I stepped off the plane in Beijing three weeks ago today. I went straight to a sketchy mini van with a man named Mr. Lee who informed me, "No English," the moment I tried to communicate with him.
I sat in silence with Mr. Lee for 20 minutes in the van as we drove from one airport to the other to pick up other recruits. My awkward silent thinking was eventually interrupted by Mr. Lee's phone ringing "Love the Way You Lie."
Lesson learned- Mr. Lee may not speak English but he still knows a good jam when he hears it. Not my first choice but amusing all the same.
Four more recruits arrived and we all piled into the van as Mr. Lee drove us through Beijing to Dongfang Hotel, our home for the next two weeks.
Instantly I'm chatting with Jacqui from New Zealand, Alexi from Canada and two cats from Michigan: DJ and Derek. The five of us chatted of our origins, college majors, anticipations, previous travel experience, and so on.
It took an hour to get from the airport to Dongfang (just a fact to wrap your head around how big the city is and how horrible rush hour traffic is.)
The first thing I realized was New York has nothing on Beijing. Traffic lights are irrelevant and pedestrians don't have the right a way here. Cross, drive and walk at your own risk.
When we arrived we threw our bags in our rooms and met downstairs to walk the neighborhood. Our hotel is one of maybe 10 structured buildings in the midst of some rather interestingly thrown together homes. Tin roofs from scraps. Random scooter shops and convenient stores a plenty.
We found a Korean BBQ joint around the corner and thank goodness Jacqui and Alexi are fluent in Mandarin or we would have all gone hungry.
In China, just because it is a Western restaurant doesn't mean they'll speak English. KFC, McDonald's, pubs and so forth all have Chinese workers who typically speak little to no English.
When ordering food in China you revert to being five and order from picture books. If you go to a restaurant without pictures... Well, you don't. My roommates and I had to walk out of a restaurant because, even between hand gestures and three translator apps on smartphones, we couldn't even order water. You live and you learn. We couldn't even be mad. We just laughed in embarrassment and went next door to a small restaurant with pictures and a fantastic Chinese lad with Google translate. :)
You need to know "jigs," which means "this one," and how to count to at least three to order the number. I also know "ku-la," which is "coke." The basics will get you by.
Back on track...
That was the most free time we'd have until now...
The next morning we were up and in the lobby meeting Leonie, our visa goddess. Leonie works at headquarters and has done all of the tedious paperwork for us, before and after arrival. She took us to Tian'Anmen Square where there were roughly 50,000 bystanders waiting to get inside the Forbidden Palace. From there we strolled to a local market area where I got my first dose of the most stereotypically famous things in Chinese culture: red lanterns, masks, dragons, and of course endless seafood deep fried before your very eyes. My favorite were the live scorpions on a stick, still struggling for life. There is crawfish here, too, but I didn't dare try it. Maybe later...
From the market area we caught cabs to headquarters. My favorite thing about transportation in China is that it is dirt cheap. A cab ride for 45 minutes will only run about $15 USD and a subway ride is less than 1 RMB. Ridiculous, I know.
We grabbed a "round table" lunch in the headquarters building. I call them round table lunches/dinners because the best way to eat in China is to feast. If there are eight people you pick about six things and all the food is placed on a lazy susan and everyone digs in as best as possible when eating with chopsticks. This is a great way to figure out what you like and dislike without spending a fortune. After lunch we headed upstairs to sign our lives away to EF for one year.
Once at headquarters we read through our contracts, signed and then our journey truly began.
The next day we were up and in the lobby by early morning to venture out for our physicals. Missing our delicious buffet breakfast, we were all caffeine-less, hungry and tired starting the day off. A little early on for our true colors to show, but that's business.
I'm sweating bullets before we even leave the hotel because I'm told the physical requires blood drawing. If you know me at all, that's my most unpleasant pastime.
When we arrive, I do every other exam before letting them draw my blood. I'm the last one in line and per usual, the nurse sticks my right arm with no luck, proceeds to the left with the same luck, then, with the help of the other nurse, returns to my right arm where they eventually retrieve a tube of my blood. I leave the room unable to move either arm and feel faint from the lack of breakfast and now lack of blood in my body. (I had a lovely bruise on my left arm for a solid week.)
We are promised pizza after the physical. What we weren't promised was quickly. From the physical we Brady Bunch back into the van and Mr. Lee takes us to the bank so we can open our accounts. This takes approximately two hours. Fortunately, there is a Starbucks upstairs and we are able to purchase a snack to tide us over until pizza.
Once at headquarters, we indulge in our Domino's like savages rescued from a desert island.
After lunch we have a meeting about moving to Beijing, what to and not to do. Around four I meet my center director, Cynthia, and she takes us to my new school, Beijing 3.
The schools are easy: BJ1, BJ2, etc... The adult centers may differ, though.
We quickly tour the school and just go with introductions because I won't be back again for a week so there isn't much point.
The next two days we were supposed to spend apartment hunting. By now you know my roommates, Jake and Gurpreet.
That was the most free time we'd have until now...
The next morning we were up and in the lobby meeting Leonie, our visa goddess. Leonie works at headquarters and has done all of the tedious paperwork for us, before and after arrival. She took us to Tian'Anmen Square where there were roughly 50,000 bystanders waiting to get inside the Forbidden Palace. From there we strolled to a local market area where I got my first dose of the most stereotypically famous things in Chinese culture: red lanterns, masks, dragons, and of course endless seafood deep fried before your very eyes. My favorite were the live scorpions on a stick, still struggling for life. There is crawfish here, too, but I didn't dare try it. Maybe later...
From the market area we caught cabs to headquarters. My favorite thing about transportation in China is that it is dirt cheap. A cab ride for 45 minutes will only run about $15 USD and a subway ride is less than 1 RMB. Ridiculous, I know.
We grabbed a "round table" lunch in the headquarters building. I call them round table lunches/dinners because the best way to eat in China is to feast. If there are eight people you pick about six things and all the food is placed on a lazy susan and everyone digs in as best as possible when eating with chopsticks. This is a great way to figure out what you like and dislike without spending a fortune. After lunch we headed upstairs to sign our lives away to EF for one year.
Once at headquarters we read through our contracts, signed and then our journey truly began.
The next day we were up and in the lobby by early morning to venture out for our physicals. Missing our delicious buffet breakfast, we were all caffeine-less, hungry and tired starting the day off. A little early on for our true colors to show, but that's business.
I'm sweating bullets before we even leave the hotel because I'm told the physical requires blood drawing. If you know me at all, that's my most unpleasant pastime.
When we arrive, I do every other exam before letting them draw my blood. I'm the last one in line and per usual, the nurse sticks my right arm with no luck, proceeds to the left with the same luck, then, with the help of the other nurse, returns to my right arm where they eventually retrieve a tube of my blood. I leave the room unable to move either arm and feel faint from the lack of breakfast and now lack of blood in my body. (I had a lovely bruise on my left arm for a solid week.)
We are promised pizza after the physical. What we weren't promised was quickly. From the physical we Brady Bunch back into the van and Mr. Lee takes us to the bank so we can open our accounts. This takes approximately two hours. Fortunately, there is a Starbucks upstairs and we are able to purchase a snack to tide us over until pizza.
Once at headquarters, we indulge in our Domino's like savages rescued from a desert island.
After lunch we have a meeting about moving to Beijing, what to and not to do. Around four I meet my center director, Cynthia, and she takes us to my new school, Beijing 3.
The schools are easy: BJ1, BJ2, etc... The adult centers may differ, though.
We quickly tour the school and just go with introductions because I won't be back again for a week so there isn't much point.
The next two days we were supposed to spend apartment hunting. By now you know my roommates, Jake and Gurpreet.
 |
| A South African, an American and a Brit move in together.... :) |
The first place we saw was livable, but the stairwell into the building was rather dodgy. The floor was lined with several dried up plants and the walls were gray concrete. We had five appointments for the next day, so we decided to make a decision at the end of the following day and crossed our fingers for better hunting.
Day two of apartment hunting began and ended in Shaunjing. We were instantly in love with the first apartment shown to us. We have now been living there for five whole days :)
The place was over our desired budget, but rule no. 1 in China: haggle. Bargaining will go a pretty long way here.
A week later we scraped our funds together and signed a one-year lease. We moved in Wednesday and we are pretty much settled and ready for what the year brings us.
Three major differences I found about renting in China versus renting in the States (and most other foreign countries,) here you pay rent three months at a time, wifi for one year and your water, electric and gas are purchased at the nearest convenient store and stored on a card you insert into the wall. So basically, when either of the three run out you just fill it up like a tank of gas.
Day two of apartment hunting began and ended in Shaunjing. We were instantly in love with the first apartment shown to us. We have now been living there for five whole days :)
The place was over our desired budget, but rule no. 1 in China: haggle. Bargaining will go a pretty long way here.
A week later we scraped our funds together and signed a one-year lease. We moved in Wednesday and we are pretty much settled and ready for what the year brings us.
Three major differences I found about renting in China versus renting in the States (and most other foreign countries,) here you pay rent three months at a time, wifi for one year and your water, electric and gas are purchased at the nearest convenient store and stored on a card you insert into the wall. So basically, when either of the three run out you just fill it up like a tank of gas.
There are a million other things to say about life in Beijing so far, but I'll continue on the next blog. I just finally had some breathing time today after getting off work early so I'll leave you with this, I wrote this blog on my notes app while taking an hour subway ride home. When the words come you write. Thanks, technology.
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