I have been in china for one month now, and I wanted to convey some thoughts on my Alaskan Adventure. I would also like to express my gratitude for some of your comments, and it’s great to hear from a few of you that I haven't heard from in quite some time. Thank You.
I’ve had a good time so far and I am glad that I made this decision (albeit through much mental strife and hesitation; but as a wise man said many moons ago, “even though this type of working vacation is probably a career killer, it sure beats workin’!”My fellow teachers, administration, and students are great. I work with a great couple with lots of travel experience from America, a Frenchie, and an Irish man! It has been a real pleasure getting to know them. And buying a mountain bike here has made my cruising in town and out of town just delightful, not to mention all the basketball goin on around here.
I can’t speak a lick of Chinese (besides a few survival words/phrases). It’s just a whole other world. It’s nothing like English to Spanish. It’s all about sounds and tones, and one character can have many meanings. For example, bu la can mean, “no thank you”, or it can mean “no spice”, i.e. leave the freakin hot spice out please! It all depends on how you say la, i.e. short, fast, down tone, etc... awwww! So I started to learn characters for food, so I could order off a menu. But that isn’t an exact science either…I will spare you the details. Sometimes I just walk in the kitchen and point at some food. But I am learning some dishes. When I was in Shanghai I went out in the morning looking for breakfast. After eating some bread stuff, I found a dumpling shop, and thought I would try one. The lady showed 1, and then 2 fingers. They weren’t too big, so I thought I would try 2...she brought me 2 plates of dumplings...BTW, my first week in China I had no idea what I ordered or ate. I bet some of that meat wasn't the kind of meat I am used to eating, if you know what I mean.
Life here constantly reminds of my time in Africa, with people working at their little shops all day, up early and closing late, and people everywhere, walking around town, standing around, smoking their pipes, doing Tai-Chi, hanging out at hot-pots or at the tea shops, playing a variety of Chinese card games and gambling on what looks like some type of dominoes all throughout the evening. Lots of students all over, near the university. Lots of little eating shops, some in peoples homes, where you walk by their bedroom to sit in the dining room (the other day I guess I was too early at my latest find, by my residence, and all the lights were off and someone was snoring away in the bedroom…I quietly left, taking a chicken leg for the road). Like Africa, the shops are on the bottom floor with residences up above, often many stories high. Every where in the world seems to build up, while we build out. I guess that’s why cars aren’t needed so much. Around here, walking is the main transportation, bikes next, and then electric scooters and moto’s, and then mostly taxi’s. Electric Scooters...why don’t we have those? They’re great...except they are quiet...and sneak up on you like a serial killer. I have almost been taken out a couple of times by those silent killers!
Even though the coastal cities as well as the interior of China are growing like crazy with the building of skyscrapers littering the skies, salaries remain low. Here in the interior, the situation is similar throughout most of China. The kids out here as well as others can work low-end jobs at make $1-2 a day. The Chinese English teachers make slightly above $400 a month (teaching is one of the better jobs out here in this region, I think). A couple of students that are graduating this year hope to get jobs making $300 a month. I think there is a realization that their futures aren’t that bright. One could move toward the coast, like Shanghai or Beijing, and make more...but just like Los Angeles, real estate has skyrocketed. In fact, they are having similar issues with their housing market dropping and getting hit with inflation. Many have told me that the prices of foods and noodles at the little food shops have doubled in the last couple of years. Housing is interesting here. You can sorta buy an apartment for a lump sum, get it for 80 years, you and all your relatives can live in it during that time, and then it goes back to the gov’t. You must live in it, or rent it out if you move. I am told that this is the cheaper alternative to actually owning forever. But even this “cheaper” method is difficult for many. Although, it sure beats living in a place that the rent goes up every year! And after 80 years…who cares what happens, eh?!
Did I mention the food is Great! Oh…and the Green tea…excellent. Ya’an grows this all over...among everything else. Funny, how you won’t find any green lawns out here. Just today, I was at immigration getting my residence card, and across the driveway a lady was hoeing the ground. Most patches of dirt have some kind of vegetable growing in it. Interesting contrast between here and there. People are practical, probably out of necessity. They grow to eat and sell; you don’t see grass growing around here. We grow grass to look at? Play on? On any given day, on the many rivers flowing through and around town, you will find men fishing on the banks of the water, or even an occasional canoe floating down the water with some guy fishing. I bet they don’t have to pay some fee to fish, or ride down their river. Did I mention the food is Great! Spicy, tasty, and yummy! You all know I love to eat...and I am in heaven here. So cheap, for me, with my big teacher’s salary (good for china, very little by American standard), but hey, I definitely didnt come here for the money. I must say, with my long winter and summer break, and my teaching hours, the quality of life issue is readily accomplished here. Although its only been a month...I could see myself in this lifestyle for a couple years...working a little, traveling around on breaks, experiencing different cultures, foods, and meeting the locals. Until next time...
