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Published: August 30th 2008
Last night most of us went out to this bar called “Vox” which is apparently quite popular with foreigners in Wuhan. It must have been, because we were able to order our drinks in English. The walls of the bar looked like chalk boards, and every inch of them had things written on them (mostly in English) in brightly colored chalk. The bar seems to do themed nights, and last night’s theme was “emo”, but the music was mostly bouncy instrumental dance music. There were lots of flashing lights and things, and all in all the place had a pretty fun atmosphere. The drinks were around the same price that they are back in the states, which means the place was pretty expensive by Chinese standards. What I’ve been noticing is that most things here that are imported from the USA or other western countries cost the same as they would cost back home.
After we went to an area that the more experienced foreign teachers referred to as “night snacks”. It was basically this long ally the opens up at night and is full of all kinds of street food. A lot of the food being sold was still alive! For example, they were selling live frogs in netting that looked like the stuff a bag of marbles comes in. We ended up with a plate containing a huge pile of who knows what, but it tasted good. We also got skewers with some kind of meat, and a potato dish. I’m surprised by how much potatoes seem to be eaten here. For some reason I really didn’t expect to find them in China.
Most of the “restaurants” I’ve been to so far wouldn’t be called restaurants in the US. At first they don’t look like anything much at all, but then suddenly a table and stools materialize, and food is brought out. The more experienced group of foreign teachers have been doing all of the ordering for those of us who are new, but I’m going to have to figure out how to do it myself at some point… the sooner the better! Everything I’ve eaten has been delicious without exception. Most of it has been incredibly spicy.
A small group of teachers from England and Northern Ireland arrived yesterday in time to join us for our excursion, and when we returned another new Canadian teacher had arrived. This was the one that I’d talked to a little bit via e-mail this summer, so it was nice to put a face to a name.
Getting back wasn’t quite as fun. The lock on my door was broken, and trying to open the door made the key snap in half. It was one AM by this time, so there wasn’t any way for me to get back into the room. One of the other foreign teachers was able to get me into an empty room for the night, and brought me pillows and a blanket, but I really just wanted to take a shower, drink some water, and change out of the cloths I’d been walking around in all day.
The first order of business when I woke up was to try and find someone to get me into my room. I didn’t have any idea who to look for, and eventually ended up talking to the woman who mops the floors in the hallways. I was able to tell her that my door was broken in Chinese and tell her which room I live in, but I couldn’t understand a single word of what she said, or explain how the door was broken. I’m very grateful to her though, because within an hour she was back with a locksmith, and they were able to get me into my room. She talked to me a lot during the process, but I just have no idea what she might have been talking about. She smiled a lot and seemed nice, and I’m grateful to her, especially knowing that what she did for me could not have possibly been part of her job description.
So now I’ve just come back from a trip to see the main branch of the school/lesson on the Wuhan bus system that one of the older teachers took me and another girl on. The main branch of the school is gorgeous! There’s a statue in front of it of a group of pencils in the shape of the Olympic rings. It looks like I’m going to be teaching at the main branch of the school, which is half an hour away from the branch I live at. The school will provide a bus every morning to bring the group of us teaching at the main branch to work. There are lots of shops near the main branch that I’m looking forward to exploring.
The teachers who have been here for awhile all say that teaching the kids is the best part about living here, and they seem to genuinely adore their students and like their job. That makes me a bit less nervous about the whole thing, though I have to admit that the prospect of teaching my first class is a bit scary. I don’t know exactly what my schedule will be yet.
Jet lag makes me want to take a nap right now. I actually took a nap yesterday at around this time, but I don’t want to make a habit of it. Maybe I’ll go study Chinese.
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mumsisdaughter
non-member comment
I've realised that I get the chance to comment first for as the Earth turns I'm awake before your friends in the States! I will be back at work myself next week so will end up being the last to comment probably, when I come home from work. It appears that you have fallen in with a lovely group of people. How fortunate that you already had enough Chinese to explain your lock problem. Your family must be so relieved that you are settling well.