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.