Good weekend. Today is Sunday, 5/29/11. I was out last night and had a good time. Ended up going to a bar called ‘Juicy’. Great name, right? Reminds me of a song so I have to give credit to Notorious B.I.G. here, although I’m fairly certain it’s a cover of an older song. Anyways, it was a decent place. I liked it. It cost 80 rmb for guys, and 30 for girls. You can sign your name to get a free card, which lowers that price to 60 rmb for future usage. Yes, I did that. I am now a Juicy guy. But anyways, drinks were inclusive so I don’t mind. I would have spent between 100 and 200 rmb on drinks if that hadn’t been the case. I mean, I wouldn’t have done that if that were the case, but I’m just saying. Besides that, I got to enjoy some finer drinks as opposed to the usual beer. It was a nice change. No, I didn’t get drunk. I’m just saying. The bar had a rooftop terrace, which is particularly nice this time of year. It’s a good atmosphere to just sit down with some friends and enjoy some drinks. Still a little noisy, but better than indoors. It was cool. I’ll be back there for sure. Update. Not as grand the second time. Perhaps that was due to sitting next to a guy shortly before he began to throw up. Luckily, I avoided any misfire.
I know my bloggage has taken a bit of a back seat. What can I say? Things happen. I’m probably sounding like a broken record because I’m sure I’ve mentioned this before. I just have different priorities now. I know. It’s important. Allows you people, friends and family back home, to have a glimpse into my new world. I usually add a list of ideas for a future blog, though. Helps me remember what took place. I also throw dates on if I feel it’s necessary so you have an idea of when things are taking place.
Well I went to an amusement park back on 5/13/11. Ended up going with a few people, and we went during the night time hours. Like in the states, it is cheaper to go at night. Unfortunately there is a big difference. You would think that you are paying less strictly because you have less time to access the rides, but there’s a little more to it than that here in China. The majority of the rides are shut down during the night hours. There’s virtually nothing open, besides a few so so rides here and there. The only decent one was the dominator look alike. In case you’re not familiar with that, it’s the one that either shoots you up or drops down. The only one available here was the one that shoots you up. No big deal. It was nice to just be out and about, walking around in the place, and seeing what could be available. Might be a while before I go there during any day time hours, though. Like Six Flags or any major theme park, I’m told it’s super crowded and impossible to get on rides. Not my idea of a good time. Regardless, had fun there.
I did end up breaking down a little while ago and finally cleaned my bathroom. It was absolutely disgusting. I still have nightmares about it. I just wonder how it ever managed to get to that point. I mean it was really bad when I got here, and the previous wonderful roommate of mine only made it that much better. I didn’t go super crazy on the floor, but I cleaned up the majority of it. I still have yet to bleach the whole place down. That’s my plan for the nearby future anyways. But go figure. The day after I cleaned the bathroom, we had a temporary roommate move in. He ended up being a pretty cool guy, but left in about a week. Maybe less. From there, we moved on to another roommate who’s still living with us waiting for the company to find him a place. He’s also a pretty cool guy so I don’t really mind. I just don’t like the fact that the company uses our place as a hotel. My permanent roommate has been reimbursed for power before, and I will be sure it happens again.
I want to write about yesterday while it’s fresh in my mind. Yesterday was June 5th. I ended up taking a little day trip and going to a place called Shidu or Shi du. Whichever. It took about 3 hours to get there and about 4 hours to get back, but I still had a great time. Got there and messed around on a bamboo boat for a while. It wasn’t a necessarily a huge area to tool around in, but still amusing and fun. Lots of boats too so you’re constantly crashing into other people. Warning - most don’t know how to steer. There are no paddles or anything of that nature. You just get to use a bamboo stick to navigate and push your way around the area. Fairly basic and easy to use. I was hoping to see somebody fall in, but unfortunately that did not occur. And fortunately, I didn’t do that either.
I ended up hiking up a mountain in the one area there. It was a gorgeous day and fairly hot out, but I love hiking and was excited to experience a little more in China. I haven’t done that sort of thing since I went to Shang Shen almost two months ago. It was really nice to just get out of the city, see some of the beautiful landscapes that China has to offer, and breathe some fresher air. Like most places, not just in China, incredible places like these often get jaded by people looking to make money. The bottom of the mountain was littered with restaurants and small shops that nearly all sold the same or similar items. You have to walk a little ways before you can escape the ways of the world. Unfortunately, once you get away from those things, you’re left dealing with mass amounts of people and the trash they’ve left behind due to a lack of care. Sad. But again, you encounter this in just about any place you go to that shows any trace of natural beauty. There is a light at the end of the tunnel, though. The higher you ascend, the less and less people you encounter. I came across dozens of waterfalls, pools of water, and the inevitable streams trickling down the mountain. Amazing. I would have liked to continue the climb, but I was with a tour bus on a time frame. No big deal. I got pretty high up, and it was definitely worth it.
We were supposed to go rafting during the second part of the day, but as fate would have it, there were too many people. Because of this, tickets were no longer being sold. I just ended up walking around and seeing the other activities that could be done there if you felt like paying extra. There was bungee jumping (which I was tempted to do – the location alone was enough to make me want to do it), more bamboo boating along with other types of boating, rock climbing, more hiking, a type of zip-lining, and a few other things. Overall, it was a cool place with plenty to keep you busy. I might end up finding myself there again some day.
For a while there, I was finding that Mondays were the worst day of the week. In many cases, they still are. Tuesday on the other hand was the complete opposite. Tuesdays usually ended up being my best day, at least for some time. I’m not sure if that’s still the case or not. It’s hard to say because all of my school days just kind of blend together into one, and then I’m off enjoying the weekend. Mondays are bad from the start. If you have a job in which the weekends are your days off, it’s always tough coming back and working that first day and starting your week. Your slow, the day’s slow, everyone and everything is slow. Besides that, I don’t always have the best attitude about Mondays. In my head, I’m thinking, “Damnit, another work week. I’m not ready for this.” That right there is not good for anyone, least of all yourself. Even with that being said, I did not have the opportunity to enjoy weekends/two days off in a row most of the time for over 2 years, so this is nice. Now Tuesdays, they’re a different story. So far, I’ve made it through my mundane Mondays. After that, it’s on to terrific Tuesdays. Why so terrific you ask? Well, I usually go in with a better mindset and a better attitude. I give myself a little pep talk in the mornings and convince myself that it’s going to be a good day, and that everything is going to go well. Believe it or not, that little self-talk in the mornings can be the difference between a good day and a bad day. Although, I do forget about that talk sometimes later in the day. Haha. What can you do? Also bear in mind, kids are like sharks. They can smell fear. Once you show an ounce of weakness, they will attack. And they’re relentless.
I’ve had mixed emotions about school lately. Sometimes I’m thoroughly enjoying it, and on others I’m wondering what drove me to this madness. All in all, it’s a great experience. Again, I’m fortunate to have this opportunity. You’re probably wondering how classes are going and how my teaching is coming along. Eh, not sure. Again, mixed reviews at least from my end. I think I’m a decent enough teacher and maybe better than the average teacher, but it’s hard to say without much to base that on. I’m not that goofy, crazy, clownish teacher you may or may not think of. That’s not my style. When it’s just me and the kids and I feel like messing around, I can be pretty goofy, but I’m a little bashful about my goofiness I suppose. Haha. I like to pick the kids up, and poke them in the stomachs (they usually laugh) and things like that. The problem with doing those sorts of things is when you do it to one, you have to do it to all or just learn how to say no. They are kids after all. If I pick a kid up, I get rushed (And I have actually been knocked over) by a bunch of other kids. Everyone wants to be picked up. You’ve got your greedy ones too. They linger and hang around hoping for multiple joy rides.
A while back, Duola (she’s a super cute girl in one of my classes – you can look her up on my Facebook if you want a face with the name) started this new form of high fives in one of my classes. It’s not a high five at all. It’s more like a super low five using feet instead of hands. It started off with a gentle push with the bottom of our feet, but has turned into kids just kicking the bottom of my feet. If I beat them to the touch, I can usually avoid the violent way, though. Way to go, Duola.
Kids are smart. Smarter than I realize sometimes. I have this guy named Dunny in another class. He’s one of the smartest and he’s just super cool. I think he could be a child model if his parents pursued that. He’s like a mini rock star. Anyways, sometimes after class, I hang around for a few minutes just waiting to head to my next class. We have five minute breaks in between, so don’t worry. Some of the kids will come up to me and say things or jump around on me or both. Dunny is a regular in those cases, and he usually starts talking about something. I can’t understand all of what they’re saying to me, so if I’m interested, I’ll ask the English speaking teacher if she’s available. Dunny was talking to me the other day, and I asked the teacher what he said. In Chinese, he said, “Jeff, one day you’re going to leave and I’m going to miss you.” He said that or some form of that. Regardless, I was both sad and happy to hear that. I was sad because I knew he was right. Not sure when I’ll leave, but yes, someday I will. I was happy because it’s nice to know that I’ve made that much of an impact that he cared enough to tell me that. I was also amazed that he understood that and had the insight for the future. Kids say the darndest things. I got to watch this class a while back perform their little Kung Fu skit. The teacher wanted to show me. It was pretty amusing to watch. The kids sang and did some moves during the song. Parts of it sounded like a song, other parts were more like a chant. It was funny to see how serious some of the kids were during this skit. I mean, they really got into it. Awesome.
I’ve been teaching all my kids in the morning school flags for different countries for the past few weeks. Now, if you know China at all, you know they despise Japan. Even the kids are taught this concept. Don’t’ believe me? I have this one class called Crabapple, although I call them ‘the crabs’. They’re between the ages of 4-6. I’m not sure if there are 6 year olds or not. I think they’re might be, though. Anyways, the first time I showed them Japan, all hell broke out in the class. Their faces lit up and most of the guys went ballistic and began attacking the flag using whatever method they could think of. Kids transformed their hands into guns and proceeded to shoot the flag. I had others start bombing it accompanied with the bomb explosions. Missiles were launched, and some even ran up and gave it a good slap. Haha. They were half joking around with it, but there was obviously some seriousness there. I didn’t have that experience with any other classes. My roommate had mentioned that one of the teachers told the kids they should not like that country. It’s interesting to say the least. Roots run deep.
Andy from my morning school is also worth mentioning. There’s a picture on my Facebook of me holding his head to take a picture. That basically sums up his behavior in class. Despite that, I like him. He’s really smart without trying too hard when he actually listens. He’s also hilarious. He gets yelled at a lot, but I enjoy some of his antics. Sometimes, he’s just off roaming around the classroom. Other times, he’s just doing his own thing with a teacher or by himself. Maybe looking at a book or coloring or something like that. The other day I played this game that I used to like, but grew out of after a time. It’s fairly basic. I just lay out the cards I’m teaching in a circle on the floor. I call up anywhere from 3-5 kids. They hold hands and spin in a circle. I like to have them close their eyes to make it more of a challenge. That way, they have no idea where they are when they open them. I keep telling them to spin and eventually yell out the card they’re supposed to run over and hit. Crazy kids will collide into each other, fall on the ground, and dive for the cards so it can be quite amusing. Well, this particular time, Andy was off drawing pictures on napkins. He came back twice with a tank and a car for me to add to the circle of cards. Haha. They had nothing to with the subject we were on, but it was pretty funny. Sometimes I run into him when he’s waiting to leave outside the school at the end of the day. He yells my name, comes over to me, and climbs up part of the fence to say hi. Funny guy.
Food. I’ve eaten out at plenty of different restaurants. So good. It’s hard to come across a meal or type of food I don’t enjoy here. Seriously. It’s a challenge. I had this amazing fish that was barbequed. They just split it open and cook it like that. Vegetables lie underneath it and it sits in this incredible sauce with many different blends of spices and seasoning. Delicious. I’m addicted to the chuanrs out here. They’re kebabs for all intent purposes. Most are spicy and have an array of different spices on them. Don’t get me wrong, the meat ones are incredible. I’m eating a lot of lamb out here. They’re called lamb in English, but I’m sure they mostly consist of older sheep and not just young ones. I hope so anyways. Beef and chicken are also popular. Again, the ones with meat are great, but I may love the vegetable ones even more. You can get just about anything you can think of. Some of my favorites are eggplant, mushroom, and lotus. I’m also a huge fan of jiu cai. It’s some form of leek I guess. Ah, so good. I cook it in my apartment. Mine just lacks all the savory spices and additional flavors, but it’s still really good. I would kill for a deck out here accompanied by a grill. Ah, the things I could do. I would also love to have an oven, but this seems to be an item that most people do not possess. Too bad, oh the cakes and cookies I could bake. Before I forget, I ended up going to this Korean place one night. I had fried vegetables and some kind of rice mix with beef. The menu had at least called it beef. Koreans eat dog if you didn’t know, and there was plenty available on the menu. Not very appetizing in my opinion. I have no desire to eat man’s best friend. And I was unaware you could make vegetables so fatty. Take the basic idea of an onion ring and do that to peppers and carrot sticks as well. The unfortunate aftermath of that night hit me around 11:00 at night. I was fine up until that point. Right then and there, I started to experience a terrible stomach pain that lasted till about 1:00 AM. If you don’t know this, I’ve had my appendix removed, so you don’t need to question my ability to judge stomach pain. This particular stomach ache was excruciating. I won’t say it was as bad as the pain was prior to appendix removal, but it was up there. I was lying in bed just moaning in a curled up position with my hand on my stomach for some comfort. I sat up and debated making myself throw up several times. Eventually, I took some charcoal and the pain gradually decreased allowing me to finally get some sleep. I don't attribute this to the charcoal, as it doesn't work that fast, but I'm sure it didn't hurt. I was fine the next day. Weird. Oh, and the person I was with experienced just about the same thing within just about the same time frame.
Speaking of food, I was actually introduced to a small supermarket chain. The one I went into was called Jenny Wang’s, but it’s the same as Jenny Lou’s (or vice versa, I forget). What an amazing experience. My eyes were bulging out of their sockets. I know it’s only been 4 months, but still. When you see food items and things of that nature that have been absent for that amount of time, it’s quite a sight to behold. Upon each item, the words and sounds emitted from my lips consisted of “OHHH MANNNN”, “OH MY GOSH”, and “What???!! They have that?”, “Wooowwwww”. Ahh, incredible. I even found the elusive barbeque sauce for a reasonable price (none other than Jack Daniels – Score!). I saw pancake mixes, salad dressings, candies, cake batters, and even Pop Tarts. Yes. Pop Tarts. I haven’t returned since and only bought some candy there, but when I need a slice of home, that’s where I’ll be heading.
The weather has been a little different since my last post. It’s gotten pretty hot out here. I haven’t touched AC yet, and I’m not sure I want to. 1. I never used it when growing up because my parents hated it. Way to go Mom and Pops. 2. I kind of hate it because you step outside and now your body has to adjust to the extreme heat and makes it that much worse. 3. My body gets stiff when it’s blowing on for me a long time. 4. It makes me stuffy and it’s easy to get sick. Ok, I think we covered enough there. You get the idea. You would also be surprised to hear (particulary you, Mom) that I have slept without a fan since I’ve been here. I used to love that white noise in the background, and I’m sure I still do. I need to purchase one soon before I just melt in my sleep. It’s not that bad yet, but it’s getting there. I’m still wearing pants outside. It’s super hot at times, and believe me – I’m sweating. I’m just trying to hold off on shorts for as long as possible, because I know that once I make that switch; it’s over. I’ve only wore them twice so far. When I see Chinese people wearing shorts on a consistent basis, that’s when I’ll make that switch. That may or may not happen. It’s been raining a decent amount lately as well. Funny enough, one day I had been talking about how I had not seen any lightening or heard any thunder yet in China. The next day, I got to experience both and have seen/heard both a couple times since then. And I don’t know what it is here, but I don’t remember being so wiped out in the sun back in the states. Here, the heat kills my energy. I feel like a zombie in the heat because I’m just so sluggish sometimes. I used to never take naps, but I have the desire to nap everyday with this heat. That doesn’t mean I do, but I’m just saying. The desire is there.
I started tutoring. Yep. Finally. I say ‘finally’ like I’ve lived here for years. But anyways, it’s nice. It’s nice walking away with some extra cash in my pocket. How did I end up acquiring some people to tutor you ask? Don’t fret! I’ll tell you. From time to time, my morning school goes on trips here and there as you may or may not recall. Well, prior to this last time, I have always gone with one of my roommate’s classes instead of my own. Not a huge deal, but I did want to accompany one of my own classes and have some fun with them outside the classroom. I was also looking to possibly talk to some of the parents. Luckily, my roommate talked to the principal and told her I wanted to go with one of my classes so I got to do so the last time. It ended up being a bigger deal than I expected because I then had to choose the class I wanted to go with, which was a challenge. As I understood it, every class wanted me to go with them. I don’t know if the students knew about this or just the teachers. Regardless, I’m an indecisive person so I had a hard time picking one of them. I finally made my choice, and I guess it was the right one. We just had a little park excursion for the morning and on this particular trip, not a lot of parents came. Even so, I managed to talk to two of them. I talked to the one longer and as planned, I casually slipped in that I had a desire to teach the kids more outside of the classroom. The mother was surprised and interested in this so we exchanged phone numbers. Long story short, it worked out. We emailed back and forth a couple times, and I told her that my charging fee was negotiable and to just tell me what she thought was fair. The average rate for private tutoring is 150rmb/hour or session, but if you go through a company, you can pay up to 300/hour or session. I didn’t want to overcharge and she lives in my apartment complex so I was already happy about that. She offered my 150/hour twice a week. Tuesdays consists of 2 kids in her home, and on Saturdays I tutor 2-4 kids (depending on who shows up). I’ve had 3 sessions thus far, and we have gone to parks on both Saturday sessions with her driving me there. The only catch to the Saturday session is that I have to meet her downstairs at 8:40 in the morning. A little early for a Saturday morning, but whatever. Just keeps me from staying out too late. I can deal. As expected, the first was the hardest. Now I have an idea of how much I can introduce and what not. I’m getting the hang of it. We review and learn some new words/phrases during the first half hour, then take a five minute break, followed by some kind of activity. These activities have included drawing on paper, and the second time at park, I brought my Frisbee so we played that. The two girls loved it. It’s something fun that the girls can be interested in, which makes learning that much easier. All the kids I’m tutoring at the moment are girls in my classes. 3 are in the same class and 1 is in a different class than the rest. Yep, two of my favorites are included in that. I’m tutoring Daisy and Julia. They’re both brilliant. I set everything up initially with Julia’s Mom, but it just so happens that Julia is best friends with Daisy. Julia is so smart. She catches on quickly and since her mother speaks good English, she can practice the phrases and words that much more during the week. She’s a funny little girl. Daisy is the ring leader. She’s like the energizer bunny, she just keeps going. I swear, she never stops. She loves to run and encourages Julia to do the same. Julia’s mom even told me that Julia can now run faster and farther thanks to Daisy. During our trip to a park this past Saturday (6/18/11), Diasy stopped at one point and sung us a song. She was pretty good. I’m serious. Julia is a little more laid back, but not really shy. She’s just a little more mellow, but gets plenty of encouragement from Daisy. They’re both so funny. They fight sometimes. Hanging out as much as they do can have that affect. Julia had told me (in Chinese) she wanted a spider after seeing a spider-web earlier. Well, I ended up seeing one walking on the path we were on. I pointed it out and she squished it. Daisy was not happy about this, and then proceeded to tell the whole story of Charlotte’s Web, also in Chinese. Daisy also got upset later to the point where she was crying when Julia was tired and did not want to chase her. Daisy and Julia as well had no desire to leave the park, so we stayed there later. In total, I was gone for about 3 hours. I got paid 200 instead of 150. Sweet. I told them that it wasn’t necessary, but they told me not to worry about it. That was very nice of them so I definitely appreciated it. The extra money that I’m making now is just about covering all of my living and going out expenses. Not all, but close. Besides that, I’m happy to be tutoring the kids I’m tutoring. I have a chance to really do something good for these kids, and I want to make sure I’m earning the money that I’m making. That’s not a cheap. To put that in perspective, I make about 275 a day for daily teaching. I’m making more than an additional 1200 a month now for 8 hours of work. I know a guy that works in this supermarket. The guy makes about 2500 a month and only gets 1 day off. He works really long days too. So yeah, it’s a lot.
I’ve been here in China now for a little over four months. Not that long I know, but sometimes it feels like it. Again, I don’t always acknowledge that I’m living here. I think I’ve mentioned it before, but it needs to be said again. It’s so easy to get into a routine and just forget about where you are and what you’re doing. It’s crazy when the realization hits you. It can hit you anytime. I’ve sat down in a class and had this realization. The thought just enters my mind. I just all of a sudden realize that I’m teaching kids in China. What an experience. It hits me where ever, whenever without any warning. I’ve been walking down an empty street late at night and had this hit me. It’s just a ‘Wow’ at the thought of the whole thing.
At this point I just want to get this published, so I’ll correct errors later. Hope you enjoy it. It might be awhile before the next one. Hey, at least I’m honest.
-Jeff
