In Shuizhai

It's been a few days since I've last posted, haven't really had a chance to access the internet since leaving Hong Kong. I have been journaling in pencil and paper everyday so may I can transfer some of that to this later on. I just stumbled upon this internet cafe just a few blocks down from the school I'm living at, and it seems like I can use it for free...maybe.

We left Hong Kong Sunday around 3pm and got into Shuizhai around 8, so it was about 5 hours or so on the road. Not bad compared to the 16 hour flight over here. The majority of the drive was on a 4 lane highway through farmlands and by cities. The last 30 minutes or so into Shuizhai was on rough dirt roads.

Ah, so much to talk about. The traffic here is a bit crazy and hectic, you'd think there would be accidents every minute or so. The rule of the road here in China is that a honk of the horn means 'I'm bigger than you and I'm coming through so you better move out of the way.' Need to pass that motorcycle carrying a cabinet? Just take the left lane and pass.

We stayed the first night in Shuizhai in a hotel, then went to the school campus the next morning where we moved into our apartment. When we arrived the students were looking out the windows and shouting "hello!" Everytime we walk around campus we get a hello every few moments - I have to say we feel a bit like rockstars here.

Rebecca and I are sharing one apartment and we each have our own room. Rebecca, Dr. Cook and I did some basic cleaning the first day to make it a bit more bearable. It's not the greatest place, but it's good enough and I appreciate it much.

That's probably enough for this post, I'll add some more things about what happened in the past few days in the next, and hopefully get some pictures up soon.

First post in China

I'm currently at the Pacific Coffee public internet cafe in Hong Kong, the bay is right out the window to my right. If this computer had a USB I'd upload some pictures, but hopefully I can do so later.

Our flight from Chicago to Hong Kong took about 16 hours, but all in all it really wasn't that bad of a ride, as I kept occupied between 4 movies, a book, and my ipod. We flew with the Sun so we literally had a long day. I only dozed off briefly on the flight, so I was awake for about 36 hours or so I guess.

Here in Hong Kong were staying at the Renaissance Hotel, which is very nice. Last night we met with Mr Chueng and Johnny, a couple guys in charge of our program. They took us out for a walk in around the neighborhood and to an authentic Chinese restaurant where I had my first meal in China. I had a noodle soup with shrimp dumplings or something in it and Mr Cheung ordered a separate plate of roasted duck for the table to share. Good good good food! Afterwards we took off down the block to a small grocery store where I was surprised to find Pabst Blue Ribbon beer. I ended up buying one 16oz can, which came out to be about 80 cents American.

Today we woke up for our first full day in Hong Kong, and first thing I did was go down and use the Hotel pool. Oh did I mention that the weather is freakin awesome here? Yeah it's about 65-70 degrees here, perfect for walking about in a t-shirt. I feel bad for you all who are still stuck in the cold Midwest winter weather.

Me on the boardwalk with Hong Kong island in the background


Dr. Cook, Rebecca and I got out this morning and walked to the nearby history museum for an hour or so, then we split up and Rebecca and I went off to walk around and shop a bit.

Around 5 we walked to the Star Ferry and took a boat to Hong Kong island where we walked to the The Peak Tram station, a train that takes you near the top of the mountain. I can't believe the grade of that train ride, we looked out our windows to see skyscrapers at 45 degree angles it seemed. It was very foggy and dark by the time we reached the top so we couldn't see much of the city really.

From inside the coffee shop I made this post from. Boardwalk, Bruce Lee, Cruise Ship, Foggy Hong Kong Skyline


---Mark

Almost ready to go...

NOTICE: If you mail me something and use this address, be sure to add my name to the top!!!

Well I figured I'd go ahead and start this blog being that it's only a few days until I depart for China. If you want to mail me something, here is the address for the high school in Shuizhai where I'm staying. Just print out, cut out, glue/tape to the envelope, and add my name to the top and you should be good to go. I'd suggest sending just a letter or something first before trying to ship anything bigger, just to test the waters first. I'm not too keen on the details of international mailing, especially within China.

Why are you going to China?

I'm signed up through an internship program at Truman State University which sends students to a rural-ish area in China to teach English to High School students. I'm going with another Truman student, Rebecca, and we will be teaching classes together for about 10 hours a week and living in everyday China away from the many comforts of home.

For a few years now I've had an interest in teaching English abroad, seeing it as an accessible way to find work and travel all around the world, since all you need to teach in many places is a college degree (any kind of B.A. or B.S.) and native English speaking abilities. I discovered this China internship last year and eagerly signed up.

I figure this internship will be a great opportunity to try out teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL) to see if I like it, and to gain valuable experience in this area if I want to pursue similar work after graduation, be it in South Korea, South America, or wherever. Plus, what the hell else am I supposed to do with my English degree?

Just where the hell are you going anyway?

City of Shuizhai, in Guangdong province, which is in Southeast China. Guangdong is the highlighted province in the map below. We're flying into Hong Kong and taking a bus a few hundred miles into the country to arrive at Shuizhai where we'll be living for the next 3 1/2 months.



Here's a link to some photos and a Google map of the city if you want a better idea of the place I'm living in.

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/12564283