After a brief week in Toronto, I had to fly out to Changchun, China. For the past year or so, I've been unsure as to what to do after my travels. Luckily, I had gotten a one-year scholarship to study Chinese at Tsinghua University in Beijing. I was quite pleased because 1) I've always wanted to improve my Chinese, 2) I want to try living in the Mainland, and 3) Tsinghua is a great school.
In early June, I got a job offer to teach English at Changchun Normal University. I was so torn! To be a student again... or a teacher? But after a lot of thinking, I decided to turn down the scholarship and accept the 6-month teaching contract. Now here I am!
My first Engrish encounter at the Changchun airport. Oh, "Changchun" means "Long spring" in English. It's a huge misnomer as there is absolutely NO spring and NO fall here.
Lounge-ish area?
My huge bedroom. Foreign teachers get a lot of special privileges. Apparently, the local teachers have to share 4 people to a room! Ouch..
The worst feature would have to be the bathroom. I don't like open showers, but I've gotten used to it. That huge thing is the unnecessarily complicated washing machine, which I have yet to use..
I arrived September 9th. I had trouble adjusting at first, but I really love it here now. They gave me an apartment for free, and it's so nice and spacious!
Lounge-ish area?
My huge bedroom. Foreign teachers get a lot of special privileges. Apparently, the local teachers have to share 4 people to a room! Ouch..
The worst feature would have to be the bathroom. I don't like open showers, but I've gotten used to it. That huge thing is the unnecessarily complicated washing machine, which I have yet to use..
I didn't think I'd experience much culture shock, but oh boy. The school system here is pretty different. For the longest time, I got woken up at 5:30am everyday because of.......THIS:
Omg. Freshmen students have an obligatory one-month military training. Everyday from 5:30am until 9pm. All the chanting was driving me NUTS...
In the dining halls, they have mass-sanitizing chopstick devices. LOL.
"Intense" and "stimulating" Lays chips. Numb & spicy hot pot flavor!
Hot & sour fish soup flavor... Mmmm.
The school gave all the teachers mooncakes for Mid-Autumn Festival!
Me and a random Chinese kid at a restaurant. I totally photobombed him..
Took a trip downtown, and was surprised to find out that street vendors actually sell live animals! The most popular pets for sale are tiny puppies, kittens, rabbits, and hamsters. Here's Katelyn with some adorable puppies!
A super cute kitten I wanted to buy.
And a cute puppy!
Whitley (another foreign teacher), me, Ford and Ruth at a German bar.
Group photo!
My students know that I'm a Cantonese speaker, so they invited me to a Cantonese student gathering. I felt right at home...
We played a bunch of games.. Since it was Mid-Autumn festival, the loser had to eat mooncakes. We were all soo stuffed afterwards...
Me with squid balls! I love street food.
Omg. Freshmen students have an obligatory one-month military training. Everyday from 5:30am until 9pm. All the chanting was driving me NUTS...
I've been here for a little under 3 weeks. I thought I'd be some sort of
assistant, but apparently not. I actually teach the students on my own.
Wow, I know. I was really shocked because I'm the same age as some of
the students... I thought they'd disrespect me for that reason, but my
classes have been amazing so far.
The students don't have showers in their dorm. If they want to shower, they have to pay 5RMB (80cents) to use the public bathhouse. It's not expensive for us, but that's equivalent to a meal here. They're not allowed to use blowdryers in their dorms either. Again, the bathhouses offer it for 1RMB. Ridiculous.
So, when they want clean water for washing their face/hands they have to buy and save it in a thermos. Here's my friend using a debit card type of thing to get water.
In the dining halls, they have mass-sanitizing chopstick devices. LOL.
"Intense" and "stimulating" Lays chips. Numb & spicy hot pot flavor!
Hot & sour fish soup flavor... Mmmm.
The school gave all the teachers mooncakes for Mid-Autumn Festival!
Me and a random Chinese kid at a restaurant. I totally photobombed him..
Took a trip downtown, and was surprised to find out that street vendors actually sell live animals! The most popular pets for sale are tiny puppies, kittens, rabbits, and hamsters. Here's Katelyn with some adorable puppies!
A super cute kitten I wanted to buy.
And a cute puppy!
Whitley (another foreign teacher), me, Ford and Ruth at a German bar.
Group photo!
My students know that I'm a Cantonese speaker, so they invited me to a Cantonese student gathering. I felt right at home...
We played a bunch of games.. Since it was Mid-Autumn festival, the loser had to eat mooncakes. We were all soo stuffed afterwards...
Me with squid balls! I love street food.
Honestly, I have so much to say but I don't want to post a loaded entry. We have our National Holiday coming up, and we have about two weeks off. I'll be going to Beijing with Ahmed and Katelyn, two other foreign English teachers. I'm sooo excited for that!
