Category: Teach Abroad – China

by Sean Reed

I have been in China for five months now and have experienced lots of new and interesting things. Towards the middle of December I realized that I was going to have a few days off surrounding the western New Year, (December 31st). At the same time, I realized that I was located in a city that was not going to celebrate the western holiday. What to do? I booked a hostel room in the heart of Hong Kong, a city that was bigger and more beautiful than the one where I am located. Plus, I knew from friends that Hong Kong was known for honoring and celebrating the Western New Year.

As the day neared, I found myself purchasing a ticket on a sleeper bus to Shenzhen, (near Hong Kong). That’s right, a sleeper bus; a bus that is built with small beds inside of it instead of normal seats. You get on, find your bed, and lay down while someone else does the driving. Several hours and a 30 minute subway ride later, I arrived in Hong Kong. To me, Hong Kong resembled any major metropolis in America such as; New York, Chicago, or even Atlanta. Immediately, I took notice of England’s influence over the city. The cars all drive on the left side of the road and the stirring wheels are all on the right side of the cars. Also, a lot of the native people of Hong Kong speak with a British accent. This is of course because they were taught English by a British person.

While in Hong Kong I visited some of the key sights and saw some of the most spectacular scenes in the world. One in particular is the view from Victoria Peak. From there, I was able to see the entire city and all of its amazing beauty. I also paid a visit to the avenue of stars and was able to see the monument that built to honor Bruce Lee. I also got to place my hand inside Jackie Chan’s hand print and Jet Li’s. For the New Year celebration, I met up with some of my friends at a block party in an area known as Lan Kwai Fong. There I discovered and endless stretch of bars and restaurants with a 7/11 convenience store stashed conveniently in the heart of the block. We drank and brought in the year 2012 the year of the dragon.

A few days into January, I found myself with a whole month off. Chinese people celebrated the Chinese New Year or Spring Festival on January the 23rd. With a month off from school, I like most other foreigners had only one destination in mind. That destination was, Thailand! More specifically, I was going to visit Bangkok. I have always heard that Thailand was a terrific vacation spot. I actually have a sister in law who is half Thai on her mother’s side. So, I knew that the Thai people were extremely friendly and charming. Of course, I was also aware of the dangers of visiting a place like this. I knew to be careful while having a good time.

I was in amazement at some of the wonderful attractions I witnessed there. I saw the Temple of the Dawn or Wat Arun Rajwararam as it is known. A large pyramid shaped temple with four smaller pyramid shaped buildings surrounding it. The most impressive thing about this marvel was the fascinating detailed art work carved into its sides. From the small men in mask who appear to be holding up its walls to the three headed elephant in the middle of its tower. It is unbelievable to me that men were able to build such things with their hands and so long ago.

I also saw many Buddha statues in Bangkok. Some of these were the Standing Buddha over 45 meters tall. There I set two birds free for good luck. I also saw the Black Buddha which is only open to tourist one day a year. It was lucky that I happen to be there on that very day. I also saw the Sitting Buddha which wasn’t nearly as impressive as the Standing Buddha but still nice to see. One of the last things I did was to take a tour away from Bangkok to an area near the Kwai River. Here I rode an elephant, took a bamboo raft trip, and got to see some Asian tigers at their sanctuary known as the Tiger Temple. Two words I would use to describe Thailand would have to be beautiful and cheap.

I returned to my home in Fuzhou and continued enjoying my time off from school. On the 6th of February I witnessed the coming and the going of the lantern festival. The lantern festival signals the last day of lunisolar Chinese New Year. It is marked by dozens of lanterns hanging from the trees or power lines around the city. Most of these lanterns are red in color but some of them are other colors. Some are even made to look like animals or cartoon characters. At the same time, dozens of small Christmas style lights are hung up as added decorations. Some of these lights are hung in amazing designs. Some of the designs are made to look like dragons or even peacocks. Hundreds of people walk up and down the streets admiring the collection of lights and lanterns. Even the local Starbucks is decorated with lanterns. I stopped in to enjoy a tall mocha. The next day after the festival, was our first day back to school; the beginning of the second semester.

by Sean Reed, Greenheart Travel Teach Abroad Participant in China

I have been in China now almost 2 months. I have really gotten to know my way around my community and have learned a little bit of the Chinese language. It has been a slow process but I have gotten to where I can greet people and order food in Chinese. However, understand the Chinese people and how quickly they speak Chinese is much more difficult.

We also celebrated, “National Day.” This day (October the 1^st), honors the day that Chairman Mao took power over China in 1949 and created a new form of government and the beginning of the PRC (People’s Republic of China). Oddly enough the National Day celebration is a week to two weeks long. These are referred to as the two golden weeks. During that week we could see large red lanterns hanging above the streets and every store displayed a Chinese flag ( which was new in 1949), or two and they lined streets. If there wasn’t a flag, there was a simple red colored cloth of some sort. Of course there are lots of fire works and fire crackers going off, but then again, this is China and they set those things off everyday. I did notice one parade making its way past my residence. They seem to be carrying some old style carriages down the street while marching bands played and some people danced and others walked on stilts. Then there were more fire works.

During National Day, we had a week off from school. Most Chinese are off from work and use this time to travel and visit relatives or see the sights. My friends and I were invited to Pingtan Island by a friend of one of our contacts here. He wanted us to help promote his new juice line. His idea was that Chinese people would be interested in trying his new juice if they saw Westerners standing next to it. Apparently he was right. From the moment we started setting up the booth, loads of Chinese people began to gather around us to see what we had to offer. I noticed that there were some Chinese girls trying to sell some tea across from where we had displayed our juice. The people were ignoring them but stopping to see what we had.

In exchange for our services, we were treated to two nights in a nice hotel, our transportation was provided for, and all of our meals were taken care of. I couldn’t help feeling like we had taken advantage of this poor business man. However, it was his idea. Of course when we weren’t working our two hours a day, he showed us around the island. It was quite beautiful and very photo worthy. Every where I looked there were red colored sashes or ribbons tied around the statues and other monuments. We definitely had a great time and would do it again. I suppose you could say that we are for hire.

by Sean Reed, Greenheart Travel Teach Abroad Participant in China

Getting to China for my English teaching position was not that easy. It took 3 flights and over 20 hours of flying. I arrived in the Fujian Province’s capital city of Fuzhou (Fu joe) around 11PM Saturday the 27^th of August. Immediately I realized how hot it was there. I mean it is hot in South Georgia too but it is a different kind of heat. To me it is more dry. I meet Helen, she is my school’s (Fuzhou #8 Middle School) contact person who is responsible for taking care of all of us foreign teachers. She arranged a ride into Fuzhou for me and had me dropped off at my apartment. Once there I saw that it was a nice looking one bedroom studio with a nice view of the city and an actual, “Western toilet,” that you could sit on. This was a huge step up from my living situation in the Republic of Georgia.

The next day I met Amy and Tess, the two other Greenheart Travel teachers that were assigned to my school. They had arrived in Fuzhou two days before I did. They took me to get my phone service and to show me around. The first thing I noticed was that there was a McDonald’s right down the street from my apartment. The second thing that I noticed was that it was open 24 hours a day. However, unlike the ones in Eastern Europe, this one did not serve beer (pea joe).

I spent the first couple of days in my new city getting my medical exam done and buying the things that I would need for my apartment, like beer. Right away, I noticed the price differences between China and the U.S. A beer only cost 4 Chinese dollars, which is about 80 cents in the States. You can easily spend 20-30 Chinese dollars on a meal which is only 3 to 4.50 U.S. dollars. However, some things are more expensive here then they are in the U.S. For example, Nike shoes are about 50 dollars more then back home.

We were invited to a dinner at the school prior to the first day of school. At that dinner we met all of the principals and the headmaster and some of the other teachers. We ate a delicious assortment of seafood (the big industry in Fujian). It was all very nice. Two days later, school started. My class sizes are any where from 25 students to 57 students and last 45 minutes long. I have found that most of the kids are well behaved and polite. Obviously, there a couple of bad ones here and there but good for the most part.

One problem with the students is getting them to stop talking. They talk constantly, and of course, in Chinese. I am able to teach my lesson and get them to be quiet when it is important but I have noticed a constant lack of respect. I believe that the Chinese students will never respect me as much as they respect their Chinese teachers. I suppose that is normal. Either way, I am very happy to be teaching here and proud to be involved in this experience.