And Here We Are

So, here's the scoop thus far about living in Beijing. I'm gonna sum it up with one word. Odd. Very odd. It was said to me that your initial living in China will feel like a weird dream. I couldn't have said this any better. Ya know, I have things to do and what not, places to go, etc. But you're just kinda going through the motions, kinda wandering aimlessly through the mix. You feel out of place and alone, despite being surrounded by people. I believe Beijing is the second largest city in China. It's a strange feeling and takes some adjustment. Kind of like an acquired taste. It's Monday night, and I've been here since Friday. I'm starting to understand a few things, and get into the swing of things. All in due time.

When I say there are a lot of people, that's an understatement. It's crazy. The subways in the mornings are ridiculous, sooooo many people. Not only is it crowded when you manage to get on the subway, but you have to wait a few trains just to get on. You gotta be prepared to do a little pushing here and there, and hold your ground. This morning I witnessed my first subway fight. I kinda get the feeling this sort of thing happens more often than not with this many people. It was a fairly good fight to watch. Good way to start your morning. I looked to my left and saw some guy get thrown off the subway. Hard to say who started it, but the one guy was on the offensive throwing punches whenever he could. The other kinda hung back on the defensive. He looked like he was handling it and didn't seem too put off by it. Who knows. The subway is an interesting place. Once you understand how they work, it's fairly easy. All you really have to know is that every subway lists the last place on the line. Knowing this, you can check a map and see all the stops on that line. Not too bad. It's also pretty cheap to ride the subway. First off, you can purchase a metro card which can be used for buses and subways. It won't save you on the subway, but it'll save you about .6 yuan/rmb/quai (all the same) per trip. The card costs 20 yuan, but this will be returned to you once you return the card, assuming it's not broken. You can then proceed to put however much money you want on the card. Subways cost 2 yuan everytime you get on the, but once your on, you can ride all day and not spend a penny more. Anways, that's enough for now about the fricken subways and the monetary talk. I just wanted to give you a taste of costs for those sort of things. Oh, but figure approximately about 6 yuan for every $1.00. It's more like 6.5 but it changes a little here and there, and it's easy to do math with 6.

I had to take care of some medical shiz earlier. Ya, I used shiz. I didn't wanna sweat, but wanted to use some sort American lingo so that's what I ended up with. Enjoy. Anywayyysss. I've read that Chinese hospitals are pretty efficient, and I can't say I disagree. I had to go through 3 tests there. Std, X-ray, and blood. The whole operation with 4 teachers, including myself, took about 30-40 minutes. It's not necessarily the most sanitary way of doing things there, but it gets the job done quickly. We can get into that another time perhaps. You gotta figure doing these 3 things back in the states would have taken an easy hour and a half to two hours with all the waiting we go through. You know the drill. Wait in the 'waiting room'. Your name gets called and you get to wait in the smaller waiting room. The nurse shows up and then you get to wait for the doctor. Now if you don't know this already, nearly every situation refers to Seinfeld. (I'm a big fan if you haven't guessed.) So yes, there is a bit about the waiting that takes place in a doctor's office. So bravo China, you got something right. Sort of. In a twisted kinda way.

As for my living situation, I've been held up in this hotel since I arrived. It sucks. You can't get comfortable or unpack or anything like that. And besides that, this hotel isn't that great. Maybe I'll post some pictures of it before I leave. It could be worse I suppose. Besides that, it's not costing me a dime. Always a good thing. Despite that, I'm anxious to leave and get into an apartment so that I can get situated and what not. Should be out of here by the end of the week.

As for my job, well I just got hired by a school. I don't know if there was miscommunication, misunderstandings, lack of info provided or all of the above. Regardless, the hotel is like a temporary solution while you're doing demonstrations for various schools. Demos take about 15 minutes give or take. They involve an introduction to the class, getting the kids' names, going over some vocab, singing a song or two, and playing a game or two. It's basically just demonstrating to the school that you can handle this type of work and be good with kids. I had my third demo today. I cut it a little short. It was only about 10 minutes, but went well. This school ended up hiring me. I plan on checking it out and such before I accept. This particular school has several branches and multiple positions. Check this one out. The first demos that I went to, I dressed in casual business thinking this would be better. One of the guys I went with wore jeans and a t-shirt. This guy ended up getting that job. Go figure. So today, I tried out the same thing and pretty much emulated his demo with my spin on it. Guess it worked. My thoughts about this were; maybe they want that person that looks Americanish because that's what your representing in the school. You are the American face. Again, who knows? I found it amusing to the say the least. Once you get hired though, the company moves you into an apartment close to the school which is nice. Assuming I take the position, which will most likely be the case, I'm hopin' I can move into a decent apartment. So ready for that.

I haven't really been inspired to take any photos just yet, but they're on the way. Rest assured. Haven't had a chance to go yet for some night life or do any sight seeing. This is all on the way. Looking forward to sitting down to some live music and enjoying a beer. The bejinger (http://www.thebeijinger.com/) is a great site for foreigners living in Beijing. It lists local places you can get out to, how much events cost, where they're at, when they take place, etc. Makes it a lot easier to find places of interest. I'm actually headed there now, so be good. Thanks for reading. Maybe I'll get some more readers when these posts get more interesting. Haha.

-Jeff