Well, it's officially December now, and the last week or so has brought with it some changes to life in Jiujiang. First of all was Thanksgiving. It seemed that it would pass without notice until I got a door-opening text message from my fellow CIEEer Laura. We had been invited to a Thanksgiving get together by one of the older foreign teachers in town that Laura had met a while back. Laura couldn't make it, and I had never met him, but I showed up at a bus stop, not quite sure what to expect, but excited to hang out with some foreigners nonetheless. It was quite a strange experience, walking into that house. I hadn't been with more than one non-Chinese (and therefore English-speaking) person since our trip to Xi'an two months ago, so entering a house in Jiujiang with more foreigners than I could count on one hand, and all of them speaking a language I could understand, was a little shocking! Alright, we didn't actually have turkey, but there was chicken and mashed potatoes, some pasta and veggies, and a few Chinese dishes thrown in the mix too. It wasn't the traditional Thanksgiving feast we're all used to, but what made it special was all of these people from all over the world coming together to celebrate. Even though we couldn't be with our families, we managed to be there for each other and have a good time celebrating the things we are thankful for here.
potluck Thanksgiving dinner
Since I had to work the next day, I didn't stay too late, but it was nice to meet everyone, especially some of the foreigners that have been here for a while. The next night, we ended up running into some of them walking around after dinner, and they introduced us to a place called "Freedom Bar" over by the big university (where most of them teach). Night life here is mostly KTV joints (karaoke) or clubs, they don't really do the 'bar' thing, so it's nice to finally have a more chill place where we can just go sit down and have a drink. It's pretty much the hang out for all of the westerners at Jiujiang University too, so we can always count on running into some familiar faces when we head over there now. In just a few weeks it's become my 'go-to' place on a Friday night (and sometimes other times too!)
winning night out with new foreign friends!
(see fb for more pictures chronicling Jiujiang's nightlife soon!)
Change number two came with the beginning of December. It's gotten cold. From what I've been told, when winter comes here it's like a switch turns on, and it will pretty much stay like this until April. Now, cold is a relative term. The weather here is actually really similar to the weather in Austin/Waco, so it's not like we're talking arctic temperatures or anything (those can wait until I travel around in January). We had some low 20s last week with some storms, but it's mostly been in the 30s/40s. But the key difference between winter in Jiujiang and winter in Austin is that there is no central heating here. I am lucky enough to have an electric heater in my apartment (one of the stipulations of my contract through CIEE), but it only works when it feels like it and I can only heat one room in my apartment at a time. But nowhere else has heating. The restaurants, the classrooms, etc are all pretty cold now. Time to bust out the coats and scarfs!
My final note for this post is just to remark on how much time has passed since I arrived in Jiujiang. December 1st was the 3-month point, which kind of caught me off guard. I have now been in China longer than I was in Maastricht! But it certainly doesn't feel that way. Time is passing very quickly and the days feel shorter than they did there (probably because I'm not jumping on a train to another country every weekend like I was then). This experience has been so different from that one. Not better or worse, just very different. I'm not quite sure how I feel about this observation that time is inevitably passing. I'm enjoying my time here, but it's going by faster than I thought it would. But, I don't really know what that means or how I feel about it, so for now, it's just a thought that can run around in the back of my mind while I'm otherwise engaged.
I'm down to my last few weeks of teaching for the semester and have begun the daunting task of planning final exams for 180+ students. I am also planning my whirlwind tour of China for the winter break in January/February with some other CIEE folks from Jiujiang and Harbin, but more on that another time. I'm sure our adventures will fill many a blog post by the time we're done!
That's all for now! Keep warm and enjoy the holiday season for me!
I’m realizing, looking back on my blogs, that a lot of what
makes it up here is very disjointed. It fluctuates between generic, touristy
information and random experiences that seem noteworthy at the time. (This is
probably also because I update so rarely – still working on this!) But there’s
not too much about my everyday life here and how things are really going.
Hence, an update on “The General State of Things.”
It’s November now, and I’ve been here for over two months
now. That’s kind of hard to believe – time is really flying by! That being
said, I’m definitely finding that things here have reached a certain level of
normalcy. For the first few weeks that I was here, everything seemed so new and
different, often outrageously so, and life was a constant stream of culture
shock and daily absurdities. But now, I’m feeling more comfortable with the way
things work. Don’t get me wrong, there are still some weird things that I won’t
probably ever get completely used to, and it definitely still feels different
than life in the more familiar western world. It’s more that I’ve come to
expect it, so it doesn’t faze me so much. I can cross the street fairly
nonchalantly without really fearing for my life anymore. I’m learning to ignore
the staring, most of the time. Alright, only some of the time, but still. Baby
steps. It doesn’t bother me so much that
I can’t read anything in the supermarket. I just go with the flow and if
something’s not what I thought it was, then oh well! (All though it helps that
I can understand when they tell me my total, and I can say, “I want that one”
and things like that) Eating out involves much “Chinglish” and gesturing, but I
can get by.
Classes are also going pretty well. I’ve gotten a better
grasp on the levels of my various classes, so I can plan my lessons more effectively.
This whole teaching thing has also done wonders for my public speaking
abilities. Shy little me can speak in front of crowds now, no problem! There is
one negative on the teaching front though. A few weeks ago, I started teaching
a 10-week course, twice a week, for other teachers at the college. It had its
ups and downs: about a month in, I still don’t have the teacher’s edition of
the text book, so the school wasted a bunch of money on that; there’s a lot
wider range of English abilities among the teachers than my regular students,
largely because there’s also a wider age range; the class gave me the
opportunity to meet some non-students, which is always good, and I’m hoping
some of the friendships I’ve made will last throughout the year; extra pay is
always good. But, I found out this week that the class has been cancelled. The
last two classes I have only had two people show up, so the administration
decided to call it off. I think they’ll try to restart it in the spring when, I
am told, the teachers’ loads are not so heavy.
The students. I love love love my students. They are all so
nice and excited to see me out and about. Two of them have taken it upon
themselves to be my personal tour guides into Jiujiang’s nightlife, which is a
surprisingly fun scene. Last week, I had my first KTV (Karaoke) experience with
another, larger group of students. I have frequent requests for them to “be my
friend” and I am always happy to oblige! It’s really pretty great being the
same age as my students. Hopefully this trend will continue!
Other than that, there is not much more to say. The weather
here is just starting to turn cooler, although not really cold enough for my
taste. I am regularly asked why I am not cold and told that I should wear more
clothes by students decked out in several layers and winter jackets. They can’t
quite seem to grasp that I can not be cold when its 55 or 60 degrees outside! I
alsorecently completed a week of Halloween lesson plans, complete with pictures
and candy, which was a fun cultural diversion from my poorly written textbooks.
I’m sure some element of homesickness will set in as
November gives way to the holiday season. But, for now, I’m just enjoying
things here. Hopefully, more updates will come before long! Bye for now!
Alright, it’s time for the vacation rundown (it’s taken me
so long to write this because it’s so freaking long…sorry! Go get a snack or something, cause this is gonna take a while).
From October 1st
– 7th, I was on vacation for the National Day holiday, aka one of
the ‘Golden Weeks’. This holiday celebrates the founding of the P.R. China on
October 1st, 1949. Most of the schools get a week off. Some workers get 3 days. Your average Chinese
don’t really get much of a vacation though. For farmers, the work is still
there, and shopkeepers tend to stay open, often for longer hours to accommodate
increased business, during the holiday. Most of my students went home and
worked for their parents’ farms or shops, or at least helped around the house
while their parents worked; or they took on part-time jobs for the week. If you are lucky enough to get the time off
work though, this week is a popular time to go home and visit extended family
or take a rare sightseeing trip. It is also a popular time for weddings. When I
asked my students what they did on their holidays, I was surprised to hear how
many of them went to their brother’s/sister’s/cousin’s wedding. I guess it is a
time when more people will be likely to travel to the event, so it makes a lot
of sense. For many people though, this is one of the few vacations you get a
year (only about half of Chinese workers get paid vacations), so tourism also
spikes in all the major cities.
With all the travelling that goes on at this time, I was
warned that public transportation would be horrendously busy. I didn’t realize
quite how bad this would be. We (Laura, my fellow Jiujiang CIEE teacher, and I)
only finalized our travel plans about a week or so before the holiday, so the
seats were all sold out by the time we bought train tickets. So, on Friday
night (September 30th) we headed to the train station, ready for a
16 hour train ride, squatting on the floor. This is what that looked like:
UNfun. Fortunately, we only had to squat on the floor
between the trash can and the smokers until about 4 or 5 am when a few people
started getting off and we were offered seats. By the late morning, we had two
seats each and were able to actually get some sleep, although it was still
rather uncomfortable. But, we eventually made it to Xi’an, which is really all
that mattered in the end.
Rather than give you a day-by-day rundown of our week, I’ll
just hit the highlights (which will probably still take a while).
THE FOOD: We discovered that food in Xi’an is much less spicy
than in Jiujiang, which was at first a little boring to be honest. But,
we
still managed to find some delicious masterpieces.
first meal in Xi'an
extremely delicious fat noodles
There
is a large Muslim population in Xi’an, so there were lots of delicious noodle
dishes. We actually ate a lot of our meals in the Muslim Quarter which was
about 5 minutes from our hostel and is full of relatively cheap and quite
delicious dishes.
around the Muslim Quarter
We
of course tried some local specialties. This one is called yangrou paomo. You rip up some flat bread into the bottom of your
bowl, and then they cover it with a delicious mutton soup. Mmm yummy!
We
also tried roujiamo, pita bread meat
sandwiches, and some others that I don’t know the name of, including little
noodles steamed in balls and covered with a spicy sauce, and fried sweet potato
cakes!
more delicious food in the Muslim Quarter
sweet potato cakes
Although, there were some questionable restaurants that we
avoided…
this reminds of the elephant graveyard in The Lion King
our hostel is the left part of the building
THE HOSTEL: Our hostel turned out to actually be pretty
great. I was worried that since we were booking it so late, we would be stuck
with a questionable hostel. And, its
reviews online weren’t so great. But, I really enjoyed it and would recommend
it to anyone traveling to Xi’an! We stayed at the Bell Tower International
Youth Hostel. The location was absolutely perfect. It is located right in the
middle of the old town right next to the Bell Tower. Like I said, we were 5
minutes from the Muslim Quarter, where all the food was, so that was great.
And, since the Bell Tower marks the center of the city, you can catch a bus to
pretty much anywhere from one corner or another.
hostel bar/restaurant
As for the hostel itself, it
was pretty much what you’d expect from a decent youth hostel. It was pretty
clean and the bathrooms were definitely just as nice as some of the good ones
in European hostels (and better than some - anyone remember the questionable
showers in Prague? Eww). They had free computers with internet access, the
staff was nice and helpful, and there was a bar/restaurant run by the hostel
too. The food there was pretty expensive, but we splurged on the last day and
had a legitimate western breakfast – first since I’ve been here, and last for a
while I’m sure! The drinks were overpriced, but that’s pretty much the case in
all the bars.
view of the Bell Tower from the hostel
One+One
The best part was definitely the people. We stayed in the 10
bunk dorm rooms and got to meet some cool people from all over: Canada,
Germany, Poland, France, etc. We had an epic night out to a club called
One+One, complete with drunken Chinese friends with questionable dancing skills
(see facebook videos for more on this). It’s
comforting to find you’re not the only one off on some crazy journey through
China, or wherever. It’s so cool to think about how you’re kind of intersecting
each other’s paths at different points, and you get to share a small part of
your journey with them, and vice versa.
THE SIGHTS: Alright, time for the best part. You know, the reason
we actually went to Xi’an. It is one of the oldest cities in China and
considered one of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of China. It is therefore
overflowing with historical artifacts and places of significance – a treat for
any history buff and a must-see if you’re making a trip to China. Here’s some
of what we saw while we were there (as always, refer to fb for more pictures!)
small goose pagodoa
ride 'em cowboy!
XI’AN MUSEUM and SMALL GOOSE PAGODA: Our first stop
of the
trip was to this (free!) museum. We actually meant to go the Shaanxi
History
Museum, which is more famous and supposed to be much better. But, due to
my
poor sense of direction and an overcrowded bus system, this is where we
ended
up. We still managed to see some pretty cool stuff, including a scale
model of
the old capital, then known as Chang’an. The grounds were quite
beautiful and
included the Small Goose Pagoda. We even managed to find a Belgian tour
group
to stalk and eavesdrop on some historical facts en francais!
best fountain ever
model of the old city
BELL TOWER and DRUM TOWER: Since these structures
were
located just outside our hostel, I got many late night shots of them all
lit up
in their splendor. We only paid to go up the Bell Tower, which was a
little disappointing
on the inside. But, we got some good shots off the top and the entrance
fee was
only about 4 USD, so not too bad.
bell tower
view of the drum tower from the bell tower
OLD CITY WALLS: Instead of renting bikes (which looks like
it would have been rather unpleasant given the bumpy and uneven nature of the
surfaces), we decided to set off walking the 9 mile track around the city. The
views were so-so, but the people-watching was fantastic! We only made it about ¾
of the way around before getting off in favor of some souvenir shopping at the
south gate.
winning outfit of the week on the city walls
chillin' at the mosque
GREAT MOSQUE: Located in the Muslim Quarter, the Great
Mosque of Xi’an is the oldest in China, founded in the 700s. It was a neat mix
of cultures, with distinctly Chinese architecture covered in Arabic
calligraphy.
XINGQINGGONG GARDENS: A little off of the normal tourist
path, these huge gardens are located further away from the center of the city.
As long as you avoid the cheesy Chinese amusement park rides and novelty pedal
boats, it’s really quite beautiful. Of course you can’t avoid the curious Chinese
youngsters stalking you and wanting photos with the waiguoren, but it makes a nice (free) escape from the overcrowded
tourist attractions.
BIG GOOSE PAGODA: Welcome to Xi’an’s most overpriced tourist
attraction. It costs 50 RMB to get in and another 30 to climb the tower,
and
really, the views weren’t that great. There’s some neat architecture on
the
grounds and some beautiful Buddhist statues, but I’m not entirely sure
it was
worth it. That being said, it makes for some beautiful night photos. One
must
see here, however, is the fountain show. Supposedly the most expensive in
Asia,
it was really impressive! The music was cheesy, but the fountains were
awesome.
Oh, and it’s huge! Although you might need an umbrella if you get close
enough
during the grand finale!
