One month in...

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It's a little hard to believe that I've been in China for almost a month now. I'm starting to get into more of a routine at work and am becoming more comfortable here. This week I was a little homesick; it's hard being somewhere where nothing is familiar and you can't really communicate with other people. I'm missing the comforts of home; a comfortable bed, driving a car, hearing English, knowing what you're buying, etc. (Of course I'm missing family and friends too!) But I suppose all that is normal and is something I'll get used to.
School has kept me pretty busy during the week, I'm usually there from about 715-5 everyday. I'm getting to know my students better now, I think I know about 80% of their names which is pretty good I think. For the most part they are all really good students, although I do have a few that are really lazy and don't do any work, but after talking to other teachers those students don't do anything in anyone else's classes so that makes me feel better about it.
Last weekend we had a going away party for one of the teachers I came here with. He got reassigned to a school in Tianjin which is near Beijing. We went for dinner, had drinks at another teacher's place, then went to a Chinese nightclub. The club was huge and was super crowded. They played western music (a lot of Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, and Kesha), they even had girls who lipsynched and danced to the songs on stage. There was also a guy who did some magic tricks while we were waiting for drinks which was different but very entertaining. We spent most of the night in the upstairs part of the bar and did a lot of dancing and drinking. The club was in Hankou which is about an hour from the school, and it seems to be much more lively there. Wuchang (were I live) is mostly filled with Universities and schools so there isn't a whole lot to do here. After the bar, we did the typical China thing and got street food. I'm surprised I haven't gotten sick yet from all the different foods I've been eating.
This week went by very quickly. I think I went out for dinner almost every night. It's really nice that on any given night you can always find someone who is up for going to dinner or hanging out. Last night (Friday) there was a surprise engagement party for a couple who got engaged over the break. It was a lot of fun, most of the staff was there. We started the night having drinks at some people's apartment (surprise, surprise), then went roller-skating. As someone who has been able to skate pretty much my entire life, I was shocked at how hard roller-skating is. The people there make it look so easy doing fancy turns, skating on one leg, and going backwards, I thought it was going to be a piece of cake. I was wrong. I could barely make it around the rink without feeling like I was going to fall (I'm sure the drinks beforehand didn't help either). By the end I was doing pretty good and I only ended falling twice, one was not my fault as some guy was trying to hard to be fancy and ended falling and taking me down with him. They had a dance floor in the middle of the rink that was on springs, a Chinese girl tried to get me up there to dance but I didn't think it was a good idea.
After roller-skating we hit up a McDonalds. The weird thing is is that they ran out of beef, so I was stuck getting a McChicken. The McChicken isn't like it is at home, it was probably the spiciest thing I've eaten since I got here. After food we went to a western bar called Vox. All in all in was a very fun and tiring night.
Today we went back to Tailor Street and I got to pick up the coat I had made. It turned out pretty nice. I think I'm going to get some skirts made next time we're there. After Tailor Street was Metro for some shopping. As I've mentioned before traffic here is awful. It usually takes us about 30-45 minutes to get back to the school from the Metro. Today it took almost 2 hours because traffic was so backed up. There is so much construction here that on the weekends it takes forever to get anywhere. Also I think I'm going to go crazy by all the honking horns, people just randomly honk their horn. I really don't get it. I'm hoping that next weekend the bus will go somewhere more touristy and not just shopping. It would be nice to see more the city than the places that we usually go to.
I learnt a new word this week shizou which means straight. I also learnt how to say how much but I forgot it already. I really have zero retention for the Chinese language, although I did get complemented by a girl about how well I can say the few words I do know...I think she was just being nice.
I lost the adapter thingy for my camera, so there won't be any pictures until I can find a new one. Anyways, I will write more soon!

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Comments

[Petrea Molloy]

It is sweet the people you work with are so social otherwise you would feel homesick so much more! I miss you too! And Honestly to me it feels like you have been gone for more than a month! I am glad you are having a good time at times :) I am sure teaching is teaching, their will always be the few you can't get to do anything! I am dying my hair blonde next weekend SO PUMPED! haha! That is the highlight of my life right now! Also next weekend is my last hockey game for the season which sucks but it is daylight savings here tonight so that will help with the winter depression! I started assisting only at my job 2 weeks ago which is going good but the dentist I am working with is terrible so I am going to quit when I go to school in June and find something better in July or August. That was kind of the plan anyway. Anyway I will write to you a better letter later or tomorrow, Keith is away and I made no plans for this weekend so I will hve nothing but time but right now it is supper! oxox