Tuesday, August 20
I made it here! I left Detroit around 1 in the afternoon and then arrived in Beijing around 2:40 in the afternoon (Wednesday, weird, I know) so it's going to be like I skipped a day but I just lost 12 hours! I was very sad to leave my parents and Terry, I cried for about 5 minutes, but then got over it once I had to go through the back and forth line of the security checkpoint (I felt like a hamster!).
The flight was pretty good...just very long. I was in the emergency seating row so I had nobody sitting in front of me and lots of leg room! I was seated next to the window, even though there really was no window, I had to crane my neck backwards if I wanted to see outside at all. The man next to me was very quite, but his breath was pretty stinky! I watched a lot of movies (The Host, Pitch Perfect, Oblivion) to make the time go back quicker, which really did help. It really was a pain in my back though after awhile and my ankles were swollen little kankles by the time I got off the plane! Overall, the flight was pretty uneventful and got me here safely!
Once I landed, I had to find my way to baggage claim, which was surprisingly easy since most of the signs were in Chinese and then English right underneath, YES!! I made my way through customs easily and then found Kuo waiting for me by the taxi pickup. Kuo is an extremely helpful woman who is going to be with me for the next few weeks to get used to everything! While taking to the hotel in Beijing, she told me a lot about the city, what I'll be doing, information about her, and all kinds of other things. She's a TEFL (foreign language teacher) and has been to Nigeria for one year and then got her masters in Georgia (lived there for 2 years and just got back in May). My first stupid question...does she have any brothers and sisters...duh! One child policy? Silly me.
At the hotel, we checked me in, I wrote a quick e-mail to my parents and Terry and then went out for a walk. The part of the city where my hotel is an older part of Beijing so the streets are small and the buildings are short. We walked to the supermarket (right across the street) so we could get some water since it was pretty hot out still! Kuo said it's normal for Beijing to be 80+ this time of year, so I'll be glad to get out of there and a little farther north to Shenyang. We went out to eat at a restaurant that is famous for food from the western part of China (I won't lie, I can't remember which part). That's what all the pictures of the food is. It was actually really good! We also had some flatbread which was kind of like pizza crust with a spicy BBQ type of rub on it that was also very good, but I didn't get a picture. Then, we went back to the hotel and I went to bed...around 7 pm! I only woke up once for about 20 minutes and then slept in until 5am. I've been up reading and watching Chinese Smurfs since then! I am about to go and shower now (wish me luck trying to figure that out). Today we are going to the health department so I can get checked out for my workers visa application when I get back to the US in October. Well, that's all for now!
I made it here! I left Detroit around 1 in the afternoon and then arrived in Beijing around 2:40 in the afternoon (Wednesday, weird, I know) so it's going to be like I skipped a day but I just lost 12 hours! I was very sad to leave my parents and Terry, I cried for about 5 minutes, but then got over it once I had to go through the back and forth line of the security checkpoint (I felt like a hamster!).
The flight was pretty good...just very long. I was in the emergency seating row so I had nobody sitting in front of me and lots of leg room! I was seated next to the window, even though there really was no window, I had to crane my neck backwards if I wanted to see outside at all. The man next to me was very quite, but his breath was pretty stinky! I watched a lot of movies (The Host, Pitch Perfect, Oblivion) to make the time go back quicker, which really did help. It really was a pain in my back though after awhile and my ankles were swollen little kankles by the time I got off the plane! Overall, the flight was pretty uneventful and got me here safely!
Once I landed, I had to find my way to baggage claim, which was surprisingly easy since most of the signs were in Chinese and then English right underneath, YES!! I made my way through customs easily and then found Kuo waiting for me by the taxi pickup. Kuo is an extremely helpful woman who is going to be with me for the next few weeks to get used to everything! While taking to the hotel in Beijing, she told me a lot about the city, what I'll be doing, information about her, and all kinds of other things. She's a TEFL (foreign language teacher) and has been to Nigeria for one year and then got her masters in Georgia (lived there for 2 years and just got back in May). My first stupid question...does she have any brothers and sisters...duh! One child policy? Silly me.
At the hotel, we checked me in, I wrote a quick e-mail to my parents and Terry and then went out for a walk. The part of the city where my hotel is an older part of Beijing so the streets are small and the buildings are short. We walked to the supermarket (right across the street) so we could get some water since it was pretty hot out still! Kuo said it's normal for Beijing to be 80+ this time of year, so I'll be glad to get out of there and a little farther north to Shenyang. We went out to eat at a restaurant that is famous for food from the western part of China (I won't lie, I can't remember which part). That's what all the pictures of the food is. It was actually really good! We also had some flatbread which was kind of like pizza crust with a spicy BBQ type of rub on it that was also very good, but I didn't get a picture. Then, we went back to the hotel and I went to bed...around 7 pm! I only woke up once for about 20 minutes and then slept in until 5am. I've been up reading and watching Chinese Smurfs since then! I am about to go and shower now (wish me luck trying to figure that out). Today we are going to the health department so I can get checked out for my workers visa application when I get back to the US in October. Well, that's all for now!
Thursday, August 22
So, today was another pretty eventful day! When Kuo first got here, we exchanged some money so now I have Yuan! I feel like she’s my sugar daddy, always paying for everything, so it’s nice to feel a bit more independent. She said I looked very nice today and I said yeah I looked not good at all after a 14 hour flight yesterday! After that, Kuo took me about 40 minutes outside the city to get a physical examination that all foreigners who are seeking employment must have. We took a taxi, which I will talk about more (they’re crazy drivers here!). It was pretty quick, but felt like a game because you had to jump around to all these different rooms. Each room had a doctor or nurse that scanned your paper, did the exam, initialed the paper, and then sent you on your merry way. The doctors were very quick and very skimpy when it came to the exam. Nothing like the full blown chat fast back home! I had to go to seven different rooms, each focusing on a different exam. Here’s what I had to go through:
1. EKG (not a good idea to wear a dress)
2. Internal exam (checked blood pressure)
3. External exam (checked glands)
4. Eyes and ears exam
5. Ultrasound (again, dress not a great idea)
6. Blood drawn (a girl in front of my almost fainted…silly Americans)
We got there around 8:20 am and were out of there by about 9am! Kuo said she had expected it to be much longer wait since that what she had experienced when she had to do the same thing to go to the USA and Nigeria. Guess Wednesdays aren%9
So, today was another pretty eventful day! When Kuo first got here, we exchanged some money so now I have Yuan! I feel like she’s my sugar daddy, always paying for everything, so it’s nice to feel a bit more independent. She said I looked very nice today and I said yeah I looked not good at all after a 14 hour flight yesterday! After that, Kuo took me about 40 minutes outside the city to get a physical examination that all foreigners who are seeking employment must have. We took a taxi, which I will talk about more (they’re crazy drivers here!). It was pretty quick, but felt like a game because you had to jump around to all these different rooms. Each room had a doctor or nurse that scanned your paper, did the exam, initialed the paper, and then sent you on your merry way. The doctors were very quick and very skimpy when it came to the exam. Nothing like the full blown chat fast back home! I had to go to seven different rooms, each focusing on a different exam. Here’s what I had to go through:
1. EKG (not a good idea to wear a dress)
2. Internal exam (checked blood pressure)
3. External exam (checked glands)
4. Eyes and ears exam
5. Ultrasound (again, dress not a great idea)
6. Blood drawn (a girl in front of my almost fainted…silly Americans)
We got there around 8:20 am and were out of there by about 9am! Kuo said she had expected it to be much longer wait since that what she had experienced when she had to do the same thing to go to the USA and Nigeria. Guess Wednesdays aren%9
Friday, August 23, 2013
Hello! Another exciting day in Beijing! We went to the BCC office today and talked about what I will be doing in the classroom and how I should approach things. It really made me feel a lot better about what I should be doing and gave me a good start! We stayed in the office for about 3 hours and worked. There’s a girl I talked to who taught a Chinese immersion class in Portland, Oregon and she gave me a ton of information and tips (I can’t remember her name though!). I've got a lot of lesson planning to do though, so I know I should get started on that later today...there goes vacation...womp womp.
We then went to lunch with her at had some more very delicious food J The girls boyfriend met up with us and he was really very funny. Most the time they would speak Chinese but then would start talking English, so it would catch me off guard. I would have to ask them what and then could carry on with the conversation. Later, Kuo said that he is unusually talkative for Chinese men, but I thought he was funny! She said it gets old though after the initial meeting haha.
After lunch, we went back to the hotel, dropped off our bags, and went to the supermarket. It’s a French supermarket named Carrefour and it’s huge! It’s like a Walmart, but even bigger and on 2 floors. It was very strange to see some non-Asian faces there. We got a few teaching supplies that Kuo said we wouldn’t be able to find in Shenyang and then some snacks for tomorrow. She also said that where the Yucai school is located is far from the city center so it has to be an all day trip when you go out there, and most of the time you have to stay in the hotel because the bus that takes you out there only takes one trip to and from the city each day. So, I guess that’s something to figure out! Tomorrow, we are going to the Forbidden City! YAY!! I’m going to have a TON of pictures of that, so prepare yourselves. That was pretty much it for the day...maybe I'll write something later if I venture out for dinner by myself! Here's some things different than the US though.
1. Taxis/Cars /Driving in general-They are crazy! The drivers just go whenever and wherever they please. They do not stop for bikes or people at all! You really have to watch wherever you’re walking at all times. I wouldn’t be surprised if people get killed by them every day. I think Kuo is nervous I’m going to get hit cause she’s always holding me back whenever we get near the street. I started calling her mommy haha (sorry mom). They also park anywhere. On the street. On the sidewalk. Double and triple parked. Anywhere. It’s nutty.
2. Bikers-See above. They also do not stop for anything and just scoot around like they own the road. There are regular bikers and then there are people who have electric bikes. They are all nutty.
3. Bags-Whenever you go to a store or buy anything, don’t expect to get a bag. I made that mistake when I went to the supermarket and bought a few drinks and snacks and then had to awkwardly carry them back in my arms to the hotel. Kuo says that the government now makes stores pay a fee for bags at stores in order to encourage people to bring their own reusable bags to reduce waste. I think it’s a really good idea and that Americans should take the same route.
4. Hygiene-I read a bunch of articles about how the people here are gross and spit everywhere are just kind of gross, which thankfully (knock on wood) I haven’t run into yet. This is like any other big city where it gets gross and that’s just what you get when you have this many people. We will see what it’s like when I get to Shenyang.
5. Restaurants-When you order something, the server brings one menu to the table, you order a bunch of things, and then all just grab from the main plates. Thankfully, everything I’ve had so far is really good…except for some pickled egg thing they made me eat today which was not so good. Also, they don’t serve water automatically when you order. You either have to ask or buy something to drink. Sometimes tea is brought to the table, but not usually.
6. Chinese TV-The commercials are what I pay attention to the most and they are usually very silly. The actors have very dramatic expressions all the time and they seem very fakey. I find it very entertaining though and find myself watching Kaku(sp?) almost all day, which is like Nickelodeon. So far, the American shows I’ve seen are Smurfs, Spongebob, and Toon Disney. That’s my morning news everyday haha.
Well, that’s all for now I think! I’ll have lots to talk about tomorrow!
Hello! Another exciting day in Beijing! We went to the BCC office today and talked about what I will be doing in the classroom and how I should approach things. It really made me feel a lot better about what I should be doing and gave me a good start! We stayed in the office for about 3 hours and worked. There’s a girl I talked to who taught a Chinese immersion class in Portland, Oregon and she gave me a ton of information and tips (I can’t remember her name though!). I've got a lot of lesson planning to do though, so I know I should get started on that later today...there goes vacation...womp womp.
We then went to lunch with her at had some more very delicious food J The girls boyfriend met up with us and he was really very funny. Most the time they would speak Chinese but then would start talking English, so it would catch me off guard. I would have to ask them what and then could carry on with the conversation. Later, Kuo said that he is unusually talkative for Chinese men, but I thought he was funny! She said it gets old though after the initial meeting haha.
After lunch, we went back to the hotel, dropped off our bags, and went to the supermarket. It’s a French supermarket named Carrefour and it’s huge! It’s like a Walmart, but even bigger and on 2 floors. It was very strange to see some non-Asian faces there. We got a few teaching supplies that Kuo said we wouldn’t be able to find in Shenyang and then some snacks for tomorrow. She also said that where the Yucai school is located is far from the city center so it has to be an all day trip when you go out there, and most of the time you have to stay in the hotel because the bus that takes you out there only takes one trip to and from the city each day. So, I guess that’s something to figure out! Tomorrow, we are going to the Forbidden City! YAY!! I’m going to have a TON of pictures of that, so prepare yourselves. That was pretty much it for the day...maybe I'll write something later if I venture out for dinner by myself! Here's some things different than the US though.
1. Taxis/Cars /Driving in general-They are crazy! The drivers just go whenever and wherever they please. They do not stop for bikes or people at all! You really have to watch wherever you’re walking at all times. I wouldn’t be surprised if people get killed by them every day. I think Kuo is nervous I’m going to get hit cause she’s always holding me back whenever we get near the street. I started calling her mommy haha (sorry mom). They also park anywhere. On the street. On the sidewalk. Double and triple parked. Anywhere. It’s nutty.
2. Bikers-See above. They also do not stop for anything and just scoot around like they own the road. There are regular bikers and then there are people who have electric bikes. They are all nutty.
3. Bags-Whenever you go to a store or buy anything, don’t expect to get a bag. I made that mistake when I went to the supermarket and bought a few drinks and snacks and then had to awkwardly carry them back in my arms to the hotel. Kuo says that the government now makes stores pay a fee for bags at stores in order to encourage people to bring their own reusable bags to reduce waste. I think it’s a really good idea and that Americans should take the same route.
4. Hygiene-I read a bunch of articles about how the people here are gross and spit everywhere are just kind of gross, which thankfully (knock on wood) I haven’t run into yet. This is like any other big city where it gets gross and that’s just what you get when you have this many people. We will see what it’s like when I get to Shenyang.
5. Restaurants-When you order something, the server brings one menu to the table, you order a bunch of things, and then all just grab from the main plates. Thankfully, everything I’ve had so far is really good…except for some pickled egg thing they made me eat today which was not so good. Also, they don’t serve water automatically when you order. You either have to ask or buy something to drink. Sometimes tea is brought to the table, but not usually.
6. Chinese TV-The commercials are what I pay attention to the most and they are usually very silly. The actors have very dramatic expressions all the time and they seem very fakey. I find it very entertaining though and find myself watching Kaku(sp?) almost all day, which is like Nickelodeon. So far, the American shows I’ve seen are Smurfs, Spongebob, and Toon Disney. That’s my morning news everyday haha.
Well, that’s all for now I think! I’ll have lots to talk about tomorrow!
I'm back! It's 3am on Saturday, so naturally, I'm awake. Hopefully I'll fall back asleep soon....I could only hope. One more thing about yesterday though. I ventured out the restaurant next door and got some dinner. I wanted to bring it back to the hotel with me so I could work while I eat, so that was pretty hard to explain. It wasn't too painful doing this on my own except it was hard to explain to go...I thought it was da bao but they didn't understand that. Oh well, I got the food in the end. While I was waiting though, this old man was turned totally around in his seat, staring at me for a good 5 minutes. Kind of awkward. And apparently this place was known for their fresh fish because a waiter went to the front where there were some fish tanks, yanked out a huge fish, and then dragged the bucket and fish right by me. The fish was all flopping around and didn't know what was coming for him. I felt bad for it...and kind of grossed out. But, I made it back to the hotel with my Kung Pao chicken (much better than US version) and some pepper/cucumber/cilantro salad thing that was pretty good too. Good thing I'm pretty good with chopsticks! Kuo says I'm getting pretty good at them! Well...that's all for now!
Saturday, August 24
*History alert Aunt Julie...just scroll down to the pictures like I know you will! :)
Man oh man...today was a looooong day! We went to the Forbidden City though! We left the hotel around 8:30 this morning and headed over to Tian'anmen Square, which is the big square that is at the Frontt Gate into the Forbidden City. For those who don't know, the Forbidden City was built during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The last emperor was Puyi and he became emperor when he was just 3 years old. I'm not going to write a lot since I put a TON of pictures on here. I'll write a little description of each photo so then they make a little more sense. I'll just say that this place is HUGE and amazing to think of all the history that has gone on in those walls. Kuo said the outer walls are 10 meters high, it covers an area of more than 720,000 square meters (do that conversion), and has more than 800 buildings...or rooms...I can't remember. Either way, it is gigantic and we walked around for more than 6 hours. It was a very long day. After that, we went up to the hill which overlooks the Back Gate end of the Forbidden City. That was also a really amazing view. I'm so grateful that I got the opportunity to see this amazing place and hope you all enjoy the pictures as much as I enjoyed going there. Afterwards, we went and had a late lunch and this men player poker outside had a great time staring me down haha. Also...it was super hot all day. Sweaty mess!
Few funny things that happened while we were in the Forbidden City:
1. A young Chinese couple asked to take a picture with me outside of Tian'anmen Square. Either they never have seen a foreigner or I really am a superstar!
2. I saw a little boy (about 2) whip it out right in the middle of the area between the first and second gates. He started playing with himself while his parents laughed, clapped, and took pictures. That was a little strange.
3. I finally witnessed the split pants on a kid. Google it. It really is quite the sight.
**Sorry some of the pictures are sideways! I tried to correct them but they wouldn't load the correction and the internet takes so long to load, I didn't feel like messing with it more. Sorry!!!
*History alert Aunt Julie...just scroll down to the pictures like I know you will! :)
Man oh man...today was a looooong day! We went to the Forbidden City though! We left the hotel around 8:30 this morning and headed over to Tian'anmen Square, which is the big square that is at the Frontt Gate into the Forbidden City. For those who don't know, the Forbidden City was built during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The last emperor was Puyi and he became emperor when he was just 3 years old. I'm not going to write a lot since I put a TON of pictures on here. I'll write a little description of each photo so then they make a little more sense. I'll just say that this place is HUGE and amazing to think of all the history that has gone on in those walls. Kuo said the outer walls are 10 meters high, it covers an area of more than 720,000 square meters (do that conversion), and has more than 800 buildings...or rooms...I can't remember. Either way, it is gigantic and we walked around for more than 6 hours. It was a very long day. After that, we went up to the hill which overlooks the Back Gate end of the Forbidden City. That was also a really amazing view. I'm so grateful that I got the opportunity to see this amazing place and hope you all enjoy the pictures as much as I enjoyed going there. Afterwards, we went and had a late lunch and this men player poker outside had a great time staring me down haha. Also...it was super hot all day. Sweaty mess!
Few funny things that happened while we were in the Forbidden City:
1. A young Chinese couple asked to take a picture with me outside of Tian'anmen Square. Either they never have seen a foreigner or I really am a superstar!
2. I saw a little boy (about 2) whip it out right in the middle of the area between the first and second gates. He started playing with himself while his parents laughed, clapped, and took pictures. That was a little strange.
3. I finally witnessed the split pants on a kid. Google it. It really is quite the sight.
**Sorry some of the pictures are sideways! I tried to correct them but they wouldn't load the correction and the internet takes so long to load, I didn't feel like messing with it more. Sorry!!!
Sorry...there's a ton more pictures but my computer is being super slow. The internet connection here isn't the greatest. Maybe it will be better at the school. Either way, I'll try to either download them later, or you just have to hold your horses and wait until I'm home!
Sunday, August 25
Sunday is the day of rest...right? Well not for me! Today, I decided to go to the place that everybody and their mother goes to on Sundays....the zoo! Like the rest of Beijing, there are people EVERYWHERE. I literally had to fight my way to see the pandas and some of the bigger attractions. Anyways, I was by myself for the whole day and took the subway everywhere I went. It's actually pretty easy once you figure out all the words aren't the same. I actually have started to notice the differences...it's not just a bunch of random letters now. I walked through the zoo for a little more than 3 hours. It was actually really nice, despite all the baby butts I saw, kids peeing everywhere, and people feeding all the animals, even though there were a ton of signs saying not to. I felt bad for the animals because it was so hot and miserable out. Despite those things though, I had a really nice day and really appreciated having a good zoom on my camera! At the bear exhibit, a young man wanted to test out his English on me and kept asking me about Kobe Bryant and Shaq. I told him I didn't like basketball and I think that was the only English he knew. It was kind of entertaining though haha. Also, pretty much all day, no matter where I was, people stared at me...and didn't even bother to look away when I looked back. On the subway, a mom actually stared and pointed at me while talking to her kid. I'm usually pretty good at ignoring it but that was pretty obvioius After the zoo, Kuo had suggested that I go to this old shopping district called Nanluoguxiang. Apparently that means old alley...which is what is was. There were a ton of shops in this very long and narrow alley. It was cool to see, but I was already hot and ready to go back to the hotel, so I kind of rushed through it. All in all, I had a good day out on my own and the best thing was...I survived!
Sunday is the day of rest...right? Well not for me! Today, I decided to go to the place that everybody and their mother goes to on Sundays....the zoo! Like the rest of Beijing, there are people EVERYWHERE. I literally had to fight my way to see the pandas and some of the bigger attractions. Anyways, I was by myself for the whole day and took the subway everywhere I went. It's actually pretty easy once you figure out all the words aren't the same. I actually have started to notice the differences...it's not just a bunch of random letters now. I walked through the zoo for a little more than 3 hours. It was actually really nice, despite all the baby butts I saw, kids peeing everywhere, and people feeding all the animals, even though there were a ton of signs saying not to. I felt bad for the animals because it was so hot and miserable out. Despite those things though, I had a really nice day and really appreciated having a good zoom on my camera! At the bear exhibit, a young man wanted to test out his English on me and kept asking me about Kobe Bryant and Shaq. I told him I didn't like basketball and I think that was the only English he knew. It was kind of entertaining though haha. Also, pretty much all day, no matter where I was, people stared at me...and didn't even bother to look away when I looked back. On the subway, a mom actually stared and pointed at me while talking to her kid. I'm usually pretty good at ignoring it but that was pretty obvioius After the zoo, Kuo had suggested that I go to this old shopping district called Nanluoguxiang. Apparently that means old alley...which is what is was. There were a ton of shops in this very long and narrow alley. It was cool to see, but I was already hot and ready to go back to the hotel, so I kind of rushed through it. All in all, I had a good day out on my own and the best thing was...I survived!