Last weekend in Beijing

Last English class - all my best students!

Watching this...

here...


food with friends...


I ♥ hotpot...


...digesting and shisha...


...sophisticated, mature and responsible appreciation of Beijing's nightlife...


...before a nutritious morning meal...

I will MISS this!!

Last day in Beijing...

And I'm starting to appreciate how special that "where did the time go" feeling makes each experience. Tomorrow Thailand!

A sunny day and a great wall...

A snapshot of my weekend includes a Colombian party, hotpot (delicious), goodbye parties, KTV (karaoke), and an amusing incident that is sadly not mine to tell but that involves a silly friend, a full time kung-fu student, some headstands, some Baiju, a close encounter with a kitchen sink then floor then later stitches for a minor injury and a chin bra. Alex, your parents would be so proud.

After all the excitement it's amazing that we ever made it, but a sunny day yesterday saw some intrepid explorers from as far as the UK, NZ, Oz, Indonesia, Singapore and the Ivory Coast head up to a reasonably tourist free section of the great wall to marvel at it's greatness and add it to our China experience, and we had a gorgeous time.

In the end, getting to the non-touristy bit was almost as big an adventure as the Wall itself. First we all had to meet in a central location at an unheard of hour to catch a bus for an hour outside of Beijing. This accomplished we then tackled the more difficult task of engaging a minivan to take us the rest of the way. This ended up taking longer than the first bus journey, mainly because one particularly enthusiastic driver who wanted us to pay him a sum roughly equal to our combined monthly salary followed us around for an hour screaming at any other driver who tried to speak to us, and screaming at us for not going with him. An important note to remember when engaging in any sales based activity in China is that the customer most definitely does not come first; terrified people tend to haggle less than the ones you charm!

We then had a longer drive through some beautiful scenery to get to the right place. It's amazing just how beautiful the scenery becomes right outside of Beijing - rugged and green and lush. The wall itself was worth our long trip - the midday heat quickly convinced us to get the cable car halfway up the hillside (cheaters) and cut the steep climb to 20 minutes. We deliberately chose a quiet spot to visit the Wall at, so the spot we were in was a little unpolished, rugged and we spent some happy hours rambling over the broken pathway and admiring the view.

The only disappointment of the day was that the wall right at the highest point was blocked off. We made it our aim, only to find that there was a sign up prohibiting people to climb up the last tower, and warning of a fine for doing so, stating safety as the reason. The path was actually fine - the reason it was blocked was that all the postcards being sold in the visitor shops below were taken from that hill, and the company who operates the tourist attractions at the part of the wall have a vested interest in making it difficult for people to get up there to take their own pictures. A young security guard from a private company came out to warn us off, which nobody was happy about, however during the course of our "negotiations" he did let slip that if we wanted to go to the company in Beijing and pay for a "permit" the way would magically become safe! It's extremely frustrating that in a society where common property is perhaps the most important principle that people can do this kind of thing, but sadly it happens often. In such a rule-obsessed, question averse culture someone with the slightest bit of savvy can make up some rules and fines and then hire some unquestioning young men in polyester uniforms to enforce them, and unless they're caught at it (in the unlikely scenario where someone complains to the government about it) they're free to continue with absolute impunity.

After thinking we would spend the day hiking we actually went for a quick route down the hill - a zipwire! Over a beautiful lake, before heading back to the start again to sleep on our long bus journey home. Am now starting my last week before heading off again, and saying goodbye to all my students! I can't believe it's time to leave again - I've had a very different experience in China than the one I had in India, but this has been a very good thing. My life here has been pretty uncomplicated and unchallenging but it's been so valuable to have some time like that to spend thinking about where I'm going and the different things I want to achieve in my life over the next few years. And life in China has been just that - blissful, ordinary, daily life - I still can't believe how quickly it came to feel like home here, despite the language and cultural barriers. I definitely wouldn't hesitate to spend more time living here in the future.

Need to focus...

Burying one's head in the sand is not an effective way to deal with bureaucracy, nor does it magically zap piles of documents into oblivion. Any suggestions for where I ought to have this tattooed?

The Diary of a Beijing English Teacher...

I've learned the most about life in China from talking to my many different students, who come from all walks of life and usually have something interesting to say! I teach people who wish to improve their spoken English, either for work, leisure or just wishing to learn more. The classes are pretty informal which leaves ample opportunity for going off the beaten-English path, and most of the tangents that we end up on in any class will give me a little more insight into the Chinese way of life, history, society and the way of thinking.

The biggest overall insight I've gotten into the national psyche is how accepting people are of the status quo. It's something that I notice more and more as I get used to life here. Things are accepted as they are without any questions being asked. This seems to provide more and less freedom in equal measure - on an individual level people seem more comfortable expressing their personalities, opinions and different interests, as explanations or self-analysis are not de riguer here. On the other hand this obviously takes place within a certain assumed set of behaviours, beliefs and boundaries, and obviously it means that people don't ask questions regarding authority, society and so on. Whether or not Chinese people desire social or political change this creates obvious limitations and stagnation in areas ranging from equal rights right along to innovation - when nobody asks how current or new technologies can be applied in different situations or used in different ways we miss out on a lot of the unexpected, high-impact stuff, and those kind of questions just aren't asked here, which seems like a huge loss to me as there's so much human potential in China. It would be easy to assume that this limitation comes from China's more recent history - but this is always the easiest assumption, and whilst Communism has had a profound impact on the national psyche, and accentuated a lot of these characteristics in almost all cases it's easy to trace things back much further than the Cultural Revolution.

All well and good, but what does it have to do with teaching? Finding conversation starters was a real problem at first - people don't respond well to questions, and never return questions any more complex than "what is your name?". Even in general conversation, people tend to make statements - they never, never ask questions. Asking how people are, something I automatically frame as a question whatever the language in Mandarin is a statement. Ni hao ma? You fine? My Chinese speaking friends tell me the no-questions thing is a prominent characteristic of the Chinese language. It's occasionallly forced me to find far more inventive ways of getting conversations started, but once you can ask things in the right way, people are very open, up to and including criticising the governement or government policy, although this is obviously in a private context and people still shy away from talking about any changes they would like to see. This kind of insight alone has made me really glad that I chose to teach English here - as I'm living in a very Westernised area the looking glass into China has been really valuable to my experience.

Of course, in addition to the life lessons and observations about Chinese life there are also many comedy moments the better ones of which I'll post up at a later date!

You've never eaten dog? But it's DELICIOUS!!

Unlikely as it may seem, the above is a quote from a German friend who's currently living in Beijing!

My culinary adventures here have been not quite a daily thing, but nevertheless enlightening. The food is wonderful! It's easy to find really delicious food, both in restaurants and supermarkets, and the best thing is that there is absolutely tons of variety; food from all the different regions of China, local specialities and international food that's pretty reasonable. Of course, there's one golden rule; eat first, ask later. Which is easier than it sounds - I've unquestioningly eaten bullfrog and every kind of animal innard available without being nearly as upset by it as I imagined I would be. Thankfully I have managed to avoid dog and cat so far (I think), and I've yet to do anything other than take pictures of the scorpion, beetle, cockroach and whole snake kebabs that are on offer in some of the food markets.

Despite all the nice restaurants I've been enjoying cooking for myself most nights since I arrived, something that I've not given any time to since university if I'm very honest. Isn't it funny how much you can miss doing simple things, without even realising it? I've missed the whole process of cooking regularly - going to the supermarket and looking at all the fresh ingredients, buying simple stuff along with a few special ingredients, then getting home at night and deciding how I'm going to put them all together. The whole thing makes me very happy! And supermarket visits here are always a colourful experience - scores of people pushing and shoving, hundreds of kinds of fruit and veg across rows and rows, people cooking fresh food to sell, and of course the fresh meat and fish counters, which quickly give way to the ...live tanks, for people who like their food extra fresh. Huge fish, as well as turtles and frogs float around in crowded tanks looking miserable. If you get really lucky sometimes you even get to witness a particularly spirited fish make it's bid for freedom. If you're really really lucky it will smack into an unsuspecting shopper on the way and mayhem will ensue...

Option C, None of the Above....

My dad sent me a very nice email some weeks ago, politely enquiring if the reason I hadn't updated my blog in so long was; a. I was too busy at work, or; b. having to much fun?...

Whilst I've definitely been having a lot of fun the answer was actually c. the Chinese media censors have taken exception to blogger, and blocked it. I haven't been able to access it in weeks. The 20th anniversary of Tiananmen was last Thursday, so it seems the censors did some pre-emptive blocking to stem the tide of posts on the subject. Blogger is actually still blocked, however I've just learned I can access it using a proxy server - exciting but unfortunately it means no photos for now!

So an update to now is in order - I arrived in Beijing at the end of April, as planned. It's a lot more Westernised than I ever expected, and I've grown to love it here very very quickly. I'm teaching English to mature learners which is less strenuous and less rewarding than teaching to children but also means that I get to have fascinating conversations with all kinds of people - my students range from married couples to cancer scientists, policemen to people with mafia links (!), make-up artists to housewives and I literally never know what conversations I'll have at work from one day to the next. What's even better is that my colleagues are young and great fun, and of course there are some AIESECers here to spend time with, so it's easy to spend time enjoying the cultural scene, nightlife and amazing restaurants here.

Beijing itself is extremely cosmopolitan, ever changing, and a veritable temple to commercialism. When I arrived in the airport two people offered to sell me sim cards before I'd even had my visa checked, and when that part arrived an electronic panel on the desk invited me to smily-face rate the service of the guard ( :) ? :/ ? :( ?). There seem to be malls and European brands everywhere, as well as markets and people on the street. I'm aware that this doesn't characterise the whole of China, or even of Beijing - I live and teach in a very prosperous area, however the entrepreneurial spirit seems to be consistent regardless of how modern an area you're in. Sales is part of the national psyche and skill set, and I'm convinced that they probably teach it in schools.

To avoid a marathon I'll write more about my life here over the coming days. The most important thing's already been covered - the environment here is amazing, challenging and comforting at the same time. I'm already starting to feel sad about my imminent departure - despite practical challenges here I love the people and lifestyle and could easily see myself coming to live here again for a longer time.