In Hainan with no affects from the earthquake!

Luckily we have not been affected by the earthquake here in Hainan. The TV has been full of stories and pictures. It's a major disaster on the main land, with the whole country being given a 3 day national grieving period where all types of entertainment have been closed down in respect to the dead. There was a 3 minute silence at 2.28 today where the street was full with noises of sirens and car horns beeping, whilst everyone stood in silence. Everyone is donating money and a collection has been set up at our school. It is a bit strange here as the Chinese like to take records of everything, there is no such thing as a anonymous donation and people have to be careful not to give more than their boss because he would 'lose face.' Maybe they have got it right. We were warned about the earthquake on the day, but like everything in China, it turned out to be half an hour after the actual quake had happened that we evacuated the building.
The news stories here are more graphical than at home. Yesterday we were watching as a man was pulled from underneath some rubble and then resuscitated unsuccessfully on live tv. The tv coverage was slow to pick up on the immensity of it and we didn't realise that there had been a major earthquake until we rang home on the night it happened. We were there only 4 weeks ago and a lot of the new tower blocks of concrete to rehouse the farmers did not look like they were designed to withstand earthquakes. We feel very powerless, but the Chinese army and rescue workers seem to be doing all they can. The Panda reserve we visited is very close to the epi centre so no doubt there is more tragedy there.
The people across China have been so nice and friendly and this year does not seem to have been very lucky for them. In China the numbers 2,6 and 8 are lucky numbers especially 8. The Olympics starts at 8 o'clock on the 8th of the 8th 2008.

We have been on quite an intense training regime and have learnt loads of Mandarin and teaching games. We have completed 2 weeks out of 4 and our Chinese teacher called Tiffany is an absolute scream. She is full of beans and loves taking us shopping so we can bargain in Chinese. Craig has been busy setting rat traps and has only caught 2 so far with another 7 to go! We have found that Chinese people class the floor as a rubbish tip and don't seem to be worried about rats and cockroaches. But when they start coming in your dining room on the 4th floor, we had to do something about it.

We hope Jamsie and Cath have a great wedding next week!