Alas, Teachers no more. (Marcus)

So yesterday came and went and now we have signed our exit contracts and are effectively no longer teachers. This is a good thing really, as it means we will head home, but I do feel a little - I don't know, I guess sentimental about it as I did enjoy many elements of teaching.

The actual teaching part - standing there in front of the kids, interacting with them, laughing with them, it was very enjoyable. Walking around the school as the complete centre of attention was not so much. While it had it's novelty value, it did get old after a while.

For example if you look at the larger version of this image below, this is what I saw every day as I approached class from the lake. A sea of students. The photo below is actually a fraction of the number of students normally in this area. Now you think - that doesn't sound so bad, but just imagine that as you walked in amongst them, every single one of them - and I mean every single one of them reacts to you. The girls giggle, the boys go all goofy. Their body language changes, you get hello's left right and centre to the point where you feel like an idiot as you're just walking along going, "Hello! Hi! Hello! Hi! Hi! Hey! Hello! Hi! Hello!"

Courtney and I are not big fans of being the centre of attention - hell I don't even like being it on my birthday. For us this whole China experience has been well and truly stepping outside our comfort zones. It has taught us a lot, given us a lot of new perspectives on different things, but I guess most of all it has shown us just how valuable our home country is to us.

A lot of people - or perhaps all, go away then say, "You don't know how good home is until you leave..." which sounds kind of cliche as it's like, the 'in' thing to say - but in China - it couldn't be truer.

I think it takes a certain type of person to really live here and immerse yourself. I honestly believe those coming here looking for Chinese wifes - aka the majority of the expat community, are exactly that type. Having a day in day out translator breaks down a large portion of not only the language barrier, but the cultural barrier. Different people want different things. Myself? I wouldn't stay here any longer than a year tops, if even that.

If I was coming back to do it again, I would be armed with considerably more knowledge than when we first arrived. For one I would likely only live in one of the larger cities - Beijing or Shanghai - perhaps a handful of others, but I would have to see them first. I would make sure that where i worked/taught/whatever I did had other foreigners likewise working there. I would make sure that where I worked and where I lived were both in very close proximity(ie 5 minute walking distance) from the actual CBD.

Our district is only 7km's or so from the CBD; it really is very close. When we first looked at Wuxi as a location on google maps, Dongting/Xishan district is only really as far out from the centre of the CBD as say Richmond/Hawthorn is from Melbourne CBD. That's very workable. What we didn't know however, is this particular district is basically considered 'country,' by Chinese standards. It is in no way an inner suburb, it's effectively the boonies. This has played a very large part in our overall China experience - both good and bad.

On the good side we've been able to really experience true Chinese life. We can honestly say we have seen how they really live their day to day lives - and lived around them. On the bad however, it's also put us in a location where we're effectively stared at 24/7 and have never really felt welcome.

The Chinese as a culture are interesting, but they are sooo different to people back in Australia. So different! They can be both extremly generous, friendly and surprisingly approachable, but at the same time extremely infuriating. This is a country where basically anything goes. We still see things on a daily basis that just makes us crack up.

Through everything we have experienced we have kept our senses of humour and I think that is the key to survival here. If you cant look at the funny side of things, you're toast.

So today we're off to Shanghai to stay for three nights with Mum who is on the plane as I type this. It's a surreal thought to think we haven't seen her in something like 7 months as it only really feels like a few weeks at best. Back home we don't even regularly see each other month to month as we live in the city and she doesn't, but still.

We had to queue for around an hour yesterday for train tickets as every man and his dog was out there trying to buy them first thing in the morning. Wednesday is the national holiday, and yesterday was five days before it. In China, you can only buy your train tickets five days before the day you wish to use them - so yesterday was the day.

The Chinese don't seem to mind queuing one little bit - perhaps because they're used to it. I also suspect they just enjoy being around each other. I can't say for sure as it's never really obvious to us who is friends with who, or who knows who previously, but it seems from our point of view that every single Chinese person in China is happy to just go up to a complete stranger(Chinese) and start conversing. They also seem to incredibly enjoy giving and recieving directions or guiding each other into reverse carparks. They're an odd people - one I don't think I could every truly understand completely. Whenever I try and give them an overall description that really explains them - my head starts hurting.

So we're off to Shanghai for the next three nights, back to Wuxi to show Mum around for another 4, then off to Shanghai for yet another 4 or so nights, then we're flying back to Melbourne on the 8th October.

The weather as Courtney posted has become decidedly cooler and well it's going to be a trip of an experience returning to normality.

China has gone by in the blink of an eye, but man, this country is just crazy.

Brrrr! (Courtney)

Since May, it has been an average temperature of about...oooh, lets say 40 degrees every day. The temperature is normally mid thirties, but once the humidity is added in, it feels normally around 45 degrees.

So you can say it's been unbearably hot for five consecutive months without a break. In these five months, we have not worn pants, or socks, or shoes, or any other item of warm clothing. It can be 2am and it's still much warmer than balmy. For us Melbourne folk, there have been some pretty intense days. Days where your energy is sapped just walking up the stairs to class (and not in a I'm unfit way). Days where I've perspired more than I physically thought I could. Days where there is no incentive to leave our apartment. In short, it's been a loooooooong hot summer.

Well that all changed today. Today was about 20 degrees. Whilst this is not cold, to us it felt positively miserable. And you can see from above that it is currently 17 degrees outside. From yesterday's 40, this suddenly feels very very cold. We went out for dinner with Matt and Abby this evening and there was shoes, socks, pants and even jumpers! We have no doubt this is the beginning of the end and within a couple of weeks it will be utterly freezing again. The weather changes here are distinct and fast. And as much as summer has been exhausting, boy am I glad we are getting out before winter settles in!

The End is Nigh (Courtney)

So, we are down to our final days as teachers and Chinese residents. This time in two weeks we will have cleared customs in Melbourne and be..somewhere!

This week has been dubbed "Operation Avoidance", in an attempt to remain unseen by all leaders of the school. Why you ask? Well, there is this iddy bitty clause in our contract which has been causing us much stress over the last few weeks. It's the Breach of Contract Fee, which can range from $500 to $2000 USD, if either party breach the contract. In our initial talks with the school it was never mentioned, but then during drunken Teachers' Day celebrations it was mentioned...in a very underhanded type of way by a certain individual. This sent us into a spin, and we have been at a loss as to what to do ever since. Bring it up? Ignore it? Hope we get to the last day and there isn't security waiting for us?! It's been weighing on our minds greatly.

However, we figured if it was mentioned as a requirement to our leaving, we would play the card of "well, you agreed to release us and have only brought this up now", coupled with "actually, you don't have to reimburse our flights, you didn't pay for medical insurance...and actually here are all the things we were promised which never happened...so I think we are square". And if all of that failed, our last attempt would be to get mediation with the Education Department in Nanjing.

So we have tried our best to be scarce around the school and so far it had worked. We want to leave on good terms.

And then this morning the phone rang. Whilst we can run, we obviously can't hide. It was Mr Pan's office number and we stood over the phone as it rang, umming and aahing at to whether we should answer it. We figured he would just call again or come over so I picked up the phone.

"Courtney, I come to your home with termination contract."

Panic. We know by rights there has to be a termination contract but that didn't make us any more eager to see it. So Mr Pan comes over to show us the contract, which we will sign tomorrow with Mr Shen. He handed me the contract and I couldn't even read it, all I could do was frantically scan it for the fee. And then I see it, a sentence with the words "$500 - $2000 USD" included and my heart sank. Figured I had better read the whole thing properly and see what we were up for.

Well well my friends, the gods have shined, because the sentence read "Party B agrees to pay Party A a breaking fee of between $500 to $2000. However, Party A has forgiven Party B, so no penalty will apply."

OH YEAH!!!! Oh the weight that has been lifted from our shoulders. I can't tell you how many times we have spoken about this in the last few weeks, not once coming to a conclusion about what to do. So to read that was just the definition of relief and happiness. And it also proves to us yet again that Mr Shen, the principle, is a very decent man. We have great respect for him and have never felt like he would not do the right thing by us. Unfortunately a lot of people cannot say the same thing about the schools they work for.

So the end is nigh. Two more days of classes and we are done. It's an odd feeling, as so far this week it hasn't felt as though we are leaving - obviously Operation Avoidance had something to do with this. But now it feels real, we are actually leaving. We meet Marcus' mum on Saturday in Shanghai which is just going to be fantastic and before you know it we will be back in Melbourne. Next week is the National holiday however Mr Pan is still going to be here until Wednesday, so Jann can meet him and we can get to say a proper goodbye which is what we have wanted.

Tomorrow night we will have Matt and Abby over and enjoy a final supper together. And somewhere in between classes, dinner and Shanghai we have a heck of a lot of stuff to do! Nothing like moving country twice in one year to send you into organisational chaos. Speaking of which, I have things to do!

It's been a long time between drinks... (Marcus)

...or blog posts rather. I guess over the past few weeks as we start to slowly wind down and depart, my mind has been on other things. While previous I have been thinking about nothing other than China China China - now - well I guess it's more focused on 'real world' stuff like, resumes and finding a job and christ why are we going home again!!!

Nah just kidding -while finding a new job and returning to normality is going to be hard after this surreal little adventure, it's going to be good to advancing forward again. While in China we've had the opportunity to experience an absolute myriad of things we honestly never thought we would, we're not actually going anywhere. We're making very average money(by Australian standards) which means our bank balances are slowly dwindling, we're not moving any closer towards things such as house deposits, car's, more cats(!) and essentials such as...large high definition TV's....yes damnit! I don't care what you say Courtney!

So we're about to start our final week of teaching and I really have to say this time round? It really has been a LOT better. The students are much much better. Their english is better, they're more willing to talk and participate - oh and we only have 10 classes a week - that helps too. I don't know what it is but I suspect a big part of it is the fact we have started teaching them from the start of their school year - not mid-way through. I am sure I have spoken about this before.

Anyhow the last few weeks have been brimming with the usual random things. I really shouldn't let the blog slip for so long in between posts as I really forget a lot of the things that go on.

First random item on today's agenda is our german bread. Yes, we have been eating german bread from Germany with our breakfast and I have to say it's pretty damned awesome.

I recieved this random email a few days ago from a friend of ours named Josh:

Hi Marcus,

How are you doing?

Just now I called you, it seems that you are at there.

I just get back from my trip to USA and Germanny and I bought some bread for you from Frankfurt this morning around 1:00AM Beijing time, and the bread is already in my home.

I would like to send the bread to you at once, as I do not know how long the bread can be kept. I know nothing about bread.

Please give me a call, I will call you again.

So uh...yeah, German bread coming our way! We met Josh the following day, he has a huge bag full of bread and well now our freezer is stuffed to the point of overflowing with the stuff. But man, it's normal bread! Something of a luxury item here in sunny China. I guess I really made an impression on him with my complaints about the sweet Chinese bread on offer around here. That's one thing I cant wait to get my teeth into when we get home.

Speaking of sunny - at the change of season to Autumn the weather started to really cool down and I thought hey, it's going straight towards being cold - this country being somewhat clearcut with it's seasonal conditions, but no, it's heating right back up again. Along with the return of the heat comes an increase in mosquitoes, yay!

I think I can actually sum up China's yearly weather conditions now perfectly. You have a few months of absolutely bitingly cold, and then it's hot with mosquitoes for the rest of the year. I think the thing I have enjoyed the least about living here is without doubt - mosquitoes. I absolutely cannot stand them. I seriously do not know how people can live in areas where they are rampant. They are the single most annoying thing I have ever experienced ever. I cant remember what it's like to walk around NOT itching myself all over - or better yet, waking up in the wee hours of the morning with hands so itchy it almost hurts.

So because we're almost leaving, we decided to catch up for a final time with our New Zealand pals Matt and Abby and head out and have a bit of fun. We were going to go check this movie set place down on the lake(Tai Hu). There's supposedly three movie sets which from what I gather are also a bit theme-park like. They actually make movies there to this day. There's three sets and they range in theme, one of them being like, Tang Dynasty, another Three Kingdoms etc etc. All in all it sounded like a bit of fun, and also in the 7 months we've been here we have spent a grand total of 30 minutes by the lake...the lake being the 3rd biggest in China and one of the reasons Wuxi is in the top 10 destinations for chinese tourists. Don't worry mum, we'll take you there at least, then we can like both experience it for the first time!

So it gets to yesterday and the weather could not possibly have been more foul. It was boiling hot and absolutely smoggy as hell. Blech. The heat I don't mind so much now, but the smog really gets to me. I do not feel like going anywhere when it's that polluted. Wow - look at the lake..it's so beautiful...under it's ABSOLUTE BLANKET OF SMOG!! Matt reckons it's only really partially smog, while the humidity brings a lot of the vapour out of the water and into the air. Because this area is absolutely packed with water - canals/lakes etc, that's possibly the reason why in hotter weather the air conditions can worsen. I don't know...it sounds like a legit explanation, but the black crap it leaves on everything and the fact it's light blue in colour(like smoke) kind of stinks of smog to me.

So we headed off to Matt and Abby's and then walked from their place to a bus stop. We needed bus 72 and of course it got there just ahead of us and wouldn't wait for us as all four of us started running to make it. Then to my complete lack of surprise, along came bus 27 x 4. That's right, 4 of the same bus in a row. Go figure. It was a 20-40 minute wait for the next 72, so rather than waiting we ended up grabbing a cab. As we got into the cab I looked back along the highway and noticed the sky had darkened somewhat - the light grey smog was not a darker grey which usually meant incomming rain. I told the others and Abby agreed with the wind really picking up and moving the trees. We decided to ditch the movie set and turn around and go into the city - and man it was the best decision we made as it started bucketing down.

One thing about China is when it rains getting a cab can be a nightmare. Being stuck out at the lake and not being able to get home in the rain? Oh joyous day.

So we ended up just wandering around the city, realizing that yeah there's really not much to do entertainment wise. We chilled in Starbucks for a while, walked around the shops, then finally ended up in the German beer garden for a cold beer and air-conditioning. We then headed off to TGI Fridays - our western food destination of choice, had a few cocktails then off to Blue Bar for some more again. By the end of the night I am happy to say Courty was fair sloshed and man I wish i could have video'ed her drunked stompy walk effort on the way back home, it was so damned cute. I put her to bed and she went out like a light, and well, that was our day!

Here's Courtney enjoying our lovely day out with Matt and Abby. Worst weather ever.

The rest of us opted to sit under shelter and wait the rain out.

Matt & Abby - we'll miss you guys! We got to experience Mars together..litterally!

Next stop Drunktown!

And in completely unrelated news - the other day in the local super-supermarket, E-Mart that opened around the corner, we stumbled upon REAL ACTUAL MINCE MEAT! Now this is a win for the little people. Our cooking to date has been hampered by the fact that other than frozen chicken fillets from Metro, it is really really hard to find decent beef - or tender meat period. This mince is fantastic, and we tag-team went to town and made hamburgers and goddamn I have to say that while the photo doesn't really show it, these were some of the best burgers I have tasted in my life. I breathed them in so fast they were gone and I am still sad :(

We have seen this little character on so many products around the place - including the above drink that we decided finally to buy one of the damned things and see what it was. The brand is apparently called 'Want Want', and it has it's own website, www.wantwant.com. We looked up the above drink and this turned out to be a Strawberry flavour of their 'Bubbalicious' line. Well the end product is like a not-milk drink - think a milk drink crossed with a standard softdrink but really being neither - and mega strawberry flavoured - kind of tasted like Strawberry Quik. Neither of us could drink it, it was kinda...crap. I did buy the standard flavoured one today and it was sort of like weird Creamy Soda. So yeah, experimentation right up until the end, hoorah.

And last but not least, one of my new gifted students, a little girl with the name..Iris, drew this for me. Make sure you click on this photo for the full-sized - best picture yet! Cracked me up, I thanked her profusely. It makes you feel good when a student draws something for you - or gives you a gift. I will miss the teacher/student bonds that form, I really will. Who knows, maybe one day I'll look into Primary teaching or something. The teaching i didn't mind so much, it was just the lesson planning that stunk.

Oh and in final final news - my poor brother Nick broke his arm recently - an arm he's broken multiple times in the past due to skate-boarding. Get well soon buddy! And Mum is looking to still come over in around a weeks time - now that will be fun! Can't wait! And that's all folks, catch!

Next stop home (Courtney)

Well, Shanghai-Wuxi-Shanghai-HongKong-Melbourne...but you get my drift.

We've booked our flights and will be home 9th October. I can't wait. I miss Melbourne, everyone and everything there. Sure, I'll miss China too, but I think the above speaks volume for just how great home is going to be!

1. Melbourne: Twilight & Melbourne's tallest building, 2. Hosier Lane, Melbourne, VIC, 3. Arrivals, 4. coffee cave, 5. Melbourne Botanical Gardens, 6. Colorful Beach House, 7. 'Polyester'" shop on Brunswick Street, Melbourne, Australia, 8. Caffe Latte - The Maling Room, 9. Yering Frog, 10. thin men 1, 11. Melbourne Moomba Fireworks, 12. Melbourne tram, 13. Queen Victoria Market, 14. high in the sky CBD wheel melbourne, 15. compulsive reading , 16. 5 November 2007

Teachers' Day (Courtney)

Last Wednesday was Teachers' Day, which we assume is an international thing. I found out about Teachers' Day on the Tuesday afternoon when my class presented me with a card and very kindly, some "Golden Throat" lozengers. The week before in class I was still getting over my virus and the kids wanted to know why I was drinking so much water...hence the throat lozengers which I thought was very cute.

My appearance is like a gentle breeze to my students...

So Wednesday morning rolls around and we don't really think much of what the day might hold. Mr Pan calls to tell us there is an assembly at 3:30 and Mr Shen, the principle, would like us to attend. No probs. Then James, one of Marcus' previous students came over with a bunch of flowers and a box of moon cakes. Flowers for Teachers' Day, moon cakes for Mid-Autumn Festival (yes, I know it appears there is a holiday for everything here!)

Our classes rolled around and there were more presents and cards and well wishes to be had. I have to say, it felt really good and Ithought the kids were very sweet in their wishes.

Some of Marcus' haul, including handmade cards.

One class gave me two fish money boxes. I then had to take them to gifted class where a bunch of kids ran off with them and made them "kiss".

Sooooo sexy ;-)

Then of course assembly time came, in true China style it was an "extravaganza". We met Mr Pan at his office after class and he took us to the assembly, thankfully seating us somewhere up the back and not our normal front row, centre seats. Upon entering the building though, we were all greeting by a double line of gifted students, all waving and cheering. This was funny enough to see them all doing their awkward kiddie waves, but the classic part was that they were all dressed up in uniforms and makeup...boys included...

Here's a selection of the gifted students reading a poem. A touch hard to see the makeup but you can make out some coloured lips and cheeks.

The assembly started with the vice-principle speaking. Funnily enough he had memorised a short sentence in English to welcome Marcus and I which we thought was very amusing and nice. Mr Shen then spoke for a while, welcoming the teachers and then of course "Marc-a-si" and "Court-a-ney". We are obviously the guests as always. Numerous teachers names were read out, these were the people receiving teaching awards for their efforts. Each row was then brought up and presented with bunches of flowers by the gifted students.

Students presenting flowers to the teachers. They then had to salute the teachers which was hysterical to watch - a whole bunch of 11 year olds just throwing their hands around.

But! Inbetween all the flower presentations was of course.....singing. Seriously, there are times when you feel that either a)all of China sings, or b) you have stumbled into a taping of China Idol. It's NEVER ENDING!!! I got a message from Abby halfway through saying she was at a never ending Teachers' Day concert...I sent my sympathies and returned to massaging my temples.

There was singing...

..and singing..

...and more singing!

Here is a selection of gifted teachers singing, note "random camera man" at the left of the frame.

And finally, someone who could sing, the music teacher. This was an epic song about...the national flag.

Of course the best was left till last. That being us of course. And no, I don't mean singing, although of course we were asked! Raymen invariably asks us at each function if we will sing, to which we invaribly say "no" and smile through gritted teeth. He then persists and asks instead "How about Courtney performs a traditional Australian dance then?" At this I laugh maniacally everytime and do not bother answering. But the best till last bit was of course Mr Shen presenting us with our own bunches of flowers and posing for photos. Sadly I have no photos of that, although Marcus did do his best to ruin the other photos "random photographer man" (you've heard of him before) was taking of us. We have yet to find any photos of us on the intranet, which is a real shame for all our readers ;-)

MORE flowers!

Teachers' Day was then followed up by a banquet dinner...which well, let's just leave it there shall we.

Hey there fatty! (Courtney)

Is it just my experience, or do the Chinese think of foreigners as being fat? I really think there is the perception that foreigners on the whole are fast food eating, lazy fatties...regardless of what you actually look like.

The first night we were here, everyone was amazed at how "big and strong" we were, yet we seemed to not eat as much as they expected. This was mentioned the next day again at lunch as the teachers hoed into their lunches whilst we picked away. Marcus and I don't feel particularly huge. Marcus is generally considerably taller than any Chinese man, but not like a giant. For those who don't know me, I am average height and average build, and generally feel like I am of average size in China too. I came here expecting to feel gianormous (as we have the opposite stereotype that all Chinese are tiny) but most of the time I feel pretty normal. Yes, occassionally I see my reflection in the mirror as I stand in line in a bathroom or something and realise I am a good head taller than everyone there, but for the most part I feel normal. There are many girls of the same size as me and there are just as many who are smaller and larger.

But for some reason, I seem to find myself being percieved as this big westerner. The kids in class all think I am tall, and are surprised when I tell them that in Australia I am just normal height. Mostly though, I get this feeling when I am shopping. For some reason, even when I am standing with the shop assistant and she can size me up for herself, I am invariably given clothes that are a good two sizes bigger than me.

I don't understand Chinese clothing sizes and I'm not going to try to explain them. After a number of shopping outings I have pretty much figured out which sizes I need to look out for. Not that anything ever fits anyway, but I live in hope. In a lot of Chinese shops though, you are given overly attentive service - this means you are followed around the shop and as soon as you touch something your size is procurred for you etc etc. What amazes me is the sizes I am given. Without doubt they will be too big, and when I ask for smaller I am given quizzical looks as if to say "surely not?" When I bought a pair of black cropped pants I literally had to beg the assistant to let me try on the smaller size as she just couldn't believe that they would fit me and wouldn't give them to me.

Recently I went to Suzhou with Abby and her sister for a day of shopping. I wanted to try on a pair of shoes but the size on the shelf was one too big for me. So in my vast Chinese I ask the assistant for my size. She looks at my feet, again with that quizzical look. Now, granted I was wearing my birkenstocks, which aren't the daintiest of shoes and make my feet look like those of a gladiator. But I'm pretty sure I know what shoe size I am. She sends the other guy out to find my size. He returns and I put the shoes on. My feet fall out of them. I look at the tag and they are size 40. I asked for 37. I call the girl over again pointing out the 40 and how I wanted a 37. It doesn't matter what you tell them, they will decide whether this is the correct size or not. Needless to say the guy went looking again and never returned. Still don't know where he went.

Months ago I went to the medical clinic around the corner for the first time. This was about 6 weeks after we had arrived, and with all the changes and illnesses I had during those weeks, I had lost about 7kgs. When the nurse asked for my weight she would not write it down. Just plain and simple didn't believe me. Tried to write down that I was 10kgs heavier than I am. Kept asking me to confirm that this was the correct number. Infuriating! She kept looking at me and saying "But the number is too small for you."

I've often wondered whether it's just me that this happens to, or whether all expats experience this. The sizings in China are all over the place so I don't take offence anymore when I have to try on large or x-large pants, but it does intrigue me that I am considered to be this large person. I have plans on going shopping today...wish me luck!