So after a long few months of waiting around and the best two weeks in Beijing ever, I've finally made it to my destination of Dongguan, Guangdong on the south coast of China to start attempting to teach some chinese children (god help them). Finding the time to sit and write on here is so hard especially the past few days as it has just been non stop ... but as I have to go back to school later this evening for a "meeting" I've forced myself to skip going out for dinner to have a pot noodle and an hour to myself.
So the last week or so in Beijing was incredible, involving a walk on the Great wall of China, a munch on a snake and a crispy scorpion (tastes like chicken), a night in a Chinese gay bar (apparently) and far , far too many nights in the irish bar. Just your average week right? Despite meeting some of the best people EVER though, I'm kind of glad to leave beijing. It's a really cool city, but 5 months there might have driven me over the edge. The pollution is worse than you could imagine, so bad that you can't see buildings out the window and you can feel it sticking on your lungs. The best touristy places are also filled with annoying Chinese tourists who want to take photos of you with their kids as they've never seen white people before. Funny at first, but the novelty grows old really quick.
After some emotional goodbyes over a few drinks (good old Irish bar), it was time for the longest train journey of anyones life ever. I mean ever. I hopped on the train in "the biggest train station in Asia" at 6.00pm only to find my room was filled with one other white girl and 4 chinese men who spoke about 3 words of English between them. The room was about the size of my wardrobe at home, so negotiating where to store my suitcase and heavy bags in this small space was a struggle to say the least, ending up with me hugging all my luggage to sleep on a bed that felt more like a sunbed. Luckily a few others were in a room down the hall, so to make the best of a bad situation we had a few beers and a bit of a singalong.... which must have amused/confused the Chinese people no end.
When we arrived at 4pm the NEXT DAY, there was a mad rush through the train station with absolutely no idea where to go or what to do... directed simply not to leave without telling anyone. Before I knew it my name had been called like i was going to my execution and I was being greeted by a lovely Chinese lady called Stella. A quick meet and greet later with everyone at the same school as me, I was put on a school bus and headed south to see my new apartment.
I have to say my first impressions of my new area were pretty good... surprisingly good actually. I was expecting slums and found myself in a basic but quite nice apartment with another girl and 5 other interns down the hall and upstairs. We settled ourselves in quite nicely only to find out we were to start teaching at 8am the next day. Panic is not the word.
School the next day was like a complete dream looking back. I think I was still asleep. I found out when I arrived at school that I didn't actually start teaching until the next day, which gave me a whole day of sitting around the office while the Chinese teachers ignored me. Great fun. I got to experience every aspect of the school day going on around me though, with the morning exercises that the whole school does unanimously outside, the eye exercises they do mid afternoon, and the strange 'Chinglish' phrases that are dotted around the school. I can't remember any right now but they will have to be put down here at some point.
Straight after day number one, we all wanted just an early night and a chance to unpack... but no, this is China. So we were sent out for a welcome meal with our principle, Stella, and the head of English, Erin. This was most interesting seeing as the principle doesn't speak English (except for "Gangnam Style", apparently). The food was great though, and the principle seemed to like us as he kept making us down our drinks every 5 minutes.
Day number 2 was my first day of teaching. Terrified doesn't even cover it. Walking into a classroom to see 50 6 year old Chinese children looking back at you is an experience I will never forget. I teach grade 1 and 4, which couldn't be more different. Grade 1 are amazingly cute and hang on your every word as if you are the best thing they have ever seen. They couldn't do enough for me. Grade 4 however, are already the bane of my life. They jump around and scream and shout and are completely impossible to keep under control. They've had English teachers before so me coming in being all white is not a novelty at all for them. They just know they can get away with a lot more than with their Chinese teachers.
Apart from a few rowdy classes though, the school and everyone seem great so far. We got a chance to explore our area last night too, which happily resulted in the fact that their is a night market with amazing street food and 40p beers AND A KTV down the road 10 minutes from our house. Plus an English bar, Italian resturant with real Italian owners and TESCO 10 minutes in the opposite direction. So we have good Chinese culture and good English culture to choose from depending on our mood. Fab.
As I said it's been a mental blur so far and this probably has made no sense. Things are so strange here it can't be put into words. But despite being ridiclously tired and overwhelmed, I'm loving it. I can't believe it took me so long to get out here :)
More to come soon I'm sure, so much I've missed out too. Never been looking forward to a weekend so much to have a proper explore and unpack myself. But ya know..... YOLO.
No comments:
Post a Comment