It seems like so much longer, but I have now been in China for a whole week! I actually do not think I experienced too much jet lag, but nonetheless the days have been very busy and tiring. There are still two more days of Pro-D before teaching begins.
I am all settled into my place now (pictures to come). It is a great size, and I certainly do not enough things to fill it up. I furnished it (courtesy of Ikea) with plenty of lime green accents. It looks a bit more like I live there now!
The view from my window (this was during military training)
One of the first things we were all required to do upon arrival was to be poked and prodded at the Chinese hospital. In order to live here, they have to make sure you are safe. I was one of the first to go through, and it was a bit scary having someone who doesn’t speak the same language as you test random functions on your body. There was a moment when I feared electrocution - but I lived! The worst part was the urine test. We were all quite disgusted that they did not think it was strange to make us carry around our own urine in an open container, then drain it into a vial over top of a garbage can in front of everyone. Too much information? I thought so too.
On the weekend a large group of us were able to spend the night in Dalian. The campus is actually located in the city of Jinshitan (Golden Pebble Beach), and walking distance away from Manjitan. The next city over is Cai-Fetch-U (really spelling is completely different and unknown to me!), which is about a half an hour away. Dalian is a good hour on the Chingway, which is the equivalent of the sky train.
Blurry downtown Dalian (sorry, it is the best I have for now!)
I took my first Chinese taxi ride, because when we were riding the train we hit a HUGE bump. The train then stopped for awhile, and then began to run backwards. We were all shuffled off, and instead of waiting for it to be fixed, we decided to be adventurous and cab to our hotel. It was terrifying at times, but I took comfort in the fact that they wouldn’t let us load the cab with more than four people, and that they wouldn’t allow Nam to stick his head out the window to take photos! My discomfort came from the fact that our cabbie thought it was pretty hilarious to race the cab beside us, filled with our fellow teachers! We arrived at our destination almost 10 minutes before they did!
Once we got to the city we dropped off our bag at our hotel (8 people per room, we decided we may as well bond right from the start!) and then went to explore the city. It was so much fun to just walk around and see everything the city has to offer. We went to dinner at a place where there was no english at all, so we had to order our meals simply by pointing at food (our Chinese accents need significant improvement before our phrase books are going to be much help), but we all ended up with delicious meals. Most of us chose a giant rice bowl. I have found that the food portions here are very large, but the Chinese don’t seem to approve of sharing meals. I can’t really complain though; I believe that the most I have paid for a meal is about 40 kwai (including a smoothy), which equals around $6.50 Canadian. The average I have been paying is around $2.50 Canadian for a VERY filling and delicious meal.
We explored around the city a bit on Saturday, and I will say that it is a very beautiful place. We all enjoyed paddle boating on the pond, and walking through Labour Park. I was very exhausted when we finally arrived home, so I spent the evening catching up on sleep and relaxing.
Taha paddleboating around
Sunday was the Chairman’s yearly speech to the staff. It was extremely formal, and a real cultural experience. It was very difficult to pay attention because the speak was entirely in Mandarin, and the Canadian staff was given a book of the speech to follow along. Unfortunately the main jist of the speech was that English 12 teachers aren’t doing a good enough job, so I have an intimidating task ahead of me!
I don’t want to continue on boring you with a post that won’t have pictures for a bit, so I will sign off now! Once I am able to connect to the internet in my own apartment, I promise pictures will be forthcoming! I think my next posts will be on: Delectable New Dishes and a special segment on the Chinese toilets! Also, school officially begins on Thursday and I am both nervous and excited!
The Year of the Dragon crew - Taha, Sara and I.
Meg and I in front of the famous giant soccer ball
-B.
