Getting Out of the Bubble

After 15 long days living in our dodgy little hotel we have finally moved into our new apartment!  I can't say I'm sad to be moved out of Su Yoo Business Hotel,  remember the close call with the glass wall of immodesty? Apart from the lack of kitchen and washing machine, the sporadic water supply, and the rarely functioning and painfully slow internet, there is one other key thing that I definitely won't be missing... I don't know how familiar you are with the Chinese spitting custom, it's certainly not something that I was prepared for when I arrived even though I'd heard about it. And fair warning, this could get graphic,  so if you don't like graphic just skip the next paragraph. Now...to whoever actually wants to hear about excessive spitting. Basically, the Chinese like to spit. No, not spit, really hock and phlegm. The pavements glisten with little pools of spit and its pretty much like dodging bullets walking down the street. Admittedly this habi...

Although I'm in Suzhou now, let me take you back to Beijing for a moment. Prior warning, this is a pretty photo heavy post but these are probably some of my favourite photos from my time here so I hope that you enjoy them as much as I do! Apart from all the training and nights out in Beijing, we did manage to do some sightseeing with varying degrees of success. TTC and LoveTEFL organized a day of the 'essential' sights of Beijing. I'm not sure how essential some of the stops were but it was a good day out and it turns out climbing the Great Wall is an excellent way for a large American to sweat off a killer hangover! After an early start to catch a coach, our first stop was the Great Wall of China. This was one of the things I had wanted to do most in China so I was ridiculously excited. However, I hadn't quite imagined how  many steps we would have to climb and just how cold it would get at the top, as we climbed higher the water in our water bott...

After arriving in Suzhou from Beijing the culture shock, that never really materialized in Beijing surrounded by westerners, hit full force. It's amazing how much less of an alien one feels in a crowd of similar people. But in Suzhou we might as well be walking around wearing flashing lights and a clown suit. People stare and take (not so) subtle photos everywhere you go and really, it's a bit disconcerting. Most of the time it's friendly curiosity and the children on the street love it and they're adorable so I don't mind, but when everyone in a restaurant is watching to see if you screw up with your chopsticks it becomes nerve-wracking. Add to the staring huge accommodation surprises (in the worst way) and I think it's safe to say that, for me, my first full day in Suzhou (Valentines Day) was a 'China day'. A 'China day' is one of those days where everything just seems too much and the culture shock hits square in the face to knock you off ...

With all the fun of the first few days in Beijing and all the nights out, it was easy to forget that, while this felt like a holiday now, what we'd really come to China to do was teach. To get us prepared for our placements, LoveTEFL and TTC laid on a four day programme of various cultural and teacher training lessons. Sometimes after late nights in Lakers these felt a bit like torture (I'm talking about you 3 hours of mandarin lessons after a big KTV night) but were ultimately super helpful and mean I don't feel quite as terrified as I was before of standing in front of my first class. After a relaxed first couple days we had two days of cultural training to ease us in to life in China. This meant a mix of some very intensive mandarin lessons, a calligraphy class, tai chi (not nearly as fun or entertaining as we thought it would be) and various cultural talks.  Calligraphy lessons were fun but harder than they looked. Turns out Chinese characters aren't just ...

I 've been in China just over a week now and it has honestly been one of the best weeks of my life. There have been hilarious times, bizarre times and dramatic times, and I wouldn't have had it any other way. I have met a load of amazing people and have already made a group of lovely friends that I hope I will be in touch with forever. China is an amazing country and, LoveTEFL and TTC have got me pumped up and excited for what is to come.  Me and Jenny have now moved from Beijing to our placement school in Suzhou, Jiangsu. Nope, I hadn't heard of it either. For now I'll say that Suzhou (roughly pronounced SOO-JOE) is an up and coming city about 20 minutes outside of Shanghai and leave it at that until full opinions can be formed. But for now I'll do a brief summary of this first week in China. It would be impossible to put in everything that happened that I would like to tell people without writing a small novel so we'll stick to the first day, and my ...

Practice run, looking pretty good! So after many weeks of planning and list making, my life has been condensed down to what I can fit into a 65 litre backpack and a rucksack. This was one of the most stressful processes of my life but finally, 4 hours later it is done! I will be pretty much be living out of these bags for 6+ months, so what went into them was no small matter. It might have been easier to pack if I wasn't working and travelling, or if I wasn't travelling through temperatures from -15•c to 35•c+; but I've done my best and taken the idea of layering to the next level. I'm leaving many many of my clothes at home and only taking what is now called my 'capsule travel wardrobe', oh-la-la! Translated into unpretentious language this means I'll be wearing the same outfits over and over for the next six months. Exciting isn't it? Big coat, little bag I won't bore anyone with the complete contents of my bag but there is one item ...