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Hey everyone!!!
Sorry for the massive delay, no excuses I know!!
It's been a while I guess, a lot has happened - and its super soon till I come home .I have nearly 4 weeks till mum and Claire come to visit - so my time here is nearly over!! I know that I will miss China mahussively when I'm at home, but I really cant wait to see everyone and return to England. Coming to a country that is sooo wildly different from your own - makes me miss England a lot. It makes me realize how much the English complain about things, and really how good we have a lot of things!
Ok - so .. what have I been up to? The last time I wrote a blog was a while ago, so since then I have been doing lots and lots. Firstly we had a 3 day weekend for May Day - I love how all the Chinese do something, and go somewhere different - even for such a short holiday! They really make the most of free time.
With my free time I decided to visit a remote village outside Beijing called Chaundixia. (pictures have already been on the blog for a long time). The village was very empty when I arrived, and it seemed so ancient - even though there are still people living there it felt like I was just discovering it. Little renovation seems to happen here, and there was rubble around and lots of tumbling down buildings - but this made for an excellent place to get away from bustling Beijing - where new buildings are torn down every day, to make way for even newer buildings. I made friends with two Chinese girls on the bus, and they helped me along the way. Travelling in China is so hard, if you do not speak Chinese. Its almost impossible for me, so I wonder how other tourists do it.
6 weeks ago, Sheriic went to Southern China for performances, and he is coming back this weekend!! I can't wait to see him, as it's been so long!! Every cloud has a silver lining however, and Sheriic being gone brought some British people into my life. I was sat alone in a restaurant just after S had left, and overheard a gaggle of brits talking about their dislike for Chinese squat toilets. I listened for a while, and they saw me laughing at their comments - so they invited me over. Since then we have become firm friends, and because of them I have been to many new places.. and met many new people!!
I have been regularly to see Beijing's blues festivals, and just this weekend visited another big Chinese city named Tianjin for a party! Tianjin is unlike Beijing in many ways - it is very European and has streets that are almost exact replicas of London, except filled with Chinese people. I really enjoyed leaving BJ for a short minute, and seeing another city. The pace of life seemed so much quieter there, and I met many expats who had set up home there for that very reason.
We went to a student bar, and I was surprised and happy to see that so many people were able to communicate in English with me J We even adopted some local Chinese people, who took us out at 4:00 in the morning to something called KTV. He was so drunk, that actually we had to rely on my Chinese to communicate at that time - because he was rendered encapable. I was also very drunk, but seemingly my Chinese improves with alcohol! Hahah
KTV is like karaoke private rooms, and is the way that most Chinese people unwind in the evenings. There are literally thousands all over China. I think I may have offended the students however, as I kept going on about how Chinese music was so bad, and all sounds the same. Lol. It is all terrible really, it is all slushy and romantic and depressing. I then "empressed" them by singing Lady Gaga, rapping along to Eminem and even singing "Down with the sickness". I am not sure they now have a fantastic impression of western music either. Haha
REPRESSION: I go through moods with China. One minute I love it, the next minute I really dislike it. On a whole the country is beautiful, but sometimes the culture difference is so huge for me - that I get frustrated with Chinese people, and they get frustrated with me. At my school there are very many problems, all to do with the management team - and we all respond to it in different ways. The Chinese just roll their eyes, and then smile and get on with things. They are used to this , and do not have high expectations. The other foreign teachers roll their eyes, grumble to each other, but generally keep their heads down.. and then there's me!! A few times lately, things have really gotten to me - one time was over one of my children being hit over the head by a chinese teacher with a metal stick, another was when all the children were told their overall intelligence position in the class (ie: you are number 12 out of 12) etc.. and the third was just 2 days ago, when they fined me a lot of money for being 5 minutes late for class!! My initial reaction is to speak to my boss, who is always seemingly happy to hear my concerns, however she doesn't really do much… (her "dealing" with the teacher hitting with a child was that she asked the Chinese teacher to apologise to me, whilst she translated- but my boss was laughing the whole time… - making me feel like she didn't really take this very seriously)… She was probably translating "don't do this in front of foreign teachers, they get angry". Ha.
I am happy to speak to my boss, but the reaction I receive when I mention this to my Chinese co-workers is pure panic!!"oh no, no no, don't say anything"… "Aaargh".. don't upset her.. They are terrified and never stand up for themselves over anything! This is the worker / boss dynamic in China. The boss is God and you are never allowed to share ideas or challenge their practices, ask questions or make suggestions. You are just there to work. I find this infuriating and it makes it very hard for me. I am a passionate teacher who has the children's interests at heart. It is my honest opinion that this school is out to make money, and cares very little for the children - therefore we often clash with our opinions. The system is massively repressive, but I guess - TIC …. as they say - "This is China".
In further news: today I found a needle in my food at a restaurant :S GREAT!
I hope you are all having an excellent break for Jubilee!!!! I love you all… and miss you!!!
Autumn is coming soon, and I will see you all then!!
LOVE LOVE
Emma.x
- comments
cheerleader Hey can't wait to see you either party monster had a jubilee party and we try to skpe but it didn't work oh also do you not have facebook anymore ??
Hilary Scott Hi Emma, When are you coming home? Simon and I are visiting Beijing mid July, 17th to be precise. We will be in Beijing for 45 days before moving on to Guayling and then across to the Philippines before returning to Beijing and returning home. Will you still be about or can we quiz you here in Cornwall.