My Christmas in China

Following up to Christmas, I confess, I wasn’t that excited. To be fair, there were decorations everywhere here. The Chinese love to decorate for Christmas so it wasn’t as though Christmas was totally ignored here. But I lacked enthusiasm because this was my first ever Christmas away from my home and my family.

I bought a few decorations I found in a supermarket and decorated my apartment with lights and little snow men.

I spent the morning of Christmas eve at a normal school. The private school I work for gives other schools a taster of English lessons by foreign teachers sometimes to encourage  parents to pay for extra English lessons for them.

It was a fun morning, there were 70 children between the ages of six and nine in each class and I had three classes that morning! So in one morning, I was in the company of 210 children!

Luckily I was accompanied by Daniel, a very experienced teacher who has been here for nine years and is used to teaching big groups of children. So I was more of a teaching assistant during the morning, choosing children from the crowd to participate in games, I handed out sweets to the winners and cheered them on.

I was so impressed by the children. They had memorised Christmas songs, they sang ‘Santa Claus is coming to town’ and had a dance routine for it. At the end of each class, a crowd of children would come running at me and Daniel. The first time, I didn’t know what to do. A crowd of 70 children running at you can be quite scary! But they threw gifts at us, offered us sweets, they gave us Christmas cards that they had made.

I was so happy when I left the school with a bag full of gifts. The gifts I had included some very thoughtful presents like sweets, a stocking, a ring, a snow globe and a mask. Some less thoughtful gifts included some half eaten packs of crisps and a few individual biscuits and crisps. But it’s the thought that counts of course!

During the evening of Christmas eve, I had hoped to go for some cocktails with Natasha to help me distract myself from the thought of being away from home for Christmas. Unfortunately, she worked late that night and then wanted to prepare for the TESOL exam that we had on Thursday morning. Therefore, I was on my own on Christmas eve.

I’m not going to lie that I didn’t feel lonely. I watched ‘Home Alone 2’ and ‘The First Snow of Winter’ to try and get into the Christmas spirit but I did feel sad.

On Christmas Day however, I felt my usual self again despite feeling a little unwell and me and Natasha went shopping in a big shopping centre. I asked a few Chinese I met what they do at Christmas and they told me that they go shopping! Christmas music was played in many shops and the decorations were lovely.

We went for lunch at a Japanese restaurant and then went home. I spoke to my family on Skype, which was such a great delight! Whoever invented Skype, I want to thank them so much for inventing such an amazing thing!

In the evening we went for a meal at an Italian restaurant with other teachers and their friends. I was the last to order and the first to get my meal! That never happens to me! By the time I had finished my pizza, Natasha waited another hour to get her lasagne! Poor girl! She had filled herself up with garlic bread and chips by the time it arrived!

On Boxing day, I was up at 6.10am!!! I had a TESOL exam and it took all morning! My cold had gotten worse and all I wanted to do was go to bed! Luckily, the exam went fine, I picked up a parcel that my family had sent me from home and I went home. Natasha (who speaks perfect Chinese) helped me buy vitamins and Chinese medicine from the Pharmacy. Without her help, I don’t know what I would do!

My parcel actually arrived on time, on Christmas eve, but I could only pick it up on Boxing day. I was expecting the parcel but what was in it was a surprise. My family had sent me Christmas cards and had wrapped up the gifts in gold wrapping paper. I felt so excited and I feel so happy and lucky to have such a wonderful and caring family. The parcel included things like; peanut butter, sweets, Chocolate Orange, Christmas cake, Christmas tree glasses that light up, gloves and Percy Pigs!

Christmas here in China was strange but it was an experience. I sometimes forgot that it was Christmas day and had to apologise when I forgot to say ‘Merry Christmas’ to another teacher. It has been strange teaching children about Christmas but not being able to tell them about any of the religious aspects of the occasion! So when the children think of Christmas, they must literally think only about Santa, presents and Christmas trees. They know who Justin Bieber, One Direction and Taylor Swift are but they don’t know who Jesus is!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! As usual, Christmas day has come and gone so quickly and now it’s nearly New Year’s Eve! I don’t know what I’m doing yet. No doubt I’ll be writing a new blog post on it soon!

My First Night Out!

Me and Natasha walked to a nightclub less than a minute’s walk from our neighbourhood. We met two teachers outside. They took us in. We were greeted by a team of ten staff welcoming us in, bowing and saying their greetings.

We were on the guest list. I heard loud Western music in the distance. The doors were opened and we were guided to our table.

A table just for us…and free drinks all night!! Why?...Because we were Westerners. We were a group of four Westerners. We were allowed free drinks all night and a personal waiter. If there had been three Westerners and one Chinese…we would have not been given the same service!

We put our coats in the coat room (every cloak room anywhere is free) and we began our night!

A girl no one knew came to our table. Her eyes widened when she saw me and clinked her glass against mine. If someone says ‘cheers’ to you in China, you have to down your drink. I’m terrible at downing drinks, but here it’s considered a weakness or even disrespectful if you don’t! So I downed my drink…then again and again!

 In China, people say ‘cheers’ a lot! In Western countries, we say it once at the beginning, but in China, they say it all the time. I mean ALL the time! So you always have to be prepared. Having an empty glass is not an excuse!

In foreign countries, I am used to guys giving me attention for my ‘blonde’ hair, pale skin and tallness but I am not used to girls!

Another girl came up to me and spoke Chinese. (No one speaks English here…NO ONE!) Lee, one of the English teachers translated for me. She said that her male friend invited me to their table for a drink. I went with Lee to try and get away from the clingy Chinese girl. She followed.

I drank a drink at the table and then the two girls progressed to almost argue about who go to be in my company! Two girls…disagreeing over who should be in my company!

(If a Chinese person is seen in company with a white person in China, whether you are a man or woman, the Chinese person is seen as being wealthy and with many connections. Therefore, the Chinese person’s friends will be impressed and they will respect them highly!)

So I had men and women talking to me all the time, asking for photos, clinking glasses with me and talking in a language I didn’t know!

Later, the clingy Chinese girl gave me her owl pendant. I knew it was impolite to refuse but I had to! She left it with me anyway! In Italy, owls are a sign of good luck…so I hope it will bring me luck! Lee eventually told the clingy girl to go away. She obviously took offence but five minutes later, we saw her gate crashing another groups table and stealing their alcohol instead.

I saw a lot of girls in little clothing. The girls who were dressed (like hookers basically) worked there. Mostly men in China earn lots of money so bars and clubs mainly target men to come and spend money at their clubs, hence the girls in little clothes!

A few times, the girls performed dances or sang songs for the audience. Some men that worked for the club also performed some dances. They danced to songs like 'YMSA' and 'Gangnam style.' A man sang some Chinese songs and dedicated them to me and a woman mimed to Lady Gaga and Rihanna in a really strange costume.

Then the Western/club music started once more! I loved it!...

…Until they started playing Chinese pop music! I obviously didn’t know any of it! But it made me laugh!

At home in the UK, boys wouldn’t be seen dead on the dance floor if there were no girls and no decent music (unless they were very drunk)…but at one point here I even saw straight Chinese guys dancing in a circle holding hands for a short while!!!

More than once there were circles of Chinese boys and girls who got me in the middle and took it in turns to dance with me! They seemed so happy to have a moment dancing with me.

It also made me laugh when Lee got too drunk and had to go home. He told us not to trust the man who worked at the club who had been looking after our table and to keep hold of our things the whole time after he left.

Lee told us at the beginning to trust the club worker with everything while we danced! 

Luckily, me and Natasha kept hold of our bags all night! He seemed nice enough, it was his job after all to look after us. But you can never be sure!

In Zhengzhou, it’s unusual to see foreigners, especially tall, ‘blonde’ white girls! So when people come up to me, I make their experience a good one! I smile and be polite. I feel so famous! haha!

I can’t wait for my next night out.

Food!

All the foreign teachers here say that at the beginning you lose weight because hardly anyone speaks English and everything is in Chinese characters and impossible to read. But by the end you will be fat because you gradually learn some Chinese and you eat lots and lots!

Since I’ve been here, my diet hasn’t been the best. I’ve eaten lots of rice, noodles, fruit, biscuits and a few McDonald’s!

There’s so much street food by where I live but I doubt I will ever eat from a street stall. Every Westerner I have spoken to who has eaten from street stalls has been ill. I don’t think I’ll be taking my chances, even if it smells so good when I walk by when I’m hungry!

Even ordering from McDonald’s is difficult. McDonald’s has a very different name in Chinese. McDonald’s in Chinese is ‘Màidāngláo.’ Everything is in Chinese characters and everything has a Chinese name. In China, chicken is ‘jī,’ hamburger is ‘hànbǎobao,’ Coca Cola is ‘Kělè,’ Sprite is ‘xuěbì’ and chips is ‘Shǔ tiáo.’ I’m only now learning the names for different food in Chinese. Luckily, McDonald’s has a menu and I’ve been pointing a lot!

 I’ve been told that the Chinese like to put sugar on their chips? I’ve had a few chips and I haven’t noticed anything different but I’m always a little suspicious and doubtful now whenever I order chips!

I’ve been invited out to dinner a few times by different teacher’s Chinese friends. Even when they have only just met me, they have invited me along to dine with them at expensive Chinese restaurants. The other teachers speak Chinese so they can translate for me.

The tables are usually round with a turning table in the middle. When the food arrives, it’s put on the turning table so that everyone can help themselves. There are always a number of different meats, vegetables, tofu and dumplings. They like to mix and match!

I’m still mastering using chopsticks. It’s so difficult! Typically though, I can use them perfectly well after a few cocktails!

In China, if someone invites you to eat or drink, they will pay for everything. If you protest and insist on paying, you offend them. They see this as a sign that you think that they cannot afford to pay for you! So I have had a fair few free dinners since arriving!

The Chinese food is obviously so different to the UK’s Chinese food! It’s very nice but some things take some getting used to! I’ve seen turtles on menus and I have seen fish in fish tanks in the restaurant ready to be killed and put on a plate. That’s what you call fresh food!

At the end of your meal in a Chinese restaurant, it is unheard of to leave a tip when you pay your bill! Again, they will take offence if you leave extra money!

Travelling around Zhengzhou city

This week I’ve been practicing taking the bus! Sounds easy right? When every sign is in Chinese characters, and the place names are unrecognisable to my ears, it is really not!

During my first week I took taxis to most places. I mastered calling a taxi during my first few days here. However, everyone warns me that because I am a foreigner, taxi drivers may try and go the long way round to the destination or charge me extra. I have quickly made note of how much a journey should cost so I know how much I should roughly pay.  For example, earlier in the week I took a taxi one way and it cost me the equivalent of £2.00, on the way back it was £1.20! Despite the fact that I don’t like the idea of being charged extra, it’s only 80p and the taxi driver definitely needs it more than I do!

The taxis seem really cheap to me, but for the locals here, they are expensive. They usually cost the equivalent of around £1.50 - £2.00 for a journey, from 20 to 40 minutes (depending on traffic). But when I realised a bus ticket was the equivalent of 10p … I thought I should take the bus!

The buses are always crowded and it can be uncomfortable at times. Watching Chinese people’s reactions to my presence on a bus is priceless. I’m sure they must think, ‘what is she doing here?’ This is not really a tourist city so seeing a Westerner on a bus must be pretty uncommon! When Natalia (the Russian girl I met during my first week) takes the bus with me, people are even more surprised at seeing two foreigners together on the same bus!

They are currently building an underground system here that should be opened next year. Other teachers keep telling me that it is worth buying an e-bike! I really don’t trust myself or others! Although I must admit it is fun to be a passenger on them, I could never drive one myself!

The traffic in this city is just ridiculous! There is traffic at all hours of the day and night. Don’t even attempt to be on the road during rush hours! I didn’t know the meaning of ‘busy’ until I came here. I didn’t know the meaning of ‘too many people’ until I came here. Think of the amount of people Christmas shopping a week before Christmas day. That is what this city is like 24/7!

I still can’t get over how massive and packed with people this city is. There are around 12 million people living here in this city! In the Henan province alone there are around 100 million people!!!

The children

In total, there are fifteen different schools around the city. Whenever I’m teaching in the classrooms, I’m greeted by school children in the same way. It always begins with one young child peering out from behind a door. I smile and wave, and then the child disappears. Then, gradually, more faces appear from behind the door, and before I know it I’ve got lots and lots of children peering up at me! Then I say ‘hello,’ and they all disappear, all of them shy, apart from the ones brave enough to say hello and wave back.

During break time, the younger children always walk up to me. The problem is, they can’t speak much English, and my knowledge of Chinese is very little. They either stare at me, not knowing what to say, or they’ll chat away to me in Chinese, forgetting that I don’t understand!

The kids are so cute and sweet…most of the time! As well as Tom & Jerry, Jack & Rose that I mentioned in my previous post, I have come across unusual names like; Tiger, Dragon, Coco and Snow.

I’ve taught so many ages already and I have only been teaching for just over a week! Yesterday I had a class of four year olds and today I had a class of seventeen to thirty year olds. I’ve had one difficult class of twelve year olds so far. It is such a difficult age to teach, they aren’t young enough to play games but they’re not old enough to have conversations with. The naughty children are always boys and nearly always chubby. There is one in most classes!

I’m always told that children in this country are taught in classes between forty and a hundred and therefore, there is not much communication with the teacher and the children never get to play games. During my classes, it’s games, games, games! I like games, but playing them all the time and running around with them, it gets tiring! How do full time teachers work 9 – 5 all week, every week? I work in the evening and on weekends and that is enough for me!!

 So far I am really enjoying teaching English! :) 

Work Work Work! (Why China is top of the PISA results)

Today the British press is filled with news about PISA results. Questions are being raised about why the UK is so low in the tables with headlines like "Pisa tests: UK stagnates in international education league." 

Wales is also ranked the lowest in the UK.

ZhenZhou isn't actually included in the PISA table yet, but with Chinese cities like Shanghai and Hong-Kong topping the tables, it's clear that the education system here in China is very different to that in the UK.

The schools I'm teaching in are special English schools for kids when they're not in their normal schools. So basically, instead of playing or being with friends, their parents send them to UUFL (the English school I work for). 

It's funny that while I've come all the way here, so many parents are sending their children to learn English just so that they can get them out of China!! A lot of parents want their children to do these exams here in China, and if they pass them they get to go and study abroad! 

In UUFL, class sizes won't be more than 40 and the average number is 20, but UUFL is a private school. I've been told in normal schools you can have classes of 40 to 60 to 80 to even 100 children!!! 

I've been told by the other English teachers in UUFL that the children don't see us foreign English teachers as real teachers, so they behave differently to how they would if a Chinese teacher was here. 

With UUFL, the parents can sit in on the lesson if they want and watch their kids learn! It is kind of weird, and it puts the teacher under more pressure to keep control and to make sure the children have fun!

Basically, the children here work, work, work!!

This morning in my TESOL class, the teacher explained that it is not uncommon for a child that loses a game to either cry, tear up their work or storm out of the classroom.

There's so much pressure on these children to be the best. If they don't achieve the most, or aren’t the best, they think they're a disappointment to themselves and to their parents (the one child rule has a big impact on this.) The children feel as though they won't achieve great things. 

For this reason, it's important that we foreign English teachers teach them that failure is a normal part of life and that we shouldn't give up or cry if we don't succeed but try harder until we do succeed! 

My first day of teaching!

Before coming to China I thought that Chinese children would be silent students. I thought it would be difficult to get them involved in the lessons.

I was wrong.

I sat in on John’s lesson this week, when he was teaching 9 and 10 year olds.

John had to keep asking the children to move their chairs and tables back because they kept pushing forward! I had to stop myself from laughing! They were so eager and excited! I definitely had the wrong idea about Chinese students; they are So lively and SO loud!! They are also just so cute!

I taught my first lesson today! (Saturday) I’ll be teaching Saturdays and Sundays, and then in the evenings during the week.

The classes have ranged from seven children to eighteen children so far!! I taught children between 6 and 9 years old! Our lessons today included; making a phone call; the life of the animals; my day; and go shopping.

The Chinese children have their own 'Western' names. There's quite a few Coco's. Two boys sitting next to each other were called Tom & Jerry, and a girl and boy that are dating are called Jack and Rose (apparently Titanic was the first Hollywood film to be popular in China!)

Amazingly there are more guy teachers than girls here. Yesterday, Lee, another teacher here, introduced me to one of the Chinese English teachers. When she found out that I was the new teacher she did a mini fist pump in the air! She was so happy to have another girl teacher here! Definitely makes a change to teaching back home!

My first cup of tea!

Today, for the first time in my life, I actually drank some tea. I have no idea what tea it was, but it actually wasn’t too bad. I definitely didn’t drink all of it though.

I had it at a little Steakhouse that’s over the road from where I live.

So far, I’m actually quite enjoying the food here, (ish) although a few times already I've eaten something and not known what it is!.

In China, it’s the custom that if you invite someone for a meal or for a drink, you have to pay for them.

I’ve already been treated to so many meals!

I still can’t use chopsticks (so embarrassing,) so I get given what looks like a baby spoon! Apparently hardly any restaurants here have cutlery so I'm going to have to learn AND QUICK. I 'borrowed' some from a restaurant today to practice using them at home!!

Earlier in the week I went to a pub Quiz in the pub for foreigners, and got to meet some lovely people! And I’ve already been on a night out with Natalia, one of the girls I’m teaching with. Her Chinese friend owns the bar and she brought me along. Not quite Wind Street, but the drinks were free, and it was a great night!

My first week in China!

On my first day in China it was so rainy and foggy, you could barely see in front of you.

The next day, I went to meet Crystal, the lovely lady who is looking after me over here in China. When I met her she had a look of excitement on her face! She pointed at the sky, and said “blue sky, blue sky!” She was even more excited by this than everyone back home in Wales would be.

This week, there has been quite a lot of blue sky here in Zhengzhou. Like all Chinese cities though, it is filled with smog! (When the Olympics were held in Beijing, they practically shut down the city for two months in the hope of reducing the smog.) There is so much dirt and pollution in the air, that most people wear masks to stop themselves from breathing them in. One Chinese girl I met actually gave me a mask as a present! My lips are always dry and I wonder if it's because of the dirty air.

The city is like nothing I’ve ever seen before.

It’s MASSIVE! I don’t think I’ll ever be able to find my way around!

There's so many people in this city, there's always someone near by. That could be creepy!!? But it's kind of comforting. There's sometimes scary sounds of a hungry cat, a man who rides on his bike every day shouting Chinese things through a microphone (I always wonder what he says) and I've even heard someone going around on a bike playing 'Jingle Bells' on a loud speaker!

Everywhere always smells of food. I don't like some of the smells, they're strong! There's also the smell of cigarettes, like Italy, despite being a non smoker, it always clings to my clothes. It's annoying!

The traffic is also ridiculous. I got used to the crazy road systems in Italy, but the traffic here is ten times worse! Today I saw two heated arguments, being watched by a crowd of onlookers. 

I get a lot of stares from everyone too. 

The little kids who stare at me are adorable, but it feels strange when the adults stare. And when the old people stare it’s just uncomfortable because you know they’re thinking ‘look at that foreigner.’

Not being able to understand anyone is extremely frustrating. Even just trying to order food is a nightmare!! I have to point at pictures (if they have any) and hope for the best or discretely point at other peoples food! Today I was so hungry I managed to find a place that sold chicken and chips! (Luckily they were taking them out as I was ordering and I just pointed at them!!)But everyone I’ve met so far have been incredibly helpful! They give me cards with Chinese instructions on them and they’re helping me with my Mandarin!

I've caught a taxi a couple of times by myself now! Go me!! You have to wave a special wave to draw the taxi's attention, which looks like you're trying to fly by using one arm. I literally say hello and thank you in Chinese and shove the directions at them! haha 

When I was in a taxi I heard 'Lemon tree' by Fool's Garden in Chinese! The taxi driver made me laugh as well because Crystal translated and said that he said if my hair was black I'd look Chinese....HAHAHA

Electric scooters also seem a good way to travel around here. (Buses are so overcrowded and take up to an hour to get to the school where I’m teaching because the traffic is so bad.)

I got a ride the other day with another teacher who told me that scooters are ‘like a video game. Except you only have one life.’ …

Many of the teachers I’m working with have been here for up to nine years! I don’t think I’ll be staying out here that long!! It is so different here and I do miss home so much already!

But it has been such an exciting week, and I’ve already done so much here!

Unfortunately lots of websites that I'd usually use are blocked here, including Facebook and blogger. I've asked my sister to upload things for me until I sort out a UK VPN which will give me access to them!