Hello
I'm back in this world! Josh's visit (he arrived Wednesday) kind of skewed everything... On the first night he arrived we went to visit a friend of his in a more central part of the city and we stayed the night drinking and smoking...not good for my cold.
Thursday night I left him at his friend's because I couldn't take another night of partying, but Friday and Saturday night I spent with him and his friends...crazy!!! But this way I have a few more contacts in Beijing.
On Friday night we had a fish dinner with some old colleagues of his when he was teaching at a school in the outskirts of Beijing. These young women (all around 30), will help me with pracitcalities - eg: cell phones.
We also spent a couple meals with Sean's friends and family, who will help me with traveling and any problems I may encounter with the police (the father works for the police) - that won't happen.
The friends we spent most of our time with are from Josh's international high school that he went to for grades 11 and 12 in Hong Kong. One of them's mixed-born and raised in Beijing but his father's Dutch. He spent his high school years in Hong Kong and his unversity years in Holland. He works for the EU (an office job). Another high school friend is from Iceland and he's here for a year learning Mandarin at Beida (Beijing University - most famous!). There was a third high school friend but this one was only visiting and he's supposed to have left but he can't get a plane ticket back to Ireland (where he comes from). He was supposed to work on Monday (tomorrow) but that's not going to work out.
Anyway, they all speak English and were all very nice and we got along. We ate Baoze for breakfast, which is little meat-filled bunes. Quite tasty and good for hang-overs.
Sean's family took us out on a couple very nice meals. Saturday night we went to a fancy southern-Chinese restaurant where I actually got steak (it was either steak or sea cucumber, which I've already tried and didn't enjoy). But there was also a lot of other delicious "real" Chinese food. I can't eat that much because it's hot and I just can't...not that hungry.
Today we went for delicious Japanese food - didn't think I'd be having Japanese food so quickly, but this place was fancy (having been invited by Sean's parents) and good quality and very good. I had udon and congee and this egg puddingthing and fresh fruit and miso soup... It was a bento-box type thing. We drove Josh tot he train station this afternoon where he left for Nanjing.
The train station is surrounded by a lot of people at all times. I felt it was super busy, but apprarently this is "normal" and it gets a ton worse during public holidays - the three "golden weeks" given to Chinese workers. People were sitting and sleeping everywhere in and around the station. We had just come from the Japanese restaurant that had been in a Holiday Inn - a super nice hotel with swimming pool and western bathrooms.
Actually, starting September 1st, the weather's been amazing. Blue sky everyday - real blue sky!!! And the termperature has been going down (under 30 degrees now).
Guillaume, (the French student) and Melanie (the American) and I made a few posters asking for cheap bikes and a fridge (we wanted to buy these things). We put my email address because we thought it'd be easiest but the only reply we've gotten so far is...Hi, I don't have cheap bikes, but I want to be your friend. In essence, they want to talk in English. We knew that was coming but it would've been nice if someone had a bike and fridge.
This past week I only had four classes so I worked Monday and Tuesday from 8-noon. This week I'll have five classes so I'll work Monday, 8-4 (2-hour lunch break) and Tuesday, 8-12. In a couple of weeks I'll start working 20 hours a week. I'll work six hours Monday and Tuesday, and then very little the next three days (2, 4, and 2 hours respectively). Suits me. I'll only ned to prepare for three classes. I fell like I'm repeating myself.
The public bathrooms here are funny - the fancier the place, the fancier the hole where you pee becomes. I think that's hilarious. In a fancy place you'll be given toilet paper and a nice ceramic hole. I still find it difficult to squat, but there's something satisfying to it as well. I mean, this is how we're supposed to do our business and it's somehow purifying and really satisfying to be squatting. It's like going back to your roots...
Anyway, I still need to prepare for my classes tomorrow. People ask me what I plan to do in Beijing. Right now I'm still getting used to it all. I'm giving myself around 3 months and then I'll start planning, seriously planning. Right now I can only take it day by day - there's just too many things going on.
Hope you're all well. Keep those wonderful emails coming!
*****
Sep. 13th update: we actually ate "jaoze" for breakfast - they're smaller than "baoze." I met the Icelandic friend again. His name is Haflidi. He's very tall and blonde. His girlfriend, who works at LeHague's international criminal court (I do believe it's something as fantastic as that), is Cuban. This is multiculturalism at its best. Angus, the Irish dude who couldn't get a plane ticket, finally left Wednesday, I think, and his job waited for him...amazing!
Thursday night I left him at his friend's because I couldn't take another night of partying, but Friday and Saturday night I spent with him and his friends...crazy!!! But this way I have a few more contacts in Beijing.
On Friday night we had a fish dinner with some old colleagues of his when he was teaching at a school in the outskirts of Beijing. These young women (all around 30), will help me with pracitcalities - eg: cell phones.
We also spent a couple meals with Sean's friends and family, who will help me with traveling and any problems I may encounter with the police (the father works for the police) - that won't happen.
The friends we spent most of our time with are from Josh's international high school that he went to for grades 11 and 12 in Hong Kong. One of them's mixed-born and raised in Beijing but his father's Dutch. He spent his high school years in Hong Kong and his unversity years in Holland. He works for the EU (an office job). Another high school friend is from Iceland and he's here for a year learning Mandarin at Beida (Beijing University - most famous!). There was a third high school friend but this one was only visiting and he's supposed to have left but he can't get a plane ticket back to Ireland (where he comes from). He was supposed to work on Monday (tomorrow) but that's not going to work out.
Anyway, they all speak English and were all very nice and we got along. We ate Baoze for breakfast, which is little meat-filled bunes. Quite tasty and good for hang-overs.
Sean's family took us out on a couple very nice meals. Saturday night we went to a fancy southern-Chinese restaurant where I actually got steak (it was either steak or sea cucumber, which I've already tried and didn't enjoy). But there was also a lot of other delicious "real" Chinese food. I can't eat that much because it's hot and I just can't...not that hungry.
Today we went for delicious Japanese food - didn't think I'd be having Japanese food so quickly, but this place was fancy (having been invited by Sean's parents) and good quality and very good. I had udon and congee and this egg puddingthing and fresh fruit and miso soup... It was a bento-box type thing. We drove Josh tot he train station this afternoon where he left for Nanjing.
The train station is surrounded by a lot of people at all times. I felt it was super busy, but apprarently this is "normal" and it gets a ton worse during public holidays - the three "golden weeks" given to Chinese workers. People were sitting and sleeping everywhere in and around the station. We had just come from the Japanese restaurant that had been in a Holiday Inn - a super nice hotel with swimming pool and western bathrooms.
Actually, starting September 1st, the weather's been amazing. Blue sky everyday - real blue sky!!! And the termperature has been going down (under 30 degrees now).
Guillaume, (the French student) and Melanie (the American) and I made a few posters asking for cheap bikes and a fridge (we wanted to buy these things). We put my email address because we thought it'd be easiest but the only reply we've gotten so far is...Hi, I don't have cheap bikes, but I want to be your friend. In essence, they want to talk in English. We knew that was coming but it would've been nice if someone had a bike and fridge.
This past week I only had four classes so I worked Monday and Tuesday from 8-noon. This week I'll have five classes so I'll work Monday, 8-4 (2-hour lunch break) and Tuesday, 8-12. In a couple of weeks I'll start working 20 hours a week. I'll work six hours Monday and Tuesday, and then very little the next three days (2, 4, and 2 hours respectively). Suits me. I'll only ned to prepare for three classes. I fell like I'm repeating myself.
The public bathrooms here are funny - the fancier the place, the fancier the hole where you pee becomes. I think that's hilarious. In a fancy place you'll be given toilet paper and a nice ceramic hole. I still find it difficult to squat, but there's something satisfying to it as well. I mean, this is how we're supposed to do our business and it's somehow purifying and really satisfying to be squatting. It's like going back to your roots...
Anyway, I still need to prepare for my classes tomorrow. People ask me what I plan to do in Beijing. Right now I'm still getting used to it all. I'm giving myself around 3 months and then I'll start planning, seriously planning. Right now I can only take it day by day - there's just too many things going on.
Hope you're all well. Keep those wonderful emails coming!
*****
Sep. 13th update: we actually ate "jaoze" for breakfast - they're smaller than "baoze." I met the Icelandic friend again. His name is Haflidi. He's very tall and blonde. His girlfriend, who works at LeHague's international criminal court (I do believe it's something as fantastic as that), is Cuban. This is multiculturalism at its best. Angus, the Irish dude who couldn't get a plane ticket, finally left Wednesday, I think, and his job waited for him...amazing!
posted by Caro at 5:21 PM
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