So, the funny thing is, I can't read anything that I post on this spot, because blogspot is blocked in China. I think it's sad. That means that I could write just about anything I wanted because only people outside the country could read it. I wouldn't post anything derogatory anyway, but just think of the people who could. And it wouldn't matter because the people inside the country couldn't read anything, but those outside of the country would know what's going on and might get the wrong impression.....hmmm......
So, there are definite disadvantages to not having a computer. One of those being that I can't just e-mail my family and friends any time I want to. Or post blogs. Or look up important information, get ideas for teaching, etc. There are the down sides. On the other hand....it doesn't take up any room on my desk...??? Maybe that's not a plus.
I'm trying to remember all the exciting things that have happened to me over the past few weeks. Classes have been going well. I may have already said this, but this semester I only have 6 classes (instead of 9). The load is much easier, but I have to make up some of that time with extra office hours. That doesn't bother me too much, since most of the in-depth learning happens in that time anyway. I goofed though. I told my students the wrong room number, so yesterday hardly anyone came. I have a few students who have been going to the local 3-Self church (I'll explain that later), and they asked me to help them learn a Christmas song ("O Come All Ye Faithful"). It's been fun. It was extra special for me, since that's the first time in weeks I've gotten my hands on a piano. I'm still determined to buy a quality keyboard (i.e. Casio or the like) to have in my apartment to stave off the boredom that sometimes arises when you live alone and don't speak the language. I have realized though that most of what I learned before hasn't left me. I can still take taxis and ride buses, and I'm actually discovering more about this town than I knew before I left. There are actually several parks that I didn't know about, and I've visited a few. The only down side to walking around (especially alone), though, is that everyone stares at you and often a group of scary-looking older guys will start making cat calls at you. (it's the "yellow" hair) Good thing they haven't tested out my mean kara-tay moves. :)
Other than school, my life is not very exciting right now. Things are settling into routine. I hang out with the other foreigners in town pretty often. That's about it. I think when I get that keyboard I'm hankering for I might offer lessons to some of my students who have asked me and seem really interested, in exchange for some Chinese lessons. ;)
Well, I hope people are, in fact, still reading this blog. I can't tell if/how many, since I can't access the page itself. ;) Go figure. But I will try as often as I can get to a computer with working internet to update the blog. I still want to keep hearing from all of you guys....via e-mail. :) Talk atcha later!
><>
26 October 2005
10 October 2005
First day of school! First day of school!
So, today it was back to the grind. :) Actually, I'm really excited about the possibilities for this year. I had a good class today, and so far only one near-proposal. ;) (that's a joke for those of you who don't know me so well) It was so great to see some of my old students. I didn't realize how much I'd missed them until I got to see them again. Yesterday (Sun.) I got to meet some of the new foreign teachers in town, and right now I'm using one of their computers (since the one at the school is La Brea tar pits-slow and I didn't have that kind of patience this morning). The new teachers are just great, and I'm really looking forward to interacting with them and having some more female companionship.
I'm teaching fewer hours this semester, which I don't mind in the least. I'm only teaching 12 (6 classes) but making up for it with more office hours, which I also don't mind since that's where more of the real learning/improvement comes from. This morning I only had one class, and so far it's pretty good. They're active and they all want to talk, which is good, and I'm trying to get into the "serious" mindset so they know not to push too many buttons. :) I think it'll be a good year. They also liked to joke around and their comprehension of what I was saying (and the jokes I made) was really good. So we'll see how it goes.... :)
I'm teaching fewer hours this semester, which I don't mind in the least. I'm only teaching 12 (6 classes) but making up for it with more office hours, which I also don't mind since that's where more of the real learning/improvement comes from. This morning I only had one class, and so far it's pretty good. They're active and they all want to talk, which is good, and I'm trying to get into the "serious" mindset so they know not to push too many buttons. :) I think it'll be a good year. They also liked to joke around and their comprehension of what I was saying (and the jokes I made) was really good. So we'll see how it goes.... :)
Train rides
Whew! Made it! I almost thought I wouldn't. I left Beijing last Wed. on the night train, and boy was that a fiasco. So, I know my bags are heavy....and I'm not proud of that fact, but at least I can honestly say it was because of books this time....but I've always been able to take them on the train with me, and not really have to worry about them. So, here's the story, and we'll see if I can't make it interesting enough to read.....
After trying several times to get a train ticket (which was next to impossible, because it's the week of the national holiday and EVERYONE is traveling -- all by train), we eventually found one and had to take a taxi to the exact opposite end of town (quite a long drive in Beijing). Fortunately, we had a very nice taxi driver who knew where to go, and he helped me when I went to pick up the ticket. Although they charged me 50 extra yuan for a handling fee, I thought it was worth it just to know that I was actually going to get to where I needed to go. Fast forward a few hours. The friends who I was staying with have a Chinese friend who owns a car and charges a fee for rides (like a non-metered taxi). They asked him to drive me to the train station and help me get my bags onto the train, and he charged me surprisingly little for it. Well, I should've known things weren't going to turn out exactly as I had expected when he ended up parking about a block (equal to 2 or 3 U.S. blocks) from the station. First I need to explain something: previously, I had been with a family who paid for their own private driver, and he parked very close to the entrance, and actually saw me onto the platform and helped me get onto the train before leaving. He was awesome, and that was kind of what I was hoping this other guy would do. Well, we hadn't walked very far when I could tell the one bag w/out wheels (I apologize profusely to *anyone* who ever has to deal with that) was taxing on him. Of course at that point we were accosted by about 5 men wanting to carry it....for a small fee, of course. By the time we made it to the bridge (over the busy road, across which was the station) some more guys had accosted us with their little baggage carts, wanting to cost much more than it was worth to wheel my overstuffed, way overweight bag. I was way annoyed. So I just said it was too expensive, and tried to carry it myself. I'm sure it looked comical, since it weighed about half of me. By the time I got to the top of the bridge, he physically forced the bag out of my hands and onto his carrier (don't remember the exact word for that thing....). I told him a price lower than he had set, and he said, "Okay, okay." Of course it was much easier to walk after that. Here's the catch, and let this be a lesson to the lot of ye if ever you find yourself in another country. We got to the entrance, and I thought we were going in, so I went ahead and paid the guy. My mistake, and I wish I could go back and re-do. Of course he didn't give me the change I was supposed to get after he said "okay, okay" to the lower price. Oh, I was not happy. The guy who drove me then took us with the luggage to a completely different entrance than I had ever gone in, which made me more confused and annoyed. Then the guy who carried the one bag without wheels left. I tried to call after him, but he was obviously in a hurry to get out before I confronted him and asked for my money. Oooooohhhh. I may be a waiguoren who is "made of money," but I still don't like being cheated. Anyway, I had to fill out these forms and tell these guys in this big room what sort of things were in my bags. Then they started putting these cords around them to keep them tight or something and asked me what my destination was. I knew something was up, but was not quite willing to believe it. Finally I just asked the driver what was going on and he said they had to send the bags on a different car and they would get to my town the day after I did.....okay, so those of you who know how annoyed I can really get will understand my tolerance level at this point. They said something about it being more expensive to take them with me on the train, which I can't quite believe since I've done it before and not been charged *anything*....and since I ended up paying an extra 58 yuan to put them on this luggage train, 14 yuan for them to be bound, and 4 yuan to pick them up in Tai'an. Altogether, I ended up paying over 100 yuan extra for this train ride than I had planned to. Not that I don't have the money.....this should just give you an idea of what life is like in China. ;)
To top it all off, although I've been in this train station a few times before, I still can't read Chinese and know exactly where I'm supposed to go. I always had someone with me to help me get where I needed to be. Once the luggage was all taken care of, the driver said goodbye and gave me a hug. He was a really nice guy, but I was just completely put out by what my expectations had been. So, I was left to getting on the train on my own. I went to the same place I had always gone, but I didn't see my train's number anywhere. I didn't start getting really worried until about 10 min. before it was supposed to leave. Finally, this young guy came up to me and asked me where I was going. When he showed me my ticket, he got really ancy and said I was going to miss my train. I was so relieved someone was speaking to me in English, but all I could say was, "where am I supposed to go?" He was very nice and helped me find it, even though he kept saying, "you're about to miss the train." (seriously, kid, just tell me where to go and I'll make sure I get on it....) So, after an adventurous evening, I was on my way "home" on a sleeper train. I don't think I've ever slept so well on one of those bunks. :)
BTW -- further adding to my annoyance was the fact that all of my clothes, soap, etc. were in my two big suitcases. I should know by now (experiences have taught me) to always, always pack at least one pair of clothes in your carry-on. Of course, I thought, "well, it's all going to the same place, it'll be on the train with me, it's fine." I was miserable all of Thurs. and Fri. morning, wearing the same things I'd worn since Wed......but we did retrieve my bags and I have been happily clean since then. ;)
After trying several times to get a train ticket (which was next to impossible, because it's the week of the national holiday and EVERYONE is traveling -- all by train), we eventually found one and had to take a taxi to the exact opposite end of town (quite a long drive in Beijing). Fortunately, we had a very nice taxi driver who knew where to go, and he helped me when I went to pick up the ticket. Although they charged me 50 extra yuan for a handling fee, I thought it was worth it just to know that I was actually going to get to where I needed to go. Fast forward a few hours. The friends who I was staying with have a Chinese friend who owns a car and charges a fee for rides (like a non-metered taxi). They asked him to drive me to the train station and help me get my bags onto the train, and he charged me surprisingly little for it. Well, I should've known things weren't going to turn out exactly as I had expected when he ended up parking about a block (equal to 2 or 3 U.S. blocks) from the station. First I need to explain something: previously, I had been with a family who paid for their own private driver, and he parked very close to the entrance, and actually saw me onto the platform and helped me get onto the train before leaving. He was awesome, and that was kind of what I was hoping this other guy would do. Well, we hadn't walked very far when I could tell the one bag w/out wheels (I apologize profusely to *anyone* who ever has to deal with that) was taxing on him. Of course at that point we were accosted by about 5 men wanting to carry it....for a small fee, of course. By the time we made it to the bridge (over the busy road, across which was the station) some more guys had accosted us with their little baggage carts, wanting to cost much more than it was worth to wheel my overstuffed, way overweight bag. I was way annoyed. So I just said it was too expensive, and tried to carry it myself. I'm sure it looked comical, since it weighed about half of me. By the time I got to the top of the bridge, he physically forced the bag out of my hands and onto his carrier (don't remember the exact word for that thing....). I told him a price lower than he had set, and he said, "Okay, okay." Of course it was much easier to walk after that. Here's the catch, and let this be a lesson to the lot of ye if ever you find yourself in another country. We got to the entrance, and I thought we were going in, so I went ahead and paid the guy. My mistake, and I wish I could go back and re-do. Of course he didn't give me the change I was supposed to get after he said "okay, okay" to the lower price. Oh, I was not happy. The guy who drove me then took us with the luggage to a completely different entrance than I had ever gone in, which made me more confused and annoyed. Then the guy who carried the one bag without wheels left. I tried to call after him, but he was obviously in a hurry to get out before I confronted him and asked for my money. Oooooohhhh. I may be a waiguoren who is "made of money," but I still don't like being cheated. Anyway, I had to fill out these forms and tell these guys in this big room what sort of things were in my bags. Then they started putting these cords around them to keep them tight or something and asked me what my destination was. I knew something was up, but was not quite willing to believe it. Finally I just asked the driver what was going on and he said they had to send the bags on a different car and they would get to my town the day after I did.....okay, so those of you who know how annoyed I can really get will understand my tolerance level at this point. They said something about it being more expensive to take them with me on the train, which I can't quite believe since I've done it before and not been charged *anything*....and since I ended up paying an extra 58 yuan to put them on this luggage train, 14 yuan for them to be bound, and 4 yuan to pick them up in Tai'an. Altogether, I ended up paying over 100 yuan extra for this train ride than I had planned to. Not that I don't have the money.....this should just give you an idea of what life is like in China. ;)
To top it all off, although I've been in this train station a few times before, I still can't read Chinese and know exactly where I'm supposed to go. I always had someone with me to help me get where I needed to be. Once the luggage was all taken care of, the driver said goodbye and gave me a hug. He was a really nice guy, but I was just completely put out by what my expectations had been. So, I was left to getting on the train on my own. I went to the same place I had always gone, but I didn't see my train's number anywhere. I didn't start getting really worried until about 10 min. before it was supposed to leave. Finally, this young guy came up to me and asked me where I was going. When he showed me my ticket, he got really ancy and said I was going to miss my train. I was so relieved someone was speaking to me in English, but all I could say was, "where am I supposed to go?" He was very nice and helped me find it, even though he kept saying, "you're about to miss the train." (seriously, kid, just tell me where to go and I'll make sure I get on it....) So, after an adventurous evening, I was on my way "home" on a sleeper train. I don't think I've ever slept so well on one of those bunks. :)
BTW -- further adding to my annoyance was the fact that all of my clothes, soap, etc. were in my two big suitcases. I should know by now (experiences have taught me) to always, always pack at least one pair of clothes in your carry-on. Of course, I thought, "well, it's all going to the same place, it'll be on the train with me, it's fine." I was miserable all of Thurs. and Fri. morning, wearing the same things I'd worn since Wed......but we did retrieve my bags and I have been happily clean since then. ;)
03 October 2005
New Address
Some of my friends/family have asked for my address in China. If you want to send me anything, your best bet will be to send it to the school, so here is that address:
Gwyn Hamrick
Tai Shan College
Tai'an, Shandong
271021
PRC (China)
Pretty simple! And if for any reason you get the crazy idea to call me, here is my apartment's phone number (I doubt I will get a cell phone, but if I do I'll post that number later):
(0-86) 538-8202542
[0 for out-of-country calls, 86 is China's country code, 538 is my city's code]
Gwyn Hamrick
Tai Shan College
Tai'an, Shandong
271021
PRC (China)
Pretty simple! And if for any reason you get the crazy idea to call me, here is my apartment's phone number (I doubt I will get a cell phone, but if I do I'll post that number later):
(0-86) 538-8202542
[0 for out-of-country calls, 86 is China's country code, 538 is my city's code]
Nihao!
Well, here we are, back in the PRC. The flight was relatively uneventful, aside from some turbulence. I got to see the North Pole -- but couldn't see any polar bears. ;) There were some beautiful mountains in Siberia that we flew over, and it was pretty exciting to fly over the Great Wall, even though it was so small you could barely see it. I also had the best airplane meal I think I've ever had: pasta! There was a stuffed shell, a small manicotti, and cheese tortelini. That's probably more cheese than I'll have in the next nine months, so I enjoyed it thoroughly.
Upon arrival, I quickly passed through customs and retrieved my luggage (which did finally get all packed at 2:00 a.m. Sun. morning), exchanged some money, and got a taxi. I was pleased to realize that I hadn't forgotten all of the Chinese I picked up last time. :) I am staying now with a couple who I met (and stayed with) last time I was here. They are just awesome, very hospitable, and you would never feel unwelcome if you met/stayed with them. I'm only staying with them until I can get a train ticket to my city -- Tai'an. It looks like I might be able to get one tonight with a group of college students who are also heading that direction. The challenge in getting a train ticket right now is that this is the week of the National holiday (Oct. 1), which means that EVERYONE is traveling, and therefore tickets are scarce. So, hopefully it will all work out and my next post will be from my real new home. I should be staying in the same apartment I had last semester, which will make my life so much easier. :) Anyway, not much to report yet, but I'm sure more will come later.
Upon arrival, I quickly passed through customs and retrieved my luggage (which did finally get all packed at 2:00 a.m. Sun. morning), exchanged some money, and got a taxi. I was pleased to realize that I hadn't forgotten all of the Chinese I picked up last time. :) I am staying now with a couple who I met (and stayed with) last time I was here. They are just awesome, very hospitable, and you would never feel unwelcome if you met/stayed with them. I'm only staying with them until I can get a train ticket to my city -- Tai'an. It looks like I might be able to get one tonight with a group of college students who are also heading that direction. The challenge in getting a train ticket right now is that this is the week of the National holiday (Oct. 1), which means that EVERYONE is traveling, and therefore tickets are scarce. So, hopefully it will all work out and my next post will be from my real new home. I should be staying in the same apartment I had last semester, which will make my life so much easier. :) Anyway, not much to report yet, but I'm sure more will come later.
01 October 2005
She's out the door....
Well, not literally. It is currently 1:08 a.m. Eastern Standard Time (that's Indiana time right now....that'll change though, I'm sure) and I still have to finish packing my second big honking suitcase. Fortunately the only thing left to go in is the laundry, but when your plane leaves at 8:00 a.m. the next morning, well....my energy is fast being drained. Anyway, the next time I sit typing at a computer, I should be in my second home, i.e. China. Thanks to everyone who looks at this. Thanks for all your support, prayers, hugs, etc. (she waves to the crowd, wipes a tear from the corner of her eye, and accepts her award....she's really tired) I hope to hear from you all and keep in touch somehow. Love to EVERYONE!!! :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)