There and Back Again

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How time flies. According to my homepage, it has been 101 days since I have last posted a blog. I had intended on writing a reflective wrap-up of the year’s trials and tribulations, but time just got away from me. Before I knew it I was back at home spending a whirlwind 6 weeks trying to see as many people, go as many places and eat as many things as I could before heading back to Wuhan for another year. Oh, did I forget to mention that? That was going to be another blog in and of itself. I guess I have a lot of catching up to do, so here goes:

I am back in China! Last April, I was starting to ruminate about my plans for what was next. Everyone that I was there was starting to get very burned out on China and they were really starting to look forward to going home. I realized that even though I missed family and friends, the year had been a lot easier than I thought it would be. I was still really enjoying myself and learning a lot. One year was good, but not quite enough for me. Why not make it two? I only had a one year contract with CCNU, so I started looking around for other work in Wuhan. It isn’t the most glamorous city, but I had gotten to know it fairly well, and I had made some pretty incredible friends there. Long story short, my friend Kristof was leaving Wuhan (after a 7 year stint) and he helped hook me up with his old job and apartment. I am working at Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, another university in Wuhan. I have pretty much the same deal as last year, except my apartment is far nicer. Palatial, new, and rat-free!

I was expecting to teach oral English classes (like last year), but two days before I was set to start teaching I found out that I was going to be teaching a Western Culture class and an English Countries Survey. Western Culture is fairly self explanatory, but I had no idea what they meant by “English Country Survey”. When I inquired, I found out that it was, “Like a history class about English speaking countries.” Bwah?!? Naturally, they offered me no syllabus or materials, so I get to make the magic happen all on my own. I was not expecting to be teaching any sort of content-based courses, but I’ll make do. It would have been nice to know this before I left the States, but this is China, so I wasn’t the least bit surprised. So, if any of you history buffs or travel junkies out there have any suggestions for what I should teach in my survey course, let me know.

China, The Sequel has been both comfortably familiar and challengingly different. I am still in Wuhan, but in a different part of the city than before, so I get to go exploring all over again. I had my own apartment last year, but it was in the same building as the rest of the Augie group. They truly became a second family to me, so now I have two families to miss. Thankfully, my other (more dysfunctional) band of misfit friends is still around, so I haven’t been totally lonely. In the two weeks I’ve been back, we’ve already spent many late nights at the street vendors eating shao kao (barbecue), gone to one of the local clubs for a night of dancing, and spent a muggy evening playing basketball and then watching BBC documentaries on the Amazon River. Plus, Augustana sent over a new batch of recent grads to take our old jobs at CCNU. I knew Kevin Wender very well, since we had done a lot of theatre together, and I am getting to know the other 4 guys slowly but surely. They are a fun mix of personalities and it will be really nice to have some other “hometown” friends around. I have been heading their way every few days to show them around my old stomping grounds. Secretly, I also miss a lot of the restaurants around there, so I am more than happy to join them.

I also got a phone call from a friend from Augustana who is back in China to teach, as well. He was actually the first person that I met on my first day of orientation. We kept in touch all throughout college, studied abroad together, and have several common friends. He is teaching in southern China. Not necessarily close, but a heck of a lot closer than the US. It is exciting to know that I have another familiar face just a train ride away.

All that being said, it looks like I am in for quite a year. Once I am a little more settled, I am going to buckle down and commit some time to studying Chinese. It is kind of embarrassing to say that I lived in China for a year and only know the most basic survival Chinese; it would be terribly sad to say the same after living here for two years. I am not looking to be fluent. My goals are as simple as being able to converse with a cab driver and answer the random questions that I am asked during my every day encounters.

I want to thank all of you who actually take the time to stop by here to read my posts and check out my pictures. It was wonderful to see so many of you this summer and really encouraging to hear that you were tuning in to my adventures. As Sarah Nutt would put it: this year there will be a slightly altered cast of characters, but I am sure that there will be plenty to blog about this year.

Cheers!

PS- I'll have pictures up soon. My camera eats Chinese batteries in about 2 seconds, so I'll have to wait until I can get some real batteries to give you the photo tour of the new place.

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Comments

[Milady605]

Hi! I was actually read your blog over the summer, as a way to get to know Wuhan a little better before arriving. I've been here for a little over two weeks now, and I like the city quite a bit so far. I hope you have a great year!