First 10 days in China, and it feels like a lot longer (in a good way)....

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I’ve survived my first week and a bit in China! To those who have e-mailed and received no response, I apologize. We haven’t had any time to breathe thus far on the journey! Since arriving, we have been moving non-stop, from meetings about the school and the job to shopping at the German version of Costco, Metro, and Walmart (but not just regular Walmart. The Walmart SUPERmart) both within one-hour time frames. Shopping for everything you need in a one-hour time frame inside giant warehouse-style stores in one hour is bad enough, but when most labels are in Chinese only, it’s a little worse. Both times I forgot to buy food. We’ve been eating out almost every meal (tonight was an enormous banquet thrown by the “chairman” of the school—check out the photos of the three tears of “stuff”).

The school (and my accommodations for the moment) are quite far out of both Dalian and Kafaiqu. The 25-minute drive out of Kaifaqu doesn’t sound so bad, but when you’re driving it, there is nothing outside the windows, just fields, manicured trees, and the occasional factory or similar structure. The town of Manjitan, which is a 15-minute walk from the school, is small and pretty filthy, but there are a handful of good restaurants that we have already had time to sample (and one of which may be the culprit of my most stomach upset). The town is on the beach, and the rugged coastline meanders around the town to the opposite side of the school. While the water and sand are littered with garbage, the skyline is pretty when the pollution and fog are thin enough to see through to it. There are all kinds of long-tailed-style fishing boats that tie up together for the journey in from a day of fishing, and we saw three brides in Western dresses getting their photos taken all in a row. Apparently they dress in the Western dress and have their photos done a day or two before the actual wedding.

My apartment is gigantic and has plenty of windows, and a lot more direct light than my Vancouver suite, but everything is moldy and grimy. The bathroom makes me nervous (although I’m luckier than other teachers here in that the floor to my shower is spotless, I have hot water, and nothing leaks save for the occasional drip). I do have a centipede problem, however, and take 1-2 critters outside per day. They seem to come up from the drains, but I’m not entirely convinced as I’ve blocked every drain off. I’m just hoping that I don’t end up finding one of the 1000s of gigantic black spiders that drip from the trees around the property.

I’m slowly settling in. I finally have internet and phone at my apartment, so that’ll help with the communication side of things (and this will be updated more regularly, I promise!). There are a lot of new teachers around me (in all, 60 new teachers were hired for the school), as well as plenty of returning teachers. I have a feeling things will stay really busy at least until Christmas! Until next time, I’m off to bed before my first day of classes tomorrow.

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Comments

[Melissa]

All sounds exciting and new!
Great post Sandi! I have a wonderful visual images of your new home for the next few years! Great descriptions! I hope your centipede/spider problem is resolved soon, and your tummy adjusts to the food. :( Great photos and I look forward to hearing all about your travels! XXXOOO Melissa