I still like seeing the city when I arise or go to bed. I love to leave my curtains open at night—all the static hues and blinking stars of fluorescence from man-made light twinkling across the city-scape—but the light keeps me awake, so I must sadly close my curtains. I have a spectacular view of my part of the city, just below the “Third Ring” road, from my 18th floor; my windows start at the floor and ready nearly to the ceiling. On clear days, of which there are few, I can see mountains. They are shaded grey far in the distance to the southwest. My flat faces almost due west, looking outward to the town that I love so much —and am visiting for the second time since my arrival in China: Kangding.
In reference to travel— and this is one of my favorite aspects of living in China—I have been able to make four separate 3-4 day sojourns around 3 of China’s provinces in the 3 1/2 months since my arrival! There have been four holidays since my arrival (including this upcoming weekend’s Dragon Boat): Qing Ming in April, Labour Day in May, and Dragon Boat in June. These are only one-day holidays, but they are tacked onto a weekend, making for a 3-4 day weekend! Additionally, I took a short weekend trip to Yunnan province with a friend. So I’ve visited Hunan, Sichuan (where I live), and Yunnan. Travel is very inexpensive, as I’ve mentioned in numerous other posts, and relatively easy. But I’ve only taken the train once; I mainly fly because bus trips eat up a full day or more of your travel time. And of course, along with traveling, it seems everything else in China is relatively inexpensive! I mean, it’s almost ridiculous the amount of money I can save each month whilst living like a Queen—or so it feels. I can buy what I want, eat out, order take-out, shop for clothes, furnish my apartment, use a car service daily... and still have 30-50% of my income left over for savings! From food to living expenses to rent, unless you buy a lot of foreign imports, the cost of living is low (for an expat making a decent professional salary; I do not have info on income-levels and QOL (quality of life) or SOL (standard of living) of Chinese locals, or my chinese co-teachers. I can only speak of certified teachers). Upon reflection, after 15 weeks in China, life is good here. It’s not easy, but it’s inexpensive. The air quality is terrible and it makes me cough constantly, but I can afford to travel each month to mountains and clean air. Life is good here; my quality of life is much, much better than it was in Texas and I’m glad to be here! I am grateful for this job opportunity, for this city, for my new friends, for my school, and for much, much more! Oh, P.S., and my final resident permit was not complete and in-hand until Thursday, April 26, 8 weeks after my arrival!
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Today is my 3-month anniversary of arriving in Chengdu! Wow! So much has happened I am unsure where to begin! There have challenges and frustrations, wonders and new experiences. The small frustrations seem to add up to one humongous irritation, but then get balanced out by all the awesomeness of something like the fact that I travel every month now!
I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to learn the language! My life would be 80% more chill if I could speak Mandarin. I am glad I started lessons, but you just can’t imagine how hard the “zh” and the “j” sound can be—so alike but with distinct differences that completely change a word and its meaning. The same with the “four tones” : flat, up, down-up, down. These intonations give each word its unique meaning. For instance, the word “ma” has four distinct definitions, depending on tone (Mom, numb, horse, to cuss)! I have been in multiple situations where my lack of ability in comprehending what is being said to me and expressing my needs has created frustration, tears, and a feeling of powerlessness. I am still amazed that people can live here and never learn anything beyond “Hello, goodbye, thank you, stop here”. For myself, I am still trying to undo the habit of saying “thank you” without the proper tones; luckily it is easy to understand “xie xie” with or without the tones (Can you believe xi is pronounced “sh”? Whomever translated all the sounds into the English lettering system did a shoddy job with xi, qi, j, and zh. They are pronounced nothing like our Roman alphabet...aaargh!). I think with many languages (this being my opinion as a native speaker of English), pronunciation and tone and vocabulary is added to pre-existing knowledge. But with Mandarin, those three have to be unlearned and re-assimilated. But it is doable!! Take lessons, study, and practice! Makes life in China 100% easier!!! I love watching my friend from Buffalo argue with a local. “Are you mad?”, I ask her. “No.” Yet she gets the tones and expressions downs pat and makes a price squabble look like it will come to blows (for she is fluent in Mandarin)! Click “Read More” to the right... |
Having......gallivanted across Paris, I have made it to Chengdu! As of 2021, I am headed back to China, this time to Shanghai! Archives
March 2021
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