Hello CHINA.....

Hello China!!! Wow. I am here. This is the first time I have had a chance to sit down and reflect on what has happened in the last week! It's all a bit surreal but also a massive slap in the face of my new reality.

It took me 5 flights and a train ride to get from my last holiday destination in Rome to Cangzhou, China. It was crazy and hectic. With minutes to spare in Prague to catch my flight, going to the wrong airport in Shanghai (who lands you at one international and expects you to take off from another across the city? Haha), delays to get to Beijing to meet my school, and taking the wrong direction on the train a million times - I finally made it to Cangzhou. Exhausted. But never-the-less there was more action in store. I was greeted at the station by my new Language School family who were so excited to meet me, feed me, carry my bags and overwhelm me with details of my new life. They are so lovely though and I am very blessed to have been placed in a school that is so caring and loving.

I arrived at my new apartment expecting some run down, shabby Chinese hut from the communist era. But instead I found myself in a pretty sweet two bedroom with all new furniture and appliances AND a western toilet. I was definitely shocked but appreciative. It has its drawbacks…like the weakest water pressure in the world and water heated by the sun….so you can only shower if it has been a sunny day. A kitchen that is far from inviting…but a bit of work will get it in better shape. Oh, and the bench comes up to about my knees! Haha! Just the perfect size for the Chinese!! But all in all it is a pretty sweet place and I am very appreciative for the effort my boss has gone to to make it comfortable.

I started teaching straight away!! The very next day I was thrown in the deep end. The previous teacher's visa isn't right at the moment so he can't teach but he did give me a quick run down and assisted with the classroom management. Since then his visa has been fixed and he will be staying so we will most likely share classes. And there is a waiting list of about 100 kids to join the school so we will have more than enough classes to take care of. The kids are amazing. I am in love with them already! They are so crazy and energetic but also typically Chinese in the fact they learn what they have been taught. I teach kids from young as 3 to as old as 14. It is unbelievable. I also teach at night and on weekends only which means these kids are studying at school and then coming to language school after and school on weekends. They are such hard workers. That is to be said about every Chinese person I have met. They are workaholics. So busy just getting by.
Someone said the other day the reason they do it is there is so much competition for jobs that if they don't, someone else will. So they work themselves to the bone seven days a week and that is life.

As for me, I am quite lucky in the fact I only teach every week night (except Tuesday - day off) and on the weekends all weekend. So I have every weekday off and that will be a blessing when it comes time to start my study again. I won't know what to do. I have never had so much time on my hands to concentrate on uni. So I am pretty stoked about that. But I feel kind of lazy in comparison to the Chinese.

I have been so lucky in that I have three Chinese teacher assistants that help me pretty much to live. If I need anything or to go anywhere they are there to help me out. Until I am confident enough to make it on my own out there they just get on there little electric bikes and come see me. Right now, the language barrier is the hardest thing so they are there to translate for me when needed.

Cangzhou is far from beautiful. It is a small developed city but it is just buildings and a dirty exterior. There is no nature or things of interest. However, it is fascinating and the culture is amazing.
The TRAFFIC is amazing. No wonder we think Asians are bad drivers…because THEY ARE!! The traffic doesn't adhere to ANY rules….they just honk their horn all the time and cut in where they see fit. It is each taxi driver, moped rider, bicycle rider for themselves. Crossing the road has become a skill I have mastered very quickly. But I am pretty lucky because I am western they usually just slow down to stare or stop out of respect and I quickly make my escape! :)

I am definitely the local circus attraction. Every one wants a ticket to the show. There are barely any westerners in Cangzhou and western influence is very minimal. Not to mention the lack of English speakers. So reactions vary from mean stares (I interpret them as mean, my TA's told me they are just shocked), to double takes with teenage boys excitedly shouting and nearly crashing their bikes, to people doubling back to come stare at me, to people gathering their friends whispering "shhhh…foreigner", to men trying their best attempts at "hello, how are you, you are very beautiful". It is quite entertaining now and I just go with it! I am usually with another Chinese person so it is fine.

My boss, Shi Shi, has taken me to a weeks worth of dinners and lunches to show me off to her friends. It is hilarious as they are older and only speak Chinese but for some reason I don't mind just sitting there eating the amazing food and listening to their Chinese babble. It is somewhat soothing. I don't have to concentrate on anything, just what I am eating. Which brings me to food. The food here is AMAZING!! I am not sure what the Chinese were thinking bringing that takeaway crap we call Chinese food to Australia. It is nothing like the fatty, greasy, oily stuff you get in a plastic container. It is the freshest, tastiest food I have ever encountered. There is so many different things they eat (although I have to be careful as they do actually eat EVERYTHING) and so many ways to cook it. One of my first encounters was a buffet at a hotel. I was in Chinese food heaven! But unfortunately I think I overdid it in Europe. I just can't seem to eat that much anymore. The first word I learnt here was 'wabola' - which means "full" haha! I think they try and stuff you like a turkey so you are ready for xmas dinner. I have no idea how they fit so much food in those tiny bodies but they seem to out eat me every time.
I have also learnt that street cart food is scrumptious. If you look beyond the lack of hygiene, the taste is sensational and I have had a couple of things from the carts.

Yesterday I had to go on a six hour roundtrip to get a medical for my Z Visa application. This visa will make it far easier to get in and out of the country when I go to Dubai and India at the end of the year and want to come back. At first I wasn't sure if I would but I think that after an adjustment period, it will be fine. It will be ideal to come back here because of all the benefits it has for study and my bosses contacts that will help me to be able to do some travel in China. I hadn't really though about travel in China itself but there is so much to see so I might as well make the most of it. So we are going to set up the visa application so that I can come back for another six months which will take me to July next year before I head off to south east asia to do some travel there. Anyway, the medical was crazy…so many tests. I have never had to do anything like it. But I survived to tell the story even if I did have to bare most body parts! Haha!

My boss is buying me a gym pass which will be great. Get back into that fitness after a year of concentrating on uni and this trip and lacking the motivation to work out. I will have plenty of time on my hands here to get it all back again! :} I must learn how to cook Chinese food also. I can't read the names of ingredients so so far I have just eaten out.

So this is China. I can't believe I am actually here after all the planning and talk.
I have an American girl coming this week which will be nice….a comfort to the poor western girl all by herself at the moment. Hopefully she will be in the other room in my apartment also so we can figure out this crazy place together.

I don't regret the decision to come one bit. I have so much to learn about myself and people and China. There are many adventures to be had. A couple of times I have thought "what the hell am I doing? Life in Australia is soooooo easy compared to this." But life in Australia didn't give me the experiences I was looking for. This does. And apart from a couple of meltdowns…such as no shower for three days because I had no hot water….it hasn't been that bad!

Now that I don't have facebook access I am dying to here how everyone is! I love getting your emails. So hit me up with an update…. hrjones86@yahoo.com.au

Miss you all….definitely miss Australia.
Love to you all…

HJ xx