Week 2 - Class, Church and Chinese Siesta?

This was a big week for us – our first week of class. Our first real week of doing what we had come here to do.

So many thoughts were swimming around our heads:

·         How much class would we have?

·         Would the classes be in Mandarin or English?

·         What would the lecturers be like?

Our thoughts were eased slightly when we discovered that we have Mondays and Tuesdays off until we start teaching practice in six weeks – good start!

In total, we will be taking up the study of six main subjects while we are here. These are:

1.      Language Teaching Theories and Practices.

2.      Psychology in Education.

3.      Chinese Culture and History.

4.      Mandarin.

5.      Second Language Acquisition.

6.      Teaching Practice.

So far, we have experienced the first 3 subjects on this list, with Mandarin and Second Language Acquisition starting next week and teaching practice starting in six weeks.

We are very fortunate in that we have great lecturers who are all very patient and pretty much fluent in English! Most of our classes are in English, apart from Mandarin (obviously), as such, there are no Chinese students in our class other than a lovely girl called ‘Normy’, who is essentially observing. The course has been made for us, which is fantastic but reduces our contact with local Chinese students, hopefully other opportunities to interact will arise!

Quality seating.

 I found that the first two classes were very similar to some of the classes we have back at Stran, focusing on Educational theories and how they can be applied. Chinese Culture and History on the other hand gave an insight into Confucianism and also got us learning some Chinese characters and phrases. I really feel that this is a great class to have during our time here as we saw some temples of Confucius when we were in Beijing but really couldn’t grasp the meaning and history behind it. I am very excited to see what we gain from these classes!

Taoist temple in Beijing 

Academics aside, this week has been full of other great experiences. As Lloyd and I tried to develop our badminton skills, we discovered a strange phenomenon; I have taken to calling it ‘Chinese siesta’. Essentially, every day between 12:30 and 14:30, most offices across Guangzhou close and everyone goes for a nap or just to chill out. It tends to be a bit of a hindrance though, if you are trying to get anything done. Having said that, I can appreciate a country that appreciates a mid-day sleep!

Our week rounded up on Sunday with Lloyd, Jayne and I returning to Guangzhou International Christian Fellowship (GICF). GICF is a church that we discovered when we first came to Guangzhou, much to our surprise. It was our understanding that religion is not exactly permitted over here, apparently they have become more accepting over recent years, however, you do need a passport to get in, that is to say – no Chinese allowed. The service was good and  it was amazing to see how people from so many different backgrounds came together to worship. We also heard that there is a seminary with a special licence that allows local Chinese to attend and that transport leaves from the front of GICF every week. Having a bit of homely worship is great but next week we hope to go the service for the locals and immerse ourselves a bit more in the culture and see what it is like for Chinese Christians.

International service

All in all, it has been a real week of learning for me in terms of academics and culture; I feel like we are finally starting to see the real side of China.

I also did my own washing - big day.

Thanks for reading guys!

Week 1 – Orientation and the Hallions

With our travels over, it was finally time to knuckle down into some hard work we arose early on the Monday morning and walked to meet our year head - Sylvia - a lovely woman with excellent English who came bearing the fantastic news that this was 'orientation week', our timetables were still under construction and that we were to use this week to "get to know Guangzhou"... not sure if she knows we've been here for a month!

Anyway, with that in mind, we decided to try and find the most productive ways to spend our free time. For me, this included playing my trusty ukulele, giving my room a more homely feel (making a mess) and bettering my skills in my newfound sport – BADMINTON - Lloyd is better…for now. We have also taken to the local cuisine and become best friends with the noodle maker on our street corner, who we have named – Noodle Guy – we’re so original.

New Pastimes

Team Noodle

Later in the week, we had the pleasure of meeting two of our international buddies - Tony and FeiFei. Both of them are majoring in English and translation so it was fantastic to have them around. They took us to a local museum and wowed us with their simultaneous translation skills, to an old temple, in which the locals asked for our picture (white people are basically celebrities) and finally, out for a traditional Chinese dinner; we ordered our food ourselves, looking to show off how cultured we are, this was met by laughs on their part as apparently it was a "Typical Western order"...apparently eating in a Chinese doesn't make you cultured. Meeting these two made me really appreciate the buddy program back home and emphasised how important it is - when you're out of your comfort zone and your home language, it really makes all the difference!

FeiFei and Tony

"Can we have a picture with you?!"

We finally hit the weekend after an 'intense' week of induction and readied ourselves for the arrival of Ester, Olivia and Charlotte - 3 of the 4 Stran students studying in Hong Kong, as such, they were dubbed "The Hong Kong Hallions".

Our intention for the weekend was to give them 'The real China experience' as Hong Kong is quite westernised. This began by Lloyd convincing Olivia to eat a chicken foot by telling her we all have done it and he spent a lot of money to get it. Neither of these points are true. Sorry Olivia.

The weekend was full of activities including a trip up the Canton tower, a river cruise and my personal favourite - a trip to the zoo/safari park!

It was great to see people from back home, even just to talk to other people who understand what "sweltered" and "scundered" mean. They also came bearing Irish stew...if I wasn't so darn manly, the tears of joy would have flowed -. amazing. Can't wait to see them in Hong Kong soon!

Some pictures below for your viewing pleasure.

Waiting for team NI

Lloyd getting assaulted by a monkey.

China signs - quality translations.

I shouldn't be let out ...

Thanks for reading,
Adam.

Pre-study travels (27 th January - 23 rd February)

Pre-study travels (27 ^th January - 23 ^rd February)

Dublin - Dubai - Guangzhou - Shanghai - Suzhou - Xian - Beijing - Guangzhou

.... Yeah

So, first blog post and the one that I suspect will be the most difficult. To try and condense the massive list of things we have done, the places we have been and the experiences we have shared during the past month into something relatively readable, witty and academic ... it may prove difficult but here goes!

Dublin's Fair City - 27 ^th January

With bags packed and family-based farewells finalised, my dear friends escorted me to the airport to meet up with the team and jet off. One final farewell to our Emerald Isle and we were in the air for a very acceptable 11AM. Everyone had the pleasure of sitting together, except me - I was fortunate enough to be sat beside a very drunk Irish man with a concerning, rather fresh wound above his eye, he was actually a lovely chap.

Jetting off

Dubai - Deprivation Day - 28 ^th January

7.5 hours later and we were in Dubai for what we assumed would be a relaxing 10 hour layover, as we planned to sleep in a lounge. We did not. There was no lounge. We walk and ate many a McDonalds until we found perfectly uncomfortable seats to sit, very bored for the extent of the stay Wait, that sounds so moany -. beautiful airport and at least I got to put on my suit pyjamas!

So classy

GUANGZHOU -! 28 ^th January (Still)

! So After a full 24 hours of travel with zero sleep, we had finally arrived in our new home -. Guangzhou It was, of course, at this point that we realised that it was dark and we had no idea at all how to get . to our hotel Things were looking grim until we came through security to find Julia Julia was an international student in Stran last year and had heard we were coming, contacted Stran and came to collect us -. day saved!

We settled into our luxurious hotel and started trying to sleep off the jetlag that the 8 hour time difference and lack of sleep had caused.

Guangzhou is massive, as you might expect, however, it was rather empty when we arrived This is apparently because of the Chinese New Year -. Everyone goes home and stays in, all of the shops are closed and the dragons are busy getting ready for their big night. Thankfully, this was just what we needed to ease us in to the country.

We spent time in between exploring the city planning our cross country travels but here's a quick summary of Guangzhou highlights:

·          Our first Traditional Chinese meal - Hotpot - never again

·          Chinese New Year with Julia - More Hotpot ... never mind.

·          Got my head shaved by Lloyd, Siobhan and Jayne.

·          Lloyd and I bought pet turtles for £1... They did not last long ... RIP guys.

UNI

Mid-head shave

Toilets ...

Canton Tower

Shanghai Surprise - 3 ^rd February

Stop No.1 on our inter-China travels. We left the comforts of the Shang De hotel early and readied ourselves for what the internet assured us would be the WORST FLIGHT OF OUR LIVES! It was not. It was grand and we met a lovely local man called Henry Gu, who drew us a map of Shanghai and told us where all the cool kids hung out.

Straight off the plane and right into a taxi for our first near death experience - they are insane drivers here!

Over our 3 days in Shanghai, we got to see some beautiful gardens and temples but the main feature that grabbed the interest of our group was the fake markets. At first, it was just exciting to see the range of stuff they had but the main thrill (particularly for Lloyd and Siobhan) was bartering. Seeing these mercantile experts getting something down from £30 to £1 was hilarious to watch, particularly when it backfired and a certain Mr Gillespie go himself locked in a secret store room with a sales lady, no one knows what happened in there but we believe he acquired his new wallet at a "special price for beautiful people".

Beats, bags and other bargains

Xi'an - Sky planking and the Warriors - 9 ^th February

Xi'an was the Highlight of the trip for me. Our new home in the international hostel gave us so many new friends and memories, all of which Started on Our 1 ^st morning there with a guided tour to see the Terracotta Warriors. My second ever wonder of the world. At a glance, it didn't seem like much, however, the closer we got and the more we learned, the more amazing it got. Over 8000 sculptures, all individualised by their creators, as most of them were to be killed and buried with the sculptures as some sort of 'eternal army'. Crazy.

The best part of the tour though was finally making some English speaking friends as the language barrier is quite the challenge at the best of times France, England, Ireland, Italy -. Good mix and good times.

The best part of Xi'an for me was Mt Hua Shan. Over 7000 feet in height, our new found international group ascended (mainly by cable car but sure). The sights were breathtaking and when we reached the top we found what we had came there for - The Sky Plank.

Dubbed "The world's most dangerous hiking trail", we found ourselves perilously making our way across planks with nothing below us but a 7000 foot drop, attached by 2 ropey looking carabineers and a firm grip. Amazing and absolutely mortifying.

Terracotta lads

Mt Hua Shan

Sky plank - seems legit ...

 Beijing Banter - 12 ^th February

The final stop in our travels was Beijing. We found ourselves in another international hostel with the 4 of us in one room for a week and despite Lloyd's snoring and my sleep yelling (for lack of a better phrase), we did not kill each other .

Some of the biggest challenges in Beijing were the smog and the temperature; in Guangzhou, we were in shorts and T-shirts getting our tan on and in Beijing, it was snowing!

Again, we came across gardens and temples, new friends and some old ones from Xi'an but the best part has to stereotypically be the Great Wall. It was astounding, laced with history and marked by the countless people who had visited it from countless countries. Due to the snow it was also fairly tourist-free when we were there, giving us time to walk and take it in, I imagine that it gets repetitive after the first 2000 miles but it was still pretty cool.

Oh, and there was a toboggan ride down from it - fantastic!

Cheeky name carve

Couldn't help myself ...

Well done if you read this far - following blogs will be shorter!

Zaijian!

... That's goodbye in Mandarin

Cheers!