Catching Up in Xiaoshan- June 19th - 23rd

Day 22 – June 19^th

I’m locked inside my apartment.

Turns out if you lock the outside cage door you really do turn the apartment into a cage. Eff… Thank god Sarah came back for her lunch break. We ended up heading out to the noodle house where we met a fellow foreigner from Cali. Apparently he also teaches English at a nearby institute. What are the chances?

With it being my day off I spent my time revising Matt and I’s university class then played Harvet Moon and some Pokemon.

My schedule for next week is kind of inconvenient. I don’t have the consecutive days off.

Day 23 – June 20^th

BOOOOOORED DAY OFF. AAAAAAAAH

Day 24 – June 21^st

Taught my first class at Nokia. This was my only class and was at 6:30 pm. Class seemed pretty cool. Most of the students don’t have an English name.

Taught my first class at Nokia. This was my only class and was at 6:30 pm. Class seemed pretty cool. Most of the students don’t have an English name, which makes pronunciation for me a little interesting. I’m butchering their names and I don’t even remember all of them. One of the students (quite possibly the youngest) asked me what I do on the weekends. I’m curious as to why he asked. 

Day 25 – June 22^nd

Day off = lazy. Heat = lethargic and anti-movement. Thank god for books and my DS.

Day 26 – June 23^rd

Annika got into contact with me today and tried to figure out a time to come out and visit me here in Xiaoshan. Kind of fell through because of the lack of decent directions and time in general before I was supposed to teach classes.

I was supposed to teach my Nokia class again but it turns out that J.C. switched me with his business class with Jenni. Either way not a bad switch I would get back to the apartment half an hour later but it would be for a good reason.

Jenni is one of the best students I’ve had aside from the Nokia group. I ended up teaching about entertaining clients, which she already seemed to know about but had other questions that were actually related to what the unit taught.

Catching Up in Xiaoshan- June 4th

Day 7 – June 4^th

Woke up to find an opened umbrella with my name written on a note card on top of it. A Yi’s such a sweetie! Augh how much she tries to take care of me (and clearly succeeds) is awesome.

Although the storm/rain was a drain on the rest of my day. In fact it had interrupted my sleep as I do recall. Fairly unpleasant if I may say so.

Anyway only had one class as students did not sign up for the spa class. This meant I could go to the party at Zhejiang University with the others. I quickly set about this endeavor only to realize I had taken the 301 the completely wrong direction. I ended up at the end point for the buses. I was a bit terrified and sent a panic stricken text to J.C. then proceeded to walk aimlessly towards the buses I saw still in the area. I understood my folly and found a 301 leaving the area. It quickly took me by my place of work and then onwards.

Something weird I’ve noticed about the men… They don’t either seem to care that their flies are open/half done or are aware. Considering they piss and spit wherever they please (yes this included the bus I was in, in fact he spat right next to me) I doubt that it is the latter.

Made it to Zhejiang University, the campus is huge but because of the rain I didn’t want to take a picture. It was ugly and I like my camera. Once I arrived I was told to do some sort of improv because I was late. ><’ There were a lot of Chinese students and they all seemed pretty interested in us. It ended up being Drew, Yasmina, and I as well as Annika. Met Brandon Kung, Jason’s brother, and another foreign teacher? Matthew. They had been playing Waa, never have I ever, and some other games. We did a “boat” race  where we had to gather the items the MCs listed. At one point they called for a boy, Drew was on our team and quite easily the tallest guy in the party, which really helped us in the end. They also asked for shoes, laptops, and a jacket. I ran around without a shoe and tossed out my jacket for the win. It was a lot of fun, definitely something I want to take back to the states as ice breakers. Or even as a language game. 

After playing these games, we performed a bit of an improvised skit singing Mulan’s Let’s get down to Business…. It was… okay…? Um I supposedly played the part of Mulan. It was more of a joint effort with Yasmina but either way we were left to dry as we kind of gestured and ran around the stage in front of university students. We felt very silly singing and motioning things that we associated with the words. Ended up doing a gesture like a Tsunami for Great Typhoon. I’m not sure why but it worked for our purposes. We also gestured to ourselves for “did they send me daughters?” then pointed to the guys who were in the back hiding from the limelight. It was really silly and a lot of fun. I doubt the students really understood what we were going on about, they seemed fairly clueless. Afterwards they even asked some of us what we were singing/dancing/flailing to. It was seriously embarrassing but I guess that doesn’t matter seeing as we all had made fools of ourselves earlier. 

We then ate Zhong zhu… ? A rice triangle ball with either: pork meat, eggs, or red beans that was wrapped in a couple of large leaves similar in appearance to dried corn husks. I first ate a red bean one, which reminded me of the red bean ice cream popsicles Omma used to get for me from the Korean Market, later I grabbed one filled with pork. They were really delicious. The rice they used was insanely sticky.

While we ate we took the time to talk to the various students; I met a girl named Anniey (Annie) spelled her own special way who invited me to a movie later on next week. I don’t know that I’ll be able to easily navigate back from Xiaoshen but we’ll see how that goes. Maybe we can find a halfway point or something.

After eating we listened to Sea Lion (yes that’s her English name apparently – I find this to be super awesome) perform Ambush from Ten Sides – played on the traditional Chinese instrument the Pi Pa (also a fruit). It is considered a masterpiece much like Flight of a Bumblebee according to certain sources – i.e. Drew googling some bits instead of preparing for his class. The song/performance was amazing. I think that girl would be a killer on the banjo/guitar. The Pi pa is a really intense instrument as well. I wish her luck in all of her endeavors. 

When we left the University the others mentioned food… I was very envious. It would appear that staying in Hangzhou would have been much nicer to my stomach (and possibly wallet) as I would have been able to check out the sights and places to eat with them. It would also have just been nice to have a consistent friendly face but such is life. Apparently Yasmina has been hunting down all of the bakeries. Drew tried a century egg and overall found goodness.

I feel like I’ve missed out on a lot for having been gone for a week. I really did miss them after being gone for so little time. I guess I just missed having people who were fresh to the whole China thing around me. J.C. and Zack are great though cynical especially in regards to the job. Drew hasn’t done much with Linkman it would appear. Jim seems to keep better tabs on him than me but I guess that might be linked to the fact that he has Annika to run to and I have A Yi who treats me like kin. 

Catching Up in Xiaoshan- June 3rd

Day 6 – June 3^rd

I think I ate fried chicken today. I also butchered the word for eggplant but I got some in the end. 

:D 

I later hit up the Lotte Mart, which I first got lost in before I managed to find my way upstairs. I bought a fruit cup, peppero, and chips ahoy with raisins in ‘em. The fruit cup was actually pretty good, something I may not be able to say of the questionable meat/tofu thing I got at SWJ (another fast food place). The texture is beyond words for me right now. I honestly have a suspicion that I may have been eating intestines/nut sack filled with the grease and sauces covering the outsides and some other unexplainable edibles.

Blargh, I must venture out but sometimes I am very terrified to do so. Now I at least know I don’t care for whatever that meat was. I asked one of the Chinese teachers and she said we had a similar dish though she had made hers/brought it from home. She first said it was meat then said it was like tofu or something. I think she may have been lying or just plain confused as well. Kind of concerns me but oh well.

Taught Sunny’s class for about 40 ish minutes. The girls Gemma and Della are very quick on their feet though I believe Della really preferred to speak in Chinese/English through her friend to me. Sometimes she would talk on her own but usually relied on the other.

No one seems to understand the words understand and questions. Just blank stares. I really need to work on that.

But the girls were great. We sprinted through the material and I didn’t really know what else to do with them because I still wasn’t sure of their ability. They may have thought I was talking down to them, which I really hope I didn’t come off that way. Ended up talking at length about animals, particularly pets. This eventually got them asking questions about my cat as Della really likes cats but Gemma really likes dogs. It was nice to make them smile. Though I think they were more than aware that I was unsure of myself after we went through the exercises. Gah.

Later on I taught Susan’s class with 6 kids. I think they were at least 4^th grade. One was a Korean boy named John. This class also had the odd little humping boy Steven. I learned about him from J.C. and Zack. Apparently he really likes the boys. Really took a liking to Zack, though it seems everyone likes him. My first meeting with Steven was with J.C. in the teacher’s offices. Steven came in with my awareness but not J.C.’s so Steven sneakily stuck his finger in J.C.’s crack. Not that it was showing (though of this I’m not sure I was facing J.C. and figured he was aware of Steven poking his head in and out of the door). Yea… He’s definitely an odd one. He certainly behaved better than I expected. Though that expectation was that he would be humping things or legs. Ugh.

The Korean boy John was a sweetheart. I think the other kids may have tormented him, likely because he’s Korean. I’ve learned that the Chinese really hate the Japanese but are seemingly okay with Koreans. I can’t say for sure but I guess it’s not exactly the case. Once you know someone’s different it just sticks. I wish I could help him. I didn’t really get to introduce myself to the class nor did we have much time to chat for fun. Most of the class was spent doing the work which took a while because everyone was so loud and rambunctious that I couldn’t really hear everything going on. I ended up just asking them to repeat one by one. I know that likely wasted time but it was easier to manage that way. The two girls in the class seemed sweet as well. Always the girls are so well mannered. Hmm…. Gender role socialization at work? Pfft.

Dear god I would kill for some cereal. Like Captain Crunch. I’m going to go apeshit on some frosted flakes when I get back home. I might be able to find some in grocery stores/supermarkets in Hangzhou but we’ll see.

When I first walked into the class everyone kept saying WOOOOOOOOOAAAAH, OH MY LADY GAGA! That has to be the best catch phrase I have ever heard. I am totally taking that back to the states. :D I certainly stand out, even more so when I take pride in my poof. One boy said I have very pretty hair, then continued to say oh my lady gaga about it/me. It was really cute. A lot of the kids kept saying woooooow over and over. I don’t know if they ever met/seen a mixed person such as myself. I always figured I was different. I guess I’m more different than the other foreign teachers who are white. I wonder how they would react if they got a black male for a teacher. Or anyone darker than me at least.

Oh and the hamster isn’t dead yet. When I left it seemed to be still kicking/breathing. Yaay for it not being dead. Boo for it being left to die in the office.

I showed a cab driver the address and didn’t need to say a thing. He dropped me off waaaay too early though seeing as he left me off a little after exiting the tunnels. I wasn’t thinking when I said okay and nodded after he gestured and said something signaling he was letting me off unless I said otherwise. Thank god I had walked around the whole block and then some of the area because for about 10 mins I was really confused as to where the hell I was. I eventually found a familiar corner store (isn’t that a shocker seeing as they all look very similar) and managed to speed walk my way back to A Yi’s. Upon getting to the door I also managed to open it quite successfully and before A Yi came running over to let me in. She’s watching t.v. on the computer now.

Catching Up in Xiaoshan- June 1st and 2nd

Day 4 – June 1^st

Taught a review class today with Limi (what an interesting name :D) and Hannah. They struggled but they refused to actually ask me for help. It was equally frustrating on both sides. I really have to make sure I don’t speak too quickly with any of the students I do believe. Even the teachers seem to have issues keeping track of what I’m saying.

Being locked out of the house however hasn’t changed in the slightest unfortunately. Although Larry did offer me a ride back to A Yi’s. Since there was plenty of time for me to grab dinner and the bus I figured it wouldn’t be all that worth it for him. Though if he can give me rides on the days I have to work til 9 then I’d be much more appreciative. I just wish he knew English, especially if he works at an English tutoring institution. Grawr. (Correction: he does know some)

Unfortunately, once I arrived to A Yi’s I quickly learned that she was out and about still. Meaning I was still locked out of the house for a while longer. I elected to sit on the curb and read in front of the apartment. People gave me the above average stare as I sat there reading. Some people kept going in and out of houses and probably became very suspicious of me as I sat there. I didn’t want to call Jim to call A Yi though because I figured she has every right to do as she pleases. Though it does really inconvenience anything I want to do… Or eat for that matter.

Once she came back though, I noticed she was not alone. She brought two friends with her as far as I could tell. They both seemed to be aware of the lack of mandarin on my part. I almost believe A Yi may have been laughing at me when I said ni hao. It’s really hard to tell. She’s been so sweet that I really doubt she was making fun of me. I think I’ll play some DS for a chunk of the night. 

Day 5 – June 2^nd

Ate at the Reboo Short Order chain. Getting food went surprisingly well and quickly on top of it. They really are just like fast food. Their eggs and what I assumed to be bacon were heavily salted. I hope they don’t believe Americans actually eat like that… :/ I managed to get something that looked like dumplings that may not have been dumplings… I’m a little scared of what I thought it was but who is to honestly say is right? I’m going to get with the odd feeling in my mouth and gut about the dish and just not blindly grab it next time. I definitely ordered way too much though. Or grabbed too much. I need to stop trying meat. It’s really not that worth it in the end it seems.

Work went smoothly; got to meet Liz or Chen Xia who was a little different from what I expected. Her bobcut hairstyle was really… different to say the least. But her command of English and listening skills seemed to be fairly high considering what I have to slow down on with other students. She read the instructions fairly well and talked more than any of the others. Though this may have been my own fault as I can take charge of a situation without knowing. Inbred leadership? I hope so :D

My 2^nd class with Julia, a review, ended up being cancelled but I did not find out until much later. Like 20 mins. after the class was supposed to have started. Zack had finished up with his class and was wondering what I was doing still sitting around. Larry had offered me a ride back to A Yi’s. That reminds me, I got a key for the apartment. I’m so happy I don’t have to be locked out after I leave the apartment to find food. It makes things much easier for me. I hope it didn’t inconvenience A Yi too much to do so. She’s honestly like another mother to me. She’s so sweet. I kind of wish she would wake me up for breakfast or something. I really liked the noodle dish she made the first morning.

Oh for dinner today I ended up eating duck and a vegetable mix thing. There was bean sprouts, carrots, and I think something akin to spinach. It was really good. I got it from another fast food place called SWJ that is a part of the building we work in. Kind of convenient though the workers seem to think it’s really gross. I’m not really sure I understand why. It’s  not terrible though I can’t say that it’s great at the same time but I work with what I got and I don’t have a huge history in Chinese cuisine to work against.

Anyway after I got home thanks to Larry, A Yi gave me a dish of fruit called Pei Pa? Something along those lines. You peel it like an orange but it’s sweeter and might be more similar to mangoes. I really can’t describe it but I definitely took a picture. They’re so tiny. The mangoes here are also very small. Maybe I just haven’t been looking in the right places but they’re still delicious. More bite sized I suppose. Though their seed kind of makes me feel silly when eating it because it is the shape of the mango. I’ll have to take a picture tomorrow.

Catching Up in Xiaoshan- May 31st

Day 3 – May 31^st

So I woke up to A Yi having already left to take care of her mother. I woke up at 7:45 for just about no reason beyond forgetting I had an alarm set for then. It was unnecessary as my class wasn’t to be held until 6:30. So I went back to sleep for a few more hours but that proved to be silly. My body simply did not care anymore and did not want to pretend to sleep. Even just lying in the bed was uncomfortable.

I had nothing to do besides read and I’m trying to savor that book before the next month is out. I didn’t think I would have so much free time. I’m likely going to need to look into buying a couple new books or so.

Fraaaack I only have 672 pages total and I’ve read 226. I’m already a third through this book. Woe is me.

Anyway I wandered around the area for a good chunk of time. It was afternoon at this point so I figured why not learn a bit about the place in which I’m staying. I figured I could stop and grab some fruit while I was out considering the numerous fruit markets I had seen along the way in bus and cab rides. Managed to buy a bunch of bananas (4) and an apple. I wasn’t paying much attention to the quality or the prices but so far the bananas taste alright. The total ended up being 9.10 Yuan/RMB/CNY. This translates to about 1.46 in USD. I can only assume that this fruit is even cheaper than what I see back at home but I’m not sure. Either way a buck fifty for fruit to last me two meals is awesome. I’m definitely buying some mangoes and pa pe which is a fruit in season out here similar to an orange in that you have to peal it but a different kind of sweet. Hard to describe and I really just wish I could take it back to the states. Doubt that happening though. I wonder if we have it back in the states…

After buying the fruit and wandering a bit more I saw a lot of the same old businesses and landscapes. Reconstruction, deconstruction, merchants, scooters, cabs, buses, old and young, and of course the standard blatant staring. Nothing new this day really. So I hopped onto a bus and made my way to High Long Plaza to hang out at work seeing as I was locked out of A Yi’s apartment.

So upon arriving I noticed J.C. was there as well as Julia and Sunny. The latter 2 were hard at work while J.C. seemed to be really out of it. He had a class to teach soon. I talked with the others and explained why I was there so early and everyone just kind of shrugged it off. No one seemed to worry. I also came across the issue of transportation. The K716 ends at 5:50. I work later than that. Uh… this doesn’t add up besides in cab fare. FUUUU-

I told J.C. this and he offered to help me out after his class. I later had my business class with Jenny which turned into a conversation about personal matters, then devolved into a discussion about my personal life and my family as well as turned into a SPA with another student, Lily. Their English wasn’t that bad and they were both really sweet. Jenny runs a business that sells pencil cup holders and general office supplies while Lily sells handbags and related accessories such as wallets. That was the only bit of business I learned about beyond discussing why I was there and what I was expected to do and what I myself expected to do. They talked about my parents’ love story and giggled over how nice it was, then laughed and learned new words like Military, Random, and Unplanned. I worked with them on some of their pronunciation and corrected whenever they misspoke. They asked about my hair being natural and were constantly complimenting one another and me about various physical things. They were really sweet and acted very young for their age. Or at least Lily did. I don’t think we ever asked Jenny’s age.

At the one-hour mark Lily and Jenny went out to check for a pen and to see what exactly we were doing. The class apparently turned into a SPA – talk about whatever just as long as they practice their skills- and thus was over. They had other plans anyway so I figured I’d just let them out. I think their interest in me may have completely distracted the focus on having them speak and generally respond. Then again they may have benefitted from just hearing me talk. Who is to say?

Sat in on J.C.’s other class that was completely unexpected. Apparently it had 3 very young boys. They screamed bloody murder, spat, and pounded on the walls. It was very hectic and J.C. was just trying to get them all to sing a song together. A simple song about animals of Africa. I don’t know what to expect after seeing this. I’m honestly a little worried.

For the most part though, I spent my time conversing with J.C. I updated him on the various aspects of the mall rat life such as what stores changed and/or closed over the past year. We talked about gaming and majors.

Once I went home, A Yi came to me with a towel, a yogurt (my first dairy product), and bug bite medicine for my ankles. She had looked at my legs for a little while and I tried to explain I got the bites from LingYin temple. It wasn’t an issue with the mosquito repellant she has in the room. She quickly figured out what I was saying and grabbed some fairly cold and clear medicine that she just rubbed onto my bites. Now that I think about them I want to itch so terribly. She treats me like I’m her daughter she’s too sweet.