Getting use to the traffic

The traffic in China is something that is both exhilarating and scary at the same time. Back in NZ, I had gone to the doctor to get the required vaccinations. He was a Hong Kong native and mentioned that the most important thing I needed to do to keep safe was to be careful crossing the street. He said, don't make any sudden movements and just take it slow and steady and the traffic will go around you. He was right. When you cross the road you have to have your wits about you. Even when the pedestrian crossing lights are on cars, rickshaws, scooters and trucks will still weave their way through the people. Intersections are also a great source of entertainment as you watch everyone move around one another constantly tooting their horns and pushing through. As you can imagine the noise on the street can get really loud. My American colleague likes to say that the lines on the road are just a suggestion - I think that is true for where I live. Some vehicles will just drive on the other side of the road and will only go back in their lane if another car is coming. Everyone tends to drive a lot slower here than back home, as I guess you never know who is going to pull out or cut in front of you.

Rickshaw

Mini truck

Cop on his cellphone

Going to the doctors

All my pills

Picking up my pills

Day three after arriving in Yongjia, I caught a cold. I didn't think too much of it as I am surrounded by lots of kids everyday. With that, and a new environment and food, I half expected to get something eventually. However, I didn't think it would last over a week and would get progressively worse. So, yesterday after feeling hot and cold and laying exhausted on the couch, I asked the school manager to take me to the doctors. No appointment was necessary. We just rocked in and waited while he saw other patients, and waited for our turn. The cubicles were left open so we could listen and watch others get diagnosed. The lady before us was having some abdominal pain and we watched as he asked her questions - if only I knew some Chinese! 

Waiting for the doctor

 

Doctor's cubicles

When it was my turn he asked the manager for my symptoms. Then he took out a regular torch and looked in my mouth and listened to my chest with his stethoscope through my clothes. Within 10 minutes I had a prescription and was picking up my medicine from the pharmacy inside the clinic. So far the persistent coughing has ceased and the fever has disappeared. Since it is Saturday today, I am going to take it easy and recoup for the rest of the day. By class on Monday, I should be back to normal. Yay!

On the street

Small mini wagons

One of many rickshaws in town

Veges being sold on the side of the road

Get your meat here!

Finding a little piece of home

 
It was a nice surprise finding some kiwi produce the other day at the supermarket.
The milk has 12 x small cartons (250mls) inside the box for approx 105RMB or roughly $20 NZ. That is quite expensive for here. The small, hard kiwifruit was also a little on the pricey side so decided to only get a three. 

Squat toilets

 
While out on a walk early yesterday morning I came across my first squat toilet here in China. This one was a public toilet in one of the nearby parks in town. As you can see, the cubicles are open and short. So, if you stood up in them you would be able to see everything from your chest upwards.
'Everything' goes in the wide open drain below but I am still not quite sure how it flushes away?

Breakfast joy

I love breakfast in China especially since I discovered the steamed meat dumplings and the hot sweet milk (thanks to my American colleague). You have to be in relatively quick though as these sell out by about 10.30am (as I found out last week). My second best breakfast would have to be the hot sticky rice with tiny bits of chopped up meat and some crunchy stuff on top. Sorry I don't know what you call that, but that's pretty good too.

My school

Some of my students - so cute!

Yongjia Foreign Language Experimental Grade School. I am one of two English teachers here. David is from the United States and teaches grades 5 & 6 while I have the smaller grades 3 & 4. 

Each class has up to 50 students so can be a bit of a handful if you don't keep them interested and engaged during your lesson. 

I have only 17 classes each week and they are each 35 minutes long. I am lucky that I can teach them whatever I like, so it is up to me to prepare my own worksheets, games and lesson plans. This can be quite a fun and creative exercise.

A new home and a few surprises

Train ticket to Yongjia, my new home

Outside my window

Day two in Hangzhou and I am asked by the recruiters to sign the contract with them. I find out then, that the school I was told I was going to back in NZ has changed. What?! It was only by luck that I found out as the school name was written in Chinese on the contract. So I asked them for a translation. As you can imagine, I was a little shocked and was told that they had two schools in the same district and unfortunately they got them mixed up when they told me (hmmm?). They also showed me pictures of the apartment at the school which looked quite good and said the place I was now going was much closer to Wenzhou. It may be closer to Wenzhou but the apartment did not look like the one I actually got. I live on campus in the teachers accommodation in a single apartment. There is no kitchen sink and the only hot water is through the shower so people wash their dishes in the bathroom. Like many other Asian countries the shower is not separated from the rest of the bathroom so everything tends to get wet. This isn't a problem for me, but it's the washing yourself and your dishes and going bathroom in the same area that I can't get my head around just yet lol. With that and a few other maintenance problems affecting the apartment the school have said that they will get me another one, which was great to hear.

The kitchen

The living room

The bedroom

Finally here

Outside my door

Never been so happy to see a bed!

I flew into Hangzhou after two flights and 17 hours after leaving Auckland, New Zealand. I arrived here at 9pm (Chinese time) and was picked up by one of recruiters. Then driven to a hotel conveniently located a floor below the recruiters office to sleep.

Unfortunately the hotel was under construction and when I arrived at my room, over exposed floor boards, the door was blocked by a Chinese version of Pink Bats. The carpet was dirty but the bed was clean and I was just happy to lay down and get some sleep. I was told that I had to be up and ready at 9am and couldn't eat anything as I had to have my medical tests done the following day.

Looking for my PJ's

So the next morning we went off on a scooter to the hospital. Within half an hour I had had a chest x-ray, blood tests, blood pressure check, height and weight check, eye exam, an ECG, an abdomen check and I had to give a urine sample. Although the hospital was a little run down and old they were extremely efficient, as I went from room to room to have each check done.