Ni Hao from China - January 19, 2007
Trip Start
Jan 01, 2007
1
17
Trip End
Ongoing
Zhongshan, China,
China
Friday, January 19, 2007
Zhongshan, China
When I returned from my travels in 2003, I definitely wasn't ready to be home. Even though I had been gone for almost a year, I wanted to keep going. I knew that I wouldn't be able to afford to go on another trip like the one I had just done, so I figured if I could get certified to teach ESL (English as a second language), then I could travel to other countries, and get paid to do it! I researched many ESL certification programs, and in July, took a 5 day certification course through Global Tesol College. I wasn't necessarily planning to go anytime soon, I just wanted to have the certification behind me for when I was ready to go. By October, my job as a BCeSIS trainer wasn't fun anymore, and the money was no longer worth it, so I decided to pursue ESL.
I spent hours getting my resume package together so I could start applying for ESL jobs. When I finally had everything together, I sent my package off to John Zhang, at the Bond Language Institute (Bond), in Zhongshan, China on a Saturday afternoon, and was shocked to find a job offer when I checked my e-mail on Sunday morning. It felt like just because I was a native English speaker and I was breathing, that I got the job. After reassurance from my ESL teacher that this was normal, I decided to accept the job.
I left Vancouver on January 1st, and arrived in Hong Kong on January 2nd. I spent the night in Hong Kong, as I had to apply for my visa the next day. After that, I caught the 4:00 ferry to Zhongshan. When I arrived in Zhongshan, I was the only person who was pulled aside by Customs. The officer asked me to open my suitcase, and when I did, he browsed through my two books on China, then let me go. I continued to the waiting area, where Sparky, the driver for Bond, was holding a sign that said 'Welcome Ms. Gaye'. He drove me to Bond where I was introduced to a few of the other teachers, and to John Zhang, who had recruited me. We ended up going out for dinner (thanks, John!), and that was the first lunch/dinner of many free ones!
During the recruiting process, John was great. He always responded to my queries quickly and was always so professional and polite. It was good to finally meet him in person. As it turns out, he spends a lot of time in Richmond, BC. In fact, he will be leaving here in the next week to go there with his son, Julius. He will be gone for a couple of months and will be staying in a place that he owns at No. 1 Road and Francis. In Zhongshan, John is a very well connected business man, and has quite a business going with Bond.
I'm not crazy about the apartment that I am living in, and am in the process of trying to make some changes about my living arrangements. Currently, I am living with Lisa, a 25 year old girl from New York. We live in a place called Bi Hua Li, which translated, means Beverly Hills. However, it certainly is a far cry from the Beverly Hills that I know! I am in the smaller of the two bedrooms, and I sleep in a twin bed. It is rock hard, and feels like I am sleeping on a plank (alas, my feather bed is but a distant memory . . . . . . ). In Zhongshan, only buildings that are over 7 stories have elevators. As (bad) luck would have it our building is only 7 stories, and we therefore, do not have an elevator. We are on the top floor, so we are getting lots of exercises, and building up our quads and calves! It's bad enough having to go up 7 flights of stairs, but even worse when you've done grocery shopping! It would seem that because many of the people living in these accommodations are transient, they are not well looked after. Lisa and I have completed a long list of items that need repairing/replacing/painting. At one point, John was looking at buying another apartment that was more central for Bond teachers. However, since then, he has been looking at a new development that is about 20 minutes out of town. He talked about moving Lisa and I out there, and I really don't want to go. I hate the thought of being so far away from town, and will feel isolated if we end up living out there. However, the only other alternative may be to stay where we are. I'm not sure which is worse. I'm hoping that he will reconsider buying the place closer to town.
After arriving in Zhongshan, I had the first couple of days off so I could recover from jet lag, then I shadowed the other teachers for a day. I started officially teaching on Sunday, January 7th. My first class was with Jin, an 18 year old boy from Dalian, which is about 8 hours from Beijing. I was teaching him a TOEFL class, which is preparation for a test that he will need to take in order to study abroad. Although he was very quiet, he was a nice kid. One night when he saw me in the supermarket carrying all my groceries in my arms, he went and got me a basket, then walked around with me holding the basket until I was finished shopping. I understand from John that he is an accomplished piano player, and singer. Jin left on Tuesday to go back to Dalian to write his TOEFL test. Before he left, he said that he would be back in Zhongshan the first week of February. I hope that my schedule will allow me to work with him again.
The other class I had was an IELTS (another class which prepares students to study abroad) class with Sisi and Sarah, two 17 year old girls who will be going to England in September for 5 years to study law. They are so sweet, and their English is really good! They will definitely go far. I just had Wednesday and Thursday off, and on Tuesday when I told them that I wouldn't see them again until Friday, they told me they would miss me!
From what I can gather, you need to have experience to teach TOEFL and IELTS. Although it was a bit of a challenge teaching these two classes as my first experience, it is good that I can now add them to my list of qualifications:
Native English speaker
Breathing
TOEFL
IELTS
Last Sunday, I was given 4 new classes! I thought I had to do lots of prep for the TOEFL and IELTS classes, but that was nothing compared to what I have to do to prepare for 4 classes on Sundays. I had my first taste of teaching children, and boy oh boy, what an experience that was! Classroom management is a real issue, and I need to figure out ways to hold their attention. I can't say that I blame them for not wanting to be there. They go to Chinese school Monday to Friday, then English school on the weekends, so they don't really get a chance to be a kid. I brought lots of stickers, so hopefully I can bribe them! When I started each of the new classes, I introduced myself as Gaye from Canada and wrote my name on the board, but they kept referring to me as tee-cha, tee-cha.
I feel like I am spending so much time preparing lesson plans, and I wonder if that will change during the first year. I was also given a new class starting on Monday night, teaching business English. I'm quite excited about it, as it will be one on one. The woman, Pinky, needs the class for work. She works for a foreign investment firm, so that should be really interesting. Great, more prep!!
The weather here has been pretty cold, and I didn't pack for cold weather. It's not as cold as the weather at home, but we don't have any central heating, so it's hard to get warm at home and most people, including kids, wear their jackets in class. I ended up going out and buying a duvet and a blanket for my bed, and that has helped a bit. Also, John gave us a couple of heaters which helped, but you don't really get much heat from them unless you are standing right in front of them. The good news is that the weather is starting to get warmer, and I am now able to go to bed at night without a cold nose! I'm sure it won't be long before I start complaining about how hot it is!
I've been having quite a time with the food here. At first, I felt like I was just eating to stay alive. I have got to be the world's pickiest eater, and I wasn't enjoying the different flavours and textures. The Chinese food here is definitely not like the Chinese food at home. However, I am slowly starting to find foods that I like (and recognize), so eating isn't as much of an issue. Going in to the grocery stores is quite a challenge, as the packaging is in Chinese so you never know exactly what you are getting. Sometimes you can tell what it is by the pictures, but not all the packaging has pictures on it, and of course, nobody speaks English, so you can't ask somebody what it is. Fresh fruits and vegetables are safe, because their pretty much the same as they are at home. Needless to say, I've been eating a lot of noodles!! You can buy almost anything (and I mean ANYTHING!) here. I have seen tons of places that have chickens feet, and I'm thinking that there must be a lot of chickens in Zhongshan who must be finding it hard to get around!
Our apartment is about a 45 minute walk to work, but there are 2 drivers employed by Bond, and they go around picking up teachers to take them to the school. If I'm not working until later, then I like to walk in to work, but if not, then I wait to get picked up. If I don't feel like walking home, I can get a ride from one of the drivers, but I usually have to stop at Bai Ja (kind of like Wal-Mart) so I end up taking a motorbike home. You pick the bike you want to take, then they give you a helmet, and you hop on the back. It costs about .65 and is a great way to get around.
I have been pleasantly surprised by the traffic in Zhongshan. I thought it was going to be horrendous and although it isn't perfect, there isn't really that much. However, as a pedestrian, you really have to have your wits about you, as pedestrians seem to be low man on the totem pole when it comes to right of way. Even though you have a walk sign, you still have to watch for oncoming traffic. Also, sometimes cars and motorbikes ride on the sidewalk. I have learned to walk to one side of the sidewalk instead of in the middle.
Zhongshan itself is very clean, as far as garbage goes, but there is a lot of smog. It is a very pretty city, and there are flowers everywhere (probably even more so than Victoria!). The streets are really wide, and it's pretty easy to get around.
Today was my day off, and after spending a few hours preparing lesson plans, I decided to go out exploring. I ended up coming across a market that had everything from fish to eat, and fish to have as pets, turtles, birds, clothes, furniture, kitchen goods, food, vegetables - you name it, the market had it. Among other things, I ended up buying a beautiful orchid for about $3.25. After spending an hour or so at the market, I decided to go for a foot massage. There is a place that does them not far from where we live, so I decided that I would go on my way home. After I was able to communicate that I wanted a foot massage, the girl showed me in to a room that had a big easy chair, and a TV. She motioned for me to sit in the chair that was reclined all the way back, then she turned on the TV and left the room. She came back a couple of minutes later with a glass of hot water, and a place of cut oranges. The girl that was going to do the massage came in with a wooden bucket, and a big, silver kettle. She lined the bucket with a plastic bag then poured the hot water that was in the kettle, into the bucket. At first, I thought the water was dirty, but then I realized that it had a bunch of herbs in it. She placed my feet in the hot water, placed me on a stool, then proceeded to give me a back and neck massage. At first, I wondered if I hadn't communicated properly that I wanted just a foot massage, but it felt so good that I didn't care, and I let her continue. After soaking my feet for about 10 minutes, she had me sit back in the chair, and started to work on my feet. I can't even begin to explain how good it felt, and she must have massaged my feet for close to 50 minutes. When she finished massaging, she placed a towel over my lower legs, and said something in Chinese that I didn't understand. I wasn't sure if she was finished, so I decided that I would wait for 5 minutes or so, then start to put my shoes back on. She ended up coming back in with hot towels for each of my feet, and for my lower legs. She then proceeded to massage my flabby thighs! The 'foot' massage ended up being a total of 70 minutes, all for $5. Ah, life is good in China.
Until next time,
Gaye
