Day 2
Today was great. I'm so lucky. I went to bed around 8 PM last night. I had to fight to stay up that late because I was so tired. I woke up around 6:30 AM, after having been woken up by Wang Xin Yu's (Sean's) phone call around 9 PM, and waking up around 4 AM for no reason. I slept pretty well, considering it was only my second night. On the first night I phoned my mother around 3 AM and she got Pierre to give me a call. Talking with them was super great. Phoning entails having a phone card and dialing numbers and code numbers, just like with any international phone card. I have a phone and private number in my room, so my mother usually calls me right back when I phone.
Today I spent pretty much the whole day with my friend Wang Xin Yu, who was born and raised in Beijing and who's leaving for Dalhousie (Halifax university) on Friday. He studies engineering. He hates it there. He's always complaining about it. Anyway, his father came to pick me up in their car and they took me downtown to the Beijing equivalent of Cloud Nine (the revolving restaurant in Vancouver). It was high up (28th floor) and there was such a great view - too bad air pollution limited how far we could see. The food was buffet style. We met up with WXY's mother and her collegues and their 15 year old son, Joe Chow, who might take me sight-seeing this weekend. His English isn't as good as WXY's but at least he's a local who can help me out! We exchanged phone numbers.
After that, WXY took me to Wangfujing - a touristy shopping strip that's partly pedestrianised. Lots of shopping malls and stores. I bought a new handbag at NineWest - it's smaller and has lots of pockets so it's practical. We walked around a lot. I was tired because of jetlag. We were so full from lunch! I also saw the East Cathedral, also known as St Joseph's Church. We can't go inside. I didn't even take any pictures because I figured I'd go back. I don't like looking like such a tourist but I guess my race gives me away so I shouldn't worry about it so much... I don't make sense sometimes. Anyway, we also went to a well-known night market down Danghanmen street. It's a food market - lots of food stalls selling interesting kebabs of different meat and sea creatures like squid and starfish. We didn't eat anything because we were still full. I don't think I'll eat dinner tonight!
We took the subway home. It's really not so bad. WXY scared me saying he hadn't taken the subway in years and that it was dirty. In fact, it's quite clean and there's even air conditioning and I think it's actually better than the Parisian subway! The only problem is that there aren't many lines so it's not that convenient. However, it does take me to the centre of the city and it's cheap. That's good enough for me!
I got in touch with my cousin through email. She wants to see me and will probably take me around. It's wonderful not being alone... Josh (a friend from Vancouver), who knows how to speak Chinese and who knows Beijing pretty well, will come live with me for a few days next week. I'm really quite well surrounded by people who can help me. That's why I think I'm so lucky!
I start working next week. I had a tentative schedule but apparently I'll be getting a new one by the end of the week. Looks like I'll be starting work everyday at 8 AM and I'll finish either at 10 AM or noon. Classes are two hours long. I'll only work 16 hours a week and I'll be teaching conversation so it shouldn't be too difficult. I've got a book to follow too, but they haven't given me the book.
Today I also bought a textbook on how to learn Chinese. WXY helped me find a good one at an international bookstore on Wangfujing (it's a very touristy street). I'll have to start studying!
Daily life here is not bad. I still haven't really walked around the neighbourhood. My campus is very nice with lots of trees and green areas. I live across from tennis courts. There's a large recreational compound with basketball and volleyball courts and a track. I wanted to go for a run this morning but when I arrived at 9 AM it was closed! I was disappointed...
There are security guards everywhere - at the entrance gates of the university and at the doors of the administrative buildings. I guess it's to up the employment rate because it sure seems like they don't do anything but sit there...
I still haven't met anyone on campus. I haven't met any of the foreign students on my floor or any of the other teachers. It's kind of weird. I guess all in time...
I have to wait a good two minutes before the water starts to get warm when I take a shower. I didn't realise this the first time I took a shower (usually my showers are only two minutes long!) so I thought I was going to have to brave through cold showers all through the winter! But also I'll be moving to the teacher's building at the end of September and it looks like those apartments will be much better. I'm looking forward to it! But I'm not complaining about where I am right now - it has everything I need to make me comfortable.
They changed my TV so that the remote control works and the buttons on the TV work too (on my old TV one of the buttons didn't work). I tried to tell them it didn't matter because I only watch one channel anyway (the English channel of course!) but that's impossible to communicate so I let them change everything. They're really helpful here, but the TV is really the least of my worries. It's true that I enjoy watching the English channel and learning about the world. TV has become a bit of a comfort blanket I guess.
That's it for now. I'm unable to view my blog for some reason. Maybe it's blocked here or something. So if you have comments, please also send them to me by email because I can't look at them on the site! Thanks. Oh, and if you would like to receive a postcard, please send me your address by email too.
Today I spent pretty much the whole day with my friend Wang Xin Yu, who was born and raised in Beijing and who's leaving for Dalhousie (Halifax university) on Friday. He studies engineering. He hates it there. He's always complaining about it. Anyway, his father came to pick me up in their car and they took me downtown to the Beijing equivalent of Cloud Nine (the revolving restaurant in Vancouver). It was high up (28th floor) and there was such a great view - too bad air pollution limited how far we could see. The food was buffet style. We met up with WXY's mother and her collegues and their 15 year old son, Joe Chow, who might take me sight-seeing this weekend. His English isn't as good as WXY's but at least he's a local who can help me out! We exchanged phone numbers.
After that, WXY took me to Wangfujing - a touristy shopping strip that's partly pedestrianised. Lots of shopping malls and stores. I bought a new handbag at NineWest - it's smaller and has lots of pockets so it's practical. We walked around a lot. I was tired because of jetlag. We were so full from lunch! I also saw the East Cathedral, also known as St Joseph's Church. We can't go inside. I didn't even take any pictures because I figured I'd go back. I don't like looking like such a tourist but I guess my race gives me away so I shouldn't worry about it so much... I don't make sense sometimes. Anyway, we also went to a well-known night market down Danghanmen street. It's a food market - lots of food stalls selling interesting kebabs of different meat and sea creatures like squid and starfish. We didn't eat anything because we were still full. I don't think I'll eat dinner tonight!
We took the subway home. It's really not so bad. WXY scared me saying he hadn't taken the subway in years and that it was dirty. In fact, it's quite clean and there's even air conditioning and I think it's actually better than the Parisian subway! The only problem is that there aren't many lines so it's not that convenient. However, it does take me to the centre of the city and it's cheap. That's good enough for me!
I got in touch with my cousin through email. She wants to see me and will probably take me around. It's wonderful not being alone... Josh (a friend from Vancouver), who knows how to speak Chinese and who knows Beijing pretty well, will come live with me for a few days next week. I'm really quite well surrounded by people who can help me. That's why I think I'm so lucky!
I start working next week. I had a tentative schedule but apparently I'll be getting a new one by the end of the week. Looks like I'll be starting work everyday at 8 AM and I'll finish either at 10 AM or noon. Classes are two hours long. I'll only work 16 hours a week and I'll be teaching conversation so it shouldn't be too difficult. I've got a book to follow too, but they haven't given me the book.
Today I also bought a textbook on how to learn Chinese. WXY helped me find a good one at an international bookstore on Wangfujing (it's a very touristy street). I'll have to start studying!
Daily life here is not bad. I still haven't really walked around the neighbourhood. My campus is very nice with lots of trees and green areas. I live across from tennis courts. There's a large recreational compound with basketball and volleyball courts and a track. I wanted to go for a run this morning but when I arrived at 9 AM it was closed! I was disappointed...
There are security guards everywhere - at the entrance gates of the university and at the doors of the administrative buildings. I guess it's to up the employment rate because it sure seems like they don't do anything but sit there...
I still haven't met anyone on campus. I haven't met any of the foreign students on my floor or any of the other teachers. It's kind of weird. I guess all in time...
I have to wait a good two minutes before the water starts to get warm when I take a shower. I didn't realise this the first time I took a shower (usually my showers are only two minutes long!) so I thought I was going to have to brave through cold showers all through the winter! But also I'll be moving to the teacher's building at the end of September and it looks like those apartments will be much better. I'm looking forward to it! But I'm not complaining about where I am right now - it has everything I need to make me comfortable.
They changed my TV so that the remote control works and the buttons on the TV work too (on my old TV one of the buttons didn't work). I tried to tell them it didn't matter because I only watch one channel anyway (the English channel of course!) but that's impossible to communicate so I let them change everything. They're really helpful here, but the TV is really the least of my worries. It's true that I enjoy watching the English channel and learning about the world. TV has become a bit of a comfort blanket I guess.
That's it for now. I'm unable to view my blog for some reason. Maybe it's blocked here or something. So if you have comments, please also send them to me by email because I can't look at them on the site! Thanks. Oh, and if you would like to receive a postcard, please send me your address by email too.
posted by Caro at 7:14 PM
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