Return to America

All of you followers out there know by now that I haven't posted anything in months. I'm sorry but as you probably know all blogs have been blocked by the Chinese government. I could not access my blog nor anyone else's so it was hard to stay in touch with some people. It has been extremely nice to be back, blessed with visits from a great family and time with great friends. There are little things that many of you probably take for granted that I myself did at one point but now (from living without them) realize how lucky I'm. Just to have a blue sky multiple times a week feels like being at the beach. The pollution and smog of Shanghai started to wear on me and could cause me to feel down some days. It has been nice to be able to go wherever I want when I want since i have my car. I was stuck in traffic the other day and had a smile on my face as I listened to music and watched aggressive drivers get heated. I love that I can think of something that I want to eat and either cook it or go pick it up somewhere. You don't know how painful it is to crave a Chipotle burrito and not be able to fulfill you craving. The ease of getting around has made my life so much simpler. Being able to ask someone for something and have them understand you is more pleasant than you can imagine. I do miss the everyday challenge of having to simply get around but it is also nice to be at ease with many barriers. I've currently relocated to Charlotte NC and am living with my sister Kate and her husband Tom. They have graciously invited me into their home and am letting me live here until I land a job. The job search is more of a process than I thought but I have enjoyed networking with people and seeing what positions are out there. Wish me luck in my search and I'll keep you posted on what happens in the next couple of days.

-Will

Random Dinner

On my way to tutor Michael tonight I stopped in a random restaurant on Huhai Lu.  With no open tables left, except for parties of 8, I was paired with a middle aged women.  At first there was a 3 minute awkward silence.  I finally broke this by asking her what her favorite dish was.  We began talking and she started to teach me how to read a menu with Chinese characters.  Although I don't remember much it was helpful at the moment.  She told me what she thought I would like since I told her I was in the mood for chicken.  We continued to converse we waited for our food and she told me how she was a piano teacher and I told her about my teaching.  She thought it was very admirable of me to come here to teach these children, but also couldn't believe I didn't speak Chinese.  Her gyoza or dumplings arrived and she immediately offered me one.  I accepted and wanted more but didn't ask.  Out of the corner of my eye I saw something mysterious being delivered to the man next to me.  This meat was mysterious in many ways.  One thing weired was that he was sipping marrow out of it with a straw, another was that he was holding the bone with his left hand that was clad with a glove the restaurant had given him.  I instantly asked what in gods name is that.  She said, "Ohh soo good, Pigs elbow."  The restaurant supposedly serves a great elbow but I had never seen such a thing.  Finally my dish came out and it looked fairly good.  I took a bite and it was the exact opposite of my thoughts.  It was terrible, some sort of weired chicken cartilage mixed with potatoes and green peppers.  The dish as a whole wasn't bad, just the chicken.  I started picking it out and gave it to her.  She was laughing but also felt bad a little.  Eventually she had to run to go to a class but she left 4 gyoza for me which was quite nice.  To get a waiters attention to get your check you really have to yell, "FU-YU-IN."  I still have trouble doing this because I feel incredibly rude.  It would be like me yelling, "WAITER GET OVER HERE."  The table next to me had no problem helping me out when they saw me trying to flag her down.  They smiled and were very nice.  Another typical day in China!

Shanghai State of Mind

Hello

 It has been awhile since I've written and plan doing it more frequently now that I have this blog set up.  Thanks Ashley for the inspiration ha.  Things have been great since the last time I wrote.  Lots of things have happened and many new experiences.

 My mom came over the first week in April and we had a great time together minus the ill periods.  When she arrived from Thailand she suffered from severe chest pains so we went to the hospital to ensure a heart attack wasn't on the way.  What an experience this was.  Her Ormco friend Kirby who is Shanghainese thankfully aided us to a local Chinese hospital.  They were as helpful as they could be and explained everything in English the best they could.  The hallways were filled with beds so I asked our friend Kirby if the hospital was over occupied and he said not even close, it wasn't even crowded.  They had people 80+ years old basically dying in the hallways for everyone to see.  It was very disturbing and I felt like I was staring death in the eyes, these people were basically skin and bones and all had their eyes shut with their eyes closed.  No one was moving and family members sat next to them holding hands and changing their bed pans.  I couldn't believe it but this was all out in the open.  On another note, she checked out fine and had x-rays taken and got an EKG test taken.  All this only cost $100 without insurance which wasn't too bad.  I think she set a record because later in the week she had to go back to the hospital for we both came down with a bad case of food poisoning.  Street gyoza may taste and look good but always make sure it's cooked.  I woke up at 5:30 in the morning running to the bathroom in a cold sweat.  There was about 20 trips that followed this but I won't get into that.  I made it to work taught and then started feeling even worse.  While I was at school my mom went to the hospital and had two bags of IV put in and topped t off with a prescription to Cipro.  I too was subscribed to Cipro which basically killed everything in a matter of 24 hours.  The next day we were ready to go. 

 We visited the Yu garden which is always a treat.  They still have a sector of Shanghai marked off where the traditional Chinese architecture still stands and within the gates there are beautiful gardens filled with flowers, ponds, fish and a bridge with almost 90 corners (to keep the ghosts out of course ha).  It is somewhat ruined by the presence of Starbucks and McDonalds nearby but the gardens themselves are preserved. 

 One of the days we were able to go to the top of the Chinese financial center which has the highest observatory tower in the whole world.  Its about 492 meters tall and is the third tallest building in the world next to ones in Taipei and Dubai.  It also looks down upon the Jiang Mao tower which is in the top 10 largest buildings in the world.  I wish I could say that I was able to see all of Shanghai from above, but I would be lying.  The smog is so bad that it hinders you from seeing much.  You can see everything in Pudong and overlook in the main part of Shanghai but not too far.  It was still cool to look out onto the city and down on the river.  The floors on the 100th floor had clear glass so you could look down and see the little micro machine cars driving.

 That weekend I was also able to experience two new things, one was the fabric market and one was KTV.  I will start with he KTV because that is a little more interesting.

 KTV is place where Chinese people go to perform, interact for business or just for a good time.  Basically it is a karaoke parlor.  When I walked in I was astonished because it looked like some sort of upscale brothel or hotel.  There were just hallways filled with rooms and they have escorts bring you to your room when you arrived.  The rooms are all private and they have waiters bring you whatever you want.  We stuck with beer and a bottle of Johnny Walker red label (we toasted to you Charlie).  They have a side kiosk, which is almost like a laptop, and you can select all your songs from there.  Then there are two microphones that extend all over the room so you can sing a duet if you choose.  We sang everything from, "Take me home country roads" to "Gloria" to "Sweet Caroline."  The highlight of my night was when two of our Italian friends sang Backstreet boys, it was quite humorous.  As we were having a good time laughing, singing freely, and yelling into microphones, I walked into other rooms filled with Chinese people who were doing the exact opposite.  They take it very serious and take it as a time to perform.  Nobody talks and one person has the mic, very boring if you ask me.  My friend who works at a hotel says his boss will sometimes go there on his lunch break and practice, pretty ridiculous.  The first time we went there were about 8 of us but than a week later we went with about 20 people which was a lot of fun.

 Now for the fabric market.  This is basically a four floor open office building filled with hundreds of different stalls.  Each stall has a number above it with an English name below.  For instance it will say "2030 Jason, best fabric in town."  My favorite line which everyone says is, "I only sell the best quality fabrics."  No matter what you will hear that line constantly.  They will also put their competitors down constantly.  I bought a shirt from one place and then went to pick up two from another stall and they asked me to show them my shirts.  They said it was poor quality stitching, bashed on the measuring job and told me the collar was too small.  They warned me to never buy from him again and to stick with them.  The shirts are incredibly cheap and completely customized.  They show you about 10 different collars, 8 different cuffs, pleats or no pleats, slim fit, wear tucked in or not, I started to forget what I wanted because there were so many options.  They turned out nicely and are only $10 a piece, you can probably get for cheaper if you bargained a lot or bought in bulk but as long as I get a quality product for $10 I don't mind paying.  My friend bought a suit, cashmere/wool blend for 400 RMB which is about $60.  I'll buy one before I leave but don't need one at the moment.  My mom was able to score cashmere overcoats for $100 apiece and some other Chinese garb. 

 Schools still going great, except I've a little trouble with my hours.  For three weeks they cut my hours in half.  They were preparing for a Chinese standardized test and also an inspection by the government.  They're a private school so they have to check to make sure they're teaching the proper subject matter.  The day they came for the inspection they covered up all the English posters on the wall with Chinese script, they only taught Chinese for the day and we were asked not to come into work that day, pretty sketchy.  They're not legal allowed to hire us or teach English.  The government thinks the kids are too young to even learn Chinese so there is no reason for them to practice English.  Pretty crazy but we passed and are now back on our regular schedule.

 This Friday we have another holiday and so I may head to Beijing.  My roommate from Spain (Ben Fox) has been there a year studying so I'm going to try and connect with him, also our old friend Matt Shernitt studies there.  I want to try and connect with them before they leave so this is the best time.  We'll see if it works out, probably just take the train.

 Over this past weekend my friend Simon had a BBQ on his rooftop which was incredible.  There were about 60 people there.  His mom and her boyfriend bought a half of a pig and butchered it themselves.  They also bought huge hunks of beef for steaks and fresh burgers.  I was in heaven.  They did all the leg work and just let us enjoy the kegs on the rooftop.  There was a good mix of Chinese, Americans, Danish, Italians, Canadians, Australians, and a couple Israelis.  We lasted pretty long there together than all went out together it was quite fun.  Simon is from Hong Kong just to clarify.

 I've also picked up 6 hours a week doing some private tutoring.  I have enjoyed this a lot, mostly for the payoff.  I get 200RMB an hour which is basically $30.  This has helped me a ton in my finances.  The tutoring is also really easy.  On student who I tutor twice a week is a 10 year old that speaks English very well.  His parents actually asked me where I lived in the US and when I told them they replied "Fairfax County, we used to live in Reston for a year."  Small world, it really is.  I mostly just do work out of this workbook that they had purchased back in the states.  The other boy Oscar is in 8th grade and speaks perfect English.  I have him for 4 hours a week and help him mostly with his vocab.  He goes to an international school with mostly Ausies, Canadians and Americans.  He had lived in Vancouver for 6 years so his English is great.  After we’re finish we just converse for an hour or so.  His dad wants him to become "perfect" in American conversational English so he's not looked at as a Chinese.

 I’ve been sick with a mild sinus infection for the past 4 days but have been able to survive off of the Nyquil I brought.  Luckily movies are cheap so I had plenty of company when I was home all Friday.  My Ayi (maid) came by to work on Friday and saw that I was sick.  She came back over Sunday with 4 boxes of medicine for me.  I was astonished and it showed how much she cares about us.  I’ve noticed one thing about her that is very interesting.  She will not take any extra money from us.  We always try and give her a little extra and she never wants to accept.  Anyway, I thought it was very kind and caring of her.

Well, I’m off to dinner with some people, one of our friends has someone and town so we are going to a big group dinner.  I hope everyone is doing well! You can start checking this blog; I’ll try and update it once a week.

Love  - Will

Shanghai Update

I figured it was about time to write another Post but I have been busy. Things are still going well overall in China. I'm still really enjoying my job although some classes can be quite challenging. The kids listen to their Chinese teacher as of they were a general or commander, but because I'm a foreigner they think I'm funny and take my class as more fun than anything else. This is due to the more relaxed enviorment and the group learning mentality, also because we play memory games and such. So out of 10 I say 8 of them are good and the teacher keeps them under control, the other two can be difficult because I can't communicate to them to stop running around and sit down. Also the teacher isn't as strict as others and doesn't really care, probably because it is the last two classes of the day. But other than that I love all the children. There's a whole mix, little babies from 2.5 to kindergarten aged 6 year olds. I only have one 5-6 year old class and they are my favorite. I enjoy teaching them the most because they actually learn a lot and I feel I can get a lot more in depth into the English language with them. 

The school celebrates birthdays in a very interesting way, I actually think it's great. Instead of celebrating every kids birthday they take one afternoon out of the month to celebrate every child's birthday for that month. The parents come and each kids receives a cake from the school. There are games between the parents and their sons and daughters and other couples. It actually gets competitive which is really funny. But for March we are celebrating this Friday and they have asked me to be a judge for one of the competitions. I'll let you know how it goes.

The food at my school is also really good. It saves me money since I don't have to buy lunch and is very well balanced. I get one portion of meat, vegetables (always cooked), fruit, LOTS of rice, and a soup. They don't drink with their meals not even water and another funny thing is that they wait 2 hours to eat their oranges because they say it will give you a stomach ache if you eat it right away. Don't know about that but it's interesting.

As far as dining when I'm not at school, I'm still enjoying the food. Sometimes I'll get a craving for something and won't be able to satisfy it, such as a nice Italian sub or some good quality pizza. Other than that I love the Chinese cuisine especially the street food. We have become regulars at two local spots, by we I mean my roommate Adam and I. One is called a Weeger restaurant. Weegers' are people who live somewhere either in China or on a Chinese owned island but they are Muslim and look somewhat Chinese but you can definitely tell the difference. Anyway, they will make noodles right in front of you and cook them with various meats or vegetables. I like the cabbage with chili sauce and they beef rice with green peppers, for some reason at this place they make incredible rice. The other location is just a noodle place. They as well make the noodles in front of you but specialize in soup. The soup is incredible and is topped with cilantro and some sort of dried beef shavings (I hope ha-ha). Anyway, both are whole in the walls, literally, only having seating for about 8-12 people and is in a confined space. The next best thing I've had was this braised pork belly that was out of this world. Had perfectly tender meat topped with a nice hunk of fat that melted in your mouth. Probably not something I should eat every day but it was delicious.

Because I eat lunch for free, unless they're serving fish because it's boned and doesn't smell very good, I'm able to eat cheaply throughout the week which has been nice. In fact, my whole food budget can be matched by buying 3 beers at a bar or club. I've just now realized that and it's pretty crazy. That is the one thing that has been killing me. Whenever you go out for drinks, as in any city, it's going to cost you. Some club charge $6-8 a beer which can get frustrating so we have found that it is best to look for specials. For example we went to a brewery restaurant last weekend which was 100 RMB all you can drink which is about $15, so we made sure we got our moneys worth and then hit the town.

I've been able to meet people from everywhere (England, Italy, France, Germany, China of course, Korea, and good old Americans). My roommate Adam is on an international soccer team so I've gotten to meet a lot of these people through him which as been nice and easy. I actually just joined a dodge ball team within the past two days. I went out to dinner with a bunch of people that I had met at a party and this one Chinese kid form Hong Kong through out the idea to start a team so I figured why not. There are six guys and 6 girls and is composed of three Brits and the rest Americans, except for the one Chinese captain.

I was able to buy a bike the other day for 100 RMB which again is about $15 USD. It is an old bike but exactly what I wanted. The city is filled with these rustic bikes and loud motor scooters and it reminds me a lot of Amsterdam in that sense. It feels almost as if all the bikes come to China to die because some look like they are about 30 years old. Don't know if mine was stolen or if it was just someones old one but I bought it from a scooter repair shop, just a 8' by 3' street shop. They had one for sale and so I took it for a test drive. I liked it but the seat was extremely uncomfortable so I pointed to the bike next to it and said I wanted that seat. Since it was the shopkeepers, he took it off and gave it to me.

Went to the fake markets this past weekend and wanted to buy everything in sight. I held myself to a pair of fake RayBan's that look like a dead ringer for the real thing and are of good quality. they started the price at 150RMB and I was able to get them down to 25. It's all in just walking away and they'll come right after you. A lot of times I will just offer them a ridiculous price just to get a reaction for my entertainment. I almost bought an Arcteryx counterfeit that was really nice but she wouldn't give me the price I wanted. I left her at 100RMB and she said 150RMB. I left than came back 10 minutes later and offered her 120RMB she was stuck at 150 because I walked away again and she said because of the quality she couldn't sell any lower. You never know how low they will actually go, so I'm planning on going back next week when Adair comes into town and giving it another try.

Another funny story that I forgot to share with most. When we first arrived Adam tried running the washing machine and the pipes had cracked over the winter so water started leaking everywhere through the apartment. It was also flowing down below into a ladies apartment. She came running upstairs and yelling at him in Chinese and he was more than flustered. He called our landlord and we had the plumbers there all day. They got the problem fixed and everything is fine now. We had another leak, very tiny, in our bathroom and so the landlord called another guy to come look at it. He didn't have to do anything because it was so minor, he had been there a half hour and so our landlord instructed us to go into the closet and he had left two packs of cigarettes in there and that we should give him those as payment. Sure enough it worked, ahha I couldn't believe it.Another fun fact is that we have a maid come for 4 hours a week and it only costs us $9. She lives in our building and cleans and irons, I love it!

Adair is coming into town this Saturday and will stay until the following Monday. We have a lot of cool things planned including a trip to the Philippines, the island of Boracay to be exact. Google it and check out some of the pictures, it looks incredible. I will keep you posted on how that goes and hopefully will have some good stories and pictures.

Arrival in Shanghai

Things in Shanghai are still going well. My first week is almost over and I'm exhausted. Not so much from the work but other things going on. WE closed on a place yesterday and got the place we wanted. It is close to the metro which is a HUGE benefit since I have to travel every morning. The other places we were looking at were twenty minutes away where the one near our house is 5 minute walk, right next to a DVD store, just picked up MIlk, Slumdog, Bolt, Hancock, Doubt an others for a mere $1 a piece. Our house is in an area called French Concession which have old tree lined streets. it is very pretty and you get a perfect mix of old China and Western influences. The house is what is called an old lane style house. It is not in a high rise, which there are HUNDREDS of around here, but rather in an old style apartment. We have a convenient store right across the street, a grocery store a block away, and we're only a 10 minute walk from Jamie an Juliana.

Our landlord is really nice and helpful. He lived in New York for 12 years so he likes Americans a lot. He kept telling us how corrupt China is and how if we can make it here we can make it anywhere. I can't get a good read on him if he's wealthy or not or just trying to play the role, hes in medical sales and talks about it a lot. He has helped us a lot though, for instance last night he drove us to IKEA just to be nice and helped us get our essentials, usually you'd have to take a cab. I was quite disappointed to come home and find that I got the wrong sheet size and am going to have to go back UGH. It's hard to get some things that are only written in Chinese but I can make do. It is also especially easy around where I live because there are a lot of French and English speakers who live there for business so a lot of the restaurants speak English. So do some of the street people for instance I was offered a "sexy massage, sexy massage," the other day that I passed up ha ha. 

As far as work goes I'm trucking along. I have to come up with a lesson each day which isn't that hard considering I only have them from 15-30 minutes. The only hard part is that this week I have to do it all on my own but next week we will start next lessons and I will have a book to help aid me. I have a big chunk of time off in the middle of the day while the kids nap which sounds nice but is kind of annoying because I don't get paid. The school is to far from my house to leave and come back so I'm stuck here. I've looked into joining a local gym nearby so I can get into shape which would be nice. They also feed me lunch here which is surprisingly good. There is always a TON of rice, a soup, a vegetable, a meat, and a fruit. It's crazy when they put the rice and soup on the table because Chinese people don't wait in line so it's every man for himself but there's always enough.

Some funny things I've noticed:
1) The air is so bad here that people have bad sinus problems, for example I was sitting on the metro the other day and the man across from me just cleared both of his nostrils right on the ground of the metro. This is very common in public and quite disgusting. 
2) Hygiene is not that important, kids come in the same clothes 3-4 days in a row and even adults don't keep themselves all that well. 
3) Things are a lot more lenient in some instances. For example we had to go to the police station to register our apartment with the police. Our real estate rep went with us since she spoke English and helped us out. I only have a visa for 90 days and will extend it later and my roommate Adam has one for 180 days and will do the same. She was asking why we were signing a year lease if we only had a little time here and the agent told them that we have family coming for in and out of Shanghai for the next year and they don't even know the difference. Everything here is pretty much negotiable which is nice but can get a little out of hand sometimes