I figured it was about time to write another Post but I have been busy. Things are still going well overall in China. I'm still really enjoying my job although some classes can be quite challenging. The kids listen to their Chinese teacher as of they were a general or commander, but because I'm a foreigner they think I'm funny and take my class as more fun than anything else. This is due to the more relaxed enviorment and the group learning mentality, also because we play memory games and such. So out of 10 I say 8 of them are good and the teacher keeps them under control, the other two can be difficult because I can't communicate to them to stop running around and sit down. Also the teacher isn't as strict as others and doesn't really care, probably because it is the last two classes of the day. But other than that I love all the children. There's a whole mix, little babies from 2.5 to kindergarten aged 6 year olds. I only have one 5-6 year old class and they are my favorite. I enjoy teaching them the most because they actually learn a lot and I feel I can get a lot more in depth into the English language with them.
The school celebrates birthdays in a very interesting way, I actually think it's great. Instead of celebrating every kids birthday they take one afternoon out of the month to celebrate every child's birthday for that month. The parents come and each kids receives a cake from the school. There are games between the parents and their sons and daughters and other couples. It actually gets competitive which is really funny. But for March we are celebrating this Friday and they have asked me to be a judge for one of the competitions. I'll let you know how it goes.
The food at my school is also really good. It saves me money since I don't have to buy lunch and is very well balanced. I get one portion of meat, vegetables (always cooked), fruit, LOTS of rice, and a soup. They don't drink with their meals not even water and another funny thing is that they wait 2 hours to eat their oranges because they say it will give you a stomach ache if you eat it right away. Don't know about that but it's interesting.
As far as dining when I'm not at school, I'm still enjoying the food. Sometimes I'll get a craving for something and won't be able to satisfy it, such as a nice Italian sub or some good quality pizza. Other than that I love the Chinese cuisine especially the street food. We have become regulars at two local spots, by we I mean my roommate Adam and I. One is called a Weeger restaurant. Weegers' are people who live somewhere either in China or on a Chinese owned island but they are Muslim and look somewhat Chinese but you can definitely tell the difference. Anyway, they will make noodles right in front of you and cook them with various meats or vegetables. I like the cabbage with chili sauce and they beef rice with green peppers, for some reason at this place they make incredible rice. The other location is just a noodle place. They as well make the noodles in front of you but specialize in soup. The soup is incredible and is topped with cilantro and some sort of dried beef shavings (I hope ha-ha). Anyway, both are whole in the walls, literally, only having seating for about 8-12 people and is in a confined space. The next best thing I've had was this braised pork belly that was out of this world. Had perfectly tender meat topped with a nice hunk of fat that melted in your mouth. Probably not something I should eat every day but it was delicious.
Because I eat lunch for free, unless they're serving fish because it's boned and doesn't smell very good, I'm able to eat cheaply throughout the week which has been nice. In fact, my whole food budget can be matched by buying 3 beers at a bar or club. I've just now realized that and it's pretty crazy. That is the one thing that has been killing me. Whenever you go out for drinks, as in any city, it's going to cost you. Some club charge $6-8 a beer which can get frustrating so we have found that it is best to look for specials. For example we went to a brewery restaurant last weekend which was 100 RMB all you can drink which is about $15, so we made sure we got our moneys worth and then hit the town.
I've been able to meet people from everywhere (England, Italy, France, Germany, China of course, Korea, and good old Americans). My roommate Adam is on an international soccer team so I've gotten to meet a lot of these people through him which as been nice and easy. I actually just joined a dodge ball team within the past two days. I went out to dinner with a bunch of people that I had met at a party and this one Chinese kid form Hong Kong through out the idea to start a team so I figured why not. There are six guys and 6 girls and is composed of three Brits and the rest Americans, except for the one Chinese captain.
I was able to buy a bike the other day for 100 RMB which again is about $15 USD. It is an old bike but exactly what I wanted. The city is filled with these rustic bikes and loud motor scooters and it reminds me a lot of Amsterdam in that sense. It feels almost as if all the bikes come to China to die because some look like they are about 30 years old. Don't know if mine was stolen or if it was just someones old one but I bought it from a scooter repair shop, just a 8' by 3' street shop. They had one for sale and so I took it for a test drive. I liked it but the seat was extremely uncomfortable so I pointed to the bike next to it and said I wanted that seat. Since it was the shopkeepers, he took it off and gave it to me.
Went to the fake markets this past weekend and wanted to buy everything in sight. I held myself to a pair of fake RayBan's that look like a dead ringer for the real thing and are of good quality. they started the price at 150RMB and I was able to get them down to 25. It's all in just walking away and they'll come right after you. A lot of times I will just offer them a ridiculous price just to get a reaction for my entertainment. I almost bought an Arcteryx counterfeit that was really nice but she wouldn't give me the price I wanted. I left her at 100RMB and she said 150RMB. I left than came back 10 minutes later and offered her 120RMB she was stuck at 150 because I walked away again and she said because of the quality she couldn't sell any lower. You never know how low they will actually go, so I'm planning on going back next week when Adair comes into town and giving it another try.
Another funny story that I forgot to share with most. When we first arrived Adam tried running the washing machine and the pipes had cracked over the winter so water started leaking everywhere through the apartment. It was also flowing down below into a ladies apartment. She came running upstairs and yelling at him in Chinese and he was more than flustered. He called our landlord and we had the plumbers there all day. They got the problem fixed and everything is fine now. We had another leak, very tiny, in our bathroom and so the landlord called another guy to come look at it. He didn't have to do anything because it was so minor, he had been there a half hour and so our landlord instructed us to go into the closet and he had left two packs of cigarettes in there and that we should give him those as payment. Sure enough it worked, ahha I couldn't believe it.Another fun fact is that we have a maid come for 4 hours a week and it only costs us $9. She lives in our building and cleans and irons, I love it!
Adair is coming into town this Saturday and will stay until the following Monday. We have a lot of cool things planned including a trip to the Philippines, the island of Boracay to be exact. Google it and check out some of the pictures, it looks incredible. I will keep you posted on how that goes and hopefully will have some good stories and pictures.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Arrival in Shanghai
Things in Shanghai are still going well. My first week is almost over and I'm exhausted. Not so much from the work but other things going on. WE closed on a place yesterday and got the place we wanted. It is close to the metro which is a HUGE benefit since I have to travel every morning. The other places we were looking at were twenty minutes away where the one near our house is 5 minute walk, right next to a DVD store, just picked up MIlk, Slumdog, Bolt, Hancock, Doubt an others for a mere $1 a piece. Our house is in an area called French Concession which have old tree lined streets. it is very pretty and you get a perfect mix of old China and Western influences. The house is what is called an old lane style house. It is not in a high rise, which there are HUNDREDS of around here, but rather in an old style apartment. We have a convenient store right across the street, a grocery store a block away, and we're only a 10 minute walk from Jamie an Juliana.
Our landlord is really nice and helpful. He lived in New York for 12 years so he likes Americans a lot. He kept telling us how corrupt China is and how if we can make it here we can make it anywhere. I can't get a good read on him if he's wealthy or not or just trying to play the role, hes in medical sales and talks about it a lot. He has helped us a lot though, for instance last night he drove us to IKEA just to be nice and helped us get our essentials, usually you'd have to take a cab. I was quite disappointed to come home and find that I got the wrong sheet size and am going to have to go back UGH. It's hard to get some things that are only written in Chinese but I can make do. It is also especially easy around where I live because there are a lot of French and English speakers who live there for business so a lot of the restaurants speak English. So do some of the street people for instance I was offered a "sexy massage, sexy massage," the other day that I passed up ha ha.
As far as work goes I'm trucking along. I have to come up with a lesson each day which isn't that hard considering I only have them from 15-30 minutes. The only hard part is that this week I have to do it all on my own but next week we will start next lessons and I will have a book to help aid me. I have a big chunk of time off in the middle of the day while the kids nap which sounds nice but is kind of annoying because I don't get paid. The school is to far from my house to leave and come back so I'm stuck here. I've looked into joining a local gym nearby so I can get into shape which would be nice. They also feed me lunch here which is surprisingly good. There is always a TON of rice, a soup, a vegetable, a meat, and a fruit. It's crazy when they put the rice and soup on the table because Chinese people don't wait in line so it's every man for himself but there's always enough.
Some funny things I've noticed:
1) The air is so bad here that people have bad sinus problems, for example I was sitting on the metro the other day and the man across from me just cleared both of his nostrils right on the ground of the metro. This is very common in public and quite disgusting.
2) Hygiene is not that important, kids come in the same clothes 3-4 days in a row and even adults don't keep themselves all that well.
3) Things are a lot more lenient in some instances. For example we had to go to the police station to register our apartment with the police. Our real estate rep went with us since she spoke English and helped us out. I only have a visa for 90 days and will extend it later and my roommate Adam has one for 180 days and will do the same. She was asking why we were signing a year lease if we only had a little time here and the agent told them that we have family coming for in and out of Shanghai for the next year and they don't even know the difference. Everything here is pretty much negotiable which is nice but can get a little out of hand sometimes
Our landlord is really nice and helpful. He lived in New York for 12 years so he likes Americans a lot. He kept telling us how corrupt China is and how if we can make it here we can make it anywhere. I can't get a good read on him if he's wealthy or not or just trying to play the role, hes in medical sales and talks about it a lot. He has helped us a lot though, for instance last night he drove us to IKEA just to be nice and helped us get our essentials, usually you'd have to take a cab. I was quite disappointed to come home and find that I got the wrong sheet size and am going to have to go back UGH. It's hard to get some things that are only written in Chinese but I can make do. It is also especially easy around where I live because there are a lot of French and English speakers who live there for business so a lot of the restaurants speak English. So do some of the street people for instance I was offered a "sexy massage, sexy massage," the other day that I passed up ha ha.
As far as work goes I'm trucking along. I have to come up with a lesson each day which isn't that hard considering I only have them from 15-30 minutes. The only hard part is that this week I have to do it all on my own but next week we will start next lessons and I will have a book to help aid me. I have a big chunk of time off in the middle of the day while the kids nap which sounds nice but is kind of annoying because I don't get paid. The school is to far from my house to leave and come back so I'm stuck here. I've looked into joining a local gym nearby so I can get into shape which would be nice. They also feed me lunch here which is surprisingly good. There is always a TON of rice, a soup, a vegetable, a meat, and a fruit. It's crazy when they put the rice and soup on the table because Chinese people don't wait in line so it's every man for himself but there's always enough.
Some funny things I've noticed:
1) The air is so bad here that people have bad sinus problems, for example I was sitting on the metro the other day and the man across from me just cleared both of his nostrils right on the ground of the metro. This is very common in public and quite disgusting.
2) Hygiene is not that important, kids come in the same clothes 3-4 days in a row and even adults don't keep themselves all that well.
3) Things are a lot more lenient in some instances. For example we had to go to the police station to register our apartment with the police. Our real estate rep went with us since she spoke English and helped us out. I only have a visa for 90 days and will extend it later and my roommate Adam has one for 180 days and will do the same. She was asking why we were signing a year lease if we only had a little time here and the agent told them that we have family coming for in and out of Shanghai for the next year and they don't even know the difference. Everything here is pretty much negotiable which is nice but can get a little out of hand sometimes
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