http://jonmajor.com/blog Jen's location: Romblon, the Philippines. Jon's location: Koh Pha Ngan, Thailand Thu, 14 Feb 2008 22:25:15 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Lucie, a Swiss volunteer, and also a new good friend of mine is a little crazy. She decided it would be a good idea to run to San Augustine from Long Beach (where we are staying). She asked if I wanted to go. And I don't really ... http://jonmajor.com/blog/?p=51 Well these last 2 weeks have been a lot better. I've had a lot of fun. Last week there were government periodical tests and apparently I wasn't needed to teach classes (the teachers needed to "prep" or train the kids what the answers on the tests are this week), so ... http://jonmajor.com/blog/?p=44 Click here to check out my photo album! Lucie, an other volunteer from Switzerland and I decided to meet with CERV-Philippines this week to discuss our ideas about our projects. Both of us weren't feeling challenged enough, and felt a little strange in some of the classes we were ... http://jonmajor.com/blog/?p=43 It's going to be hard to explain how things have been in the last two weeks of my volunteering, but I'm going to try my best to give you an idea of what life is like here by giving you a breakdown of one of my days last week: 6:15am: wake ... http://jonmajor.com/blog/?p=35 Jen and I have now gone in our separate directions, and while Jen has filled you in on what she has been up to, I so far haven't told my side of the story. So here goes... Our last stop together in the Philippines was a town called Coron, located ... http://jonmajor.com/blog/?p=34 Today was my official first day of volunteering in the Philippines. For those of you interested, I signed up through the Global Volunteer Network based in New Zealand. They've got a lot of volunteer opportunities around the world. I'm working directly with an NGO called Center For ... http://jonmajor.com/blog/?p=33 Well, the Philippines is a very interesting place to say the least. New scenery, new smells, new food, and new modes of transportation (ie. "tricycle": a motorcycle with an attached sidecar, "jeepney": see Jon's previous post). The people here are all a part of the fun too - they're ... http://jonmajor.com/blog/?p=32 Well, that's done with. The past two weeks have been hell. Exams, marking exams, writing student reports, and then finally teaching was over. But no relief, as the end of teaching only ushered in a frantic 4-day rush to pack up all our possessions, throw them in boxes, toss ... http://jonmajor.com/blog/?p=31 It's hot and sticky and the cockroaches are out. Summer has definitely hit. Jon and I have been trying to get away from stinky Taipei every weekend (pollution + 30 degree heat = really gross). We've been going to the beach, hanging with friends, and checking out ... http://jonmajor.com/blog/?p=28 I just uploaded some more photos, this time of Tainan, a city in the south of Taiwan. Jen and I passed through some time ago and visited some of the sights, including a couple old temples where most of the shots were taken. Check 'em out in the ... http://jonmajor.com/blog/?p=20