In China!
I am in China!! After an 11 hour flight to Beijing (where they served top ramen as a snack! and I got to see the wintery wastelands of Siberia as we flew over them), we finally touched down in the People's Republic of China. Beijing greeted us with a blue sky and sun, which I am told is a once-a-year occasion... obviously in our honour!
We then changed planes and headed for ZhengZhou (pronounced Jung Jo), the nearest airport to Xinzheng (Shin Jung), where the university is. We flew over ominous and amazing mountainous landscapes, and then over miles and miles of razed earth: not a tree in sight. Apparently the cultural revolution took its toll on the landscape too.
We were greeted by happy friends (and oh! how glorious to be on the land again! I wanted to be like the pope and kiss the ground once I got off the plane, but I didn't have one of those little carpets handy...), and brought to the wonderful university which will be our home for the next 5 days. The sun was a red dot in the sky as it set: I am told it usually looks like that through the smog. We had a delightful dinner out, and I got to meet the "family" who runs the local milk tea store. My ex students tell me that Grace, the mother, will be sure to give me a Chinese name when she next meets me.
So far: biggest pro and con. Pro! I have a "western toilet" in my room, rather than the usual "squattie".... but Con! Nowhere can you flush toilet paper! Rather, there are bins (usually open bins) next to the toilets (or holes, as the case may be) - where you put your toilet paper once you're done.
Oh well, when in China......
We then changed planes and headed for ZhengZhou (pronounced Jung Jo), the nearest airport to Xinzheng (Shin Jung), where the university is. We flew over ominous and amazing mountainous landscapes, and then over miles and miles of razed earth: not a tree in sight. Apparently the cultural revolution took its toll on the landscape too.
We were greeted by happy friends (and oh! how glorious to be on the land again! I wanted to be like the pope and kiss the ground once I got off the plane, but I didn't have one of those little carpets handy...), and brought to the wonderful university which will be our home for the next 5 days. The sun was a red dot in the sky as it set: I am told it usually looks like that through the smog. We had a delightful dinner out, and I got to meet the "family" who runs the local milk tea store. My ex students tell me that Grace, the mother, will be sure to give me a Chinese name when she next meets me.
So far: biggest pro and con. Pro! I have a "western toilet" in my room, rather than the usual "squattie".... but Con! Nowhere can you flush toilet paper! Rather, there are bins (usually open bins) next to the toilets (or holes, as the case may be) - where you put your toilet paper once you're done.
Oh well, when in China......
posted by Bronwyn at 4:06 am
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