Ah, life in China! I am really starting to feel at home weirdly enough! Despite the ridiculous amount of attention and feeling like a celebrity. I am starting to feel at home in Cangzhou and enjoying the very different lifestyle I lead! It has been a week of language barrier frustrations (cause I am getting out on my own more) and just bliss at being in an absolute foreign country where I am just cruising doing my thing and getting a lot of attention for doing it! Haha!
The other day we decided to do some PR at a local primary school. We hopped on our bikes and rode down to the school to hand out flyers to the mobs of little Chinese children who really just wanted to show of any English skills they had. We even got to see some our students out! It felt just like back home (wodonga) when we used to go work in the schools! It was great! We took a little detour on the way home and went the long way through a park - within the space of one end of the park to another we managed to get a bride who wanted a wedding photo with her, a guy in the bushes with a long lense (paparazzi style) snapping photos of us!
Another day, I had to get to the bank to transfer some cash and the security guy just happened to be using his phone at photo height, trying to subtly take pics! And in class, the upper primary kids try and snap pics of us to send their friends! Its crazy! If we saw a foreign person in Aus - it wouldn't even register that they are foreign! Just another person in our cultural melting pot called Australia! I really am living in China - hardcore, no foreigners in sight China! We were on a bus the other day - we had our bosses son Fan Fan with us to do some errands and use his translating skills. The bus driver had never in his life seen foreign women….so through Fan Fan, who is only 12, was getting his flirt on with us! Poor Fan, he was so embarrassed when he relayed the conversation!
If the week of craziness wasn't enough I joined the gym (on my bosses dollar…I mean Yuan). Today was my first visit! It is an awesome gym - just as good as any of the ones back home if not better. It's brand new. But it is in a shopping centre. Sections of it have windows facing into the mall….so everynow and then I would turn around after a set and a group of teenage boys would be plastered to the window blatantly staring at me working out! Haha! If you had any insecurities about working out…this is definitely not the right place! Also considering you won't find a Chinese female any where near the weights! So I am definitely in for a lot more staring at the gym! But it is definitely worth it! It felt so good to pump so iron again! It has been way too long! I was back in my element! This will surely keep me occupied for the next six months! Bring back my challenge body! Haha!
One of the things that makes me laugh endlessly here is the Chinese equivalent for our 'ummm?'….it sounds something like "ngr" which you can imagine sounds exactly like a very bad, derogatory word that we are not allowed to say - yet they say it every five seconds…."Helen, ngr" hahaha!
The other ones are "jigger jigger" and "holla holla" (but not like we say it). So occassionally my boss will pull out a "Helen…niga niga..holla holla" - Oh man, if they only knew what they were saying! Sooo funny! Kasey, my American pal and I just die laughing and just roll with it!
For those who know about or have experienced my road rage you all know I am bad! Very bad! Well now that I am mobile on my bike….In CHINA! It has become a problem! I very well can't go around yelling at all the crazy Chinese drivers but my goodness they drive me crazy! So I have been internalising it and it is going to come out in a not so pretty way soon! I can feel it! I got sideswiped by a rickshaw the other day! It hurt bad!!! I was so mad! Unfortunately he was electric and I was just on pedals so I had no chance to catch up and give him a serve! Not that it would have meant anything in English anyway! Haha!
They are just nuts! There are no rules…well no logical ones anyway! It's every man for himself and too bad it you can't handle it! I have gotten super agile on my bike! Rolling with the best of them! I have learnt to read the traffic…although sometimes I forget which side of the road the traffic is coming! 24 yrs in Australia will do that to you! And their horns! DRIVE ME CRAZY!! I know there is some sort of logic to the whole horn honking phenomena but it's just wrong! They honk for everything! So I just keep on riding! They are always to busy checking out the white girl and usually slow down or let me through while the stare! Pretty good deal! Haha!
Kasey has decided to have a sleep over at my apartment! Permanently..haha! Our boss enjoys the company of foreigners in her apartment so Kasey hasn't been able to leave! But we managed it. So I could have a house mate for a while! Will be cool, we could try more cooking. We have been trying our hand at eating out and trying to order…it's pretty funny but we have done it successfully for most of the week! We have our favourite restaurant but probably should work on our home cooking!
Although, my three course meal does only cost me less that $5. So good deal! Haha!
Everything is so cheap here - it is crazy! We managed to find a semi-western restaurant the other day just to try it out for size…we got a side of fries and managed to eat them with chopsticks! Haha! I am so happy I used chopsticks before I came here! Let's just say they are all impressed!
I am not sure but I think I may be allergic to China! Every day I wake up and something new is wrong with me! Just little things, to a small bout of food poisoning?? the other day. Eczema, something wrong with my eyes among other things! Crazy! I think my body is consistently trying to expel toxins that I breath in 24 hours a day! I did buy a mask to ride around with the other day! But I hate it! Oh well! :)
Hope you are all enjoying the millions of holidays that everyone in Aus is getting lately! :) Pretty sweet deal!
Looking forward to seeing my Angie girl from Melbs later this month!! YAY!!!
Love to you all!
HJ xx
China Pics are here....
http://s1107.photobucket.com/albums/h397/hrjones86/?albumview=slideshow
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