TeachingAbroad

Was this a trip! Arriving from Shanghai to Baoding was quite the shocker. Needless to say, Shanghai was basically Chinatown in Chicago or Vegas on speed full of Chinamen. We traveled as a group to touristy areas, everyone we touched base with had some knowledge of the English language, and most nights we partied in foreign friendly bars. Coming to Baoding… whole different story.

Stepping out of our baggage claim, we were greeted by our Waiban named Mary. A waiban is an English speaking person who is basically in charge of our every move. From what I have heard it can get somewhat annoying as they have to always be aware of all your actions, since it reflects on their own teachings of Chinese customs. Overall, she seemed fairly pleasant as she held up a white piece of paper which stated “Mark and Alina” in bright yellow highlighter… quite comical… I guess a permanent marker just couldn’t do the trick. I was then helped by a heavy set China man with my luggage and could hear him huffing and puffing due to the weight factor.. yes… each over 60 lbs… 5 months ok?? We were also greeted by two children who apparently had just been picked up as well. They were both Russian, and have just arrived from Kazakistan. They were both going to study Chinese at our school, and later informed me they know approximately seven languages….Wow! And may I add, spoke English fluently. They both live in my building, the Foreign Experts Building (and what an expert I am considering I never took proper English grammar), right across from my room.

Before arriving at our school we had to stop in Beijing so that Mary could purchase books for our school. As she stepped out of the van, she informed both Mark and I it would take approximately 15 minutes. Needless to say, the Chinese have no notion of time. They will say “we are going to the store later,” and when you ask “what time?” they will say “ok later I will tell you.” You then follow up by asking for a specific time, they will respond “I will knock on your door.” Questions like “do I have time to take a nap?” or “should I grab some food in case we don’t come back in time for dinner?” arise… but yet there is no one to answer them. Even going to dinner we will eat for like 45 minutes and they will come with the bill two to three hours later… they take time for everything! Basically.. never make plans for the next three to five hours, even when you are just going to grab breakfast. For examle, today we left around four-ish to buy some bare necessities.. it is now past 10pm… Mary does tend to accommodate us by giving specific times, which is great… you just never know how long out excursions might take.

Back to Mary’s book shopping… we were then left there for over an hour. It was over probably over 80 degrees and had no water. I had to go on a water search 45 min later or else I was going to pass out in some random university in Beijing. I also watched two teams playing futbol (soccer) and took some pics for Travis to see. All in all, a somewhat tedious experience. Mary finally came back and we once again started heading towards Baoding. We stopped for gas and then again to use a public bathroom. First time in China… I had to use the squatter… yes, the squatter I said… for those of you who don’t know… you don’t want to know. Thank God I always carry mini tissues with me at all times. Came in handy for sure!

Four hours later… keep in mind Beijing to Baoding is a one hour distance by bike… j/k… by car… we finally took the Exit sign towards Baoding City…and yes, it does say Exit in English underneath the Chinese writing. Entering Baoding, it looked like a fairly modern city… as we got closer… it looked like the South side of Chicago… shacks everywhere and torned down buildings replaced the sky scrapers and high class shopping malls of Shanghai. The people I encountered resembled some seen on the history channel… some 5000 years ago… I was in a state of shock to witness the poverty of China… and be hit by the realization that this will be my home for the next five months. I was still hoping maybe the private school we will be teaching at might be a diamond in the rough… those hopes came to an end as I entered my living quarters…. negative five stars to say in the least….

As we approached the school… after turning left on a long farm road (I saw a donkey today right outside the gate… and Mary asked me if I have ever had donkey meat… it’s a delicacy in Baoding) I began to feel knots in my stomach… we were then driven into our school by the Taxi which stopped in front of the Foreign Experts Building. The heavier set China man helped us with our luggage as we entered the building.. to the left was a public bathroom, each with three squatters… filth covering the walls… at that point I wanted to break down and cry. Mary led me to a door which opened into my office. It was a fairly large white room with a mahogany desk, a small computer unit with and a fridge…but the walls were dirty with marks of soccer balls at the bottom…overall, a filthy room which resembled an insane asylum. The floors were filty, the walls were disgusting, and I was hesitant to touch any items fearing the infection of malaria or some other Chinese viruses. At first I almost broke down, thinking this would be my living quarters… but then I looked to my left to find a fairly large bedroom. Once again, the conditions were almost inhumane as filth seemed to be a common living condition. The bathroom had a filthy tub, a toilet which is basically manually flushed, and a shower which almost flooded the first time I used it… the water leaks everywhere, which explains why past residents never bothered to remove the mildew next to the toilet and tub. There is no point… which is the motto I have taken on when trying to clean this God forsaken place. I spent all of Sunday trying to clean… but it all looks exactly the same… I at least Pledged the furniture and Windexed my sink so I know it’s somewhat disinfected and usable… I then swept and ensured all cobwebs have left the room. Yes… they were everywhere… and considering my fear of spiders… I have had about 12 mini heart attacks thus far… I might be forced to leave before my five months is up…due to heart failure.

After arriving and seeing our rooms, Mary took us to dinner at approximately six o’clock. We were then directed to the foreigner’s cafeteria… where no one except like five people eat… and were given a complimentary dinner. The next day we had to buy a card and put about 50 yuan on it… about $10.. which will probably last us the month. We were also given a small bowl, a mini plate, and a spoon…which we use each time we dine… I felt like I was in a soup kitchen… LOL! We were told we will get the tour tomorrow as Mark and I returned to our rooms. We then got together to share our feelings of sheer disbelief. We figured some other’s living conditions must be worse… and later found out it was definetily so… Kyle and Phil had enormous cockroaches… so bad they were given a hotel room… and they also get no heat during winter since they are south of the river… I felt much better… yes… I am a horrible person! But I did empathize as best as I could.

Before going to sleep… I felt homesick and shed a tear… I wanted to go back home.. and almost broke down as I explained Travis my living conditions… it was hard to paint a picture as I still cannot explain it in words. It makes me sad that for others this might be luxurious. I realize how lucky I am and how much more I will appreciate everything once I come back. I also realized that Mark and I are the only foreigners in the whole city. While driving from the airport, Mary kept telling us there are many foreign teachers which teach German, Russian, etc. and I felt myself getting excited to meet everyone. It hit me hard I supose, when I realized they are ALL Chinese teaching foreign languages…I decided to toughen and up and went to sleep on the notion that tomorrow will be a better day.. and you know what?? It somehow managed to be.

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