I arrived four weeks ago. It has been more than I could have ever imagined. I have learned so much already, I can hardly believe I am able to have this amazing experience. The time is passing so quickly. So many things are going on, everything is new, and there is so much to learn. I was expecting the language barrier to make daily living much harder. Don't get me wrong, I continually catch myself wishing I just knew Chinese, but it is much different than I thought. I do not know how to explain it but the important thing is I am able to get around better than I expected. I am starting to learn my surroundings and becoming more comfortable.
As you could probably guess, there is a lot going on here. Everyday is an adventure and in case you are wondering, yes, I’m loving it. Today I will highlight a few of my recent adventures. Since my last post, I have been given 5 free Paralympic tickets, attended two Paralympic events (one of which was FREE!), gone to the Bird’s nest, gone to a historic Chinese museum (more free tickets), gone to the zoo & aquarium, started Chinese lessons, received 2 Chinese names, and gone shopping and out to eat by myself.
Random but sweet, last Thursday a student gave me 5 tickets to the Paralympics for Friday morning. Just like that. She was in earlier in the week and we were making small talk and Olympics came up and I told her we had tried to get tickets to the Opening of the Paralympics but were unable to but it looked like we were going to be able to go that Sunday (14th) and I had a great time at handball and was hoping I would be able to go to a Paralympics event. So back to Thursday (11th) she comes in and tells me it is my lucky day and whips out the 5 tickets and says happy teacher’s day even though it was yesterday. So, as you can imagine, I was able to scrounge up four other teachers that at least said they ‘didn’t have class’ during the scheduled time and off we went Friday morning to the Paralympics. (No teachers missed class because they were attending the Paralympics. If they did, I wouldn’t tell you about it.)
So after using our amazing free soccer tickets on Friday I was able to go with a group to see Athletics in the Bird’s Nest on Sunday (14th). It’s a lot bigger in person. It looks sweet on TV but when you see it in person it takes your breath away. It is really big and just awesome. I had a great time and am glad I was able to go. I could only think of how crazy it would have been during the Opening Ceremonies. Wow.
In between my weekend of Paralympics I was able to squeeze in a visit to a museum of various Chinese artifacts. It was a little difficult to take in between I am don’t know any Chinese history and all of the descriptions are obviously in Chinese. A student took us and explained some but there is only so much he could do because we had a tour guide and she kept us moving at a good clip. It was fun to spend time with a student and learn more about Chinese history and culture.
I have been having a lot of fun trying to communicate in my very broken (which is being generous) Chinese. On the way home from the museum I had a blast trying to talk with our taxi driver. We named him Gus. He didn’t seem to be feeling it much at first but after a little coxing he warmed up to it. I tried talking to him some but wasn’t able to say very much. He understood some English but couldn’t speak very much and I cannot understand or speak Chinese, so we had a good time. I had Julie, a veteran on the team, help me tell Gus that my Chinese is very good. (I have been trying telling people that I am fluent but since we do not know how to say that, we just say my Chinese is very good. It seems to get the point across.) So I gave Gus a good laugh. Most people really like it when you try to speak and learn and will help you. We helped each other practice saying our numbers. It is easier than I thought. You can use the time or fair for the taxi or signs you see. We tried to learn each other’s names. I also told him I was from China, but for some reason, he didn’t buy it. Maybe it was my good Chinese.
This was only a four-day week because Monday was mid-autumn festival. A student took us to the zoo and aquarium. I got the see the pandas, which was quite exciting. They gave them a large slice of watermelon and panda picked it up and leaned against a big rock and put the watermelon on his belly and then picked it up and took a bite out of it. It was funny to watch them eat watermelon. There was a rocking chair and slide in the pen and I was really hoping he would hurry and finish the watermelon and do some tricks but that was not on his agenda. We walked around the corner and there were some Chinese brown bears. They do not have fences but a little wall you walk up to and then basically look over a 20/25’ cliff that then slowly slopes up away from you into a little hill, which is still about 10’ below you. (hope that makes sense) That said, one of the bears came right up against the little cliff and was fully extended leaning up on the wall/cliff and people were pouring their drinks down to him and he was really good at catch all of it. I think he had some practice. Some people had some fun and would move the drink while they were pouring it down but the bear caught it all. I found it funny to watch. How often to you see a big brown bear catching Coke in his mouth?
Thanks for remembering me and visiting my blog!
