I'm actually in China!

I arrived Sunday night. The flight over was fine. I slept a lot. I had 4 hours transit at Changi airport. I went to the butterfly park there, and took a few photos, but ran out of battery. I also skyped my Japanese friend who is on study exchange in America. It was good to talk to her.

I was picked up at the airport by Steve - the guy who invited me for the intership, his Dad, and Alice - who has the same internship as me. Alice arrived a few weeks before me. She is from New Zealand, but was born in China and can speak fluent Mandarin! I'd be lost without Alice. She has been able to help me so much, given that I speak next to no Chinese.

Alice and I were dropped off at the apartment where we will staying for the next couple of months. It is quite small. Alice and I are sharing the same room and same bed! There is also another girl living in the same apartment. The place is quite old and kinda dirty, but it's liveable! The bathroom is the most interesting of them all. It is a really tiny room containing a basin, a toilet, a shower and a washing machine. Hardly any room to move let alone take a shower. Mummy, please never complain to me about the supposed lack of space we have at home! :p The mattress I'm sleeping on is quite hard too, which isn't at all good for my back and shoulders :(

Beijing is currently freezing. I try to wear really warm clothes but still end up quite cold. Today I nearly lost feeling in my toes and I was wearing thermal socks. There is also this haze where ever you look; I haven't quite worked out whether it is fog or smog. Even the sun looks like this faded golden glow in the sky surrounded by some really thick smoke... I wonder if it is pollution that does that.

Well, so much has happened in the last 2 days that I don't really know where to start.

We slept in a little yesterday morning. And had a plumber and a locksmith come. The plumber was supposed to fix the toilet, because originally I was told that it didn't work and that we had to flush it down using a bucket of water..eww. But the plumber came and it was all working anyway! The locksmith put a look on our bedroom door. Alice wanted the extra security. Then Steve's Mama came over and she gave us some extra blankets. She was really sweet. She bought us lunch which was Japanese! Joy!

We caught the bus to work, and boy was that an interesting experience. The bus drivers here constantly honk their horns and apparently no-one in China gives way.. you just go. The bus driver of the bus I was in got angry at this van who got in her way. She honked her horn as if honking was going out of fashion, and then she started screaming. Next thing, she got out the bus and started yelling at him. She then proceeded to hop back in the bus and keep yelling at him, but this time through the megaphone which was at a very loud volume. It was all quite interesting to watch, really.

For those of you who don't know, I will be working at the Institute of Environment and Development for the next several weeks. Yesterday I found out that my internship would end just before Chinese New Year. I haven't yet booked my flight home yet, but I'm not too sure what my plans are and when to come home just yet. I guess I'll give it a bit more time, before I make any rash decisions.

I have met quite a few people here in China that can speak reasonable English, which is quite impressive. Sometimes I crave to understand just a little bit more Chinese. I wish I could just say “Subtitles please!” and that would solve my problem. But like I said, Alice has been a huge help in translating for me.

At work, they have asked me to research how education on clean energy and sustainable development is delivered in Australian primary and high schools. If anyone has any information, please let me know!

Last night after work, Alice and I went for a bit of a wander around. We got a Chinese sim-card for my mobile. It was from this store which was in this massive shopping mall. We then went walking around these street food stalls. I had this unusual kind of small round sour fruit which was skewered and covered in this sweet toffee-like stuff. It was nice, but very sweet. I then saw skewered scorpions and seahorse!!! Wow! I don't think I'm game enough yet. Alice tried to bargain with this lady over the price of chestnuts but didn't win. I saw this lady dressed in some form of traditional Chinese dress wearing heavy makeup singing Chinese Opera on a rooftop. The sound quality wasn't very good, but it was still a very unique sight. We then went to another street market and all the stall-holders were screaming out things, and just because I have blonde hair, I was getting comments like “Hello, come here!” There I saw skewered starfish, more insects, bigger scorpion and the gut of some animal. I had dumplings and this other jelly-like stew. Not sure exactly what it was, but tasted pretty good. I also saw a couple beggars last night. Some came up to me, tapping me and asking for money. Others were looking for leftover food in bins. I've seen quite a few people spit as well. I think the word slag is more apt. Even the bus driver ‘slagged’ out the window.

Today, Alice and I left early to go to work. But we weren't going to the office this time, we were off to a primary school to teach them about different sources of energy. We picked up a steam bun and soy bean drink for breakfast from this street vendor. We caught a subway, and were packed in like sardines. When we got off the subway, the lady that we met there said that we had to get on the subway again and then catch the bus back because no-one was there to pick us up. The reason being that on every day of the week, cars with their numberplate ending in a certain number are not allowed to drive on that particular day... I hope that makes sense. I'm assuming they are doing that for traffic and environmental purposes. I think it's great. The bus ride was reallllly long. We ended up in this quite rural area. I saw carts being pulled by horses which looked like donkeys, three-wheeled vehicles (one tyre in the middle at the front with two at the back), bicycles carrying loads about 5 times the size of the bike itself. The kids at the primary school were really cute. I didn't seem to get as many stares as I would do in Japan, but maybe I'm just immune to it now. When we first got there, they were all outside doing routine exercise to music! When we went into our first classroom, they all seemed to be putting their hands over their eyes. At first I didn't know if it was an obedience thing, but then I realised there was a recording being played quite loud over the school speaker. It was counting from 1-8 8 times, and it was then that I learnt they were massaging their face muscles. Apparently they do this because they read and write so much. It was quite cute. They did 3 different spots on their faces, next to their nose near their eyes, their cheeks and then the outer edge of their eyes. The classrooms were packed to the brims with about 55 kids. They were quite well behaved. They all shouted in unison “NIHAOOO!” The second class asked for my autograph.

Of course I couldn't do the teaching, because I can't speak Mandarin. I was more of an assistant. I think it is so wonderful they are teaching young children about renewable sources or energy and the like. The kids are our future leaders, and considering the state our global environment is in, we need them to be fully aware of what needs to happen in society!

On our way back home, we bought a boiled sweet potato from another street vendor. It was delicious! You just peeled back the skin and ate the soft mush :) We then got this spicy pancake thing, which was nice but a little on the hot side! I dropped one of my gloves and didn’t realise until I got back home. I backtracked and found it! Someone had picked it up and put it on a shelf on the side of the street! I was sooooo happy! They were my new costly thermal gloves, and I don’t think I could survive a day with a bare hand in this climate!

Alice is currently out at a yoga class. I am starting to worry about my lack of exercise, and really starting to wonder if I'm going to turn into a Buddha, just like my Dad keeps saying. I thought my other flatmate would be home by now. She said we could have dinner together.

I'm getting a bit hungry..

Ooh, I just got home from dinner. Wuxian, my flat mate, took me out for noodles. It was very yummy. She is very kind! She called me her little sister..hehe

Zaijian ~ until next time.