On to week two…
A few days without posts…I regret to say nothing truly enthralling happened. Thursday ended my week of teaching, since my freshmen classes don’t start until this week. Although I was relieved to have survived my first week of teaching, Thursday was a low point in my adventures thus far. I hit a point where I had had enough extreme changes and missed the comforts of life terribly. This is definitely not something I’m proud of, but I feel like sharing it is important because of the stress that a change like this can put on a person. Such little things can build up and I feel like I had handled them quite well up until then. The breaking point? Something probably quite trivial, but I think for everyone there is a point that crosses the line. Mine was the malfunctioning of my iTunes. Fortunately, I can use it, I just cannot download anything, for whatever reason. Again, trivial, but there are just some things that get you through, and music is my thing. I will survive, but it was the straw that broke the camel’s back. I had enough, which wasn’t the worst part– that was feeling extremely guilty for wanting some of the luxuries I was used to, when clearly I am in a country where people live without these frivolous things every day and survive. Well, in the end, I just needed to have a good cry (a realllly good cry) and have some sense talked into me from Mom and Ryan, although it did consist of many “But, you just don’t understands” on my part.
I think another huge part of this meltdown was the extreme changes to my identity here, which I think is true about anywhere you travel. Although I don’t feel defined by vanity, adjusting to some of the lack of routine (not straightening my hair, no dryer, wearing jeans and tennis shoes a lot) was huge. Superficial, but true. Also the change to being a minority, both in looks and language can wear on you. Although it is amusing to have Chinese people stare and often scrutinize (such as the contents of your grocery cart), after a while, I found it hard not to want to just be “regular” and blend in. Anyway, take all of my cultural adjustments as you will, but until you’ve uprooted your entire way of life, please just take these as a person trying to find their place in new surroundings and not just as someone who is spoiled by American life.
Well, on Friday I was determined to survive China. So, a trip to Carrefour and some more life necessities spruced up the apartment a little more, particularly improving my bedroom. The quest for a mop was also successful, and even included a very impressive demonstration of how the mop was truly the best of the best. Unfortunately, the Ferrari of mops turned out to be a mess to assemble (yes, assemble) and resulted in me wearing more of the dirt and probably the longest string of profanities in China to date. All in all, a productive day.
Saturday we (David, Rachelle, Havvah and I) had a date to partake in one of the other Western restaurants and brainstorm lesson plans. For a change the weather was super-nice, so I think that helped improve morale. The French onion soup and onion and cheese bread I had probably also helped. Saturday night we decided to venture out and see how the local bars measured up. We ended up at a foreigners’ bar, which was pretty interesting, and resembled home in the way of a dive bar. I don’t drink beer, but tonight called for one, and for the price (8 kuai, so just a little over $1 for a liter of beer), I dealt with it. Unfortunately, beer tends to make you hungry for lots of salty, greasy things…I never wanted Perkins so bad in my life (disgusting, I know).
Sunday I knew I needed to work on my presentation for the English department hardcore. I was also starving for a wholesome meal. I had limited resources, but figured I could give my pancake mix a shot. It never stood a chance. My American cooking skills are not stellar, so combine that with a hotplate in another language and that spells disaster, or in my case, pancake batter burned to the bottom of my $1 frying pan. I’m sure my poor quality pan didn’t help either. Oh well. Luckily, Rachelle returned and I was able to borrow her can opener. Let me tell you that spaghetti and canned corn never tasted so good in my life! Also, foreign microwaves are a little less intimidating, as well. Yeah, so then on to tackle the presentation of my classes that takes place Tuesday…blah, what a challenge. You try making academic writing exciting and meaningful for classes where the majority of my students don’t actually want to be English majors, but aren’t allowed to change. Oh well, I guess we’ll get through it together. Hopefully my other class will go well.
Monday was two classes, bright and early in the rain. I’ve also become one of those teachers who is covered in chalkdust…and I don’t even care, because I’m just happy to have something to write on. Anyway, we ate supper at a great Korean restaurant, and they actually had fried rice, so that was heavenly.
So, moral of the story? I guess just taking one day at a time, and some days might be pretty bleak, but there’s always a new one to give it a shot again.
Tags: Travel
