Well, this weekend was definitely a low point in my China adventure. And still, it was an adventure. I will relate it here, not to complain, but to make this a true picture of my life in China.
This week at school has been very stressful. It started with me being responsible for speaking in Chapel Wednesday, which meant a lot of time planning in the beginning of the week. This was bad because the end of the 9 weeks was Friday, which meant that I needed a lot of time for grading. Of course by Thursday I was a little stressed out because many disruptions to my schedule had meant I was way behind. But, I was determined to make the most of my Friday, because Saturday I was finally going to make it to the Great Wall.
Well, I woke up Friday morning with a nasty stomach virus. I won't supply the gorey details, but suffice it to say It was not a pleasant day. I had to go to school though, because my students had a major project due in Social Studies. They were bringing models of the Nile River, the pyramids, and other Ancient Egyptian artifacts as part of an oral presentation..... so staying in bed was not an option. I ended up going home early losing all that time I was planning on grading papers etc. Of course it took 40 minutes for my bus to come.... but I finally made it home.
Fast forward to 4 hours later when I wake up from a long nap. It was about 8:00 in the evening and I decided to put in a movie. I was contently watching a movie when suddenly, all the power turned off. Yes, everything was pitch black. And no, I don't have a flashlight. Oh, except for a built in one on my cell phone. When I looked in the hallway and saw light, I knew the problem was mine and mine alone.
*** Let me just insert here a bit of info. about bill paying here in the metropolis of Beijing. Almost all bills are prepaid. The only paper bill I get is water, which is taped to my door. Everything else- phone, gas, electricity, etc. is all paid ahead of time. It took me quite some time and many explanations before I finally understood that whole concept, but I had taken my electricity card to the bank and bout 500RMB worth of units about a month ago. My friend Sri had told me that it would last several months, soooo I had not bothered to check it recently. That was a mistake.*****
OK, back to my story. At this point, my nasty virus had not left me. I had a smashing headache, and my stomach was still quite unsettled. I got on the phone and tried to call my neighbor and friend Sri who gets me out of the majority of trouble spots I land in here in China. Well she did not answer. I was near hysterics by the time she called me back. When I explained the situation, she said she thought there was a 24 hour machine you could use to add units.
Well, thankfully Sri was home and immediately came over to get me. Together we set out to find a machine. We visited several banks and ATM machines in the hopes that one was the kind we were looking for. Unfortunately, they were not. After we had walked several blocks (still with the smashing head and unhappy stomach) Sri called our Ayi and asked her if she knew where to go. Her daughter thought there was a place about half a mile down the road. So we set off for there. Thankfully, We did find it, it was open, and I put all the cash I had on me onto my electric card.
**** Side note. on the way back, Sri bought some Kettle Corn that a man was making off of his cart on the side of the street. It smelled so incredibly good. And even with my stomach the way it was I could not resist a few bites. It was PHENOMENAL! It makes all popcorn I have ever had pale in comparison. And I was even sick!****
We finally made it back and I put my card into the slot in my electric box. It read on the meter that I had 500 and some Units of Electricity.... and the electricity DID NOT WORK IN MY APARTMENT!!!!
At this point I was barely functioning. But I did find out that I have some lovely neighbors. In the course of the next hour, I think there were 7 neighbors, management, 2 dogs and finally an electrician who helped solve the problem. My next door neighbor, brought candles and a flashlight. Of course I could not understand anything anyone was saying, but they were really nice about it. Apparently there was a wire loose and that is why the power would not come back on. So they ended up calling an electrician, who came at 10:00 on a Friday night and charged 8RMB which is about $1.00. I could not help thinking what the cost would have been in the US.... So, that is my tale of the good, the bad, and the Chinese way. I was still sick on Saturday and missed my Great Wall trip. But as someone said, it's not going anywhere, so someday I will make it to the Wall. In the meantime, I really need to learn some more Chinese so I can try to thank my lovely neighbors.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Flat Tires, Language Learning, and Lots of People
Wow, I am so overdue in writing on here. Schedule wise things have been very busy. Not so much in an I'm so insanely busy I can't function. Rather it is a goo combination of working, building friendships, and seeing the sites. I can't tell it all so I will share some quick bits about my day to day life and then a couple longer notes.
Recent experiences...
My bike had a flat tire so Janet, a Chinese worker from school, took it to a bike repair man for me. She insisted on doing this so that I would not get the "foreigner" markup. After it was fixed we went to eat at a nearby restaurant. An hour later on leaving the restaurant the tire was flat again! By then it was so late that all the bike repair men had gone home. I had to walk it all the way to my apartment, about 2 miles!
My students are not perfect! I have had a boy in my class involved in 2 recent incidents where he hit a girl!!!! One time the girl was 6! So I have been learning about dealing with parents from very different cultures and learning how the whole discipline thing works here at my new school
On the plus side... Half of my class had gone to the library from music class. There was no teacher or adult in the library at the time. When I walked in unexpectedly, all 9 students were sitting at tables quietly researching their topics for a project I had assigned THE DAY BEFORE using the very limited number of research books in the room. It caused my jaw to drop open.
Learning Chinese is DIFFICULT! For me, learning very simple phrases and remembering them is quite challenging. We have started a class at school with one of the Chinese teachers. She is meeting with 3 of us once a week. Last week we learned numbers and I have been practicing diligently. My friend Diane and I went to an art store together. Anytime I go someplace with Diane is an adventure of epic proportions, but I don't have time to share all the details at this time. Suffice it to say that there WAS some confusion in finding the correct store, and we spent quite some time in a little hole in the wall shop trying to figure out where all the supplies were, before discovering the correct shop just down the street:) When we finally got to the right store we had a great time trying to use a combination of our bad and limited Chinese words and hand motions to describe clay. Finally a girl figured out what we were looking for and led us to it. I took a package to the front to find out how much it cost. I was SO excited to use my new knowledge of numbers in Chinese to listen for the price and figure it out in English. I pointed to the package. The clerk said something that sounded like "A" (a long a sound) I carefully counted from one to ten in Chinese in my head. None of the numbers sound anything like A. I looked questioningly at him and he repeated "A" again several times. I still could not figure it out. Finally he got out his calculator and typed in 8!!!!! He was just as excited to practice his ENGLISH numbers as I was to try out my Chinese! When I said OHHHHH "BA" he realized why I did not understand. We both stood there laughing hysterically. By the time Diane and I left, I am pretty sure we had the full attention of EVERYONE in the store!
Getting in touch with nature.
Today I was excited to visit a park called Fragrant Hills. I had heard that it was very beautiful and I looked forward to getting out in nature and enjoying some peace away from the city. I think I forgot for a bit how many MILLIONS of people live in China. I have never experienced hiking in quite this way. The path we were on was to the peak of the hill/mountain we were near. My friends were not sure they wanted to climb to the top, but I said of course we have to! We can't come this far and not climb to the top! So they went along with me. Shawna with very little enthusiasm! Well, as we climbed higher, several things happened. One, the pathway got narrower, two the pathway got steeper, and three more and more people seemed to join us the higher we got. By the time we were near the top, we were surrounded by a mass of people. Some going up, some going down, but everyone moving. It was amazing to me. I was far from the city, and still packed in a mass of people. When I hike Table Rock Mt. in SC, on a busy day you might see 50 people. Usually it is more like 10. When you get to the top, you enjoy peace and quiet as you enjoy the view. At the top of this mt. THERE WERE PEOPLE EVERYWHERE! Draped on every rock, they spread newspaper on the ground to sit on, they were lining every railing and stair step. It was amazing. The people were taking full advantage of this beautiful place.
One of the fun things about this site, is that it is not one of the regular tourist stops for foreigners. It is very much a Chinese spot. Several times throughout the day a Chinese person would look at us and say with much surprise HELLO! They were so excited to see us there. Even though the day did not include a lot of peace solitude and serenity, it was definitely a fun opportunity to see and enjoy the culture of these people. I am amazed at how graciously welcoming they are to me wherever I go. Well, I guess that's all for this time. I hope it is not too choppy or discombobulated! I hope I can give you a taste of the life here that I am so completely enjoying even with a few inconvenient moments along the way!
Recent experiences...
My bike had a flat tire so Janet, a Chinese worker from school, took it to a bike repair man for me. She insisted on doing this so that I would not get the "foreigner" markup. After it was fixed we went to eat at a nearby restaurant. An hour later on leaving the restaurant the tire was flat again! By then it was so late that all the bike repair men had gone home. I had to walk it all the way to my apartment, about 2 miles!
My students are not perfect! I have had a boy in my class involved in 2 recent incidents where he hit a girl!!!! One time the girl was 6! So I have been learning about dealing with parents from very different cultures and learning how the whole discipline thing works here at my new school
On the plus side... Half of my class had gone to the library from music class. There was no teacher or adult in the library at the time. When I walked in unexpectedly, all 9 students were sitting at tables quietly researching their topics for a project I had assigned THE DAY BEFORE using the very limited number of research books in the room. It caused my jaw to drop open.
Learning Chinese is DIFFICULT! For me, learning very simple phrases and remembering them is quite challenging. We have started a class at school with one of the Chinese teachers. She is meeting with 3 of us once a week. Last week we learned numbers and I have been practicing diligently. My friend Diane and I went to an art store together. Anytime I go someplace with Diane is an adventure of epic proportions, but I don't have time to share all the details at this time. Suffice it to say that there WAS some confusion in finding the correct store, and we spent quite some time in a little hole in the wall shop trying to figure out where all the supplies were, before discovering the correct shop just down the street:) When we finally got to the right store we had a great time trying to use a combination of our bad and limited Chinese words and hand motions to describe clay. Finally a girl figured out what we were looking for and led us to it. I took a package to the front to find out how much it cost. I was SO excited to use my new knowledge of numbers in Chinese to listen for the price and figure it out in English. I pointed to the package. The clerk said something that sounded like "A" (a long a sound) I carefully counted from one to ten in Chinese in my head. None of the numbers sound anything like A. I looked questioningly at him and he repeated "A" again several times. I still could not figure it out. Finally he got out his calculator and typed in 8!!!!! He was just as excited to practice his ENGLISH numbers as I was to try out my Chinese! When I said OHHHHH "BA" he realized why I did not understand. We both stood there laughing hysterically. By the time Diane and I left, I am pretty sure we had the full attention of EVERYONE in the store!
Getting in touch with nature.
Today I was excited to visit a park called Fragrant Hills. I had heard that it was very beautiful and I looked forward to getting out in nature and enjoying some peace away from the city. I think I forgot for a bit how many MILLIONS of people live in China. I have never experienced hiking in quite this way. The path we were on was to the peak of the hill/mountain we were near. My friends were not sure they wanted to climb to the top, but I said of course we have to! We can't come this far and not climb to the top! So they went along with me. Shawna with very little enthusiasm! Well, as we climbed higher, several things happened. One, the pathway got narrower, two the pathway got steeper, and three more and more people seemed to join us the higher we got. By the time we were near the top, we were surrounded by a mass of people. Some going up, some going down, but everyone moving. It was amazing to me. I was far from the city, and still packed in a mass of people. When I hike Table Rock Mt. in SC, on a busy day you might see 50 people. Usually it is more like 10. When you get to the top, you enjoy peace and quiet as you enjoy the view. At the top of this mt. THERE WERE PEOPLE EVERYWHERE! Draped on every rock, they spread newspaper on the ground to sit on, they were lining every railing and stair step. It was amazing. The people were taking full advantage of this beautiful place.
One of the fun things about this site, is that it is not one of the regular tourist stops for foreigners. It is very much a Chinese spot. Several times throughout the day a Chinese person would look at us and say with much surprise HELLO! They were so excited to see us there. Even though the day did not include a lot of peace solitude and serenity, it was definitely a fun opportunity to see and enjoy the culture of these people. I am amazed at how graciously welcoming they are to me wherever I go. Well, I guess that's all for this time. I hope it is not too choppy or discombobulated! I hope I can give you a taste of the life here that I am so completely enjoying even with a few inconvenient moments along the way!
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