Merry Christmas! Having read some of my entries from the last few months, I hope it's obvious that I've learnt a lot from teaching English in China this semester. I had hoped that exactly what I have learnt would be equally obvious but, in many cases, I've got more questions now than when I arrived in September and a few more answers without questions as well. As it's Christmas, and there's nothing on the telly that you haven't seen before, I thought I'd go over some of my highlights from my time here so far, and add some spuriously connected 'lessons' as well.
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Bearing in mind that I had extensive medical tests in the UK before coming to China, in fact so that I could get into the country, you might find it curious that we had to have a health exam yesterday. "It must be done by a Chinese doctor," they said. Nobody mentioned that I had (quote) 'Really, really nice lungs'. The doctor signed to say that I have perfect vision - I'd forgotten my glasses. Curiouser and curiouser. We had to give blood (I made sure it was a clean needle) for another HIV test. This was done in a room opposite the toilets, but they smelled as if they were one and the same. Disgusting and curiouser. After that ordeal, we came back for lunch and Anna continued to photograph everything we eat. I think this'll be helpful to show the doctor which chilli-riddled dish it was that turned my insides into porridge. The food's delicious, but very spicy. I went for a walk around the edge of campus yesterday and discovered a couple more canteens and restaurants. When I say 'cafeteria' or 'canteen', it would be better for the uninitiated to think of a cattle shed, with stifling heat or extreme cold, dependent on the weather outside, sticky floors, filthy tables and hole-in-the-wall serving hatches along one side. Not quite worked out how to order without pointing earnestly, nodding, smiling and repeating every word the staff say in the hope that some food might come through. Like McDonald's then. Around the edges on campus, outside our little city within the city, little shanty town markets have grown up with some great street side restaurants. We ate out last night past the East Gate (we live nearer East Gate than West, which is maybe ten minutes on foot from the apartment) on what must be the busiest intersection (I mean crossroads, but the Americans and Canadians outnumber the Brits while the Scottish couple are away) for, ooh, at least 1oo yards. In other news, we had to properly complain about the toilet in the flat today. I felt so un-British, but every time it was fixed, ie. stop leaking out the back, out the top, or through the tiles, the botch-job would last a few hours. So they ripped out the loo to find that the pipe was full. Of concrete. It would seem that, when tidying up (or something approaching that), the builders had just flushed all the excess concrete mix down the toilet. Geniuses. So, that's been unclogged, the toilet replaced and re-concreted in and, having learned his lesson, the builder poured his excess concrete mix down the shower drain instead... There's a word I'm looking for here. It doesn't appear to be blocked, or at least the concrete hasn't set. Anna and I frantically poured boiling water down afterwards in the hopes of clearing in into the mains (not my problem) or, alternatively that it might flood immediately. We could then call the builder straight back before he got to the end of the hall, and strangle him with the shower hose. It should be fine now. We'll discuss the moped later, when I find out if it's even possible to purchase helmets in this country, something I doubt. xx |
Photo Blog hereThere's a selection of photos from my time in China, and travels over Spring Festival, on these pages. Categories
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