China Travels: Arrival in Yuyao and first working days
Thursday, June 4th - Frinday, June 5th, 2015 Departure and Arrival
That day, was quite a sad day. I had to say goodbye to my parents and it was quite an emotional moment. I almost wanted to stay back together with them so that they wouldn't be so sad, but I had to go.
I found the gate quite easily at Frankfurt Airport and when I sat down I was surprised by already so many asians in one place. My plane was supposed to fly first to Hong Kong and from there to Ningbo. It was a huge plane and we had screens to watch something as well. The food was great especially the chocolate cake we got. And there were two chinese boys sitting next to me who helped me put my things up and down again.
I watched a movie during the fligth, it was Whiplash, but I didn't like it that much and felt tired so fell asleep. It was the first time I had such a long flight and thought it to be quite exciting but it was a bit annoying because sleeping was really uncomfortable although I could move my seat back a little bit.
When we landed in Hong Kong it was 4 pm local time and I had a wonderful view over Hong Kong. I really want to visit that city while I am still here.
At Hong Kong Airport I had to wait for my gate to be announced. But when I finally got on the plane I was surprised at how quiet the plane started and landed. It is called Dragonair and everything was so good about this airlines. The food, the tea, the landing was smooth. I can highly recommend this airline.
When I finally landed in Ningbo, I should be picked up by someone from Aiesec, but before I could get out of the passport controls, I had to fill out some arrival sheet and they wanted to know the place I was staying at, and I didn't have a clue about the adress and in the end I just had to give that Aiesecer's phone number.
Anyway, I was one of the last ones to come out of pass port control and when I finally got out, Chris from Aiesec was waiting foro me and he took me to the hotel where I should stay for one night. It was a nice stay and I didn't have a culture shock yet.
Saturday, June 6th 2015: Meeting the foreign teachers
That day I was brought to the train station in Ningbo to take the train to Yuyao. I should travel alone but I was picked up. The train was quite impressive I have to say. Very clean and modern and the seats were so comfortable, more than in the plane. And it is really easy to understand, just getting to the platforms is a bit annoying because everytime you have to go through baggage controls. But other than that, very good.
My first impression of Yuyao was fine. My chef Martin picked me up and after putting my things into the apartment, he brought me to tefl, the school I will be teaching at. I met an American Girl, Geet first and a chinese girl, Veronica. I already got along well with them, making jokes and laughing. Geet turned out to be a huge Harry Potter fan as well, so we automatically like each other :D Then I met Ana, a polish girl who is already working there for 2 years and she is something like our momma. Then there is Josie from England who has the most perfect british accent and Hailey from Canada, probably the toughest of us :D
While the others had classes, I went to have lunch with Geet and Ana. I wasn't hungry so I only drank something. In the restaurant, there was a lot of fish, and I somehow didn't have a big appetite, moreover, the smells of the buildings were different I noticed. Everything smelled so differently, I had to get used to that.
Another thing I had to get used to are the squat toilets they have here. In the apartment, we have normal toilets, but in public places, there usually are squat toilets.
And then, during the day when everyone was having classes, I sat in the office and talked to anyone who was free. During these hours, Veronica helped me to get a chinese card and while talking about phones, I realized that it is very hard to get a free vpn on your phone if you don't have an iphone. While we were walking to a phone shop, I noticed that a lot of people here have new cars. The only old cars I have seen so far are the taxis, everything else are new Volkswagen, Mercedes, bmw, Hyundai, even Porsches. I have never seen so many Porsches like here in Yuyao.
That was something I didn't expect. I even expected the spitting but not this.
Anyway, at 5pm we had dinner break, or rather, almost everyone of us was finished for the day, so Josie's boyfriend Harry who is chinese brought us to a restaurant to have dinner at. It was quite nice and we all had a good time getting to know each other.
After dinner we went some shopping while Hailey had evening class until 8.30. There, we saw another odd but funny thing. A lot of people were gathered at the plaza of the mall and were all dancing. It looked like a flash mob but then Ana and Josie explained to us that they were old people who were working out after dinner. It was so funny that Geet and I had to join them.
After that, we all met in front of the school again and went to KTV which is a Karaoke Bar where you get your own cabin and stuff like that :D It was such a fun evening and a friend of Harry's Es joined us as well. The beer, however tasted like water :D Still, it was so good, that I want to do it again soon.
At after midnight we called it a day and returned home.
Sunday, June 7th 2015: Badminton
That day, Everyone was out except for Ana and me so we had breakfast together and she helped me get wechat which is like a mixture between chinese whatsapp, facebook and instagram :'D After everyone arrived, we went to the gym to play Badminton, because it was raining outside. It was fun to play Badminton again after such a long time.
After that, we got some Pizza at Pizza Hut. So, it was a typical Sunday even in China :D
Monday, June 8th, 2015: First working day, Fail
That day should be my first working day, and I was excited already. I had my first class in the afternoon which was at the Kindergarten. It wasn't really a class I held, but I should just watch Ana's class and the little children were all so cute! When I walked into the room, all their heads turned to me and while I was grinning, I felt the tears in my eyes swell up. It was just too much cuteness, I couldn't bear it.
My real lesson should be late in the evening, at 6.30pm, so after dinner time. For dinner we went to a really amazing place. I had Kung Pao Chicken for the first time, and now it is one of my most favoirte chinese dishes <3
After dinner, I got a lemon ice tea and prepared a little bit for my class, but I soon had to find out that it didn't take place.
Also my second class at 7.30 didn't take place. That was a bit disappointing because I thought I would now finally be able to teach, but it seemed that I had to wait until Wednesday, because Tuesday was my day off.
Tuesday, June 8th 2015: Candy Shops and KFC
That day was a lazy day. I slept in and then I woke up to wander through the streets. I walked past some candy shops and actually went inside one as well.
I found some yummy purple sweet potatoe chips and a strawberry juice but I found the latter one a bit strange :'D
At the supermarket later I found some Lays chips with green tea taste which was a very interesting taste. In the evening, I went to KFC the first time and disliked it. I don't know why everyone hypes it so much, especially in China the people are crazy about it. After that I hung out with the others and we had some wine.
Wednesday, June 9th 2015: Finally working
That day, we were supposed to meet the new foreign teacher from the UK who arrived only a few days ago. Me and two other chinese girls who work at our school took him to a chinese fast food restaurant to have lunch. After that he met the other ones and for dinner, we went to the restaurant which served Kung Pao chicken again. After we went back to school again, we saw that one of the receptionists had brough some Yang Mei for us, waxberries in english. It is a special kind of fruit that only grows here during two weeks of June. I tasted them and they were quite good. They tasted like a mixture between kiwi and raspberries.
That day was long and in the end I was happy to finally have had my first class which was actually not bad.
Thursday, June 10th 2015: Evening class
That day I should have my first evening class with adults. It was interesting to talk with chinese adults and see their view upon different things. I had 7 people that day and the 1 hour went by so fast. Sometimes it was hard to explain some things to them, but most of the time, it was fun and challenging. I think I like it better than teaching adoloscent kids.
Friday, June 11th 2015: Getting used to everything
That day wasn't that eventful, so there won't be a lot to say about that. I woke up early, did laundry, went shopping, and then went to work. In the evening I came back to my apartment so quite a normal day.
Saturday, June 12th 2015: Good food
That day we went to a nice place for dinner. Ana and the others have invited some other people they know as well. One girl named Libby, a french boy and his girlfriend. We went to a place called GoTeaGo which served sooo delicious food <3 Of course it was a bit more expensive, but still I loved it and thought it was worth it.
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| This is duck. The first time I tried it. It is okay but not my favorite. Bildunterschrift hinzufügen |
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| Salmon <3 Unfortunately too little of that |
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| Shrimps <3 I am so stupid, I forgot to try this >< |
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| Shells. Tried them and they are nice. |
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| Crab. Always wanted to try this, and now I have. It is hard to eat though. I think I have to practice as long as I am here :D |
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| Vegetables on fire |
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| Pork. It was quite good. |
After dinner, however, I had to hurry to work since I still had a few evening classes which I later found out were cancelled. But I had to stay there anyway which is one thing that I don't like about the working times. But Libby came to visit me at work so it wasn't that bad.
After work Hailey and me planned our next day because we wanted to go to Hangzhou. Veronica helped us buying the train tickets and Hailey and me were already a little bit excited for that.
So on my next post, you will find out more about our trip to Hangzhou. You can already be excited for the pictures.
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