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Another week has gone past and I have officially been in Fuzhou for two weeks and 2 days now! Sometimes it feels like time is going past so slowly, and then other days it feels like it is flying past! for what I have experienced and seen, it doesnt seem possible in two weeks, but then the time that I start and finish work makes it feel longer. It is hard to describe.
Anyway, so I have started teaching, and as of this week I have 4 classes, so teach 8 lessons per week! I dont think I am capable or responsible enough to have this pressure. The children's knowledge and learning is in my hands, and to be honest that is a lot of power and responsibility. But that is also where the fun is. There is so much fun in teaching the children, though they can be disgusting and exhausting.. some of the culture here is hard to understand, who holds mucus in their hands? or refuses to blow their nose with a tissue? But that aside (antibacterial spary and wipes are essential) the kids are funny.
Observing one senior class, I was asked if I was married. I said no, and there was shock! Someone my age not married, but then there were the subsequent offers.. That was slightly unnerving. Other questions the studetns asked each other varied from "what is your name?" to "are you a virgin?" They are 12! I was stunned. I dont remember being that hormonal at that age! Who knows. All i can say is that the children are teaching me as much as I am teaching them. it is very refreshing and eye opening.
On my two days off I managed to get into the sort of trouble or predicaments that i always manage to, I havent quite figured out how to avoid them yet, that is still in working progress.
So On Monday I decided I was going to go to Panda World and see the pands. It is right next to Xi Hu so I couldnt get lost. I walked along the edge of the lake, taking in the still breathtaking sights, and saw the sign. I followed it around and saw school buses arriving, and loads fo children, and thought it must be an amzing place! We hardly ever got taken to a zoo when we were at school, but then again the Panda is the national animal. I was considering at this point maybe going another day, as there were loads and loads of children! deciding no, i was going to go today, I walked over, and went to go on. Security guards came towards me and ushering me out. I was so confused. i asked what was wrong, but he didnt understand English, but the look he gave me was universal. Bemusement. What was there that was funny? I went to go in again, and then saw people laughing at me! I'm confused at this point and a little embarrassed, though nothing compared to what I felt 2 seconds later when i realise this isnt Panda World, - iwas trying to go to a Chinese school!! Parents were laughing at me!! Mortified, I turn around very quickly, no way of hiding - Im the walking white (now red) giant, and walk up hill, just then noticiong the sign saying panda world is further up the hill! i could have died of humiliation. Oh well, I now know that there is a school across the road from me.
When I finally get to Panda World, I have returned to my normal casper self, and head straight for the ticket office, noticing it is 30 RMB to go in. Thats fine, I hand over 100,and she starts talking at me in Chinese. Why oh why did I go on my own when I dont know chinese? after panicking and looking around, I calm down and think what can she be asking me. She is frantically pointing at me now, and then I realise - Yes I do only want one ticket! pointing out the fact that I am on my own, great. I sulk up the hill now, feeling deflated by my inability to do the most simplest of tasks, and then i see them. The pandas sat in their enclosures, and to be honest looking rather sorry for themselves. I would be too, the enclosure leave alot to be desired. Very basic and boring. You would go stir crazy in a small place like that. i start moving around, and now someone else is screaming and point ing at me wearing a uniform. What have I possibly done now??
she realises I have no clue what she is saying, so manages to get out ticket.. i show her my ticket and she seems placated. Really Really need to learn more chinese faster. Going around the 'zoo' tiny place, everything seems closed. i go to the Butterfly enclosure and it is all padlocked up. i go to the working dog enclosure, i can see them, but they are all locked up, i go to the museum, it is all locked up, and reminds me of the scene from jurassic park 2 where they go back to the abandoned museum, only to be followed by velociraptors.. My imagine is going a little wild i must admit. But it has the feel of an abandoned zoo, minus the fact that the animals are there and there is food in the cages, and that random people scream and point at me..
I find the other bears, and suddenly i feel as if my heart is breaking. they are in cages not much bigger than themselves, and there are pictures of them performing. These are the 'lesser' bears. They arent quite as important as the Pandas and therefore are treated second rate. I am appalled, and thank ful that there is no one there to see the clear disgust and heart break written all over my face. the red Pandas fared better, i suspect as they panda in their name. They areall so cute, apart from the forlorn looks of the sun bears, the asiatic black bears, and even the grizzly bear. i go around the zoo twice in about an hour. second time the museum is open, and it smells and looks like an abandoned museum. Though the animal organs placed randomly around the exhibition are very freaky! and the pictures of Pandas being operated on. unfortunately no cameras were allowed, which was written not only in chinese but also english, so no way i could get away with pretending i didnt understand. Feeling sick by now I leave, just as a chinese tourist group comes in. they of course spot me and a sea of 'hellos' 'lei wa' and pointing with cameras emerging, I run.
So my reaction may have been a bit extreme, but seriously I have never had my photo taken so many times in my life, and been sober! So running away was my good idea. I ran as far as the pagoda in Xi Hu, and my breath was just taken away by the sheer beauty of the place. the surroundings, and natural beauty, not man made, it literally can leave you breathless, even if you have seen it before. There is so much of the place that i havent seen, which was only magnified on Monday when i came to a different part of it. I literally can lose myself in the park, sit down with the older men playing there card and board games. All the time in the world. it is surreal.
Well that was my monday. Tuesday wasnt much better. i spent the most of the day inside, it still being freezing, and when i do emerge I figure i will go and walk down Old Street. Styupid as I am though, I forgot to take my camera. Here you need to have your camera on you at all times! it was stunning. no vehicles are allowed down the road, and it has the homes of the Min dynasty. The red lanterns are still hanging in the street from the red lantern festival, and security is abdundant due to the history of the street and the carvings, the museums, the statues. I will be going back to take more photos.
After my amble down old street, I go to good old Walmart. i need a new pillow. The mattress being like a slab of stone I cant do much about, but having a decent pillow I can. So I go to Walmart, pick up a pillow, and then walk around the store (entourage in pursuit) seriously, I have never felt so watched before, its unnerving, and they do it so shamelessly! Manage to get out, and think i will go and get the latest twilight movie. One thing China doesin English is good quality English movie, very cheap. so I wind through the street, not getting lost (go me!) and end up in the store. it is here that I am sequestered by a chinese family. A woman, her child and man start talking to me in chinese. I tell them that I dont understand, to no avail. they start rubbing their stomachs and making eating gestures. I think they want money for food, but no. they indicate that I should follow them.. isnt that how ,most horror movies start? The unsuspecting and gullible victim follows strangers to some unknown location.. I tellthem I dont understand and continue perusing the DVDs. In the end the lady at the counter storms over to them and shoo's them away from me, trying aimlessly to block me from their sight.. I am feeling very awkward, and sorry for the family, but I have no clue.
I later find out from Brycie that Chinese families normally want to feed foreigners as a sign of hospitality, or as a status thing - to be seen with a white foreigner is a huge deal. How was I to know? But I still wouldnt go off with strangers who I dont understand and eat random food. Apparently being white and tall and not having brown eyes is a huge deal here. they even have moisturiser with skin whitener in it - the whiter you are the more beautiful you are.. this has put a whole new twist to things. white people are always striving to get a tan, and it seems chinese people are striving to be whiter.. Even Indians avoid the sun as they want to be whiter. I had no idea. A whole new perspective, and it is only the beginning of any real adventures here.
My chinese has somewhat improved now. I can at least ask how much, understand figures and numbers now, and say that I am a vegetarian and dont eat meat! I can also say stop, sorry, thank you, please, where is the bathroom, and I want this/that. I have my next lesson imminently and I am determined I shall master at least the basics of pinyin and speaking. Not much hope for the reading and writing yet!
I have probably missed out loads, but its only the beginning of week three!
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