China in a nutshell or a fortune cookie!

Day 4 – 28/09/12

It’s almost the weekend here in China and many citizens are looking forward to it. On 1 October every year the People’s Republic of China celebrate National Day. This day marks the declaration of the founding of the People’s Republic and the unveiling of the first five star Chinese flag.  

The Chinese government is the only legal government which aims to create a classless society by allowing community ownership of all property, goods, production & distribution and major resources. Private ownership is banned. Even though Democracy also aims for equality and a classless society South Africa is governed by specific groups of people all of which are demanding different requirements. Democracy also allows  private ownership which means we will always be divided by wealth and poverty. 

Anyway back to the fun stuff…so the National holiday lasts seven days and most workers are given the time off to visit relatives or travel. While the Chinese will be enjoying their holiday I will be trying to get my act together. I will unpack – eventually- and make my apartment look a little more homely. I will prepare for my lessons which start after the holiday and maybe get in some sleep and writing.

My apartment is pretty spacious with a few modern features. However my bed consists of a base and the mattress is substituted with a big piece of foam. I keep forgetting to ask if other teachers are in a similar situation. There are many apartment buildings in China and very few houses. To be honest I’ve never seen an actually house in China. As you drive all you see are tall buildings which are all apartments as this is the cheaper option.

Unfortunately my day hasn’t been as eventful as the previous ones so I decided to give you a short history lesson. This morning I was suppose to attend the school’s sports day at 7:15 but I over slept…bad impression for a new teacher. I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again. I eventually made it to the event by 8:30. It was entertaining but also a little uncomfortable as we (foreign teachers) had large groups of students and teachers staring in our direction and trying to get as many pictures as they could. We felt like the animals from the movie Madagascar. We left and later visited a paleontology museum…who knows what that is! All I saw was rocks, bones and dinosaurs. My feet were sore and I was bored. Supper wasn’t any better. I had thick noodles (the width of adult fingers) in a sort of spicy sauce and I’m pretty sure I ate a few strips of something fishy. I abandoned that and opted for Milo which actually tastes like ProNutro. 

Hopefully tomorrow is a better tasting day!

Love to you all

Verusha

 



Sports day dance routine

First years at Sports Day



Finger size noodles (It's not pasta, trust me!)

What Milo looks like in China

 

China Manners

Day 3 – 27/09/12

Today I took my first taxi ride to a medical centre specifically for foreigners. I had to get a medical exam done as it’s a necessary requirement for all foreigners.

The taxi ride was scary! For most of the trip all I heard was hooting and ‘holy s*^t’. Hooting from the several cars around us including ours. The censored words from my fellow teacher Tracy who like me is clearly not used to Chinese driving manners. At times there were trucks turning directly toward us and continued moving even thought traffic on our lane remained stagnant. At others times we were driving on the opposite side of the road to avoid traffic. Sometimes there were cars so close to us I could hug the person in the next car. Among all of this were also people on foot, their bikes and their motorcycles trying to transport their large boxes of goods to the closest market in order to earn their daily income. I was just glad that I got to my destination in one piece and with the contents of my tummy still inside.

The big needles and urine test tubes at the medical centre didn’t do much to help my tummy. The needles….well they are needles! The toilets stank and the design catered only for those who are able to squat. There was no toilet paper and neither was there soap to wash our hands afterwards. Thank God for pocket tissues and hand sanitizer. The entire medical exam went by very quickly. At the end Tracy and I were not even sure what happened. The Chinese call it efficient I call it rushed. For example, my ECG which took at least 5minutes in South Africa took five seconds in China. I didn’t even have time to take a breath so I’m quite sure those readings are all wrong. The good thing is that it’s done and I will get my resident permit soon.

Towards the end of the day Tracy and I took to the streets ourselves. We crossed busy roads…actually we ran across busy roads, made some friends with the locals and learned new Chinese words and phrases. We visited the supermarket and found Special K cereal for 40 yuan which is equal to R51.44. On our way home we walked through the night market and bought supper for only 5 yuan = R 6.44. It wasn’t great however I was glad to see familiar food; cauliflower, green beans sprinkled with peanuts.

 Peace & Love

Verusha ;)

Cauliflower & green beans sprinkled with peanuts and sticky rice

The three wheeled car I mentioned last week 

 

 

 

Hi Guys

Welcome to my Charou in China page. This page will document my five month stay in China, from September 2012 to February 2013. While I was in China I kept my friends and family updated through weekly e-mails. I also shared my experiences with them in these mails. I've now decided to share these e-mails and my experiences with you. Each week I will add one post about my Charou in China experience.

N.B. Charou is an informal South African word used to describe an Indian.

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Day 1 & 2 - 26/09/12 

Ni Hau (Hello in Chinese)

Yesterday I managed to comfortably digest my first meal in China. Sticky rice, tofu, flavoured onion pieces and steamed bean pods dressed with a flavorful sauce sufficed as a delicious lunch. While taking full advantage of these somewhat new flavours I also met with some of the other foreign teachers.

Today I survived my second meal at a Chinese restaurant. It wasn’t as good as the first but it’s a dish I could definitely eat again with a few improvements. It’s called ‘hot pot’ which I thought was something similar to a potjie and I was right. It’s served in a stainless steel dish with water and flavoured stock. The ingredients include either vegetables (mushrooms, dhania (coriander), sprouts, spinach, tofu, potatoe) or meat with noodles. The raw veggies and meat are thrown into the pot depending on what you want or you could throw in everything. There’s a hot plate in the centre of the table so your Chinese style potjie cooks right in front of you. There’s a spicy and plain option. Fortunately there are two other teachers who are also vegetarians so I shared my pot with them. Unfortunately the Chinese don’t eat with forks so I had to master the art of eating with chop sticks which I managed quite well!

Today was also my first venture into the streets and the malls which are walking distant from my apartment. Walking seems to be a common mode of transport here in China as well as bicycles and motor cycles however as China has the highest population there are still many cars on the road even three wheel cars – no not a tricycle, a car! On the roads the alternative for an indicator is the hooter/horn. If a driver wants to turn or change lanes he presses on the hooter and forces his way through and it works! Other drivers obey this ‘rule’. I guess it’s an understanding they have with each other.

The malls are equally busy even on a Monday afternoon. A very small number of Chinese people understand English which means I have to brush up on my Chinese pretty soon. Foreigners in China feel like celebrities as there not many of us or maybe the people of China are not used to seeing people that look different from them. As a result they stare at you wherever you go. Some stare at you for as far as their eyes can take them, some point at you, others say hello and some even try to make conversation with you in Chinese.   

Love to you all

Verusha 

 

Hot Pot (Spicy & Plain)

Tracy and I mastering the art of eating with chopsticks