謝謝, xièxiè!

"In life there are both good and bad people; choose your friends based on the heart."

It can be difficult for some people to function in a foreign country, and it only gets worse if you feel lonely as well. That's why in my experience so far, I've found that nothing is more valuable than my Chinese friends. Time after time I have been absolutely blown away by their generosity and support; they are extremely helpful and I honestly couldn't get by without them. 

Today has me thinking about this because my friends spent hours helping me and some other teachers. They took us to the train station to purchase tickets, to the bank to change our accounts, and helped us book a hotel on a Chinese website. Between the complicated procedures and the language barrier, I know we wouldn't have achieved any of these goals without their help.

I've figured out the ubiquitous nature of Chinese generosity, and it's reached the point where I need to be careful expressing interest in anything. If I admit to liking something, and a Chinese person has one, knows someone who has one, or knows where to get one, there's a good chance it'll be offered to me. And so far, it's been VERY hard to say no to my Chinese friends. This has already led to free cookies, ice cream, taxi rides, dinners, karaoke, beautiful Chinese calligraphy, cooking lessons, and one badass samurai-styled umbrella. 

Believe me, I have been and will continue attempting to politely refuse these offers. But until I figure out how a foreigner gets away with it, how do you boldly sing "I can't live without you" in Chinese? 

Home Sweet Home

Since this month has been so busy with camp, I've been spending more of my free time relaxing around my apartment, so it’s fitting that I tell you a little bit about where I’m actually living in Jilin. It’s a perfect neighborhood; everything I need is within walking distance. In fact, the furthest thing I need to walk to is work, which takes about 25 minutes when clocking a manly pace.

My apartment itself is a two-bedroom dream nestled at the top of a six-floor walk-up, made entirely of concrete so everything is very quiet. I've heard my neighbour's washing machine once during my time here, other than that I pretty much just assume they exist. Here are some pictures of my place (but keep in mind that I took these as soon as I moved in… now there aren't suitcases lying around and there are more things on the shelves, and those ‘things’ are mostly Oreo cookies).

Here’s the living room: spacious although seldom used. I haven’t turned on the TV yet, and the couch is a… different… design, but I appreciate the light and breezes provided by the giant window. Also, it’s possible that I hang laundry to dry on the overhead light fixture.

Flickering Lights

Last week I went to the River Lantern Festival.

My friend Anastasia and I went to check it out, and the festival makes for a simple and beautiful night. I made a video of it that hopefully captures that vibe. You get to see the poor YouTube quality version! Enjoy.

Rumble in Chinatown

A few weeks ago I joined a Sanda kickboxing gym.

Right down the hall from my school!

In an effort to widen my fighting skills and get some extra authentic Chinese experience, I've started classes at a gym. That's pretty much all i know. I don't know what the gym is called, I don't know the instructor's name, and i can't talk to any of my fellow students, because I can't speak or read Chinese!

My shir-foo (master) can speak a few key English words like "have a rest," "Bruce Lee," "very good," and "POWER!" but other than that it's a system built on a lot of demonstration and observation. It's a pretty cool way to learn; everyone is really nice and willing to help me out.

                                                                             





I don't have any previous striking experience but we've already started some light sparring and I'm really enjoying it! If you're unfamiliar with Sanda (which literally translates to "free fighting") check out this video. It's pretty much one of the scariest things I've ever seen; it mainly features people getting their heads kicked off. Hopefully with some more practice I'll be the one doing the kicking.

Songhua Lake Trip

Last week I went to Songhua Lake.

We took a relaxing overnight trip and it was really nice to get out and breathe some fresh air! Here's a video I made about the trip. Enjoy!

Just Getting Started

This week I became a teacher.

It’s been quite an interesting couple of weeks here in China, with both good and bad experiences. I had my first visit to a Chinese hospital and my first trip out to the lake in the same week, but the big takeaway here is that this past Saturday I started taking over classes, which means that my teaching career has officially begun.

For those that don’t know, I’m teaching English in Jilin, China, at a training center called Kenneth’s English School. The “training center” part means that our students come to us after school hours to learn even more, hopefully putting them at an advantage within China’s competitive scholastic landscape. Kids here are under a lot of pressure; the norm is to be working constantly. Even after a full day of school, it seems most are on their way to other classes, whether it be learning an instrument or another language.  Even when I see children rollerblading, they aren’t just doing it for fun. They’re in Rollerblading Class, and that instructor is telling them to SLALOM THOSE CONES!

So far my classes are going really well. The kids are energetic and eager, and that enthusiasm fuels me and makes class much more enjoyable. The programs at Kenneth’s are high-energy and hands-on, and give me a lot of room to incorporate my own ideas. It’s more like camp than class in some ways, with lots of games and plenty of children yelling. Happy yelling. Happily yelling vocabulary.

I've picked up 3 classes so far, with more on the way. The kids are grouped according to their level of proficiency; my kids are at Level 1 and are around 6-9 years old. Also, they are at Stage 38 cuteness, which is quite high for their age bracket; I can’t even look at some of them without my heart quietly breaking inside. This school offers training up to IELTS classes, which prepares students to take an internationally-recognized English test, so I’ll have opportunities to teach English at all levels.

Photo by Greg W.

I’m looking forward to these challenges. Whether it’s becoming an efficient lesson planner, getting more comfortable in front of a classroom, or making sure the kids are learning a lot in an enjoyable environment, I have a lot to learn but I’m excited about the prospect of becoming an awesome teacher. 

See Spot Served in Soup.

This week I ate a dog.

Ok I don't think there was actually enough meat on the table to make up an entire dog, but this week my co-workers and I went out to sample the local dog offerings. I know some people are already white-knuckle-reading this tensely so I won't get too far into detail. There were three dishes: one big pot of soup that reminded me of chicken noodle soup, one small broiled dish with some fattier pieces and vegetables, and a salty, cold dish served with greens.

But don't worry! Overall it definitely was not my favourite meal or meat, and I won't be going around looking for it during my time here in China. It was sometimes salty, and usually stringy and chewy. With all the amazing food I've already had here, there's tons of animals I'd prefer to eat. I mean... I had silkworms on my first day, and I'd WAY rather go for those again. Dang those are tasty, crunchy little devils!

Goodbye Scout. Thanks for the dining experience, couldn't have done it without you.