Everything is different - We're definitely experiencing culture shock. It's hard to describe just how strange everything is. Everything we see and hear is unfamiliar. Even little things like the way we do routine things like showering. We've had to adjust because the bathroom is different. Since there is no separate shower stall, we're standing in the corner where the shower head is. You have to think about how to accomplish a normally mindless routine. Imagine?
O' Wise One - We are so grateful that Rob has been here to guide us. With a year's e
xperience under his belt, he has helped feed us and orient us. A great thing when we feel so disoriented. He's taken us on shopping excursions, tours of the campus and downtown, and dinners at restaurants. He's shown us the ropes. Thanks to him, we can take the bus to important stores and cross the streets safely. When we cross streets here, we have to look in all directions looking for cars, bikes, electric scooters and pedestrians. Rules are only guidelines. He even made sure we had breakfast for the first day we were here. Thanks Rob! We can't thank you enough.The School - The school has been helpful when we've asked and we've been asking a lot. For example, I just asked Bart (one of the contacts we have at the International Office, who helps the foreign teachers and students here) to write out our address in Chinese in case we ever get lost. My mom had written it out for us before we came here but an extra copy never hurts.
We live only a couple of minutes away from the university campus. Along the way, there are vendors selling just about anything. There are also many street food vendors and they are always swarmed by the students at meal times. We have yet to try them but that's only a matter of time. We've already made a friend of one of the vendors though. Just outside our gate, there is a key cutter / newspaper vendor. We got duplicates made there the other day and now when he sees us, he waves.
Money Issues - Our apartment is furnished but was lacking any utensils or dishes. We hadn't anticipated setup costs so were quickly spending the few yuans we had brought over. Since ATMs are not an option for us to access our money, we have had to ask for a salary advance. That came quickly on Monday but we spent the weekend worrying if we would be able to eat. We were never desperate though. Not to worry. Rob offered to take care of us.
Famous Rice Cooker Incident - Who would have thought that one of the first things we'd need was a rice cooker? There is an induction cook top here but to prepare meals, we thought that it would be easier to have an automatic rice cooker that we could plug in. This has turned out to be a very good purchase and the school has offered to reimburse us for it because it is essential.
When Rob took us shopping for one, we were overwhelmed by the selection. There were rows and rows of them. At each display, a nice salesgirl is ready to give the benefits of their particular brand. We tried not to linger too long for fear that they would approach. Since there was a rep at each brand, we couldn't help but encounter a sales pitch. Unfortunately for them, all of us would indicate in our own ways that we did not understand. Finally, the boys got tired of responding and before I knew it, they abandoned me to fend on my own. All I saw were their backs as they sprinted while I was looking down at one of the cookers. Imagine me madly waving my hand trying to tell them to save their breath. This made us all start laughing uncontrollably. I was crying because I was laughing so hard. It seemed ridiculous to me that they would target me when given a choice of the three of us.
When we composed ourselves enough, we finally chose one mainly on price (Don's criteria) and attractiveness and brandname (It had pretty flowers on it and the brand was Double Happiness, you can't go wrong with that!). Thanks to Rob, we knew that we had to go to a central cashier to pay after I filled out Don's name on the order. My limited knowledge of Chinese characters allowed me to put his name in the right place. The paying part was relatively painless because Don understood the hand gestures for the price. Then we took the receipt back to the area where the rice cookers were displayed and gave it to the girl who attended to us. We were then confused as to whether to follow her while she made her way to another area of the store to get our rice cooker. We decided to followed her like puppies. After a few steps, she turned to tell us to wait for her to return. Since she spoke no English, I thought that the best thing to do was to respond with "We stay here." When Rob remarked on my eloquent English, we burst into another round of uncontrollable laughter. I could just imagine what the 3 of us must have looked like to all the salesgirls watching us. We laughed our way out of the store holding our new rice cooker.
Is she or isn't she? - The funniest and most unexpected thing that has happened so far has been this confusion most people have with me. There has been a very consistent reaction when they find out I'm Chinese. Sometimes they have clapped, other times they have ooh'd and ah'd. Mostly, they are surprised. I am getting a complex. I have never felt less and more Chinese at the same time. I can't communicate at all but then some things are vaguely familiar.
Don't know how the word is spreading but it is. Here's what one student asked Don in his class, "We heard that your wife looks a little Chinese". They all seem quite impressed that Don has a Chinese wife. I even got a round of applause when they found out I was born in Hong Kong. When I walked into my classes, I wish I could record their reactions - stunned, I think. The odd thing is though, without Rob or Don by my side, I am sort of blending into the crowd... at least I think so.
There are hundreds of other little things I'd like to share but I'll finish now. More to come.
J xoxo
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