Dear World,
It's been weeks since my last post because blogs are blocked in China like many other sites.
It's been 23 days since our arrival here in Changchun city... here's the update thus far.
We stayed in a hotel the first night after a long day of flying. (22 hours or more) During our stay there we had our first taste of what the bathroom situation was like here in China.
Now we're in a temporary apartment that the school still has rented out and will be looking for a new place closer to the school. A ten minute walk seems like nothing but when it's below zero everyday and around -15 at night proximity becomes really important.
As you can see the pictures, shower stalls do not exist. There's just no such thing here, so when you have a shower, the whole bathroom gets wet, including the toilet. This will take some getting used to. What I would give for a nice warm bath! Oh, in public places toilets don't exist either; it's just a hole in the floor and you squat over it (like camping!) You learn very quickly to carry around your own tissues since toilet paper isn't readily available.
We stayed in a hotel the first night after a long day of flying. (22 hours or more) During our stay there we had our first taste of what the bathroom situation was like here in China.
Now we're in a temporary apartment that the school still has rented out and will be looking for a new place closer to the school. A ten minute walk seems like nothing but when it's below zero everyday and around -15 at night proximity becomes really important.
As you can see the pictures, shower stalls do not exist. There's just no such thing here, so when you have a shower, the whole bathroom gets wet, including the toilet. This will take some getting used to. What I would give for a nice warm bath! Oh, in public places toilets don't exist either; it's just a hole in the floor and you squat over it (like camping!) You learn very quickly to carry around your own tissues since toilet paper isn't readily available.
This was the hotel we stayed in for the first night. This is luxury.
Enough room for one person to shower next to the toilet.
Hotels and most apartments come with a toilet.
The Chinese are so used to doing it over a hole though, so it's really just for foreigners.
Below:
The thing in the top of the picture is a boiler. It allows one to have a hot shower... for about 15 mins. Hot water is a luxury here.
Temperature:
Today it's -4C, which is actually warm for this city... it gets much, much colder. Layers are the answer to this, you would never wear just one layer and often times you'll keep your winter jacket on indoors. The city is lined with black ice and unlike back home, there's no salt on the streets so staying on your feet is something you have to master. I've already bruised my ass about 3 times. Barb hasn't fallen at all. :(
Teaching here is pretty easy going, so far I enjoy teaching my 2 hour adult class the most. Kids can be fun, but it sucks the energy out of you pretty quickly.
Today it's -4C, which is actually warm for this city... it gets much, much colder. Layers are the answer to this, you would never wear just one layer and often times you'll keep your winter jacket on indoors. The city is lined with black ice and unlike back home, there's no salt on the streets so staying on your feet is something you have to master. I've already bruised my ass about 3 times. Barb hasn't fallen at all. :(
Teaching here is pretty easy going, so far I enjoy teaching my 2 hour adult class the most. Kids can be fun, but it sucks the energy out of you pretty quickly.
Pros:
- taking a taxi is cheap! Starting at 5RMB (.77 cents Cdn) and the meter hardly increases so it's easy to take a 3 minute cab to avoid the cold
- food is cheap! An average meal costs us around 35RMB ($5.40 Cdn) for the both of us. So that's about $2.50 Cdn each, not bad!
- shopping is endless. from markets to big malls.
- clothes are much cheaper
Cons:
- brutally cold! Even indoors. We seldom come across a place that's heated indoors.
- drivers are crazy and do their own thing. Even if that means driving on the sidewalk.
- organized line-ups don't exist unless it's enforced (airports, etc). The Chinese really like to butt when they can.
- all you hear all day is people clearing their throats and horking, I guess it's so cold here that everyone has a minor cold or people are just disgusting.
- smoking indoors is legal. Even in restaurants so you end up smelling like cigarette smoke regardless of how much perfume you wear.
Cons:
- brutally cold! Even indoors. We seldom come across a place that's heated indoors.
- drivers are crazy and do their own thing. Even if that means driving on the sidewalk.
- organized line-ups don't exist unless it's enforced (airports, etc). The Chinese really like to butt when they can.
- all you hear all day is people clearing their throats and horking, I guess it's so cold here that everyone has a minor cold or people are just disgusting.
- smoking indoors is legal. Even in restaurants so you end up smelling like cigarette smoke regardless of how much perfume you wear.
- cell phones/electronics are not as cheap here as I would have thought.
So what do we do, you ask?
We teach a few hours a day. Eat out a lot since we don't have a permanent apartment yet there's no reason to buy things for the kitchen. Drink lots of tea! Venture into the city, window shop lots since we're not used to bargaining yet. Watch movies at night (movies are very inexpensive here)... and do it all over again the next day.
It's been an experience and we can't wait to move into our own place in upcoming weeks.
Things I miss back home:
- kittens
- toilets
- shower stalls
- bathtubs
- being able to drink the water
- heat
- normal traffic
- seldom hearing a honking horn
- warmer weather
I will post more pictures when we move into the new place and when it's warm enough to stand taking pictures outside.
many thanks,
shelly ♥
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