A State of Normality

I’m only two months into my adventure and things are starting to become, well, normal.  I’ve gotten use to the food, the people staring and my job as an English teacher.  That’s not to suggest that I’m not still learning and nothing is ever new, because I don’t think that’ll ever happen.  There are always small surprises and new things to experience here and there, but I feel like I’ve adjusted; this is normality (as much as it can be). 

I guess you have to redefine your own concept of normality for that to occur, because from an outside perspective, little of what goes on in this country is “normal”.  It’s just the way it is.  Like the way people drive over here. I’ve seen buses practically shrink to squeeze through gaps that at first sight seem unimaginably, impossibly, small.  Or like the way the government will turn off the heating for a whole province on a particular day, and when the weather becomes cold enough again, they’ll switch it back on for everybody.  Communist idealists eat your heart out.

The only problem with having adjusted, having gotten use to my Chinese adventure, is that I’m now missing home.  To a certain extent this isn’t an “adventure” anymore; it’s just everyday.  At least I have my hobbies to keep me busy during the week, and trust me I am busy.  Xi’an has so much to offer any individual that I don’t know how anyone could become bored.  In fact, after two months of being here, I can’t think of one moment where I have been bored.  It’s only when I stop for a moment that my mind drifts back to my friends, my family and my girlfriend; that’s when the homesickness really hits hard.

A few weeks back an Aston teacher told me about a “second wave of culture shock”.  Apparently after three or so months you’re once again struck by just how different everything is, which other long-term teachers seemed to agree with.  It sounds insane to me, but then I’ve only been here a short time.  I don’t really understand how you could be shocked by a culture you’ve already grown accustomed to, or how everything can suddenly appear new again.  Maybe I’ll understand what this person meant at some point in the future, but even if I do, I don’t think it could ever be on the same level as when I first arrived.  I remember that feeling: the nausea created by the look of my new surroundings, not to mention the prospect of teaching for the very first time.  Or even worse, teaching children in front of a room full of parents.

Something astray from the norm will occur next month, however, which will be the release of my very first article in Xi’an’s expat magazine, known as, “Xianese”.  Earlier this month I emailed Xianese inquiring as to whether or not they’re interested in expats writing for them.  I got a positive reply and sent off my first, full-length, 1000 word article, with my own edited photography.  The article is called “Xian Shock” and I wanted to remind readers of their first time entering Xi’an, which for some like myself, would have been their first time entering China altogether.  Xianese liked the article and I’m looking forward to seeing it in next month’s edition.  I’ll be sure to upload it in some form on here for everyone to read when it’s released.

Early last week a group of us walked a section of Xi’an’s city wall.  We travelled from the East Gate, round to the South Gate.  For those who don’t know, Xi’an is surrounded by a large wall, which people can walk or cycle along.  The views are good, but if you were going to walk it I wouldn’t recommend doing it all at once.  Not only would this take hours, but you’d also become bored, as some sections of the wall are distinctly more interesting than others.  Unless you enjoy staring at tower block, after tower block, after tower block, which on some days is nicely enhanced by Xi’an’s brown, murky skies. 

This was all rounded off by bāozi and cold noodles covered in spice, a peanut butter sauce and China’s favourite, MSG.  We opted to forego the MSG.  Bāozi is another popular Chinese dish that I’ve come to love.  Bāozi is like a large dumpling, which is known to have a variety of fillings.  My top three so far are red bean paste bāozi, meat bāozi and vegetable bāozi; it’s another Chinese dish that you shouldn’t miss out on.  Red bean paste is a particularly interesting flavour, which the Chinese use in a lot of dishes, sweets and cakes.  They even mix it with chocolate to make a chocolate bean paste, which explains how they keep a lot of their sweet foods tasting much more natural than our Western counterparts.

As for the cold noodles, if someone had asked me before buying cold noodles if I’d genuinely like some, I would have easily, instantly and probably in disgust, said no.  If someone had asked me if I’d like cold noodles, drenched in spice and peanut butter sauce, I would have shown you the exit.  Again, however, this was another one of China’s pleasant surprises.  Cold noodles, if given the chance, are actually a pleasurable dish.  Some teachers here even class it as one of their favourites.  I’m not sure if I’d go that far just yet!

This week I also attempted my first clothes shop; it did not go well.  People who know me know I have quite a distinct taste, or perhaps lack of.  Thus, I was unable to find clothes I really liked, even with the cheap Chinese price tags.  I found shoes, but unsurprisingly I was unable to find any in a UK size 12/13.  I couldn’t even get any in a 10/11.  Luckily I’ve got a friend coming over from the UK in a couple of weeks, and little does he know, he’ll be bringing me a new pair of shoes ;) Not being able to find any clothes I like is a bit of a problem, because summer is fast approaching.  Plus, it’s already hot and humid here, despite it only being mid spring. 

Chinese people don’t wear flip-flops either; sandals or crocs are OK, but no flip-flops.  Apparently this commonly worn Western attire is seen as a house shoe, similar to a slipper.  The apparent problem is not that the shoe reveals slightly more of your foot, but that it makes a “slapping” sound when you walk, which is why it is compared to the shoes Chinese people wear in their homes, to keep their floor and feet clean.  Therefore making my summer shoes – which I had the foresight and wisdom to bring with me – essentially redundant, unless of course I’d like to wear them in my living room.  I would not.

Aside from all of this, everything is going well!  Little by little, I’m retaining miniscule amounts of vocabulary, which is always helping more and more for everyday taxi journeys, meals at restaurants and buying food from the local stalls.  It’s always hard to tell what the people at these stalls think of you.  Most of them are very cheerful and jolly, but it’s never easy to understand whether they’re laughing generally, or laughing because they’re ripping the foreigner off.  I’m hoping it’s the former. 

I’ve also got my Chinese bankcard through and thus, my first pay check, as promised.  As is common in China, dealing with the system (in this case the bank), is never easy, or at least it’s rarely easy as a foreigner.  Aston knows this and so they sent a Chinese employee to accompany us to the bank.  You’d think that would have made things easier, but no.  It took at least two hours to get bankcards for three foreigners.  When we asked why, it was because they couldn’t decide which order our names should be in.  Due to this massive conundrum, the person serving us gathered three other people in order to help solve the complex mystery.  Here’s another thing about China: when dealing with the system, sometimes it’s just best to let a Chinese friend handle your business.

Kudos to Aston though, because they’ve maintained every aspect of their bargain so far.  Two months in, and having spent one and a half of those working for Aston, they’ve done the best they can to accommodate new and experienced teachers.  I’m not trying to suggest that everyone’s experience in every branch of Aston has been synonymous with mine.  Every branch is going to be different and every manager, no matter where you work, will be different.  The research I carried out on the different schools has proven to be worthwhile, as has choosing Aston, Xi’an.  Aston has provided me with (by Chinese standards) decent accommodation, (by Chinese standards) a decent living wage and (by any standards) a great support network.  Best of all, I’m only teaching on weekends and I can do exactly what I want to do with this experience during the week.  I can’t really complain!