Does this qualify as work??
Trip Start
Oct 20, 2004
1
2
114
Trip End
Ongoing
Guigang, Guangxi Zhuang, China
Monday, November 1, 2004
Time for your China update. We have been at the office all week, basically we go there and sit behind our desks and read course notes or study guides, sometimes we go to the market to buy provisions for lunch or dinner.
The markets are wild, the meat is hanging on hooks and if they don't have what you want they'll be happy to kill it for you. Some frogs were being hacked apart with a big meat cleaver the other day as we walked by. The vendors don't really have stalls as we would recognise them, they basically just spread a blanket on the ground (if you're lucky) and put their wares on top of that. Sometimes they just put them directly on the ground, so cooking everything well is essential.
We have both sat in on a couple of English classes so far and everything seems to be pretty straight forward. The kids have a good grasp of the language already and all of the instruction is already formulated so we just have to follow along with the outline and explain key points and unfamiliar language and concepts. The work day is a little wierd. We are contracted for 22 hours per week but there doesn't seem to be enough work for all of the teachers (there are two others in addition to Cathy and I). This makes me a little nervous as we certainly don't want to be in a position where if we only teach a portion of our workload we only make a portion of our wage. As far as I'm concerned we acted in good faith when they said that the work was here, now they must follow through with their end of the bargain as far as wages go. We will be discussing this with them very shortly, but right now isn't the right time. The language school seems quite new and they are doing a lot of advertising and promotions to get interest in their language classes. So far I have to say that they have been very accomodating, I'm hoping that this trend continues.
Life in Guigang is very different, we feel like we are camping at home.
The fridge is only big enough for a couple of days worth of food so you buy in limited quantities. We only have a few dishes, pots and pans, so we do dishes after every meal and put them into the sterilizer so they are ready for the next time that we need them. The sterilizer also doubles as a big toaster when needed. The simplest commodities are sometimes very difficult to find. I have been looking for some kind of tape for a few days now and cannot find any. The apartment has circular holes in the bottom of a couple of walls where A.C unit drain hoses would be routed...unfortunately not every room has A.C so they are just holes that go right outside. I want to tape them up but can't find anything to do it with!!
The only bread that we've even seen is purple and there is no margarine or butter anywhere to be found. The supermarkets don't have refrigeration sections, so no cheeses, yoghurts or dairy products either.
We have almost figured out the washing machine, it only took us a day to do the last load after it kept stopping and not draining. We hang the laundry on the balcony to dry as it just doesn't seem to rain here and it is still mid 20's C by 9:00 a.m.
The restaurants are great, the food is very spicy and delicious. We still haven't figured out how to order or read the menus and I'm not sure that we will anytime soon as the language is so difficult. If we can pick up some survival phrases to help us get by from day to day then that will be great.
There is a real feeling of old world colliding headlong with the 21st century here. When we go anywhere we will see a Mercedes or BMW driving along and on the sidewalk a peasant will be guiding his oxen and cart down the sidewalk or somebody will be pedalling a bicycle with a trailer which is grossly overloaded with brush or wood or anything else you care to mention.
We are definitely novelties in this town, everywhere we go we attract huge amounts of attention, from people saying 'Hello" to giggling or just simply stopping and staring. Last night we went to a KFC rip off (not as good) and people sat outside the glass windows of the restaurant and basically watched us eat, it did wonders for their business though. They should have paid us to sit there.
Anyway, life is interesting and confusing right now, but it certainly isn't boring. We have no T.V so we are doing a lot of reading and relaxing which is certainly welcome after the stresses of the last few months. I'm sure that everything will work out well and I'll keep you all updated.
Chris and Cathy
