Hello from China!
After two flight delays we finally made it in to Haikou at about midnight Monday night/Tuesday morning. We both slept very well that night and woke up feeling refreshed, not jetlagged in the least.
We quite an adventure the next day. After sleeping from about 3 in the morning until 10, we had breakfast, then headed out to catch the bus for Qiontai, the college where we will be working. I felt like I was on information overload, trying to take everything in and process it and also memorize key phrases in Chinese. I hope that part gets easier, because right now I feel like it’s in one ear and out the other. My chopstick skills also need improving. 😊We were not able to see the inside of our apartments, because we weren’t able to get a key, but we did see where they were. The campus is fairly deserted right now for the summer, but it did seem that there were still people living there. We had (iced) milk tea, which was very delicious! We also went to a little restaurant on the campus and had sweet and sour pork, as well as two other delicious. One was a spicy sautéed cabbage and the other was a potato, pepper, and eggplant dish. It was nothing like Chinese foods in the states, but I loved it!
It’s interesting, because there are very few traffic laws, and the ones that do exist are more like guidelines. Whenever we need to cross the street, we just walk across without even looking and all the buses, cars, and motorbikes just scoot around us.
On our second day, Alyssa and I had to go to the health clinic for physical examinations. (Part of the residency process) I was not very excited about it, after hearing many stories from others who have stayed in the past, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as a I had prepared myself for. It was interesting to ride around though. The clinic was about an hour away, so as we drove, I was able to see very much of the city.
We have eaten at quite a few of the local restaurants now. I’ve learned that pretty much anywhere you go, eating is a very communal event. The basic rule of thumb is to order 1 dish per person at the meal, and it is all brought out to the table and set in the middle (often on a lazy susan) and every reaches in with their chop sticks and eats a little of each thing at a time. So far, I’ve really enjoyed the food. A lot of it is pretty spicy, but I like it. Every meal is served with hot tea.
We are really quite a spectacle here. To have 20 something white foreigners walking down the street is a sight. People stop and stare, cars slow down and all the passengers watch us through their windows, and if anyone knows any English at all, they eagerly try to communicate with us. Usually it’s a lot of “Hallo!” repeated over and over with laughter. Some know a little more.
We have had orientation yesterday and today, as a group. There are about 20 of us here working the English workshops. Beginning tomorrow, we will start splitting up and go to the various campuses for our workshops. Mine is going to be a 10 day workshop with 4 other teachers. I’ll be teaching reading, while the others teach phonics and speech. The workshop I’ll be teaching at is a workshop for the Chinese English teachers to come and learn more and to improve their teaching methods. The workshop will last only 10 days, and then I will do some sightseeing in Ding An (about an hour away from here). After that, we may travel to other workshops to help out or have extra time to settle in at our new home at our semester location at the Qiontai college.
I am so thankful for all of your continually kind thoughts toward me! Please be remembering all of the summer workshop teachers as we begin, that we would teach clearly so that our students would learn the subject at hand, and that we would communicate in a way that shows them Love. Also remember me as I continue to adjust to a brand new culture, surrounded by a brand new language, and all of the challenges that come along with that.
In all things, I endeavor to give thanks. This is the beginning of a new and exciting journey, and the knowledge that I am where I am supposed to be is a great comfort!
Jer. 1:6-8; Matt. 19:29, Phil. 4:4 & 7, I Thess. 2:8 & 5:16-8, 24
Adventuring in China 