Daily Life of a 外教 in 海宁

 

 

 

These days I am an English teacher in Haining, which is a comparatively small (but huge by American standards) city between Hangzhou and Shanghai. It is famous for its leather and an annual tide which brings in many tourists during the fall. I feel like it isn't actually famous though, because some of my Chinese friends were even like "oh, Haining.....where is that again?" So, it isn't exactly well known, but there are a lot of wealthy people in my area....and I am talking like I see Maseratis daily kind of wealthy. I have found that living in the city has helped me identify myself as a country girl. I am terrible at hailing cabs, and I am super awkward on escalators, but hey, we don't have those things in my hometown of Muncie, Indiana. I am also having to get used to not apologizing every time I bump into someone, and don't even get me started about the traffic!

These are some pictures of the view from my apartment. I was quite shocked by the amount of humidity in Haining. I mean, I have never actually seen humidity in the form of a giant cloud of ick before. It is unreal!

Speaking of my apartment....it is really nice! I have a really big bed, so I can invite my friends to come stay with me when they visit. No need for them to get a hotel. It's great! I have a huge closet, and the bathroom is pretty nice too, except for the fact that my hot water never works. lol

Teaching high school has been pretty fun too. I was pretty nervous at first, but the students really love me. I have taught them famous movie quotes, American slang, traveling English, and other very fun topics. On my first day of teaching, one of my students drew a pictures of me. It made me feel so happy. Also, as you can see she is such a great artist! She got all the little details including my earrings, the shirt I was wearing, and the way I did my hair. Anyway, I was impressed.

Here's one thing I have never seen in a mall before. These children are fishing....yes, fishing inside a mall. I feel like in China I see so many more child friendly places than I do in America. I see so many babies around too. I guess it isn't too  hard to see that age gap issue everyone is always talking about. When I go out I see a lot of old people and a lot of babies.

Here are a few interesting things you can't find at your local supermarket in the US....at least not in Muncie! I don't know about you, but I think those smoked ducks look delicious. Before I came to China I watched a Chinese documentary show where they showed the process of cooking them. I want to eat one so bad! Now, if only I knew how to cook it.

Also, I found these adorable bunny shaped buns with egg inside. They were too adorable not to buy! They are also delicious, and they were perfect for our Easter celebration.

So, this was one experience that was interesting....but at the same time totally disgusting. My coworkers told me that some people were coming to fix my shower, because it didn't have any hot water......well that isn't exactly what happened. The people came in and completely took out my shower! I had no clue what was going on. Then the next day some guy came and left this big ugly orange mess.....my bathroom looked like an episode of one of those muder mystery shows. Thankfuly, later more people came, and they actually put in a new shower, and gave me the gift of hot water! Unfortunately, those people left it a complete mess. I was kind of upset, but I felt more happy to finally have a shower. Fastforward to right now.....and the hot water isn't working again. Oh well.

 

After I was in Haining for a while spring came. It was definitely a beautiful spring. I can't wait to see how China looks in my favorite season, fall.