Happy Holidays from China with love

It was the strangest feeling walking through the malls here this past month.

Just like at home, there were dazzling ten-foot-tall Christmas trees and yards of sparkling lights strung along the streets and storefronts. Cheerful Santas and smiling snowmen lounged about in meticulous wintery tableaus. Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” blared incessantly from strategically placed speakers.

But unlike home, I knew I would be returning to a cold, empty apartment for the holidays. And instead of rolling out of bed Christmas morning to make waffles and take pictures around the tree, I would be at school teaching.

I've missed Thanksgiving a couple times due to my travels, but never the Big 3-- Christmas, New Year's and my birthday. And, to be honest, I wasn’t thrilled about the idea. Christmas has always been my favorite holiday. The smells, the warmth, the hint of surprise and mystery, that slight sparkle that everything seems tinged with as the day draws closer. I didn’t want to wait another 365 days to celebrate.

If living abroad has taught me anything, it has taught me to be adaptable. To make do. To Macgyver whatever situation you find yourself in and turn it into an opportunity.  

So this year, Christmas was introducing my students to Elf. It was forgetting the lyrics to “Winter Wonderland” while performing at the school’s Christmas Eve program. It was a can of Vanilla Coke for the Chinese teacher in the cubicle behind mine. It was a shared meal of rice and noodles at a new restaurant we found. It was singing Christmas hymns at church and praying for the safe return of our deported pastor. It was finding neither wrapping paper nor gift bows and settling for reusable grocery bags and large pieces of stationery paper. It was sitting with my brother in my little apartment and surprising each other with a gift that was somehow exactly what we both wanted and needed.

It was not like home. It was not Christmas as I imagined it should be. It was Christmas in China and I’ll never have another like it.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year’s to all of you, dear bloggies!

(For pictures from our Christmas Eve program at school, click here.)

Upon closer inspection

I'll soon be able to say that I've been in China for four whole months. Since that first vlog, when I talked about the three things that stood out most to me about China, I've been able to expand that list quite a bit. The longer you stay anyplace, the more its little eccentricities begin to show themselves. The following is a list (I know, another list. I promise the next post will be a proper entry) of all those eccentricities that I have witnessed or experienced firsthand, and that have surprised, amused or annoyed me over the last four months.


No personal space. I don't know that this one caught me too off guard. I mean, c'mon, I'm living in the most populous country in the world. Space is not a readily available commodity. And Ecuador taught me that yes, it's okay to stand so close to someone in the grocery line that your shoulder might double as their breast rest. (Yes. That happened.) Still, after having been in the states for several months before leaving for China, it took another round of readjustment to acclimate to having people all up in my business all the time. It bothers me less and the less the longer I'm here. But I still occasionally find myself inching ever so gradually away from the person breathing down my neck at WalMart just to see if I can maintain a respectable distance. It never works.

Line jumping. While we're on the topic of lines, let me share another Chinese social custom that I've learned to grit my teeth and bear. On countless occasions (mainly at the grocery store, but also at the Entry/Exit Bureau the other day), I have been waiting patiently in line when a harried man or woman comes rushing up the line, jumps right in front of me and hands their items to the cashier to be checked out. Thankfully, in most of these instances, the cashier will honor the fact that I was there first and will tell the person they have to wait while they check me out. On a few occasions, however, I've been forced to wait while the line jumper conducts their business and goes on about their merry way. This same "me first" mentality applies to getting on the bus as well. A few weeks ago, I was nearly stampeded by a group of aunties (elderly Chinese women) who were trying to get around me to get on the bus first. And the bus wasn't even full! *sigh* I know patience has never been my strong suit so perhaps living here will finally instill some in me. But still, my American self doesn't like it. Not one bit.

Women's fashion. One misconception that I had about China--that was quickly laid to rest--was the idea that women here dressed fairly conservatively. In my head, I viewed China as a traditional, highly structured society, and conservative dress seemed to just go hand in hand with that. I was so wrong. Like wrong wrong. Women's fashion in China tends to fall into two categories: sexy-borderline-inappropriate and babydoll. Let's begin with the former.

First, forget mini skirts. Let's just jump right to micro-mini. Like so mini I'm pretty sure you're just wearing a longish shirt. And don't worry. This is an all-inclusive,non-discriminatory look. If you're 55 and still want to step out in booty-baring clothes, more power to you. Just don't forget to add a pair of rhinestone-studded, clear, 5 inch heels to polish off the look. The same goes with shorts. The shorter the better. And if it's 50 degrees out? Don't put on pants. Just throw on some sheer pantyhose underneath and keep rockin' your Daisy Dukes. I kid you not, the other week this 50+ year old woman came marching into the canteen in tights, booty shorts, clear heels, a red, curly perm and a full face of makeup. As inconspicuous and understanding as I try to be when living in foreign countries, I will readily admit I stared. For awhile. And then felt slightly awkward and looked away. And then had to look again because what?!

On the opposite end of the spectrum we have the sugar and spice brigade. Remember those frilly, ruffly, bow-y, cotton candy party dress confections our mothers used to dress us in for birthday parties and Easter Sunday? And those cuffed party socks with the ribbons and ruffled edges that perfectly matched the cotton candy contraption we were wearing? Yes. Now imagine grown women walking around in slightly larger versions of those and instead of our patent leather Mary Janes they're wearing heels. Just. Imagine.

Now, I know I'm sounding terribly American right now. There are of course women who have found a happy medium and resemble neither a stripper nor My Little Pony. And one thing Chinese women are conservative about is covering up on top. As much as they like to show off their legs, showing cleavage is a huge no-no. And, thankfully, most of the women do tend to wear spanx underneath their micro mini clothing. However, if your skirt is so short that I can see that you're wearing spanx, I still feel like there's an issue that needs to be addressed.

Spitting. This one I knew about before coming to China. It was right up there with squat toilets. Every blog, guidebook, and acquaintance who had lived in or visited China felt the need to mention it. Now, I understand why. Everyone here spits. Everywhere. All the time. Men, women, children, young and old alike. They hock loogies like it's their job. And it's not a silent affair. Oh no. If you're going to do it, everyone within a 2km radius needs to know just what you're hacking up. And no, you don't need to find a patch of grass or someplace out of the way of foot traffic. Last week, some guy spit on the floor of the bus! I'm not an incredibly squeamish person, but that. That got me.

Nose picking. Apologies to all of my weak-stomached readers but this one has been a real personal trial for me. If it was just one or two instances, I would have just dismissed it as a distasteful anomaly and forgotten about it. Regrettably, it is a widespread condition. And this is no quick flick or scratch and snatch we're talking about here. These are full-on nasal expeditions that go on for a good 15 to 20 seconds (if not more!) and with no attempt to hide said actions. But that's not even the worst part. The worst part is that the majority of these offenders have been adults! Needless to say, my hand sanitizer rarely leaves my side.

Butchering meat. I feel like the Chinese take the whole concept of "butchering" very literally. In America, when we go to the butcher's to get meat that has been butchered, it generally means that someone has taken the time to carefully separate the meat and bones into nice little edible segments like thighs and steaks and ribs. Here it means that you take a chicken or duck and just hack it to pieces helter skelter. I had duck for dinner tonight and while the heaping serving I received looked quite filling, almost 75% of it was inedible bone and gristle. This is almost always the case. Nicely sliced meat is more expensive and often requires a trip to a nice restaurant or a nice butcher shop. My running theory is that this "helter skelter butchering" is popular because it makes the meat easier to grab onto with chopsticks. But who really knows?


Now, please take all of these reflections with a grain of salt. These observations cannot be readily applied to every Chinese person or China as a whole. All of my perceptions are tainted by my own upbringing and American-ness, and what I see as distressing or hilarious is the product of my social conditioning.

However, I think it's good to include posts like these when I travel. We all make our way through the world carrying around grossly exaggerated cultural stereotypes or romanticized versions of exotic locales. Not everything we encounter in our travels is glamorous and alluring, and not everything lines up with our standards of how things should be. This is why we travel. To be confronted with the things that make us uncomfortable or impatient or maybe slightly queasy. Then we ask ourselves Why? 

If you only complain about your new environment and stop there, you have wasted an opportunity. But if you make it past that place to where you are able to sift through what you think and how you feel and why you behave a certain way, and then on to what others think and how they feel and why they behave a certain way, then you have done something more. You have begun an intercultural exchange--a dialogue--that creates compassion and understanding and self-growth. In that moment, global citizenship is no longer a hip buzzword you toss around over lattes at Starbucks. It is something your personal exchange is actively contributing to.

The biggest small blessings

In light of the recent Thanksgiving holiday, I wanted to take a moment to share some of the things that I’ve come to appreciate after spending the last few years living and traveling abroad. Most of the items on this list are things I’ve become grateful for after living in developing countries and countries where I don’t speak the language. But some of the things on this list are simply things that I took for granted as a country girl moving into urban environments. Whatever the reason, moving outside of home and my comfort zone has heightened my thankfulness in so many ways.

This year I am thankful for…

A shower with hot water AND water pressure. I remember coming home from Ecuador and literally giving thanks every time I took a shower and hot water came out of the shower head. I remembered days in Ecuador when we had no gas which meant no hot water which meant no shower and I had to resort to a quick splash in the sink. (Or a bone chilling speed shower which I could never force myself to do.) Coming to China, I was thrilled that I had my very own water heater installed in my bathroom. The water was a mild trickle but it was HOT! And then, after a month or so into my stay, the school replaced all of the showerheads and now I have hot water and amazing water pressure. I can’t tell you how ecstatic I am every time I take a shower. Oh, the magnificence of being pelted by scalding hot water… it’s a beautiful thing.

 A kind local who is patient enough to sort out your gestures and monosyllabic vocabulary. This has become a very big deal for me here in China, but it also was a factor in Ecuador when I had first arrived and was getting my rusty Spanish back into working order. There is nothing more frustrating or humiliating than when you’re at the grocery store (or the bank, or the bus stop, or a restaurant…) and you simply can’t make yourself understood AND the local you’re trying to communicate with is unfriendly. I’ve had my fair share of locals who’ve simply dismissed me when they discover I’m working with a limited (or nonexistent) vocabulary. But then there are those kind and saintly souls who stop what they’re doing and patiently walk you through how to get from point A to point B. Or take the time to decipher just what exactly it is you’re attempting to order. Or break out their own limited English to help you purchase a train ticket. In those moments the barriers of language and culture suddenly dissipate, and you are just two people rediscovering all of the words in a smile or a touch. I love those moments.

Finding a new favorite food. We all have our comfort foods we run to when things start to fall apart. But often times in new countries, our “food crutches” are not always readily available. So I love when I come across a new dish or snack that is readily available in my new country and that fills the hole left by my longings for a Chipotle burrito or a burger from Five Guys. Having said that, however, when you do find your favorite food or snack it’s like the heavens have opened and poured out their delicious goodness upon you and suddenly the whole world is sunshine and Skittles.

One foreign friend. Of course when we’re in our home country, we take “our people” for granted. Whether it’s your family or friends or your awesome co-workers or the eccentric neighbor next door who still dresses like it’s 1975 but always gives you the best popcorn tin at Christmas, we all take for granted that these are people with whom we share a common culture and similar values and ideas. When you’re transported thousands of miles from home and suddenly find yourself in a country where people spit everywhere or don’t understand the concept of punctuality, you have to have that one person who just gets it. Living abroad can be quite a trying experience at times and there is nothing quite like suffering through the adjustment to squat toilets together that creates an unshakeable bond between two people.

Being able to celebrate your faith.  One of my primary concerns when coming to China was having to go yet another year without being part of a church community.  This goes hand in hand with my previous comment, but having people around you who think and believe as you do is such a wonderful support when home is thousands of miles away.

American TV shows and movies. Imagine with me: It’s Saturday. The rain is coming down in buckets. You have nothing to do and can’t go anywhere even if you wanted to. You’ve got on your comfy sweats and didn’t even bother putting in your contacts. You’ve stockpiled a handsome amount of popcorn and chocolate. Vegging out in front of the TV for a few hours is just what the doctor ordered. You  grab some pillows, snuggle up on the couch, turn on the TV and..….you can’t understand a word that’s being said. You flip through 20 more channels with the same results. And then--there it is! English! Saturday is saved!!  You sit straight up and flip back one channel to that angelic voice, hoping for reruns of Law and Order or, heck, Gilmore Girls. The screen changes….aaand it’s CNN. Welcome to China.

A home that is (mostly) insect free. For those of you who’ve read up on my brief Honduran encounter, you know that I had quite the infestation problem in my little home there. There was literally not one room in the house where I could sit down without being disrupted by an ant or spider or roach or gecko. Being able to walk about my apartment freely without fearing who may be waiting around the corner for me does wonders for my peace of mind. Even now, every time I get up for a midnight bathroom run I give thanks that there are no large black shapes scurrying into the dark as I approach.

Fast, reliable, unrestricted internet access. I hate to admit it, but when I’m abroad I’m pretty attached to my internet connection. At the risk of sounding melodramatic, it’s my lifeline. It’s my only means of communication with everyone back home. It’s where all of my entertainment comes from (sorry, CNN). It’s my journal where I document all of my adventures. And it’s one of my few windows into what’s going on back stateside. So when the internet is down, or running incredibly sloo-o-o-wly, or my VPN is not cooperating and I’m stuck behind China’s ridiculous firewall, well I realize just how much I appreciate my seamless connection in the states.

Grocery stores within walking distance. Now this is definitely one of those things that has much more to do with moving from the country to the city than it does living abroad. In the country, grocery shopping involves getting in your car and driving to the closest Walmart or Kroger where you proceed to stock up on everything you’ll need for the next two weeks. In the city, you might go to the grocery store multiple times a week (!!) because 1) you can only haul so much back with you sans car and 2) bulk food does not fit well in a tiny apartment. As a result, I am always beyond thrilled when I find a large, well-stocked grocery store mere minutes from my flat. Having to hike up my six flights of stairs multiple times a day is workout enough and knowing that I don’t have to haul my groceries five blocks or wait ages for the bus is a HUGE blessing.

A seat on the bus. Another country girl moving to the city thing. When you’ve got a 50 minute bus ride ahead of you and it’s late and you’ve had a long day and your back hurts, there is nothing more heavenly than snagging that last seat on the bus. Who knew hard plastic chairs could be so comfortable?

A/C and/or heat. I feel like as Americans we are pretty picky about keeping all of our environments perfectly climate controlled. As soon as the first bead of sweat starts to form, on goes the A/C. And at the first chilly gust of winter wind, the heat comes on full blast. And yes, I am one of those people--I hate being too hot or too cold. Having to sweat it out in the 90 degree heat and not having that switch to flip for instant ice cold air or shivering in my uninsulated apartment with the cold tile floors and unsealed windows and doors with only one space heater to spare has shown me how much I just expect to have both of those things. Now when I am nice and toasty or cool and sweat-free, I always take a moment to appreciate it.

Family and friends who put in the effort to stay in touch. I know long distance relationships are hard. It takes a certain amount of motivation and effort to keep in contact with someone who is miles and multiple time zones away. So whenever I get an email or text or a simple “Hi, how’s China?” on Facebook--or better yet, a care package from home (gold!!)—I know that I am blessed with people who truly care about me despite the time and distance. And who are willing to sacrifice their time and money and sleep to send a little joy my way.

I am so thankful for each of these things, big and small. Most of all, though, I am thankful that I have been given these wonderful opportunities to live abroad so that I may grow into a person of gratitude who can see value where so many others may not.

HK in 2 Days

My brief trip to Hong Kong was the first time I’d left Xiamen since I arrived here almost three (!!) months ago. Trust me, it was a much needed break.

While there are certainly things I enjoy about living in China, traveling to a truly international city replete with other foreigners and plenty of English was just what I needed to put a little spring back in my step. Between the incessant staring, the trials of teaching, and the monotony of our cafeteria food, I was more than ready to hop on a fast train south to experience a little excitement. Even though the purpose of my trip was to (finally!) get my work visa, I was much more excited about the idea of shopping for American brands and eating food that wasn’t Chinese.

I set off on my mini-adventure bright and early on Thursday morning. I had not reserved a ticket for the train and was simply hoping that if I showed up early enough I would have no trouble securing one.

Getting to the station proved to be an ordeal in itself. I ended up crammed on the back of a bus and was unable to get off at my stop because my foot got caught in the door. (Figures.) I got off at the following stop and then had to run all the way back (and right through a massive mud puddle) to just barely catch the bus I needed to transfer to.

Once I got to the station, I was hoping that there would be at least some English to direct me to where I needed to go. No such luck. The ticket windows were ensconced in Chinese and I had no idea which line would get me a ticket to Shenzhen. I breathed a quick prayer and hopped in the shortest line hoping for the best. (The best being an English speaker of some level who would understand my near non-existent Chinese and frantic hand gestures.)

Thankfully, that’s pretty much what I got and ended up with a ticket leaving at 8:50 to Shenzhen.

I knew the train ride would be almost 4 hours, and once I arrived in Shenzhen I knew that I would need to take the subway to the China/Hong Kong border and then from there take another subway to Causeway Bay where my hostel and the visa office were located. Based on that information, I figured I would arrive in Causeway Bay around 2:00pm, leaving plenty of time to get to the visa office and then relax at my hostel before doing a little exploring.

After all the trips I've taken, I should’ve known better than to assume such things. As it turned out. I arrived in Causeway Bay well after 3:00pm and proceeded to get myself lost. (C’mon, Hong Kong. You need street signs at every intersection!) As the clock ticked closer to 4 o’clock (the visa office closed at 5), my panic levels skyrocketed and I began to formulate a Plan B. I decided if all else failed I could always stay and leave on Monday.

As I wandered down yet another road (without a street sign), I noticed with a wave of relief that one kindly business had posted their full address on their wall, including the street name. I was walking in the right direction!

Moments later, I raced into the visa office praying for short lines and an accommodating visa officer. Again, no such luck. There were 77 people in front of me! I grabbed my number and sank down in the frigid air conditioning to wait my turn.

As I sat there silently shivering, I noticed that there seemed to be quite a few people being turned away due to, what seemed to be, a lack of documentation. I was terrified that after traveling all the way to Hong Kong and arriving in the nick of time and after waiting for the 77 people ahead of me that I would make it to the window only to be rejected due to some minute detail I had overlooked. So every five or ten minutes, I kept taking out my visa application and reviewing it for phantom errors lurking between the lines.

My number--330--was finally called. I walked sweaty-palmed up to the window and gingerly placed my information in the tray. I was just waiting for everything to come crashing down around me.

The visa officer flipped through my passport and application and it seemed like everything was as it should be. Just as a sigh of relief started to escape my lips, she paused and my heart froze.

“I need your Hong Kong visa.” I frantically scrambled around the corners of mind trying to determine when and if I had ever acquired such a visa. Nothing came to mind.

“I—I don’t have a Hong Kong visa,” I responded nervously.

She insisted. “Your visa. I need to see your Hong Kong visa.”

Again I replied in the negative.

With a long-suffering sigh, cultivated to perfection after dealing with thousands of inept foreigners no doubt, she pointed to a small square of paper that looked exactly like the one I had been given at the Hong Kong border. It was literally barely larger than a postage stamp and I had had no idea that that insignificant little slip of nothingness was my visa. I silently thanked my lucky stars that I hadn't chucked it like I had originally planned and slid it to her under the window.

After that, everything was smooth sailing. I was told that I could pick up my visa the following day at 3pm and was sent on my way.

After having been so tightly wound since departing that morning from Xiamen, I almost didn't know what to do with myself. I literally had to take a moment in a nearby bathroom stall to keep myself from collapsing into a soggy heap of tears of relief.

But I was starving and my back ached from hauling around my backpack all day, so all of that melodramatic nonsense was quickly squelched and I was off to find food and shelter.

Happily, the rest of my time in Hong Kong was quite pleasant. It mainly involved me wandering around the area near my hostel. It was perfectly situated smack in the middle of Causeway Bay so I had easy access to all of the big stores and shopping centers like SOGO and Times Square, as well as some amazing restaurants. I took full advantage of this time to indulge in those “American” pastimes that I had been missing. Like sipping coffee at a legit coffee shop and buying my first pair of Toms. And some things less "American" like digging into a heavenly plate of Pad Thai or a steaming bowl of Japanese ramen. I even stumbled upon my favorite cookies from Australia, Tim Tams! I also managed to squeeze in a bit of sightseeing and spent Friday morning strolling around Victoria Park.

For lots more info, pics and footage of my HK experience, click the video below. And be sure to click here to check out my Facebook album as well!

(Please note: Most of the video was taken on my cell phone hence the smaller size and lower quality.)

China Ed 101

I mentioned at the end of my previous vlog that I'd had a bit of an eye-opening encounter with the Chinese educational system. I've been wanting to expound on just what I meant by that, but it's been quite the task finding a spare minute to do so. Wonderfully, we were given a random three days off from teaching for the middle school and high school's sports days.

Problem, solved.

So like I said in the video, I feel like the perception we Americans have of education in China is pretty flawed. Now, I hate to generalize, so for all of you enlightened Americans out there who already know how it all goes down in Chinatown please feel free to find other reading material.

But, if you're anything like me, you have this idea that Chinese students are an intelligent, elite super-force of academia that are soon to take over the world because, well, our pokey educational system is just not up to par.

Let's clear a few things up, shall we?

First, yes. Yes, Chinese students tend to excel in the maths and sciences. And, yes, Chinese students also tend to score high on standardized tests. But before you start converting your dollars to RMB, let's look at why this is the case.

Chinese schools seem to revolve around two things: rote memorization and the idea that more is better (my Chinese co-worker told me that we have Mao to thank for that).

Education here is about the result, not the process. Students do not learn how to learn, they learn information. They are not taught critical thinking skills or the creative application of their knowledge or abstract thinking or anything in which the information they ingest can be used outside of the framework in which it is presented to them. They learn to take in information and regurgitate the same information in the same manner.

This is why math and science are such strong subjects for them. Math involves a lot of set formulas and systems that supply you with consistent results. Math requires us to memorize things because their facts and figures are unchanging. Twelve times two will always equal twenty four. And if I ask you to memorize the twelve times table and then give you an exam to check if you know it, you'll probably ace it. (Or you'll be like 8-year-old Amanda and write all the answers on a slip of paper because, c'mon, the twelve times table is hard.)

However, if I ask you to take two unrelated objects, say a paper clip and a water bottle, and combine them to create a new object, well, that requires a completely different skill set.

This same "just memorize it" thinking applies to standardized tests. Students here really only apply themselves when they know a test is coming. If they have the SAT coming up in, say, two months, they will spend that entire two months, twelve hours a day, studying for it. Test prep books, outside lessons, practice tests, whatever it takes to get a high score. Yet there is no concern for whether any test-taking skills are actually learned in the process. The score, the result, is the only thing of importance.

Take essay writing, for example. You don't learn how to write an exam essay, you simply memorize several different essay answers and copy the same answers on the test, perhaps tweaking a few things here and there to try and make it fit whatever the question is asking of you.

One of my students summed up this whole learning fiasco quite well. I was chatting with her about her post-graduation plans and she told me that she really wanted to become an architect. She feared that she wouldn't be able to, however, because she lacked creativity. She told me, "I can copy other's work really well, I'm very good at it. But I can't think of my own ideas. I have no creativity, and I think because of that I won't be able to become an architect. Do you think maybe I could work as an assistant?"

That is the problem with Chinese education. These students may go on to be excellent engineers or scientists, but the percentage of them who will be making new discoveries or reinventing our world or starting movements is very small.

The other half of the problem is the whole "more is better" mantra of China. Students here work round the clock. Students are in their classrooms by 7.40 every morning and, depending on their grade level, they finish their evening classes and study halls at either 9.30 or 10.30 at night. They receive a two hour break in the middle of the day to eat lunch and take a quick nap and around two hours in the evening to eat dinner, take a quick shower, and perhaps get a little bit of "fun" time in. Many of these students also take additional lessons outside of school.

I privately tutor a student (not from Xiamen Yingcai) and in addition to his regular five day school week he spends Saturdays with me and a math tutor, leaving Sunday as his only "free" day, which he spends doing homework.

The result of this hectic schedule results in exhausted students who sleep in class. Like, all the time. That's actually one of the biggest issues I've faced here. These kids just can't keep their eyes open, and understandably so. I mean they make me tired just looking at them!

So, between the surface-level learning and the chronic exhaustion, the average Chinese student leaves much to be desired.

Unfortunately, this approach to education "makes sense" in a country with a population as large as China's. The government requires a system that keeps aspirations and creativity low in order to function.

Now, of course, this is my blog and these are my opinions. The whole purpose of this blog is to mark my reflections about the world as I travel through it and not dish out hard, cold facts. There are obviously Chinese students out there who don't fit this mold and who, hopefully, will go on to have a positive impact on their country and the world. And I could just as easily write a whole other entry about the plight of the American educational system.

So having said all that, what do you think, bloggies? Thoughts? Opinions? Any in adamant opposition of what I've remarked on? Any who have had similar or dissimilar experiences teaching in China? I'd love to hear from any and all of you!

Until next time...zaijian!

The Three (or Four) Things

Yes, bloggies, I've already been in China for over a month! One down, nine more to go. As past experiences have proven, these next nine months will be over much quicker than seems humanly possible.

So per my blogging tradition, I've put together a vlog to reflect upon what this experience has been like so far. Speaking eloquently is not (nor has ever been) my strong suit, but if you'd like a more personal take on my time here in China, grab a cup of tea, snuggle into your favorite chair, and enjoy the two videos posted below. :)

(Even though I tried really hard not to, I did ramble excessively. Hence, the two part video. You can look in the description box of the videos on YouTube to see exactly what I'm droning on about when, so feel free to skip around.)

Click here to check out the pictures that I refer to in the second video. There are also pictures from the lake around the Marco Polo area of Xiamen (nicknamed that because of the famous Marco Polo Hotel located there) which I did not mention in the video. 

"Beauty" and a drink: My First Chinese Dinner

Eating a meal in a foreign country is often an event, usually an experience, and almost always speaks volumes about the culture of that particular place.

Sitting down and sharing food with a group of people will generally tell you all you need to know about what a society values, the rules of social interaction, gender roles, etc. 

This past Wednesday was our "beginning of the year" staff meal. All of the teachers in the International Education department were invited by the school to have dinner at a local restaurant. I was thrilled. While I (mostly) enjoy the food in the dining hall, it can get monotonous eating there twice a day, everyday. So, yes, I got a little excited to hear that I would be eating in the "outside world" and that someone else was footing the bill.

Prior to this meal, I gleaned from Loren and Maffi that alcohol was to play a huge role at our little gathering. Apparently, business dinners do not happen sans drinking. I've heard that there is actually a Chinese saying that goes, "No social ties can be formed in the absence of alcohol." In fact, people will hire other people to drink for them at these events if they are unable to do so. Yeah, it's that important. 

After classes finished on Wednesday, all of the teachers and our superiors walked around the block (like, literally around the block) to the restaurant. The men smoked outside while we waited for everyone to gather and for the restaurant owners to prepare our tables. 

Smoking, especially for men, is very common here. It is a rarity to find a grown man who doesn't smoke. While neither the teachers or the students are supposed to smoke at school, you can often catch a whiff of cigarette smoke as you pass the boys' bathrooms during break times or after lunch.

When our entire party had gathered we were ushered upstairs to a small air-conditioned (thank goodness!) room. The men all sat at one table and the women, who were in the majority, occupied the other two. Most of the men hold higher administrative positions and are the "superiors" I mentioned earlier, but even the men who were simply teachers sat at that table. The only women "allowed" to sit there was the head of the English department, Ella, and her assistant, Sunny (the woman who hired me). I'm sure this isn't news to anyone, but there's definitely still a strong sense of male dominance in Chinese society.

We were each given our own set of flatware: a saucer, and two small bowls, and "silverware": a spoon and chopsticks. The food was delivered family-style on large platters or in large bowls, but we did not use serving spoons to pile up our plates and then eat. Instead, we would take our chopsticks, grab a bite to eat, eat said bite, and then go back in for another bite. The bowls were only used for the soups and the small plate was there simply to hold bits of bones and leftovers. My chopstick skills are quite good, but even so, it was a bit tiresome having to lean in to grab something off of a platter every time I wanted to eat. There were also a few "tricky" dishes, like the whole fish and the meat served in sauce, that refused to cooperate with my multiple chopstick attempts and forced me to grab my spoon and angrily scoop up the offending food bit.

As soon as we were seated, the food began to arrive. And it didn't stop arriving! I had no idea how many courses to expect for this dinner, but somewhere in the back of my Western-conditioned mind I was thinking: appetizer, entree, dessert. Ha! 

Thinking back now, I can't even recall each dish because there were so many. I do remember potato soup, seafood soup (with squid, mussels and shrimp), pork, shrimp, fish, chicken, noodles, mushrooms, a few different types of vegetables... I truly lost count. As soon as I was sure we had reached the end, the waitress' head would pop up over the edge of the staircase and there she would be with yet another food-laden tray while we scrambled to re-arrange platters to make more room.

In between this somewhat chaotic stream of dishes, our bosses, Mr. Gao, Mr. Tao, and Mr. Zhong, began to make their way around the room to start making toasts. Up to this point, the "womens' tables" had only been offered tea and coconut milk to drink. All of the cases of beer had been dutifully deposited at the "men's table" where they drank a few cold ones to kick off the meal. Now, they were ready to share their bounty.

The process went something like this. One of the men would come to our table. We would all stand as a sign of respect. He would make sure all of our glasses were topped off with beer before he delivered a short toast. Then we were all expected to drink. People who did not drink the entire contents of their glass were mocked and cajoled until they had done so. And then the process would begin again.

Thankfully, I wasn't the only one who wasn't fond of beer and many of the teachers, including myself, would joke and plead off drinking anymore. The men were quite persistent, though. They would call the women mei nu (pretty girl) and, for me, the English word, "beauty" to convince us to share one more drink with them. It actually turned into a bit of a competition between Mr. Gao and Mr. Zhong to see who could get the women to drink more. Mr. Gao employed a clever technique in which he toasted us each individually so that we had to drink up (as it would be incredibly impolite to refuse a direct toast from your superior!).

At the end of the night, when the dinner was winding down and people were beginning to disperse, Mr. Gao attempted to reel me in for one more round of drinking with him. "Three glasses," he told me, a huge grin on his face. "Three more glasses of beer and then we'll be finished." At this point I had already had four (?) glasses and certainly did not need another. I smiled right back and politely declined. Loren was sitting right next to him so I told him that he and Loren could compete with each other instead. Mr. Gao immediately shook his head, wide-eyed, "No, no! It's not competition, it's friendship!"

And there it was. The staunch Chinese belief that alcohol is the lubricant of relationships. 

It's one thing to read about a social custom in a guidebook or in the ramblings of an expat's blog. Or to wax poetic about cultural differences or the wonder of culture shock. But when you find yourself actually confronted with one of those moments, it always gives you pause. Here it is, you think. Here is one thing that makes this place special. That makes it different. That makes it not home. Here is one thing that makes me stop and consider their culture and my culture and evaluate just what it is that keeps our American relationships "well-oiled".  

I love having moments like these. As I mentioned months ago in one of my Ecua-blogs, often during the course of living abroad you find yourself falling into the humdrum, day-to-day rut that we all find ourselves in. You forget, Hey, I'm in China!, and you no longer stop to appreciate the fact that you are thousands of miles from home in a country and culture completely apart from your own, and there is just so much to learn and experience, and none of it should be taken for granted. 

I've decided that's going to be one of my goals this year. To constantly be mindful of those Hey! I'm in China! moments. I have a little over ten months in this beautiful country and, as Ecuador showed me, ten months is not nearly as long as we've been led to believe. 

So I'd like to end this entry with a toast. (It seems only right.) A toast to all of us, whether abroad or at home. A toast to being appreciative of where we are and who we are and where we are going and what we are learning to become. Here's to Hey! I'm ____! moments.

Cheers!

My Xiamen address

I've had several requests over the past few weeks for my address here in Xiamen and I finally have it to share. My apologies for the delay, but I wanted to verify that it was correct and that I was using the correct format. (Actually, I'm still not 100% sure this is the correct format but apparently most Chinese people aren't either and their mail seems to get sent off just fine.) All of the important information is included, though, so if you do decide to send something it should make its way to me eventually!

Amanda McCarther

Xiamen Yingcai School

No. 63 3rd North Road, Xiamen

361022 Fujian

China

Mid-autumn festival and exploring Xiamen

This past Monday was the mid-autumn festival here in China.

I know what you're all thinking.

MID-autumn?! It's not even the beginning of autumn yet.

Remember, though, China works on the lunar calendar, not the solar, and on the 15th day of the eighth month of every year, the Chinese (and Koreans and Japanese and Vietnamese) celebrate this holiday.

I can't really comment on the festival's origins or traditions since I didn't really partake in any. But I'll include a link here so that you can read up on it if you're interested.

The two things that I did do was eat moon-cakes and play bobing, also know as "moon-cake gambling." The interesting thing is that we teachers actually played bobing at the school on the last day of class before the holiday. Apparently, gambling on school property is not frowned upon. And what's more, the school actually gave out cash prizes to the winners! I wound up with 40RMB, Maffi won 30RMB, and Loren was the big winner with 100RMB. We were also all given a cash "bonus" for the holiday as well.

I purchased the mooncakes at one of the local grocery stores. Mooncakes come in all shapes, sizes, and flavors so I chose chocolate, sweet potato, and jasmine tea. Traditionally, mooncakes have egg yolk in the middle to symbolize the moon. In the pictures below (of my chocolate mooncake) you can see the little bit of yellow peeking out.

We foreign teachers decided a better way to celebrate our three day holiday from school would be to explore the south of the island.

Now, Xiamen is an island, but there are also parts of Xiamen located on the mainland and that's where I live. All of the touristy spots, however, are on the island and Maffi and Loren assured me that the south of the island was the place to be.

So on Sunday morning we hopped on bus 946 and took a quick 30 minute ride south. It was a gorgeous, sweltering, 90 degree day. Perfect for sightseeing--and regular bouts of heat exhaustion. 

We began our excursion at "Little Taiwan" where we perused the seemingly endless alleyway of wall to wall food and fruit stalls. The majority of the vendors catered to seafood lovers and I saw everything from lobsters to octopus tentacles to whole fried squids. There was also more traditional fare like dumplings and ice cream. I was completely overwhelmed with the array of sights and smells that seemed to float from every direction. I was definitely ready for a snack after our little bus ride but every time I was sure that I had seen the most delicious thing to eat and was ready to buy, my eye caught something else. The end result being that I made it down the entire alleyway without making a single purchase.

Yes. Those are octopus tentacles. On a stick.

I think I could get a week of meals out of one of those bad boys.

We left Little Taiwan for Zhong Shan Lu which is the "walking street" of Xiamen (appropriately called that because it's a pedestrians-only street). There we found an eclectic blend of restaurants, cafes, clothing stores, jewelry stores, food marts and, of course, WalMart. The brands ranged from  obscure, foreign companies I'd never heard of to things like Nike and Sephora. Along the way there were also a few stages set up for televised events to advertise different products.

Occasionally, we would come across an employee standing at the entrance to a store loudly clapping their hands at the passersby. In answer to my questioning look, Loren explained that the "clappers" were used to attract people's attentions and draw customers into the store. Ever the actor, I had to restrain myself from bowing or curtsying as we walked by our clearly adoring audiences.

Along "walking street," Loren found a small food stall that he had visited before which made exquisite spring rolls for 3.5RMB (about 57 cents). With our hunger satisfied we opted for another short bus ride that would take us closer to the beach.

Before rushing off to the sand and waves, we visited the Nanputuo temple, a gorgeous religious complex full of shrines, statues and exquisitely designed buildings. I know I've been in China for almost two weeks but aside from the language barrier and the people it hadn't really hit me that I was in China until I saw the entryway to the temple. 

Here at last was the China that we see in the movies and drool over in the guidebooks. Here was the quintessential image of the East that's been firmly stamped in our minds since we were kids. Finally, finally, I had made it to that fantasized version of China. 

The grounds of the temple are extensive and due to the heat we only explored a small portion of it. Still, what we did see was breathtaking. Unlike some temples, this one allowed photography and I wandered around snapping shots of the architecture and of the devout paying obeisance to the array of gods perched behind glass panes or sequestered away in candlelit alcoves. 

We did wander a little ways up the mountainside and came across a small shrine tucked away in a small cave. Here people (or perhaps the monks?) had left statues that apparently had continued to grow into a collection over the years. 

(apologies for the poor quality--it was really dark in there!)

The main building of the temple actually involves a hike up the mountainside so, with a promise to return in the cooler month of November, we contented ourselves with the ground level buildings and then went off in search of lunch. 

One of the biggest problems I've faced so far in China is the simple fact that I can't read anything! So something as simple as finding a place to eat can be quite difficult. Especially if the entire menu is in Chinese and has no pictures. So the two things we usually look for when scoping out a restaurant is 1) whether they have menus with pictures and 2) whether or not the restaurant is full. A busy restaurant is typically a good restaurant and a safe bet for a meal.

After wandering up and down a few streets we came across a small place that seemed to match our criteria so we sat down and hoped for the best. We were pleasantly surprised. For less than $2.50, I wound up with a heaping plate of exceptional beef and noodles!

The last leg of our trip was a brisk walk from the restaurant to the seaside. Check that. It was 90 degrees so it was more like a slow, perspiring shuffle. Regardless, we made it in about ten minutes and gratefully plopped down in the sand under the shade of the overpass. 

Since I've been spoiled by Australian beaches, I've got pretty high standards for them. This one ranked somewhere in the middle. It was mostly clean and the sand was soft and smooth. The water temperature was warm enough that I didn't let out my customary squeal, but not so warm that it wasn't refreshing. However, the water was pretty muddy and I could feel a fair amount of sediment and other "sea bits" rummaging between my toes as I waded around. Loren assured me that the "good" beaches were further along the coast so more exploration is in order. But until then, I can certainly content myself with this one. The ocean is the ocean and it still mesmerizes me wherever I am.

Per Chinese culture there were very few people actually in the water or out in the sun. Here the ocean is just something to look at or briefly stroll next to. Sunbathing is very uncommon since the Chinese prefer to keep their skin light. I had expected people to show up with swim gear and sunscreen and instead I found myself smiling at the primly dressed women in their frilly sundresses trying to make their way across the sand in high heels. (Yes. High heels! They wouldn't even take them off at the beach. Did I mention that Chinese people are obsessed with height? Here tall is beautiful and it is rare to see a woman walking around without a heel, wedge or platform of some kind on her feet, regardless of what she's doing. They'll even go hiking in them!!)

Our day concluded back on "walking street" where I found some delicious fruit sorbet to top off the afternoon. All in all, it was a relaxing and informative excursion and seeing as south Xiamen is only 30 minutes away, there will be countless more trips there throughout the year.

If you'd like to see all of the pictures from my trip, just click here!

First week of classes

The first week of classes ended this past Saturday and now that I have three days off to relax and process everything I can finally fill you in on what teaching's been like so far.

The school day here begins at 8:00am sharp and ends at 4:20pm. Each class is 40 minutes long with a ten minute break in between. Because the students here don't have lockers and wouldn't be able to haul their fifteen pounds of textbooks with them, they stay in one classroom the entire day and the teachers are the ones who rotate. Lunch is from 12:00 to 2:00 and during that time both the teachers and students head back to the dorms for naps. (Who knew siestas were a thing in China?)

My schedule is different each day so I teach anywhere from three to five classes depending. Fridays are our "flex day" so we administer mock IELTS exams to the Senior 3s in the morning and have the rest of the day off. In my opinion, a 4 1/2 day work week is the best kind of work week. ;)

As for the students, the first thing I'd like to say is that some of the English names these kids pick are just straight up bizarre. I have one girl named Kaiser and another girl named Roy. One student goes by the name Funny, another is called Joden, and one of Loren's students is named Animal! I mean, what? How on earth am I supposed to keep a straight face when I ask Funny to stand up and answer a homework question? These kids....

I can honestly say, however, that I'm quite fond of the majority of them. They are attentive (mostly because they're curious about the unhinged foreigner wildly gesticulating at the front of the room) and polite and seem to have at least some interest in learning English. I obviously have a few classes that I prefer more than others, but there is only one class that literally makes me want to leap headfirst through the nearest window.

One of my Senior 3 classes consists of eight boys. They are the less advanced Senior 3s and, for all intents and purposes, are the "remedial" class for their grade level. As such, most of them firmly believe that the only reason to come to class is to simply change sleeping positions from their bed to their desk. I have the misfortune of having two back-to-back 40 minute blocks with them on Tuesday mornings and I spend 78 of those 80 minutes slapping their desks to keep them conscious. Sleeping in class is actually a problem in quite a few of the classes here and it is common for the head teachers to walk around the halls during class to rap on windows and wake up students. This is a rather ineffective method, however, since as soon as the teachers move on the heads fall right back on the desks.

I've since come to the realization that there is simply no point in letting "my boys" shoot my blood pressure into the stratosphere. Yes, they sleep in my class and don't want to participate, but it happens with everyone who teaches them and no one else seems to be concerned. So I keep on lecturing and address the two or three students who are attentive and want to learn something and leave the rest of them be. I just find it funny that all of the boys in this class have told me that they are planning to go to university in the US or Australia and yet they see no point in improving their English. Oh, what a rude awakening awaits them...

Thankfully, I have great fellow teachers who I can vent to about any and all frustrations. Both the other foreign teachers and the Chinese teachers are super friendly and helpful and are definitely one of the best perks of this job. To the best of my knowledge, the newest foreign teacher has been hired and should be joining us the week of the 15th. He's from the Philippines, like Maffi, but is a fluent speaker and comes with eight years of teaching experience. I expect that he'll fit right in to our merry little group.

Xiamen Yingcai School

Now that I'm only a weekend away from beginning classes and have a better sense of what I'll be teaching this year, I thought I'd do a quick expo-blog on my new school.

This year I'll be teaching at Xiamen Yingcai School's International Education Center. Xiamen Yingcai is a private K-12 boarding school with around 3000 students and 600 faculty and staff. The International Education Center is specifically devoted to preparing Xiamen Yingcai high school students for future study at universities in the States (or other English speaking countries).

Outside of the International Education Center

As of right now, I will be teaching Senior 3 Advanced Writing and Senior 1 Speaking. Class sizes are about 20 students per class which I'm pretty happy with. Anything bigger and it can be harder to keep tabs on everyone and anything smaller and it limits the amount of activities and exercises you can do.

The staff at the Center is made up of both native and non-native English teachers. I haven't officially been introduced to everyone yet, but the Chinese teachers I have met so far all seem incredibly friendly and helpful. We all share a huge office partitioned off into mini cubicles so I'm sure we'll all get to know each other quite well this year.

At the moment, the foreign teachers consist of myself, Loren (USA), and Maffi (Philippines). There was supposed to be another American girl joining us but she had to drop out at the last minute. They're holding interviews now to fill the position so there should be a fourth member joining our little party shortly.

The campus itself is huge (over 41 acres!) and has computer labs, a library, art center, gym, outdoor Olympic--sized swimming pool, a huge music department, etc., etc. It's easily larger than the small university I attended for undergrad. It's also relatively close to the downtown area of my neighborhood so most of what I need is within walking distance.

Below are a few pictures (as promised) of the school and the supermarket:

View of the basketball courts and some of the buildings on campus

Construction in front of Sun Square (the front of the school)

Kindergarten building

ji

Sidewalk outside of the school--on the way to the supermarket

Our two level supermarket with escalators!

Xia-wha?!

Since this is my first post about China, I feel like I need to preface it by saying that these are my first, fresh-off-the-boat impressions of Xiamen. They are largely impressions and not facts and will undoubtedly change over the course of my time here.

I like to do these "first impressions" entries because in ten or twelve months its always amazing to look back to where I started and where I ended up. Living abroad changes you in so many ways and sometimes, unless we document those changes, we miss them altogether.

So. Xiamen...

The very first thing that popped into my head as myself, Sunny (a fellow English teacher), and our polite but tight-lipped driver made our way from the airport was that Xiamen reminded me an awful lot of LA. The heat, the sunshine, the palm trees, the beaches, the ever-present sheen of smog on the horizon. I had to continually check the Mandarin-emblazoned billboards on the side of the highway to be sure I was in fact in China and not southern California.

Xiamen does, however, seem to have a lot more construction going on than LA. Everywhere you look there are towering, half-finished skyscrapers, high-rise condos with cranes resting lazily atop, and construction sites walled off with colorful illustrations of what's to come. At first glance, it would seem that Xiamen is a city on the rise. And perhaps it is. But from what I've heard a lot of the construction is subsidized by the government and a lot of these new condos and apartments that are being built can only be afforded by a small minority.

Of all that I've experienced so far, the biggest adjustment for me has been the weather. It is just SO. HOT. Like step-outside-and-simply-breathe-and-you'll-be-drenched-in-sweat hot. Between the blazing sunshine, the humidity, and lack of air conditioning in most places, I feel like I'm trapped in a ginormous sauna from about 8am until 6pm when the temperatures finally start to drop. I'm sure between the heat and the multiple climbs to the sixth floor of my dorm building (yes, there is no elevator), it's doing wonders for my figure. But I really can't wait for mid-September when the summer is over and the temperatures are closer to the 70s than the 90s.

The other huge adjustment, coming in at a very close second, is the language barrier. This is my first time in a foreign country where I literally cannot communicate at all. I spent brief weekends in France and Belgium, but they were weekends and I was always with a tour group. I'm in China for a year and it's clear that I'm going to need at least a functional level of Mandarin to do the basic things: grocery shopping, navigating around the city, exchanging pleasantries with my non-English speaking co-workers, etc. Right now I'm relying heavily on Loren, one of the other foreign teachers, to be my translator and tutor of sorts. He's been fantastic about teaching me a lot about the language and culture. I'm hoping that between him, David, and whatever self-studying I do, I should be able to handle myself within the next few months. Or here's hoping anyway!

Another thing that's really stood out to me is the amount of attention I receive as a foreigner here. I don't think I've ever been stared at so much in my life. And it's not like the sly, out of the corner of your eye staring. It's like the "let me gawk at you as we walk towards each other on the sidewalk and then stop and turn around and continue to stare at you as you pass me by". I mean, I guess it's flattering? Or unnerving. Regardless, it's going to take some time to adjust to.

I'm really happy with the food so far. I'm still dying to get my hands on a giant bowl of noodles, but the meals in the cafeteria have been more than sufficient. And they're free, so who's complaining? There's always rice (of course) and the meats and veggies (half of which I have no idea what they are) are always amazingly seasoned and relatively easy to eat with chopsticks. I don't know that I'm going to miss American food that much while I'm here, but it is strange to know that it isn't readily available if and when I want it. There is a massive store near downtown Xiamen called Metro that specializes in imported items, like peanut butter and cheese (which apparently you can't find anywhere). So I guess I can always soothe my cravings there if it gets to be too much.

A typical lunch in the school's cafeteria

The rest of my experiences so far are little things and more of an "oh, well this is different" and not an "oh man, how am I gonna live like this?!" Things like my weird bathroom, encountering squat toilets for the first time (that was an experience), discovering that small children do not wear diapers and simply wear crotch-less pants so that they can pee anywhere (and I do mean anywhere), realizing that it will be a long time before I see forks and knives again, and so on and so forth.

These little "encounters" will be the basis of some fantastic stories I'm sure, so that'll be something to look out for in future blog posts. :)

****************************************************************************

I've had a ton of requests for pictures and I promise I'm on it. If you're on FB you'll see that I've posted a few pics already. I'll do my best to have an album to post on here shortly.

Also, for those of you who are new to this blog, there's a place on the top right hand side of this page where you can enter your email address and be notified each time I put up a new entry. That way you won't need to bother with checking back here or my FB page for updates.

Pics and more info about the school coming soon!

My newest "home away from home"

Okay so I'm trying to make the most of the brief amount of downtime I have before classes and chaos begin to get in a few entries about what's going down here. I've had lots of requests for pics so I will try to get a few posted before the week is out along with my "first impressions" entry and more info about the school and what exactly I'll be doing this year.

To tide you over until then, however, here is a quick video of my "suite" here at the school. I'm currently living alone but the other bedroom will more than likely be filled within the next few weeks with another foreign teacher.

Enjoy and comment below!

Continent #5!!

So.

I'm starting off this latest blog entry with mixed emotions.

I am beyond excited to brush off this dusty blog and start typing again. I mean, hello! I'm going to CHINA!!!

Yet instead of breaking out into my happy travel dance, I have to admit--I'm mildly terrified.

After the "Honduras incident" it seems my eagerness to hit the road has significantly decreased and my anxiety about living abroad again has significantly increased. Regardless of my fantastic experiences living in the UK, Australia, and Ecuador, my time in Honduras really shook my confidence in hopping on a plane and jetting off alone to yet another international destination.

What if disaster is once again waiting on the other end with open arms? What if in two weeks time I am running for the airport, desperate to escape? What if I just can't handle it???

Thankfully, I have wise siblings who interject my frantic stream of consciousness with profound statements like: "Amanda, worrying doesn't solve anything."

Which makes me stop and realize a few things.

First: Worrying doesn't solve anything!!! (Simple enough concept, but definitely worth repeating--especially for us tightly wound, Type-A people)

Second: Even though things in Honduras went sideways it showed me all the things to do and NOT do when preparing for a teaching position abroad. This time around I've quizzed my supervisor on the curriculum, the classes, and the living situation. I received and reviewed my contract before leaving the country. And I've even been in contact with a foreign teacher who currently works there who has been brilliant about giving me all of the insider info I need about the school and life in Xiamen in general.

Third: The buddy system is important. When you're all alone in a foreign country and things start to get hairy, even the slightest issue can rapidly turn monumental. I think one of the reasons why Honduras was such a challenge was because I was literally down there without anyone. According to what I gathered from the locals, I'm pretty sure I was the only gringa residing in El Paraiso. While this might sound like a grand and daring adventure, in reality it's exhausting and lonely and it really sucks when the cockroaches outnumber you ten to one and you can't call in backup. My point: everybody needs somebody. Even more so when you're hundreds of miles from home. So, I'm happy to say that my brother, David, will also be living in Xiamen this year studying Mandarin at Xiamen University. While we aren't exactly neighbors, knowing that he'll only be a taxi ride away makes me entirely more comfortable with the situation. (And I'll have a travel buddy during school breaks so no more solo bus trips where I may or may not end up getting stranded in the middle of China.)

But yes, all of that to say I'm off to CHINA!! And I'm so excited to share yet another adventure with all of you!

My suitcases are (mostly) packed. I've figured out how to say (butcher?) "Hello," "How are you," and "My name is Amanda" in Mandarin. My passport has a fresh new visa in it. Come what may, I've been given a fantastic opportunity to experience Eastern culture firsthand and mark yet another continent off my list.

So, bloggies, here we go again!

Things don't always...

...go the way we planned.

For some people, this just makes life more exciting. For others, it makes life a nightmare spinning wildly out of their control. 

I think I find myself falling somewhere in the middle of that extensive spectrum. 

I'm a professed type-A personality who isn't centered without my stack of yellow Post-it notes. Lists bring me comfort and checking them off, even more so. I like to know what's going to happen tomorrow, next week, next year and neatly plot it out in my planner. 

But at the same time, I like the idea of change and unpredictability and waking up tomorrow to a day that you weren't at all expecting. It keeps you from becoming complacent and disengaged with the world around you, and with yourself.

So, as you may have guessed, Honduras didn't turn out as planned. I found myself at a school where textbooks mattered more than teachers. Mindless worksheets mattered more than imparting knowledge. Empty points mattered more than assessing a student's abilities. Basically a for-profit school that cared far more about the money that was coming in than creating a conducive learning environment for teachers and students. Where teachers were "dispensable commodities" easily acquired and just as easily fired.

After working more than nine different jobs in three different countries, I know there's no such thing as the "perfect" workplace. Concessions must be made and, frankly, there are just things that you have to learn to put up with. But that is one thing. Being somewhere where your help is not wanted or needed, where is no room for input or suggestions, where the students go behind their teachers' backs to have them fired or reprimanded when things don't suit them, and where the principals back the parents instead of their teachers, that I can't do. If a teacher cannot have the support of both the students and teachers, she must have at least one of them. And if both are against her, then the struggle is hopeless from the beginning. 

It's sad and frustrating to leave a journey when it's just begun, but I don't at all consider it time wasted. I mean, I finally made it to Central America! I got to experience life in a beautiful, rural Honduran town for a couple weeks. I became acquainted with Honduran Spanish and learned my fair share of slang. I made great strides towards overcoming my fear of insects (lol). And I met some truly wonderful people who I know will always be here waiting with welcoming arms and open homes. 

So where will I be 3 months from now? 6? I can't say. The hope, of course, is to be back on the road sooner rather than later. Until then, I'll do my best to take advantage of my time at home and with time well-spent with friends and family.

Thank you, Honduras, for being yet another learning experience on this mad adventure called my twenties. 

I'll put another story in my pocket and turn the page in anticipation for the next one.