The flight to Beijing took thirteen hours. We flew up over Greenland (which is not green!!), over the North Pole, and I saw the Gobi Desert. I was even lucky enough to have opened my window shade just as we flew past the Great Wall (I could see it in the distance). As we landed, the Captain came onto the speaker and welcomed us into China...he then surprised all of us by welcoming the seven American teachers to China and wished us the best of luck with our 'adventure'. We thought it was fitting that we left our nation's capitol and arrived in the capitol of our new home for the year.
We picked up our luggage pretty quickly, the green suitcases were a good idea and so were the pink bandanas I wrapped around the straps. I, out of everyone in the group, packed the least, this I found shocking!! So now picture this, the seven of us dragging our huge rollies on carts, walking through customs in a crowd of hundreds of Chinese people with signs to pick up travelers. People were staring at us and pointing. I think we were all a little culture shocked at this point, especially since we had NO idea where we were going or who we were meeting!! Finally, one guy in the group spotted a sign with "Tongliao #1 Middle School) and seven names on it. Holding this sign were three Chinese men, Sunny, David, and Jay (English names). We soon found out that Sunny and David were teachers at the school, and Jay was Sunny's younger brother who is a student at the school.
They informed us that we would be staying in Beijing for a night so we would need to send our checked luggage up to Tongliao via overnight train. This hysterical process took over an hour. (the picture is posted.)
Beijing reminds me of Washington D.C. but MUCH BIGGER. There are some skyscrapers but I think Shanghai is going to be much more like NYC. I have never seen a place that is so excited for their future as I did in Beijing. The Olympics are advertised EVERYWHERE. On beer bottles, water bottles, signs everywhere....people walk around wearing shirts and hats with the Olympic rings, awaiting August 2008. There is a huge countdown in the middle of Tian'anmen Square. Everywhere you turn, there is construction...new buildings about to be built and finished, and there is a new Subway system for the Olympic Games which was finished way in advance.
We had a great dinner with Sonny, Jay, and David. I already began observing some of the customs that occur at a typical dinner in China. For example, the chinese love to "cheers!!!" The host will say a cheers and the go around the table clinking glasses with each person. To make a very long story short, we probably set a record for "cheersing" with the pint-sized piju (beer) bottles and this resulted in all of us passing out at 8.
After breakfast, we took public transportation (the bus) to Tian'anmen Square. It has got to be the largest public square in the world. I got to see the big portrait of Mao!! I remember telling Mr. Roper Sophomore year in high school (in Asian history class) that I wanted to take a picture with the Mao picture and I did! I really wanted to go into the mausoleum and see his body but there wasn't enough time...The square itself is full of people selling memorabilia. This is where some good bargaining can happen. For the most part, they are selling Mao watches and Mao's little red book. They are really annoying sellers (get up in your face).
The funniest thing that happened here were the photographs. We took a lot of group shots, and each time we did, we would notice a small crowd growing around us, taking pictures of us!! Some even begged to be in the picture with one of us. People stared at us, pointed, took pictures of us when they thought we weren't looking. I noticed a small crowd following us at one point...It was so funny, like we were celebrities.
The group has been teasing me because I was permenately attached to the hip of David during this trip in Beijing. I practiced my mandarin with him constantly and learned new words for different places we visited and things we saw. I can now tell time! How could I not take advantage of this opportunity? David calls me "Shee-Laa, a very good student". Quick funny story...I learned how to ask "how much is this?" and as we were walking through the square, one of the many people selling things came up to me and shoved a book of Mao stamps in my face. A.J. joked and said, "Practice asking how much!" So I said to the lady (with no intent on buying it) "Duoshao qian?" She answered with some outrageous price and I said, "Bushi" (no). We hadn't taken ten steps when I turned my head and she was in my face again!! Now everyone started laughing hysterically, and I told her "Bushi Bushi Bushi". I learned a quick lesson, Don't show interest unless you plan on buying it.
The rest of our day was filled with shopping in the very popular Wangfujing shopping district (similar to 5th ave) and lunch at a very old restaurant in Beijing (where more Piju was consumed, and many more cheers!) After this we were so tired. So we used the Beijing subway (it is soooo clean and actually very pretty) to go to the Train Station. We waited in a waiting room of thousands of people for our train (1-2 hours). Here, we played UNO (the card game) and people stared. We noticed at least ten older men walked by staring at the cards. People just could not get enough of the strange looking "waiguoren" (foreigner)
The train ride was not as bad as I thought it would be. It was a twelve hour trip. We left at 7pm monday night. We had "hard sleepers" which cost $21. These are three beds on top of each other. I ran for the middle bed! Kim gave me a tylonel pm and I took it at 9pm, I think I was asleep at 9:15. We were all exhausted!
In Beijing I experienced my first "squatter." It's not pleasant, let me tell you. Now imagine a squatter on a moving train. This equals = disaster! The air in Beijing was just as I had read about. The sky was smoggy and the air felt unclean. I have never felt so dirty in my life! My hand sanitizer and "Wet Ones" antibacterial moist wipes have been my best friends here.
Before I left America, about 90% of the people who knew I was moving to China asked me the same exact question. "Why China?" I have heard this question so much and have answered the same way each time. I could only think to answer it with "Why not?" Even on my trip to China, a flight attendant, an English speaking Chinese teacher in Tongliao, and a school official have asked me the same question. I am still responding with "Why not?" Hopefully I can soon answer this question, but as of right now, why wouldn't I take advantage of this great opportunity to learn the language and culture of a fascinating country across the globe? Stay tuned...
We had a great dinner with Sonny, Jay, and David. I already began observing some of the customs that occur at a typical dinner in China. For example, the chinese love to "cheers!!!" The host will say a cheers and the go around the table clinking glasses with each person. To make a very long story short, we probably set a record for "cheersing" with the pint-sized piju (beer) bottles and this resulted in all of us passing out at 8.
After breakfast, we took public transportation (the bus) to Tian'anmen Square. It has got to be the largest public square in the world. I got to see the big portrait of Mao!! I remember telling Mr. Roper Sophomore year in high school (in Asian history class) that I wanted to take a picture with the Mao picture and I did! I really wanted to go into the mausoleum and see his body but there wasn't enough time...The square itself is full of people selling memorabilia. This is where some good bargaining can happen. For the most part, they are selling Mao watches and Mao's little red book. They are really annoying sellers (get up in your face).
The funniest thing that happened here were the photographs. We took a lot of group shots, and each time we did, we would notice a small crowd growing around us, taking pictures of us!! Some even begged to be in the picture with one of us. People stared at us, pointed, took pictures of us when they thought we weren't looking. I noticed a small crowd following us at one point...It was so funny, like we were celebrities.
The group has been teasing me because I was permenately attached to the hip of David during this trip in Beijing. I practiced my mandarin with him constantly and learned new words for different places we visited and things we saw. I can now tell time! How could I not take advantage of this opportunity? David calls me "Shee-Laa, a very good student". Quick funny story...I learned how to ask "how much is this?" and as we were walking through the square, one of the many people selling things came up to me and shoved a book of Mao stamps in my face. A.J. joked and said, "Practice asking how much!" So I said to the lady (with no intent on buying it) "Duoshao qian?" She answered with some outrageous price and I said, "Bushi" (no). We hadn't taken ten steps when I turned my head and she was in my face again!! Now everyone started laughing hysterically, and I told her "Bushi Bushi Bushi". I learned a quick lesson, Don't show interest unless you plan on buying it.
The rest of our day was filled with shopping in the very popular Wangfujing shopping district (similar to 5th ave) and lunch at a very old restaurant in Beijing (where more Piju was consumed, and many more cheers!) After this we were so tired. So we used the Beijing subway (it is soooo clean and actually very pretty) to go to the Train Station. We waited in a waiting room of thousands of people for our train (1-2 hours). Here, we played UNO (the card game) and people stared. We noticed at least ten older men walked by staring at the cards. People just could not get enough of the strange looking "waiguoren" (foreigner)
The train ride was not as bad as I thought it would be. It was a twelve hour trip. We left at 7pm monday night. We had "hard sleepers" which cost $21. These are three beds on top of each other. I ran for the middle bed! Kim gave me a tylonel pm and I took it at 9pm, I think I was asleep at 9:15. We were all exhausted!
In Beijing I experienced my first "squatter." It's not pleasant, let me tell you. Now imagine a squatter on a moving train. This equals = disaster! The air in Beijing was just as I had read about. The sky was smoggy and the air felt unclean. I have never felt so dirty in my life! My hand sanitizer and "Wet Ones" antibacterial moist wipes have been my best friends here.
Before I left America, about 90% of the people who knew I was moving to China asked me the same exact question. "Why China?" I have heard this question so much and have answered the same way each time. I could only think to answer it with "Why not?" Even on my trip to China, a flight attendant, an English speaking Chinese teacher in Tongliao, and a school official have asked me the same question. I am still responding with "Why not?" Hopefully I can soon answer this question, but as of right now, why wouldn't I take advantage of this great opportunity to learn the language and culture of a fascinating country across the globe? Stay tuned...
2 comments:
Hi Sheila, It is great to hear news of your oriental adventure and that you have arrived safely. I am looking forward to reading more of your blog as you document your further adventures.
Keep up with the War Stories! they will come in useful.
Andy
Sheila! I am so excited to read all the details of your trip, it is so funny and of course I was horrified to hear about all the pollution :(. Miss yoU!
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