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/

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.

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.

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.