China days!

Going on week 8 of living in the hotel...the first 4 apartments I saw were disappointing...Apparently there is a  

bit of a difference in Chinese apartments and  American apartments...Learning to compromise is going to be my biggest challenge.  It is okay though. I will find a place.  I am just learning to put up pictures so I will be posting more pictures...things to come...Shirt of the Day get excited for this amazing new blog I will be starting..It will be hopefully a picture a day of one of the random shirts that says something in english that makes no sense. :)  

I find it so hard to believe that it has already been 7 and 1/2 weeks of me living in China.  Life has changed so much over the past 2 months.  I have gone from being so dependent on a car to never wanting to own a car again.  I love not driving I love not having to find parking and I love not having to drive in this crazy city.   I have found myself tasting food I NEVER would have tried in the states just for the sake of trying it.  I have met such amazing people over the past weeks.  Everyone I encounter seems to bring something to my life.  I was telling my sister in law yesterday I have been experiencing one of the weirdest feelings I have had.  I am so complete being in China and yet so incomplete not being around my family.  It is strange.  I miss my family so much but I just want time to slow down over here because it seem like it is passing so quickly.  

Two months ago I was so excited and scared to leave home.  Not knowing a sole coming to China...How quickly that has changed.  I went from knowing know one to having great friends in less than 24 hours. It still amazes me how quickly people can become bonded.  I am loving every minute of this amazing adventure. I have probably talked about it a lot but I love the unknown that is my life.  It is scary and frustrating at times being in this country not speaking the language but most of the time is just nice to be in a place where I feel like I belong.  

Adventures of food!

ROund two...today...we had such a fun day at work...EOTP end of term performances...I went and found more movies in between classes...I must say it is an addicting thing these cheap movies...anyways I also went to lunch were a co worker accidently ordered INTESTINE  and guess what I TASTED IT!  I nearly gagged and had to choke and down almost gagging it up three more times....needless to say not good.

After work we went for messages...soooo wonderful...not sure how I will ever come home with so many awesome things that china has to offer...Tonight I got a wonderful foot message and then a body message ended with a ginger paste on my knees covered with steaming towers.  HOLY CRAP Ginger gets hot....it pulls the toxins out though it was crazy.  Felt good but weird at the same time.
 So relaxing...all of this like 15 dollars...

Okay so after the message we went to get dinner...  Dinner to some people means a restaurant...not us we went for street food...YUmmy fried rice...There were like 5 venders set up near eachother and at one stand there were soy beans boiled peanuts and snails...being curious we asked the guy for a sample of the peanuts and he gave us samples of all three...that is right JILLIAN RENICKS TRIED A SNAIL TONIGHT!  That is two creepy things in one day....needless to say snail was not bad.

At the end of the day sitting on the street corner on at a foldable kids table with little metal stools I have to say...these are the unforgettable moments that are making up this amazing adventure.    Sitting there with new friends hanging out around the locals eating street food...Just such an amazing experience....

Discovering Nanjing

So this weekend was Dragon Boat festival...and though I didn't get to see the Dragon Boat races I did have Saturday off...one of the few Saturdays I have will have off this year.   I had a great weekend.  I went to a toga party for a friends birthday...one of two toga parties I have been to in my life...surprisingly both while out of college.   It was fun getting to be in a toga :).

Saturday I slept in and watch some movies and then decided to explore...what started out as a search for a McDondalds soon turned into an amazing adventure that lead me to believe that I am truly in the city I am supposed to be in. As I walked looking for a Mcdonalds I soon discovered a small park and then a small mountainish thing that held a bunch of pathed paths up the hill...It was so nice just to disappear into a miniature hike in the middle of the city. After I explored a bit I found a nice bench to lay on and relax for a bit.  It was so nice just to sit and reflect on the past month and a half I have been in China...With each day I grow more and more sure that I have made the right choice.  Everyday changes me a little more for the better....

Anyways back to my day.  I wondered the city and then ended up at the Nanjing wall...it was so amazing I climbed the little park path and discovered the lake that everyone has been talking about.  I had to wonder the city a little more to finally discover the entrance to the lake.  I arrived at the lake and just was in aww.  The lake was sooo Big and there were mountains in the distance...it was just beautiful!   I sat and looked at the lake for a bit and while sitting there I am pretty sure I was stared at more than I have been stared at in my life.    After citing for a bit I decided to wonder the lake...where I ran into a friend from work and her friends...  We wondered the lake and then I found a girl eating a carmel butterfly on a stick...so awesome...so We went on a hunt for this...1/2 an hour later we finally found where they were made...we got to pick out a shape and the guy made the carmel butterfly in front of us...so neat to watch...he was so talented.

Anyways somewhere in my excitement  I stepped in DOG POO...Didnt discover it till we were at the edge of the lake city on a dock...When I discovered it we tried to quietly get it off but being foreigners nothing we do is done without being noticed...so it was quiet fun to get dog poo stinky stinky dog poo off my shoe.

After that we went to a Korean BBQ place and it was great!!!!   SO that was my dragon boat festival day!

Laws of China/First days in Nanjing

Law of China...that is an oxymoron in itself....Laws of China....It is okay to pee where ever you feel like even if it means your man parts are visible to the entire world....

Laws of China-  Red lights are merely suggestions...just because that light is red doesn't mean stop it merely means honk to alert people that you have decided that you aren't going to stop at the red light.
Driving in your lane isn't really a law either...it just means that if you feel like it is faster for you to drive in two lanes or on the other side of the road then that is okay because it is better for you.  Getting over doesn't mean you wait your turn it means you get drive into the other lane playing chicken until someone gives in. 


Laws of China-  The little red man and green man on the cross walk mean ABSOLUTLY NOTHING.   If it is green and you think it is safe to walk you still have to watch out for who ever decides to turn into you while you are walking...or beware that there is a crazy scooter driver waiting to clip you at any moment.   The red man also doesn't mean anything that just means get ready to play a great game of dodge with the cars that do not want to stop just because you are there...

Turning from the far right lane across three lanes of traffic to do a u turn at a red light is completely okay also...saw that happen lines of cars doing a u turn across lots of lanes of traffic...

Sidewalks are not just for walking they are also for scooters to almost run you over on.  They are for people who need a parking spot or who just dont want to wait and it is easier to cut through driving on  a sidewalk....

There are no speed limits in China either...


With that being said there is some sort of mutual understanding that we all drive crazy because though I feel like at any moment I might die...they seem to avoid wrecks very easily.


Now first days in Nanjing...Took me a half an hour to get a cab...green doesnt mean available...red does...learned that the hard way...also just because it is red doesnt mean they are picking people up...you have to look for a little light that says for hire.  

My center is the most beautiful center I have seen...in the middle of a huge run down abandon mall...there is also construction everywhere...The hotel is in the middle of no where...The hotel is nice...the rest of this area is run down as all get out.  

Tonight  however I drove through town and realized there are very pretty parts of the town and there looks to be a lot of fun things to do here...

I also work with really nice people who are very willing to help me with anything I need help with.  I feel blessed about these things....I know it will be a great place to live.  I just have to find the part that makes me feel the happiest....

Changes

It has been a little while since I have blogged.  I have just moved to Nanjing and I am sad to be out of Shanghai.  The last week in Shanghai was great.  I hung out alot with my training group and really had some quality time with them.  They are all such amazing people it was so hard to leave them.  They have very quickly become family over here. 


I got to experience another soccer game between france and England at a western bar called the CAMEL.  It was so amazing to be around all the british and french people and really feel the energy of the game.

I can say that the past month and half of my life has been the most stressful...trying...wonderful life changing times of my life!

I moved via train today and had a slight disaster of a trip trying to move four bags by myself through the train lines...Luckily for me a friend helped me to the train station and up to the gate of my train terminal.  So I didn't have to do it alone.  I also had a guy from the gate to the train help me with my stuff which was so nice seeing as one of my bags wheels decided to buckle and I was draggin it through the station. 

Okay now back to nanjing...I have seen nothing of it because I was running on so little sleep that I just decided to go to sleep when I got here. I have a fish in the hotel...its a beta her name is lily...though I am pretty sure it is a boy beta....they said its a girl and her name is lily.   The wall to the bathroom is actually a window so thank goodness it is just me here because you can see people going to the bathroom from the bed in the hotel....WHY WOULD ANYONE EVER DO THAT :)   I walked around a bit tonight looking for food...which I found none of...and I realized that this city of 7 million people is SOOO much smaller than Shanghai I can actually see large amounts of the sky....I miss the high rise buildings though...As crazy as it might seem a city of 25 million people is comforting...I miss the family marts and all days being on every corner....those are like convient stores that were everywhere...I miss being surrounded by huge buildings too..

Tomorrow I start work at my center... I am excited to see what it will be like....I am also excited to get settled and find food lol.....That is all for now.  I am happy to be home.....

4 weeks of Shanghai

Well it has been 4 weeks now since I arrived in China...it is crazy how far we have come.  I remember being picked up at the airport, meeting 3 other people and driving to hotel...It is crazy how quickly we all became so close...Tonight I finally found the beautiful building we saw driving up in the taxi on the way to the hotel the first night. 

Things have changed so much in four weeks.  We completed training and started in our centers...The hotel has gone from something like a dorm to a little bit lonlier place.  Who knew four weeks ago that the times we have had in the hotel rooms together would become memories that last a life time.  We have had so many good times in the hotel...We have had movie nights, nap times, gossip sessions and just good old hang outs.  But now people have been gone for a week and the hotel is a little bit quiter...I am certain it makes our neighbors happier :)  


We met another girl from the newest group of onboarders it is crazy to think that we have been here long enough to see a second set of onboarders come through.  It is exciting to now meet them and not be the newest people.

I am very excited to move on and find a hotel but I def. have started to realize that the experiences that I have had living in this hotel have been some of the greatest times of  my life!

It is interesting to see how fast you become adjusted to life in China...We have our regular places we love to eat..Like the little noodle shop down the street from us...it is this awesome whole in the way place where they make their noodles fresh right in front of you...they are the most wonderful noodles...and they are open 24 hours a day.  The is a muslum (Sp) place next door that also has amazingly cheap food. Their food is also fresh and cheap. 

We have found bars that are so fun...we go to a bar called Perry's it is a local western bar where the food and drinks are cheap....It is a nice place that reminds me of home.  Everyone is westerner there is writing on the walls... you can get pizza and burgers, beer and hooka there...it is a great place to hang out and socialize.  

We have also experienced some really awesome clubs here...though slightly expensive they are very unique to clubs we have at home.  Lots of singers and performers....one club soho has a clown and balloons.

I have also learned alot about being a forgeiner.  The locals like to take advantage so you have to be tough and stick to your guns...They will try and push you around but if you stand firm they will usually give in. 

I have also learned alot about living in a big city...in less than a month I went from living in small town Gainesville to living in a city of 23 million...I went from almost no experience with a metro to learning the metro system in a city 3 times the biggest city in the states.

I took my first scooter ride today.  I was late for work...shock to those that know me well...and so I had to get from the metro to work fast...After some debate with the scooter taxis one finally decided to take me even though he wasnt sure what I was saying...Needless to say there were several times in the 5 min scooter taxi ride where I questioned whether or not I would live to see work...It kinda answered my questions on whether or not I will be trying to get a scooter when I get to Nanjing....


The answer is no lol....well that is all for now

I had the most delicous meal tonight it was a japanese restaraunt....we got to huge plates of fried rice two large mango juices, soybeans, soup, chicken meat ball things, and fried chicken peices for 126 rmb which turns out to be less than 25 dollars total yeah....


This morning on my way to work I was trying to count the amount of times I got up and down stairs between the two different lines of the metro....it is crazy how many stairs there are....and how much walking I must do to get to work.  Work takes and hour to get to....15 min walk to the subway....then all the walking through out hte subway....and then another 15 min walk to work once I get off the subway on line nine....so tiring but lots of exercise.

I am getting more and more ready to move to Nanjing as my hotel starts smelling more and more like sewage....Sometimes it is the drains in the bathroom sometimes it is the air vents but what ever it is it is smelly....

Besides going up in the really awesome tower that is shaped like a bottle opener and is like 470 m high I am not sure what else has happened.   People have moved out of the hotel into their apartments which makes me long for a freaking couch to sit on....sitting in their living rooms is almost an odd feeling after now being in the hotel for 3 and 1/2 weeks with 2 more to go.....until of course I move to nanjing where I will spend hopefully less than 3 weeks in a hotel there...


The city is still amazing...  The older people ending their nights dancing in the parks still continues to be my favorite site to see....It is just such a wonderful way to wind down the day...they look so peaceful and happy dancing away...they have an area outside the mall I work in that also has people dancing on weekend nights  it is just fun after a long day of work to walk out and see people just being together and having a good time. 

As for right now not to much else has happened....I am loving the market and the way you can bargin everything...it is the greatest thing and the most annoying thing all at once....

I am off to bed now Hope everyone is doing well!