Over the Great Wall

Recently I left the UK to begin a kindergarten teaching job in China, a place I have never been to before. Since I will be there for the next 10 months, I hope it turns out to be a good decision!

A good omen from Heathrow?

In one day I took both the longest flight (12 hours - London Heathrow-Hong Kong) and shortest (35mins - Hong Kong to Guangzhou) that I have ever been on.

The journey was over before I knew it, and then I found myself in China. What now? On the car ride for the airport I began taking in the area I was going to make my new home. Firstly I was surprisedbto see a man riding a motorbike with no helmet. What! 

As it transpired, I peaked too early on the shock factor.

Shortly after, I saw three people on one motorbike, cutting in and out of traffic. Then I saw another motorbike with three adults- and a baby sandwiched in the mix- none of whom wore headgear. Quite an interesting sight for the first few minutes in the country. And traffic laws seem to be very different; people cutting across each other, bikes happily going down the road the wrong way and generally a very different feel to back home. At least I learnt that helmets aren’t widely considered here.

Yet I was be proved wrong on that point.

When I got to my apartment, I was pleased to see that there was a balcony for Holly and I to enjoy. Oddly, when I was looking out the balcony, I did see that many pedestrians were topped with yellow helmets.

At first I thought these must be construction workers as there is a new high rise being finished across the road. You can see it on the right in the picture. But as I watched them, none went near it. Either they were working at another site, or this is a fashion which aimed to protect them from just walking around in an area where there are a lot of building sites. I'm leaning toward the latter but I'm just not sure!

Then I saw that a crane, which was working on the plot and carrying a bulging sack of rocks and debris, casually swinging above the road and over vehicles and people! So with this sort of thing occurring I could see why sticking a plastic hat might be a good shout. To say I am confused that safety when walking is considered, but overlooked when careening in and out of traffic on a bike would be an understatement.



Regular ice tea?
Nah. But the green label should
have been a giveaway.

I don’t want to draw a negative picture of China in any way. And I don’t want to use the term culture shock either, because that makes me think of someone going to another country and having a heart attack because its not like their home. So that's a bit extreme.

But being in a new country will take a bit of getting used to of course. Especially when I go to the shops and try to buy things, only to fail. Such as this ice tea. I mean, it looks like ice tea.
I'd describe the taste as 'What could be green tea, but with honey and a lingering aftertaste of flowers.' I'll have to get used to a few mystery items before I learn more Chinese. I've had some interesting experiences with eggs, but more on those later...

Thankfully the people I have met have been wonderful. The Chinese have been very friendly regardless of whether they speak English or not. And, aside from the school I work at, there seem to be hardly any English speakers here. This will be a change from my previous travel ventures where, mostly around Europe, I can rely on people speaking a little English.

I'm going to need to take the advice of my colleague: "Be prepared to not really know what's going on a lot of the time. Then you'll enjoy it!" 
Despite it all seeming quite different and very confusing I am very much looking forward to getting to know the place. Let the Orientation begin

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