One month; in many ways it feels like a lot longer - I am so settled, have made lots of friends, have an established working routine already - but also I have barely seen any of Beijing, or started to learn Mandarin properly, or done lots of other stuff.
This week is a Chinese holiday, so I only have to work Monday and Tuesday, then have five days off. Lots of people are flying off to a UNESCO World Heritage site, but I wasn't too bothered (nor could I afford it!), so I am going to try and use the time to do some Beijing culture - probably the Summer Palace/Forbidden City/Tiananmen Square. Plus another teacher is having a 'housewarming' (party) on Tuesday, so Wednesday might be a write-off...
My original 30 day visa ran out, so I again had lots of hassle trying to sort out a renewal - in the end I had to set up a new bank account and borrow RMB 25,000 off the school to convince the authorities I am contributing lots to Chinese society! Crrrrazy. I think in half term I might have to leave the country to sort out a 6-month visa, so I am going to try and make the school pay for flights to Hong Kong, which is where lots of teachers go to sort out visa issues, then turn it into a holiday to visit Owen (one of my uni housemates, who is working there).
I had my first Chinese karaoke experience on Saturday night, which was hilarious - completely unplanned, a small, very local bar, completely un-touristy...they had a limited range of English songs, but we got some pretty good cheers for a couple of Backstreet Boys numbers, and a Hey Jude...lots of fun.
School is still pretty good - I am getting there with kids names, and gradually taking more and more classes on my own, which is both exciting and scary (especially drama, which I never studied!). I have a break from my football team over the holiday, but so far we've won 2, lost 1, and it's been really good fun - all the guys are really nice - so that's a nice distraction from work. I just got my first monthly paycheque so have visited a tailor to get some shirts made, which was really funny - they didn't speak any English, but they measured me up, and I'm going back to pick them up tomorrow, so hopefully they will be FIT! Will also hopefully buy a camera soon... DVDs are another good thing to buy out here - lots of knock-off shops, and we got some inside info on a reliable one, so have been doing some shopping there. Also found out a teacher who lives two minutes from me has Pro Evo...
So life's still good. Free accommodation offer still stands! x
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment