It’s been over two months since we arrived in China and time just flew! The learning curve is intense when you move to a new place and a new country is even more so. I feel like I have come a very far way from the girl who sat down at a restaurant on her first night and realized for the first time that, “OMG…I can’t read the menu! I didn’t even THINK of this. What if I get fish?” (I’m severely allergic to fish) Then I pointed at something on the menu, said “ye” (meaning one) and pointed at another thing and said “Ye” and then hoped that whatever came wasn’t totally disgusting. Ha!
I was also the woman who was TERRIFIED of taking a taxi because I just felt so lost and vulnerable. I didn’t want to get into a cab with my son and not be able to tell him where I needed to go. I didn’t know how to say it at all. I wandered around on my first weekend here (also known as my 40th birthday), lost and unable to find the Qing Gai (LRT) that everyone said was ‘just over there” and ended up going nowhere. If I had gone a few feet more instead of turning around I would have found the Market. However, I didn’t find that until 2 weeks later. Now I am able to figure out what on the menu probably isn’t going to be terrible. I now know how to ask to go to multiple places in a taxi as well as get to the Qing Gai and when I get there, I know how to use it to get elsewhere. I figured out how to get a Qing Gai card ALL BY MYSELF and also found the Market by myself. I have had some new friends show me things I couldn’t figure out myself and have learned, despite my long, hard-to-break-habit of NOT asking for help, how to get people to come with me so it’s not quite as terrifying the first time. That in itself is a big move for me. I am desperately independent and have worked extremely hard my whole life to NOT be pathetic and to avoid being the stereotype of a single parent. “I am NOT lost, I do NOT need help,I do NOT need anyone” I scream in my head when I feel the most vulnerable. It doesn’t really work when moving to a new country when you cant speak a word of Chinese.
I have to say that one of the benefits of being an ex-pat is learning how to rely on people and discovering just how nice people are at their core, usually. I think when you are in a community of expats it’s easier to pull together. Since I’ve been here I have seen a few people go through really hard things. One person had some scary health problems, another broke her foot and has to hobble around on crutches and is trying very hard to be brave but it’s hard to be hurt and in another country, far away from family and friends and reliable health care. However, I have seen those same people helping each other in a way that would never have happened back ‘home’ because everyone would be so busy with their own things and would expect that one’s family and friends would help.
On another track entirely, one of the nice things about being in China and away from North America is the LACK of bad, scary news that happens in abundance in Canada. I knew we were under constant barrage of bad news but didn’t realize how QUIET the lack thereof would be. I don’t hear about the recent stabbings or shootings in Toronto, Surrey or wherever. I don’t hear about news I have no control over and can’t possible help with and yet frightens me and makes me afraid of my neighbours. It’s nice to not hear that chattering anymore of the 24 hour, constant bad-news-source.
Another good thing about China is the food. It is delicious! I am going to really miss Chinese food when I get back to Canada this summer. The Chinese food they serve us in Canada is not real Chinese food because it is not delicious in the same way at all. I will also miss how cheap everything is. I know that copyright is important…yadda yadda…but I do delight that I can buy “Dr Dre’s” headphones for cheaper than the cheapest headphones in Canada go for. (They aren’t real of course, but they look real!) I have also seen very real looking Prada, Gucci and many other looks-real knock offs.
Well…I meant to say a lot more stuff in this post. I feel guilty that I am ignoring my blog since I really thought it was important when I started it. It’s annoying to try and get photos on here so I have neglected it a little. I am also annoyed with the spam I get every time I post. I will try harder, I promise!
Monday, August 1, 2016
Beijing - May 3, 2013
We just got back yesterday from Beijing. It was just as crowded as I thought it would be but what a rush to be in such a huge city that is so famous! We went to Tienanmen Square, the Forbidden City, The Great Wall, and the Beijing Zoo. We also visited a government jade store, a government silk factory and had a tea ceremony at a government tea store. The last few were all part of a tour package where the tour is very cheap ($18 CAD each) but they take you to government stores to sell you things to pay for it. I think the tour guides get a commission from it. It was an experience.
Of all the places we went, the Great Wall was definitely my favourite. It was quite a rush to get to the top. We chose the hardest climb, the Badaling portion, because I heard the view was better at the top. If I ever do it again we will definitely take a gondola down though. My legs are more sore from the climb down than the one up! The entire climb I was so impressed with my little son, he was such a trooper! He also got a lot of attention from everyone, as always. He has had hundreds of photos taken with various Chinese people who seem very interested in photographing a foreign child.
The worst part of our trip was the Zoo. I wouldn’t recommend it for any animal lovers. All zoos are a bit inhumane anyway but this one was worse in a few ways. First of all, people bang on the glass cages to drive the animals crazy. They also throw garbage at them to see what will happen. I saw a lady dribbling coke down a wall of a bear enclosure, giving the grizzly bear a drink. I thought the behaviour of the visitors was appalling. Some of the conditions were pretty awful too. The polar bears were kept in an enclosure that was painted white and blue but it was so hot outside that day. The air conditioning was two windows that were propped open a bit. I know that polar bear fur is designed to keep the heat in so I felt so sorry for those bears. The camels were in awful condition too. The fur was falling out in clumps, matted and dirty and their humps were completely fallen over. Anyway, I think it’s turned me off going to zoos for a long time.
To be in Tienanmen Square was interesting. There were so many people that day and security officers everywhere. We went through several security checkpoints to get in the square. I’m glad we went to see it. walking in downtown Beijing afterwards was neat too. So many people!!
Well…two more days and we go back to work. I have heard that the next two months will fly by and then we will be home in Canada for the summer. I look forward to being able to read the cereal boxes again although I do NOT look forward to paying Canadian prices for everything!
Here are some photos to tide you over until next time: ;)
Of all the places we went, the Great Wall was definitely my favourite. It was quite a rush to get to the top. We chose the hardest climb, the Badaling portion, because I heard the view was better at the top. If I ever do it again we will definitely take a gondola down though. My legs are more sore from the climb down than the one up! The entire climb I was so impressed with my little son, he was such a trooper! He also got a lot of attention from everyone, as always. He has had hundreds of photos taken with various Chinese people who seem very interested in photographing a foreign child.
The worst part of our trip was the Zoo. I wouldn’t recommend it for any animal lovers. All zoos are a bit inhumane anyway but this one was worse in a few ways. First of all, people bang on the glass cages to drive the animals crazy. They also throw garbage at them to see what will happen. I saw a lady dribbling coke down a wall of a bear enclosure, giving the grizzly bear a drink. I thought the behaviour of the visitors was appalling. Some of the conditions were pretty awful too. The polar bears were kept in an enclosure that was painted white and blue but it was so hot outside that day. The air conditioning was two windows that were propped open a bit. I know that polar bear fur is designed to keep the heat in so I felt so sorry for those bears. The camels were in awful condition too. The fur was falling out in clumps, matted and dirty and their humps were completely fallen over. Anyway, I think it’s turned me off going to zoos for a long time.
To be in Tienanmen Square was interesting. There were so many people that day and security officers everywhere. We went through several security checkpoints to get in the square. I’m glad we went to see it. walking in downtown Beijing afterwards was neat too. So many people!!
Well…two more days and we go back to work. I have heard that the next two months will fly by and then we will be home in Canada for the summer. I look forward to being able to read the cereal boxes again although I do NOT look forward to paying Canadian prices for everything!
Here are some photos to tide you over until next time: ;)
Beijing here we come! -April 27, 2013
Well we’ve only been in China for a month and a bit and already we have a holiday! China doesn’t have long weekends like North America but they do have a few really long holidays. In October and May there are national holidays (A week long for us), in February we get 5 weeks off but I think the national holiday is actually only 4 weeks. We work a lot of Saturdays in order to have these holidays. Then for the teachers, we also get the summers to go back to Canada, see our families, take professional development courses, etc. So a lot of time off…it’s nice.
Brogan and I are planning on going to Beijing. We were going to go to the Gobi Desert but I keep hearing that my language abilities thus far are not developed enough to travel that far inland so it’s better if we go to a more international place. In the Gobi there will be no one who can speak English. Most of the time here in Jinshitan that isn’t a problem because I know where I’m going and can point it out to a cab, or point at something on the menu and hope it’s good. The problem with going so far away with no Chinese language is that if something goes awry, it will be difficult to get help. So I will wait until I know Mandarin more and go next year. Oh but we wanted to ride a camel so much! :)
We are still loving it here. There are things I don’t love of course. The horking is kinda gross, the way people paw at Brogan is annoying and sometimes I feel like Im a zoo animal on display. People do not seem to think it’s rude to poke your child, or take photos of you without your consent, or point at you and talk about you while you are right there (oh yes, I may not understand your language but I know when you are talking about me! Duh) I also don’t love when I need something but really can’t ask for it and my hand gestures aren’t working. I get frustrated easily sometimes because there is just no way to communicate when even the hand gestures are different.
There are things that are good though: food, movies and shoes are super cheap. I bought real running shoes yesterday for 150 RMB which is less than $40 CAD. In Canada they would have been $150. We eat out all the time and rarely pay more than $6 Canadian for our meal. Rarely I have paid 100RMB ($18) but that was for an all-you-can-eat Thai buffet. I bought an entire season of a TV show the other day for 45 RMB and most of the movies were 15 RMB (So around $2) Life is a little free-er here too. Alcohol doesn’t seem to be restricted too much, you can walk down the street drinking a beer for example. Alcohol is for sale everywhere. People smoke in restaurants and although I don’t like being exposed to the smoke when I’m eating, I appreciate the fact that they are allowed to. Living as an ex pat is really awesome. Here we have a community of Canadian teachers who really help each other out. We all know what it’s like to live in a foreign country and how alone you can feel so they really come through for you when you need them. Most people here are fairly nice to us and they all LOVE Brogan. He has learned that if he smiles at the teenage girls when they take his picture, they give him candy. He often comes home with his pockets stuffed full of candy. He even takes his hat off when they get close because he knows they love his blonde, soft hair. It annoys him sometimes when they surround him but I think he secretly loves the attention. He does NOT love it when old ladies poke at him and has told a couple of them off (“Get your hands off of me”, he yelled when someone pinched his cheek one day)
I am excited about Beijing and also a little nervous. It’s such a huge city! I know so little Chinese and I have never been there. A bit scary. I also have to find my way to the airport, hoping that I can ask a taxi to take me there when I get to Dalian off the subway/train from Jinshitan. I worry about pickpockets, which are in abundance in big cities like that. I worry about losing my son, or getting hopelessly lost, or any of the other crappy things that can happen when travelling to a new place. However, it is one of the biggest cities in the world. It’s probably incredibly crowded and dynamic and I am excited about seeing a piece of the world that I have only seen photos of.
Anyway, I will let you know how it goes and hopefully have some photos to show.
G
Brogan and I are planning on going to Beijing. We were going to go to the Gobi Desert but I keep hearing that my language abilities thus far are not developed enough to travel that far inland so it’s better if we go to a more international place. In the Gobi there will be no one who can speak English. Most of the time here in Jinshitan that isn’t a problem because I know where I’m going and can point it out to a cab, or point at something on the menu and hope it’s good. The problem with going so far away with no Chinese language is that if something goes awry, it will be difficult to get help. So I will wait until I know Mandarin more and go next year. Oh but we wanted to ride a camel so much! :)
We are still loving it here. There are things I don’t love of course. The horking is kinda gross, the way people paw at Brogan is annoying and sometimes I feel like Im a zoo animal on display. People do not seem to think it’s rude to poke your child, or take photos of you without your consent, or point at you and talk about you while you are right there (oh yes, I may not understand your language but I know when you are talking about me! Duh) I also don’t love when I need something but really can’t ask for it and my hand gestures aren’t working. I get frustrated easily sometimes because there is just no way to communicate when even the hand gestures are different.
There are things that are good though: food, movies and shoes are super cheap. I bought real running shoes yesterday for 150 RMB which is less than $40 CAD. In Canada they would have been $150. We eat out all the time and rarely pay more than $6 Canadian for our meal. Rarely I have paid 100RMB ($18) but that was for an all-you-can-eat Thai buffet. I bought an entire season of a TV show the other day for 45 RMB and most of the movies were 15 RMB (So around $2) Life is a little free-er here too. Alcohol doesn’t seem to be restricted too much, you can walk down the street drinking a beer for example. Alcohol is for sale everywhere. People smoke in restaurants and although I don’t like being exposed to the smoke when I’m eating, I appreciate the fact that they are allowed to. Living as an ex pat is really awesome. Here we have a community of Canadian teachers who really help each other out. We all know what it’s like to live in a foreign country and how alone you can feel so they really come through for you when you need them. Most people here are fairly nice to us and they all LOVE Brogan. He has learned that if he smiles at the teenage girls when they take his picture, they give him candy. He often comes home with his pockets stuffed full of candy. He even takes his hat off when they get close because he knows they love his blonde, soft hair. It annoys him sometimes when they surround him but I think he secretly loves the attention. He does NOT love it when old ladies poke at him and has told a couple of them off (“Get your hands off of me”, he yelled when someone pinched his cheek one day)
I am excited about Beijing and also a little nervous. It’s such a huge city! I know so little Chinese and I have never been there. A bit scary. I also have to find my way to the airport, hoping that I can ask a taxi to take me there when I get to Dalian off the subway/train from Jinshitan. I worry about pickpockets, which are in abundance in big cities like that. I worry about losing my son, or getting hopelessly lost, or any of the other crappy things that can happen when travelling to a new place. However, it is one of the biggest cities in the world. It’s probably incredibly crowded and dynamic and I am excited about seeing a piece of the world that I have only seen photos of.
Anyway, I will let you know how it goes and hopefully have some photos to show.
G
A month! -April 20, 2013
I marvel how fast time can fly sometimes. Time in Nunavut was draaaggggiiinnnggg on forever but here it’s just flying! Part of it is that this experience is very far from boring. It is quite challenging but in a way that engages your entire mind.
I am a little more used to things now and have even learned how to get back from the train station to my house using a cab with my very limited Chinese. ( My pronunciation must be just horrible because they keep asking me to say it again.) I think it’s the tones…maybe I’m not saying it using the right tone and it means something else. I can also say “no spicy’ at a restaurant, ask ‘how much’ at the market and say ‘too expensive’ when I want to bargain. I was lucky to have a friend teach me all the numbers before I left Canada so that has been an obstacle I don’t have to leap over since I’ve been here.
One of the big challenges since I’ve been here (aside from language) is to find things that I need. Recently it has been a heater. They turn the heat off on April 1st and it was FREEZING in here. My hands were constantly cold everywhere I went and I was really, really tired of being cold. (They turn the heat off in the schools too, of course) I even considered asking for a transfer to Wuhan for next year purely for the heat, despite the fact that I’ve been told I wouldn’t like it there (although no one has given me a good reason why I wouldn’t like it) However, the other day I ran to the market in between work and picking up my son and after running through quickly before they closed, I found them! Heaters! I almost cried on the way out of that store. I probably paid way too much for them but I didn’t care…I would have paid almost anything to be warm again. Another thing I hadn’t been able to find was plastic or silicone spatulas. I bought a frying pan with a non-stick coating and have only seen metal spatulas since then. A little thing but oh-so-annoying! Yesterday I went to Dalian to Ikea and finally found one! Next thing I’m looking for is a drain cleaner for clogged kitchen or bathroom sinks. My bathroom sink is partially blocked and I want to unclog it myself. I have looked everywhere to no avail yet. Oh I miss Canadian Tire so much!!
That being said, there are more good things than bad, even now. The food is still absolutely delicious, the people are mostly nice and helpful, everything is still new and interesting and we are having a great time. In a week (only four weeks since I started working here), there is a week long holiday. My son and I are going to go to Beijing since I found cheap tickets and cheap hotels (compared to North America, that is). We are staying for four nights and I can’t wait to see one of the busiest, biggest cities on Earth on a major national holiday. I know…I know…there are going to be moments when I regret this decision but I think there will be pretty cool moments too.
With that I leave you some more photos and hope everyone is having fun wherever they are!
I am a little more used to things now and have even learned how to get back from the train station to my house using a cab with my very limited Chinese. ( My pronunciation must be just horrible because they keep asking me to say it again.) I think it’s the tones…maybe I’m not saying it using the right tone and it means something else. I can also say “no spicy’ at a restaurant, ask ‘how much’ at the market and say ‘too expensive’ when I want to bargain. I was lucky to have a friend teach me all the numbers before I left Canada so that has been an obstacle I don’t have to leap over since I’ve been here.
One of the big challenges since I’ve been here (aside from language) is to find things that I need. Recently it has been a heater. They turn the heat off on April 1st and it was FREEZING in here. My hands were constantly cold everywhere I went and I was really, really tired of being cold. (They turn the heat off in the schools too, of course) I even considered asking for a transfer to Wuhan for next year purely for the heat, despite the fact that I’ve been told I wouldn’t like it there (although no one has given me a good reason why I wouldn’t like it) However, the other day I ran to the market in between work and picking up my son and after running through quickly before they closed, I found them! Heaters! I almost cried on the way out of that store. I probably paid way too much for them but I didn’t care…I would have paid almost anything to be warm again. Another thing I hadn’t been able to find was plastic or silicone spatulas. I bought a frying pan with a non-stick coating and have only seen metal spatulas since then. A little thing but oh-so-annoying! Yesterday I went to Dalian to Ikea and finally found one! Next thing I’m looking for is a drain cleaner for clogged kitchen or bathroom sinks. My bathroom sink is partially blocked and I want to unclog it myself. I have looked everywhere to no avail yet. Oh I miss Canadian Tire so much!!
That being said, there are more good things than bad, even now. The food is still absolutely delicious, the people are mostly nice and helpful, everything is still new and interesting and we are having a great time. In a week (only four weeks since I started working here), there is a week long holiday. My son and I are going to go to Beijing since I found cheap tickets and cheap hotels (compared to North America, that is). We are staying for four nights and I can’t wait to see one of the busiest, biggest cities on Earth on a major national holiday. I know…I know…there are going to be moments when I regret this decision but I think there will be pretty cool moments too.
With that I leave you some more photos and hope everyone is having fun wherever they are!
We have arrived! - March 29, 2013
Well we have finally arrived in China! After over a month long waiting period for my visa to come in, it finally came and less than a week later, we were on a plane. Brogan was ecstatic, he finally got to see the place I have been talking about for months.
Actually, we arrived over a week ago but my life has been a whirlwind of activity. We had to get all the household stuff which is a HUGE deal when you don’t know where anything is and you can’t speak the language. I was lucky because one of the Chinese staff members at the school took pity on me and drove me in his CAR to Kaifachu (a nearby city to where I live in Jinshitan-suburb of Dalian) to go shopping at a British owned stored called Tesco. There we loaded up his car with bedding, dishes, etc. The necessities. That was a few days after we arrived so before that we had relied on the charity of other teachers who lent us bedding, dishes and all the other stuff one needs to live in an apartment.
We got lucky in a lot of ways before we even came. The principal (who has been AMAZING) insisted on holding one of the apartments on the girls campus for us. Apparently, there is a waiting list a mile long for these apartments and the people who live on the older boys campus are not too happy that I was able to jump the queue. This apartment comes with a western toilet, a fridge, TV, furniture and it’s WARM. That is a big deal around here because there isn’t central heating so apartments are often quite chilly.
Here are some of the oddities of living in China:
-Pedestrians DO NOT have the right of way. Even if THEY are the ones with the green light. Never assume a car will stop. In fact, assume that it won’t. (Because it won’t)
-Always carry along tissue paper because absolutely no bathrooms have it. Even the bathrooms at the school don’t have toilet paper in them. We are lucky to have western toilets, to be honest. There is no such thing as towels for hand drying either. Drip drying is where it’s at!
-The food is delicious. We are SO getting ripped off in North America with Chinese food.
-No one speaks English except the westerners and some of the students. Taxi drivers, waitresses, store managers. NO ONE. It can get a little frustrating if you really need something because you are totally on your own to figure it out. I really need to learn the language
-All the stuff at the grocery store is in a different language. So I do a lot of guessing. Is this sugar or salt? Pop or juice? Flour or something else? It’s a big guessing game. It’s the same at a restaurant. I point at something and hope it’s not gross or something I’m allergic to (fish). So far we’ve been really lucky with the guessing.
-Chinese desserts are boring. They aren’t very sweet and they aren’t really anything. The wine hasn’t been good so far either (although I haven’t tried very many)
-Things are CHEAP!!! I still can’t get over paying 4 RMB for a meal (That is way less than a dollar). Taking Brogan out for dinner NEVER costs me more than $8 (50RMB) Canadian. It’s almost cheaper to eat out than at home here. Cabs are cheap too, at 8RMB (about $1.30) for anywhere in this town.
-People hork and spit everywhere and it’s kind of gross. Even business men and women with fancy suits will hork onto the street right beside you.I think different things are gross here.
– Some things that we think are rude don’t seem to be to them. They will think nothing of coming up and POKING Brogan. Good job he is such a character because he tells them off.
-I had a lady hold her nose near me as if I stank and apparently that is what they do when they are racist and showing that they don’t like us. Rude!
-It hasn’t been as crowded as I thought it would be. However, I haven’t gone to a place like Beijing yet either.
-I have seen trucks full of seaweed going by. I think a lot of these huge truck loads end up in our food.
-Food safety doesn’t seem to be a big deal here. Brogan and I haven’t gotten sick from it yet but quite a few are a little squeamish about it. One of the long-time people (been here for a few years) was shocked when they found out their two year old daughter had been eating yogurt with melamine in it a year ago or so. They had been buying expensive yogurt to try and avoid that kind of thing. They are REALLY careful now.
-The rules seem to be…negotiable sometimes. For example: the law says you cannot drink alcohol until you are 18 but no one checks ID and there are no agencies that make sure the merchants are checking. Same with cigarettes.
-There are absolutely hilarious chip flavours here. Prawn, strawberry, cucumber to name a few.
-I am lucky to be living in a town that isn’t very polluted. It’s very windy here though.
There are lots more things, I’m sure. I just can’t think of anymore as I sit here. We have also only been here a week so I’m sure there will be more revelations to come. So far I really love this huge school and am glad I came here. It’s different from anything I’ve ever done or seen and very exciting. Sometimes I’m walking around and it hits me, “Im in CHINA!”
Presently we are in the process of choosing our destination for the week long May vacation. It’s very hard to choose!
As soon as I can, I will upload some photos you will enjoy. Right now I am having trouble with the application because my internet is too slow.
Actually, we arrived over a week ago but my life has been a whirlwind of activity. We had to get all the household stuff which is a HUGE deal when you don’t know where anything is and you can’t speak the language. I was lucky because one of the Chinese staff members at the school took pity on me and drove me in his CAR to Kaifachu (a nearby city to where I live in Jinshitan-suburb of Dalian) to go shopping at a British owned stored called Tesco. There we loaded up his car with bedding, dishes, etc. The necessities. That was a few days after we arrived so before that we had relied on the charity of other teachers who lent us bedding, dishes and all the other stuff one needs to live in an apartment.
We got lucky in a lot of ways before we even came. The principal (who has been AMAZING) insisted on holding one of the apartments on the girls campus for us. Apparently, there is a waiting list a mile long for these apartments and the people who live on the older boys campus are not too happy that I was able to jump the queue. This apartment comes with a western toilet, a fridge, TV, furniture and it’s WARM. That is a big deal around here because there isn’t central heating so apartments are often quite chilly.
Here are some of the oddities of living in China:
-Pedestrians DO NOT have the right of way. Even if THEY are the ones with the green light. Never assume a car will stop. In fact, assume that it won’t. (Because it won’t)
-Always carry along tissue paper because absolutely no bathrooms have it. Even the bathrooms at the school don’t have toilet paper in them. We are lucky to have western toilets, to be honest. There is no such thing as towels for hand drying either. Drip drying is where it’s at!
-The food is delicious. We are SO getting ripped off in North America with Chinese food.
-No one speaks English except the westerners and some of the students. Taxi drivers, waitresses, store managers. NO ONE. It can get a little frustrating if you really need something because you are totally on your own to figure it out. I really need to learn the language
-All the stuff at the grocery store is in a different language. So I do a lot of guessing. Is this sugar or salt? Pop or juice? Flour or something else? It’s a big guessing game. It’s the same at a restaurant. I point at something and hope it’s not gross or something I’m allergic to (fish). So far we’ve been really lucky with the guessing.
-Chinese desserts are boring. They aren’t very sweet and they aren’t really anything. The wine hasn’t been good so far either (although I haven’t tried very many)
-Things are CHEAP!!! I still can’t get over paying 4 RMB for a meal (That is way less than a dollar). Taking Brogan out for dinner NEVER costs me more than $8 (50RMB) Canadian. It’s almost cheaper to eat out than at home here. Cabs are cheap too, at 8RMB (about $1.30) for anywhere in this town.
-People hork and spit everywhere and it’s kind of gross. Even business men and women with fancy suits will hork onto the street right beside you.I think different things are gross here.
– Some things that we think are rude don’t seem to be to them. They will think nothing of coming up and POKING Brogan. Good job he is such a character because he tells them off.
-I had a lady hold her nose near me as if I stank and apparently that is what they do when they are racist and showing that they don’t like us. Rude!
-It hasn’t been as crowded as I thought it would be. However, I haven’t gone to a place like Beijing yet either.
-I have seen trucks full of seaweed going by. I think a lot of these huge truck loads end up in our food.
-Food safety doesn’t seem to be a big deal here. Brogan and I haven’t gotten sick from it yet but quite a few are a little squeamish about it. One of the long-time people (been here for a few years) was shocked when they found out their two year old daughter had been eating yogurt with melamine in it a year ago or so. They had been buying expensive yogurt to try and avoid that kind of thing. They are REALLY careful now.
-The rules seem to be…negotiable sometimes. For example: the law says you cannot drink alcohol until you are 18 but no one checks ID and there are no agencies that make sure the merchants are checking. Same with cigarettes.
-There are absolutely hilarious chip flavours here. Prawn, strawberry, cucumber to name a few.
-I am lucky to be living in a town that isn’t very polluted. It’s very windy here though.
There are lots more things, I’m sure. I just can’t think of anymore as I sit here. We have also only been here a week so I’m sure there will be more revelations to come. So far I really love this huge school and am glad I came here. It’s different from anything I’ve ever done or seen and very exciting. Sometimes I’m walking around and it hits me, “Im in CHINA!”
Presently we are in the process of choosing our destination for the week long May vacation. It’s very hard to choose!
As soon as I can, I will upload some photos you will enjoy. Right now I am having trouble with the application because my internet is too slow.
Last Weekend in Canada!! - March 16, 2013
It’s finally here! The moment has arrived and I am a mere two sleeps from leaving for China! My son is so excited he is having trouble going to sleep. I decided to come online and share my thoughts at these last moments. (Wouldn’t you know, this is the moment my Apple keyboard decides to die on me).
It seems like a really long wait although Im sure I won’t remember it that way. Last week I spent my time working as a substitute in a grade four class just to keep myself from going crazy (and my bank account from going to zero, truth be told). At least this wait let me get all my vaccinations up to date. (Ouch!). I’ve gotten caught up on my course work (Im taking an Additional Qualification course from an Ontario university) and even studied the courses Im teaching (English 11 and Intro to English Lit). I feel ready to go!
On the other hand, this is when all the insecurities come out too. Am I really ready for this? Will I be strong enough and flexible enough to handle this, these changes? Will I be able to stay positive when things are going wrong? Having recently failed in the “stay strong” department in the great Canadian arctic, I now have new doubts about my abilities to handle “anything”. The scary thing really is that I don’t know. I don’t know what’s coming even though I’ve done my best to arm myself with knowledge. Never having been overseas, I don’t know if I can handle it. I don’t know if I will fall back on negativity when things go awry. I will have to find out the hard way.
From all this it may sound like I already have given myself over to doubts, fears, and negativity. However, most of the time I haven’t. Here’s what I think about most of the time: I will get to meet adventurous people like me. I will get to see and understand the oldest surviving culture on the planet. I get to discover one of my dreams, to travel-teach throughout the world, my journey is just starting. Almost everything I’ve learned about myself so far has told me I can handle another culture shock and will come out stronger. I will gain a new perspective on the world and world events.
I will hopefully be able to answer these two questions: 1) where is world education going and what is the essential goal of it all? 2) a more personal question, “Why am I doing this?” About the last one: I have been trying to answer this one for years. I read some books about the “Power of Why” and other articles about the question “Why?” being the most important question in anything. However, if I’m honest with myself I don’t really know WHY I’m driven to explore this world and its people.
One of my friends tonight asked “Why ask why?”. I feel that is a deep philosophical question, best left to hindsight but provoking much thought along the way.
I will let you, my readers, know about my progress in answering these questions throughout my journey.
Next time hopefully I will be writing from China!
It seems like a really long wait although Im sure I won’t remember it that way. Last week I spent my time working as a substitute in a grade four class just to keep myself from going crazy (and my bank account from going to zero, truth be told). At least this wait let me get all my vaccinations up to date. (Ouch!). I’ve gotten caught up on my course work (Im taking an Additional Qualification course from an Ontario university) and even studied the courses Im teaching (English 11 and Intro to English Lit). I feel ready to go!
On the other hand, this is when all the insecurities come out too. Am I really ready for this? Will I be strong enough and flexible enough to handle this, these changes? Will I be able to stay positive when things are going wrong? Having recently failed in the “stay strong” department in the great Canadian arctic, I now have new doubts about my abilities to handle “anything”. The scary thing really is that I don’t know. I don’t know what’s coming even though I’ve done my best to arm myself with knowledge. Never having been overseas, I don’t know if I can handle it. I don’t know if I will fall back on negativity when things go awry. I will have to find out the hard way.
From all this it may sound like I already have given myself over to doubts, fears, and negativity. However, most of the time I haven’t. Here’s what I think about most of the time: I will get to meet adventurous people like me. I will get to see and understand the oldest surviving culture on the planet. I get to discover one of my dreams, to travel-teach throughout the world, my journey is just starting. Almost everything I’ve learned about myself so far has told me I can handle another culture shock and will come out stronger. I will gain a new perspective on the world and world events.
I will hopefully be able to answer these two questions: 1) where is world education going and what is the essential goal of it all? 2) a more personal question, “Why am I doing this?” About the last one: I have been trying to answer this one for years. I read some books about the “Power of Why” and other articles about the question “Why?” being the most important question in anything. However, if I’m honest with myself I don’t really know WHY I’m driven to explore this world and its people.
One of my friends tonight asked “Why ask why?”. I feel that is a deep philosophical question, best left to hindsight but provoking much thought along the way.
I will let you, my readers, know about my progress in answering these questions throughout my journey.
Next time hopefully I will be writing from China!
Still waiting but here's a list - February 26, 2013
I’m still waiting to hear when I leave but as far as I know, all paperwork has been submitted, I just need to wait until the cogs of the machinery that issues work visas has fully turned. Apparently, once all the paperwork arrives from China we will be leaving the NEXT DAY. So when it happens, it will happen fast.
Since I don’t have any exciting photos of Japan and China to show you, I thought I would write about what I have learned about what I should expect when I get there. Here are the things that will be different:
-There are no ovens in China. If I want to do something silly like bake, I should buy a toaster oven from Ikea.
-There are Ikea and Walmart stores in Dalian where we are moving! Also KFC, McDonalds, and Starbucks. Will be VERY different from going to the Arctic. However, I’m told those stores are not stocked the same as in North America.
– Very few people will speak English so if we want to go somewhere, ride a train or take a taxi, we need to know at least some Mandarin. I know this is one of those obvious things about moving to another country but it boggles the mind to think of standing in a place where absolutely no one can speak your language. Very exciting!
-Bargaining. When going to a market, it’s expected that you will bargain for items. I have been told to offer a third of the asking price because they have already put up the price as I approached because of my foreigner status. I should bargain for about half of the price. I have learned all my Mandarin numbers already, thanks to a Chinese friend here in BC.
-Food will be different. There are some things that will be hard to get (I’m thinking bread, given that there are no ovens.) But eating out is very cheap and going to the street markets even cheaper. Northeast China has a different cuisine than southern China or western China. Those meat sticks that you find at the summer night market are popular, so is spicy squid on a stick. Roasted duck and steamed pork buns are available. However, the really spicy foods are found in northwestern China and dimsum is a Cantonese thing in the southern part.
-It will be CROWDED. I probably can’t even really imagine how much. The Olympic game crowd in Vancouver x 100?
-There are no line-ups in China. People push and elbow their way to the front of the queue instead of waiting in a line-up. Being the typical polite Canadian will get me nowhere with no ticket.
– You can’t get certain things that are easy to get here: over the counter pain medication, cold remedies,Tide sticks, tampons, deodorant, etc. Good to know before I leave since I am bringing these things with me.
-Doing illegal and stupid things like selling drugs or breaking other laws can get you KILLED, not just incarcerated, in China.
-There are almost no clothes dryers there so drying your clothing is by hanging them.
-The hot water tanks are very small in China so long showers and baths are out. Often the showers are in the actual bathroom, not a separate compartment in the bathroom.
-Travel is cheaper in China. You can get a “soft sleeper” car train ticket for $70 and that the expensive ticket price! If you want to go with a ‘hard sleeper’ you can pay as little as $30 to travel across the country. Given that my son wants to visit the Gobi desert in May, this is good info to know.
-There are lots of pickpockets in China. Since you have to carry your documents on you at all times, I had to buy one of those ‘under the clothes’ pockets to keep stuff in so if I get robbed we don’t have to worry about getting new passports.
-The school I have chosen to work at has a very good reputation both in the international community, in China itself and among ex pat teachers who are working in other countries. Recent press in BC hasn’t been very favourable but that seems to be coming from only a few individual teachers in another city that were, perhaps, unprepared for teaching overseas.
I can’t think of anything else right now but I think that is a good list to get my readers started.
Thanks for reading!
Since I don’t have any exciting photos of Japan and China to show you, I thought I would write about what I have learned about what I should expect when I get there. Here are the things that will be different:
-There are no ovens in China. If I want to do something silly like bake, I should buy a toaster oven from Ikea.
-There are Ikea and Walmart stores in Dalian where we are moving! Also KFC, McDonalds, and Starbucks. Will be VERY different from going to the Arctic. However, I’m told those stores are not stocked the same as in North America.
– Very few people will speak English so if we want to go somewhere, ride a train or take a taxi, we need to know at least some Mandarin. I know this is one of those obvious things about moving to another country but it boggles the mind to think of standing in a place where absolutely no one can speak your language. Very exciting!
-Bargaining. When going to a market, it’s expected that you will bargain for items. I have been told to offer a third of the asking price because they have already put up the price as I approached because of my foreigner status. I should bargain for about half of the price. I have learned all my Mandarin numbers already, thanks to a Chinese friend here in BC.
-Food will be different. There are some things that will be hard to get (I’m thinking bread, given that there are no ovens.) But eating out is very cheap and going to the street markets even cheaper. Northeast China has a different cuisine than southern China or western China. Those meat sticks that you find at the summer night market are popular, so is spicy squid on a stick. Roasted duck and steamed pork buns are available. However, the really spicy foods are found in northwestern China and dimsum is a Cantonese thing in the southern part.
-It will be CROWDED. I probably can’t even really imagine how much. The Olympic game crowd in Vancouver x 100?
-There are no line-ups in China. People push and elbow their way to the front of the queue instead of waiting in a line-up. Being the typical polite Canadian will get me nowhere with no ticket.
– You can’t get certain things that are easy to get here: over the counter pain medication, cold remedies,Tide sticks, tampons, deodorant, etc. Good to know before I leave since I am bringing these things with me.
-Doing illegal and stupid things like selling drugs or breaking other laws can get you KILLED, not just incarcerated, in China.
-There are almost no clothes dryers there so drying your clothing is by hanging them.
-The hot water tanks are very small in China so long showers and baths are out. Often the showers are in the actual bathroom, not a separate compartment in the bathroom.
-Travel is cheaper in China. You can get a “soft sleeper” car train ticket for $70 and that the expensive ticket price! If you want to go with a ‘hard sleeper’ you can pay as little as $30 to travel across the country. Given that my son wants to visit the Gobi desert in May, this is good info to know.
-There are lots of pickpockets in China. Since you have to carry your documents on you at all times, I had to buy one of those ‘under the clothes’ pockets to keep stuff in so if I get robbed we don’t have to worry about getting new passports.
-The school I have chosen to work at has a very good reputation both in the international community, in China itself and among ex pat teachers who are working in other countries. Recent press in BC hasn’t been very favourable but that seems to be coming from only a few individual teachers in another city that were, perhaps, unprepared for teaching overseas.
I can’t think of anything else right now but I think that is a good list to get my readers started.
Thanks for reading!
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