Advertisement
Published: August 26th 2009
Edit Blog Post
scenery around campus
scenery around campus GREETINGS ALL:
For the past few months, I have been getting ready to travel to Nanchang to teach at Nanchang Hangkong University. Tuesday night I finally arrived after a long ardous journey. I stopped in Shanghai for a 5 hour layover of which I used 3 hours just to figure out where I was going. Then I took Shenzhen Airlines to get to Nanchang which was absolutely terrifying. There was visible rust on the airplane and in the cockpit and the ride was awfully bumpy and crowded.
When I arrived in Nanchang one of the Chinese English teachers named Helen and the driver John came to pick me up at the airport. Helen is very sweet, probably my age and speaks very good English with only a slight accent. She has lived in NYC for some time and knows a little about America. John the driver does not know a lick of English so clearly I know nothing of him, other than he is an awesome driver and in Nanchang that is quite a compliment!
The first night I was so exhausted and jetlagged I fell asleep counting my money. I awoke around 4:30 am to get some unpacking done and
the lights went out on me! I was terrified and wanted to call my mommy.lol. In the morning, I called Helen and was told that my electricity needed a card that she had and would give to me later that day. So I sweated my way on getting ready.
I met the other new English teacher John. He is quite a gregarious character from North Carolina. Before moving to China he lived in the Smoky Mountains and had a quiet life of solitude. His luggage was lost in Shanghai, so the poor guy has only 2 pairs of clothing with him. He is quite an optimistic joy despite the temporary annoyance.
In any regards, we departed this morning to take a variety of physical exams to clear us to get our foriegn experts liscence for the government. The clinic was a little intimidating and I was really unprepared for what I was about to encouter.
The toilets were your typical cermaic hole in the floor and Thank God I was wearing a skirt. I had to pee in a cup, have my blood drawn, get an ECG, X-ray, audio and vision test, measurements, ultrasound and have my blood pressure monitored.
I had some paraniod issues with the sanitation as I noticed that the ladies administering the tests were not cleaning the equipment inbetween patients. After that ordeal, we drove back to campus, did some more shopping and took a campus tour.
Driving in Nanchang is unlike anything I have seen. John the driver, a lifelong Nanchang resident manouvered around traffic like a pro. But these streets are nothing to play with. Anything and everything is a vehicle in Nanchang. I have seen the strangest contraptions attached with motors being used on the road to transport not only people but seemingly hazardous material as well. But despite this apparent chaos, there is still an order that exist which is a wonder to witness. The streets are overcrowded with vehicles of all ranges, fearless pedestrians and buses that will run you over if you are in the way because the buses behave as though they have no brakes.
We all had lunch on campus and I tried a delicious local specialty which is a noodle soup with a fried boiled egg and mustard greens. Then I saw more of the campus which I must admit is much nicer and cleaner than I
Foreign Language dept
Luckily this is like a 30 sec from my residence anticipated. There are a few gyms, lots of basketball courts (apparently the Chinese are in love with American basketball), a gigantic library that is at least 5 + stories and up to date architure. There is an ROTC-like airforce program at the school so there are lots of military boys all over the place and very few girls. I'm hoping the girls will come when school actually starts.
As for my accomodations, I can't complain about much, except my view sucks. John is across the hall and has the lovely view. I might need to beg him to change rooms with me before we both get too settled in. He doesn't even want to open his curtains so I know I deserve that view! There is a housekeeper who lives downstairs and takes care of all of our needs. She doesn't speak a lick of English but she seems really nice and helpful and encouraging as I tried to speak the littlebit of Chinese I could muster up.
My sleeping schedule is still a little jacked from the traveling and I find myself sleepy all the time.
Overall, Nanchang as I know it from the less than 48 hours I
have experienced will definitely be a trip. The heat is stifling and everyone is sweating all over everything. literally. The city is quite polluted as I would expect of any Chinese city and there appears to be a large disparity between the rich and poor. The people are beautiful and have some of the most amazingly rich skin tones I have seen. I'm definitely a fan of the southern Chinese they are quite a cute bunch. Everyone is very curious about me and I'm being stared at constantly. I did suspect this would happen and fortunately, I'm less bothered by it than I thought I'd be. I did feel a little threatened at the clinic with all those men staring and talking about me but that was it. Everyone else is staring because they are intrigued and clearly there are not a lot of foreigners. John is quite a big fellow, so he is definitely sticking out like sore thumb. But I think I can hang out here. It will be easier when school starts and I can start meeting people and making friends.
Hopefully with my alotted time here, I can learn Chinese and get healthy. I'm eager to
still close to my residence
Under the bridge there is load of fireflies and Cranes. start learning Tai Chi and I can't wait to travel some more. There are lots of picturesque things to see and do around Nanchang area so I'm now trying to figure out the bus routes. The only very obvious problem I'm having is my language illiteracy. There is not much catering for English customers in these parts so I will have to make some Chinese friends if I intend to do or go anywhere. I'm happy to be here and safe and sound besides this mystery bug bite behind my knee that I'm observing closely and hoping its nothing too serious. But I hope you all tune in to see more of what I'm experiencing here in Nanchang.
Much Love
Latifa
Advertisement
Tot: 0.122s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 5; qc: 44; dbt: 0.0613s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
RDTGRD
non-member comment
good reason not to live in China
我们是重庆毗沙门翻译公司,由退休翻译家组成,是 国内比较权威的公司。做稿子的都是翻译家,同时译审为牛津大学的 英文教授。 我们为国家7个部位翻译过文件,包含国家商务部、文化部,环 保总局、石油部等等。 对于政府部门以及信誉好的企业,我们都是先做稿后付款。这 同时也表明我们的质量经得起考验。 李欣妍 电话:023-68869805 http://www.vaishravana.com/ qq:243347925 E-mail:uocpos@gmail.com 243347925@qq.com MSN:xiaodong_yan6@hotmail.com 重庆翻译公司 翻译公司 重庆翻译公司 聘请外教 聘请外教 聘请外教 重庆翻译公司 翻译公司 重庆翻译公司 论文翻译 论文翻译 论文翻译 中文翻译 中文翻译 中文翻译 Personal Statement·留学移民文件翻译 Personal Statement·留学移民文件翻译 Personal Statement·留学移民文件翻译 高中英语 高中英语 高中英语 英文翻译 英文翻译 英文翻译 英语翻译 英语翻译 英语翻译 翻译网站 翻译网站 翻译网站 翻译公司 翻译公司 翻译公司 chinese translation chinese translation chinese translation chinese translator chinese translator chinese translator 外教 外教 外教