"Why don't we go rock climbing?", my friend Tim said. I must admit I wasn't too fond of the idea, especially after hearing the 180rmb price for a half day of climbing. But we visited a few climbing stores (we counted at least 4) and the photos they had looked pretty cool so we decided to do it on our last day in Yangshuo before heading to Guilin.

We left 'early' in the morning at 930am. We decided to go with Xclimber because they seemed to be the most interested in taking us beginners out. Knowing safety standards as I do in China, dangerous activities (crossing the street notwithstanding) should best be avoided. The storefront had lots of info and equipment and they had plaques on the wall from all these various rock climbing associations. Not that this facade can't be faked but it seemed to ease my doubts a little. I was able to bargain a 930am-1:30pm half day rock climbing session for 120rmb.


We took a short ride out to a karst face and our guide, Alex, proceeded to climb up the razor sharp limestone rock face without the aid of a harness to set up two routes for us. Boy, he sure made it look easy. I've done indoor rock wall climbing before and didn't find it too difficult or scary but when you're out there on a real rock facing sharp limestone 30-40 metres in the sky, it's a whole different ball game.



Our guide, Alex, made it look easy but it really isn't.


As the day progressed, more and more climbers came. It turns out that Yangshuo is a rock climbing mecca in China; there are quite a number of routes of all shapes, sizes and difficulty in Yangshuo and it draws climbers from all over the region: Hong Kong, Guangzhou and as far away as Beijing.


I must say that rock climbing really isn't that interesting to me but it was a nice workout for the legs and arms I am glad that I experienced it and got some nice photos out of the day. I highly recommend it when visiting Yangshuo.

Although we spent a grand total of 2.5 days in Yangshuo, we could have easily spent 5 or more days enjoying the sights in and around Yangshuo. I kind of regret not heading back there after finding out how overrated Guilin was.

Famous for the karst peaks in and around Yangshuo, this is a must see for those who have more time traveling in China outside of just visiting Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong.


The karst topography occurs when limestone and is the result of limestone interacting with underground water. The water dissolves the limestone to form karst topography which is made up of caves, underground channels, and random peaks of various shapes and sizes towering in the sky.

Unfortunately, we didn't visit any of the caves because there were all these cave tour operators claiming to be the 'real' water caves but it all seemed a bit too theme park-like (rides, loud music, laser shows, etc) for us so we passed on it. Maybe I'll visit a cave next time I visit, if I'm lucky enough to find one that is free and uninhabited by touts.



Another famous Yangshuo tourist feature is the Li River 漓江. I was not impressed with the river as it flowed through the town, the water levels were pathetically low. I guess it's because of the winter dry season now. Many ads around town proclaimed that a boat tour of the 'mighty' Li River was a must when visiting Yangshuo but we passed on that, too. Biking along the river was quicker, cheaper and we could cover more ground than a slow, upstream boat tour.

The third feature of Yangshuo is the fact that it is a backpacker's haven. You won't find many 3-5 star hotels here. If you travel four stars all the way, Yangshuo wont' be for you. In fact, I didn't spot many personal cars on the road let alone a taxi the whole time I was there. It was strange. The town's method of public transportation consisted of these elongated electric golf carts. I wish I took a photo of them.

Yangshuo is basically a hostelling heaven. I'd never seen so many hostels in a single town before. It was unreal. Every second storefront was a hostel, it seemed. Hostels were built into gift shops, restaurants, and bars. It was the most westernised place me and my mates had ever seen; and collectively, we'd been all over east Asia. Personally, I was put off by all this western culture. I went out to look for Chinese restaurants and the ones I did find mainly catered to western tastes. Nevertheless, I did find Xinjiang lamb kebabs 羊肉串 which kept me satisfied for a bit.



Surrounded by touring karsts, the town itself (most tourists, especially western ones hang out exclusively on the riverfront and on West Street 西街) has a small town feel with a lot of bars, restaurants, discos, and shops selling tacky souvenirs. As I mentioned before the western food is of a higher quality than the Chinese food (to my disappointment).



At night, West street comes alive when every restaurant/pub/disco has music blaring and waitresses invite you in for a drink. Thankfully, it was low tourist season when we were there so the crowds weren't too large.

I guess I enjoyed the town less for the town itself and more for the biking and scenery. There's lots to do in Yangshuo-or you could sit back, drink some coffee and do nothing. That's the beauty of this town, you can do what you like.

I didn't forget to mention our karst rock climbing trip. That deserves is own post.

Forgive the sarcastic title to this post. We had a great time on our trip but we're back in HK now. The Guangxi whirlwind tour ended at 6 days instead of the intended 11 days. There were a few reasons for this but the main reason was that there wasn't that much to do in Guangxi that we didn't do already and all of us had a reason to come back. My reason was I wanted to enjoy a bit of HK over this holiday (hiking!) and I had a few errands to run back here so I didn't mind coming back early.

After Yangshuo, we traveled 1.5 hrs by bus to Guilin. What a huge disappointment that city was. The outskirts of the city had some karst peaks but nothing in the scale and numbers of Yangshuo. The city itself was just another bland Chinese city and we only stayed a day and a half which was about a day and a half too long. So why did Guilin suck? It was pretty polluted and very dusty, I don't recall urban pollution in China ever bugging me but it did in Guilin. Dirty Xi'an included.

After Guilin, we traveled 4 hours and 2 bus trips to the outskirts of a town called Longsheng where the famous Dragon's Backbone Rice Terraces are located. We were really short for time and we stayed about 2 hours at the rice terraces because we had to return to Guilin the same day to catch a train back to Shenzhen and then back home to HK. The terraces were fantastic even though it was cold and rainy. I will definitely be heading back to that area in the future. If you're in southern China, definitely hit Yangshuo for 3-4 days and leave at least 2 days for the rice terraces. It shouldn't be missed. Use Guilin as a transfer stop only-there is no direct buses from Yangshuo to Longsheng, unfortunately. The food wasn't even a saving grace for Guilin, it wasn't good at all. The local delicacies are rice noodles 米粉 (so so) and Li River beer carp 漓江啤酒鱼 which I didn't bother trying because I hate carp.

Pictures to follow..

Hello from sunny, Yangshuo. After an overnight sleeper bus ride, my entourage and I arrived in Yangshuo, Guangxi which is famous for it's karst landscapes and the Li River. The scenery is spectacular but as usual in most places in China, the pollution spoils the natural beauty.


For those who have heard of or are thinking of coming to Yangshuo in the future, if you can't ride (or don't like to) bikes don't bother coming. Like the title of this post says (which I stole from a local bike rental shop): "No Bike, No Yangshuo". The best parts of Yangshuo are outside of the town. To the north are small villages that are accessable on narrow bike paths. You can literally bike through farmer's fields, it's really cool. We were invited to a sit down with a local farmer and met his new month old grand daughter and family. They offered us some pomelo they grew out back and had a good chat.


Farmer Wang showing us his beautiful month old granddaughter.


A bike trail beside the Li River and biking through farmers' fields.




Take a wrong turn and you may end up in a quarry. They were blasting and bulldozing karst limestone for use in bricks and mortars.

South of Yangshuo is the more scenic karst area which are seen in most photos of Yangshuo. The karsts just go on and on; the photos are stunning. Unfortunately, as usual in most parts of rural China, the landscape is marred by excessive pollution: noise (traffic/construction), air and land pollution.

Yangshuo is famous for it's Xi Jie (West Street). The street is home to all these western bars, coffee shops and restaurants. It's unlike anything i've seen in China before. We've sampled a few of the restaurants as well as a few Chinese restaurants. It must be the only city/town in China where the western food is better than the Chinese food! Of course, Guangxi isn't reknown for its food, I'm not illiterate in Chinese, the famous dishes here in Yangshou are Li River Carp cooked in beer (I hate carp) as well as the rice noodles which are OK. The western food runs the gamut from pizza to burritos, cheesecake to apple crumble. And it's pretty decent, not great but very good by China standards.

Tomorrow is our last day here in Yangshuo. We're going rock climbing tomorrow, not sure if it is a karst face or mountain we'll be climbing.

In the afternoon, we'll head to Guilin (1.5 hr bus ride from here) for a few days before we head to Longsheng in northern Guangxi province to check out the terraced rice fields and minority villages and culture. Hopefully the Chinese food is a bit better up north. More updates later..

On Wednesday I leave for holidays for 11 days. It's been quite awhile since I've backpacked in China. There are only a few more destinations I have to see (Tibet, Yunnan, Xinjiang, maybe Henan and Inner Mongolia) and then I'll probably never travel for leisure in China again. I'd only go to visit friends and family in China after that. It's a real pain in the ass to travel in China as many of you who have done it can attest to. I'm not looking forward to negotiating for everything, watching my belongings with an eagle's eye, figuring out bus/train routes/tickets, hearing and watching people spit, etc. Still, the food, minority people and landscapes pull me back for more-for now at least.

I'm heading to Guangxi province, namely Guilin, Long Sheng and Yangshuo to check out the karst landscapes and terraced rice paddies. I'm looking forward to playing around with my camera amongst the breathtaking scenery and colourful minority people.

If I don't get to talk to you personally, Merry Christmas and have a happy new year everyone. I'll update you on this site while I'm on the road. Peace.

I just got home from TST after a long day of walking and shopping. My friends and I were tempted to head over to Wanchai after dinner to check out the WTO protests, but unfortunately, the violence and chaos had been raging all day Saturday, after the Korean protesters stated they would escalate their violent actions as the meetings came to a close. At the Star Ferry, there was a police announcement that ferry service to Wanchai was stopped as well as the closure of Wanchai's subway station. There was also a warning not to go to the Wanchai area. I heeded this advice. Later, we saw live footage of the violence on the KCR trains and were glad we didn't go to Wanchai to take a look.


Courtesy: CBS News
Personally, I'm surprised the HK police has been so tolerant with the violent protesters. Other WTO protests I've seen on TV in Cancun and Seattle showed riot police hitting protesters. The HK police were holding the lines and not taking any offensive actions against the aggressive protesters (mainly South Koreans) The riot police had shields and batons but didn't seem to use the batons to strike protesters. There was also pepper spray/foam used and later water cannons were used to clear out the protesters.

I heard that 900 protesters were arrested today and I'm just glad that this ordeal is over. Hopefully, the HK government has learned its lesson-it was not a good idea to have the WTO meetings downtown in the highly accessible Exhibition and Convention centre. What a terrible idea. Thankfully, this mess is over tomorrow (Sunday, Dec 18). The nasty protesters can go home.

I'm not exactly new to the south of China. I've traveled the south extensively throughout my time in China. One thing that bugs me to no end is the fact that there is no insulation in the flats and buildings. This includes buildings in Hong Kong. Most buildings don't have central heating, radiators or any other form of heating. You have to fend for yourself when it comes to keeping warm.

In northern China, including Dalian where I spent the better part of 3 winters, the windows are double-paned, buildings are better insulated and there are radiator heaters in all buildings where the government burns coal to boil the water that supplies these buildings (that explains the grey/black dust on the ice/snow you see in northern China!). Each resident pays one price for the cost of heating for the winter. I can't remember the exact figure but I think it was around 500rmb for heating from approximately Nov 15 to March 15.

In southern China many businesses don't have heating. They leave their doors wide open and let the cold air in. I'm not really sure why they do this but it's not uncommon to see your breath indoors. As a Canadian, I don't find it cold in southern China, it rarely dips below 0c but when you are indoors and it's 15 degrees or cooler you definitely feel the cold, especially in the mornings. I have gotten used to sleeping with my head under the covers!

I find Chinese get sick more often and for longer periods of time than westerners. Perhaps it has to do with the chilly indoors, the fact that they take medicine any time they're remotely ill (thus building resistance to the meds) or perhaps China is more crowded than most western countries so flu bugs get passed around easier. Any other suggestions?

I know what you must be thinking, "just go out and buy an electric heater, you dummy!" Sure, most people do, but I personally don't find it unbearably cold. I wake up, run out to the bathroom for a hot shower and I feel fine the rest of the day. I do have to sit in a 14 degree teacher's room for most of the day and my hands do get a cold. I actually don't have any long sleeve shirts to wear that I could wear to work so I wear short sleeves to the amazement of co-workers and students. It's not a show off, I just honestly don't think it's that cold. I have a pretty good track record when it comes to illness as well: I've only had the flu once in almost 3 years in China. It must be all that garlic, onions, fruit and vegetables in my diet. Don't worry I brush my teeth and chew gum after every garlic/onion laced meal.

So the moral of the story is if you're traveling or moving to southern China, get ready to be feel the cool air indoors and outdoors. You can't escape it. I'm sitting in my teacher's room these days surrounded by 4 ill teachers. They are afraid of taking time off (the principal frowns on it and makes it difficult for them)and are probably giving each other the flu. Someone please hand me some vitamin C or at the very least a surgical mask!

After the colourful yet peaceful march for democracy last week, this week Hong Kong shifts its focus towards the upcoming WTO ministerial conference in downtown HK.

HK has braced itself expected violent clashes between WTO protesters and the police. Personally, I'm not sure why they picked downtown HK to have this meeting. Having past knowledge of past violent clashes in Seattle and Cancun, HK organisers still chose to hold the talks in the heart of HK's financial district. Very strange idea to me. It's not like this conference will bring heaps of tourist dollars to HK. Sure the surrounding hotels housing the ministers from various countries may cash in, but they won't be doing much shopping or sightseeing around HK. Of course, the protesters won't be buying anything in HK or spending much money! But that's what this is all about isn't it? Money? HK is bound to lose more than it gains from this experience. The police have been planning it for ages and are bracing for the ugliest scenarios. I have no idea why the authorities didn't choose some far flung place to hold these meetings. Why not hold the talks at Disneyland on Lantau Island? I hear the attendance numbers there are abysmal and Disneyland officials could even include the meeting attendees and protesters into the official Disneyland attendance figures to show everyone!

Local schools on HK island and Kowloon will be closing for a few days (my boy's school is closed on Tuesday, but I'm not teaching there this week), the shopping malls in the area have boarded up their windows and streets will close in the area. Sounds like a hurricane is approaching, eh?

We'll have to see what happens throughout the week.

I've talked about how it isn't a taboo to talk about salaries in China but HK being a more modern and westernised society, it is taboo to talk about one's salary. However, just because we don't talk about it, that doesn't mean we don't think about what others earn.

A few weeks ago, I was at the gym working out when one of the gym attendants asked me if I was of mixed blood heritage. It was the first time I've ever been asked that question so I struck up a conversation with the girl. She asked me that question because my name is written in English on my resident card and other local HKers just have an anglicised version of their Chinese name, like Chang Dao Yan (my Chinese name). After this topic of discussion she moved onto asking me what I did and I told her and the magic question popped up, "how much do you make." I've talked about this topic numerous times in mainland China so it doesn't faze me any more. I told her and then I asked her what she made.

Working 45 hours a week at the gym, she makes $6500 a month! That shocked me. Granted, she is a high school graduate with no tertiary education but to be making approx $800 US working full time is an injustice in my opinion, especially living in a city like HK which can be very expensive. I did some further research and found the market largely sets wages and prices which would explain why there is no minimum wage for local employees! Although price controls are imposed on rent for some residential properties, public transport, and electricity.

Ironically, the HK government does have a minimum wage on imported workers, which includes foreign domestic helpers who mainly hail from southeast Asian countries like Thailand, the Philippines, and Indonesia. The domestic helper minimum wage is set at $3700 HK and they get free board and meals plus return air tickets. Anyway, I'll write more about these unsung pillars of the HK community in a future post.

The way some NETs and local teachers are treated by their schools, it wouldn't take one long to figure out that the unions in HK have no teeth and strikes are foreign here. There are no rules for or against collective bargaining, however. Just don't think you can get a job in HK and slack off because the union has your back.

Among these graduates, nursing graduates were fully employed and their average salary increased by 14.1 per cent to $20,366; whilst the salary for hospitality/tourism sector also increased by 11 per cent to $10,276 per month. The average monthly salary of all employed first-degree graduates is $9,644.

In this week's South China Morning Post, there was a "Salary Scale" table in the business section and I thought I'd share with you some of the salaries locals make for those who are interested. All salaries in HK$ per month.

Hospitality Industry:
Waiter/Waitress (2-3 years experience) $9,500-$10,800
Hotel reservation manager (2-3 years experience) $15,000-$21,000
Restaurant manager (3-5 years experience) $16,500-$28,000

Office and Administration:
Data entry (0-2 years exp) $4,800 to $8,500
Receiptionist (0-1 years exp) $5,000-12,000
Secretary (0-3 years exp) $7,000-$13,000
Executive secretary (8+ years exp) $16,000-$40,000
Office/Administrative Manager (6+ years exp) $20,000-$60,000

Insurance industry
Sales/business:
Sales/Business trainee (0-1 years exp) $5,000-$7,000 + commission
Telemarketer (1-2 years exp) $8,000-$10,000 + commission
Senior sales manager (5-6 years exp) $20,000-$45,000 + commission

Business management:
Sales manager (6-8 years exp) $18,000-$40,000 (est. salary+commission)
Unit manager (8-10 years exp) $25,000-$30,000 (est. salary+commission)
Sr Sales manager (12-15 years exp) $40,000-$80,000 (est. salary+commission)

Claims/Policy Servicing:
Officer (2-4 years exp) $9,000-$15,000
Manager (5-6 years exp) $15,000-$25,000
Actuary (5-8 years exp) $20,000-$30,000
Claims manager (8-10 years exp) $40,000+
___

So how do these wages compare with similiar positions in your country? Keep in mind the low taxes HKers pay but they do get hit on high housing fees. No wonder almost half of HKers live in public housing and many are on waiting lists to move into public housing for years.

For those of you who are interested in teaching English here in HK, there's good news and bad news. The good news is there are lots of job opportunities. The bad news is unless you have an HK work permit they probably won't hire you and the wages at the private English language centres is very low. Wages of around $100HK per hour is common for these schools and some teachers work more than 40 hours a week to make a 'livable' expat wage. Some schools will offer you a work permit if you are qualified (you must have a university degree.

Some expats, although I'm not suggesting you do this, work illegally in HK. Most westerners get a 90 day visa free visit and find teaching work during their stay. Before their visit limitation is up, they head to Macau or mainland China to 'exit' HK and then come back in for another 90 days. It's a clever idea if you manage not to be caught. HK customs and immigration folks are pretty clever, they'll nail you sooner or later if you attempt this.

If you're wondering, my primary school NET position pays between $16,000-$30,000 a month (excluding a special housing allowance). Secondary school NETs get paid quite a bit more but there are definitely a lot more job responsibilities and related stress. The principal at the boy's school I work at makes between $49,000-59,000 a month (excluding fringe benefits and allowances). I know how much he makes because is leaving his position and there was an ad in a local paper for the job vacancy.

To look for jobs in HK, go to Jobs DB or the Classified Post for job postings.

Hong Kong people marched peacefully on the streets and made themselves heard again. And it sounds like the HK government and its masters in Beijing may have to listen and adapt to the will of the people.

The protest held on HK island was a success yesterday, after several high profile folks said that they wouldn't gather more than 50,000 protesters. Exact figures will never be known but there were probably over 100,000 and some have claimed as high as 250,000. Whatever the number, there were a hell of a lot of people out there yesterday who protested against the universal suffrage proposals. Even a former HK politican, Anson Chan the former chief secretary (ranked no. 2 in the government) attended the rally. She was a former colleague of chief executive Donald Tsang so it must have shocked him and other current HK politicans to see the popular Ms. Chan in attendance.

My French friend Kris has kindly allowed me to share his photos of the rally. Poor guy caught a cold marching amongst the crowd. The temperatures have dipped quite a bit the last few days with lows in the 10-12c range. Take care of yourself Kris and thanks again for the great photos. I really wish I was there. I'll definitely attend the next rally!

Today could be a historic day in the Hong Kong political atmosphere. A political rally/march is being organised on Hong Kong island by democratic leaders in Hong Kong's. These democrats want to see universal sufferage (voting directly for the chief executive, the leader, of HK) as soon as possible whereas the current leader, Donald Tsang, and the central government in Beijing are proposing baby steps toward universal sufferage. Beijing has already ruled it out in 2007 when Donald Tsang's term is up for re-election (not by the public, but by a group of pro-Beijing leaders). The fact that Beijing calls the choosing of a chief executive an 'election' is a farce.


Left: Donald Tsang and his 'real' boss, Chairman Hu Jintao
The interesting part of this whole story is the fact that aside from this political hot potato, Donald Tsang is popular amongst the HK people. In fact, if he were to run for election, he would probably win it. That is why I sympathise with his position; he serves two masters: the central government in Beijing, who chose him and could yank him at any time, and also the HK ong people. The HK people only have one way to exercise their power, and that is to march on the streets. Now don't get the wrong idea, the last march on a hot July day in 2003 was not violent at all. Families went out to show their frustrations in a peaceful manner. The last march in 2003 was about a proposed anti-subversion bill that the public felt would undermine their freedoms. After witnessing the rally, the government took the message and stopped pushing for the bill.

This year, the story is a bit different; Donald Tsang got on HK television and made an appeal to HK people to embrace the universal sufferage plan, saying if it wasn't accepted, the dream of electing the chief executive would grind to a halt.
By accepting the proposal, it would be the best chance for HK to attain universal sufferage in the future. The key thing to remember is that there is NO timetable set in the government's proposal towards universal sufferage so many HKers are worried it's a stalling tactic. Of course, many people took this as a 'take it or leave it' gesture by Tsang and the central government: 'if you don't accept our plan towards universal sufferage then you won't get anything.' From the media, it sounds like this tactic has made people more adamant to march against the government.

But that's where my sympathy comes in. Donald Tsang is a career civil servant and born and bred in HK. He is a people person; he knows how to push the right buttons from the HK people and his subordinates. He's widely respected in the business, social and government community. What is coming out of his mouth these days is what Beijing wants HK to hear. This talk about HK not being a mature enough society to be able to handle full democracy is complete and utter bullshit. HK adheres to the rule of law, there is a freedom of the media here, the anti-corruption council is strong and active and HK people are educated and travel the world freely. There is no excuse for not allowing universal sufferage other than the fact Beijing is afraid of the snowball affect on the Pearl River delta region (perhaps all of China?) surrounding HK as well as Taiwan, which Beijing hopes to bring back to the fold one day.

You may be wondering if I'm attending the march since I am definitely FOR universal sufferage? I'd love to march and get some good photos out of it, but unfortunately, I have other commitments and won't be able to go. But I'll be there in spirit.

As a NET, one of my responsibilities is to raise the level of interest in the study of English by providing an 'authentic English environment.'

At my 'normal' school, the principal converted a classroom for me to set up an "English Room". This is a room where kids can go during recesses, before/after school and during lunch hour to play English games, read/borrow English books and to interact with me. As you can see, there is a small carpeted area, cushions to sit on, board games, card games, big books and little story books, a white board and a blackboard at the front of the room.
The room is fully digitised: there is a projector, internet accessible computer with DVD player and speakers. Needless to say, I hang out in this room whenever I don't have classes to teach.

It's one of the few 'good' decisions the principal has made, although he, by no means, came up with the idea of the English room. Nevertheless, it's one of the few bright spots of my day at the 'normal' school - that is interacting with the students who visit the room voluntarily and ask me to play games with them.

Since I'm the not the one responsible for giving them tests, dictation and homework, it is easier for them to view me less as an antagonistic figure and more of a friend. Especially the grade 3 and 4 students (7-10 years old) who are the ones that seem to visit the room most often and are the most eager to learn English. There is still a glimmer of hope for the English speaking future of HK!

You may remember the ridiculous reading program I mentioned about a month ago that was implemented at the behest of the clueless principal at my 'normal school'. Well, things got exciting today; the reading program stats are in for the first month.

Out of 120 students at the school, over 50% of them have not read at least 12 books, which was the mandate for the end of the month of November. Naturally, the principal is upset at this development so he has decided all students who have not reached the 12 book target will miss all recesses and will sit in the library or classroom to read the books and do the book related question sheets.

I did some investigative work on the scores of some of the students' question sheets and the scores were terrible. It seems to that some clever kids have figured out that they can just write anything on the sheet as long as they take a book out of the library, they'll get their numbers up. How do I know this? A few of the students who had 'read' the most books had some of the ugliest question sheet scores!

The books in question are from a for-profit organisation that duped sold this 'accelerated English reading exercise' program to the principal along with 4 other area primary schools. Each school paid $40,000 HK for the program. Not a small sum for such useless program that lasted 3 weeks (in effect, wasting 3 weeks of regular English classes).

So my take on this situation is the principal knows he's been duped, doesn't want to lose face and is pushing ahead with the program. I told him face to face that the majority of the students can't read even the most basic English words and the program was a failure. He looked at me with an evil eye and shrugged sheepishly. Whatever. I'm not responsible for this mess but I do have to try to clean it up. I've started teaching my students basic phonics skills and will try to dumb down the lessons. However, it's always difficult to teach kids who aren't enthusiastic about learning what you're teaching. But that's another story for another day.