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.
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