This is a long one, so buckle up, hang on tight, and keep your arms inside the ride!
It’s currently around 1am Shanghai time and for whatever reason (jetlag, nerves) I can’t sleep. Bolt upright at 12am and awake ever since. The fact that everyone back home is up and posting to facebook isn’t helping the desire to sleep either (nor is the jackhammering that apparently needed to take place outside my hotel right now).
A lot of thoughts are running through my mind so I’m hoping if I get some of them out, maybe I can grab a few more hours before it’s time to get my health test and move into my new apartment.
The big things first: moving to China is hard. The permanence of knowing that I’m in this for an entire year was pretty overwhelming from the moment I got here. The food is different, the smells are different, the standard of cleanliness is different, the language is completely incomprehensible (and “most people speak English” really means “most people speak some English but it can be broken and still very difficult to communicate”), and my stomach has felt just a little funky since I arrived. I sat on my bed in the hotel my first night thinking to myself, “what the hell am I doing here…can I really do this? For a year?”.
The thing is, I want to be able to do this for at least a year—hopefully longer. People who’ve been here for a while really seem to love it. I even met one woman who said she’d sworn she’d never live in China again, yet here she is, embarking on another teaching abroad journey. I am certain—like all other risks in life—that the desire to succeed at something terrifying is what separates the people who stick it out from those who quit. If you’re not determined to make it work through the rough times, it’ll be easy to find an excuse to leave.
The other big thing I’ve realized since arriving is that I’m actually kind of a scared/timid person in some respects (I realize many of you may laugh at this, as I have a reputation in Chicago of doing things with a sort of reckless abandon, but I promise I’m telling the truth!). I’m not afraid in a Chuckie Finster, “oh my god the world is going to end because I ate a watermelon seed” kind of way, but in a more hesitant, “normal” kind of way. In my mind, being told there are 2 kinds of parasites you can contract by swimming in fresh water in China is a reason not to do it. Learning you can get sick from street food is a reason to be cautious. However, I’ve met several people, including some of my new coworkers, who approach things in the way I hope to once I’ve been here a while—they. Just. Do. Everything.
When I mentioned the fresh water parasites to Kate, our dean, her response was “oh, nothing happened to me…” rather than the grossed out horror I’d gotten from most friends in the states. Another coworker of mine has lived abroad for several years and unabashedly uses wild pantomiming to explain himself through the language barrier while I barely speak, smiling and nodding a lot of the time and just sort of hoping I’ll get what/where I need. I’m impressed by their zeal for life here and willingness to just sort of deal with the difficult parts—embracing them rather than scoffing at them. How very Yes &…
So while I am still grappling to make the adjustment, I’m hopeful that eventually I’ll be able to develop that same devil-may-care attitude and go with everything. For now, I thought I’d give a brief run-down of some other things that people might be curious to know.
Planes, Trains, and Automobiles: Travels to China
My 6 hour flight to Seattle from New York was relatively uneventful, save for the fact that the guy next to me definitely had some sort of gaseousness going on, which is fabulous in the wide, well-ventilated atmosphere of a flying tube of toothpaste (can’t take credit for that metaphor but it’s my new favorite). Gas man also tried to sit in my window seat. Not today Gas Man, not today!
My flight, however, had been delayed slightly so we arrived late and were unable to de-board efficiently—evidently due to the fact that many people suck and cannot allow those of us with tight connections to get off first. Obnoxious lady in front of me who needed to secure her driver to come get her from the airport? I’m comin’ for you lady. Someday
The delay resulted in me running at full sprint to the train to get across the airport to another terminal, run up 2 escalators and down the terminal to my flight. I was the second to last person to board and they were calling my name over the PA as I ran. It was kind of dramatic and fun ultimately—very Home Alone (which I definitely would not have thought had I missed that flight). My fun ended though when I realized I’d left my brand new work iPad (with all my school textbooks and course materials) on my previous flight in the seatback pocket. I’m still hoping some good samaritan turned it in to Delta.
Shanghai flight was not as torturously long as many would have you believe. I slept for 4-5 of the 12 hour flight and they provide both free movies/TV shows to watch and free booze. That, and meal service, pretty much made it a typical Saturday…sitting in a cramped space next to a tiny girl who I’m pretty sure never got up the entire flight. The woman who started vomiting in front of me was no fun (those who know me well know that my reflex was to tell the flight attendant that I needed a new seat or she needed to build me one while flying at 34,000 feet). But I suppose that’s the beauty of headphones…
Our arrival in Shanghai was 2 hours late and coincided with torrential rains that further delayed our de-boarding, being that we were located at a bus gate and had to climb down the slippery metal presidential stairs that connect to the plane to board a bus to the actual terminal. I was quite relieved, however, to finally leave the plane, make it safely through customs, and find that every single one of my bags (including my carry on suitcase that they made me check at JFK) arrived in one piece. That, and the lovely Lilia—who works with my new school—was there with a sign bearing my name to help me get in a cab and make it to the hotel quickly. Being that I brought over 200 lbs of luggage, I was pretty grateful to see her.
(Side note: I met a couple working for the other Barstow campus in Ningbo China who brought 200 pounds worth of books with them. I’m just sayin’, all you naysayers, I’m not totally crazy for wanting to bring one suitcase of books!!!)
New York, New Yor– Shanghai, Shanghai
First impression of Shanghai from the cab that night? It is more enormous than you can possibly fathom. New York + Chicago + Boston and maybe a few more small cities thrown in there. To be fair, China considers the city of Ningbo, where the other Barstow school is (I work for Barstow Shanghai), to be a small town. It has 8 million people. Which is roughly the population of New York City.
This place is MASSIVE.
Arriving at my hotel was magnificent, especially given that it was 10pm Shanghai time and I was able to immediately pass out. Breakfast at the hotel the next morning was another interesting venture. It consisted of such items as fried rice (2 varieties), chow mein, corn on the cob, chicken nuggets (labeled “colonel’s nuggets”), toast, and porridge. I still can’t quite determine if this is normal or if it’s an attempt to serve things Americans/Westerners would want or be familiar with. After four days of this, memories of waffles and omelets already haunt my dreams.
The food in general has been interesting so far, mainly because I often have no idea what I’m eating. It’s mostly delicious, especially the several times I’ve had dumplings. I drew the line at some blood pudding and a few internal organs at a dinner we went to a few nights ago but otherwise it’s been delicious. Everything is also incredibly cheap. For reference, I bought a new SIM card for my phone so that I have a Chinese number and data plan. The man I purchased it from informed me it would cost a total of 36 ¥/month, the equivalent of about $5 USD. I signed up. I also purchased a Redbull and a bottle of water during a break from planning yesterday for 10¥, or $1.50.
I have had Chinese McDonald’s twice now—once because I was exhausted and needed something to eat that I could recognize, and once because the orientation program bought it for us—but I do not plan to make it a habit. There’s a ton of delicious food here, and while I remain worried about possible digestive issues—hey, I’m working on it—I couldn’t avoid all of it if I wanted to (and I’m sure I would really be missing out if I did). Plus, it’s possible to get sick from food pretty much anywhere, it’s just luck of the draw I guess. I’m still hoping I draw a lucky food hand…
Taxi Driver, or How I Fear for My Life: Part I
I can see it being easy to spend quite a bit on taxis here, as they are very inexpensive and it’s wonderful to get to and from your destinations with no worry about directions. The interesting part being that most taxi drivers do not speak English, so you have to be prepared with the address written in Chinese character or risk getting lost/kicked out of the cab (they won’t take a fare if they don’t know where they’re going). They are also RIDICULOUS at driving. Not to continue to compare to NYC, but these drivers make NYC cabbies look like Driving Miss Daisy. Most of the time I just sort of cover my eyes and hope for the best. Supposedly there are very few traffic accidents, though I remain skeptical and for a self-titled aggressive lover of driving, I’d certainly never drive here.
Apartment Hunting, or How I Fear for my Life: Part II
I finally found an apartment on Wednesday, again with the help of our wonderful liaison Lilia. She’d shown me several pictures but I wanted to see them myself so we met with a rental agent. She had a short chat with him in Chinese and then told me to hop on the back of his moped and he’d take me to see it while she waited at the agency.
So I was whisked off down the street on the back moped with a man who spoke no English to go view an apartment. We flew around corners and I held on the best I could as we whipped into an apartment complex. The apartment itself was…a bit below my usual standard of living. In general, China’s standard of “clean” is a lot different than the U.S. and there is not as much new renovation or building as you might typically find in U.S. apartments—at least not within my housing budget. The third apartment I viewed that day was downright scary—Lilia’s comment was something like “it looks like some crime happened here!”
Fortunately, I eventually found a place that works—not perfect but I can give it a good deep clean, spruce it up a bit and hope for the best. It’s a studio with a decent sized kitchen space and is very quiet (probably due to the fact that it’s a 6 floor walk-up in the back of the complex). It does come furnished and have a great set of ninja stickers on the refrigerator though. I had a gut feeling upon entering the building itself and I figured this was probably cream of the crop for my budget. I then watched as Lilia speedily spoke Mandarin with the apartment management agent and negotiated the terms of my contract. I’ve already taken to doing my own interpretation of what they might be saying in Mandarin, which leads to hilarious dubbing of conversations in my mind. On a serious note, I cannot express how helpful it is to have a native speaker ready to help navigate all of these processes, it has definitely made so many parts of this move easier.
School Sweet School
My new school—The Barstow School of Shanghai—is incredibly tiny. I thought West St. John in Louisiana, with less than 200 students was small. At the moment, we have 4 American staff and 5 Chinese teachers at Barstow, with ~40 students. But I am really excited to be working here. There’s huge potential in getting to build a program like this and I am starting to get that excited/apprehensive feeling that accompanies the beginning of each new school year. The school itself is housed in a much larger complex, which we hope to eventually expand into, and within the same building as one of our partner companies that works on test prep, including a TOEFL program. Right down the street is a long row of various food stands and restaurants, as well as a small convenience store and some other shops. There’s a beautiful park across the street and my apartment is within walking distance.
I’ve met four of our current students already and I am wildly excited to begin working with them. Like all students, they’re full of excitement and potential which is completely infectious. A few interesting things worth noting: the students board at the school during the week and it’s a closed campus, meaning they can never leave it without permission. Nor are they allowed to have cell phones or laptops. At all. Just iPads, which are disabled except for school/studying functions. I’m continually fascinated by all the differences in education here and how we’ll go about melding an American-style education with Chinese culture.
I Get By With a Little Help From My Friends
I have truly met some incredible people in this last week alone, and I can only hope to meet many more as time progresses. Everyone comes with such a plethora of experience and knowledge, and it is incredibly comforting to have them welcome us newbies so readily, teaching us how to adapt to China. Contrary to what many people have said, a lot of the teachers at my orientation were older, many married and traveling/working with their spouse. There are other young folks like me, but it’s really a wide variety of people and experience. Listening to one woman from our partner campus in Ningbo talk about her travels and previous jobs was pretty incredible. It’s incredible to be surrounded by people who are so well traveled and have such an extensive amount of life experience. .
Hot Tub Time Machine
I’ve been here less than one fully week. I can’t quite believe that this time last week I was still in Connecticut getting packed up and there are moments when I think “man, it would be nice to still be there…waffles…” But at the moments when I seem to be tip-toeing toward the danger zone of stress/homesickness, I’m fortunate to have coworkers who truly love it here to show me the beauty, joy, and fun of working in Shanghai. I was invited to a pub quiz at a Western bar a few nights ago and quickly forgot I wasn’t at home with some awesome new friends. There’s also an adjustment period that happens during every new move, where nothing feels familiar and everything is wrong and uncomfortable. I remember feeling like that in particular when I moved to Chicago and was getting used to my local Jewel-Osco. Nothing was in the right place and they didn’t carry everything I wanted. But I adjusted. I like to think of it like getting into a hot tub (I like metaphors and I spent a lot of time in the hot tub at my mom’s before I left): when you get in, it can feel super hot and uncomfortable at first and it’s tempting to hop back out to avoid the scalding water. But as you ease in, you start to get more comfortable and realize, “hey, this actually feels amazing…I think I’ll live here…”. I’ve never committed to living in a hot tub but I think I can commit to staying here.
More to come in the next few weeks as I have time.
Moderately Delusional 
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