From China, With Love…| 8 min read
My boyfriend Joe and I have been living in China for 3 months now and wow, what an adventure we are having!! From climbing the Great Wall, to learning how to teach a class of tiny three year olds the word ‘cup’, every day has presented us with something brand new and exciting to conquer. We LOVE it!
Upon arriving in Beijing, the very first thing that stole our attention was the thick smog that clouded the sky and it was absolutely sweltering! After a long flight we met a TTC representative and clambered into a taxi. This was when we noticed the roads! Traffic seems to be complete chaos here. Coming from the meticulous motorways of England, the nail biting drive and chorus of horns was all a bit scary. Before long we were fully accustomed to it though and are used to getting bibbed out of the way every two seconds now. Another thing we had to quickly adapt to was the currency- £1 being 10RMB, everything seems so cheap! Obviously the language is another main difference, but the lessons we received with TTC really helped and we soon learnt the basics and just enough to get by, even if sometimes we were actually swearing in Chinese instead of saying thank you (oops) – you do get the hang of the basics eventually. Anything beyond that requires constant practice, and we should know! So, our first impressions of Beijing were of pure amazement, delight, and slight panic (only when crossing a road!
The first month we spent in Beijing was one of many firsts for Joe and I! The first time we had ever seen so many bicycles (the song must be right!) the first time we had ever met such monstrous insects, purchased 2 meals and 2 litres of beer for £3.50, were almost peed on by a tiny tot, had the chance to buy a frozen turtle from a supermarket, went in a public toilet which had no door and no toilet and the first time we had to down a whole pint just because we said ‘cheers’. Those are just a few funny firsts but joking aside, being in China has been the first time Joe and I have felt so warmly welcomed in a society. People are so polite and helpful. I was on a busy tube in Beijing once with some friends and one of them tried to ask a man if there was a toilet on the next platform (in very broken, almost non-existent, Chinese.) The man, expressing confusion, immediately rang someone who could speak English and handed the phone to my fried! I couldn’t believe such hospitality had been shown! I’m sure you’d agree that would just not happen in England.
The Chinese follow through with this strong sentiment of sharing when it comes to food also. Meal times in China are very social and heaps of steaming dishes are shared between friends and families, it’s a very relaxed way of eating. The food is yummy too! Obviously it is very different and some things are pretty daunting such as the intestines etc. but these are easily avoidable thanks to the literal menu translations. There are some superb dishes. Eggplant dishes are my favorite, which is strange because I never would have eaten it back in England! Joe can’t get enough of the dumplings! (We thought we’d lose weight while in China- nope!) One evening, we went to a tiny shack style restaurant down a dusty road in a place called Dongba. The entire menu was in Chinese characters and so we pointed to a few attractive character combo’s only to receive, without a doubt, the best meal we have had here so far!!
Another must-see in Beijing are the fabulous markets! All jammed full of anything and everything, something for everyone and so many amazing shoes! And if you bargain hard and keep smiling you’ll have no problem. I’d recommend the Zoo market over any other, it’s so cheap that you don’t even have to barter! I got two gorgeous pairs of shoes for just £5! As well as much independent exploration of Beijing in the first month TTC took us to many an enchanted wonder in Beijing; The Summer Palace, Ming Tombs, Tiananmen Square, The Great Wall, Beijing Opera House and many more places. All of which I would do no justice in describing to you and all of which you have to see to believe- for only then can you say you have experienced China’s magic.
However, in my opinion the real magic doesn’t happen until you move to your placement school. Joe and I have been placed in Shijiazhuang, the capital city of Hebei province just two hours south of Beijing. We have an amazing apartment right next to our cute, little Kindergarten.
We work Monday to Friday, 8:30-4:30 and teach five classes a day, all 25 minutes each. And it is most definitely the BEST job we have ever had and quite possibly the best job in the world! The children are aged 2-5 and dancing around with them, singing songs and chanting rhymes all day long is pretty fun! It hardly seems like work and is so rewarding when you spend all week teaching them four new words and they toddle up to you in the corridor just to show you their “cup”! I have never smiled over the word ‘cup’ so much!! Only one teacher at our school can speak English and the others try their best to teach us as much Chinese as they can- ‘Good morning’, ‘Good afternoon’ etc. The staff are so kind, making sure we are always ok and bringing us gifts of fruit and nuts.
On our very first day of school we went on a school trip to a cow farm. It was great, we taught everyone (parents and all) ‘the wheels on the bus’, and the children mischievously dug up carrots from a field we walked by and were munching all the way home. To welcome us when we first arrived in Shijiazhuang, a few teachers took us for a huge meal at a fancy restaurant nearby. They wanted to show us new foods that we hadn’t yet tried and consequently the first course had us sucking bone marrow from a pig’s kneecap with a straw- ha- that was…different! Last weekend, the headmaster’s wife took us to Bailin Temple, a famous temple just outside the city where we met and dined with the head monk! He also issued us with real Chinese names- Joe’s translates to ‘gentleman’ and mine to ‘winter flower’.
We have taken up yoga class Monday lunchtimes with the rest of the teachers and are visiting one teacher, Miss Gao, to make dumplings with her one weekend. We couldn’t ask for more. To top it all off, our area is fantastic! We’re right in the middle of the city- two big supermarkets, tons of restaurants, a huge street market, a bus stop, a city park and a shopping mall are right on our doorstep. Every time we venture out, it’s as if we’re famous- people run over to our side of the road just to say “hello” or ask to have a photo taken with us! (I’ll never get used to that!).
All in all China has kept us very busy but above all, completely enthralled. I never thought it would be so incredible with every single day springing us new surprises. Who knows what tomorrow may bring. Joe and I are having the time of our lives and learning new things all the time. With a wide-open mind and a lust for adventure it’s hard not to fall in love with China.
