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Walking home the other day... This is my neighborhood.

Family Dinner

I had the greatest authentic Chinese experience last night. I had to cover two classes at my school yesterday from 10-12. I was then asked to go to a grand opening of our newest school location. The school was on the west side of the city. When a new store or restaurant opens in China the set off small fireworks as a celebration as well as to rid any evil spirits in the building. They decorate the front of the store with standing wreaths. There probably will not be classes at this school for a week or two, but we were celebrating/introducing ourselves to the neighbors. They wanted me there just to show face. Having a foreign teacher is a big deal and makes the company more reputable. My boss even asked me to lie, hah! I told any parents that asked that I had been with the company for three years, rather than two weeks. In such a traditional culture you would thing the whole “your word is your honor” philosophy would apply? There were two other Chinese teachers there as well. I knew them from my campus. At five o’clock we all left and one of the girls offered to drive me to the bus stop. As we got in her car she says “or you can come to my house for a party?” How could I turn this down? I feel I have to take every opportunity and do anything I have never done before.

Vicky was so excited to have me over. Mainly because she likes practicing her English…. I don’t mind being used. She and her husband have been married just a year. They live with his parents as well as his 84-year-old grandmother. Vicky’s parents and brother also came over for dinner. They have big dinners like this a couple times a week (I think the dinners, not living with my husbands parents, is something I will install in my family). It was so amazing. I can’t even describe it. Vicky was the only one that could speak English. Her dad knew a few words, and her brother could understand some, but not speak that well. Even without being able to communicate verbally with everyone, it was so wonderful. It was a family dinner! Everyone was laughing and having fun. I felt as if they were staring at me to make sure I was eating enough and enjoyed the food. Every dish is placed in the center of the tale and everyone just picks at the food. I ate a lot of the vegetable dishes, the meat was a little more difficult to eat. As an American I am not quite used to the skin and all the bones being in every piece of meat. And I just couldn’t get myself to try the goat feet. I don’t understand how these people eat fish! I nearly choked on a bone, and there are a lot of bones in fish!! Vicky’s father and father in-law kept forcing me to drink with them. It was some kind of clear alcohol, I assume similar to vodka. It was so strong and every time they would raise their glasses to cheers me I would just pretend to take a sip. I finally had to tell them no more, that I was getting too drunk. They were all so warm and gracious towards me, not letting me get up to get water or anything. Vicky’s family is from the country and her parents have a house not too far from her in-laws. Her father was very insistent to have me come to their home next time, he will even take the bones out of the meat for me. Hahah, such amazing people and such an amazing experience. Chinese people really are so kind and welcoming.

                                          
I wish I had taken more photos with everyone at the table!!

Halloween in Hangzhou

Well, It’s Halloween time! Halloween isn’t highly celebrated here in China. But our school not only focuses on the English language, but also customs and traditions of the Western world. The school I work at has many different locations. It is becoming a very reputable school in China. The school closest to West Lake (the gorgeous lake in Hangzhou) held a Halloween party yesterday. They asked me to come and be a part of the party. My role was to explaining to the kids what Trick-or-Treating is and why we carve pumpkins. It was a riveting lesson, if you ever need to know more about Trick-or-Treating or begging for candy just let me know. We sang a little song and played some games. A couple of the kids also performed little skits/dances. Let’s get real, little Asian babies dressed up in costumes? What could be better? They were so damn cute. I dressed up as a slutty nurse, and explained to them that as you get older you dress in the costumes you did as a kid, you just have to make it slutty.

After the Halloween party I hopped on a bike and decided to ride home. The lake was recently recognized as a World Heritage Site. My brother and I tried to see as many as we could when we biked in Europe for three months. I was in such a beautiful part of the city and the weather was great, so I enjoyed a leisurely bike ride home. Monday will be my first day off since I arrived. I’m going to go sign up at the gym close to my house and spend the day biking around and getting comfortable with my surroundings. Another important job will be learning the bus routes! Once we have Internet in our apartment I can use Google maps to help me get around. I still feel very lost most of the time. I miss having the Maps application on my phone! In the states I always knew where I was, even when I was lost. Being lost here… I’m just lost. It’s like moving to New York City only not being able to read any signs or communicate with anyone.

Have I mentioned that Hangzhou is the city with the largest bike share community?  It’s pretty rad. “Launched in 2008, the Hangzhou Public Bicycle program in China is the largest bicycle sharing system in the world, with around 61,000 bicycles and over 2,400 stations” thanks Wikipedia (how did we know anything before Wikipedia?)

new friends

I've been making new friends in China! It's unfortunate that I have to kill so many of them... I dont want to, but nobody else in the office likes cockroaches. This morning I met a little mouse! He was so cute!!! I moved into my new apartment yesterday (I'll post pictures as soon as it's cleaned and lookin good) was cleaning all morning! I put the big trash bag outside, I then noticed some other miscellaneous items just outside the door that I wanted to throw out. There was an old sitting stool, water botel with cigarette butts, cigarette butts, and an umbrella with a little mouse nestled in the corner. I picked you the umbrella and almost the instant I noticed the brown blob, it started moving. It walked right passed our door and onto the doorstep of our neighbors. The neighbors door was just a crack open, so the little mouse went right in. I returned to my apartment to finish cleaning. I closed the door behind me and waited to hear the commotion of their new found intruder. I didn't hear anything. He did look like a sneaky mouse. When I left for work my neighbors were cooking lunch. I don't know what it was... possibly mouse stew? It sure did smell delicious!!

observation

I just had my class observed by the vice principal of the school, and I think it went pretty well. I had two kids named Anna and Tina, ages four and five. I'm not quite sure if Anna was a boy or girl? It's sometimes hard to tell when these little ones all have a bull haircut. I wonder if my sister Anna was mistaken for a boy as a child? Why parents give their children bull cuts I dont know.... but they sure are damn cute! Anyways, Anna and Tina were great, we played with flashcards and worked on vocabulary. Played a little dice game and then I taught them the Hokey Pokey. I've downloaded a few sing alongs from iTunes. I teach the kids the hand motions then we do the song and dance a couple times. The girls/kids? loved it. My assistant was in the class as well and she said it was great, the vice principal was impressed and that we will sign the contract on Monday. I know it will still take time, but I am definitely getting more and more comfortable teaching here....

so cute Anna.

I found a home!

Another day of apartment hunting and work! My assistant (it’s fun having an assistant!) and I spent three hours looking for an apartment today. I found a one bedroom in a great area that I loved. It had everything I needed and was in the area that a lot of the foreigners live (they will most likely be my circle of friends, so it would have been great to be in their area). I was just about to pull the trigger when a coworker of mine called me. I have been looking for an apartment with another expat named Josey. She has lived in China for six year, so it will be great to live with someone that can help me get by. Part of me likes the idea of living with her for convenience. The other part of me would love to have my own place in the area that I was leaning towards, Josey wants to live a bit more downtown.  She called me so excited about a two bedroom that she had just found. I would have felt very guilty about bailing on her and finding my own place. In the end I decided to live with her. It’s much more economical! The single bedroom I found was 2,900 RMB ($467) Living with Josey, our rent is 4,000RMB (so I only pay $322). What can I say, my parents have taught me well… frugality is key.

 I taught three classes tonight then took a cab to our new place to meet the landlord. The apartment is really nice! It is very clean and modern and comes fully furnished; including three flat screen TV’s. I don’t personally need that many TV’s, but hey, I’m not complaining. All and all, I think it was a smart move.  Tomorrow morning I will move my bags into our new place and get settled. I then have to get ready for a big day at work. The Principal of the school will be observing one of my classes (no pressure). After that I can sign my contract as a full time teacher! That will be a huge sigh of relief. I’m so excited to star getting settled into my life here. It will take some time, but I’m excited to get into a routine and find my bearings.  The next major task will be to get an E-bike (basically an electronic Vespa/scooter)!

more to come..

I've been a really bad tourist! I'll try and take more photos..

Experiencing the experiences.

I had such a great China experience last night. And it was definitely needed! I’ve been dealing with those damn emotions… they’re the worst! I met a few girls last week at a coworker’s apartment. One of the girls I met is from Chicago, probably my age and super rad. I kind of want her to be my China BFF? She called me yesterday afternoon and invited me to go with her to see a band.  My inner grandma wanted to be in bed by ten, but seeing as I am in a new country with no friends I forced myself to go out and be social. Margret picked me up at my hotel and headed out to the studio. We drove through the beautiful touristy area before we headed for the dark alleys. Later when helping other friends find the place we kept telling them “the more sketchy it feels, the closer you’re getting. You should feel like you may get assaulted”. It was a completely different area of Hangzhou; the area tourists don’t visit. And like a diamond in the rough, there is a photography studio in this beautiful modern architecture building. It was so bizarre! The studio holds events, and that night it happened to be a couple of bands. After some time and the miracle cab that was lurking in the dark alley, we headed to another bar. The walk to the bar after that was so beautiful! West Lake is one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. This city is well known as the most beautiful city in China. This bar was neat in that the alley next to the bar is one of the best street food locations, one of the girls also got a shoeshine from a very sweet Chinese man while we sat outside and had a beer. I can’t recall the Chinese term for this kind of thing (Chinese is not an easy language! I have a lot of work to do if I want to get by here). It is just a bunch of vendors lining the alley with their grills and tables in the middle. The food is super cheap, and fantastic! I can’t even tell you what we ate. Not because I was too drunk too remember, but because you just never know what you’re getting here. It really was delicious though. It was a great night and so wonderful to hang out with some Americans that can relate and help me with this transition.

I got home around 3am and had to be at work at 9am. At 3pm I went and met Jimmy. Jimmy is what they call an ‘immigration assistant’ or something like that. Basically he helps foreigners with anything they need. Our cab driver on the way to meet him was so excited to share with us that he is learning English. He also knows a lot of American music. We made a fantastic duet! We sang Lady Gaga, as well as “My heart will go on” from Titanic. The Chinese LOVE Titanic?! He also told me I was very beautiful, but only because I have blue eyes… eh, I’ll take it. Jimmy was darling and so helpful. We had a real estate agent show us a few places, the first apartment we walked into Jimmy takes one look around and says “no, too old and dirty” I was so impressed, he then told me he knows what foreigners want. Hah, I guess we have higher standards than a lot of Chinese. I don’t know why, but I just don’t like the idea of only having a squatter and not a real toilet in my apartment. No luck today, but now Jimmy knows what we are looking for and what area, so hopefully he can find something fast!

After apartment hunting I went to H&M with a coworker. She went home and I just walked around the mall. I then got very lost trying to get home, which is great. Sometimes you have to get lost in order to find your way (this can also be interpreted as a philosophical life lesson… just saying). I think I was just walking in circles for two and a half hours. I was going by places that I recognized but just couldn’t find my way home. I started seeing spots, so I decided to get a cab. I am so exhausted now, but overall a good day.

still in a hotel....

Well, it has been one week since I left the US. What do I have to say about my experience? It is quite an experience! Fact of life: things don't always go as planned. When I first got here I expected to be in a hotel for a couple of days, have the school help me find an apartment, get some teacher training, and settle into my new life here. It has been a week and I am still at the hotel. It’s right across the street from the school and super convenient, the only unfortunate part is that I am paying for the hotel myself. It's only $31 a day, and it's a nice hotel, but it adds up. When moving to a new city it takes time to get acclimated and learn the ropes. So when trying to decide what neighborhood to live in, I'm at a bit of a loss. Luckily I have some really great people at the school that have been extremely helpful! One of the guys took me for a walk after class and gave me tons of pointers and helpful advice. It was great and I was so appreciative. He then said to me "you know, it's a small foreigners circle and we all try and take care/look out for one another". I really am feeling that, which is such an amazing gift. 

I've met another Californian at the school that is also looking for an apartment. She is new to Hangzhou, but has lived in China for about 6 years. We've decided to look for an apartment together. It will be nice to live with someone that can help me with simple things that aren’t so simple for a foreigner, like going to the grocery store! We met with a real estate agent today and brought our assistant Dayna from the school to help us translate. Tomorrow we will meet with another agent that speaks English! This will be a HUGE help. Two more nights at the hotel is my limit, and then I will stay with another teacher from my school. I'm hoping we can find a place in less than a week (fingers crossed). I am just feeling so unsettled... Adapting to the culture and my job will take time, and living out of a suitcase/hotel makes me a little anxious. 

The school really doesn’t train much, which is really difficult. I like structure and knowing what is required of me, and there really isn’t much of that. Also, I have never taught before. With adults it is much easier, because they are at the conversational level, and I’m somewhat good at making conversation. With the kids it is about keeping them entertained and happy. I’m struggling, because I don’t have a bag of games and fun/simple activities for them. I keep telling myself it will take a bit of time, and to just be patient. But I feel as if I am failing by not succeeding super quickly.

In time I know it will all work out. Right now I am just missing home and the simplicity/comfort of my life. But as I’m sure somebody once said: If it scares the hell out of you, it’s worth doing.

Skype me.

There is this really awesome thing called Skype. If you have it, add me! My user name is Carrieclark31. My schedule is very convenient in that I don't have to be at work until 1pm. That is 10pm your time. This means that when you get home from work/gym/life in the evening I am just waking up, bright eyed and bushy tailed and available to chat. Just throwin it out there... xoxo

Oh! side note. You have to provide your own toilet paper in China. The first floor of my building has a "Chinese toilet" which is a porcelain hole in the ground. It is also very smelly. Luckily, the other American woman informed me of the "western" toilets on the third floor. Phewww!

First day of teaching.

They pretty much threw me into the lions den.

The tutoring center caters to all levels of english learners. Kindergarden to adults. There are four sets of books the school uses, and within each text there are different levels. From my observation yesterday and today, teaching adults and intermediate students is much easier than beginners (I could have probably guessed that before my observation). With your teenage and adult learners the text books fill the whole class time. They are easy to follow and it's easy with intermediate students to spin off onto other topics or class discussion. Even the "Lounge" class, which is just a free form topic and discussion class is simple. Because the students want to learn, and talk, and practice their English.

Kids on the other hand.... They are a lot of work, especially when they dont speak your language. It's like training a puppy. In fact, one of the kids today was slobbering like a puppy. He had his entire hand in his mouth, then would pull it out and want to touch you with it? Not okay, lay off my Casio calculator watch kid, I know it's cool. They smell like puppies too. The little ones have to take off their shoes (its a carpeted play room) and one of the kids, I didn't care to investigate, had the smelliest socks! Strangely enough, it smelt like Nacho Cheese Doritos, which made me hungry and sick at the same time. Anyways, the lion den. I taught two classes today, and what level you ask? The beginners, the babies. My second class was 3 and 4 year olds. The class is called art and music, and we are supposed to incorporate these into a lesson. As I mentioned, the text books for the intermediate students are self explanatory  The work books for the beginners, not so much! I was to come up with a lesson plan and activities to entertain 4 year olds for 50 minutes. I know, it's not rocket science, but come on! I had never even observed either of the classes that I taught. How was I to know the structure of the class? That's my only gripe. And obviously there is no better way to learn than to just dive in head first and figure it out as you go. I Just felt so unprepared. My teaching as well as my life here will just continue to get better with time! right?

No need to worry.

I know that after those first two entries you were really worried that I would be on the next flight home... well you can stop worrying. I think I'm going to make it. I mean no promises yet, but there were definitely less tears today. I think I may have made some friends today (fingers crossed). Today was my first day training at the school. And by training, I mean observing. Tomorrow I will even be leading my own class. I know... what kind of school is this? What can I say, they want my language. But it will be a class of three and four year olds, how hard can that be!?

It was so refreshing to meet a few of the other foreign teachers and learn as much as I can from them. So far everyone seems great, and interesting in their own way. I think the biggest sigh of relief came when I was told that there is a rather large Expat community here in Hangzhou. Let's be real, the only reason the first two days were so rough was because I had absolutely no body to talk to, and I'm a big talker! My assistant is still looking for an apartment for me, until then I am still in a hotel.  The school is a tutoring center so classes are from 1-9pm during the week and 9am-5pm on the weekends with two consecutive days off. And you only teach five classes a day, the other three hours are prep and dinner. Doesn't seem too bad. Now I have to go through my TESOL manual to find some fun lesson plans because tomorrow I'll be a real teacher ;)

Chinese drivers.

Asians get a lot of shit for their driving in the US... maybe that's our fault because we have never seen what it's like to drive in China. What is it like you ask? It's insane!! It seems as if there are no traffic laws. It's just every man, scooter, biker, and pedestrian for themselves. I'm pretty sure my van sideswiped a scooter on my way from the airport to the hotel. They also honk at everything. In excess. It seems as if there is always a reason to honk: I'm happy. You're in my way. I'm about to hit you. I like your shoes. I want to go faster. I mean really, the honking never stops. But I forgot about all of that today when I heard the music coming from the street sweeper truck. What song was it you ask? "It's a small world" Why yes it is...

My first days...

My AirChina flight left LAX at 1:20pm on Friday the 12th, and I arrived In Hangzhou Saturday the 13th 6am my time 9pm China time. I didn't sleep much on the plane. There were a lot of movies that I missed this year, and I had the time to catch up on them (so much for all that ready/learning Mandarin). Dayna, the assistant to foreign teachers at the school I will be working at picked me up from the airport and took me to the hotel I will be staying in for a couple of days, or until they find me an apartment. Dayna was supposed to meet me at my hotel on Sunday and show me around. Unfortunately Dayna got sick or SARS. Too soon for SARS? So I decided I would have to go explore the city on my own!

It lasted about 10 minutes before I was back in my hotel room crying. I realized there was no way I would be able to find my way back to the hotel, and I wouldn't be able to ask anybody for help because Dayna is the only person here that speaks English (good thing I'm here, huh?). I finally decided to turn on my phone, and what do you know, the maps application knew exactly where I was! Which also means it knew to charge me for roaming (sorry Mom and Dad).

I made my way down to West Lake. A beautiful and historic landmark of Hangzhou. I made it back to my hotel just as it was getting dark and needed to get something to eat. The language barrier is quite difficult, I haven't had a meal in two days. You know those universal menus, where they just show a picture of each item? They really need those here! I as asleep by 9pm and wide awake at 4am?

I spent Monday just walking around the city... don't worry, this time I used an old school map. No roaming charges for those. Dayna stopped by my hotel with a stack of reading material for the school. She is taking me somewhere tonight... where? I have no clue. I'll let you know when I find out. Tomorrow I start my training at the school!!