I made it through another week. It wasn't bad, it wasn't great, but it wasn't normal either. I got the usual crap from work and caught a cold to go with it, but made it through most of my classes without any major problems.
Aside from work though, things got a little odd. On Wednesday, we found out that one of the foreign teachers was being sent home because the doctors wouldn't give him medical clearance. Whatever they were unhappy with was nothing contagious or dangerous to anybody else (he was still allowed to be around the students and us). Regardless, the school decided that they weren't going to let him stay. The school's overreaction is nothing less than typical, but it's still disappointing to have to say goodbye to somebody already.
The really annoying thing is that, according to the Beijing government, the medical exams aren't even necessary if you're staying for less than a year, but our school insists we pay the 85 dollars to get it done, and will revoke the contract if there's something they don't like.
So, we went out to dinner Thursday night to say goodbye. Afterwards, a couple of the I.B. teachers, including the one who left, participated in the "Aerobics Competition" held for the 10th graders. This was not a dance competition. All of the students used the exact same song, with only very slight differences in the actual routine, all of which resembled your run of the mill aerobics classes in the U.S. Some of the classes were better than others, but the whole thing seemed just a little strange. The highlight of the show, however, was probably the eleventh grade "club team" which performed to a different song and with a whole lot more energy.
The Chinese government puts a lot of emphasis on exercise and healthy eating, both of which are mandatory at all levels of schooling. In the primary school, the kids have mandatory group exercise for 30 minutes every morning and once a week, for twenty minutes, they are forced to listen to somebody lecture about the importance of eating well. It probably isn't a bad thing, but it's a little more rigid than what you would get in the U.S.
Friday was, as it was the week before, welcomed. The day flew by because it was over by 2 p.m. and I went home to sleep off the stress. In the evening, Dan and I went into town for dinner. On our way back we stopped by to see our "friends" at the movie rental place and ended up staying for about 2 hours! Of course, I don't understand much of what they say, but it is entertaining, and I always learn something. We got back exhausted, and I was soon asleep.
Plans for today have yet to be made, but probably include going to the village at some point, maybe even into Changping and studying some more Chinese (the language is practically painful to learn). We'll see though, it's promising to be a pretty low key day so far.
Saturday, October 28, 2006
Thursday, October 26, 2006
If I disappear, check the restaurants in Changping!
Just order kung pao lao shi (kung pao teacher for you English speaking folks). Seriously though, I published what was previously censored, but it happens to be hiding behind the post asking for advice because it was saved earlier. All of you who know me know that I am unbelievably stubborn, amongst other things, and so I had to publish that post in spite of Dan's concerns.
To clear things up, however, I feel the need to add that I am not miserable here. On the contrary, I quite like the nearby village and the people I've met here. China is cool, the food is fine and the language is killing me. I couldn't ask for a better challenge right now!
To clear things up, however, I feel the need to add that I am not miserable here. On the contrary, I quite like the nearby village and the people I've met here. China is cool, the food is fine and the language is killing me. I couldn't ask for a better challenge right now!
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Self-censorship. Am I nuts?
I just finished a post, a rant really. It's seriously critical of this school, but not China. Yet, Dan seemed to think that we could lose our jobs for something like that, so I thought I'd think about it for a day or so before publishing it. I may be totally naive, but I honestly didn't think they would ever find my blog or bother to read it if they did. It's hard to imagine (and horribly ironic given the topic of the post I have temporarily suppressed) that my writing might get me in trouble.
Am I crazy?
You decide!
Totalitarianism is annoying after all.
Not long ago, I tried to argue that a totalitarian state might not be so bad. I was, admittedly, arguing for the sake of arguing, but I partly believed what I said. Claiming that freedom of speech was overrated and rules are a necessary evil, I was pretty sure it would at least be possible to not be miserable under totalitarianism. I was right. Plenty of people are satisfied if not actually happy in this country. Where I was wrong, however, was in thinking that I too would be able to tolerate the same state of affairs with the same degree of complacency. It appears that once you have rights, it's pretty hard to grapple with the idea of not having them.
The irony of this revelation is that it has nothing to do with anything that has happened to me directly. In fact, it has more to do with the treatment of Chinese people, specifically at this school. Most foreigners (westerners, at least) seem to be exempt from real life in China. To anyone who knows me, it's no surprise that I would become enraged about something that has nothing to do with me. I have a passion for "fairness" and at times become vehemently righteous about the way I think people should be treated. That said, I will move on to the nitty gritty.
In the past few days, the seriously off balance policies of this school have become utterly apparent. I'm not feigning ignorance where salary is concerned. I knew from the beginning that I would be making two or three times the salary of the Chinese teachers at this school (not to mention about 10 times as much as local employees), and working a heck of a lot less. A meal in a restaurant in the village costs 12 rmb ($1.50) for two people and I make about $700 a month, but I digress.
Before continuing, I have to note that a job at this school is superior to many for any Chinese person. That said, I am appalled by the collective differences in treatment and disgusted by a few recent events. Not only are the teachers paid less, but they are forced to pay more. Our housing deposit was a mere 500 rmb, theirs is 3000 (or so I've been told). We have free meals, they do not. In addition, it appears that their pay can be docked for almost any reason. I've been told that several teachers were paid only 2/3 of their salary last month because they didn't demonstrate enough discipline in the classroom. Unfortunately, I'm sure these are only a tiny tip of the iceberg.
Even more disturbing, however, is the fact that a Chinese teacher was recently mobbed by a group of 15 or so students (only two or so of whom were suspended and are awaiting further decisions regarding punishment). The teacher was dragged out of his office and repeatedly kicked and punched by the mob. Needless to say, with the majority of those students still in his classroom, he has not and will not return this year. Sadly, I have my doubts that the school will do the right thing by kicking the students out of school (for good) and paying the teacher a year's leave.
Needless to say, I'm convinced that the students wouldn't have even considered doing the same thing to a foreign teacher. Frankly, they knew they could get away with it. They get away with everything. I'm not even going to get into academics here.
The irony of this revelation is that it has nothing to do with anything that has happened to me directly. In fact, it has more to do with the treatment of Chinese people, specifically at this school. Most foreigners (westerners, at least) seem to be exempt from real life in China. To anyone who knows me, it's no surprise that I would become enraged about something that has nothing to do with me. I have a passion for "fairness" and at times become vehemently righteous about the way I think people should be treated. That said, I will move on to the nitty gritty.
In the past few days, the seriously off balance policies of this school have become utterly apparent. I'm not feigning ignorance where salary is concerned. I knew from the beginning that I would be making two or three times the salary of the Chinese teachers at this school (not to mention about 10 times as much as local employees), and working a heck of a lot less. A meal in a restaurant in the village costs 12 rmb ($1.50) for two people and I make about $700 a month, but I digress.
Before continuing, I have to note that a job at this school is superior to many for any Chinese person. That said, I am appalled by the collective differences in treatment and disgusted by a few recent events. Not only are the teachers paid less, but they are forced to pay more. Our housing deposit was a mere 500 rmb, theirs is 3000 (or so I've been told). We have free meals, they do not. In addition, it appears that their pay can be docked for almost any reason. I've been told that several teachers were paid only 2/3 of their salary last month because they didn't demonstrate enough discipline in the classroom. Unfortunately, I'm sure these are only a tiny tip of the iceberg.
Even more disturbing, however, is the fact that a Chinese teacher was recently mobbed by a group of 15 or so students (only two or so of whom were suspended and are awaiting further decisions regarding punishment). The teacher was dragged out of his office and repeatedly kicked and punched by the mob. Needless to say, with the majority of those students still in his classroom, he has not and will not return this year. Sadly, I have my doubts that the school will do the right thing by kicking the students out of school (for good) and paying the teacher a year's leave.
Needless to say, I'm convinced that the students wouldn't have even considered doing the same thing to a foreign teacher. Frankly, they knew they could get away with it. They get away with everything. I'm not even going to get into academics here.
Saturday, October 21, 2006
Everybody loves Friday!
Yesterday morning I went to work dreading the day to come, but to my surprise, it turned out o.k. I might even say it was a great day. My advisor seemed to be much nicer to me, and when I asked, I was even given rags to wipe my desk with! Still no markers, but hey, one thing at a time. It is China.
The morning flew by and at lunchtime I was given a belated birthday cake. It looked a little sketchy, but turned out to be alright. On top of that, I found out that on Fridays we finish at 2:30. The day just got better and better.
So, after work, I went back to the dormitory and found the people we usually hang out with. We ate cake, some nasty meat candy and yak meat pie and talked about random stuff. And we planned to go to town a little later to have dinner.
In the end, it was only Dan and I that went. We took a nice long walk through the whole village and then found a place to eat. The people were super nice and tried to talk to us even when we (or at least I) really didn't understand. We ordered kung pao chicken and mystery noodles (I only know the word for noodles, not what goes in them). Dan got his enormous dish with a bowl of rice and I got my huge bowl of soup along with a pot of tea. We ate and ate and ate until we were stuffed, and then I fed some of my egg to the cat when I thought the owners weren't looking. As a total sidebar, there are a lot of pet cats and dogs here, which surprised me, but they are all really dirty and sort of mangy looking, well fed though, thanks to people like me.
During our dinner, the owners sat at the other end of the room watching something on television, more or less ignoring us. And a child, or perhaps a very large fish, splashed around in a tub in another room. The man who owned the restaurant came over at one point to ask us why his cell phone had an error message, which was sort of odd, but understandable, since the message was in English and he didn't understand it. Needless to say, we couldn't figure it out. And, I believe that even if we had, we wouldn't have known how to tell him.
We paid our bill and left, heading back to campus. Along the way there were puddles and a few cars to dodge, as usual. We stopped for a moment when we saw a "store" that looked like it might possibly sell books. A moment turned into an hour as they told us to have a seat and then bombarded us with questions. We found out that it was a rental shop for books and vcds and when two friends of the couple came in, we found ourselves answering even more questions. And, yet again, we were presented with a cell phone to fix. This time was slightly easier though because the language had been switched to English and he just wanted it back to Chinese. After about an hour of babble we decided it was time to leave and headed back for some shut eye.
We slept through the night!! That might not seem exciting, but having woken up at 3, 4 or 5 a.m. for the past week, it was really nice to sleep normal hours. We were in bed until 7! And, since breakfast starts at that time, I consider that to be perfect timing.
After breakfast, we left campus with a couple of friends to go for a hike. The trail began on the edge of Changping near the railroad tracks and went steeply up and down hills. At the top of the first little hill, my butt and legs already felt tired, and the dusty air seemed to be taking its toll on my lungs. Surprisingly, however, I seemed to recover a bit and get a second wind, enough to carry me over 5 or so more peaks. There were some very interesting things up there, and some beautiful birds, though looking back at Changping was not exactly breathtaking. Chinese people have not really been all that interested in aesthetics for the past few years so there are more than a few ugly buildings. I should also mention that Chinese people do not have the same respect for their natural surroundings as most western hikers would. There was trash along the entire trail. In parts, it was only a plastic bag or a cigarette pack, but in others the ground was covered. One place in particular, a pagoda on the top of one of the peaks, was especially tragic. There was trash everywhere, the pagoda was filthy and someone had even decided to use it as a bathroom! For a moment the four of us contemplated coming back someday to clean up the trash, but when we thought about hiking back with huge garbage bags, we thought it might be easier said than done. That said, it is a shame that nobody cares for the trail.
We traversed some of the steepest parts of the trail before coming to the end, where a sign warned us that the area we were coming from was forbidden. Chinese people are weird. Needless to say, we were starving when we finished, so we found a small restaurant to eat at and got lucky enough to get good food knowing only the words for vegetables, hot, meat and chicken. Afterwards we did some shopping and headed back. Dan and I crashed for the better part of the evening and only woke up hours later for some late night cleaning and blogging.
This jetlag thing is killing me!
The morning flew by and at lunchtime I was given a belated birthday cake. It looked a little sketchy, but turned out to be alright. On top of that, I found out that on Fridays we finish at 2:30. The day just got better and better.
So, after work, I went back to the dormitory and found the people we usually hang out with. We ate cake, some nasty meat candy and yak meat pie and talked about random stuff. And we planned to go to town a little later to have dinner.
In the end, it was only Dan and I that went. We took a nice long walk through the whole village and then found a place to eat. The people were super nice and tried to talk to us even when we (or at least I) really didn't understand. We ordered kung pao chicken and mystery noodles (I only know the word for noodles, not what goes in them). Dan got his enormous dish with a bowl of rice and I got my huge bowl of soup along with a pot of tea. We ate and ate and ate until we were stuffed, and then I fed some of my egg to the cat when I thought the owners weren't looking. As a total sidebar, there are a lot of pet cats and dogs here, which surprised me, but they are all really dirty and sort of mangy looking, well fed though, thanks to people like me.
During our dinner, the owners sat at the other end of the room watching something on television, more or less ignoring us. And a child, or perhaps a very large fish, splashed around in a tub in another room. The man who owned the restaurant came over at one point to ask us why his cell phone had an error message, which was sort of odd, but understandable, since the message was in English and he didn't understand it. Needless to say, we couldn't figure it out. And, I believe that even if we had, we wouldn't have known how to tell him.
We paid our bill and left, heading back to campus. Along the way there were puddles and a few cars to dodge, as usual. We stopped for a moment when we saw a "store" that looked like it might possibly sell books. A moment turned into an hour as they told us to have a seat and then bombarded us with questions. We found out that it was a rental shop for books and vcds and when two friends of the couple came in, we found ourselves answering even more questions. And, yet again, we were presented with a cell phone to fix. This time was slightly easier though because the language had been switched to English and he just wanted it back to Chinese. After about an hour of babble we decided it was time to leave and headed back for some shut eye.
We slept through the night!! That might not seem exciting, but having woken up at 3, 4 or 5 a.m. for the past week, it was really nice to sleep normal hours. We were in bed until 7! And, since breakfast starts at that time, I consider that to be perfect timing.
After breakfast, we left campus with a couple of friends to go for a hike. The trail began on the edge of Changping near the railroad tracks and went steeply up and down hills. At the top of the first little hill, my butt and legs already felt tired, and the dusty air seemed to be taking its toll on my lungs. Surprisingly, however, I seemed to recover a bit and get a second wind, enough to carry me over 5 or so more peaks. There were some very interesting things up there, and some beautiful birds, though looking back at Changping was not exactly breathtaking. Chinese people have not really been all that interested in aesthetics for the past few years so there are more than a few ugly buildings. I should also mention that Chinese people do not have the same respect for their natural surroundings as most western hikers would. There was trash along the entire trail. In parts, it was only a plastic bag or a cigarette pack, but in others the ground was covered. One place in particular, a pagoda on the top of one of the peaks, was especially tragic. There was trash everywhere, the pagoda was filthy and someone had even decided to use it as a bathroom! For a moment the four of us contemplated coming back someday to clean up the trash, but when we thought about hiking back with huge garbage bags, we thought it might be easier said than done. That said, it is a shame that nobody cares for the trail.
We traversed some of the steepest parts of the trail before coming to the end, where a sign warned us that the area we were coming from was forbidden. Chinese people are weird. Needless to say, we were starving when we finished, so we found a small restaurant to eat at and got lucky enough to get good food knowing only the words for vegetables, hot, meat and chicken. Afterwards we did some shopping and headed back. Dan and I crashed for the better part of the evening and only woke up hours later for some late night cleaning and blogging.
This jetlag thing is killing me!
Friday, October 20, 2006
Bureaucracy isn't bureaucracy if it doesn't defeat the goal.
Dan and I had a discussion about bureaucracy, and I began arguing that China was a lot like France in the way that you have to do paperwork and ask a million different people for every little thing, nobody really seems to know what's going on, etc. Dan pointed out, however, that in France bureaucracy is intended to be a pain in your arse. In China, on the other hand, it's intended to prevent you from doing whatever it was you wanted to do in the first place. Unfortunately, this is not limited to the government here.
On Monday, I got my schedule of classes and was presented with the desk and computer that I am supposed to clean twice a day (all of this gets even better when I start to factor in favoritism, so just wait). Frankly, at that point, everything looked fine. I knew I was going to be teaching kindergarten and 1st grade and I had a Chinese teacher with me in every classroom. I was only slightly disappointed that the book we were supposed to use for the majority of my classes was taught by the Chinese English teachers, and that my job was actually to come up with some supplemental materials and topics. Here is where I need to mention that the school told me I wouldn't need to bring any books or anything with me. So, it was up to me to pull something out of my arse for Tuesday.
I slept away most of Monday afternoon and evening and woke up at about 4 a.m. Tuesday. Prepared for the day, had another delicious breakfast and hustled off to school. My first class was a disaster. In spite of the fact that my co-teacher had warned me, I simply thought that Chinese kids could not be as rowdy as the French ones. Let's just say I have a new appreciation for order. Unfortunately, my schedule is set up for me to have that class twice in a row Tuesday mornings, so when class one was over, I took a ten minute break, regrouped my thoughts and decided not to do anything I had planned. The class went slightly better. Stepping ahead a couple of days, I broke all the rules my co-teachers had (about not punishing kids because it's not really useful) and laid the smack down on that class. Let's just say my co-teachers weren't exactly right. I have been putting children in corners ever since.
So, classes got progressively better, but my opinion of the job stayed sort of luke warm (when not boiling with contempt), because I have been treated differently than the other teachers. The problem is, I am the only westerner who teaches primary that did not come with ELI a religious group who "volunteers" here. As to why they volunteer at the most expensive private school in China, nobody seems sure. Regardless, they have their own supplies and their own advisors, their own, lighter schedules and office hours. So, my work advisor seems to think she can treat me like a Chinese teacher. I'm supposed to wipe off my spectacularly empty desk twice a day but was not provided a rag to do so (the ELI teachers informed me that they had been given two each), I have to be in the office by 7:45 and I can leave at 5 (which is fine, but originally my advisor told me that I was to stay till 5:50 and then return in the evening again! I politely informed her that I worked until 5), and I have 22 class periods (she tried to make it 25, but I refused) while all of the other foreign teachers have 16. Oh, and they have their own supply cupboard, but I was told that I couldn't be provided markers because the Chinese teachers didn't get them. The Chinese teachers are also paid about a quarter of what I am and work more hours. Maybe I need to remind them that I am not Chinese.
Needless to say, I'm not sure how it will all work out, but it's got to get better than this. So far, we've gotten very little of what we were promised.
On Monday, I got my schedule of classes and was presented with the desk and computer that I am supposed to clean twice a day (all of this gets even better when I start to factor in favoritism, so just wait). Frankly, at that point, everything looked fine. I knew I was going to be teaching kindergarten and 1st grade and I had a Chinese teacher with me in every classroom. I was only slightly disappointed that the book we were supposed to use for the majority of my classes was taught by the Chinese English teachers, and that my job was actually to come up with some supplemental materials and topics. Here is where I need to mention that the school told me I wouldn't need to bring any books or anything with me. So, it was up to me to pull something out of my arse for Tuesday.
I slept away most of Monday afternoon and evening and woke up at about 4 a.m. Tuesday. Prepared for the day, had another delicious breakfast and hustled off to school. My first class was a disaster. In spite of the fact that my co-teacher had warned me, I simply thought that Chinese kids could not be as rowdy as the French ones. Let's just say I have a new appreciation for order. Unfortunately, my schedule is set up for me to have that class twice in a row Tuesday mornings, so when class one was over, I took a ten minute break, regrouped my thoughts and decided not to do anything I had planned. The class went slightly better. Stepping ahead a couple of days, I broke all the rules my co-teachers had (about not punishing kids because it's not really useful) and laid the smack down on that class. Let's just say my co-teachers weren't exactly right. I have been putting children in corners ever since.
So, classes got progressively better, but my opinion of the job stayed sort of luke warm (when not boiling with contempt), because I have been treated differently than the other teachers. The problem is, I am the only westerner who teaches primary that did not come with ELI a religious group who "volunteers" here. As to why they volunteer at the most expensive private school in China, nobody seems sure. Regardless, they have their own supplies and their own advisors, their own, lighter schedules and office hours. So, my work advisor seems to think she can treat me like a Chinese teacher. I'm supposed to wipe off my spectacularly empty desk twice a day but was not provided a rag to do so (the ELI teachers informed me that they had been given two each), I have to be in the office by 7:45 and I can leave at 5 (which is fine, but originally my advisor told me that I was to stay till 5:50 and then return in the evening again! I politely informed her that I worked until 5), and I have 22 class periods (she tried to make it 25, but I refused) while all of the other foreign teachers have 16. Oh, and they have their own supply cupboard, but I was told that I couldn't be provided markers because the Chinese teachers didn't get them. The Chinese teachers are also paid about a quarter of what I am and work more hours. Maybe I need to remind them that I am not Chinese.
Needless to say, I'm not sure how it will all work out, but it's got to get better than this. So far, we've gotten very little of what we were promised.
Monday, October 16, 2006
Back by popular demand!
Due to ever-growing popularity and at the request of my loyal reader, you know who you are, the blogging will recommence! Be careful what you ask for...
I am in China. I feel like I could end there with no explanation needed, but the entertainment is, admittedly, in the details.
After much waiting for papers and visas and last minute plane tickets, confiscation of my beloved deodorant and my first ever 13 hour plane ride, I arrived in Beijing Saturday evening safely, if not quite sound. We waited in line for what seemed like hours to have our passport stamped and then breezed through the baggage and customs areas (Chinese people are apparently only efficient when they want to be). Thankfully, there was a school representative waiting for us outside the door and we were whisked into a car and out of there.
I was glad to be in the car for about 30 seconds, while I was still figuring out that we were on the wrong side of the road and oncoming traffic really was moving that quickly. I rapidly came to terms with the possibility of dying (or maybe it was just the shock that kept me from jumping out) as we dashed around mobs of bikers and rickshaws, all the while just missing the other speeding vehicles. There was a very near miss with a bus but in an attempt to erase it from my memory as quickly as possible, I am not going to go into detail.
Luckily for me, my jetlag was starting to set in and I fell asleep for the last half of the ride. Dan woke me up when we arrived at the creepy looking compound that we will call home for the next 9 months.
We were taken directly to our "apartment" on the sixth floor (no elevator) of building 8. If it sounds luxurious now, just wait! We are told that this is temporary, for about a week, but it's China, I have my doubts. Our little one room abode is cosy, but was a tad bit dirty (I'm being nice) and a little smaller than we expected. The fact that there were only two out of six lightbulbs in our fixture was only a mild disappointment compared with the lack of flushing power in our toilet (we worked it out using a complex mathematical equation, and we can each take a dump every alternating third day--if I sound cranky, now you know why).
After being horizontal for about 30 seconds I decided the place was livable and fell into a deep sleep (at 8 p.m.) only to be woken up four hours later with about a liter less blood (Chinese mosquitos are enormous)! So Dan and I spent a few hours hunting down and killing all buzzing and flying creatures. Actually, he did all the work, but I stayed up and cheered him on. Needless to say, I've seen way creepier bugs since then, and all of the bugs here seem to be about 5 times the size of the American version (when there is one).
Sunday morning we had our first Chinese breakfast. The steamed bread with bean paste was actually quite tasty and filling, the warm milk was warm and milky, the steamed green beans were an unusual breakfast choice but certainly do-able, the flavorless barley water was a little weird and the crunchy, not so sour sourkrout was close to appalling. Overall, it wasn't bad.
After breakfast, we took a trip into town and things got interesting. There are no signs for the bus stops here. You just have to know where they are or be able to speak enough Chinese to ask. We were up the creek. We went into town with a Chinese girl, which made it easier, and she was kind enough to take us to Marymart or Merrymart (I can't remember which now) to do some shopping. I have never seen so much color before in my life! Between the color and the music on the street and the color and music oozing out of all the stores it was a little bit like Big Trouble in Little China meets Toys 'R Us gone long (if you don't get the joke it's your loss).
Shopping in itself was entertaining, as it always is when there are so many new items and you can't read the labels. I got so excited when I saw a jug that said "Pure Milk" that I just had to buy it! But, aside from the joys of being totally confused, there were the little things, like little children staring, pointing and laughing at us. Now, granted, Dan looks a little like Jesus at the moment, but they don't know who Jesus is! Even more entertaining were the adults who couldn't take their eyes off of us, one of which came pretty close to falling off her bike and another held up traffic with his pick-up bike in order to get one last look.
Other entertainment to be found in town included a woman flipping bowls onto her head, a machine that smacked you on the head to tell you how tall you are and your fortune for the day, and dodging traffic in the street, even if the little walking man was green. Dan cursed at a car that almost ran him over and the man behind me started laughing. I think his exact thoughts were "Stupid foreigner thinks he has right to live... hahaha!"
It took us about 20 minutes to find the bus stop for the way back (our tourguide had left us), but eventually we got on. Thanks to our western looks, I barely had to pronounce the first syllable of the town we needed to get to before the ticket woman shouted it at me and took our money. For ten cramped minutes I stood next to a little girl who may have had SARS or TB or Avian Flu, so I practically leaped out of the bus before it stopped, and I'm pretty sure the busdriver would have let me.
Today, there was sun! The dust cleared for a few hours this afternoon and I felt the first (very faint) rays of sun since I got to Beijing. I was given my schedule and met my assistant teachers, told that I would not be given supplies and basically prepared to suffer. Tomorrow I start bright and early. Dan, on the other hand has 5 class periods a week, no joke, and only teaches Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings. There's no need to mention that he's earning one and a half times my salary for doing a quarter of the work. Life is so unfair!
I am in China. I feel like I could end there with no explanation needed, but the entertainment is, admittedly, in the details.
After much waiting for papers and visas and last minute plane tickets, confiscation of my beloved deodorant and my first ever 13 hour plane ride, I arrived in Beijing Saturday evening safely, if not quite sound. We waited in line for what seemed like hours to have our passport stamped and then breezed through the baggage and customs areas (Chinese people are apparently only efficient when they want to be). Thankfully, there was a school representative waiting for us outside the door and we were whisked into a car and out of there.
I was glad to be in the car for about 30 seconds, while I was still figuring out that we were on the wrong side of the road and oncoming traffic really was moving that quickly. I rapidly came to terms with the possibility of dying (or maybe it was just the shock that kept me from jumping out) as we dashed around mobs of bikers and rickshaws, all the while just missing the other speeding vehicles. There was a very near miss with a bus but in an attempt to erase it from my memory as quickly as possible, I am not going to go into detail.
Luckily for me, my jetlag was starting to set in and I fell asleep for the last half of the ride. Dan woke me up when we arrived at the creepy looking compound that we will call home for the next 9 months.
We were taken directly to our "apartment" on the sixth floor (no elevator) of building 8. If it sounds luxurious now, just wait! We are told that this is temporary, for about a week, but it's China, I have my doubts. Our little one room abode is cosy, but was a tad bit dirty (I'm being nice) and a little smaller than we expected. The fact that there were only two out of six lightbulbs in our fixture was only a mild disappointment compared with the lack of flushing power in our toilet (we worked it out using a complex mathematical equation, and we can each take a dump every alternating third day--if I sound cranky, now you know why).
After being horizontal for about 30 seconds I decided the place was livable and fell into a deep sleep (at 8 p.m.) only to be woken up four hours later with about a liter less blood (Chinese mosquitos are enormous)! So Dan and I spent a few hours hunting down and killing all buzzing and flying creatures. Actually, he did all the work, but I stayed up and cheered him on. Needless to say, I've seen way creepier bugs since then, and all of the bugs here seem to be about 5 times the size of the American version (when there is one).
Sunday morning we had our first Chinese breakfast. The steamed bread with bean paste was actually quite tasty and filling, the warm milk was warm and milky, the steamed green beans were an unusual breakfast choice but certainly do-able, the flavorless barley water was a little weird and the crunchy, not so sour sourkrout was close to appalling. Overall, it wasn't bad.
After breakfast, we took a trip into town and things got interesting. There are no signs for the bus stops here. You just have to know where they are or be able to speak enough Chinese to ask. We were up the creek. We went into town with a Chinese girl, which made it easier, and she was kind enough to take us to Marymart or Merrymart (I can't remember which now) to do some shopping. I have never seen so much color before in my life! Between the color and the music on the street and the color and music oozing out of all the stores it was a little bit like Big Trouble in Little China meets Toys 'R Us gone long (if you don't get the joke it's your loss).
Shopping in itself was entertaining, as it always is when there are so many new items and you can't read the labels. I got so excited when I saw a jug that said "Pure Milk" that I just had to buy it! But, aside from the joys of being totally confused, there were the little things, like little children staring, pointing and laughing at us. Now, granted, Dan looks a little like Jesus at the moment, but they don't know who Jesus is! Even more entertaining were the adults who couldn't take their eyes off of us, one of which came pretty close to falling off her bike and another held up traffic with his pick-up bike in order to get one last look.
Other entertainment to be found in town included a woman flipping bowls onto her head, a machine that smacked you on the head to tell you how tall you are and your fortune for the day, and dodging traffic in the street, even if the little walking man was green. Dan cursed at a car that almost ran him over and the man behind me started laughing. I think his exact thoughts were "Stupid foreigner thinks he has right to live... hahaha!"
It took us about 20 minutes to find the bus stop for the way back (our tourguide had left us), but eventually we got on. Thanks to our western looks, I barely had to pronounce the first syllable of the town we needed to get to before the ticket woman shouted it at me and took our money. For ten cramped minutes I stood next to a little girl who may have had SARS or TB or Avian Flu, so I practically leaped out of the bus before it stopped, and I'm pretty sure the busdriver would have let me.
Today, there was sun! The dust cleared for a few hours this afternoon and I felt the first (very faint) rays of sun since I got to Beijing. I was given my schedule and met my assistant teachers, told that I would not be given supplies and basically prepared to suffer. Tomorrow I start bright and early. Dan, on the other hand has 5 class periods a week, no joke, and only teaches Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings. There's no need to mention that he's earning one and a half times my salary for doing a quarter of the work. Life is so unfair!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
