I arrived in Taiyuan at 9:30 pm and was met by a friendly school administrator named Cherry, my boss’s husband and one of my students. They cheerfully loaded my luggage into the car and informed me that my boss and two other students were waiting for us in a restaurant where we would have dinner. The feast was traditional Chinese style with a round rotating table and multiple dishes. Since I had eaten during my 5 hour layover in Beijing I was full, but sampled from various dishes to appease my hosts.
After dinner I was taken to my apartment which is below my boss’s apartment. It is very spacious and has several closets, in sharp contrast to my Korean apartment. However, it is similar to my Korean apartment in that I have a wet bathroom (the shower is open and the whole bathroom floor gets wet and drains out. The kitchen is also wet (unlike my Korean kitchen) because the washer is very third world. A hose extends from the bottom of the washer so the water will pump out into the floor drain (but of course it goes all over the floor anyway). I tried to put the hose in the sink, but discovered the washer would not run if I lifted the hose. An entire wash, rise, spin cycle takes either 6 or 9 hours. I have no dryer so my clothes drip dry on the ceiling rack built into the kitchen. This is a plus, since in Korea I hung clothes over doors and on the windows to dry. I have a gas stove top burner to cook and a refrigerator and freezer.
Driving in China is as crazy as I remember. There seem to be no rules other than try not to hit the guys near year or trying to pull out in front of you. I would not want to drive here. The drivers do not even pay attention to the marked lanes and pull in and out of traffic on the faith that other drivers will stop, and miraculously they seem to. Honking the horn is the main tool driver’s use to clear the way, although with so many horns blaring it’s a wonder anyone pays attention at all.
I had forgotten the odd Chinese habit of standing around like sentinels when waiting tables. Since I am alone this time and not with other teachers, it can be especially uncomfortable being watched by 5 or 6 waitresses waiting to attend my every need all for no tip.
My boss and her husband are very nice. They invited up to their apartment for lunch the other day. Her husband (like mine) does most of the cooking. Lunch consisted of rice and some side dishes including: corned beef, cold tomatoes topped with sugar, soybeans cooked with beef, and some kind of soft spicy crouton, and spicy peanuts. They toasted me with Tsingtao, the most known Chinese beer.
My students speak English quite well and are very ambitious. Each class is 2-hours long, which I find difficult since I am not very long-winded or naturally talkative. However, so far things are going pretty well and the students seem to be warming up to me relatively quickly. Classes are six days a week, but my actual normal teaching hours are only 20-hours per week with the rest of the time for class preparation (which for the academic classes is considerable so far).
Today I saw firsthand the efficiency of Chinese medicine. For $35 and in about ½ hour I and many others got a blood test, urine test, sonogram, EKG, chest X-ray, blood pressure, height, weight and eye check. Next time I need a physical I think I just come to China! I wonder why American medicine cannot be so efficient. They simply took one person after the other in each room for each task and got it done in record time. At least 30 people got done in the same hour.
My boss and her husband are currently in my apartment taping up the internet cord to the walls so it won’t be in the way on the floor. That is very nice of them. Personally I would have lived with it on the floor for 10-months.
‘Til next time….
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