A Storm if Brewing
I sit typing in my new home in suburban China (why does that sound so weird to say?), listening to someone shouting, the banging of maintenance work nearby on the premises, and the tense rumblings of a brewing storm. I have come to live at Long Cheng Middle School along with my friend Jen in LongGang District, Shenzhen, one of the more outerlying districts in this massive city (somewhere around 5 million, but I've heard up to 10 million). Since we don't start teaching for a few more days, we have had time to rest and clean and explore and find our friends in this new world. Our school faculty has provided us each with an apartment with internet, TV, all the basic living essentials and of course a bathroom that doubles as a shower (why waste space with an actual shower stall?). BUT I have a western toilet so no complaining allowed. No cockroaches yet, although I MAY have bedbugs (the most durable creatures on earth in my opinion) and my washing machine empties all over my kitchen floor, but at least it's soapy water so that can count as a mopping and doing laundry all in one. Other than that, it's pretty "normal". Sorry to use that word.
LongGang District is laid back - comparably speaking of course - with colourful shopping malls, a town square, strings of restaurants (mostly Chinese, especially Hunan food, but a couple western ones sprinkled here and there), a few parks, and a beach within bussing distance. Last night after a hearty meal of Korean food, a few of us visited our local park where there is a man-made lake. We wandered out to the pagoda in the middle of the water to listen to group play and sing traditional Chinese music - the only waiguoren (foreigners), attracting more than a few stares, but overall, just enjoying the evening's festivities and taking in sights and sounds we never see back in our native countries. We made our way up a hill to a larger pagoda, all lit up in glitzy lights, where people were dancing, or learning to dance, to some kind of pop music. Seeing these couples made me think that I should take up something new myself in my new home - and make a stronger effort to communicate in Chinese because this language barrier is at times irksome to say the least. I wish I could speak every language - I think it's an amazing feeling to converse in a foreign tongue and just learn about language in general. That is why I'm reading Bill Bryson's "Mother Tongue" right now (yes I'm STILL reading it) and once I start a recommended reading list, that will go on it. So I recommend it.
I am not using my laptop to write this blog, so no pics at present time - once I figure out how to set up this internet on my laptop I can start posting some images of my new home. Until then, zaijian!
LongGang District is laid back - comparably speaking of course - with colourful shopping malls, a town square, strings of restaurants (mostly Chinese, especially Hunan food, but a couple western ones sprinkled here and there), a few parks, and a beach within bussing distance. Last night after a hearty meal of Korean food, a few of us visited our local park where there is a man-made lake. We wandered out to the pagoda in the middle of the water to listen to group play and sing traditional Chinese music - the only waiguoren (foreigners), attracting more than a few stares, but overall, just enjoying the evening's festivities and taking in sights and sounds we never see back in our native countries. We made our way up a hill to a larger pagoda, all lit up in glitzy lights, where people were dancing, or learning to dance, to some kind of pop music. Seeing these couples made me think that I should take up something new myself in my new home - and make a stronger effort to communicate in Chinese because this language barrier is at times irksome to say the least. I wish I could speak every language - I think it's an amazing feeling to converse in a foreign tongue and just learn about language in general. That is why I'm reading Bill Bryson's "Mother Tongue" right now (yes I'm STILL reading it) and once I start a recommended reading list, that will go on it. So I recommend it.
I am not using my laptop to write this blog, so no pics at present time - once I figure out how to set up this internet on my laptop I can start posting some images of my new home. Until then, zaijian!
posted by MJD at 2:04 p.m.
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