So, the dreaded medical. I arrived at the Hospital on the other side of town (very close to the Henan exposition centre, which is is the exciting set of buildings in the North East of the city that can be seen on Google Earth) at 8:30 ready for my medical. After a relatively short time queuing to get the forms I went into the main hospital area which consisted of one corridor with a number of examination rooms off to the side. The corridor was packed with people, mainly a large group of young Chinese military recruits being tested before going overseas, their presence, although initially amusing was one of the reason that the whole thing took so long. Drawing blood was comfortingly hygienic and therefore not at all, however giving a urine sample was more exciting. Firstly it involved a visit to the current holder of 'China's Foulest Toilet' and secondly a perilous trip down to the other end of the corridor, negotiating a large crowd carrying a lidless pot of pee. It was only the regular appearance of a patient carrying their potentially disgusting sample that prevented the corridor becoming a free for all. In the whole process took four and half hours for a series of what seemed pretty arbitrary tests. The ECG was the most frustrating; the doctor demonstrated the same skill and patience with the machine that the Monkey shows with the bones in '2001:A Space Odyssey'. It was only after pressing the same harder and faster for ten minutes that he decided to call for help. After all of this we discovered I had to return to collect the results today, so it is still not over. Woe is me.
I returned to school to find that it was without power and would be until some point in the evening, fortunately the weather has been brilliant these past few days so I went out to the playing field and ended up having a knock about with some teachers. I discovered that there is a teachers football team that occasionally plays teams from the Foreign Language School, which would be fun.
After dusk the students were still expected to be in their classrooms for self study, not to be foiled by something so simple as a power cut, they were all equipped with small battery powered desk lamps. It appears that there is nothing that will keep them from studying. I was in the teachers office crowding round a laptop watching the new series of Knight Rider (which I can now authoritatively dismiss as absolute rubbish) until I was dragged away by two students in Grade 1 who wanted me to come and talk to their class. My first lesson of sorts!
The combination of the lack of power (and the resultant excitement created by desk lamps) and the presence of a LoWai (Old Outsider) made the class quite unruly. I skipped about a few different topics until they became bored and asked me to sing a song, after some futile resistance (remember it is me versus 50 well drilled Chinese students shining their desk lamps into my face, there was no need for them to say 'we have ways of making you sing') I sang some of 'The General' by dispatch until I ran out of memorable lyrics. After a song in return from one of the girls in the class, the power came back and I took my leave.
It is the next day now and I have just met the other foreign teacher at the school. He is a Pole called Voytk or Tufu (which means Butcher) who has been in China for six years. He comes across as slightly deranged but jolly, and laughed at the bureaucracy that surrounds the visa system. He also told me that he knew of plenty of opportunities for me to earn a bit of extra money at language schools and some of his many projects in the city. I will keep this in mind, but I think it is most important to get (legally) established at this school first and then see what my options are.
Anyway, I must get ready to leave to the Hospital for the third time, my goal of a working visa is in sight!
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Monday, February 25, 2008
Friday, February 22, 2008
Ode for freedom of travel.
It's been a while since my last post, principally because my time with the computer has dominated by attempts to solve my present visa issues. On Thursday I had my first meeting with one of the school leaders (how many there are I don't know but I'm certain that there are enough to confuse any potential martian invader) which concluded that it is far more difficult to obtain a working visa while in China than I had initially been led to believe and that the school would be unwilling to employ me without one. Bugger.
Firstly, I am a little peeved having been told repeatedly (as a result of a number of anxious enquiries) that it would be fine to travel on a tourist visa and get it's status changed once I was in China. Secondly, I am now beginning to settle in and appreciate the scabby charm of Zhengzhou. As an example of this, tonight, I met up with Tom in the city to have a beer and lament the seemingly pointless bureaucratic that is the visa system. We had roast duck at a restaurant only accessible by crossing eight lanes of traffic, fortunately the potential for death is more than compensated by the quality of the duck, which was awesome. We then by chance met a group of three American graduates teaching at Number 47 Middle School (I am informed by Tom that this is the largest concentration of westerners he has encountered in Zhengzhou ) which was an experience only marred by the fact that one of the group was wearing Sunglasses despite in being dusk and was named Cy, the shame! This evening was topped off with a brief visit to 'Target Pub', the popular hang out for westerners. We were the only clients.
Anyhow, it would be such a gargantuan waste to have to end the trip now. I will not go home, no matter the outcome of the impending negotiations, but will have to think of a new plan.
Apart from all the hoohar, I have been enjoying the school more and more. I have been helping a boy in Grade 2 to practice for his SATs (American senior school exams) so he can study in the states. For a Chinese speaker this a mammoth task, he not only has to write an 400 word essay in 25 minutes, very difficult for anyone educated to constantly check all English with a dictionary and a textbook to ensure flawless text, but also complete a number of difficult vocabulary based close test, that I find challenging myself. It is a bit of struggle to get him to leave the office or let me go and eat some lunch, but I will allow him this almost frightening obsession with me considering the work he has put in.
On a completely unrelated note, it was Lantern Festival yesterday. This took the form of 'sweet dumplings' ('soggy black balls with a crunchy centre' would be a more accurate title), and more fireworks than usual. By more fireworks, I mean that for about three hours, the entire sky was dotted with fireworks and permeated with screams and bangs. It seems that part of the excitement of fireworks in China, were health and safety most definitely does not rule supreme, is seeing which ones reach a safe altitude before detonation. The students, who would escape from their classrooms whenever the teacher on patrol did not shout at them to return to personal study, took great delight in any fire work that acted like a WWI air burst shell and sent the observers scattering, often into a busy road.
What Larks! I shall report again as soon as possible, hopefully from China.
Firstly, I am a little peeved having been told repeatedly (as a result of a number of anxious enquiries) that it would be fine to travel on a tourist visa and get it's status changed once I was in China. Secondly, I am now beginning to settle in and appreciate the scabby charm of Zhengzhou. As an example of this, tonight, I met up with Tom in the city to have a beer and lament the seemingly pointless bureaucratic that is the visa system. We had roast duck at a restaurant only accessible by crossing eight lanes of traffic, fortunately the potential for death is more than compensated by the quality of the duck, which was awesome. We then by chance met a group of three American graduates teaching at Number 47 Middle School (I am informed by Tom that this is the largest concentration of westerners he has encountered in Zhengzhou ) which was an experience only marred by the fact that one of the group was wearing Sunglasses despite in being dusk and was named Cy, the shame! This evening was topped off with a brief visit to 'Target Pub', the popular hang out for westerners. We were the only clients.
Anyhow, it would be such a gargantuan waste to have to end the trip now. I will not go home, no matter the outcome of the impending negotiations, but will have to think of a new plan.
Apart from all the hoohar, I have been enjoying the school more and more. I have been helping a boy in Grade 2 to practice for his SATs (American senior school exams) so he can study in the states. For a Chinese speaker this a mammoth task, he not only has to write an 400 word essay in 25 minutes, very difficult for anyone educated to constantly check all English with a dictionary and a textbook to ensure flawless text, but also complete a number of difficult vocabulary based close test, that I find challenging myself. It is a bit of struggle to get him to leave the office or let me go and eat some lunch, but I will allow him this almost frightening obsession with me considering the work he has put in.
On a completely unrelated note, it was Lantern Festival yesterday. This took the form of 'sweet dumplings' ('soggy black balls with a crunchy centre' would be a more accurate title), and more fireworks than usual. By more fireworks, I mean that for about three hours, the entire sky was dotted with fireworks and permeated with screams and bangs. It seems that part of the excitement of fireworks in China, were health and safety most definitely does not rule supreme, is seeing which ones reach a safe altitude before detonation. The students, who would escape from their classrooms whenever the teacher on patrol did not shout at them to return to personal study, took great delight in any fire work that acted like a WWI air burst shell and sent the observers scattering, often into a busy road.
What Larks! I shall report again as soon as possible, hopefully from China.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Close Encounters of the British Kind
Huzzah! I have met up with Tom, an English graduate from Birmingham who is teaching at the Number 2 Foreign Languages School in Zhengzhou. We met outside the trainstation which is the focal point of the whole city and is therefore chuffing massive. Simply getting to the train station was a bit daunting in itself as it would be the first time that I had been out of the school unnaccompanied. However it was not a problem as all busses that go into the city terminate at the station, so it was simply a case of jumping on one with plenty of time to rendez vous.
(Busses are the transport of choice for the teachers at the school. They stop about once every ten minutes and will reach the centre of the city in between 40 and 60 minutes, depending on the route. They are ridiculously cheap, 1 Yuan (7p) for a normal bus and 2 for the K Busses (with air-con). The bus is often full of characters, e.g. the driver I had on a particularly packed bus who became so irate with peoples unwillingness to move to the back to make space that he stood up and turned around to release an angry tirade, while driving)
Anywho, I succesfully met up with Tom, which was not a challenge despite the impressive crowd in the station square due to his height and lack of straight black hair. We then searched for a bar and ended up in a rather flashy hotel where we reluctantly handed over 15 Yuan for a bottle of Tsingtao and sat down in the restaurant to chat. He is from Birmingham, an English Literature graduate from York and came to Zhengzhou in late September. He speaks a little Chinese, enough to ask for directions or beer, which is about all you need. He could relate to my initial worries and also warned me of the annoyance that came with the increasing confidence of students. He had to leave at five as his school is not in the city itself and therefore requires a slightly more complicated Bus route than mine. On my return the school I went straight to t
he Grade 1 English Teachers' office to let them know I was safe and well.
It is such a bonus to have another English person of a similar age here and hopefully we will be able to do a bit of travelling on weekends and during the May Holiday together.
Last but not least, I have adapted to the time zone and am now sleeping well.
(Busses are the transport of choice for the teachers at the school. They stop about once every ten minutes and will reach the centre of the city in between 40 and 60 minutes, depending on the route. They are ridiculously cheap, 1 Yuan (7p) for a normal bus and 2 for the K Busses (with air-con). The bus is often full of characters, e.g. the driver I had on a particularly packed bus who became so irate with peoples unwillingness to move to the back to make space that he stood up and turned around to release an angry tirade, while driving)
Anywho, I succesfully met up with Tom, which was not a challenge despite the impressive crowd in the station square due to his height and lack of straight black hair. We then searched for a bar and ended up in a rather flashy hotel where we reluctantly handed over 15 Yuan for a bottle of Tsingtao and sat down in the restaurant to chat. He is from Birmingham, an English Literature graduate from York and came to Zhengzhou in late September. He speaks a little Chinese, enough to ask for directions or beer, which is about all you need. He could relate to my initial worries and also warned me of the annoyance that came with the increasing confidence of students. He had to leave at five as his school is not in the city itself and therefore requires a slightly more complicated Bus route than mine. On my return the school I went straight to t
he Grade 1 English Teachers' office to let them know I was safe and well.
It is such a bonus to have another English person of a similar age here and hopefully we will be able to do a bit of travelling on weekends and during the May Holiday together.
Last but not least, I have adapted to the time zone and am now sleeping well.
Monday, February 18, 2008
A trip to the Police Station
I did not sleep at all last night, which is probably a blessing in disguise as my body will now be forced to conform with the time zone. However today was the first day that I have really enjoyed. I started by driving a long way into the city to visit The Bank of China to, I had thought, open a bank account. Actually my hosts had got the impression that I did not have enough Chinese Yuan and drove me all the way to the other side of the city to get some out. An unnecessary diversion but it did give me an opportunity to marvel at the deranged traffic system.
On returning to the school, the car was met by a constant flow of students returning from the Spring Holidays. Thankfully, now brimming with students, the school has begun to look far more welcoming and far less like ACME headquarters. I spent the afternoon with a first grade student, 17, called Mike (it will take me a while to remember Chinese names). As I had been told, he was unbelievably keen to chat and we must have spoken for at least three hours (while I'm thinking about names, I get to choose a Chinese one, I was thinking 'Dashingly Handsome'). He told me that students were expected to work about 16 hours a day and as proof showed me a desk lamp that he and his roommates had hidden behind a piece of wood in their cupboard that allowed them to work after the lights had gone out. Here, they break the rules to do more work!
I then was driven into town with Felix (Mr Yang), Ms Shi and Mr Lee (the multi-purpose driver slash visa negotiator) to go to a police station to get my visa and employment registered. If you had spoken to me before the trip you will know that I was worried that this could pose a problem but it turned out that my potential deportation was a source of much hilarity.
I have also arranged to meet Tom, another English student teaching at a school close to the city. So today, I will have to make my way to the train station, armed with a less than elementary understanding of Mandarin and a brief phrasebook.
Wish me luck
On returning to the school, the car was met by a constant flow of students returning from the Spring Holidays. Thankfully, now brimming with students, the school has begun to look far more welcoming and far less like ACME headquarters. I spent the afternoon with a first grade student, 17, called Mike (it will take me a while to remember Chinese names). As I had been told, he was unbelievably keen to chat and we must have spoken for at least three hours (while I'm thinking about names, I get to choose a Chinese one, I was thinking 'Dashingly Handsome'). He told me that students were expected to work about 16 hours a day and as proof showed me a desk lamp that he and his roommates had hidden behind a piece of wood in their cupboard that allowed them to work after the lights had gone out. Here, they break the rules to do more work!
I then was driven into town with Felix (Mr Yang), Ms Shi and Mr Lee (the multi-purpose driver slash visa negotiator) to go to a police station to get my visa and employment registered. If you had spoken to me before the trip you will know that I was worried that this could pose a problem but it turned out that my potential deportation was a source of much hilarity.
I have also arranged to meet Tom, another English student teaching at a school close to the city. So today, I will have to make my way to the train station, armed with a less than elementary understanding of Mandarin and a brief phrasebook.
Wish me luck
Sunday, February 17, 2008
First Post
I write this on my second night at the Zhengzhou Number 1 Middle School. My journey here was long but uneventful, this despite Mum's fears of the potential of an air disaster over Siberia, with little sleep and many frustratingly tiny plastic cups of semi-flat russian mineral water. Moscow airport was unashamedly Soviet and I only wish I had had a companion with me to play spot the Lada.
I was met by William Wang, my contact with the SSA Trust, in Beijing and then by Ms Shi, my contact at the school, in Zhengzhou. After being shown my impressively large but amazingly cold appartment I went to dinner at the 'Village Restaurant', a novelty old style Chinese restaurant built, somewhat incongruously, under a motorway bridge. The meal consisted of a variety of brightly coloured, similar tasting dishes that we all shared (we being Ms Shi, the head of English [who's name I forget], Mr Li the driver, another teacher and a recently student who had recently graduated from the school). I wish I had followed the advice of my Aunt Hermione and avoided the rice wine, however this did lead to the introduction of a drinking game similar to Rock, Paper, Scissors but instead Stick, Tiger, Chicken, Worm. Stick beats Tiger, Tiger eats Chicken, Chicken eats Worm and Worm eats Stick.
A combination of fretting (I feel for you Mum) and jet-lag led to a sleepless night.
Today I visited the City with Mr Yang (English name Felix, which reminds me that at some point I will get to choose a Chinese name, I was thinking perhaps 'ying jewn' [handsome] or 'yoong gun' [brave] would be suitable) which is sprawling and mental, the traffic appear to follow no rules and use their horns to represent any kind of message ranging from 'I am about to overtake you ' to 'I don't care if it is the pavement, my bus is big and made of metal'. In the supermarket I bought some fetching brown slippers which are wonderful when walking on the cold stone floor of the apartment. I was then given a grimy upright washing machine for my apartment by the very nice 'Caretaker' type bloke, who made his daughter ride thirty minutes to the school to translate 'be careful the edge is sharp' for him (I really must learn some useful Mandarin). Tomorrow I am meeting the head to discuss my schedule and contract. Bring on the fretting!
I was met by William Wang, my contact with the SSA Trust, in Beijing and then by Ms Shi, my contact at the school, in Zhengzhou. After being shown my impressively large but amazingly cold appartment I went to dinner at the 'Village Restaurant', a novelty old style Chinese restaurant built, somewhat incongruously, under a motorway bridge. The meal consisted of a variety of brightly coloured, similar tasting dishes that we all shared (we being Ms Shi, the head of English [who's name I forget], Mr Li the driver, another teacher and a recently student who had recently graduated from the school). I wish I had followed the advice of my Aunt Hermione and avoided the rice wine, however this did lead to the introduction of a drinking game similar to Rock, Paper, Scissors but instead Stick, Tiger, Chicken, Worm. Stick beats Tiger, Tiger eats Chicken, Chicken eats Worm and Worm eats Stick.
A combination of fretting (I feel for you Mum) and jet-lag led to a sleepless night.
Today I visited the City with Mr Yang (English name Felix, which reminds me that at some point I will get to choose a Chinese name, I was thinking perhaps 'ying jewn' [handsome] or 'yoong gun' [brave] would be suitable) which is sprawling and mental, the traffic appear to follow no rules and use their horns to represent any kind of message ranging from 'I am about to overtake you ' to 'I don't care if it is the pavement, my bus is big and made of metal'. In the supermarket I bought some fetching brown slippers which are wonderful when walking on the cold stone floor of the apartment. I was then given a grimy upright washing machine for my apartment by the very nice 'Caretaker' type bloke, who made his daughter ride thirty minutes to the school to translate 'be careful the edge is sharp' for him (I really must learn some useful Mandarin). Tomorrow I am meeting the head to discuss my schedule and contract. Bring on the fretting!
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