So I know I've been pretty bad about keeping up with writing blog posts, but I'm still taking and posting plenty of photos. In the past week I've added about 150 pictures from Beijing and Seoul. Since I don't pay for Flickr, I can only display the most recent 200 photos at any one time, so I suggest you take a look at the new pics while you can.
But as I alluded to, I just got back from a trip to Seoul, South Korea during our National Holiday break. It was AWESOME. I seriously think I fell in love with Seoul, to the point that I can see myself living there for an extended period of time. (In contrast, while I'm greatly enjoying China, I can already tell I wouldn't want to live here again. At least, not in Shijiazhuang or Beijing.) I definitely intend on making a big post about all that I did in Seoul (which included some great food, hanging out in some cool parts of the city, and a DMZ tour where I saw North Korea with my own eyes). But, for now, take a look at the pics above to get a sense of the trip.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Uninteresting Videos
Here are two videos I just uploaded to YouTube. They're not super special but kind of fun. The first one is something I took while riding the bus in Shijiazhuang.
The second one is of a dance routine three dancers put on at Mazzo, the club we've been hanging out a lot.
The second one is of a dance routine three dancers put on at Mazzo, the club we've been hanging out a lot.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
I'm Now A Teacher (I Think)
I'm nearing the end of second week of teaching, so I'm pretty sure I can call myself teacher now if I want. The first two weeks have been pretty simple stuff, though, with introduction activities and general exercises that allow me to see how good my students already are with English.
To introduce me to the class I did a question activity that I first saw Matt Yasgar talked about. I told my students to write down five questions that they'd like to ask me. After they had done this I had two students come up to front of the class, one to ask their questions and the other to pretend to be me. The person pretending to be me had to guess what my answer to the question would be, and I would then say if they're right or not. Here are some of the common questions I got:
• Where are you from? (Though the first questioner assumed, for some reason, that I was from Canada)
• How long have you been in China?
• How long will you be in China?
• Do you speak Chinese?
• Why did you come to China?
• What is your favorite place in China?
• What do you think of China?
• What do you think of Shijiazhuang?
• Do you have a girlfriend?/Are you married? (One person asked if I had kids)
• Do you think Chinese girls are cute? (One asked who I thought were cuter, American or Chinese girls)
• How old are you? (Kind of awkward when I'm maybe one year older than some of my students)
• Do you like Chinese food?
• What is your favorite sport?
There were definitely a few weird/awkward questions. A girl asked why my eyes weren't blue. Another girl asked how much I was getting paid. And a guy that knows English better than most asked if I had a girlfriend. After saying "no," he put his arm around me, in front of the class, and told me that he would set me up with a girl. I quickly moved on to the next question.
I also have some students with unusual English names. My first class had both Bruce Lee and Lucifer in it. Just yesterday I found out that the Chinese like the Godfather movies because I now have both Vito and Michael Corleone as students. I'll be having students pick English names again tomorrow, so I'll be interested to see what they come up with.
This week I've been getting the students even more comfortable with talking in class. I've been doing an activity where I've written down 52 various questions that are assigned to a playing card. A student then comes to the front of the room, picks a card and must answer the question with at least three sentences. Most of the questions I found online, and they range from softballs like "What's your favorite movie?" to more complicated ones such as "Is it ok for a couple to have a child before marriage?" or "What is your opinion of China's one child policy?" With some of the questions I'd then ask the class their opinion in an attempt to get a large-scale discussion going. The likelihood of thoughtful answers correlates to the students' strength with English (of which there is definitely a wide range), but I was surprised to see several students speaking up and disagreeing with each other over topics like the one child policy and the death penalty. I'm hoping this attitude towards discussion can continue and strengthen as all the students become more comfortable speaking in English.
All my students seem nice and happy to have me as a teacher. My only real complaint so far is that some students refuse to speak loudly, even when in front of the whole class, which causes other students to start talking and ignoring what's going on. (Again, that's something I'm hoping will change as students become more comfortable.) After Monday's class I had a few students come up to talk with me and invite me to spend some time with them during the Mid-Autumn Festival (which is next Wednesday, September 22). I told them I'd get back to them to make sure, but I might as well accept their offer. It would be an adventure at least. I also had a student Monday hand me a hand-written letter (though she said she first tried to email it but it didn't work). It was a pretty sweet letter, wherein she explained the origins of her English name (which is Rucy-wei...not very English), told me a bit about her family and said why she was taking English. I was caught a bit off guard by a comment she made about my apparently "beautiful eyelashes," but I'll just take it as a compliment.
Besides teaching, everything else has been pretty much the same. Over the weekend we did make a terrible discover: the beer garden that we had been to at least once a week since arriving was closed, like for good. We showed up on Friday and all the lights were off and the tables had disappeared. This was the place where we were always given free drinks, so we couldn't help but feel a little guilty, but it was fun while it lasted. We ended up hanging out again at a club called Mazzo (this and the foreigner bar, aka McDonald's Bar, have now become our kind of regular places). We've made friends with other foreigners at Mazzo, two of whom are rappers from Africa who frequently perform at the club. They are treated like VIPs, with an apparently endless supply of Skyy Vodka being provided by the club. Saturday night we were treated to KTV by a woman who works as the city government's head foreign affairs contact...a pretty good friend to have. The karaoke was fun, and the night was topped off by them bringing us plates of french fries. Granted, the fries were cold and the ketchup tasted a little...off...but it was still a nice treat.
This coming Friday the 9 of us in the Shiz are meeting up with 3 from Chengde to hang out in Beijing for the weekend. Shijiazhuang has certainly been fun so far, but it's gonna be nice to have a change of pace for the weekend. The plan is to see some of the basic Beijing sites (Tienanmen Square, Forbidden City, etc.). There is also apparently a pretty awesome Mexican restaurant in the city that we plan on visiting. Xian jokes that that's the main reason why were going to Beijing. (At least I think she's joking...)
Check out my photos as I've just uploaded a new set. I'll definitely have more after this weekend's trip, so be sure to check back soon.
To introduce me to the class I did a question activity that I first saw Matt Yasgar talked about. I told my students to write down five questions that they'd like to ask me. After they had done this I had two students come up to front of the class, one to ask their questions and the other to pretend to be me. The person pretending to be me had to guess what my answer to the question would be, and I would then say if they're right or not. Here are some of the common questions I got:
• Where are you from? (Though the first questioner assumed, for some reason, that I was from Canada)
• How long have you been in China?
• How long will you be in China?
• Do you speak Chinese?
• Why did you come to China?
• What is your favorite place in China?
• What do you think of China?
• What do you think of Shijiazhuang?
• Do you have a girlfriend?/Are you married? (One person asked if I had kids)
• Do you think Chinese girls are cute? (One asked who I thought were cuter, American or Chinese girls)
• How old are you? (Kind of awkward when I'm maybe one year older than some of my students)
• Do you like Chinese food?
• What is your favorite sport?
There were definitely a few weird/awkward questions. A girl asked why my eyes weren't blue. Another girl asked how much I was getting paid. And a guy that knows English better than most asked if I had a girlfriend. After saying "no," he put his arm around me, in front of the class, and told me that he would set me up with a girl. I quickly moved on to the next question.
I also have some students with unusual English names. My first class had both Bruce Lee and Lucifer in it. Just yesterday I found out that the Chinese like the Godfather movies because I now have both Vito and Michael Corleone as students. I'll be having students pick English names again tomorrow, so I'll be interested to see what they come up with.
This week I've been getting the students even more comfortable with talking in class. I've been doing an activity where I've written down 52 various questions that are assigned to a playing card. A student then comes to the front of the room, picks a card and must answer the question with at least three sentences. Most of the questions I found online, and they range from softballs like "What's your favorite movie?" to more complicated ones such as "Is it ok for a couple to have a child before marriage?" or "What is your opinion of China's one child policy?" With some of the questions I'd then ask the class their opinion in an attempt to get a large-scale discussion going. The likelihood of thoughtful answers correlates to the students' strength with English (of which there is definitely a wide range), but I was surprised to see several students speaking up and disagreeing with each other over topics like the one child policy and the death penalty. I'm hoping this attitude towards discussion can continue and strengthen as all the students become more comfortable speaking in English.
All my students seem nice and happy to have me as a teacher. My only real complaint so far is that some students refuse to speak loudly, even when in front of the whole class, which causes other students to start talking and ignoring what's going on. (Again, that's something I'm hoping will change as students become more comfortable.) After Monday's class I had a few students come up to talk with me and invite me to spend some time with them during the Mid-Autumn Festival (which is next Wednesday, September 22). I told them I'd get back to them to make sure, but I might as well accept their offer. It would be an adventure at least. I also had a student Monday hand me a hand-written letter (though she said she first tried to email it but it didn't work). It was a pretty sweet letter, wherein she explained the origins of her English name (which is Rucy-wei...not very English), told me a bit about her family and said why she was taking English. I was caught a bit off guard by a comment she made about my apparently "beautiful eyelashes," but I'll just take it as a compliment.
Besides teaching, everything else has been pretty much the same. Over the weekend we did make a terrible discover: the beer garden that we had been to at least once a week since arriving was closed, like for good. We showed up on Friday and all the lights were off and the tables had disappeared. This was the place where we were always given free drinks, so we couldn't help but feel a little guilty, but it was fun while it lasted. We ended up hanging out again at a club called Mazzo (this and the foreigner bar, aka McDonald's Bar, have now become our kind of regular places). We've made friends with other foreigners at Mazzo, two of whom are rappers from Africa who frequently perform at the club. They are treated like VIPs, with an apparently endless supply of Skyy Vodka being provided by the club. Saturday night we were treated to KTV by a woman who works as the city government's head foreign affairs contact...a pretty good friend to have. The karaoke was fun, and the night was topped off by them bringing us plates of french fries. Granted, the fries were cold and the ketchup tasted a little...off...but it was still a nice treat.
This coming Friday the 9 of us in the Shiz are meeting up with 3 from Chengde to hang out in Beijing for the weekend. Shijiazhuang has certainly been fun so far, but it's gonna be nice to have a change of pace for the weekend. The plan is to see some of the basic Beijing sites (Tienanmen Square, Forbidden City, etc.). There is also apparently a pretty awesome Mexican restaurant in the city that we plan on visiting. Xian jokes that that's the main reason why were going to Beijing. (At least I think she's joking...)
Check out my photos as I've just uploaded a new set. I'll definitely have more after this weekend's trip, so be sure to check back soon.
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Teaching Update & Cangyan Shan
So I am finally all set to start teaching. On Thursday I met with my contact in the Hebei Normal School of Business, where I'll be teaching oral English classes, and got my schedule. I'm contracted with the school to teach up to 18 hours a week, but for at least the first semester I'm teaching less then 9. Doesn't bother me much since I'm getting paid the same, but that does mean I'll have a lot of extra free time. Hopefully I can find some side jobs to make some extra cash.
I'm both excited and a bit nervous for the start of class, though I'm sure it'll go fine. My plan for the first week of classes (which only includes three of my five classes...first years start a few weeks late because of military training) is to have the students do activities that allow them to get to know me, for me to get to know them, and for me to see how good their spoken English is right now. After that I'll be able to start developing lessons based on their current level. All of my classes are based around their majors (like Management or Economics), so at some point I'll start putting more specific English material that appeals to their majors into the curriculum.
I'm teaching at Hebei Normal's new campus, which is still very under construction. That is, the place is currently a giant mess of dirt, construction and trash. The buildings and classrooms are nice (and they should be...their brand new), but I'm sure as the year progresses the new campus will look much better as construction wraps up.
This past Wednesday six of the teachers here in Shijiazhuang on a bus for a few hours to see Cangyan Shan, an ancient temple complex outside the Shiz. It was a gorgeous place, and a nice change of pace. Ang Lee actually filmed the final scene of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" there, at the mountain's famous bridge. I remember seeing that movie for the first time and being amazed at how beautiful everything was...I certainly never imagined I'd visit any of those places. The bus ride back from Cangyan Shan was less fun (got stuck in massive construction traffic, so it took about twice as long to get back then it did to get there), but it was still a good experience. I took a bunch of pictures there so check them out above.
Tonight Jason Esch, a former CCEP participant who is now in China starting his third year, is taking us Shijiazhuang teachers out to a pizza buffet that is supposedly pretty good (and probably pretty expensive). I must say, even if it's crappy pizza, if it has cheese on it I'll probably be happy. I think we've definitely started getting cravings already for Western food, especially when watching TV shows or movies and seeing it. A few of us were watching Arrested Development last night and simultaneously commented on how great a sandwich looked that someone was eating. Not that food here is bad at all...quite the contrary. I'm still amazed at how you can buy yourself a delicious and very filling meal on the street for less than $1. We've been going to restaurants a lot before starting to teach, but once we get into the swing of things I think the cheap street food will be a much more popular option.
So that's that. I'll post again after I start teaching...I'm sure I'll have some interesting things to share.
I'm both excited and a bit nervous for the start of class, though I'm sure it'll go fine. My plan for the first week of classes (which only includes three of my five classes...first years start a few weeks late because of military training) is to have the students do activities that allow them to get to know me, for me to get to know them, and for me to see how good their spoken English is right now. After that I'll be able to start developing lessons based on their current level. All of my classes are based around their majors (like Management or Economics), so at some point I'll start putting more specific English material that appeals to their majors into the curriculum.
I'm teaching at Hebei Normal's new campus, which is still very under construction. That is, the place is currently a giant mess of dirt, construction and trash. The buildings and classrooms are nice (and they should be...their brand new), but I'm sure as the year progresses the new campus will look much better as construction wraps up.
This past Wednesday six of the teachers here in Shijiazhuang on a bus for a few hours to see Cangyan Shan, an ancient temple complex outside the Shiz. It was a gorgeous place, and a nice change of pace. Ang Lee actually filmed the final scene of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" there, at the mountain's famous bridge. I remember seeing that movie for the first time and being amazed at how beautiful everything was...I certainly never imagined I'd visit any of those places. The bus ride back from Cangyan Shan was less fun (got stuck in massive construction traffic, so it took about twice as long to get back then it did to get there), but it was still a good experience. I took a bunch of pictures there so check them out above.
Tonight Jason Esch, a former CCEP participant who is now in China starting his third year, is taking us Shijiazhuang teachers out to a pizza buffet that is supposedly pretty good (and probably pretty expensive). I must say, even if it's crappy pizza, if it has cheese on it I'll probably be happy. I think we've definitely started getting cravings already for Western food, especially when watching TV shows or movies and seeing it. A few of us were watching Arrested Development last night and simultaneously commented on how great a sandwich looked that someone was eating. Not that food here is bad at all...quite the contrary. I'm still amazed at how you can buy yourself a delicious and very filling meal on the street for less than $1. We've been going to restaurants a lot before starting to teach, but once we get into the swing of things I think the cheap street food will be a much more popular option.
So that's that. I'll post again after I start teaching...I'm sure I'll have some interesting things to share.
Monday, August 30, 2010
More Photos
Hey all. I've just uploaded a bunch of new photos mostly focused on Shijiazhuang nightlife so far. I've also got some photos from my apartment that I moved in to on Saturday. Check them out above.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Another Blog
So I'm not the only one in China that's keeping a blog. Another teacher, Matt Yasgar, has a good Tumblr blog going with some nice photos and videos. He's teaching in Chengde, a much different city than Shijiazhuang, so it should be cool to get a different perspective of the China teaching experience. Check it out here:
http://mattinchina.tumblr.com/
http://mattinchina.tumblr.com/
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Busy Busy
Well it's been almost a week and we've done a lot of cool stuff here in China. I figure I'd just rundown the highlights. Be sure to check out my photos above as I've added a bunch recently.
Bars
Thursday night's mission was to find a few cool bars to hang out at. Pretty much all the teachers went out together. Our first stop was a nearby beer garden that one of us had seen a flier for. It was a pretty cool place, nestled in front of a bunch of tall buildings at the crossing of two major roads. They served three kinds of Snow beer: a lager, a dark beer, and an amber that is apparently only supposed to be served to girls. The beer wasn't that great, but it was still a pretty fun experience. The manager and one of the owners of the bar absolutely LOVED that foreigners had come, and they bent over backwards to serve us. We got a bunch of free beer, and at one point when it started to sprinkle, the various workers scrambled to set up a bunch of tents around the tables we were sitting at. We kept insisting that all they were doing was unnecessary (through our Chinese speakers), but they didn't stop. One of the teachers, James, did end up making a pretty good friend with one mildly drunk Chinese guy who was there. He kept saying that James was his good friend and that we were all now good friends of China. He was kinda wild but fun.
The second half of the night lead us to what some call the McDonald's Bar. It's a place with English-speaking bartenders that cater to foreigners. You can find a good assortment of Western beers and liquors there (I enjoyed a gin & tonic), though the prices are, at least compared to the rest of China, predictably high. It's probably not a place worth visiting on a regular basis, but it'll probably be a nice place to go everyone once in a while when craving a more American slice of social life. The best part of the bar, though, was me being able to practice some communication with one of the workers who didn't speak much English. I was able to tell him my name and ask his. He then helped me count the numbers 1-10 outlaid and on my hand (it's different with fingers than in the US). Finally he showed me how to write my name (or at least the sound of my name) in Chinese characters. Kinda cool stuff.
Homestay
Friday night saw all of the teachers leaving for their weekend homestays. Me and Xian (she is also teaching at Hebei Normal University) ended up staying with the same family. They had a young daughter who was about 11. They also had a nephew, 14, staying with them so he would be able to go to a good school. The family seemed VERY well off, with a super nice apartment, big high definition TV and two cars. It seems that they earn it, though, as the dad apparently works seven days a week for his company.
From the get go it was clear that the parents were very interested in us, and also very proud to be hosting us as guests. They took us out to a great dinner the first night, where they started asking us various questions. Since Xian was actually born in China and grew up speaking Chinese, I didn't have quite the language barrier as others did since she could basically act as a translator, but having her there was cool because it helped provide more in-depth conversations then my conversing with the kids in meager English would have allowed. Dinner also allowed me to try my first kinda crazy food: sheep stomach. While the texture of it was a turn off, the flavor wasn't really gross. Just not great.
Throughout the whole weekend the parents kept prodding the kids to speak English to us, but they were super shy and most of the time stubbornly refused to do so. At one point the nephew showed us his English homework, which made it pretty clear that he likely knew a fair share but was just too shy to use it.
During the afternoon on Saturday one of the daughter's friends came over with her grandmother just to meet the foreigners. It was a similar situation there, where the granddaughter was way too shy to talk to us (even turning her back to us frequently), while the grandmother was interested in us, asking about everything from what we eat to how big our families are (she took this opportunity to tell us that she thought having two kids would be best for their ability to take care of parents when they are older). I also ended up showing them pictures of our three dogs from home, which they greatly enjoyed.
Speaking of food, the mother of the family would not stop feeding us. I think we seriously ate something at least every hour. She kept insisting we have a lot of fruit, which included pears, grapes, watermelon and mango. Then when we ate meals, she would rarely believe that we were full when we kept assuring her that we were stuffed. Xian eventually tried to explain that in the US if someone says they are full they usually are, as they wouldn't feel bad saying yes to more food if it's offered. The mother backed off a bit after that, but still not completely. She was especially convinced that someone of my size should be eating a lot more than I was.
On Sunday morning, the mother and the kids took us out to get breakfast at a street market and then stroll around a park. The food was really good, and it was pretty cool to see the park. I have a bunch of pictures of that in my gallery. Here, though, is a video I took of the food vendor making our breakfast:
After that it was finally time for us to say goodbye. The mother took our phone numbers and insisted that we would hang out again throughout the year. She even said at one point that their home would be our home away from home. They even gave us some gifts. We also gave them gifts: Xian gave them some of her favorite chocolate, while I gave them some KU stuff. The kids seemed genuinely interested and excited by the KU gifts, which was a relief as I was worried they wouldn't really care.
Monastery
After we all regrouped Sunday we went to see a nearby monastery. It was pretty amazing to experience a place with some much history and spiritual significance. Kind of crazy to think that the temples there had been there way way longer than any building in America. Hopefully my photos can convey a sense of the place. Unfortunately, though, they didn't want us taking photos inside the temples, so the exteriors will have to do.
KTV
Our last hurrah as a group before everyone dispersed to their own cities and schools was to experience the infamous KTV (Karaoke TV). KTV is one of China's most poplar social activities, and I think I can see why. KTV is not just a karaoke bar. Instead you go in a group and get your own private room. In the room are a few TVs and a station where you can pick your own songs in any order you want. They of course have a lot of Chinese music but also a large amount of English songs. The room has two microphones, but also comes with tambourines so people who aren't singing can still get in on it. While you sing a wait staff will serve you drinks. It's not the cheapest form of Chinese entertainment, but a fun experience with a good size group of people (having a few beers in you doesn't hurt either). A definite highlight of the night was having Kirk, the CCEP coordinator, sing a few songs in Chinese. Not sure I'll ever be able to do that.
Medical Exam
Monday morning came early, as we met our waiban to go get our medical exams for foreigners. (Waiban is the faculty contact through the school for foreigners). The exam wasn't as crazy as I'm sure some imagined they would be, but there were definitely a few weird differences, like leaving a urine sample on a tray in the bathroom that held dozens of other samples. I also got a Chinese version of an EKG test and a ultrasound, two things I've never had before and may never again. But the good news is they didn't find anything wrong with me, so they don't have to deport me.
So those are the highlights of the past week. The lowlight is probably what's going on right now: we were supposed to get our apartments on Monday, but as of right now (Wednesday afternoon) don't have them and aren't totally sure when we will. It might be tomorrow, might be Friday, might be later. Not sure when exactly it'll happen, but I'm definitely ready to get into my place and start thinking more long term about what to get for my place and to start thinking about teaching.
Bars
Thursday night's mission was to find a few cool bars to hang out at. Pretty much all the teachers went out together. Our first stop was a nearby beer garden that one of us had seen a flier for. It was a pretty cool place, nestled in front of a bunch of tall buildings at the crossing of two major roads. They served three kinds of Snow beer: a lager, a dark beer, and an amber that is apparently only supposed to be served to girls. The beer wasn't that great, but it was still a pretty fun experience. The manager and one of the owners of the bar absolutely LOVED that foreigners had come, and they bent over backwards to serve us. We got a bunch of free beer, and at one point when it started to sprinkle, the various workers scrambled to set up a bunch of tents around the tables we were sitting at. We kept insisting that all they were doing was unnecessary (through our Chinese speakers), but they didn't stop. One of the teachers, James, did end up making a pretty good friend with one mildly drunk Chinese guy who was there. He kept saying that James was his good friend and that we were all now good friends of China. He was kinda wild but fun.
The second half of the night lead us to what some call the McDonald's Bar. It's a place with English-speaking bartenders that cater to foreigners. You can find a good assortment of Western beers and liquors there (I enjoyed a gin & tonic), though the prices are, at least compared to the rest of China, predictably high. It's probably not a place worth visiting on a regular basis, but it'll probably be a nice place to go everyone once in a while when craving a more American slice of social life. The best part of the bar, though, was me being able to practice some communication with one of the workers who didn't speak much English. I was able to tell him my name and ask his. He then helped me count the numbers 1-10 outlaid and on my hand (it's different with fingers than in the US). Finally he showed me how to write my name (or at least the sound of my name) in Chinese characters. Kinda cool stuff.
Homestay
Friday night saw all of the teachers leaving for their weekend homestays. Me and Xian (she is also teaching at Hebei Normal University) ended up staying with the same family. They had a young daughter who was about 11. They also had a nephew, 14, staying with them so he would be able to go to a good school. The family seemed VERY well off, with a super nice apartment, big high definition TV and two cars. It seems that they earn it, though, as the dad apparently works seven days a week for his company.
From the get go it was clear that the parents were very interested in us, and also very proud to be hosting us as guests. They took us out to a great dinner the first night, where they started asking us various questions. Since Xian was actually born in China and grew up speaking Chinese, I didn't have quite the language barrier as others did since she could basically act as a translator, but having her there was cool because it helped provide more in-depth conversations then my conversing with the kids in meager English would have allowed. Dinner also allowed me to try my first kinda crazy food: sheep stomach. While the texture of it was a turn off, the flavor wasn't really gross. Just not great.
Throughout the whole weekend the parents kept prodding the kids to speak English to us, but they were super shy and most of the time stubbornly refused to do so. At one point the nephew showed us his English homework, which made it pretty clear that he likely knew a fair share but was just too shy to use it.
During the afternoon on Saturday one of the daughter's friends came over with her grandmother just to meet the foreigners. It was a similar situation there, where the granddaughter was way too shy to talk to us (even turning her back to us frequently), while the grandmother was interested in us, asking about everything from what we eat to how big our families are (she took this opportunity to tell us that she thought having two kids would be best for their ability to take care of parents when they are older). I also ended up showing them pictures of our three dogs from home, which they greatly enjoyed.
Speaking of food, the mother of the family would not stop feeding us. I think we seriously ate something at least every hour. She kept insisting we have a lot of fruit, which included pears, grapes, watermelon and mango. Then when we ate meals, she would rarely believe that we were full when we kept assuring her that we were stuffed. Xian eventually tried to explain that in the US if someone says they are full they usually are, as they wouldn't feel bad saying yes to more food if it's offered. The mother backed off a bit after that, but still not completely. She was especially convinced that someone of my size should be eating a lot more than I was.
On Sunday morning, the mother and the kids took us out to get breakfast at a street market and then stroll around a park. The food was really good, and it was pretty cool to see the park. I have a bunch of pictures of that in my gallery. Here, though, is a video I took of the food vendor making our breakfast:
After that it was finally time for us to say goodbye. The mother took our phone numbers and insisted that we would hang out again throughout the year. She even said at one point that their home would be our home away from home. They even gave us some gifts. We also gave them gifts: Xian gave them some of her favorite chocolate, while I gave them some KU stuff. The kids seemed genuinely interested and excited by the KU gifts, which was a relief as I was worried they wouldn't really care.
Monastery
After we all regrouped Sunday we went to see a nearby monastery. It was pretty amazing to experience a place with some much history and spiritual significance. Kind of crazy to think that the temples there had been there way way longer than any building in America. Hopefully my photos can convey a sense of the place. Unfortunately, though, they didn't want us taking photos inside the temples, so the exteriors will have to do.
KTV
Our last hurrah as a group before everyone dispersed to their own cities and schools was to experience the infamous KTV (Karaoke TV). KTV is one of China's most poplar social activities, and I think I can see why. KTV is not just a karaoke bar. Instead you go in a group and get your own private room. In the room are a few TVs and a station where you can pick your own songs in any order you want. They of course have a lot of Chinese music but also a large amount of English songs. The room has two microphones, but also comes with tambourines so people who aren't singing can still get in on it. While you sing a wait staff will serve you drinks. It's not the cheapest form of Chinese entertainment, but a fun experience with a good size group of people (having a few beers in you doesn't hurt either). A definite highlight of the night was having Kirk, the CCEP coordinator, sing a few songs in Chinese. Not sure I'll ever be able to do that.
Medical Exam
Monday morning came early, as we met our waiban to go get our medical exams for foreigners. (Waiban is the faculty contact through the school for foreigners). The exam wasn't as crazy as I'm sure some imagined they would be, but there were definitely a few weird differences, like leaving a urine sample on a tray in the bathroom that held dozens of other samples. I also got a Chinese version of an EKG test and a ultrasound, two things I've never had before and may never again. But the good news is they didn't find anything wrong with me, so they don't have to deport me.
So those are the highlights of the past week. The lowlight is probably what's going on right now: we were supposed to get our apartments on Monday, but as of right now (Wednesday afternoon) don't have them and aren't totally sure when we will. It might be tomorrow, might be Friday, might be later. Not sure when exactly it'll happen, but I'm definitely ready to get into my place and start thinking more long term about what to get for my place and to start thinking about teaching.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Homestay & Monastery Photos
Hey all. I just uploaded a bunch of photos from this weekend's homestay and trip to a nearby monastery. I have a bunch to blog about, though I probably won't be able to do that until tomorrow. In the meantime check out the photos...you can see a few above and click the link for all of them.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
In The Shiz
I've made it to Shijiazhuang (aka The Shiz), my home for the next 11 months. Currently all foreign teachers are living in dorm rooms as we complete this week's training, meaning I've yet to see where I will actually be living. Let's just say I hope it's nicer than these current rooms.
Our first full day in the city, Wednesday, consisted of shopping at a nearby mall, taking our first of three Chinese lessons and seeking out dinner on our own. Being able to see the mall, which included a drug store and supermarket, was nice, as it was comforting to see a nearby place where we could buy a good share of familiar products. Though Pringles cost about the same as they do back home ($2 for a can), I'm sure I'll cave in at some point and have to get some. Maybe I'll try either the Shrimp or Crab flavors that seem to be Chinese additions to the traditional American offerings.
After being out in the city it was hard to not have an immediate desire to learn at least some Chinese. Our first Chinese lessons have been useful for this, though I'm sure the lasting result will be minimal. I think I'm confident saying "Sorry" and "You're Welcome," plus I could probably say my name and that I'm American to some degree of understanding. Once we finish the lessons I'll likely dive into Rosetta Stone. That, combined with just experiencing Chinese, will likely help learn a good amount soon enough.
I have to say, the best part of the experience so far would likely be the food. Everything I've had has ranged from decent to AMAZING. Dinner last night was especially good. A group of us ended up at a fairly nice restaurant in what seems to be the heart of the city. The staff lead us to a private room. There's a chance this was done because we were foreigners, but the place was busy and it's also possible they just didn't have any other room.
We got lots of food and drinks. I have to say that it was one of the few times I felt I could be a vegetarian, because my favorite dishes were just prepared vegetables. We started with four dishes: one of various mushrooms, one of bamboo shoots, cooked eggplant, and my favorite, delicious green beans. All of them were prepared with various sauces and were really good.
The main courses included dumplings (pork and lamb) and cooked chicken. We also enjoyed some sort of flower tea, Chinese beer, and the infamous bai jiu. For those unaware, bai jiu is supposedly a near-undrinkable Chinese alcohol that tastes like gasoline (or Everclear). It's a drink that's used mostly for toasting at dinners and banquets. Whatever bai jiu we got, however, was quite tasty and didn't seem too toxic. I'm sure at some point I'll have to experience some that is far worse.
Of course, one of the highlights of the the food is how cheap, comparatively, everything is. That whole dinner I just described (which left us quite full even with nearly half the food left on the table), including food and drink, cost about $6 per person. We concluded that a similar meal of such substance and quality would likely be at least $40 each in the US.
The rest of this week's training will consist of more Chinese lessons, a discussion about culture shock and a Chinese etiquette dinner. This weekend we will leave for our homestays, lasting from Friday evening to Sunday morning. Everyone will be staying on there own with a high school student and their family. These families have volunteered to do this because they want their child to practice their English with a native speaker. I'm actually looking forward to this experience; it should be quite insightful.
So all is well so far here in China. My first impression of Shijiazhuang, especially after walking around yesterday and last night, is quite positive. I'm pretty confident it'll be a fun place to live.
Our first full day in the city, Wednesday, consisted of shopping at a nearby mall, taking our first of three Chinese lessons and seeking out dinner on our own. Being able to see the mall, which included a drug store and supermarket, was nice, as it was comforting to see a nearby place where we could buy a good share of familiar products. Though Pringles cost about the same as they do back home ($2 for a can), I'm sure I'll cave in at some point and have to get some. Maybe I'll try either the Shrimp or Crab flavors that seem to be Chinese additions to the traditional American offerings.
After being out in the city it was hard to not have an immediate desire to learn at least some Chinese. Our first Chinese lessons have been useful for this, though I'm sure the lasting result will be minimal. I think I'm confident saying "Sorry" and "You're Welcome," plus I could probably say my name and that I'm American to some degree of understanding. Once we finish the lessons I'll likely dive into Rosetta Stone. That, combined with just experiencing Chinese, will likely help learn a good amount soon enough.
I have to say, the best part of the experience so far would likely be the food. Everything I've had has ranged from decent to AMAZING. Dinner last night was especially good. A group of us ended up at a fairly nice restaurant in what seems to be the heart of the city. The staff lead us to a private room. There's a chance this was done because we were foreigners, but the place was busy and it's also possible they just didn't have any other room.
We got lots of food and drinks. I have to say that it was one of the few times I felt I could be a vegetarian, because my favorite dishes were just prepared vegetables. We started with four dishes: one of various mushrooms, one of bamboo shoots, cooked eggplant, and my favorite, delicious green beans. All of them were prepared with various sauces and were really good.
The main courses included dumplings (pork and lamb) and cooked chicken. We also enjoyed some sort of flower tea, Chinese beer, and the infamous bai jiu. For those unaware, bai jiu is supposedly a near-undrinkable Chinese alcohol that tastes like gasoline (or Everclear). It's a drink that's used mostly for toasting at dinners and banquets. Whatever bai jiu we got, however, was quite tasty and didn't seem too toxic. I'm sure at some point I'll have to experience some that is far worse.
Of course, one of the highlights of the the food is how cheap, comparatively, everything is. That whole dinner I just described (which left us quite full even with nearly half the food left on the table), including food and drink, cost about $6 per person. We concluded that a similar meal of such substance and quality would likely be at least $40 each in the US.
The rest of this week's training will consist of more Chinese lessons, a discussion about culture shock and a Chinese etiquette dinner. This weekend we will leave for our homestays, lasting from Friday evening to Sunday morning. Everyone will be staying on there own with a high school student and their family. These families have volunteered to do this because they want their child to practice their English with a native speaker. I'm actually looking forward to this experience; it should be quite insightful.
So all is well so far here in China. My first impression of Shijiazhuang, especially after walking around yesterday and last night, is quite positive. I'm pretty confident it'll be a fun place to live.
Monday, August 16, 2010
I'm In China
I have arrived in China. As I'm sitting in my Beijing hotel room at 2:45 am I figured there'd be no better time to start this blog.
I'm not really sure what this blog will be or turn in to, but I figured I'd just throw out my initial thoughts and experiences.
First, though, I'm happy to say that I made a Chinese friend before even arriving. Granted, it was a bored middle school kid who likely wasn't too picky about socializing with me on a long 12 hr flight, but it was still fun. William (my seat neighbor) and a bunch of other students were traveling around the US for a few weeks and were just now heading home. He was excited about his new iPod Touch that he got while there (I also saw several other kids enjoying new iPads). He saw that I also had one, and when I took out my laptop he asked if I could transfer him any games or music. The games wouldn't work, but I was happy to upload some music for him. The two bands he said he liked were Linkin Park and Backstreet Boys. Even though he was impressed with the size of my music library, I sadly have no Linkin Park or Backstreet Boys. So instead I made some judgement calls and gave him a 70-song sampler. I'll just assume that he'll now fall in love with The Beatles thanks to me.
From the airport I took a very long, very expensive cab ride to my hotel for the night. Despite this it was still a nice opportunity to see a lot of the city and soak it all in (including the experience of being stopped directly in front of Tiananmen Square and having Mao's big portrait stare at me for a minute).
Let me tell you something you may not know: Beijing is big. Very big. As my cab driver expertly put it, "Many cars. Many people." A byproduct of this would seem to be the ubiquitous shunning of organized driving. I was forewarned of this by reading other people's experiences, but MAN driving is crazy here. Lanes are only suggestions, as my cabbie (and others) at one point decided that the median on the highway would be a good path. I also don't think I saw one turn signal. I think here the version of a turn signal is to just start turning in front of another car with the assumption that they'll brake. Maybe the craziest thing about driving is the interaction with pedestrians and bike riders. More than once I was pretty sure we were gonna clip a bike, with the bike rider at the last moment calmly glancing over his shoulder to see the cab and make a very slight adjustment to barely miss us.
Once at (this very nice) hotel, my main activity has been sleeping on and off. I'm hoping to be able to sleep a bit more this morning in the hopes that I'll have a somewhat regular sleep schedule here on out, but I guess we'll see how that goes.
Tomorrow I head back to the airport to meet up with the other teachers. From there we take a 5-hour bus ride to Shijiazhuang, my final destination and where I'll be living for almost a year. Once there we start several days of training before everyone departs for their cities. Not sure what the internet situation will be when we initially get there, but I hope to update as soon as I can.
Finally, due to some fancy software, I should have unrestricted access to the Internet while in China. This means I intend to be on Facebook and, of course, continue Tweeting. This means you can contact me a few different ways if so inclined:
Email - evansfavreau@gmail.com
Twitter - EvanFavreau
Skype - EvanFavreau
AIM - EvanFavreau
Oh, and if it's set up right any photos I upload should be appearing at the top of this blog, so you can browse those as well.
I'm not really sure what this blog will be or turn in to, but I figured I'd just throw out my initial thoughts and experiences.
First, though, I'm happy to say that I made a Chinese friend before even arriving. Granted, it was a bored middle school kid who likely wasn't too picky about socializing with me on a long 12 hr flight, but it was still fun. William (my seat neighbor) and a bunch of other students were traveling around the US for a few weeks and were just now heading home. He was excited about his new iPod Touch that he got while there (I also saw several other kids enjoying new iPads). He saw that I also had one, and when I took out my laptop he asked if I could transfer him any games or music. The games wouldn't work, but I was happy to upload some music for him. The two bands he said he liked were Linkin Park and Backstreet Boys. Even though he was impressed with the size of my music library, I sadly have no Linkin Park or Backstreet Boys. So instead I made some judgement calls and gave him a 70-song sampler. I'll just assume that he'll now fall in love with The Beatles thanks to me.
From the airport I took a very long, very expensive cab ride to my hotel for the night. Despite this it was still a nice opportunity to see a lot of the city and soak it all in (including the experience of being stopped directly in front of Tiananmen Square and having Mao's big portrait stare at me for a minute).
Let me tell you something you may not know: Beijing is big. Very big. As my cab driver expertly put it, "Many cars. Many people." A byproduct of this would seem to be the ubiquitous shunning of organized driving. I was forewarned of this by reading other people's experiences, but MAN driving is crazy here. Lanes are only suggestions, as my cabbie (and others) at one point decided that the median on the highway would be a good path. I also don't think I saw one turn signal. I think here the version of a turn signal is to just start turning in front of another car with the assumption that they'll brake. Maybe the craziest thing about driving is the interaction with pedestrians and bike riders. More than once I was pretty sure we were gonna clip a bike, with the bike rider at the last moment calmly glancing over his shoulder to see the cab and make a very slight adjustment to barely miss us.
Once at (this very nice) hotel, my main activity has been sleeping on and off. I'm hoping to be able to sleep a bit more this morning in the hopes that I'll have a somewhat regular sleep schedule here on out, but I guess we'll see how that goes.
Tomorrow I head back to the airport to meet up with the other teachers. From there we take a 5-hour bus ride to Shijiazhuang, my final destination and where I'll be living for almost a year. Once there we start several days of training before everyone departs for their cities. Not sure what the internet situation will be when we initially get there, but I hope to update as soon as I can.
Finally, due to some fancy software, I should have unrestricted access to the Internet while in China. This means I intend to be on Facebook and, of course, continue Tweeting. This means you can contact me a few different ways if so inclined:
Email - evansfavreau@gmail.com
Twitter - EvanFavreau
Skype - EvanFavreau
AIM - EvanFavreau
Oh, and if it's set up right any photos I upload should be appearing at the top of this blog, so you can browse those as well.
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