Naked in the streets in China...

"Ni Hau" Family and Friends!

How do you say hair stylist in Chinese?

Laughing is the universal language!

We've received several emails over the last week asking if we are okay because we have not been communicating as often as usual. And, this being China(!), we are touched at your concern and want you all to know that things are going fantastic - much better than we ever expected over here in the Middle Kingdom. We are feeling better this week, although Jenn has a nasty cold now, but we are both over our food poisoning (we both lost some weight!) and we did bring a huge stock of medicines with us so we feel confident we can tackle just about anything medical-wise.

The school has been wonderful, albeit insanely slow compared to western expectations, but we now have our Foreign Expert Teaching Certificates and our passports now contain resident visas so we are here legally for the entire year. This is comforting.

Life these days consists of preparing for classes, traveling to and from classes, negotiating meals, and getting out into the city for shopping and to explore our new home. To get anywhere in this city of 3 million, and we have only seen a small section of our city, we are riding the bikes our school gave us. The weather has been cold (30 - 45), wet, foggy, with occasional sunshine in the afternoons. Our evenings are typically spent inside but we have pushed ourselves to get out and explore, shop, when we can - but it takes physical, intellectual, and emotional work to do even the smallest things here in China.

It's hard to describe what it's like to step outside into the China world (and it's not a negative thing) but it can be quite stressful because it is so challenging.

You know that dream everyone has where they are walking down the street and everyone is stopping and staring, pointing anxiously, giggling nervously and sometimes moving their children away from you? Cars honk, conversations stop, even stray dogs come out to sniff you as you walk by...suddenly you have become an alien...but why? How? Then you look down and realize that you are naked?!

THAT is what it is like to be a foreigner in China!

I have traveled around the world twice but have never experienced the effects of shock and awe I am having on my hosts here in DanYang, in fact all of China - everywhere we go. And it's not a bad feeling to constantly be the center of attention everywhere you go; what is stressful is that we can not share our appreciation or surprise or astonishment with our hosts because 1) we don't speak Mandarin at all yet, and 2) social customs do not allow it here...I can't laugh and pat a stranger on the shoulder or point to my Chicago University shirt and point to a home far away and make an airplane with my hands, or poke my finger playfully into the tummy of a little child who literally is frozen as solid as a statue while staring at my bald, white head. It's this inability to make these human connections with strangers that makes this type of complete immersion stressful.

But it is still very exciting and more enjoyable than we ever imagined.

When we smile everyone smiles back. When we spit a few words we do know we are greeted with laughter and smiles and the one or two English words they do know in return. And we are amazed everyday at how much we manage to get done simply from using physical gestures, facial expressions, and hand signals.

We operate everyday here on caveman communication but we are getting good at it.

And as a result, we are settling into our new lives. Our apartment is feeling more and more like home everyday. We have a luxurious kitchen by Chinese standards and we are slowly stocking it with foods (we have to bike to and from the markets so we can only carry so much at one time!). We have more than enough living space, really.

We have a dining room that we use for company and/or meals when we want to break out the China!:) We have a den which has a queen size bed instead of a sofa(!) and a television and although we do not have any channels yet (the cable box broke our first day), we do have another dvd player (the first one broke last night) and we figured out how to work it in Chinese (I used to write computer manuals and could not decipher it but Jenn is amazing when it comes to anything and everything engineering-related). Jenn's computer and desk are also in this room so we brainstorm in here too for class ideas. There is even a small balcony for some fresh air and in the summer we are looking forward to opening it up and catching some rays.

Our bedroom is cozy. It has bookshelves that we are using for closets and we found a nice, fluffy comforter for our bed (after two tries because the measurements are all in metric here) and an additional sleeping pad (half the thickness of a futon mattress) that makes the bed more comfortable. This room also has my computer and desk so I end up spending the occasional "just leave me alone for awhile" time in here. There is even a door separating the two but we have yet to close it...:)

We are so grateful we found this school and these jobs. The V.P. of my school, Victor, is our main contact and has handled everything from our visas to fixing the cable box to getting a good deal on badminton rackets (I'm playing every night now with the teachers). Jennifer's host, Cynthia, has been a fountain of information about all things Chinese like where can we get music our students like, what is a KTV bar?, and her English is excellent too so she is helping with the critical stuff like where Jenn can get her hair done in our city...:)

Overall, we are loving it here and trying everyday to be better English teachers for these students - they work hard and they deserve it! My school is starting an English Club for the top two students from each of the 16 classes and the kick-off ceremony is next week. Again, the television crew and newspaper journalists will be there, along with dignitaries from schools around the province and I (and Jenn too when she can) am expected to provide exciting English lessons for the club (an hour and a half) every week!

I better get going on my lesson plans - be back soon with more updates.

Love to you all!