Ahhh!! It's always the simple things that are a complete nightmare her e in China . Like applying for a simple tourist visa for India! A quick and seamless process if I was in Aus but No….not in China! You have to jump over a mountain of red-tape, hurdle over ridiculous mistakes the chinese have made in their translations that mean you have to fill out an online form not once…but 3 times. Since when does your university count as your employer?? How many times do I need to reiterate I don't have a job, I'm not employed, yes , even though I can still afford to travel around your cheap ass country!! So no, I am not going to fill out your form that is WRONG again!! Ahhhhh!!! Ok, no problem, I will stand passively as 50 thousand other chinese push in front of me to use the computer and as I can't speak your language just have to stand their looking flustered and pissed and wait for you all to finish taking advantage of this fact!! Oh, look, it's 5 hrs later and we are finally making progress! Ok, time to get to the train station…maybe I can change my ticket to get the early train home and have some chill time after the stress of the India visa office! Oh wait, that means lining up with half of the country four times for some lady to just yell at me in chinese…"No". Great! You would think the main train station in the whole country would have English speaking operators….or at least ONE! Ok, so I will hang out in McDonalds, use the free wi-fi and get back to sanity on facebook! Oh wait! Wi-fi doesn't work either! Great! When will this country work???? To top my day off I dropped my sunnies in the automatic squat toilet - YEP, that's right - I had to fish them out of a squat toilet, out of my own pee, while theautomatic flush did it's thing! Awesome! Oh! And then to top THAT off, haggling with the taxi drivers who want to rip off the white girl who can't speak Chinese!! Gah! I know how much it costs to cab it back to my own freakin house buddy! Don't be foolin with me! My usual tactic - just start walking! Works every time! Great freakin day! Haha!
Ahhhhh! It's just one of those days where you have to just say…this is F'ing China!!! Haha! Anyone who has been here for any period of time will tell you it's a love hate relationship! Today I hated it!! But that's just one day in many great ones - where I love it! It's all about the language barrier! If I made the effort to learn more of the language maybe I would make my living situation a little easier! Oh well!!
So my India visa is in the process! Exciting times. In two weeks I do yet another trip to Hong Kong to leave the country and re-enter to do 30 days of travelling! Wooooo!! That will really test my love for China! All by myself! No help from my school or the TA's. Eeek! Haha! Then it's off to Dubai…prac is all in place and ready for some serious uni and studying! Eeek! Then India - 2 months in a country that will test my patience even more so than china. Man, I am going to be a very patient person on return to Australia! Nothing will phase me ever again! Haha! Then plans with my girl Anna have been made for Thailand in January and then six weeks volunteering in Cambodia. The next six months are going to be hectic but amazing. I will be super challenged in terms of studying and travelling. But hey, I would rather be doing it this way than the way I was before. So much more interesting, fun and exciting!
After that I am thinking about coming back to China! Actually, pretty much decided if they let me back in. I really feel I will miss this place! It's amazing how much you can love something despite it's imperfections. It's like how they love me and think I am so beautiful despite my many physical imperfections. Haha! You look past them! Just to reiterate. Every other day I love this place. This was probably a bad day to write a blog! But waiting for the train for an extra 3 hours gave me some time to reflect and write!
I took another trip to Hong Kong a couple of weeks ago. I had to go for a uni assessment coz all of China was on summer holidays so I couldn't access any of the international schools in Beijing. So I made the 13 hour total trip from Cangzhou, stayed four days, and flew back (another 13 hr trip) all for one hour in an Aussie school in Hong Kong! Haha! But it was worth another trip to Hong Kong! I love that place! I am so in love with it! It is the epitome of East meets West! For a city that has a land mass less than metro melbourne, it has so much to offer! I spent the four days making up for what I couldn't do the last time I went when the was a full blown typhoon looming! Shopping, sightseeing etc…once again I packed in so much! I stayed at the same hostel but the crowd was completely different. Somewhat boring and everyone just seemed to be doing their own thing or just hanging out at the hostel. But it was cool! If there is one thing I am good at it is doing stuff by myself! :)
There is still a couple of things I didn't get to do so I will check them out when I go back in two weeks! HK keeps pulling me back! :) The principle at the school I went to even suggested I give her a call when I graduate! Wooo! And I have set up my last placement with one of the teachers I met for next year! Pretty sweet! It's a little more expensive than the average Asian city so if the funds are still available I will spend the three weeks of placement there!
I had my first "freaked out as hell" moment in HK though! A relatively safe place as far as I am concerned, but sometimes I forget that not everyone is a normal friendly person just keen for some small talk and goodbyes, some people stalk you half way home! OMG! I got to the Chinese visa office an hour too late to pick up my passport due to my inability to read my watch and found myself alone with a random giant of man (indian, pakistani, something! Have no idea) who could see my confusion. After a brief hello and a crack about my stupidity I quickly said goodbye and headed home. You know that feeling you get when something just isn't right?? Well, after a quick glance back I saw him following me intently. Ok, so whatever…maybe he was headed in the same direction and checking me out at the same time. After a few more glance, fake changes of directions, he ran into me…..bombarding me with question to which I replied "are you following me?" , to which he replied "Yes"!! Holy Hell!! Bolt woman! I skedaddled . My heart was racing full speed. This guy was not someone I wanted finding out where I was staying! Giant as goliath, add a sleazy grin and a rather quick pace of walking….it was my first heart racing moment overseas so far! But I ended up shaking him! Thank goodness!
I have found myself with a slight identity crisis in terms of my accent! I don't know how many times I have been told I don't sound Australian in my travels! Ah! I know it is due to the ridiculous amount of time spent with Americans! When your own country men ask you which country you are from, a kiwi thinks you are a kiwi, another kiwi doesn't find your accent annoying, a whole room of people at a hostel don't know where you are from, your best friends mum comments on your yank accent and you are held up at immigration bombarded with questions because you sound American yet have an Australian passport, you know you have an accent identity crisis. It doesn't help that I teach the kids words with very pronounced r's. It just helps them! :)
Speaking of teaching the kids! I have been working with them to pronounce 'th' and 's'. Very cute! The TA's don't think they can learn it but guess what? I have my 3, 4, 5 and 6 year olds saying their s's and th's. It's so adorable! I am really going to miss those kids! Especially as I started most of the classes when I first got here so I have seen them go from not speaking English at all to knowing a tonne of words, answers to questions and introducing themselves….Hello...my name is Leo... I am a boy….I am six years old...I live in Cangzhou…I come from China! Woooooooooo! Love it! This makes me very very happy! It's what I came to do and I am doing it!
Speaking of what I came to do! Facebook has these daily "on this day last year" reminders about what we posted a year ago! The latest ones have all been about the countdown to moving overseas and travelling! I smile every time I see one cause I am here, doing it and it is better than I ever could have imagined 'on this day last year'. I turn 25 this week! A milestone birthday I suppose and I am just so happy and fulfilled in what I am doing and what I have planned to do! I feel very blessed also that I have this opportunity. Life circumstances could have called for a different path…but my dreams came true!! I remember telling a friend in 2009 that I will be living in China teaching in 2011! Had no idea how the hell it was going to come to pass but it did!
Anyway, enough sentiment!
Sorry I haven't posted in some time! I have been smashing out uni like no one's business! And I have definitely been rewarded for doing so! YAY! Love that I get to invest so much more into it!
I will keep you all posted on my month on the road in China! It is going to be an adventure to blog about! I can feel it! Be prepared for more highs and more lows! Haha! It's a love-hate relationship! And a healthy one at that!
Love to you all,
HJ xx
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