Orientation

I would love to complement this blog with photos I have taken of Shanghai, but unfortunately I forgot the connector for my camera to my computer at home. No pictures until I can find an electronics store that sells a USB adapter or my mom is kind enough to send me mine through the mail.

This is the last day of orientation and I'm heading to Chongqing early tomorrow morning. After four days of hanging out with Americans constantly, heading to a city with relatively few foreigners will be a huge change. Luckily this has been a nice transition time. I have picked up a little Chinese, found some foods I love, and gotten endless tips on teaching in China.

Shanghai is an amazing city, unlike any I have been to before, and I had the pleasure of exploring it with an awesome group of people. I will get into more detail once I'm settled in to my apartment and have more free time, but I just wanted to check in. One of the main reasons I chose CIEE was because of the connections that you can develop with other teachers throughout China, and I am so excited to visit new friends in Harbin, Hufei, Beijing, etc. in the coming months. Even though I'm heading to Chongqing alone, it's nice to know I have friends on this side of the world.

Apparently some teachers have gotten to their posts and been told they have their first class in 20 mins. Others arrive and don't start teaching until October. If I've learned anything in the past few days, China is unpredictable. Wish me luck!

Chopsticks

Twenty-four hours later I am officially sitting in my hotel in Shanghai, China ready to collapse into bed at 8pm. Excited and overwhelmed, the only thing I have the energy for is a quick amusing tale from the plane ride over.

Being a very recent college graduate, I was very familiar with what I was served for dinner on Air Canada: the airplane version of Ramen noodles. It seemed appropriate on a flight to Shanghai. However, I was not given utensils. For some reason, after years of practicing at my local Chinese restaurant, I thought the transition to chopsticks full-time would be easy. I seemed to have blocked from my mind the fact that I only use chopsticks for easy things like orange chicken, and gladly trade them in for a fork when it comes to things like rice.

What was I supposed to do with chopsticks and soup with foot-long noodles in it?

I purposefully fiddled with my napkin longer than necessary to first observe those around me. The lady to my right skillfully slurped up noodles at a breakneck pace, finishing before I could get my chopsticks apart. The lady to my left more daintily picked up one noodle at a time and slowly coiled the entire thing into her mouth. I decided that I would try to approach this as a compromise between the two.

Putting the chopsticks near my mouth, I got a bite of the first noodle, but somehow managed to drop the second one down my sweater. I quickly looked around to see if anyone had seen, contemplating if it was better to try and stealthily dig around for it, or leave it and pretend it had never happened. I went for the latter option. Deciding that I was not going to make my first attempt look effortless no matter how hard I tried, I went for my right-hand seat partners method of slurping as quickly and gracelessly as possible. And I thought it was my Mandarin that was going to need the most improvement...

Observations on Shanghai to come soon.

Packing

I generally consider myself a frugal packer. However, I have never had to plan for the next year of my life in a non-Western country. This makes packing considerably more difficult. I am sick of folding and re-folding, so will write-up the highlights:

Although my city is located at the same latitude as Orlando, FL, heating and A/C are pretty non-existent in Chongqing. This includes my school (though luckily not my apartment), so I had to pack work clothes for Caribbean summers and Alaskan winters. Layers, layers, layers.

Apparently suntan lotion and make-up in China contain whitening agents. While I am not a fan of sitting in the sun until I get cancer, I think I am already pale enough. I will need the little sun I can get, as Chongqing gets on average 7 completely sunny days per year.

I have lots of books titled things like "Oxford Beginner's Mandarin" and "Teaching Large Multilevel Language Classes" to help me with the two things I'm mainly going to be doing in China and have no experience in.

Finally, for anyone who has ever lived with me, you won't be surprised to know that I have plenty of my grandma's cookies stuffed in the free space I have left...

Last day in America tomorrow!

Relocation

"Looks like someone is off to college," the Walgreen's lady announced when she saw my shopping cart full of the entire store's supply of deodorant, toothpaste, and Pepto-Bismol. What kind of college did she think I was going to?

"Actually, I'm moving to China."

I can not count how many times I have said that to strangers in the past weeks of preparation. Come Thursday, after months of talk, I am finally relocating to Hechuan, a small town located in Chongqing City province in Southwestern China. I will be teaching English at Pass College of Chongqing Business and Technology University, which I can only guess will entail making a fool of myself while pantomiming obscure grammar points.

This blog is a way to keep in contact behind the Great Firewall of China by relating my mishaps and adventures. Keep in touch and enjoy!