Lessons from China

Written on 9-2-12

I wanted to wait until the weekend festivities were over till I wrote this new blog. This week was packed full of things. We met our departments, saw our offices, got our books, and made our first lesson plan. It was not all work though. We had a lot of fun also. Friday, Saturday and Sunday were filled with fun stuff. I shall section them off as best I can.

Friday was payday! Much rejoicing was heard on the campus. We get paid at the end of every month and I am learning how to budget here. It will be different than back at home, but I shall adjust.  After we were paid, we made copies of things needed for our classes and had lunch. Again, the cafeteria chairs attempted at dumping me out onto the floor, but I won. I went to a station I had not yet been to and ordered something random. I was not sure what it was (and I am still not sure) but all I know was that it was DELICIOUS! It was some kind of wrap made on a grill and it was so tasty. After we all ate lunch, our huge group of 14 got on the above ground subway and began our venture to the promise land, aka Wal-Mart. Once we got to Wal-Mart we paired off so we could all share buggies (that is a shopping cart for all my northern readers…apparently I say soda pop, which is odd to some of my teammates as well).

Anyway, first thing on my list was school supplies. I found out quickly that China does not have note/index cards! Nor do they have good old Clorox Bleach. I was able to get dry erase markers for my kitchen (the walls are tile so I have been writing on them), toilet bowl cleaner, a good pillow that isn’t moldy and a new bright shower curtain. What I dislike about shopping in a new place is that, even though I have a list, I forget about it and get distracted at all the different things and new layout.  The Wal-Mart was huge. Their produce section was one to be envied! I wanted to buy so much, but once I got there I didn’t know what to get. After we finished our shopping, we took our haul back to our campus. It was quite a scene to haul all of that on a subway.

Once I placed my purchases inside my apartment, I was informed that a group was going to a small suburb (Zhongshan) for dinner. It was stated that there was this chicken dish that was incredibly close to American style fried chicken. Being the foodie that I am, I was intrigued and went along with. We have this saying in our group that goes with hand motions. We say expectation and show a hand up above our head, and then we say reality and put another hand much lower to designate the huge difference between said expectation and reality. When people are feeling down about their expectation/reality conflict I will stick my hand in the space in the middle and exclaim “PANDA” or “SQUIRREL” just to add my flair or randomness and to get them to smile. My expectation of this chicken dish was medium to low. I was not willing to get my hopes up too high and be disappointed. Culinary experiences for me are my favorite thing so far about living in China, but I have had some disappointing ones and I did not want this experience to be like that. We ordered our chicken dish and it arrived promptly. On my plate was three pieces of fried chicken with some sauce on it, a small thing of “coleslaw” and rice. I ate the coleslaw first because I dislike it at home, but this one was amazing!!!!!!  The rice was warm and buttery, something that reminded me of winter days back at home. Then I attacked my chicken. These pieces of chicken were moist and crunchy. The sauce was something like honey mustard. They were all white meat breast pieces. I cannot even begin to express how amazing this dish was. The reality blew my expectations out of the water. 

After we ate, we were allowed to wander and go shopping with instructions that the school gates closed at 11pm. We broke off into small groups and wandered up and down the side streets of Zhongshan.

Saturday:

On Saturday we went to Zhongdon where an indoor market was. We went with some students from our school who are also Brothers and Sisters. The ride to the Market was one I will never forget. When we were in Beijing, we took the bus system almost everywhere and it was no big deal. The bus system here however is a very different animal. The buses are smaller and the driving is scarier. We crammed into a bus and started our journey. It was bumpy, halting and fear inducing. I was so happy to be off that bus. When we all safely arrived at the Market, we were split up into groups. There were three male students, so they just went with our three guys. The girls split themselves up amongst our group.  Hannah and I paired up with a sweet girl name Bridge. She was a marvel at bargaining. She did all of the inquiring for us. I was able to get a phone, SIM card and a hair dryer at decent prices. She also introduced us to different kinds of food. I tried tofu noodles, an interesting snack, but not one I will ever have again if I can help it.  

When we got back from shopping and put our items away, I was invited to play ultimate Frisbee. Never one to turn down an opportunity to play a sport, I was outside in a flash. The game was going well until the very end. I was getting ready to catch a point making Frisbee when someone on the opposing team hit the Frisbee right into my neck. Correction, it was my trachea. It hit me pretty hard, so hard I got the wind knocked out of my throat. Or at least that is what it felt like. I couldn’t breathe for a few seconds, but I was fine after a minute. It just hurt to swallow for the rest of the day.

Lesson number 6 in China, don't catch a Frisbee with your throat.

I am posting another blog in a few minutes that is more up to date. I do apologize for my tardy blogging.