"Welcome Thachery!"

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Zhengzhou
“Hello eryone! Welcome!” Myself and my 9 other teaching counterparts are greeted immediately at the terminal by a short, chubby, energetic Chinese man with the English name Julian. Julian’s English contains a considerable lisp so from henceforth I am “Thachery” to him, which I’m cool with. We arrive at our campus and are pleasantly surprised with our living arrangements. We each have a one-bedroom apartment with ample space, flat screen TV, washing machine, and full kitchen (minus an oven). Hardly the roughing it I was expecting to be doing in China. Our school and many other colleges have been recently built in an area about 30 minutes outside city next to cornfields. Luckily our school however still owns the old property in a rather trendy neighborhood so we also have a place to stay in the city with a shuttle bus that runs 3 or 4 times daily.

Zhengzhou is to Shanghai as Columbus, OH is to NYC. ZZ is just beginning to become westernized; your American food selection consists of McDonalds, somewhat altered KFC, the fine dining sit down establishment of Pizza Hut, and 2 Dunkin Donuts serving over 6 million people. It is fair to mention of the over 6 million people here only around 1,000 are foreigners, so the minimal western amenities are justified. Being a well liked extreme minority in China really has its perks and we all love it. Walking down the street old people are often mesmerized to see a wai guo ren (foreign person) in their city, and little kids scream Hello! Hello! Hello! As they are filled with excitement to use the handful of English greetings they know. I have yet to see a Chinese child that is not adorable. For us 20 something aged teachers the semi-celebrity status spills over into nightlife too which is always a plus that the most exclusive clubs in the city often come without a fee. Chinese people are with out a doubt the best hosts I have ever been around. That goes for any age and any social class here, their main concern is that you are happy and comfortable. I say this not only in regards to our employers but after being invited to family dinners in the homes of newly made Chinese friends, or being taken out to dinner by a Chinese person our own age. They want you to drink the most, laugh the most, and have the most fun.

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Photos

Dinner
Local Dinner