My job in China – The Airport Issue!

After spending what seemed like an eternity on the plane, alternating between awkwardly talking to a guy I just met a few hours before, and trying to sleep….we arrived at Beijing International Airport.

If I remember correctly we had like 2 hours until our next plane from Beijing to Changsha, so we grabbed some food~

At this point I’d like to say I had a very basic grasp on Chinese. One of my good friends was teaching me on an informal basis, and because I studied Japanese too I could read some of the characters which were similar to kanji.

Ordering food was a relatively painless experience. I have no idea what we ordered but for airport food it was tastyyyyy

We got 2 different things, looking at them now they look the same, but I assure you we got different things. No idea what though.

After eating we made our way to the gate, Dan abandoned for me like 20 minutes so I got myself a drink at this place:

And I had that guy staring at me the whole time~

The plan for when we arrive in Changsha was: we would get picked up by the headmaster of the school we would be working for. We were really grateful that anyone would be picking us up from the airport, let alone the headmaster!

It was time for us to board the plane, this time Dan and I weren’t sat next to each other we had a 9 or 10 year old boy in between us who…did not look great at all. The would be boring flight was made surprisingly intense as I spent the entire time on the edge of my seat thinking that I would suddenly have to move out of the way so this little kid could run to the bathroom.

But that is all irrelevant back story~

Issue One!

Once we arrived in Changsha we collected our bags…well I did.

Dan’s bag had not arrived.

After I had a mini panic, Dan went to talk to a member of the airport staff to try to find out what to do. I started scanning all of the people in waiting area for a guy who could possibly be a headmaster, hopefully he could sort this situation out?!

We had probably been in the airport for an hour by this point. Dan was having real difficulty trying to explain that he hadn’t got his bag and it seemed no one was going to collect us.

Issue Two!

While all of this was going on we tried to contact the woman who was kinda organising everything here in China and reporting back to the company in the UK and to our university. But we didn’t have any contact numbers. For anyone. The only phone number we had wouldn’t connect. I felt like we were stranded in Changsha airport. So I panicked some more.

Positive Outcome!

While Dan was sorting out his bag issue I was approached by two youngish looking guys.

One of them says to me “Excuse me. Are you from England?” to which I happily reply “Yes! I am” he then showed me a piece of paper with mine and  Dan’s flight details on. I internally celebrated, we are no longer stranded!

The guy told me that he is the headmaster’s nephew and he would be driving us to where we would be staying. I was like cool but…you need to help us resolve a situation first and directed him to a very desperate Dan.

Thankfully the guy sorted everything out. Turns out Dan’s bag was still in Beijing because the check in person back in London has messed it all up. -.-”

They were sending it to Changsha airport so someone would have to pick it up tomorrow for him.

After that was resolved the guy and his friend took us downstairs to KFC….yep, our 2nd meal in China was KFC~ literally the most perfect thing ever.

First Thing I Noticed!

I didn’t realise that fast food places in different countries had different tastes. Of course it makes perfect sense to me now, it just wasn’t something I had considered before.

I got the normal KFC chicken burger, but when I took that first bite I swear to god my mouth was on fire!

You see the thing about going to the south of China is…literally everything is spicy.

No lie.

Everything!!

As someone who didn’t like spicy things and would tear up just smelling a chilli, I’m sure you can imagine my struggle hahaha

But yaa, be aware that the ‘taste of home’ might not be what you expect, and double check your flight details before leaving your home country!

As you can tell I used to be quite an anxious person. I didn’t (and sometimes still dont) deal well with situtations that I don’t know how to handle, and missing luggage in a foreign country is definitely one of them!

Thankfully things weren’t as bad as I thought and the two guys arrived and helped Dan get his bag sorted out to be transfered to Changsha.

In the next post Ill talk about my first full day in China!

My job in China – backstory

In the summer of my first year at university (2014) I applied for a summer job teaching English in China.
I’ve posted about this on my old blog but I want to include it here too because it was such an eventful trip, however it will be so difficult to condense everything into one blog post. But today, I have decided to start!

Today I’m just going to go into details of what I was doing in China, why I was there, how I got there etc. just to paint a picture~

So, in university I studied Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) and graduated with a first class degree, and honestly my experience in China contributed greatly to who I am as a person now.

The job that I saw advertised at my university in January was for an unpaid teaching assistant for 2 months in a summer school  with 1 week training which would result in a certificate. Thinking that this was amazing  I applied for the job and sent a cover letter as well as my really quite limited CV to the Careers and International Travel department at my university (who were advertising the job).

My university has been working alongside Teaching English In China for a number of years I believe, with a post graduate program. I think my time in China was the 2 time they actually opened a Summer School position for undergraduates.

3 weeks after the deadline I receive an email saying I was selected for an interview. I remembered that there was only 2 positions available for the job so  I wasn’t very confident that I would get it.

The interview was before the Easter holiday so…at the end of March 2014. I told them all about my past experience with working with children and that  I was doing a TESOL course at the moment and that I’ve always wanted to go to China (and my plan at the time was to eventually live and work in  Japan). Clearly I made a positive impression because fast forward to the end of April 2014, I received an email telling me that I was successful and I swear to god I wept I was so happy.

The job itself was advertised to be in Zhuzhou in the province of Hunan, however due to complications (which I will talk about in a separate post) we ended up staying and working in a different city called Lengshuijiang.

The other successful candidate was a 2nd year student at my university. The first time we met was in Heathrow airport on the way to China….I’m sure you can imagine the awkwardness.

After finding out we were successful we had to submit out passports and information so our university could apply for Visas for us. I believe we had holiday Visas because the work we were doing was unpaid volunteer work…or something like that.

Unfortunately due to complications we ended up having to apply for out Visa ourselves. Which resulted in a very pricey trip to Manchester on my part just to go to the Chinese Consulate*sigh*.

Once I was in China my job was to, well, assist. In my mind that means the teacher would be in the room and I would kinda do my English thing…you know, assisting

Well…that was what I thought…!

I ended up leading every single class while the teachers took the opportunity to take some time in the staff room. I’m not complaining (for the most part) I had fun playing games with the 5 year olds and…less fun attempting to engage 13-14 year olds in textbook work.

Unfortunately at my school I wasn’t permitted to change anything. I had to play the games they selected, I had to go through the textbooks with the older students without straying or making it fun in any way – which totally goes against what I learnt in my course, adapt the textbooks to make them engaging!

For me this was incredibly frustrating.

After 2 months of working in the school, we had 1 week before we need to travel to Changsha to complete the training for the certificate. So we took a 20 hour train(!!!!!) to Beijing <– definitely more on this later.

Following a week in Beijing, we travel back to Lengshuijiang and on to Changsha to complete the training~

TL;DR

My university advertised a 2 month teaching placement created by Teaching English In China (TEIC).
I applied and out of over 50 applicants me and another guy were successful~
I met the guy at the airport and we flew for about 10 or 11 hours to Beijing International Airport
I was meant to assist…I ended up leading

And that is pretty much the back story of my trip to  China…

Sh*t my Students say

Teaching in Spain for 2 years has definitely come with it’s challenges. But without a doubt my students are the ones who make it all worth while.

While I don’t use Spanish in my classroom, I don’t prohibit my students from using their native language – provided that English is the language that they use the majority of the time. After all, this is English class!

That being said I find that my students provide me with great colloquial phrases that I can use in my day to day (or not!) life here in Andalusia.

I’m sure as I continue with my classes I’ll remember some more but for now here are 5!

YO QUÉ SÉ!

A very common one, particulary with the students who haven’t particularly been paying attention. You ask them a question or give them a task such as “Celia, tell me what Ana did last night using reported speech”, and Celia tries to remember what Ana said but because she wasn’t paying attention, Ana gives her a look of “…?” and she gives up often throwing her hands in the air and exclaiming “ARGGGH YO QUÉ SÉ”

This phrase translates to “I don’t know” but I’d like to think it means something along the lines of “Duude, how tf could I know that?! Ask someone else!”

Either way it’s a clear indication that someone hasn’t been paying attention and if very fun to use. Especially if you’re dramatic like Celia.

 

NO ME SALE

Another good one. My students tend to use this one when they can’t quiiiiiite remember a word or an answer. It means something like “It’s not coming to me/ I can’t get it out”.

I love it when they get frustrated and just shout “POR QUÉ NO ME SALE!”

QUE DICES?/ QUE HACES?

Used very often particulary in a group of close students. They mean “what are you saying?” and “what are you doing?” respectively.

Often my students will try to explain using wild actions with has the rest of the class laughing going “que haces!?”. Or they’ll make a mistake and say something strange and just before I can say anything their classmates will shout “Que dices?!”

It’s all in good fun, it can be used in a jokey way or to express shock

TEACHER, NO PINTAAAAA!

Oh this one drives me nuts! We’re using mini whiteboards and I’ve given them a board pen, so naturally they scribble all over the board. No matter how many times I tell them not to or how many times I confiscate the pen, they do it.

Then they wonder why the pens “no pinta” BECAUSE YOU’VE WASTED ALL THE INK MANUEL, YOU’RE THE REASON NONE OF MY PENS WORK!

So yes, “no pinta” means the pen has run out of ink.

QUÉ HA DICHO?

“What did she say?”

In Andaluz because of the accent it sounds more like /kæ’ di:ʧɒ/ with the “qué” and “ha” blending together.

This one cracks me up. You’ve explained an activity, their heads are nodding because they understand and then you’re like okay, I’m going to ask so and so to explain to the class JUST IN CASE not every one got it. So you ask your ICQs (Instruction Checking Question) and get them to explain in their own words what they have to do and…..they blank look before they turn to their partner and whisper “Qué ha dicho?”.

Ah the endless battle.

Thankfully someone was paying attention and explained to the whole class and we were good to go. ICQs are important!

 

My Piercings

In the same was as with Tattoos, piercings can tell a story. While my body remains a blank canvass for tattoos, piercings are my way of comemorating important events in my life.

As of June 2017 (when this post is being written), I have 13 piercings: The majority are on my ears, and I have one facial piercing.  Today I’m going to introduce them to you complete with dates of when I got them, the healing process, and the pain level.

I will add some photos later (once I’ve sorted my jewellery out!)

My piercings are as followed:

Lobes:  firsts 2004, seconds 2016 and thirds 2014 uni

Helix: left A2 2013 and right 2011, right 2nd 2019

Conch: left 2012 AS and right finish japan 2016

Snug: left dissertation 2017

Nostril: left side graduation 2017

I AM IN NO WAY ADVOCATING SELF-PIERCING. ALWAYS GO TO A PROFESSIONAL.

First Piercings: Lobes –  2004

I got my lobes pierced when I was 10 years old. On my last day of primary school my mother took me to Claire’s accessories to get my lobes pierced. Claire’s are notorious for piercing the ears of tweens and are often criticised for using a piercing gun in the process.

I had my ears pierced with a piercing gun and while it wasn’t a bad experience, I would never…ever, recommend anyone to get any part of their body pierced with a gun –  but that’s a separate story.

I got my ear pierced with smalls studs that had Opal stones (because Opal is my birth stone~) and waited 6 weeks until they healed.

The initial piercing process wasn’t painful at all. Of course I did feel the stuf being forced into my lobe – this was my first piercing after all – but nothing to cause me pain. My lobes felt hot for a few days after, I used the piercing cleaning solution they gave me (looking back on it now, I dont know what thay stuff was..) and cleaned my new piercings twice a day.

After the healing time of six weeks I took out the studs, since I was going to a party, and put in dangly earrings, something I regretted a few hours later when my lobes started to really hurt! After another week or so my lobes were completely healed.

Right Ear: Helix – 2011

I was 16 and I had just finished my GCSEs. One day during the summer my best friend and I went to a tattoo shop in Cambridge (my hometown). I had been thinking about getting a piercing for weeks, I wasn’t sure if my parents would approve or not…particularly since my dad would make remarks about heavily tattooed or pierced people we saw on the street… so I decided to go in secret with my friend~

I went into the tattoo shop- Tattoo Crazy I believe it was called- and asked the man there if he could pierce my ear. After I completed the form and showed ID he took me to the back and sat me on the bench. He pierced my helix with a captivated bead ring (which I still have somewhere ~) and sent me on my way. If I can remember corrected it cost me around £15.

On the pain scale, 0 being no pain and 10 being SUPER PAIN

It was about a 3

My mum eventually found out a few months later because we were on holiday and she caught a glimpse of it as I was tying my hair back. She didn’t have any complaints and actually said she liked it, my dad- being the man who is oblivious to everything- saw it a few more months after that and only gave me a tut before getting on with whatever he was doing.

My helix healed reletively quickly and didn’t cause me any problems, I was doing the good old salt water soak twice a day for the first month and then I think I bored and it eventually healed itself.

Left Ear: Conch – 2012

After completing my first year of Sixth Form I went back to Tattoo Crazy and got them to give me a Conch piercing~

I think Conch piercings are so pretty and at that time no one I knew had them. Helix piercings and of course lobes were the common piercings…no conches.

This was the first piercing I actually felt. Since the inner ear has thicker cartilage I felt the needle go through each layer. While it didn’t hurt THAT much, it was a weird sensation.

It cost me around £25 (I think…!)

and on the pain scale about a 5

I cleaned it twice a day with salt water soaks but because of the awkward position of it (being inside my ear) it wasn’t easy and it did get a bit swollen and infected. However continuing with the soaks – this time for 20 mins instead of 15- it eventually went away within a week or so and the conch healed.

Left Ear: Helix 2013

Another helix!! This time because I finished my A-Levels and was going to university!

I decided to try my hand at piercing my own ear. I ordered sterilised hollow piercing needles from ebay and straight barbells. I would never encourage someone to pierce thier own ear but instead to leave it to the professionals. But at that time I thought why spend £15 on getting someone to put a hole in my ear when I can do it for less than £10. So I stuck a needle through my ear.

Not gonna lie…it went well! I was lucky, it didn’t take long to heal and it didn’t look half bad.

Lobes: 3rds 2014

In my first year of university I decided to pierce my lobes, again: I don’t advise this.

I did the 3rd position because I thought it would be easier to get them straight…and they’ve lobes so very fleshy.
I did the same as when I pierced my helix but of course used separate needles for both lobes, I also used straight barbells too.

Of course because they were my 3rds I did have a gap between my 1st and 3rd until I got my 2nds done a few years later!

 

Right Ear: Conch – 2016
Lobes: 2nds

I got my conch and 2nds done at the same time, I wanted to do something nice for finishing my year abroad so I got my conch done, and then I felt that I really needed my 2nds done too…yknow to fill in that space, I got those done too. I guess to commemorate finishing my 2nd year at uni and managing to go on my year abroad.

My conch healed well, as did my lobes 🙂

Left Ear: Snug- 2017

Oh this snuuuuuuug! I went to the same people who did my conch and lobes and asked for a snug piercing, they told me they don’t do that type of piercing because it rejects easily, so I went away disappointed.
But on my way back home I walked past another tattoo and piercing shop, my friend encouraged me to go in. I either wanted an anti-tragus or a snug piercing…yknow something unusual. So I asked.

The lady said because of the thickness of my ear the anti-tragus is a no go but she could do the snug. I was super happy but I also expressed my concern, since the other place told me they’d reject and that’s why they dont do it…she frowned and told me that with the thickness of the cartilage in that area it wouldn’t reject. I believed her

I’ve already written a post on my blog about my snug journey but to cut a long story short…..OH BOY DID IT HURT. By far the most painful one I’ve ever had. It’s a bitch to heal as well, it flares up every now and then just I just cant bring myself to retire it.

Avoid the snug if you want a hassle free piercing…this boi ain’t it!

Nose: left nostril- 2017

I got this done after I completed my final exam, in preparation for my graduation. Aw I loved  it. I had a dream where I had a nose piercing and it looked fantastic, just a small glitter of silver on my face.

My parents always told me never to get any facial piercings, and I always said I wouldn’t but that dream…..that dream made it look so good.

So I did it. And I do not regret it one bit. Straight away my friends said it looks like I’ve had it for all this time, they couldn’t picture me without it.
Of course I had a few issues with healing, I had the dreaded nostril bump after accidentally catching it after a shower (!!) but after a few months of care it went away and I’m left with a fantastic piercing 🙂

Right Ear: Helix 2019

I had the itch again.

I wanted to commemorate working my first true paid job for a year so I did what I said I’d never do again….and pierced my own helix.

Ughhh, I mean it went well but I’m no longer doing that again. In my town here in Spain there are no piercing studios and my students told me that the majority of the piercings are done using piercing GUNS in shopping centres. So a giant HELL NO to that I’d rather have an accident caused by my own hands than a piercing gun.

Of course I’d rather get it done professionally, but in a moment of weakness I bought the same piercing kit from ebay and…went to town.

It took a bit longer to heal than my other one if I remember, but it has healed now.

 

That’s a total of 13 piercings. I’m happy with all of them, I love how my ears look and the compliments I get from people..some people do say I have too many but honestly, I love them too much to care. And there are people with way more than me!

Living Alone During the Pandemic

I’ve always liked living alone. Even when I was living in university halls I enjoyed the solace of my own bedroom. I’d hang out with people when I wanted to of course, but I’d always need a place I can go and not be disturbed.

When I first moved to Spain to work I lived with a teacher at my school, we were lucky that our individual living styles worked so well and we were both considerate of each others’ space.
That being said I don’t miss living with her – the flat is a little too small for two people!

Now, I have a very sociable job. I have to be “on” all the time: upbeat, engaging, entertaining..I have to keep those kids focused! It takes a lot out of me, so when Friday night comes around I don’t always want to be around people….I’m socially exhausted. My ex-flatmate loved going out – and good for her! I wish I had her social stamina but I don’t. Often I’d go out for a drink on the Friday night and then return to my flat for the weekend just to recover and get ready for the next. I do my socialising during the week – and that worked!

Until covid-19 happened.

On 16th March 2020 we were in lockdown trying to contain and prevent the virus from spreading. Of course, as you know, we had to practise social-distancing. Only one member of the household could go to the supermarket and they’d return home with supplies for the people in their home. But, it’s just me here.

There is a positive to this, I don’t have to worry about other people obtaining and spreading the virus – since it’s just me, I just need to look after myself and take the necessary precautions when I go to the supermarket so as not to get it/pass it on.

I know the important thing is we must keep each other safe. But when you’ve had no one around you, even 2m apart, for 4 nearly 5 weeks….It’s hard.

I have spoken to many people; friends, family, colleagues etc. and it’s lovely and heartwarming that so many people have videocalled me just to check in and see if I’m okay. And I am.
Just missing having a sense of other people’s presence.

 

At least I have my plants around to keep me company.

I hope everyone is doing well and you’re continuing to stay safe. Soon we’ll be back to normal and I can go back to exerting all my social energy at work ahaha!