A Closing Chapter

I've lived in China for three years now.  It's the country I've spent the most time in outside of America, and although it took awhile to warm up to, China has definitely stolen a part of my heart.

It's very easy to see the negative parts of a country when you first move there.  Some people stay in this negativity throughout their time in said country while others, thankfully, can grow past that and welcome the culture and beauty.  It really saddens me to hear coworkers and passersby dwelling on the vast differences and nonchalantly dropping racist comments like litter on the ground.

Living abroad isn't for everyone.  Living in China is certainly not for everyone.  But those who can embrace the culture and land are in for a spectacular treat.

What I'll miss most:

Tea 茶

Obviously, you can get tea anywhere, but the tea here is so fresh and plentiful.  I never knew there were so many types of tea, and each one has a specific health benefit.  I will most certainly miss my daily mugs of rose tea in the morning.

Mandarin 普通话

Albeit difficult, there is fun in learning characters and perfecting tones. I've finally surpassed my Spanish with Mandarin and really enjoy holding simple conversations with strangers.  

Learn simple characters through Chineasy

Taobao

The single most awesome website of all time.  One-stop shopping for basically everything you could ever want in life and then some.  Not only can you buy everything under the sun at a seriously unreal price, but most packages are delivered within 2 days.  How will I live without it?

Food 食物

Actually, I should be more specific - homemade Chinese food...but some restaurants are still high on my list. As someone with an extremely sensitive stomach, this took awhile to grow on me.  I won't even attempt most street food - partly for sanitation fears, partly for being way too picky.  But if you do come to China, you must try jianbing...a delicious, safe, snack that everyone likes.  Seriously, everyone.  

Jianbing seller

homemade spicy lotus root

History

For someone who comes from America, a land with short history in the grand scheme of things, China's vast history is so fascinating.  My favorite era in Chinese history is the Cultural Revolution, but unfortunately it is very difficult to get much information on it here.  At least there are tons of other things to learn about!

Temple of Heaven, Beijing

The area I live in Guangzhou is very new and stuffed to the brim with expats from various corners of the world.  Unfortunately, there isn't much of a "community" feeling, which is what I miss most about Qingdao.  I have no photos, but you can imagine the neighborhoods where children and parents play badminton in the street and the elderly gather under the street lights to play mahjong at night.  Local craftsmen and sellers gather at the gate to sharpen your knives or sell you fruits and veg, laundry dries in the breeze and families walk their dogs.  A beautiful memory.

It's a bitter-sweet feeling to be leaving...of course with the hopes of returning some day.

The new adventure begins in July - this time to Indonesia.

Goodbye, Qingdao

The school year is winding down and I'm now at the tail-end of my two year contract in Qingdao. This weekend I celebrated my 26th birthday as well as my fourth year in Asia.  With the Qingdao chapter of my life coming to an end, it's about time for a little reflection ;)

May 4th Square, Downtown Qingdao

My first two years abroad were certainly self-growth focused as I've mentioned before.  I learned to be alone (which is a lot harder than it sounds), travel, be a "grown up", and fell in love with surfing and diving.  As I look back on these past two years, I can certainly say they were more professional-growth focused.  I've enjoyed all of my students and [most of] my co-workers.  I've lived comfortably- though without much excitement or adventure.  My social life and previously healthy lifestyle have fallen by the wayside, but this job has taught me a lot and helped me by being the stepping stone I needed to a larger school and city.

Qingdao Favorites

Lion dances.  I've seen dozens upon dozens, and they never get old.  I usually see them around my apartment complex after a couple gets married and is being escorted to their new home.  The strength and skill of these guys is unreal and definitely entertaining.  They always put a smile on my face and I will stop to watch no matter where I am.

It's not what it looks like, but it's the only shot I have...

Deja Vu.  A cafe about a 10 minute walk from my apartment.  It's where everyone goes after work and on the weekends after a stroll on the beach, the only nearby Western food, and the place where all the workers know you by name and order.  Our second home.

My co-workers.  As I said before, these two years have been mainly professional growth, and most of that is due to a few folks who are not just awesome teachers but awesome people.  They made going to work fun and taught me a lot along the way.  On the other hand, I also worked with some of the worst teachers, but I like to think they also helped me be a better teacher by striving to never, ever be anything like them. 

My Best friend. In each country I've been in, I've been lucky enough to have best friends who speak the local language - Bean in Korea, B in the Philippines, and my boyfriend here.  He has been my translator, Chinese guru, best friend, and family - without him, I wouldn't have even a fraction of the happy memories that I do here.

Walks around the neighborhood.  The sights, sounds, and smells around the neighborhood are always interesting. 

Catch of the day 

Fish being sold on the sidewalk

Qingdao Least Favorites

Customer service.  The worst of all being a "beauty house" called Tian Bei where I spent thousands of kuai for a couple of different aesthetic procedures.  I have never in my life experienced such terrible customer service and rude, unprofessional staff (to be fair, the nurses were really kind - it was the owner and manager that were nasty).  Of course, I Googled the place before I went, but when no results came up, I took that as a good thing.  Only after the awful experiences did I have my boyfriend search in Chinese and learn of the various lawsuits and reports on the place.  That being said, if you found my blog by seaching Tian Bei in Qingdao....it's not worth the money, time, or the risk. Unfortunately the whole ordeal with Tian Bei will be a poor memory associated with Qingdao.

Taxi drivers.  The worst drivers ever.  Seriously.  Awful.

Loogies, snot-rockets, and children peeing and/or pooping on the side of the road.  None uncommon.  I will never get used to seeing a grown person blow snot out of their nose, then wipe their hand on a tree.  Gag, every time.



** Now for a three week holiday in America before the next adventure beings**

二龙山

Last week, my coworkers and I took thirty-three 10 and 11 year olds into the mountains for three days of hiking and team building.  It was an amazing success - fun for students and teachers alike.  Unfortunately, for obvious privacy reasons, I can't share any photos of my kiddos doing any of the awesome activities that they did - - I can, however, share some of the surprising beauty hidden only an hour drive away from Qingdao.

Spring in Qingdao

It has been a long, trying winter, but I can finally -happily- say it's SPRING!  A lovely time in Qingdao (minus the allergens).  The sun is shining, the colds have gone away, and the aircons are crankin' out that cool air.

Ba Da Guan, Qingdao

My favorite street food in China - roasted sweet potatoes

Ba Da Guan, Qingdao

Ba Da Guan, Qingdao

Ba Da Guan beach huts

Bee boxes pop up overnight and stay on the roadsides for a couple weeks while keepers sell their fresh honey

Cherry blossoms

Taken last year, but Qingdao in spring nevertheless

Yangmei - Yumberry: seasonal fruit

My new Asian nugget

Please welcome my pink mini jellyfish,  Mazu 妈祖 - dancing to some traditional Chinese tunes  ^__________^

She is named after the Chinese goddess of the sea who protects sailors and fishermen.

Mazu lives in fresh water, can live up to a year, and gets fed one drop of Jellyfish food (what is it? no clue) every 20 days.  Yay Jelly!

**UPDATE**

She died a terrible death after two days.  Apparently she was not bred for fresh water, and apparently table salt will not help jellyfish to breathe in emergency situations...

The Little Things...

People always ask me about the differences between living abroad versus living in America.  I usually stick to the same old obvious list of transportation, language barriers, and grocery shopping, because on the spot I can't think of those day-to-day things that are different.  There are definitely plenty of little things - not bad, just different.

Luckily, with my handy iPhone, I am now able to take pictures of said differences and share.

After some online shopping, I received a text saying that one of my six packages was ready for pick up - from an unmarked truck in a parking lot.  Luckily, Alicia was happy to make the 15 minute journey down the road from work to help me find it.  Thank goodness she did, because I would have never found it by myself.  Still not sure why it wasn't delivered to the school considering that's the address we gave at check out.... In the end, 3 out of 6 of my packages ended up in the truck.  At least it's a good excuse to take a walk at lunch...

Can you imagine if they tried to make you do that in America?  Besides the fact that we demand the quickest, easiest option for ourselves, we are taught at such a young age to avoid unmarked, windowless vehicles.  Oi.

Fish Restaurant

We all know I'm not the most adventurous eater there is.  Besides my super sensitive stomach, I am extremely picky...add that to the fact that I can't read or speak Mandarin, and eating at local restaurants becomes a bit complicated. 

After an acupuncture visit, Alicia (my Chinese co-teacher), her friend and I decided to get a meal together.  At first, I tried to politely decline (especially when the word "fish" was thrown out in the mix), but ended up deciding the company would be nice for the evening.

When we got to the restaurant, her friend picked out a fish from the tanks outside and Alicia and I waited at the table as a little old woman dropped it on the floor and whacked it in the head with a thick, wooden stick.  Even though it's just a fish, it's still unnerving to watch someone kill a living thing (especially by beating it on the head)...I skipped the photo shoot.

After the fish is gutted, it is  brought back to the table with some pork and veggies to be cooked with.

It's cooked in what I would describe as a wok crock-pot that is built into the table.

They seal it up and leave it cooking for 30-45 minutes -- leaving us with platefuls of sunflower seeds to nibble on

The end result- actually pretty decent.  The fish was a bit salty, but nothing is too bad when you eat pea-sized amounts with chopsticks -- it keeps the bones from creeping in.  Actually, I may have eaten more if it wasn't loaded with my arch nemesis, cilantro.

One more food adventure in my back pocket.

Thanksgiving

Our Thanksgiving meal

Thanksgiving in countries that don't celebrate the holiday is always a bit...different.  Although I always have to work and am never near family, I do always have a few American co-workers to celebrate with.

Luckily, there is a large expat community here, so some restaurants were offering to deliver cooked turkeys and sides for those aren't blessed with ovens (or the kind of time one needs to cook a turkey).

I was never big on Thanksgiving, but I have grown to enjoy more in the past few years:  perhaps the reason being that I have now learned how to take time to reflect and be appreciative.

Obviously my life has changed in ways I cannot even begin to describe in the past 3 years - I've experienced things by age 24 that most people won't experience in their lifetime, and I've met the most beautiful people from dozens of different countries who have shared their cultures and lives with me.

I am so thankful to be where I am today, and to have such amazing, supportive people in my life.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Fish Guts

In the past 3 months of wandering neighborhoods and hanging out at bus stops, I've noticed quite a few fish heads/bones/guts littering the streets.  Since I work and live right by the sea and rural fishing villages, I pass the fish market daily and share the public bus with buckets of dead sea life.   I figured these fish parts must have been dragged into the roads by strays...the only semi-logical thing I could think of.

I have 2 bus stops of peace from the time I leave work to the time we stop by the fish market.  Unfortunately, the fisherman/fish salesmen leave work at the same time I do, so I have to share the bus with the foulest smelling stink you can imagine for the rest of my journey home.  There are dozens of them and they bring their leaky bags and overflowing buckets of sea crap to spill, slosh, and give their best attempts at making me hurl.

An older lady with a particularly full bucket sat in front of me yesterday and began carefully sifting through her goods. It didn't take long before she had opened the window and was chucking the bad pieces out of the moving bus.  I looked around and noticed a couple others doing it, too.  Light bulb.  So that's how those fish get there...

Fall 2011

Old Stone Man Beach, Qingdao

To start things off I have to give some love to my dear friend Natalie who single-handedly made my blog b-e-a-utiful!  I am so excited to have it personalized to my style...it has definitely inspired me to write more frequently.  Thanks, Nat!

Since I last wrote, I have moved apartments.  The new place is directly below the old one and much more cozy.  I'm beginning to slowly get household items that make it feel more like a home- plants, DVD player, candles, lamps, etc.  My favorite part is that the shower has these awesome lights that are meant for drying/sanitizing the shower after use...I use them during and it's basically like showering in the sun...who doesn't love brightness and warmth and happiness?  I like to pretend I'm back in the Philippines on a blistering hot day so the cold water actually feels good and doesn't make me want to cry.  If only the lights kept up my tan at the same time...

Gyeongbokgong Palace, Seoul

Speaking of losing tans, autumn weather is here.  My guess is that I'll have the rest of October to enjoy the sun at the beach before I need to hibernate.

Katie @ kalbi in Seoul

We had a week holiday off work, so I went to Korea with a co-worker for a shopcation (sidenote: the entire country was off, so it was advised to not go anywhere in China or I would have).  I decided not to go by Poly and see the kids this time...tough choice to make, but I've been lucky enough to visit them twice in the past 7 months and it's a lot harder now to interrupt their classes since I don't know the teachers.  Unfortunately I didn't get to see most of my friends while I was there either, but I'm not too worried about it since I'm sure I'll be back soon. Seoul is just over an hour flight away, so it will be easy to treat myself :)   It felt different this time- maybe because I didn't visit Hwajeong, my kids, and my Korean co-teachers...in only year it has become so much more Westernized.  It seemed like everyone spoke English, lots of American music was playing instead of Kpop, and chain clothing stores were more common than boutiques and clothes stands.  It wasn't bad per say, just different.  One of my favorite things about Korea is that it is so dissimilar from America- that being said, I hope the Western trend doesn't continue quite so rapidly.

My next vaca is 8 weeks away, so until then I'll just have to dream of the hot sun and salty water that I love so much...

Qingdao

the beach close to my apartment

Alright.  My last post was more than lacking and I know it.  Although nothing exciting has happened still, the past couple of weeks have been a positive turning point and I feel like my writer's block is breaking way.  Perhaps it was my much needed weekend walk on the beach: toes in the sand, sun on the skin...perhaps it was the wino diet I've indulged in...whatever it is, it's working.

My kids are great.  I was [am] really intimidated by some of their parents and the fact that I have so many nugs compared to last year, but it's going pretty smoothly.  I have quite a few characters, and definitely an entertaining bunch.  Photos soon to come.

shrimping (I think...at least they looked like shrimp) behind my school

The school is downright dreamy compared to my previous employer.  I was greeted at the airport with a smile and a welcome packet on the city...my apartment was stocked with water, juice, and snacks and I was taken to get a SIM card for my phone soon after getting in so that I could stay in contact with the school liaisons.  **Hey Noblesse...take some notes on how to treat a lady!**  My visa and paperwork were taken care of in a timely fashion and the people who run the school are both efficient and competent.  And get this...we have a curriculum!  It's a whole new experience for me.  Our school is also conveniently located directly across the street from a Tsingtao brewery....about twice a week it smells like toast in the morning, which is a lovely break from the rest of the Chinese smells that usually blow around.  It's a 2 minute walk to the sea where there is a quiet boardwalk with grandparents walking their grand-babies and local fishermen setting their nets up.

I have quickly come to realize that speaking Mandarin is quite necessary here. I've picked up a lot in the past few weeks from my co-teacher, and hopefully once I get Rosetta Stone downloaded I'll be pretty solid for a while.  By the time my 2 years here are finished, I should be able to hold conversations.  I will undoubtedly not attempt reading and writing anytime soon.  Babysteps!

I bought a folding bike so I can get around town, exercise, and travel easily.  It's so cute! And fits nicely in the shopping cart...convenient.  Between the ridiculous amount of stairs I climb each day and this little gem, I'm about to have legs/buns of steel!  It only takes 8 minutes to ride to the beach and I can fold it up and stuff it on the bus when I want to ride around the rural villages.  Perfect.  I also bought a wave board which is kind of like a skateboard but with 2 wheels.  The tag says it is a mixture of skateboarding, snowboarding, and surfing.  I ride it back and forth on my living room floor and hopefully will soon gain the confidence to take it to the parking lot.  So far, it's a great source of entertainment.

Hopefully I'll make it to a village or two next weekend so I can finally get some shots up of China.  I promise to be better about updates and pictures.  As for contacting me- my internet is still too poor for Skype, but I check e-mail quite regularly :D

Ni Hao 中国

@ the Marina downtown

Well, I've been here a month now, so I guess it's about time for an update...

 Fair warning: this certainly is, and will hopefully always be, my most boring post.  I would have waited until something cool happened, but who knows how long that will take...

I've been putting it off because it's been slow rolling getting started here- I can definitely say there hasn't been much action.  Although the city has around 8 million residents, I live in the 'burbs and get more of a 'small town' kind of experience.  Due to the heavy haze that falls in July and August, I haven't taken many pictures...sorry!

To break it down- I live in a small 2 bedroom apartment in the same complex as my co-workers.  It's a 20 minute bus ride to work, 20 minute bus ride downtown, 20 minute walk to the grocery store, and 25 minute walk to the beach.

Olympic Sailing Stadium

School started last Wednesday and I have 17 kindergarteners.  My kids come from 12 different countries and most are bi or tri-lingual.  My co-workers are nice and the kids are lovely.

Unfortunately I have no fun or exciting stories to share yet - hopefully when the workload lightens I'll have more opportunities to travel :)