Hong Kong (Part 2)

So we left the Visa Office after submitting our applications, all hopeful of a positive result or face returning home a lot sooner than planned.

Natalie and Kevin had submitted their applications and gone outside to get some air, mine was next and then after Chris and Jess had finished we left to find our companions. Unfortunately, we were unable to locate them, and at this point we experienced (not to be the only time) life without mobile phones. With no way to contact them we decided to head back to the hostel on the off chance they were there. They weren't, but with us all feeling a bit grubby we decided to have a quick shower, not together.

Refreshed, we returned to the reception only to learn that Natalie and Kevin had not been back yet, so we went to find somewhere to eat. We found a little Vietnamese restaurant, Jess ordered some rice noodles, Chris and I ordered some Chicken and Vietnam Sausage, not sure where on the plate this sausage was but the chicken was tasty.

It was time for a nap so once again we headed back to the hostel. Natalie and Kevin were there, and we all had a nice rest before heading out for dinner, this time it was Chris and Jess that had gone missing. So the three of us walked for a while and settled on a Japanese restaurant. Kevin ordered the 'Japanese Caesar Salad', which just looked like a 'Caesar Salad' to my uneducated eye. Natalie and I had some meatballs which were just incredible, washed down with a bottle Asahi beer.

We then went to the supermarket across from the hostel, it was like being in England. All the products, I knew and (in some cases) loved were there - Twix, Malteasers Walkers Crisps, Tropicana Orange Juice and Colman's Mustard, to name a few. We stocked up on sweets/candy and headed back to the hostel to watch a movie and slip into a sugar induced sleep.

The next day we returned to the visa office and went straight to the front of the queue to collect our passports, which now had shiny new z visas inside. Once again we were free to do what we liked and this time we were full of energy following a good night's sleep, so it was time to do some real exploring.

Natalie suggested visiting the Tian Tan Buddha, which can be found at the top of 240 steps (I didn't count them, I just consulted Wikipedia) and is 112 feet tall. To get there we had to take the subway, a much more civilized experience than that we are used to in Beijing. And then took a gondolier cable car type thing up-toward it before walking through a cool little village, reminiscent of something from Disneyland before eventually reaching the Buddha.

The Tian Tan Buddha from the foot of 240 steps

The views were quite breathtaking from beside the Buddha, the statue itself was pretty impressive too. On our way to the bus stop, we saw a cow and its calf walking around the carpark, it was strange to see but they weren't the only animals we'd seen that day. The area below the Buddha was swarming with dogs, many of which were seemingly starving or pregnant. Thinking back now, it was all very bizarre around there, certainly not as spiritual as you might expect.

One memorable moment of our trip occurred shortly after our visit to the 'Big Buddha'. I was walking with Chris and Jess, and we saw a Chinese woman crouching down on a foot bridge with her small child, he was taking a pee. Now in Beijing, it is not uncommon to see kids peeing (and occasionally pooing) in the street but in Hong Kong it was the first time I had seen it. One lady on the bridge, took exception to it and made a point of telling the mother, "you do know there is a public toilet just over there, don't you?" she asked in her home counties accent, the mother seemed a little embarrassed but couldn't stop her son, who was mid-flow at this point, the lady then stormed off but not before angrily saying "you disgusting people".

That night we went for dinner with some of Natalie's friends and then we took a mountain train up to what is known as The Peak,  from there we found ourselves overlooking Hong Kong and it was quite beautiful sight, especially at night with it all being lit up.

The gang and Natalie's friend Shan, stood atop Hong Kong's 'The Peak'

My friends from Beijing, Cat and Jon were also in Hong Kong at the time. They had been traveling around during their school holiday. We had hoped to meet up at some point, without a phone however it was proving to be too difficult. Jon and I exchanged messages on Facebook and they tried at the hostel several times to see if I was about. The morning we checked out, I took a seat while Natalie and Chris sorted payments out at the desk. Kevin was stood chatting to me and noticed a little piece of paper pinned to the notice board behind me, it was marked 'FAO of Dan Jones'. Cat and Jon had left me a note to say they would be at the subway exit by the hostel at 7pm (the previous night) and would wait for 20 minutes, sadly I didn't get to meet up with them in Hong Kong but we did get to catch up a couple of weeks later in Beijing. 

On the way back, we were on a 'hard sleeper' opposed to the 'hard seat' we had endured on the way down. It was fantastic, so comfy and we all slept well that night. In fact, I actually felt a little disappointed when we arrived back in Beijing, I could have happily stayed on there for another 24 hours.

Hong Kong is an amazing place, I really enjoyed my visit. Although I was annoyed about the visa issues that resulted in us having to go there, I guess in hindsight it was a blessing. I got to visit a really cool part of the world that I possibly would never have seen otherwise. 

For me, Hong Kong blends all the best parts of China and the Western world together. It has a Chinese feel to it, but everyone can speak English. And above all else they sold sandwiches! And bloody tasty they were too!

Stood in front of the famous Hong Kong skyline

Hong Kong (Part 1)

As mentioned in previous blogs. I was told that I needed to get a working visa on arriving back in China. One positive to be taken from this was that I would have the opportunity to visit Hong Kong, the home of visa extensions (apparently there's a t-shirt you can buy that says "I went to Hong Kong and all I got was this lousy visa"). I didn't know much about Hong Kong, I knew it had been Britain's until 1997 and that most people remain fluent English speakers, as I learnt first hand from my experience of teaching some Hong Kongians (am I really gonna start this again?) last semester.

Well, my fellow travellers would be Kevin, Natalie, Jess and Chris. Annoyingly our trip fell during a national holiday known as 'Golden Week' and as such the trains were fully booked just about - in China, you can't book a train journey earlier than 10 days in advance. We ended up booking the only tickets we could, an option known as 'hardseats'. However, with the return trip being a few days later we had a bit more choice and paid a little extra for the option referred to as a 'hard sleeper'.

For those, not familiar with China. Beijing is located in the north and Hong Kong is just South of the mainland. Now you don't need to be Geography professor to know that China is a pretty big country and with that in mind it probably won't surprise you to learn that the train journey would take 28 hours to complete. Now, the prospect of something described as being a 'hard seat' becomes particularly unappealing!

And so it was that just before midnight on Monday 1st October, we boarded the train. It was so hot on there and overcrowded, it took a little bit of patience, climbing and balance to find my way to the seat that would be home to my bottom for next 28 hours. In addition to being able to buy a train ticket, you are also able to buy the cheaper alternative, a standing ticket. And wow, lots of people had taken advantage of this thrifty option, there was no room to move and I had baggage and the occasional person propped up against my legs for the duration of the journey. At one point, I braved the human assault course to go to the toilet and on my return, a bloke was asleep in my seat leaning on Kevin, who could only laugh as I had to ask for my seat back.

Falling asleep in the 'hard seat' was not easy, but with a little table in front of us the option to lean your head on something was available. I reckon I fell asleep at about 3am, as the air conditioning finally kicked in and reduced the temperature of the carriage. I managed about 4 hours before being woken up by a cleaner who decided that he needed to get under the table at 7am and to do so he should wake up everyone at the table, 'who cares if they are probably gonna struggle to get back to sleep? I need to clean under that table and I need to clean under that table now! 9 or 10am would be far too late' - I imagine this to be how he justified his plan to wake me up. I still have nightmares of his persistent tapping on my shoulder.

The journey wasn't too bad and in truth the hard seat wasn't that bad either, it was like a seat you would expect on most UK trains. They are comfy enough though after 28 hours, your bum does eventually become numb. I think the term 'hard seat' comes from its predecessor which I am led to believe was a wooden bench. I don't think I would have been able to last 28 hours on the old hard seat.

We found ways to entertain ourselves, ipods, books and a couple of beers. At one point, Kevin and I joined a few Chinese guys and girls in a game of cards. Luckily for us, one of them could speak English so he was able to explain what it was that we were playing.

Thumbs up for the crowded train to Hong Kong

We eventually arrived in Hong Kong, a little lethargic but we mustered enough enthusiasm to have a comedy photo taken during our subway journey to the hostel:

Just one of the many humorously named Subway stations

We checked into our hostel and then it was time to head to visa office to apply for our Z visas, despite feeling a little grubby and in desperate need of showers. The process was a little faster than I'd expected and soon enough we were free to explore, though we'd need to be back the following day to find out the verdict. And on that note, how about a little cliffhanger? So, did I obtain the Z visa? Did I return to China or did I have to go back to the UK? Well, you can probably guess the outcome...

To be continued...

Returning to China (Part 2)

So I was back in China, it was Friday and as hoped I would be living with my friend from last semester, Lauren and working at the same school - though it would not be the same school that I'd worked at originally, as planned. No the company had lost the contract with the school and as such I would be working at a public school opposed to a private school though curiously they had the exact same name...

So Lauren and I arrived on Tuesday 4th September expecting to begin work on the following Monday. Sadly, at the very last minute, the Sunday, we received news that we would not be able to work on the visas we currently had. So instead of heading into the classroom we went to meet our boss the following day to discuss our options. Basically, we would need to apply for a 'working visa' also know as the 'Z visa'. To do this we need to first obtain a working license and pass a medical before heading down to Hong Kong to apply for the visa itself.

Everyone was gutted, possibly me most of all. As I explained in my previous blog, I wouldn't have made it back to China if not for the support of my family. And now I found myself with the equivalent of £20 to my name, yet I would be expected to cover all the expenses which come with applying for a Z visa.

First up was the toughest challenge, the application for a working license. I did not hold out much hope of being successful as I was told a degree would be required plus two years teaching experience. But with no money to book a flight home, I had little choice but to apply and take up my new housemate Kevin on his offer of helping pay for my application.

After an agonising wait, the results were in. against all odds, I had been granted a work license and would now undergo a medical. Luckily, the medical was at a Western Medical Centre opposed to a Chinese one, though I have had all my shots (Tequila is only a pound in one bar I frequent), of course I mean vaccinations (I apologise for the feeble and somewhat obvious gag about tequila shots).

We got the bus to the centre, and underwent a series of examinations - some were familiar such as giving blood, testing blood pressure and X-rays. Others less so, one involved a variety of suckers being attached to various parts of my body to measure only Buddha knows what and another which was an odd variation on the classic eye test, like the ones I have had in England a hundred times were you look at a board and read out the letters, the Chinese version is a series of Ms, Es, 3s and Ws.

The Chinese eye test

The results came back, all of which I had passed. The one I was most excited about was to hear that I didn't have AIDs!

Next up was the final stage, the application for the Z visa which would involve heading down to Hong Kong on what would be a 28 hour train journey. I have opted not to go into too much detail about my trip to Hong Kong as I think it deserves a blog of its own (maybe even be another 2 parter!).

Once we got to Hong Kong we had enough time to drop our bags off at the hostel before legging it over to the Visa Office, and after borrowing yet more money to pay for the application, we submitted our applications for consideration on a 24 hour schedule which meant we had time to explore before learning our fate. The next day we arrived to pick up our results and fortunately we were all successful. We arrived back in Beijing on Saturday 6th October marking just over a month's worth of not teaching. But, thankfully on the Monday, I finally got back into the classroom!

L-R: Natalie, Chris, Kevin, Me and Jess on the bus before our medical

In total I spent the equivalent of £300 getting the Z visa, The company did reimburse me for the medical, about £60, but the rest would not be reimbursed. So I ended up borrowing money from my family (once again) and a new friend, Kevin. Never dedicated a blog to anyone before, but Part One definitely belongs to my family and this one belongs to Kev (poor sod ain't getting his money back! hahaha - just kidding!!).

Returning to China (Part 1)

It is hard to pinpoint when it was exactly that I decided to return to Beijing and China, but I think the seed was sown during a night out with friends. I was stood at the bar with a couple of people chatting about how all my close friends in Beijing had decided to sign on for another semester or two at their schools.

For me, I thought of home, family, friends and my pet cat! There was never a question of not wanting to stay, I was happy living and working here. In fact, I think that I enjoy my work in the classroom more than any job I have previously held. I just wondered whether I could be away from my loved ones for another whole semester, as it turned out I wouldn't be away from my family for one semester at all...

After a dreaded Skype conversation with my mum and then my dad, to my surprise both were quite supportive of my idea of possibly staying, I felt more confident about signing on for another semester with the same school. I could have found a different school to work at and earned a lot more money, but I was happy to take a measly 200% pay rise working for the same company and possibly teaching the same students.

So after a lot of consideration, I decided to bite the bullet and asked my boss about the possibility of staying, she seemed pleased to hear that I was keen to remain at the school. However, I would not be offered a contract for one semester but two. This meant that I would be in China until June 2013 instead of January 2013 (as I was expecting), I had only just convinced myself that I could survive one more term, how could I manage two? I decided not to think about that and worry about it when January came, and with that I signed on the dotted line.

I already had my return flight booked, so in early July (3 weeks after I had finished teaching) I returned to England. I had little money and two months to save enough to fly back! It was a struggle, I did the odd bit of work for my friend but as the September approached, I knew the chances of returning to China seemed highly unlikely. My mum had an idea, which my little sister and dad also seemed to support - each of them gave me my birthday and Christmas gifts in the form of money, which combined with the little I had managed to save, would be enough to book my flight back to Beijing. And with about 10 days left until the date I was required to be back, I booked with Swiss International Air Lines.

Leaving my family this time was a lot harder than back in January, the goodbyes being the most emotional I have ever experienced. As hard as it was to say goodbye, I just want my family to know I am very happy to be back in China, and without their help and support, it wouldn't have been possible. I owe them a lot, and my debt to them will be repaid as soon as my adventure over here comes to an end.

Posing 'China style' outside Beverley Minster during my summer holiday

However, as you have guessed by the '(part 1)' suffixed to the title, this was only half the story and although I had done enough to get myself back to China, there would be a new challenge awaiting me, getting back into the classroom...

Tales from the classroom 2

So, I finished teaching just over a week ago. It was quite sad saying goodbye to all the children during that last week. I taught just over 200 kids across my six classes in Grade Three and three classes in Grade One.

Ok, so I might not have learnt all their names during the four and half months I taught them and I admit I had my favourites but I will remember the faces of each and every one of them (partly because I took so many photos in my final week)!

There have been many highlights during the semester, some of which I have already blogged about - The Hong Kong kids, comments from Water (who I have since renamed 'Nigel') such as "ah come on, man!" in an American accent.

Me and the now infamous Water (Nigel)

Other than those highlights and others I have previously mentioned, I remember a boy called Willy, from Class 5 in Grade Three, single handedly winning a game of hangman for his team. I usually write full sentences on the board opposed to single words to get the class thinking about sentence structure more than just vocabulary. More often than not, Willy would work out a full sentence (sometimes up to 10 words long) after only four or five letters had been revealed. Having played a lot of hangman with these kids, I have not seen another player come close to this, I am told though that Willy is somewhat of a genius so that would probably explain why he is so good. He will probably carve out a career working on code breaking when he finishes his studies.

Another thing that made me laugh was actually during the final week. I had three lessons with each class and as we had covered everything in their books, I decided to treat them by showing some of the Wallace and Gromit movies as their 30 minute length would fit perfectly into my 40 minute lessons. By the final lesson, I came to realise that the kids had watched so much Wallace and Gromit that they could happily sing along to the theme tune. I don't know why it took me by surprise but it did. Take a look at this video:-

Also during the last week, a lot of the kids presented me with gifts. Some of the gifts were really nice, such as a Chinese Opera mask style metal bookmark, a laughing buddha ornament and a Parisian notebook. However, a handful of the gifts were obviously pulled out of the bottom of their lockers including used highlighter pens, foil packaged preserved vegetables and Chinese text books! I appreciate the thought though, and will take most of the gifts home with me but the Chinese text books may have to be left behind...

I have really enjoyed teaching these kids and because of that I have signed a contract for the next school year, I hope I will get the opportunity to teach them again. If not I am sure I will see them around the corridors, just hope I can remember their names...

Me and one of my Grade Three classes

Me and one of my Grade One classes

The Beijing Olympics (well, Sports Day)

A few weeks ago now, the whole school including the foreign teachers were given the whole day off from the classroom and instead whisked away to an athletics stadium for Sports Day.

The two months prior to this, I'd suspected that the Sports Day may be a big deal as preparation often took precedent over other meetings and on occasion, lessons themselves.

I wasn't quite sure what to expect when I climbed aboard the coach with the other foreign teachers, early that morning. When we arrived at the stadium, we were directed to the back of a stand and there we sat for a couple of hours whilst all the students at the school were organised into groups. Some had basketballs, some had unicycles, others had their Tae Kwon Do uniforms on and each group was dressed differently to the last.

For the next hour or so, we watched as the children took part in a parade, it was this very parade that they had been practicing and preparing for in the previous weeks. It was highly impressive, each group were given time to demonstrate their skills. We watched a Tae Kwon Do demonstration, saw some tricks from a group of diabloists (is that a word? Well they were diablo users), then the unicyclists and basketball players. There were also dance performances by two or three of the groups.

As the English teacher for Grade Three, I was a little disappointed to see they were the only group without outfits, instead wearing their usual school-issued yellow tracksuits. That initial disappointment was soon kicked into touch when they delivered a cool Martial Arts display (I want to say Tai Chi, but truth is I'm not sure what it was...). Take a look for yourself (apologies for the dodgy camera work)...

The undoubted highlight was the dance performed by the whole of Grade One. The girls were dressed in pink leotards and the boys all in black. They were all sporting multi-coloured wigs and black thick rim glasses (well the frames, no actual glass), they danced to Shakira's World Cup song, known affectionately by us foreigners as the Waka Waka song, but I am reliably informed that the actual name is 'This Time For Africa'. The audience loved it, but then it would be hard not to smile whilst watching 150+ 6-7 year olds dancing with silly wigs on! Sadly my camera battery died so I didn't get very much footage.

The big finish involved hundreds of balloons being released into the sky, followed a few moments later by a dozen white doves...

I was particularly impressed with how well drilled all the kids were considering they are aged between 6-12 years old, it did make me wonder how well their equivalents in England would perform in a parade like this.

All the students at the school in their regimented lines

The the kids left the field to prepare for the Sports events, around half an hour later they were back and as quickly as possible they were encouraged to run races, eight students at a time. As one race finished, the next started almost instantly. Unlike the parade earlier, the races appeared very rushed and in actual fact the 'sports' element of the day seemed as though it had gotten in the way of what should have been a lovely little 'Parade Day'.

I am not sure who won any of the races that day, but I doubt anyone really cared. A lot of effort had been put into the parade and all that hard work paid off, it was brilliant.

A weekend in Shenyang (part two)

After a nice long sleep in Charlie's spare room it was time to get up and see what Shenyang had to offer.

First things first, I had to be revealed to Trent, who was unaware of me coming to stay for the weekend though he knew the girls were visiting. Charlie had arranged for us to meet him in a canteen near their school. It was quite a cool canteen, reminded me of a food court that might be found in any shopping centre in England. However, unlike it's English counterparts, this place offered value for money. We all got a plate full of food for 8RMB each (about 80p). Before we ordered the food though, we needed to meet up with Trent.

We were on the top floor of a building and he sent a text to Charlie to say he was on the lift, we decided that I would hide around the corner and once he had said hello to the girls I would come up behind him and surprise him. As I approached, Charlie said "hey Trent, there's your mate", and as he turned round he looked genuinely shocked to see me, a quick hug and hello and we all sat down to eat. This part of the story may seem a bit odd to some at home reading this, "why make such a big deal of seeing a person I had known for just two weeks?" I hear you ask, well being in China, I have found that many westerners become really close friends very quickly with other westerners, perhaps we just want to surround ourselves with people of similar backgrounds in what is an alien country, all I know is I think of a lot of the friends I have made here as family - okay, enough of the sentimental nonsense....

After eating we left the building and spent half an hour playing 'keep ups' with a Chinese toy, its hard to explain what it is exactly as I had never seen one before coming here, its basically some feathers attached to a weight with a rubber base. Its good fun and after we'd had enough we continued to explore.

It wasn't long before we found ourselves stood next to a mechanical bull/bucking bronco on the side of the street. Trent was keen to have a go, and the owners saw a great marketing opportunity (i.e. several westerners) and offered us all a free go. Trent climbed onto the bull and soon enough we were surrounded by Chinese people desperate to catch a glimpse of the foreigners making a fool of themselves, unfortunately for them Trent rode the bull until it ran out of steam. Cat fancied her chances too, so jumped up and like Trent before her, beat the bull. We were all ready to go when a couple of the girls challenged me to ride the bull, I didn't fancy it but having seen my Australian and American friends do so well, I thought I needed to do Britain proud..... I fell off after about 30 seconds.

A little later on in the afternoon, we heard from Dee via a text message that she was on the train from Beijing to Shenyang and would be joining us for a night out. Charlie had booked us tickets for a beer bus, like many things here in China it favoured the girls, who received free cocktails throughout the tour whilst the guys were allowed one warm can of beer in each bar, fantastic. We had a good night and ended up in a really cool club, were we drank plenty of alcohol and danced the night away.

Me and Trent at the club

The next day we caught the train, and in tribute to the journey down to Shenyang, Cat and I made it by mere seconds! The journey back was quiet as we all began to recover from the previous night. We did meet a Chinese girl though, who was visiting family, she told us she had been living in Swansea for ten years but had come back for a couple of weeks. She seemed to appreciate how hard it can be for foreigners in a strange land, she said (in her Chinese/Welsh accent) "it can be quite hard settling into a new country, isn't it?"

Overall, it was a good weekend, not sure how interesting this blog will be for those that weren't there though I am sure those who were with me will enjoy it. Just thought it would nice to mark the only time I left Beijing by writing about it!

L-R: Me (with my warm beer), Charlie, Nicola, Lauren, Dee, Erica and Cat