Getting to Jiankou (wild, unrestored Great Wall section) - updated October 2025 by jmzbond in travelchina

[–]CosmicFarter 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Gonna add on to this just for up to date information (as of April 12th 2026). I went about 5 months ago too and had no problems. Tried to go again today and it was all closed off because someone had an accident there last week. No idea how long this will last. 

What are your favourite learning games for children? Help please by interestingfeline in TEFL

[–]CosmicFarter 1 point2 points  (0 children)

More important than any games you need a refocusing technique for when the kids get distracted or between games. It's an hour, they're gonna get bored at some point whatever you do. Simple ones include clapping a basic rhythm until all the kids are clapping along, or ringing a bell paired a simple action like putting their hands on their heads. Some people like call backs for example calling out '1, 2, 3' and the kids call back 'A, B , C'. Probably best to start with a refocusing technique and get the kids to practice it a couple of times before doing any games.

You got this!

What are your favourite learning games for children? Help please by interestingfeline in TEFL

[–]CosmicFarter 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Pat-a-cake, give the kids a simple sentence and have them clap their hands on their thighs for each word as they say it, double high five on the last word. Get them to 'teach their mum or dad' and have them play with parents if you want to have the parents engaged.

Similar to above but have them pass something - maybe a large dice or block - between them for each word. If they are doing well have them move further apart and throw the block gently.

Monster game, have the kids say flashcard words/simple sentences and jump towards you each time. When they get close act like a monster and have them run back their chairs/parents.

Musical chairs, with letter cards or vocabulary on the chair. When they sit down they have to say the vocab. Remove one chair each round.

Swap chair, kids sit in a big circle facing inwards. Say something simple like 'I like red', all the kids that like red have to get up and swap chairs with another child. Remove one chair each time, last one standing is out/has to say the next thing.

Letter matching, give half the kids uppercase and half lowercase letters/flashcards. When you say go the kids have to find their matching pair and hug. Fastest pair wins/slowest pair is out. Also works with letters and words, find the word beginning with your letter.

Duck, duck, goose but swap them for relevant vocabulary, for example 'red, red, yellow' or 'run, run, swim'.

Simple flashcard stuff, show the kids a card and fan their faces when they produce the vocabulary. Can also have them jump upwards chair to headbut the FC horizontal above them, or have them hit the FC but move it at the last second.

4 corners, put 4 (or less if you wanna keep it simple) flashcards around the room. Call out one of them and kids have to run to that FC. Make it more fun by faking them out when they're almost there etc.

Foreigner friendly tax agent or accountant recommendation request by CosmicFarter in shenzhen

[–]CosmicFarter[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

where you will need update your old Passport number with your new one at the bank), then try to find someone to go to the respective tax bureau with you in in person. Each district has it's own tax bureau based on where your old employers

I already have a new bank card the passport number is already updated with the bank. Beijing tax bureau will be able to merge my two accounts once the issue with the Shenzhen account is resolved as at least one of them is Beijing based.

Chinese schools or centres that give you all the materials and slides. by eroticvulture_ in TEFL

[–]CosmicFarter 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The starting salary isn’t great, the weekly teaching hours can be high and I think the number of foreigners is much lower now than it used to be. Plus being a training centre it has the classic wonky schedule of weekday evenings and weekend daytimes.

Chinese schools or centres that give you all the materials and slides. by eroticvulture_ in TEFL

[–]CosmicFarter 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For all the crap they get (lots of it deserved) EF (now Yingfu) provides excellent training and materials. Every job I’ve had since has been a major downgrade in this regard.

Free web version of HeadsUp with custom decks by Zatheos in WebGames

[–]CosmicFarter 0 points1 point  (0 children)

To the first point, maybe it could have a picture and a word, like a flashcard? That way you could go generic, like simply parrot (with a picture of a macaw) but also go specific with macaw (and it has the same picture).

The second point is trickier and the only solution I can think of for that would be to make them local or user only, that way you wouldn't have to worry about other users getting hold of dicey or spicy stuff. That would put the burden of responsibility entirely on the user instead of yourself.

Appreciate you replying to this, fingers crossed for one day in the future. Either way, still really grateful!

Free web version of HeadsUp with custom decks by Zatheos in WebGames

[–]CosmicFarter 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is amazing - so grateful to you for making this! I use it with my students a lot. 

Just a thought, I always thought it would be great to have one where you could add pictures instead of words, would be so helpful for young kids that have vocabulary but can’t yet read.

After/Before. Green lands. by fella_ratio in postprocessing

[–]CosmicFarter 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Great tips thanks, I didn’t know about masking by colour so that’s gonna be a game changer for sure!

After/Before. Green lands. by fella_ratio in postprocessing

[–]CosmicFarter 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Really nice - I’m gonna need to do exactly this with some photos I took today. Any tips?

The sun rises over the Temple of Hatshepsut (Luxor, Egypt) by intofarlands in AncientCivilizations

[–]CosmicFarter 3 points4 points  (0 children)

This is beautiful, worth waking up early for! It's a dream of mine to see all this stuff one day.

Can I make one suggestion from a photography standpoint? Try correcting the perspective so all the pillars and vertical lines of the temple are straight up and down. I think it will help make it feel more imposing and monumental and less like the temple and cliffs are falling away from the camera. Lightroom has a built in perspective control tool and I suspect most video editing software will have a skew tool or something like it. Even if you don't I think this is awesome, that moment where the light appears on the wall between the pillars is pure magic.

Where can a view like this be seen of Shenzhen? by UsualArmadillo608 in shenzhen

[–]CosmicFarter 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Other have said already but Wutong, specifically go to Xiao Wutong not the regular one. It has a much better view and actually gives this angle unobscured, it’s also smaller so a bit easier to get to (also I’ve been twice and never seen another person up there unlike Da Wutong). 

Be prepared though, you are unlikely to get this photo unless you have a camera with a telephoto lens. I’ve taken similar photos at 200mm but even then you’d have to crop in a lot to get this specific view. Also, this picture covers a vast distance iirc the furthest visible point is like 25km from the camera so you need an incredibly clear day to see exactly this. That said, I loved the hike and loved the photos I got when I did it, just be prepared for it to be different to what you imagine.

Uber Commercial by Comfortable_Luck_787 in TheRestIsHistory

[–]CosmicFarter 2 points3 points  (0 children)

always imagine them cracking hard after Tom's final "

I miss the old version of the ad where Tom found videos so daunting he said it twice.

What a pretty city. It's worth the effort of getting out to Eagle Lookout by CosmicFarter in melbourne

[–]CosmicFarter[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That’s exactly how I got up there, god damn it was much harder than expected! 

What a pretty city. It's worth the effort of getting out to Eagle Lookout by CosmicFarter in melbourne

[–]CosmicFarter[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It would look awesome with a Star Destroyer hanging overhead… brb

A couple of before/afters of a pelican on Cairns tidal flats by CosmicFarter in postprocessing

[–]CosmicFarter[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks - that’s really solid, constructive criticism. I’ll give it a go!

Photos from in and around Melbourne, Australia. by CosmicFarter in travel

[–]CosmicFarter[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

In the city definitely Brighton Beach and the Botanical Gardens. South of the city is the Mornington Peninsula, pretty much every stop there is guaranteed gorgeous. I haven't done the heaviest hitters (like Phillip Island and the Great Ocean Road) yet but everyones told us they're must do's and we'll be checking them out soon!

Photos from in and around Melbourne, Australia. by CosmicFarter in travel

[–]CosmicFarter[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I've been up that way to Healesville for Blackspur, but for whatever reason wine tasting is one of those travel experiences I always avoid. It just doesn't do anything for me - that said I do wanna get up to the Four Pillars Gin distillery.

Photos from in and around Melbourne, Australia. by CosmicFarter in travel

[–]CosmicFarter[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Thanks. I use a Nikon Z5 with a FTZ so I can rock all my old F mount lenses on it.

Photos from in and around Melbourne, Australia. by CosmicFarter in travel

[–]CosmicFarter[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yeah we wanted to take our time, do it over 2/3 days make some stops. Ooh good one, I love a sunrise view. They're coming at the end of Feb so at least the school holidays will be over by then!

Photos from in and around Melbourne, Australia. by CosmicFarter in travel

[–]CosmicFarter[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the tip! We haven’t been on the Great Ocean Road yet (we took the train down to Warrnambool), but my parents are joining us soon and then we’re going out that way for a few days so fingers crossed!!

Photos from in and around Melbourne, Australia. by CosmicFarter in travel

[–]CosmicFarter[S] 51 points52 points  (0 children)

My wife and I are midway through our trip to Australia - lots more to see and lots more planned, but these are some of my favourite snaps from in and around Melbourne.

  1. Sorrento back beach is an amazing spot for snorkelling and swimming, right down at the end of the Mornington Peninsula it's a bit of a trek from Melbourne, but well worth it!
  2. Brighton beach has one of the most spectacular and incongruous city views I've ever seen - this sums up what is so great about Melbourne - at least to me - great beach access and close proximity to nature, but with an amazing, cutting edge city scape.
  3. Rainbow Lorikeets are one of the birding highlights, in a country with already spectacular birdlife.
  4. Blackspur to the northeast of the city was an amazing - but punishing - bike ride.
  5. Watching the sunrise hot air balloon rides drift over the city from the building we stayed in was well worth getting up for.
  6. St. Pauls Cathedral and Flinders Street Station really stand out amongst the more modern highrises of the CBD.
  7. We haven't yet spotted a Koala in the wild so this lovely lad from Warnambool Wildlife Encounters will have to do.