KK is my office friend. e talks to me the most and has been very helpful and friendly since I arrived. He was out of the office for a few days after the first week I worked, but invited me to dinner with Simon and Qing Qing (Ching Ching), our other workmates. I assumed we were going to stay in the village and get noodles, we actually took a cab. The restaurant was 30 yuan away. I have to use this metric as I have no real sense of direction here, but know that the same amount can get me to the central part of the city. That distance can be reached in hour on the metro.
We arrive around 7pm, so it is getting dark, to find what appears to be a roadside garden with an informal market. It is a very peaceful and mysterious setting, which very ironic because upon leaving I find that we are under an overpass.
We walk back through some low trees and Chinese lanterns to find outdoor seating under a tent. As they decided what to order (we order several dishes for the table and share, family style) they are amazed when I told them no meat. I'm a fake vegetarian here, (too picky about the kind and quality of meat), and we decide on sheep, chicken, veggies, and noodles. It was very good and you simply cannot tell the Chinese no when it comes to food, so I try a little of everything. I get very full, very quickly with these types of meals.
We talked about basic things because my workmates are a bit shy about speaking English, and my non existent Mandarin make for some interesting convos. I ask some basic questions and they teach me how to count to 10. It is a good dinner, but a better feeling to be accepted.
After dinner we walked across the street to an art market. Though it was closed by time we got there, we were able to walk around many of the shops. Most owners were enjoying tea and watching television or talking. There was one shop, however, that allowed us to come in and look at some paintings. There were a lot of paintings, all on canvas and appeared to be watercolors, though I am unsure of the medium. There was on black and white piece that is very large, but very expensive. My willingness to pay has decreased significantly since coming here and realizing the power of a dollar and some good bargaining. So far I have purchased tennis shoes for ~$40 and a dress for $4.14. The painting itself was $150, much more than I had on me, but I was willing to pay. It was a one of a kind. I will go back and buy it. If take home a souvenir, it will be that! It was all so beautiful and they were so hospitable. The artist, a woman, even invited us to stay and have tea!
Sunday, June 29, 2014
Sunday, June 22, 2014
Random Act of Kindness
So one of my classmate's brother came to visit before he headed back to the states. He has been living in China since the summer of 2010 (WOW). It was funny because thought they are brothers, they look nothing alike, but after a few minutes of being around them I determined that they are in fact brothers. They act similar it's scary, both hilarious and sarcastic so, obviously, we got along great!
We had planned on doing a river tour, but after being a bit late and meeting at the wrong metro station, we decided to go straight to dinner. The restaurant was fairly nice and very different from anything I've ever been to; we were seated at a nice table towards the back and there was nothing but large, bright sights. As we walk back, I immediately see some of the first black people that I have seen in China, so I decided to speak and find out where they are from.
They are both from Africa (Ghana) and had been living in Guangzhou for about a year. After the basic chat, I sit back down and look at the menus. It was crazy; there was dim sum, a regular menu, and then a fresh market with tanks where can pick fresh sea food to be cooked and brought to the table. I will say I wasn't particularly adventurous, but chose some steamed oysters and went back to the table. We ordered a few basic dishes and chatted a while. We got some beer and waited for our food. After a while we noticed more bottles kept being brought to the table and we tried to explain we did not want to buy more. They explained that our African friends bought it just as food we did not order was brought; also purchased by our friends. After some Taro ice cream and more tea we decided to go. Unknown to us, our friends ended up buying our entire dinner and a case of beer for us before leaving, despite our protests. It made for a very nice evening. We all decided to hang our by the river for a few hours before going home. A really nice and random evening that made me see how nice it is to be in such a new and exciting place.
We had planned on doing a river tour, but after being a bit late and meeting at the wrong metro station, we decided to go straight to dinner. The restaurant was fairly nice and very different from anything I've ever been to; we were seated at a nice table towards the back and there was nothing but large, bright sights. As we walk back, I immediately see some of the first black people that I have seen in China, so I decided to speak and find out where they are from.
They are both from Africa (Ghana) and had been living in Guangzhou for about a year. After the basic chat, I sit back down and look at the menus. It was crazy; there was dim sum, a regular menu, and then a fresh market with tanks where can pick fresh sea food to be cooked and brought to the table. I will say I wasn't particularly adventurous, but chose some steamed oysters and went back to the table. We ordered a few basic dishes and chatted a while. We got some beer and waited for our food. After a while we noticed more bottles kept being brought to the table and we tried to explain we did not want to buy more. They explained that our African friends bought it just as food we did not order was brought; also purchased by our friends. After some Taro ice cream and more tea we decided to go. Unknown to us, our friends ended up buying our entire dinner and a case of beer for us before leaving, despite our protests. It made for a very nice evening. We all decided to hang our by the river for a few hours before going home. A really nice and random evening that made me see how nice it is to be in such a new and exciting place.
Monday, June 9, 2014
Getting Lost
Metro stations in China are so much better than in the US. They have stores, food shops, people selling fruits and electronics. I saw a McDonald's, a Starbucks, the Converse store, the Vans Store, a 7 Eleven, and various other local shops. Very convenient.
After leaving, we went through People's Park which was nice and active despite the rain (that none of us were prepared for). We went to Beijing Road, where there is a ton of open air strip mall shopping, restaurants, street performers, and vendor's who automatically yelled "Cheepah! Cheepah!"as we walked by. Really (I've noticed) that they yell any bits of English they know as I walk by. It's slightly amusing, but mostly annoying. It makes you very self conscious to know that it's so obvious that you do not belong somewhere when people stop dead in their tracks and stare, laugh, point, and yell.
So here's a tangent called Out of Place:
I can honestly say that I have never felt that there was a place in the US that I just "belonged." This even more painstakingly true in China. I get stared at by everyone. Not just a glance, but a cold stare lasting as long as I am visible. Sometimes they stop if I look back, but many times they will walk right up to me and stare. It's curiosity most of the time, but the looks of disgust or the people who jump back because someone describes whats behind them, is often unsettling. It stinks to know that my very presence is enough to make people jump back and avoid touching me because they want no part of whatever it is that they are seeing; at the very least, it's annoying.
I have never been more self conscience. Luckily, I've always been fairly self conscience, but have a personality that has let me do things that made me uncomfortable. I would say that I am actually pretty unsure of myself and my abilities in general; it serves as my reasoning to just try anyway. I've got nothing to lose, but a new experience.
Now back to our adventure.
We had a nice time and walked around, but my exhaustion level made me less than adventurous. All I wanted was a bed and time to sleep. We stayed out so late that it seemed inevitable that I would be sleeping on our classmates' couch, which was less than attractive, but better than nothing. We had fun and chatted and checked out their awesome "penthouse" apartment on the 43rd floor. Fun, fun, fun, but after getting about 5 hours of sleep my body decided that it was time to wake up. I was up at 6am and didn't have a clue on how to get home. So I waited...
I was able to Facetime my neighbor's and one of my friends which helped to pass the time, but I was ready to chill and I needed to get something prepared for work the next morning.
We eventually get out and walk towards food, but as everything goes, it took forever. We walked and walked and walked, found a dim sum place, but my appetite wasn't feeling it. I really am not a huge fan of Chinese food in all actuality and eating noodles and rice and beef platters for breakfast is not my cup of tea. I actually tried a few things and drank some tea, and we left just in time to catch a downpour. We walked and walked and walked some more as we got rained on...NICE
We finally catch the metro and get back to the hub and we cannot find the bus we took. We see it, but it doesn't stop. We can't read any of the sign or schedules and have no real way to find how to get home. It's still raining. Anyone who knows me at all, knows that I'm not a very social person when I'm tired. I was very much less inclined to be social as we are now lost and stuck in the rain.
We find someone who works at the station who speaks some English we show her our address and she writes down the bus we need. Perfect! Except it was not the bus we needed. In fact, I have idea where it took us, but we rode it to the end of the line before the bus driver turned off the bus and got out. Cool. With a few text messages to our friend and following the crowd we got back to another metro station and got to Lijiao station, which is the closest one to our building. From there, we paid a bike taxi 6 yuan (about a dollar) and get home...3 hours later...soaking wet! With our first "adventure" in the books, I figured things could only go up...
Sunday, June 8, 2014
My Recap From Arrival to May 20th
My days have literally flown by and I have no real concept of time; my body sleeps in small increments, I eat full meals at random times of the day, and I feel like a zombie feeling like I'm pulling "all nighters"each day. I've literally time traveled, so I can take that off my lifetime bucket list.
I was in Seoul, South Korea and we were 13 hours ahead of Atlanta. I went to Guangzhou, China the next morning and they were only 12 hours ahead of Atlanta. So for the next few days I can only recall and describe experiences, more than I can organize them into time periods or days.
Initially, I experiences a large amount of culture shock, as everything was so different. I could not read anything, or talk to anyone and did not even always have access to a place where I could charge my computer or phone. The food was sooooooo very different and so difficult to eat, as this was my first time using chopsticks. My appetite was nonexistent and exhaustion levels and patience levels had a very inverse relationship. China is now very overwhelming; tons of people, no sense of direction, and lots of unfamiliar noises coming from 30+ story buildings.
Dealing with various personalities because difficult when I'm just trying to find some type of normalcy. Some of us want to run and do everything and go everywhere and I just want a decent nights rest and a meal that I recognize. Some of us want to plan every detail of our trips out and know every turn and stop, and others just need a general idea and then figure it out as we go along. Almost like a clash of the Titans at times, but it always works out. It is this very concept that lead to our first big city adventure.
I was very suspicious at how quickly our plans were made and the very short timeline in which we had to complete it all. The problem is, as we had previously found, that many directions and addresses work more like approximations. Some people would know what we were talking about and others didn't and we literally showed the same address; the very address that was provided by the institute. This is what I have come to refer to as "Typical China."
As I was still very jet lagged I couldn't fight it or question anything I just saved my energy for the hour and 15min trip we had ahead of us. We made it close to our stop, or so we believe, but get off the bus a little too early and have to walk a few blocks to the transit station. No big deal.
We do make it to the stop to meet our classmates and hour or so after we had expected, but it was so nice to see some familiar faces that there was no harm, no foul. Looking back on it, our initial meeting was quite the spectacle as we yelled across a courtyard as we existed the metro station, speaking loudly in English. A white male, with an African American female, and Indian female, and a Vietnamese female, who all knew each other and spoke English; we looked like the rainbow coalition for suuurrrreeee!
To be continued...
I was in Seoul, South Korea and we were 13 hours ahead of Atlanta. I went to Guangzhou, China the next morning and they were only 12 hours ahead of Atlanta. So for the next few days I can only recall and describe experiences, more than I can organize them into time periods or days.
Initially, I experiences a large amount of culture shock, as everything was so different. I could not read anything, or talk to anyone and did not even always have access to a place where I could charge my computer or phone. The food was sooooooo very different and so difficult to eat, as this was my first time using chopsticks. My appetite was nonexistent and exhaustion levels and patience levels had a very inverse relationship. China is now very overwhelming; tons of people, no sense of direction, and lots of unfamiliar noises coming from 30+ story buildings.
Dealing with various personalities because difficult when I'm just trying to find some type of normalcy. Some of us want to run and do everything and go everywhere and I just want a decent nights rest and a meal that I recognize. Some of us want to plan every detail of our trips out and know every turn and stop, and others just need a general idea and then figure it out as we go along. Almost like a clash of the Titans at times, but it always works out. It is this very concept that lead to our first big city adventure.
I was very suspicious at how quickly our plans were made and the very short timeline in which we had to complete it all. The problem is, as we had previously found, that many directions and addresses work more like approximations. Some people would know what we were talking about and others didn't and we literally showed the same address; the very address that was provided by the institute. This is what I have come to refer to as "Typical China."
As I was still very jet lagged I couldn't fight it or question anything I just saved my energy for the hour and 15min trip we had ahead of us. We made it close to our stop, or so we believe, but get off the bus a little too early and have to walk a few blocks to the transit station. No big deal.
We do make it to the stop to meet our classmates and hour or so after we had expected, but it was so nice to see some familiar faces that there was no harm, no foul. Looking back on it, our initial meeting was quite the spectacle as we yelled across a courtyard as we existed the metro station, speaking loudly in English. A white male, with an African American female, and Indian female, and a Vietnamese female, who all knew each other and spoke English; we looked like the rainbow coalition for suuurrrreeee!
To be continued...
Monday, June 2, 2014
My Chinese Adventure: The Plane Ride
We left an hour late because several people on my flight were on a late arriving plane. When it's international, they wait. It's crazy how many people are here to board the plane. There appears to enough crew members for 3 regular flights; yikes, this is going to be interesting. It's kind of odd to see be so obviously different that English is automatically spoken to me. I liked the fact that people would mistakenly speak Spanish to me when I travel through Central America, but now I don't think I'll ever have that problem.
The excitement I feel now is exactly how I felt on the way to Germany. The plane is much larger, but still the same feelings. I'm actually excited about the next 14 hours.
I may be one of the only people that truly enjoys airplane food, but the meal offerings sound pretty good. My rule of thumb is to eat whatever the traditional foods are. 1. Because the American imitations are never that good and 2. You gain a little respect from the people on the flight. The first thing I had was Korean Rice Wine. It was interesting (kind of sour and milky), but the taste grew on me. Its funny that they served alcohol for free, but a $1600 plane ticket will get you a little more than a $600 one (Shoutout to Tech and my tax returns for coming through).
The meal I ate was called Bibimbap and was pretty good. Luckily, there were directions on how to eat it, but it is basically a mix of pickled veggies, ground beef, and you added white rice and sesame oil before you mix it ll up. They also had a hot sauce, which I loved, called Gochujang.
It was served with soup- chicken broth with dried fish and chives, fruit, kimchi-which was ok, and these strange looking dried things. Now these dried things have me stumped because it appears the have eyes and resemble little, tiny, dried worms---surly these are not worms. So I ask my neighbor what they are and he replies, "tiny fishes." Ok, I will try them just to say I did, they are not bad, but I cannot get over the fact that their little beady are staring at me and they crunch when I chew them.
The flight attendant seems amused about my food choice, so I ask her what those tiny fishes were as I waited to use the restroom. She said she didn't know and told her how much I liked the hot sauce and she laughed, amazed that I can eat spicy foods. By time I get readjusted into my seat she hands me a note with 3 tubes of the Gochujang. The note read:
Hi :)
This is Asiana Flight attendant
EunJi.
The food you ate little fish
name is 'Anchovy'
I hope you have a good time
in China ~
Happy to fly with you.
See you again love (heart) 2014.5.12.
- In Flight-
Yeah....I'm going to need them to prove that those were anchovies!
Well 4 hours down, 10 more to go...at this point the adventure got slightly less exciting.
When we got to Seoul, South Korea I planned on staying inside the airport until my flight the next morning. However, they told me I had to take my bag through customs so i did. Unfortunately, that meant I couldn't get into my gate because I needed to check in for my flight, but was too early to be checked in. This is when things got interesting. I had to go and find a hotel and every person told me to go to a different station across the airport. as I lugged my heavy bags around, exhaustion was real.
I eventually just found a cabbie and told him I needed a hotel room. He was happy to take me and he essentially found me a cheaper hotel room in the city, and arranged for me to be picked up early the next morning for my flight. It was convenient, but expensive. Seoul can be very expensive as I found out. I paid about $250 for all of this but I gained a nice experience from it all. I actually got to see the city as the airport is actually located on a nearby island. What was even more cool is that we studied this in school and now I was walking around and riding through it in person! Such a long and crazy experience, but it all worked out and I was able to sleep comfortably. Next stop Guangzhou!
(Sorry for my picture quality, I haven't had time to edit them yet, but my Instagram post look much better. Will have better images for future posts. I was trying to get this together as quickly as possible)
The excitement I feel now is exactly how I felt on the way to Germany. The plane is much larger, but still the same feelings. I'm actually excited about the next 14 hours.
I may be one of the only people that truly enjoys airplane food, but the meal offerings sound pretty good. My rule of thumb is to eat whatever the traditional foods are. 1. Because the American imitations are never that good and 2. You gain a little respect from the people on the flight. The first thing I had was Korean Rice Wine. It was interesting (kind of sour and milky), but the taste grew on me. Its funny that they served alcohol for free, but a $1600 plane ticket will get you a little more than a $600 one (Shoutout to Tech and my tax returns for coming through).
The meal I ate was called Bibimbap and was pretty good. Luckily, there were directions on how to eat it, but it is basically a mix of pickled veggies, ground beef, and you added white rice and sesame oil before you mix it ll up. They also had a hot sauce, which I loved, called Gochujang.
It was served with soup- chicken broth with dried fish and chives, fruit, kimchi-which was ok, and these strange looking dried things. Now these dried things have me stumped because it appears the have eyes and resemble little, tiny, dried worms---surly these are not worms. So I ask my neighbor what they are and he replies, "tiny fishes." Ok, I will try them just to say I did, they are not bad, but I cannot get over the fact that their little beady are staring at me and they crunch when I chew them.
The flight attendant seems amused about my food choice, so I ask her what those tiny fishes were as I waited to use the restroom. She said she didn't know and told her how much I liked the hot sauce and she laughed, amazed that I can eat spicy foods. By time I get readjusted into my seat she hands me a note with 3 tubes of the Gochujang. The note read:
Hi :)
This is Asiana Flight attendant
EunJi.
The food you ate little fish
name is 'Anchovy'
I hope you have a good time
in China ~
Happy to fly with you.
See you again love (heart) 2014.5.12.
- In Flight-
Yeah....I'm going to need them to prove that those were anchovies!
Well 4 hours down, 10 more to go...at this point the adventure got slightly less exciting.
When we got to Seoul, South Korea I planned on staying inside the airport until my flight the next morning. However, they told me I had to take my bag through customs so i did. Unfortunately, that meant I couldn't get into my gate because I needed to check in for my flight, but was too early to be checked in. This is when things got interesting. I had to go and find a hotel and every person told me to go to a different station across the airport. as I lugged my heavy bags around, exhaustion was real.
I eventually just found a cabbie and told him I needed a hotel room. He was happy to take me and he essentially found me a cheaper hotel room in the city, and arranged for me to be picked up early the next morning for my flight. It was convenient, but expensive. Seoul can be very expensive as I found out. I paid about $250 for all of this but I gained a nice experience from it all. I actually got to see the city as the airport is actually located on a nearby island. What was even more cool is that we studied this in school and now I was walking around and riding through it in person! Such a long and crazy experience, but it all worked out and I was able to sleep comfortably. Next stop Guangzhou!
(Sorry for my picture quality, I haven't had time to edit them yet, but my Instagram post look much better. Will have better images for future posts. I was trying to get this together as quickly as possible)
 |
| Incheon Airport |
 |
| The view from my hotel room. The thing in the distance is a stadium. It was used for the Asian Games |
 |
| I stayed at the "Four Seasons." It was a bit different than I imagined LOL |
Sunday, June 1, 2014
My Chinese Adventure: The Actual Journey
May 12th Leaving Atlanta:
I know I don't feel nervous or apprehensive, but I think it's just adrenaline. Didn't get to sleep early like planned, and I know I'm going to kick myself later. This 2 day long trip is going to be crazy, fun, exciting, and frustrating, but with all the work it took to get this far, I'm more than ready to meet it all head on.
Chicago:
This airport was a little confusing to navigate, but when in doubt, always ask. I have never flown internationally from this airport alone, so finding my terminal was a task, but I eventually found it. it is kind of weird to only see two other black people in the entire terminal, but I guess I better get used to the feeling.
I spent my layover talking to people before my cell phone line would be suspended. I didn't actually get to speak with everyone I wanted to but got the some of the most important people to me out of the way. I haven't quite grasped the idea that I'm leaving the country for a very long time. It feels like going back to Kentucky for undergrad or a long vacation.
I feel like I could cry but there are no actual emotions tied to the tears. It just feels like the reaction I should have. They're more like "the need to release all of the stress, time and money of planning this trip while completing a very demanding semester with no job" tears. Maybe they are celebratory tears, as I am just minutes away from boarding a plane bound for China. China! I have felt like I should travel here for over a year and a half, but I thought of it as a "I'm older and more established so I can afford it" type of trip. Now I'm working and going to school here. While much of everything is still on big question mark (I'm waiting on school acceptance, and don't know how I'm getting my student visa or how to find an apartment or how to get to Shanghai) I am still a believer that it will all work out.
One thing I do know is that I'm going to miss so much. I've been needing more adventure in my life, as the monotony and the rigid structure of going to a tech school for graduation is taking its toll. I'm more than ready for something new.
I know I don't feel nervous or apprehensive, but I think it's just adrenaline. Didn't get to sleep early like planned, and I know I'm going to kick myself later. This 2 day long trip is going to be crazy, fun, exciting, and frustrating, but with all the work it took to get this far, I'm more than ready to meet it all head on.
Chicago:
This airport was a little confusing to navigate, but when in doubt, always ask. I have never flown internationally from this airport alone, so finding my terminal was a task, but I eventually found it. it is kind of weird to only see two other black people in the entire terminal, but I guess I better get used to the feeling.
I spent my layover talking to people before my cell phone line would be suspended. I didn't actually get to speak with everyone I wanted to but got the some of the most important people to me out of the way. I haven't quite grasped the idea that I'm leaving the country for a very long time. It feels like going back to Kentucky for undergrad or a long vacation.
I feel like I could cry but there are no actual emotions tied to the tears. It just feels like the reaction I should have. They're more like "the need to release all of the stress, time and money of planning this trip while completing a very demanding semester with no job" tears. Maybe they are celebratory tears, as I am just minutes away from boarding a plane bound for China. China! I have felt like I should travel here for over a year and a half, but I thought of it as a "I'm older and more established so I can afford it" type of trip. Now I'm working and going to school here. While much of everything is still on big question mark (I'm waiting on school acceptance, and don't know how I'm getting my student visa or how to find an apartment or how to get to Shanghai) I am still a believer that it will all work out.
One thing I do know is that I'm going to miss so much. I've been needing more adventure in my life, as the monotony and the rigid structure of going to a tech school for graduation is taking its toll. I'm more than ready for something new.
My Chinese Adventure: The Journey
So it has been just about three weeks since I left the US and
months since I have done a post. With the craziness of this grad school (16
credits) and deciding to apply to study and work abroad for the next year, I
was struggling just to keep up with life. So here's a brief recap...
A crazy course schedule got more complicated with approximately 2
weeks of snow days. Going to Memphis for a Civil rights tour. Twitter host for
Tech's student page for a week. Deciding to apply for a Chinese exchange
to Tongji University in Shanghai (#1 in my field in China). Receiving and
accepting a well paid internship for the summer in Guangzhou. Planning my trip
as my school work began to pile up. Struggling for funding for the trip. Being
denied twice form my Chinese visa for no apparent reason. Taking over Tech's
Student Planning Association's Twitter page for a week. Finals. Packing.
Changing banks. Mother's Day. Getting my debit card, visa, and packed the day
before my plane left. So yeah...that's the short, but nonetheless tragic story
that was my spring semester.
Most of my post over the next year of my life will be delayed stories from my adventure abroad. I am keeping notebooks and filling them with stories, memories, learned words, work stuff and anything I just don't want to forget. they will be written in various points of view and provide me with a timeline. Please enjoy and I hope this will give everyone a better glimpse of my life for a while.
Thanks for reading,
Simone
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