detroit in pictures

La mascotte de l'equipe de Base Ball de Detroit: Detroit Tiger

Une vue de la ville depuis l'île qui se situe en face:

La GM (General Motors) Tower:

___

Photos de Frédéric

Shanghai News 3

Bonjour à tous,

Je vais écrire moins longuement maintenant!
Il commence à faire beau et chaud, la ville se transforme, d’ailleurs les vendeurs de brochettes de viande se transforment en vendeur de brochettes d’ananas…Les magasins de chaussures rangent les bottes en moumoutte pour exposer les sandales et les lunettes de soleil en tous genre font leur apparition : oui il y en a en léopard (du faux je pense) et en crocodile (du faux aussi enfin j’espère…).
Ce weekend je me suis baladée à Fuxing Parc, les Chinois font du Taï Chi, jouent au cerf-volant, aux dames et moi je prends des photos…et je lis (en anglais donc pas longtemps☺). Ce parc à l’origine a été créé pour permettre aux Français de la concession française de profiter d’un peu de verdure et c’est vraiment chouette !

Il y avait des mariés qui faisaient leur photo de mariage au bord du lac, la jeune femme portait une jolie robe et des escarpins rouges ! Le rouge représente le bonheur ici je crois…je ne suis pas encore callée sur les mariages mais j’y travaille !

J’ai aussi testé la boîte de nuit Chinoise et c’était génial, les Chinois adorent s’amuser et ils dansent n’importe comment donc pour une fois je pouvais faire n’importe quoi sans avoir l’impression de passer pour une pauvre fille. Je vous le conseille si vous passez à Shanghai ! En plus avis aux garçons, les Chinoises sont vraiment très belles.
Sinon moins marrant, ce matin en rentrant à Suzhou pour travailler, un petit chou de 2 ou 3 ans en pyjama et tout sale s’est littéralement jeté sur moi, il m’a attrapé la main et ensuite il s’est assis sur mes pieds…donc j’étais un peu coincée au milieu d’un pont avec ma valise, mon ordi et évidemment je voulais lui donner des sous mais je ne trouvais plus mon porte-monnaie enfin heureusement il avait l’air d’avoir le temps et de trouver mes pieds confortables…finalement je lui ai donné les sous du bus (3 Yuans soit 30 centimes d’€ environ) que j’avais dans ma poche. Ici ca fait un repas pour vous donner une idée (enfin pas à Shanghai mais à Suzhou). Il y a beaucoup de gens qui mendient, qui sont très vieux (et donc ils ne peuvent plus travailler), mutilés (brûlés ou amputés) ou alors ce sont des petits bouts de choux de quelques années à peine. C’est vraiment super dur.
Pour finir sur une note plus positive, en me baladant en bas de chez moi j’ai découvert que je pouvais acheter des grenouilles soit pour faire plus de monde dans l’appart soit pour les manger…j’hésite encore.

En fait, j’ai un peu peur qu’elles essayent de se jeter hors de la casserole quand elles commenceront à avoir trop chaud et que je sois obligée de leur courir après donc je pense tenter les brochettes…je me prépare psychologiquement. Je n’ai pas de four de toutes façons donc je ne peux pas les faire en tarte ou en gratin…

A bientôt et un petit proverbe Chinois pour terminer : «ferme comme un roc»