One month in China

Well I am going to try to write more often, (hopefully every Sunday) so I can share my thoughts and feelings about my new home. Well so far things have gotten better. I am settling in and getting used to things.

Learning to Speak Mandarin

Mandarin is an extremely difficult language to learn, since there are four different tones. So saying "ma" one way can either mean mother"," horse"," hemp" or "to curse!"The hard part is distinguishing between tones and learning to pronounce the tones are quite difficult! I had my first Mandarin lesson last week, and my teacher said I have great pronunciation. At first, I thought she was just being nice, but then her husband told me later that she told him I have one of the best pronunciations she has heard, for a first-time student! At his rate, I will be speaking Mandarin in no-time. Haha. Perhaps I was Chinese in another life. Anyway it was very exciting to learn a few words, and hopefully I will eventually be able to converse with a cab driver. Although by the time that happens, it will probably be time for me to move back home. Some of my students have offered to help me practice. I can't wait for my next lesson!

Foot Massages

WOW. All I can say is A M A Z I N G. First let's talk price. In Canada, a one hour massage starts at $80, and then goes up depending on the place. For $48 Yuan, which is about $6.80 CAD, I got a one and a half hour foot massage!! Okay, and when I saw "foot massage" I don't mean that they massage your feet for an hour and a half. I went on a Sunday afternoon with a couple other teachers who needed to "de-stress." When you arrive, they seat you in a room with enough comfy chairs for whoever you are with. The girls then bring you tea, and a bin with bath salts, or something like it to put your feet in. The water is scalding hot, but after a while, your feet get used to it, and it starts to feel good. Then you turn and sit on another seat, and while your feet are soaking, the girls begin massaging you. I was really deceived by that petite Chinese girl, because that ended up being the most painful massage of my life! They start with your shoulders and neck, and then begin using their special techniques. Mine was slapping me on the back, and at one point they put their knee in your back. It was extremely weird! They painfully massaged my upper body for about half hour, then transferred me back to the original chair and begin on my arms. I cannot really describe what they were doing, but this also hurt! Next, they start on my feet. They spend a good 45 minutes on it. This part was very pleasant, until they brought out a machine and began using it on my legs! Somewhere in there, they used a heated pad, which felt very nice against my arms and legs. It lasted a good hour and a half. There were three of us in the room. The entire time, the three Chinese girls were talking to each other about us. They were so funny...they tried talking o us, and they would speak to us in Chinese like we understood them! I am pretty sure they were complimenting me, since they kept pointing at various parts of my body (my hair, face, nose ring) and oohing and aahing over me. Not to worry- I was fully clothed! Then we had a conversation about how old they were, and how many kids they had. Pretty much done through gestures and a lot of interpretation. They were extremely nice and very, very strong. Despite the pain, the massage was great. I felt fantastic afterward, and was not even sore the next day. I plan to go back once/week. Maybe next time I will get a full body massage.....if I am that brave. Another thing to mention is that the choices are all listed in Chinese! So, you just point to something and hope the massage doesn't end up being too weird. Maybe before I leave, I will try all of them......maybe.

Shopping

Okay so before I left Canada, I heard so many good things about the shopping here; how it is so good and cheap etc. What I would like to know is, WHERE? So far, the clothes, etc have been really bad quality, or very unappealing. There are some huge mall, 7 floors high, which has amazing clothes and shoes, but is very expensive! I went to Beijing Lu (Beijing Road, which is in Guangzhou, not Beijing). This is supposed to be a famous shopping district. The street is closed off from traffic and full of stores....but again, things are quite expensive. Outside of the main city, in places like LongDong, you can find unique clothing for cheaper prices. I also saw a lot of knockoff PUMA stuff and Abercrombie clothes as well. Yes, the place is called "LONGDONG" ahahaha. I can finally say it without laughing, however I am embarrassed to tell people that is where I live. Well I live in Huamei, but no one knows where that is!

Nightlife

All I can say is FANTASTIC! For a while, I had stopped going out clubbing because I wasn't into it anymore, and I never really liked going to bars. I just figured I was getting older, which is the reason I became so uninterested in it. Well, the nightlife here is amazing. I love going out in Guangzhou. There are tons of clubs and bars, and they are all unique, and really interesting experiences. So far, I haven't really gone to any Chinese bars/clubs but I heard they are pretty "unique" Most of them have girls and guys dancing around the club with boas. I have yet to see this. On St. Patrick's weekend, we went to an Irish pub, owned by a Canadian. There are two Irish pubs in Guangzhou; the other is owned by an Irish guy. The St. Paddy's day celebration was crazy! There was a giant leprechaun, and an Irish band, complete with green beer. There were a lot of authentic Irish people there as well. The vibe is always so nice. The places I have been so far are filled with people from all around the world. Everyone is so friendly, because we are all in the same boat. Most people are living here, and are either here teaching, or on business. The Chinese people at these places are really friendly, and everyone parties together, and it is a really, really nice experience. I have met tons of Europeans, especially from France. There are a lot of Africans, and a few Americans. I haven't met many Canadians, aside from the other teachers working with me. I really LOVE the nightlife in Guangzhou. I cannot describe the good vibe I feel when I go out. It's the type of feeling you get when you are on vacation, and everyone is in a good mood, and happy and friendly. It is so unlike Toronto, where there are tons of snobby people!Here, everyone goes out to have a good time, and make friends with people from all around the world. The other night, we stumbled across this club in LongDong; pure Chinese club, complete with a pole in the middle (for the people dancing with boas) and hardcore hip-hop music blasting. It was very bizarre! I will have to go back to see the dancers...

Well so far I am having the time of my life. Don't get me wrong...its not all fun and games. Work is very demanding and I don't think I have ever worked so hard or so much in my life! But the positives outweigh the negatives, and I am glad I made this decision, because the experiences are wonderful.