Okay okay I’ll be the first to admit it - I haven’t exactly been keeping on top of things this time around. I guess some might say that two months could be regarded as a considerable gap between postings. I promise I’ll try to be more diligent from now on. (…Oh and I’m pretty sure I’ve never used the word “diligent” before in my life prior to coming to China) But anyway, what can I say? …I’ve been busy haha. But I do apologize to all those who have been waiting. (Mom).
So let’s see… Where to begin? Outside of the obvious unusual food-related incidents, of which there have been several - including a trip to the wet market and seeing buckets of live snakes, scorpions, and chickens in the process of being de-feathered (only the chickens, not the snakes and scorpions LOL) - there have been lots of interesting events during the past two months that I’ve been in Guangzhou... Three or four weeks ago Amy and I threw a pseudo-housewarming potluck party in our apartment. Seeing as how we work in separate schools there ended up being a lot of people crammed into our apartment; 50 or so at the peak. All-in-all it was a pretty good night full of drinks, food, dice games, and dancing. Well, almost dancing. The last of the stragglers didn’t leave until 6:00am to catch the first train home… Luckily the next day I didn’t have to work!
I have also taken a couple of noteworthy trips outside of the city. I guess about a month ago now Amy and I, along with Linda, one of Amy’s students, took a trip to Yangshuo. It’s a small, yet touristy town in Guangxi, the next province over, which takes around 10 hours or so by bus. I say “or so” because sometimes, if you’re fortunate enough you can gain the pleasure of having that bus trip extended to over 12 hours. Of course, we were just lucky enough to have this good fortune. Bus aside, the trip was a lot of fun! After stumbling off the over-night bus at 8:00 in the morning we checked into our hotel and then went to a nearby restaurant to have some breakfast. Breakfast was followed by a quick look around some of the shops and then an attempt to plan out the rest of our trip. Easy in theory, not so much in practice. We ended up going on a tour through some limestone caves in the afternoon followed by a lake show in the evening. The show was pretty cool, although a little difficult to describe. Imagine a Preston Ice Show but on water… and using boats… with traditional Chinese music... If it weren’t for the millions of mosquitoes attacking us the entire time it might have been more enjoyable. After a “10 minute” (translate: 45 minute) walk back to the main street of town we capped off the night by having a few drinks and playing some drinking games. The second day in Yangshuo we met up with Tracy, another EF teacher who works at Amy’s branch. The four of us hired a bamboo raft and took a tour down the river. It was pretty fun, even though we had to disembark half way through to take a 20 minute trek over land to avoid the police. (The people who operate the boats aren’t exactly known for paying taxes on what they earn…) After finding the “big tree” and our boat driver again, our rafting expedition continued. Later that day we met up with Cesar, Tracy’s roommate in Yangshuo, and indulged in a couple more drinks. After stumbling back to the hotel around 4:30 we awakened a few hours later to catch the oh so comfy bus back to Guangzhou.
This past week my good friend Alex made her way to Guangzhou for a visit via India, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam… It was really nice to have her here but unfortunate that I had to work almost the entire length of her visit! We managed to get out a few nights, but it’s a good thing she was content with just relaxing around the apartment during the day. I guess 5 months of traveling can do that to a person haha. After a 10 day stint of work (about a week of that being while Alex was here) I had a few days off! This is where the second noteworthy trip out of the city comes in…
This past weekend was the Dragon Boat Festival and Alex, Amy and I decided to head to Hong Kong for the holiday. We found a cheap hostel in the Mong Kok area of Kowloon which is actually just outside of Hong Kong (kind of akin to a Mississauga) and settled in for three days. Aside from being insanely tiny, our room was very clean and seemed pretty safe. The location was also actually pretty convenient - it was right across the street from a large market known as the Ladies’ Market. If you look you can easily find really cheap clothing and cosmetics. The first day we did some wandering through the market and then headed into Central Hong Kong to find a hair salon. While Amy and Alex were getting their hair highlighted I elected to go wander around a bit. (I had wanted to get my hair straightened again, but it would’ve taken too long). I found my way to the Soho area and went up the “world’s largest escalator”. A misnomer if you ask me, I was expecting a single escalator, but it’s actually just a series of short ones going up the hill/mountain. Regardless it was pretty neat and I saw a lot of cool restaurants and bars. When I got to the top I realized that there was no escalator going down the mountain so I had to actually walk back down (horrible I know). It took about 20 minutes, but it was a good way to kill some time while I waited for the other two girls to finish up. Later that night we met up with Rob, a fellow traveler Alex met on one of her journeys across South East Asia, and Christine, a nice German girl that Rob had also met while traveling. The next day Amy, Alex, Christine and I decided to go see Po Lin Monastery and a large Buddha statute (actually “the world’s tallest, outdoor, seated bronze Buddha” to be exact) on Lantau Island. Unfortunately due to the excessive amount of rain that had fallen a few days earlier there had been a landslide and the cable car and bus up the mountain were shut down. Slightly discouraged we elected to take a bus around the coast so we could pass through a small fishing village, however it turned out this section of the road was also shut down. In the end we went and saw the new Sex in the City movie and did some shopping at the outlet mall that was outside the metro station. On our third and final day of the holiday we chose to hop aboard a ferry and visit Macau which is about an hour away. We got there in the evening (after a lazy morning of sleeping in, eating lunch at TGI Fridays, and shopping around for an external hard drive), and then tried to figure out what exactly we should do there. Macau is known for its gambling so after visiting a female Buddha statue we made our way to a casino. I lost about $20 but Alex and Amy both came out ahead - Alex by about $2.50, but Amy won about $150 - not too shabby! Later we had dinner in another casino, where, from our vantage point, were able to look down upon a lovely pole dancing show. Well to be fair, it wasn’t only pole dancers, there were also some mimes from time to time as well as some other dancers who performed. None of them were actually any good. After our meals we opted for dessert at another casino and then made the journey back to Hong Kong. The next morning Amy and I were up at 5:45 to catch the train back to Guangzhou so we could return to work, while Alex stayed behind in Hong Kong for a few more days before her return flight to Canada this coming Sunday.
Alright well that’s all for now, I could keep writing but I feel this is sufficient enough until the next time around. Don’t want to bore you all too much with my ramblings haha.
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Saturday, April 12, 2008
China - Day 5
It’s definitely been an interesting first week here in GZ (Guangzhou). And busy! So very busy. I’m in bed every night before 10:00, sometimes even as early as 9:00 because I’m so tired from all the running around I’ve done all day. It doesn’t help that I can’t sleep in past 7:00 either as that’s when the huge construction site beside my hotel window comes to life with jackhammers, drills and power saws. There must be upwards of 500 people working there throughout the day, all day, and throughout most of the night. Usually I don’t notice the workers starting to peter out until around the time I head to bed. One night I forced myself to stay awake until 11:30 in an attempt to adjust to the time change and get back on a normal sleeping pattern (which didn’t work by the way), and there were still lights on at the construction site and a bunch of people still hard at work. Thankfully they were fairly quiet. When I was told that China was under construction I thought the person was exaggerating. They weren’t. China truly is under construction! The city is littered with cranes and assorted construction sites - in addition to the giant gaping hole by my hotel, across the street there’s a 33-story building nearing completion.
So what happened this week? Well on Wednesday me, Amy and Luke, another new teacher, had to go to the local hospital for our medical exam. That was definitely an experience! I’ve never seen such production line of people being shuffled around. It started with a consultation with a doctor to go over my forms to make sure I wasn’t lying when I marked off that I haven’t previously had any life-threatening illnesses. After he was satisfied, he informed me of the optional tests they could do for me if I was interested - Hepatitis A and C tests were recommended he said, and there was also the option of an endoscopy. I kindly declined and when back to my seat to wait for him to talk with the others. After that it was time for the urinalysis. We were instructed to leave our sample in the metal box in the washroom. Good system they have there - large open container in the middle of the room - no way anyone could tamper with anything there. Then we had to get our height and weight measured as well as our blood pressure checked in a room full of other people who could see all the results - nothing like a little privacy. Next we got blood samples taken, two full vials full. I asked Christine Li, the EF officer who came with us, if the needles they used were new - I read online that it’s important to ask this question. I’m not sure I’d have the option to refuse the test even if the syringes weren’t new however as my work visa relies on completing the exam… At any rate she assured me they were. The next stage in this whole ordeal was the internal exam. Not as scary as I was imagining in my mind - they just checked my kidneys, heart, and other organs (from the outside). Afterwards I headed over for a chest x-ray and then an ultrasound. Nearing the end of my lovely hospital visit I had an ear/nose/throat exam followed by an eye exam - always interesting trying to communicate what I’m seeing when I can’t speak the language. Luckily hand gestures seemed to do the trick. The last thing on the list for the day was an electro-cardiogram then we were on our way. The whole thing took about 2 ½ hours and 400 RMB (about $58.50 Canadian).
After the visit to the clinic we headed back over to the main branch of EF in the Tianhe district of the city. We were supposed to join day two of training boot camp, but seeing as how we’d missed to first day of it and half of the second, the guy running it told us we could join in if we wanted to or just do it next time it’s offered. Seemed like a good option to me! Luke stayed as he had actually attended the first session the day before but Amy and I were outta there!
We decided to go scout out our own branches of EF. Turns out I’m working in a ghetto. Well the area in front of the school doesn’t seem so bad but once you start walking in the neighborhood behind the school it’s a different story. Very small, crowded and dirty streets lined with tiny shops and restaurants. This is actually what I pictured China was like. There was however, a really nice temple at the end of the block. As we made our way towards the entrance we were approached by a monk who offered us a little gold pendant. After taking the offering we realized that he wanted a donation. By this time we had attracted some attention and a crowd started to form while an elderly woman yelled at us (or at the monk, I’m not sure) and was watching very closely at how much money we were taking out of our wallets. After that we practically ran to the entryway of the temple! At first I thought the other Chinese people were angry because they were against the monks for being associated with Tibet or something like that, but then I thought that maybe the monks were imposters. Turns out that was the case - I recently asked the Center Manager at my branch about them and she confirmed my suspicions - only the monks inside the temple are real - the ones outside who want money aren’t. I guess ‘live and learn’ is the moral of the story.
Thursday we went apartment hunting. After waiting three hours for our realtor and translator to arrive we finally went to walk around and view a few places. To make a long story short we finally found a suitable 2-bedroom apartment for 4500 RMB/month that’s close to the metro and downtown area. The complex our building is in also has a swimming pool (which won’t have water in it until the summer - who cares that it’s currently 39 degrees?), a tennis court, spa, gym, and a pretty nice courtyard. It’s also gated and you have to pass through a security checkpoint to get in. Today (Saturday) we’re going to go back to sign our lease and handover a huge pile of cash (they deal with cash here) - two months deposit, first month’s rent, plus 50% of a month’s rent for the real estate company. My bank account is going to be seriously depleted after today. We also have to go to Ikea (which is conveniently located down the block from our place) to get a new couch. The one that’s there now is pretty bad and the owner didn’t want to replace it himself so he knocked 2000 RMB off our first months rent so we could buy our own. Fair enough.
Yesterday was the most interesting day by far! In the morning I went back to the Tianhe branch for an orientation to EF along with Luke and Eric (yet another new teacher) and then on to my own branch to meet “my new family” as my Director of Studies put it. The other teachers and staff were really warm and friendly and definitely seemed more inviting than the first impressions that I got when I went to work for Nova in Oita. Rachael Zhang, the Center Manager, took us all out for lunch on the company’s dime (I could get used to this). There I got to meet a few of the teachers (who didn’t have class) a little more and enjoy my first experience with Cantonese cuisine. The food they ordered was pretty tame and I tried *almost* everything - I left the duck feet and cow tendon alone, but I tried another beef dish, and pork dish, and a spring roll type of vegetarian dish. Those three were all pretty good. After lunch we went back to the school and had a meeting with Rachael and Andre (the Director of Studies). It was just another introduction to EF but focused on the break down of the departments. At 2:30 I had to leave to go and meet Amy and Phoenix for a walking tour of the city.
Now “tame” is NOT a word I’d use to describe our Welcome Dinner. Last night Susan and Phoenix from EF took me, Amy, Luke and Eric out for dinner. I’m pretty sure I will be haunted by that meal for the rest of my time here (and honestly they didn’t even order the weirdest things on the menu). It all started with pigeon. I was wondering why I hadn’t seen any around the city LOL. They came out fried and crispy, head included - although nobody ate that part so maybe it’s just for decoration. The next course was soup; this is the one I had the most trouble with. It was a simple enough pork broth, but in addition to the pork, there were mushrooms, a chicken foot, and fish bowel. Yeah that’s right - bowel. (Pictures to be posted shortly). Being brave I tried the broth, but I didn’t touch the “meat”. Then the waitress brought out sandworms. Yes the kind from the movie “Tremors.” Okay so maybe they weren’t that big, but they were indeed worms. They were served in a liquid/broth mixture with radish and peppers. You’d be amazed to know that I ate one. So did Amy. But one was enough. The boys seemed to really enjoy them though as they pretty much finished the bowl. The table didn’t seem big enough for all the food that kept coming out for the rest of the night - bok choy in coconut juice, fried noodles, sweet and sour chicken (these last two items were the only ones I’d ever eat again as they were actually pretty good), and then dessert which was an “egg tart - Portuguese style. Apparently it’s a Macau dish - it was alright as well, it tasted a little bit like crème brulee in a tart crust. All in all I’d say that meal was a life experience. Not so sure it’s one I want to repeat although I’m sure I will probably many times while I’m here.
So that was my week. I’m sure I’ve forgotten about some things but this post has already gotten really long!
So what happened this week? Well on Wednesday me, Amy and Luke, another new teacher, had to go to the local hospital for our medical exam. That was definitely an experience! I’ve never seen such production line of people being shuffled around. It started with a consultation with a doctor to go over my forms to make sure I wasn’t lying when I marked off that I haven’t previously had any life-threatening illnesses. After he was satisfied, he informed me of the optional tests they could do for me if I was interested - Hepatitis A and C tests were recommended he said, and there was also the option of an endoscopy. I kindly declined and when back to my seat to wait for him to talk with the others. After that it was time for the urinalysis. We were instructed to leave our sample in the metal box in the washroom. Good system they have there - large open container in the middle of the room - no way anyone could tamper with anything there. Then we had to get our height and weight measured as well as our blood pressure checked in a room full of other people who could see all the results - nothing like a little privacy. Next we got blood samples taken, two full vials full. I asked Christine Li, the EF officer who came with us, if the needles they used were new - I read online that it’s important to ask this question. I’m not sure I’d have the option to refuse the test even if the syringes weren’t new however as my work visa relies on completing the exam… At any rate she assured me they were. The next stage in this whole ordeal was the internal exam. Not as scary as I was imagining in my mind - they just checked my kidneys, heart, and other organs (from the outside). Afterwards I headed over for a chest x-ray and then an ultrasound. Nearing the end of my lovely hospital visit I had an ear/nose/throat exam followed by an eye exam - always interesting trying to communicate what I’m seeing when I can’t speak the language. Luckily hand gestures seemed to do the trick. The last thing on the list for the day was an electro-cardiogram then we were on our way. The whole thing took about 2 ½ hours and 400 RMB (about $58.50 Canadian).
After the visit to the clinic we headed back over to the main branch of EF in the Tianhe district of the city. We were supposed to join day two of training boot camp, but seeing as how we’d missed to first day of it and half of the second, the guy running it told us we could join in if we wanted to or just do it next time it’s offered. Seemed like a good option to me! Luke stayed as he had actually attended the first session the day before but Amy and I were outta there!
We decided to go scout out our own branches of EF. Turns out I’m working in a ghetto. Well the area in front of the school doesn’t seem so bad but once you start walking in the neighborhood behind the school it’s a different story. Very small, crowded and dirty streets lined with tiny shops and restaurants. This is actually what I pictured China was like. There was however, a really nice temple at the end of the block. As we made our way towards the entrance we were approached by a monk who offered us a little gold pendant. After taking the offering we realized that he wanted a donation. By this time we had attracted some attention and a crowd started to form while an elderly woman yelled at us (or at the monk, I’m not sure) and was watching very closely at how much money we were taking out of our wallets. After that we practically ran to the entryway of the temple! At first I thought the other Chinese people were angry because they were against the monks for being associated with Tibet or something like that, but then I thought that maybe the monks were imposters. Turns out that was the case - I recently asked the Center Manager at my branch about them and she confirmed my suspicions - only the monks inside the temple are real - the ones outside who want money aren’t. I guess ‘live and learn’ is the moral of the story.
Thursday we went apartment hunting. After waiting three hours for our realtor and translator to arrive we finally went to walk around and view a few places. To make a long story short we finally found a suitable 2-bedroom apartment for 4500 RMB/month that’s close to the metro and downtown area. The complex our building is in also has a swimming pool (which won’t have water in it until the summer - who cares that it’s currently 39 degrees?), a tennis court, spa, gym, and a pretty nice courtyard. It’s also gated and you have to pass through a security checkpoint to get in. Today (Saturday) we’re going to go back to sign our lease and handover a huge pile of cash (they deal with cash here) - two months deposit, first month’s rent, plus 50% of a month’s rent for the real estate company. My bank account is going to be seriously depleted after today. We also have to go to Ikea (which is conveniently located down the block from our place) to get a new couch. The one that’s there now is pretty bad and the owner didn’t want to replace it himself so he knocked 2000 RMB off our first months rent so we could buy our own. Fair enough.
Yesterday was the most interesting day by far! In the morning I went back to the Tianhe branch for an orientation to EF along with Luke and Eric (yet another new teacher) and then on to my own branch to meet “my new family” as my Director of Studies put it. The other teachers and staff were really warm and friendly and definitely seemed more inviting than the first impressions that I got when I went to work for Nova in Oita. Rachael Zhang, the Center Manager, took us all out for lunch on the company’s dime (I could get used to this). There I got to meet a few of the teachers (who didn’t have class) a little more and enjoy my first experience with Cantonese cuisine. The food they ordered was pretty tame and I tried *almost* everything - I left the duck feet and cow tendon alone, but I tried another beef dish, and pork dish, and a spring roll type of vegetarian dish. Those three were all pretty good. After lunch we went back to the school and had a meeting with Rachael and Andre (the Director of Studies). It was just another introduction to EF but focused on the break down of the departments. At 2:30 I had to leave to go and meet Amy and Phoenix for a walking tour of the city.
Now “tame” is NOT a word I’d use to describe our Welcome Dinner. Last night Susan and Phoenix from EF took me, Amy, Luke and Eric out for dinner. I’m pretty sure I will be haunted by that meal for the rest of my time here (and honestly they didn’t even order the weirdest things on the menu). It all started with pigeon. I was wondering why I hadn’t seen any around the city LOL. They came out fried and crispy, head included - although nobody ate that part so maybe it’s just for decoration. The next course was soup; this is the one I had the most trouble with. It was a simple enough pork broth, but in addition to the pork, there were mushrooms, a chicken foot, and fish bowel. Yeah that’s right - bowel. (Pictures to be posted shortly). Being brave I tried the broth, but I didn’t touch the “meat”. Then the waitress brought out sandworms. Yes the kind from the movie “Tremors.” Okay so maybe they weren’t that big, but they were indeed worms. They were served in a liquid/broth mixture with radish and peppers. You’d be amazed to know that I ate one. So did Amy. But one was enough. The boys seemed to really enjoy them though as they pretty much finished the bowl. The table didn’t seem big enough for all the food that kept coming out for the rest of the night - bok choy in coconut juice, fried noodles, sweet and sour chicken (these last two items were the only ones I’d ever eat again as they were actually pretty good), and then dessert which was an “egg tart - Portuguese style. Apparently it’s a Macau dish - it was alright as well, it tasted a little bit like crème brulee in a tart crust. All in all I’d say that meal was a life experience. Not so sure it’s one I want to repeat although I’m sure I will probably many times while I’m here.
So that was my week. I’m sure I’ve forgotten about some things but this post has already gotten really long!
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
China - Day 1
What a long and exhausting journey! But after a 21 hour flight (13 to Tokyo then another 5 to Guangzhou after a 3 hour layover), I've finally arrived in China in one piece. For the most part. I guess aside from the joint stiffness from sitting for so long and the pain in my arms and shoulders from lugging around all my baggage I'm in fairly decent shape.
After we landed at the Guangzhou airport and made our way through customs, Amy and I were greeted by Phoenix Liu, an intern for our school. He was waiting patiently holding a nice bright blue EF English First sign. Definitely caught our attention. After dragging our luggage across what seemed to be the *entire* length of the airport, we made it to the exit where a van was waiting to take us to our hotel. It's lucky that Amy and I were the only ones being picked up that day, I'm not sure that anyone else's bags would've fit into the back. Seems like we've over-packed. Again.
In the 40 minutes it took to get to the hotel from the airport I'm pretty sure I saw my life flash before my eyes more than once. Apparently the rules of the road in China are that there are no rules. People merging lanes without signaling... People merging lanes without bothering to even check to see if there's already a car in the lane... Definitely not a place I'll be renting a car to do any driving myself!
The hotel EF has put us in is actually really nice! Much better than I was expecting. We've each got our own room with a queen size bed and a big flat-panel wall-mounted TV. The best part is that there's a western-style toilet. I don't think I'd be able to handle the Chinese squatting ones just yet... It's too bad this place is only temporary. If I could find an apartment that was similar to this I'd be perfectly satisfied. Amy and I are going on Thursday to find an apartment with a real estate agent/translator that EF set us up with. Hopefully we find something quickly - it'll be nice not having to live out of a suitcase for too long!
They don't give you much time to get over jet lag here - today we were met by Susan Woo, she's kind of like a coordinator of sorts. She took us to open a bank account and to the main EF branch to do a little orientation and contract signing. Tomorrow we have to be up and ready by 8:00 to go and get a medical check - definitely not looking forward to that. But in order to get a visa (a more permanent one than the one I have now) we have to be checked from head to toe. After that we have to do "boot camp" which is kind of like a concentrated teaching seminar. Seems kind of pointless though considering we've already missed the first day of it.
After we finished up with Susan at EF we were left to find our own way back to the hotel. Turns out it was easy enough on the subway - it was only two stops away LOL. We spent the rest of the day walking around Grandview Mall in search of Jusco to get a few groceries - turns out Jusco was in a different mall down the street. Fun times.
My first impressions of China are actually really positive. Guangzhou is a lot cleaner than I was anticipating and the people haven't been angrily staring at me like I thought they would. That's not to say that there isn't garbage or that people aren't staring at all though. Also, there's actually a lot more "Western/American" things available here than I would have imagined - more variety than in Japan which is really surprising! Store-wise so far I've seen a number of brand name shops like Tommy Hilfiger, Rolex, and Levi’s... Food-wise there are McDonald's, KFC, Subway and Pizza Hut (which were all available in Japan as well). But there's also Haagen-Dazs, Dairy Queen, and Papa John's Pizza. Tonight we ate at Pizza Hut and ordered the "American Special". A.K.A. pepperoni pizza.
Alright well it's time for me to go to bed - I'm having an early night. I haven't gotten used to the time change yet and I'm exhausted.
After we landed at the Guangzhou airport and made our way through customs, Amy and I were greeted by Phoenix Liu, an intern for our school. He was waiting patiently holding a nice bright blue EF English First sign. Definitely caught our attention. After dragging our luggage across what seemed to be the *entire* length of the airport, we made it to the exit where a van was waiting to take us to our hotel. It's lucky that Amy and I were the only ones being picked up that day, I'm not sure that anyone else's bags would've fit into the back. Seems like we've over-packed. Again.
In the 40 minutes it took to get to the hotel from the airport I'm pretty sure I saw my life flash before my eyes more than once. Apparently the rules of the road in China are that there are no rules. People merging lanes without signaling... People merging lanes without bothering to even check to see if there's already a car in the lane... Definitely not a place I'll be renting a car to do any driving myself!
The hotel EF has put us in is actually really nice! Much better than I was expecting. We've each got our own room with a queen size bed and a big flat-panel wall-mounted TV. The best part is that there's a western-style toilet. I don't think I'd be able to handle the Chinese squatting ones just yet... It's too bad this place is only temporary. If I could find an apartment that was similar to this I'd be perfectly satisfied. Amy and I are going on Thursday to find an apartment with a real estate agent/translator that EF set us up with. Hopefully we find something quickly - it'll be nice not having to live out of a suitcase for too long!
They don't give you much time to get over jet lag here - today we were met by Susan Woo, she's kind of like a coordinator of sorts. She took us to open a bank account and to the main EF branch to do a little orientation and contract signing. Tomorrow we have to be up and ready by 8:00 to go and get a medical check - definitely not looking forward to that. But in order to get a visa (a more permanent one than the one I have now) we have to be checked from head to toe. After that we have to do "boot camp" which is kind of like a concentrated teaching seminar. Seems kind of pointless though considering we've already missed the first day of it.
After we finished up with Susan at EF we were left to find our own way back to the hotel. Turns out it was easy enough on the subway - it was only two stops away LOL. We spent the rest of the day walking around Grandview Mall in search of Jusco to get a few groceries - turns out Jusco was in a different mall down the street. Fun times.
My first impressions of China are actually really positive. Guangzhou is a lot cleaner than I was anticipating and the people haven't been angrily staring at me like I thought they would. That's not to say that there isn't garbage or that people aren't staring at all though. Also, there's actually a lot more "Western/American" things available here than I would have imagined - more variety than in Japan which is really surprising! Store-wise so far I've seen a number of brand name shops like Tommy Hilfiger, Rolex, and Levi’s... Food-wise there are McDonald's, KFC, Subway and Pizza Hut (which were all available in Japan as well). But there's also Haagen-Dazs, Dairy Queen, and Papa John's Pizza. Tonight we ate at Pizza Hut and ordered the "American Special". A.K.A. pepperoni pizza.
Alright well it's time for me to go to bed - I'm having an early night. I haven't gotten used to the time change yet and I'm exhausted.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)