where in the heck do i even begin? I have not written in my blog for almost 2
2 weeks. and while sooo very much has happened, i really haven't the
faintest clue as to where I should begin speaking about it all. i am at a hostel in
hangzhou, zhejiang province, china. I have been homeless for about a week (they have become extended family at this point). because I have lost my American bank (ATM) card, I am sleeping on the couch at the hostel, free of charge. i am safe, i am not hungry, i have friends, i am poor, but i am happy. (happiness and positivity; must consciously excercise; it's ridiculously hard.) And as i have found through experience, at the end of the day, being happy (or alive) is truly the only thing that matters to me. i hate to complain, and i will really try not to. but for sake of
storytelling its only fair that i voice some of the many hiccups i continuously encounter on a day to day basis here. the phrase "if it ain't one thing its another," at this point, in month 2 of my excursion, i feel that i could have been the individual to coin this phrase. seriously. so, i leave my last city Taizhou and travel with my friend John, to
Shanghai. while in shanghai, i commence looking for another teaching job
because i loathed the one i had in taizhou. not to mention i got
fired *because I loathed the job. i hated my boss and safe to say the feeling was mutual.
i hated the way they treated education. there WAS no education. rather,
they herded them, the students, like sheep through the gates of our school
all the while only caring about the student 'clients' checkbook and how much money they could contribute to our school via registering for classes.
bottom line, education not important, money very important. it disgusted
me. and when i found out how our chinese male boss spoke about us foreign teachers to the other chinese staff it nearly made me sick. i couldn't fake
working for a man like that. i had to get out and boy i sure did.
Which brings me to Shanghai w/ John the Brit...
Shanghai was a comedy of errors if ever there was one. ipod stolen by cab
driver, computer screen broke (by yours truly), effed my bad knee from
ski injury AGAIN, and was recruited for the so called 'kindergarten' job
that brought me to where i am right now, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China...
all the promises of a fruitful kindergarten. recruiter told me about job. wild and unwise i jumped at the opportunity and before long, i found myself with a one way first class ticket to Hangzhou. at station in Hangzhou, after realizing i have lost my bank card and now officially BROKE, i phone my head teacher at kindergarten, actually thinking that i am going to get a slice of sympathy from her. i was wrong. the kind woman texts to me, and i quote, "you can just stay the night at the Mcdonald's by the school." I shit you not, the woman actually had the audacity to text that to me. really?! i get to the school Tuesday morning. this is after attempting to get there Monday morning but throwing up in the middle of the street after trying to hail a damn taxi for half an hour. i literally puked, all over the place in the middle of the street, from heat exhaustion. (inside scoop...the Chinese are perhaps the most racist race i have EVER encountered in my 33 years of life. i don't say that out of any kind of
resentment either. and not ALL fit this label, just most.) its totally normal to be waiting for a taxi and for a taxi driver to pass me up as if I'm invisible and move on to pick up the next Chinese that is also waiting patiently for a cab. so i get to the kindergarten, i get the tour, i get
what i believe to be all the necessary details. in my best american form, i
save asking salary details for last. because like we say in the states, you
never want to appear too money hungry, you always want to appear as if the
job itself is of more value to you than the pay. turns out that the witch, caroline (mcdonalds suggestion beeatch) also believes in this theory. she tells me that we will discuss pay last. ok, i think to myself, whatever she wants. we get to pay and i am satisfied. i am also satisfied with the other foreign teachers. another texan, a mexican girl and her husband, a french, an italian and tami, my now great friend from zimbabwe. i meet tami on day two at the kindergarten, where she proceeds to tell me that my start date would not be until september 1st. what?! really?! im broke and staying in a youth hostel...I NEED MONEY! ..and i dont need to wait until october 1st to get it.
--today i went to church with tami and paloma, the mexican girl. god (no pun intended), it felt good to be in a room filled with other westerners (the police come through, unannounced, almost weekly in order to check passports and make sure that no Chinese nationals are in a 'Christian' church. If they are, they are sent to jail). I actually broke down in tears at least 4 times during the 2 hour service. i dont know what it was...the loneliness, helplessness, struggle, despair, love, longing..who knows. but whatever it was, it was heavy and it was real. so it was at this service today, that tami and paloma both began to tell me what an asshole caroline, witch lady, is and how she could give 2 shits about any of our welfare. being that i am homeless and running on empty, as far as funds are
concerned, getting an abode of my own is of upmost importance. there is a
room at the school with a private bathroom that no one lives in. if the
school does not agree to let me stay here, i will find another school. Its principle. This country is insane.
2 weeks. and while sooo very much has happened, i really haven't the
faintest clue as to where I should begin speaking about it all. i am at a hostel in
hangzhou, zhejiang province, china. I have been homeless for about a week (they have become extended family at this point). because I have lost my American bank (ATM) card, I am sleeping on the couch at the hostel, free of charge. i am safe, i am not hungry, i have friends, i am poor, but i am happy. (happiness and positivity; must consciously excercise; it's ridiculously hard.) And as i have found through experience, at the end of the day, being happy (or alive) is truly the only thing that matters to me. i hate to complain, and i will really try not to. but for sake of
storytelling its only fair that i voice some of the many hiccups i continuously encounter on a day to day basis here. the phrase "if it ain't one thing its another," at this point, in month 2 of my excursion, i feel that i could have been the individual to coin this phrase. seriously. so, i leave my last city Taizhou and travel with my friend John, to
Shanghai. while in shanghai, i commence looking for another teaching job
because i loathed the one i had in taizhou. not to mention i got
fired *because I loathed the job. i hated my boss and safe to say the feeling was mutual.
i hated the way they treated education. there WAS no education. rather,
they herded them, the students, like sheep through the gates of our school
all the while only caring about the student 'clients' checkbook and how much money they could contribute to our school via registering for classes.
bottom line, education not important, money very important. it disgusted
me. and when i found out how our chinese male boss spoke about us foreign teachers to the other chinese staff it nearly made me sick. i couldn't fake
working for a man like that. i had to get out and boy i sure did.
Which brings me to Shanghai w/ John the Brit...
Shanghai was a comedy of errors if ever there was one. ipod stolen by cab
driver, computer screen broke (by yours truly), effed my bad knee from
ski injury AGAIN, and was recruited for the so called 'kindergarten' job
that brought me to where i am right now, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China...
all the promises of a fruitful kindergarten. recruiter told me about job. wild and unwise i jumped at the opportunity and before long, i found myself with a one way first class ticket to Hangzhou. at station in Hangzhou, after realizing i have lost my bank card and now officially BROKE, i phone my head teacher at kindergarten, actually thinking that i am going to get a slice of sympathy from her. i was wrong. the kind woman texts to me, and i quote, "you can just stay the night at the Mcdonald's by the school." I shit you not, the woman actually had the audacity to text that to me. really?! i get to the school Tuesday morning. this is after attempting to get there Monday morning but throwing up in the middle of the street after trying to hail a damn taxi for half an hour. i literally puked, all over the place in the middle of the street, from heat exhaustion. (inside scoop...the Chinese are perhaps the most racist race i have EVER encountered in my 33 years of life. i don't say that out of any kind of
resentment either. and not ALL fit this label, just most.) its totally normal to be waiting for a taxi and for a taxi driver to pass me up as if I'm invisible and move on to pick up the next Chinese that is also waiting patiently for a cab. so i get to the kindergarten, i get the tour, i get
what i believe to be all the necessary details. in my best american form, i
save asking salary details for last. because like we say in the states, you
never want to appear too money hungry, you always want to appear as if the
job itself is of more value to you than the pay. turns out that the witch, caroline (mcdonalds suggestion beeatch) also believes in this theory. she tells me that we will discuss pay last. ok, i think to myself, whatever she wants. we get to pay and i am satisfied. i am also satisfied with the other foreign teachers. another texan, a mexican girl and her husband, a french, an italian and tami, my now great friend from zimbabwe. i meet tami on day two at the kindergarten, where she proceeds to tell me that my start date would not be until september 1st. what?! really?! im broke and staying in a youth hostel...I NEED MONEY! ..and i dont need to wait until october 1st to get it.
--today i went to church with tami and paloma, the mexican girl. god (no pun intended), it felt good to be in a room filled with other westerners (the police come through, unannounced, almost weekly in order to check passports and make sure that no Chinese nationals are in a 'Christian' church. If they are, they are sent to jail). I actually broke down in tears at least 4 times during the 2 hour service. i dont know what it was...the loneliness, helplessness, struggle, despair, love, longing..who knows. but whatever it was, it was heavy and it was real. so it was at this service today, that tami and paloma both began to tell me what an asshole caroline, witch lady, is and how she could give 2 shits about any of our welfare. being that i am homeless and running on empty, as far as funds are
concerned, getting an abode of my own is of upmost importance. there is a
room at the school with a private bathroom that no one lives in. if the
school does not agree to let me stay here, i will find another school. Its principle. This country is insane.
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