And so it begins...

Neehow!

Well, I'm here, believe it or not. I know it's all been a bit sereal for me! Sorry it's taken so long to update the blog - I actually did ths yesterday, however, my lack of knowledge of Chinese characters meant that I clicked 'delete' instead of 'save'. Hoping I won't make the same mistake twice!

People

I'm living with 3 guys at the moment; Patrick - British Chinese & speaks a bit of Cantonese, learning Mandarin & so is basically acting as our translator of menus at the moment! - aged around 36, Andy - speaks about 3 or 4 languages as it is & now learning Mandarin - aged 21 & Neil who is the other 18 year old. Jenny & Russel are a couple living of site who have traveled here from the UK by train the entire way! They've been traveling for 7 or 8 weeks now. Mardeep & Kelly (from the US) will also be joining us next week & early October respectively. (Yey! Another girl)

We all get on seemingly well thus far, but then, the stress of teaching hasn't hit yet! We start on Monday...

Where am I?

I am staying in a small town called Wuhu - I say small, it has 2 million people! Only 100 foreigners though, so we are somewhat the local celebrities! Everbody stares at us as we walk down the street... to begin with, I found this a tad off putting, but it's amazing how quickly you just don't notice it!

In transit...

I left Heathrow at 10:25am on Sat morning & didn't arrive untill nearly 10am the next day in Shanghai airport. Melissa met me there (a lady from the school) & we took an hour's bus ride into Shanghai to catch the train to Wuhu. We stopped for lunch (where we picked up Patrick) & then headed to the station.

I had a bit of a traumatic experience there; I thought it would be a good idea to go to the loo before the train journey which was apparently going to take 5 hours. (So much for an hour outside Shanghai!!) I was wrong. The toilets just about resembled a hole in the ground, if that! A drain ran between the cubicles & you were to squat over that to do your business. This, I could have possibly dealt with after living in Malaysia... It was the complete lack of a door that got me! I was taken completely by surprise & couldn't bring myself to go!

By the time we reaced Wuhu at about 8pm that night, I was ready for a shower & definately the loo (which thank god is Western style in our living quarters... though will a frosted plastic door. Not quite total privacy, but it's a door all the same!)

Dining in Wuhu...

Well, as you can imagine, it's mostly Chinese food, though there is a KFC, Pizza Hut, 3 24 hour Maccy D's & though we are yet to see it, a Ben&Jerries! We have been informed by a guy who taught here last year that suddenly our morals against Maccy D's no longer matter & it becomes out haven!

The other night, Caroline (the head of the language school) took us all out for the welcome dinner. It wasn't untill we got there however that she announced, "this is one of the bes' seafoo' res'uaran's in Wuhu". Anyone who knows me, knows that my heart sank at this. But what could I do?! I couldn't be rude. So, I tucked into the vegetable dishes, rice & something surgary which was pretty good & hoped for the best.

Then the seabass (head, tail & all) arrived & Caroline pushed the lazy susan around to Jenny & meself. "Ladies first". "Oh" I though as I tried to hide the sheer dismay on my face! So I picked up my spoon & delved into the middle (furthest away from anything that had eyes or gills!) and plopped it into my bowel. Avoiding the skin, I slowly put it in my mouth. It was surprisingly ok! Didn't really taist of anything. But I didn't take anything else from that dish. Had a similar issue when scallops were brought around - Andy, who was sat to my left, whispered, "don't worry, you can't taist the fish".

Apparently Caroline was good to us that night & avoided any dishes with bones. You see, meet, chicken inparticular, is thought to be only worth the money if its on the bone... head & all. So far, we've only seen this in pictures & that's bad enough!

When we are on our own however, there is a lot of pointing at pictures & looking to Patrick who can make out beef, chicken, noodles, rice or fish on a menu, but we have no idea what kind of anything is! So far, no stomach soup has arrived or chicken testicals... not that we're aware anyway!

The other day, my breakfast consisted of rice, beef & mushrooms. (yes, I've even had to start eating mushrooms simply because I can trust what they are! That didn't stop me from having to choke down the gags though!) Neil & I went & bought cereal yesterday! We also found bread & peanut butter... mmmm I was happy. I think I'm going to have to have a snack tonight as well as I didn't eat much at dinner. There were no pictures on the menu & none of us really ate much of what we ordered. It smelt revulting & didn't look much better. The rice was good though!

I find my hand has cramped up by the end of the meal too from using the chopsticks. I'm a bit out of practice but I'm getting better!

Sights & Sounds...

The honking of car horns here is not seen as an aggressive or rude act on the roads. Instead, it is seen as a way of letting pedestrians, other cars & the millions of cyclists know you are there. Thus, everyone honks at all times. It's 9:18pm here, and even now I am still being deafened by the sound! I woke up at 3am this morning & was so pleased to hear, nothing, simply nothing! I've already had two bad headaches since I got here!

Also, diapers don't exist here. So instead, toddlers & babies wander the streets wearing trousers with a hole in them & no underwear. When they feel the urge, they simply stop walking, squat & do their business then off they go again. It's pretty gross!

On a similar note, i was looking out of my window the other day, admiring the view of the lake & park when I looked down to see a man unzip & take a leek into a bush. Suddenly I didn't think so highly of the park!

Andy also saw a woman squatting behind an open umberella on the street. Privacy just doesn't seem to be an issue here as it is back home - I wish it was!

Spitting is also not seen as rude. During dinner, people simply hack & spit all over the table as they feel the need. Down the street, you suddenly hear a hacking noise from the person behind you & on the bus to Wuhu, I kept thinking I was going to get hit by one!

There are hundreds of cyclist around Wuhu. It seems to be one of the main forms of transport. We've been offered bikes we can borrow from the school, but I'm still getting to grips with walking on the roads, let alone biking! Anyway, one woman I've seen was cycling along in what looked to me like a witch's outfit, only it was her real clothes! Her hat was literaly a huge black cone on her head! Really made me laugh. Other people attempt to carry bags of stuff twice their size on their handle bars - how they see where they're going god only knows!

Crossing the road here is literally taking your life into your own hands. Traffic lights were only installed in Wuhu a few years ago & so some people follow them, some people don't. It seems to be personal choice! We find ourselves stepping out, stopping 1/2 way, taking a step back to avoid a car then running across! It's maddness here!

What's in store...

Training started today and lasts till Sunday. Monday is our day off apparently so we officialy start on Tuesday. We're all beginning to get rather nervous. We've heard stories of past experiences, for example, 'number 11 school' is supposed to be the worst as the kids just aren't interested. Just the name sounds ominous!

I'll post pictures of where I'm staying ASAP and post them up for you all.

I have photos all around my room which I'm really appreciating. Got very home sick on the first night thinking, "what have I done!" But I'm feeling better now & beginning to settle in.

Apparently we are going to be given a Chinese name, so that should be interesting!

I had better be off as I have to plan a practice lesson for the business college tomorrow. My topic is travel... what do I do for that!?

Wish me luck & keep in touch,

Bye!
xx