Activity clubs for Expats and Chinese

Hi All!!!

I am moving to Changshu in a couple of weeks and I want to organise some activities that would have a social outlook, So here is what I thought:

Language exchange club:
I am studying Chinese and Japanese and need people to practice with and extend my learning and in exchange I can help with English and Hebrew.
We can organise activities and coffee maybe meet at different places each time talk about them practice different things.

Photography club:
I have a great passion for photography (that might not always show in my photos) and I think there are probably many other people around with the same passion. I thought that we can have photography assignments and competitions share skills and knowledge about cameras and different editing softwares (I use Gimp) and so on...

Cycling club:
Now this club is me looking in to the future as I don't have a bicycle yet; but I will soon. So with this club we can do all sorts meet on 2/3 days a week basis cycle around for exercise around the city. Meet on weekend every so often for a longer trip maybe in a more natural environment ??? Go on adventures on an over night trip to a mountain. There are lots of avenues we can cycle down!

So there you have it!
If you are interested let me know
If you have an interest and would like to create a club Please post your idea and pass on this page to as many pips as you know so we can give this a momentum!

Cheers!

Tal-El

Hi
There is a language something already going on here i think its for english
They have a bike club here contact Mathew,zeek or bobby (casamia).
And for photography also contact matthew he already is doing it and have people around him who might be interested .
Ray

Thanks for taking an interest and posting a reply!

Actually I did inquire about "official" clubs in Changshu before and received a replay from Matthew that gave me the impression that it was more him hanging out with his friends doing the same things I like rather then something open to the public.

Matthew feel free to clarify the sub

Cheers,
Tal-El

Hi,

The biking club is public in the sense that anyone can join. But, mostly the people who go for it end up making friends.
I am not sure abt photography..bt wld love to go on expeditions.. I will get my slr frm india fr it.. looking fwd to that..
We can always post on the forum for others to join..
There is an English corner running here.. I will ask walley to add u in the mailing list...
seeya

You mean to say you left it behind???

The idea behind the language club was for anyone who wants to learn a language and there is someone who speaks it in they club then they would have a practice partner/s. I personally will not join a club that is dedicated to learning English.

hey,

I will get u the details abt the english corner or english-chinese corner.. dont knw exactly..

As far as my SLR is concerned..well i travel a lot back n forth to India.. too much hassle always carrying it around.. n well other reasons too..
But, will get it back next month..

Seeya
Vaish

Hi,Toshiechan

How's your clubs going?

I just know this forum,but I see several friends here.

There are two English clubs in Changshu. One is a local but longest here,the other is Toastmasters club. Bud knows both of them. And some teachers in Changshu Institue also know them.

Hi ...

Greatly interested in the photography club ... Could be interested to meet up :

- Exchange tips on camera and lenses
- Tips on Photoshop usage
- Field trips
- Etc ...

For the language classes, like Vaishu said there are different possibilities in town ... Wally is also a important actor in the language "business" around here, he just doesn't uses the forum, even if he has an account ...

For the biking club, it has never been a closed & just friends thing ... It has always been open ... Some people are coming every time, some people pop here and there, and others even if they like it, are just to busy with their own work or (and activities) ...

The last time trip was announced the other day on the forum : some people came to join us ...

But I don't want to put it too formally also ... Formally means rules, and my idea of the group is the only "rule" which is : You have a bike, you want to have fun and meet people, spend a good time, eventually sweat a little bit

So the first aim of it is to :
- Do sports
- Meet people
- Go around Changshu and see the place differently
- We also organize trip to Zhejiang or to Anhui province on a weekend base

And like we say in France : "In order to give back to Cesar, what belong to Cesar" from a historical point of view, I want to thank Bob and Mike, the Founding Fathers of the CMBA

Which leads to a question : "Bob, when are you riding next time with us?"

There are some other bike groups, mainly chinese people (so speaking chinese is a plus) ... They go out regularly on weekends (but also sometimes during week days), but like I said, it is a chinese group, so you need to master a little the language to be aware of their sessions ... If you go to the GIANT shop or XDS shop, you can ask for some information on the group ...

-------

To conclude my post :
- I think that the Photography club is a good idea ....
- For the biking and language, with all the different possibilities in town, i do not see the point of creating new ones

Actually this post is very old since I did get all the lowdown on the town activities including the cycling club!
@Matthieu- I will make an effort to push a Photography club.
@Mike- I wanted to make a club for languages actually other then English. So for instance if someone wanted to learn french and the other japanese they could find a partner through the club and exchange knowledge but I think that is too complicated to organise formally so I gave up on that.

Better late than never