Blue Christmas

Ill have a Blue Christmas without you.... That is the holiday theme song for this year I have decided. Christmas is not the same without my family around. Nothing is the same about Christmas this year. The children in China don't even care that Santa Claus is coming. To them its like oh ya Christmas.  China for Christmas blows. Lets just be honest here. The lights and decorations they have here are interesting to say the least. Like what is this... I don't even know.

I saw a Chinese Santa Claus today on the way to work. He literally was super skinny and you could tell the beard was fake. Disappointing. Santa is coming to work tomorrow so hopefully this will be a good Santa. (I know it will be).

That holiday spirit is just not there. Usually this time of year people are saying Merry Christmas and have good cheer. Everyone is usually in a chipper mood. I really haven't seen that here. I have had one parent tell me Merry Christmas. And as for holiday cheer..my learning partners fighting in Chinese three days before Christmas really lightens the mood. To top it off I don't hear nearly enough Christmas music. At home you overwhelmed with it. Here not so much.

I realize I have a lot to be thankful for. And I am. I am thankful for this job at Disney. I am thankful that I have loving friends and family. I am thankful that I am healthy and alive. I am thankful I am able to have this experience in China. So yes does being in China for Christmas suck. Yes it does. But in the long run it will be an experience I won't forget. And it makes me grateful for all my silly family Christmas antics. I miss walking down the stairs in my pjs oldest to youngest at 645 in the morning with traditional Christmas music in the background.

When in doubt....

I find myself embracing the culture more and more the longer that I live here. Embracing the culture might be a bit of strong word..... I am doing things that I would never do at home simply because I am in China.  The things I do are not weird to Chinese people in fact its quite normal. I am starting to blend in. (minus my white skin...)

When I go outside now I wear a face mask because its cold. I should wear a face mask for protection because the air pollution is so bad but I wear one to keep warm. They sell masks everywhere its a fashion statement. They have masks with all kinds of designs. But the main purpose of these mask is to keep you warm. I need a mask that does both protects from the pollution and keeps the warmth. (Especially since my chest is hurting tonight...)
 

I am also now a proud owner of Reindeer hat with a big fuzzy ball on top.  Now I don't know if Reindeer print is in style in the States but it is in style in Beijing. People wear Reindeer hats, scarfs, sweaters, leggings and gloves. I personally now want to buy said Reindeer outfits because frankly I think they are adorable! (And who cares I am in China I can wear what I want everyone stares at me anyway!)

I like drinking hot water now. I would never just drink plain hot water. To me that is disgusting. In fact when I first got here I was like why would anyone drink hot water. I Find myself being ok with the fact they give me hot water and actually enjoying it. There are several reasons for this. One being it is super cold here. Two I know the water has been boiled so therefore it is most certainly safe to drink. Three it warms me up and Four we all know its the cure for everything! (last part is said with sarcasm)

And lastly today I went to McDonalds. McDonalds here is not quite the same as back home. They have two beef selections Double  Cheeseburger and the Big Mac that's its. But it tastes exactly the same. The rest is chicken all kinds of interesting chicken. They also have pineapple pie and taro root pie. And the shell is flaky. They don't have salad there but they have corn and chicken legs. So when I went to McDonalds today I decided to get chicken nuggets with sweet and sour sauce (just like home) and corn. The corn was actually really good! I was shocked! 

So yes I am embracing China slowly. I will never fully embrace it. I won't ever spit in the streets, push people onto the subway, or fully understand the language. But its ok I like the weird things I have picked up in China. I like reindeer hats, masks, corn and hot water....

Cold Days

When they said Beijing was cold I thought they were exaggerating. I thought oh I am from Pittsburgh its cold in Pittsburgh. Nothing really prepared me for what I experienced today......

They decided today would be a good day to close my subway line down to get it ready for the extending of the subway line. I knew that getting to work and from work was going to be tricky. Getting to work was a piece of cake, hopped into a cab and got there. Coming home from work was a different story. I got off of work at 530. Before I left  I could see out the window that the traffic was really backed up and there was a ton of people outside. But I bravely thought oh I can get a taxi no problem! I bundled up my four layers of tops and just jeans (mistake always wear two pants) and my down coat. I thought ok I am warm and ready to go.

Getting outside I realized that it wasn't just 20 degrees, the wind was howling like nuts. Making it feel like 0 degrees outside. So cold..... I walk around trying to get a taxi. The traffic was backed up and the taxi's were not stopping for me. Other people got in taxi's but when I tried to call a taxi they zoomed right passed me. After 45 minutes I walk back to work in disgust and in tears. I was so cold I couldn't feel my fingers or my legs anymore. Luckily my friend called me and she had a friend that helped me get on a bus to get home. I didn't get home until around 800.

So moral of this story...Beijing is cold. Really cold. It is nothing like Pittsburgh, the wind is horrible. SO I will no longer make fun of those people from the warmer climates when they say Beijing is so cold. It is cold.  And I am going to move somewhere warm when this is all said and done. As much as I love my new winter coat, I really really really hate being cold..... 

No Place like Beijing....

Christmas in Beijing is interesting. I find myself listening to Christmas music more willingly on my Iphone then I would ever do back home. My favorite is the song that goes There is no place like home for the holidays....well I can't go home for the holidays. I have to work Christmas Eve! Lucky for me my day off falls on actual Christmas. A lot of people are not so lucky. But working in China means you don't get Western holidays. So not that big of a deal. (I mean I wont complain because I actually don't work on Christmas haha)

There are decorations everywhere in this city. Nothing like back home but there are decorations. I find myself seeking out decorations to see a bit of normalcy. I am taking pictures of Christmas displays and Christmas lights because I am so excited to see them! My friends and I went around yesterday exploring the city looking for a Christmas display! (We found it!)  They have trees in the malls, lights up in some places and Christmas decor in the stores. Some of the Christmas displays don't read Christmas like the heart tree in front of the mall near my apartment but I will take it. It makes it feel a little bit more like home.

At work we decorated our classroom for Christmas. I had the children draw Christmas trees. They decorated the trees so beautifully. All the trees looked like something out of a catalog. (Which is probably all they see). Back in the states a four year old draw a tree it will have some round circles on it and maybe a star. The trees they draw are the kind you see in the department stores. I asked my assistant if the Santa comes to their house and leaves presents for the children and she said I don't know what you mean by that. So obviously they don't celebrate it the same as we do. But they do have a name for santa Claus. Shan dan lao gogo. So they know who is it but don't celebrate Christmas. Very interesting concept. A lot of the girls at work don't understand the Christmas story. So my suggestion....Watch Santa Claus is Coming to Town!  (That has all the answers!)

If you had asked me a year ago what I would be doing with my life I would never in a million years have said teaching English in China. Ask me a year ago if I would even go to China I would have said no. So where am I living, China. Things I never thought I would do I am doing now in China. Things I would have thought completely strange now I think are normal. 

I thought I would share some of these.

1. Squatting to go the bathroom. One of the main reasons I thought I wouldn't go to China or even camping in the woods without a toilet. Squatting sounds so primitive so odd. Yet now I have no issues doing it in China. And I would even consider now going on a long hike at home where I would have to squat in the woods. Yesterday I saw a girl squatting and texting..yes it does happen. (the door was open fyi I was not peeking in)

2. People staring. People stare at you all the time here. There is nothing odd about that. Because I am different they stare. It doesn't bother me now nor do I think about it. I will stare back though

3. Children peeing in the street. I went to the museum the other day and a little girl was peeing in the street. Now could the dad have waited to take her inside yes but what is better to pee on the street or to pee in a toilet.. When I first got here I was shocked to see that, now its like oh there goes another child peeing in the street.

4.  Crossing the street in the middle of traffic. There are no pedestrian right of way laws here.  They may have the little green and red guys at the cross walk but its fair game. Scooters and bikes can go whenever, left hand turns are happening the same time the light is green. And they don't care if you are crossing or not. They will go and you will go at the same time. Its whoever has the most guts. And its gotta be you!

5.  Pollution..ok not something I have gotten use to but its part of the daily grind. Instead of asking how is the weather, we ask how is the pollution today. We have air quality index apps on our phones... 

Those are just a few weird things that have become the norm.  China is an interesting place! 

Silk Street

The joys of silk street in Beijing China. Silk street is the number one place for foreigners to go to get there Chinese gifts. Its a five story wonderland of bargaining and anything you could possibly imagine. They have silk sheets, silk scarves, silk hankerchiefs, silk underwear, silk suits, silk paintings, they have fake silk everything, they have any Chinese gift you can imagine. Whether it be painted dragons or Buddha statues you name they have it. They have every "name brand" shoe out there along with the non name brand such as U&G and some weird knock off Nike shoes. And they love foreigners in this market place. They try to rip you off like no one elses business. They play a game where they say special price just for you 1600 and you are like no way. Then its ok you are my friend Ill make it 1400, try 100 I say. They laugh its impossible. What about 1100. I say ya right, they say ok real price.. I say 100... no that not possible. Then the price goes down but not nearly enough. So you finally walk away, as you walk away the price is then reduced to 100!

I have been there several times since moving to China. I have seen all kinds of people in the Silk Market. My favorite are the older women in the fancy coats and blinged up nails and hair. The richy rich. I was getting a pair of boots for 120 and they were trying to get high heel (really ugly shoes btw like hooker heels). They lady told them I think like 2400 for a pair of these shoes. The rich lady laughed and was like no 1600. (meanwhile I am rolling my eyes thinking you could get those for less than 200). The shop ladies loved this. I love watching people get ripped off at the Silk Market mainly cause they are idiots. They fall for the gimmaces of these people. The people who hate to bargain are another treat for them. They say oh I don't want to bargain they work hard for there money (please....).

I got ripped off myself the other day I bought an item and brought it home. I got home and realized it was not good quality. My one friend said oh thats a shame that happened you are stuck with that. Ha no, I marched back to the Silk Street and told the shop lady flat out this is not authentic. She exchanged right away. If you call them out they will give you what you want. People don't realize this. My friend was like I would have been too scared to do that. What did I have to lose by trying, nothing! You learn in China that if you want something you gotta march out there and get it.

Wohoo its Friday night! Oh wait, I have to work all day Saturday and Sunday! Fun times ahead! My weekends in China are nothing like they were back home. I have to work all day Saturday and Sunday, I am teaching six classes for a total of 12 hours of teaching. Which honestly is not that bad. You also need to factor in the extra two hours I put in parent huddles (showing the parents what the children learned) and clubhouse activities before class. All in all though not too bad. And on Sunday I get a super long break for four hours. That is my time to catch up on and get stuff done!

Today I was teaching children sports. Since I work for an American company we call soccer, soccer. None of this football thing that the rest of the world calls it! Well I was telling the students the sports : baseball, football, soccer, tennis, table tennis, golf,  and basketball. The whole soccer thing really confused them. They were like football, very persistently. It was actually kinda funny. And same thing with table tennis, they were like ping pong. Well those are both technically right but since we are teaching the vocab words soccer and table tennis its not right....I love when things are technically right but because I need to teach them specific words its not.

I have been a bit under the weather. So during my break at work I went to the grocery store to buy some bananas and look for ginger ale. (a very impossible thing to find here in China).  I got to the check out and there is always a huge line at the store. Even at 3 in the afternoon. I have never seen a check out line move more slowly. Its my turn to pay and the guy says something to me I don't understand and then he laughs. So thinking he is going to be sneaky he pulls out this fifty from the bottom of the draw that is all crumpled up and taped up. I am like umm no way you are not giving me that nasty bill. I know places that won't take that. So I tell him boo (which is no in Chinese) and he rolls his eyes. Meanwhile I drop 50 cents on the floor. The lady behind me scrambles to pick up the money. Instead of handing me the money she sticks it her purse and smirks.. really its 50 cents...

After living in China for three months I have decided to create a blog. Most people wouldn't believe the stuff that happens here nor will I probably remind it when I get home. Things that are everyday occurs living here would shock many people.

Getting on the subway is always interesting. Someone is usually try to cut in front of you or push you onto the train. Going on the subway at rush hour is the worse. You are literally pressed up against people. People are touching things they shouldn't be touching. You are lucky to get off the subway when its your stop. And guartnee you will feel squished.