Sunday, August 26, 2007

China Day 3: Many unanswered questions

Today is supposed to be the day I start my training at the middle school but I haven't heard mention of it since the day I got here. All Bob said then was that I was doing training with a guy and that it would start today. The only other guy here right now is Tim who is sure it isn't him. The other 2 guys that are coming aren't coming until the end of the week.  I figured my best bet was to get up and be ready in time for breakfast should Bob appear and expect me to be ready to leave.

They are slightly military about the eating schedule here. Breakfast is at 8, lunch at noon, and dinner at 5.  The last 2 days the food has been free so I have been doing lunch and dinner at least but it's hard to work up an appetite when you spend your time doing nothing. As for the food, it is good and we are curious to see if the food that is in the teacher's cafeteria is any different. We are supposed to start eating there this week. There are some things that are going to take some getting use to. Namely, most of the meat we eat still has its face. The whole fish is bearable, the shrimp was a little difficult, but the chicken was almost too much.  Don't believe what they tell you about Chinese food being good for you either. Most of what we have had has been drowned in oil or fat or grease of some sort.  It is also expected that you just stick whatever in your mouth and then spit onto the table whatever isn't edible such as skin, bones, and faces.  We don't get plates, only little bowls, so it's hard to keep all of the waste stuff in there when it's what you are supposed to be eating out of. I finally got to where I will set stuff on the table, but I am not to spitting things out of my mouth yet. I also clean off the table when I am done which is apparently quite comical. I have also refrained from the shoveling method of eating at this time as well and talking with food in my mouth. They also do not use napkins or such. Oh how Chinese restaurants in America have use fooled. We will see who wins out there in the end. Silly Americans.

It is pretty darn cheap to eat here though. My bubble of specialness was burst yesterday when Adrianna and Tim told me they are getting paid the same amount I am. Granted, I didn't tell them what I was getting paid, they just mentioned their salary. I took it from Bob that I was getting paid "based on experience" as the program said I would be. Granted Tim and Adrianna have been here for a month working with middle schoolers, but they are both fresh out of college. Moving on though…apparently the average middle class family of 4 here lives on 1200 yuan a month. We are making about 4000 yuan a month. At the store, 1 liter of milk cost me about 4 yuan. That is approximately 50 cents based on the dollar conversion I last saw of 1USD to almost 9 yuan.  Produce lovers should be shocked to hear I bought 3 Asian pears for 50 cents as well. For anyone who has never purchased these or sold them for many years, in the US they run about $5 a piece.  The meat here is pretty cheap as well, but I am not too sure about it. They have many different things that look like sausages that are unrefrigerated and they had all of their raw meat on tables with ice under them.

I am still waiting on getting my computer fixed/replaced but other than that and some minor issues trying to figure out the plumbing, all of my sinks work now. I might have lucked out and picked the only apartment that has a hot water shower – hooray! The highlight of yesterday, other than sleeping in until 10am, was watching the end of Harry Potter in English and Finding Nemo in Chinese.  Tim bought a bunch of ripped off movies here so I am sure I can work my way through those as well.  I am just hoping that things get rolling a bit so that I have a way to pass the time. Where it's at now, I am a bit of the odd man out. The other 2 Americans met each other 2 weeks ago so they tend to keep to themselves pretty much all though if I am using one or the other's computers, they will invite me to join them. The Japanese woman is shadowed by another teacher who works here and is going to teach Japanese. Her English is pretty limited so lengthy discussions are out of the question anyway. One more American and a British guy are arriving this week too. It was slightly disheartening that the 2 teachers I have spoken too said they don't really like working at this college and one straightforwardly asked me why I chose to work here. Well, I am here now so I would say there is no reason for second guessing. Getting my own internet will be a big bonus. Fingers crossed that it happens soon!

I have already thought of some things I would love from America but I am going to keep it and work on it for a bit before I make any requests. I am going to try to find what I need here, or an equivalent, first.  On a side note: are crickets lucky? I have had one by kitchen sink for about a day now and I am trying to figure out it is some omen or if it just can't figure its way out. Thoughts?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Didn't you watch Mulan?!? Crickets are TOTALLY good luck! ;)