Day 3

Day 3 and I'm actually starting to like drinking hot water! This is unexpected but I guess if you force yourself to only drink one thing, eventually you have to start liking it. Here, kids are given hot water from a very young age, just like we are in given cold in the West, so it's no surprise that they struggle to drink cold when older.

The difference though, is that the Chinese believe that cold water is bad for you, where as we simply prefer the taste and cooling nature of cold water. This had me wondering about many differences in the way both Chinese and English people think.

This week, I started to learn to write in Chinese. My friend and colleague has been kind enough to help me and explain the best way in which to learn. But, as a left hander, I was told that I must write with my right hand and not my left. When I questioned this, I was simply told that the right hand was better for writing, no one could give me a better explanation. I have tried to make sense of this... When writing Chinese characters there is a specific stroke pattern in which to write each character. For a left hander, this involves writing strokes from left to right where naturally they would write from right to left. So some would say that there is a logic to the right handed writing theory.

However, from a very young age I have been left handed, naturally I can do things better with my left than my right. In China, parents will stop their children from writing with their left hand. They can eat with their left, hold table tennis bats with their left, but they must write with their right. Because it is better to do so.

If you question the logic or try to argue that if naturally you are left handed you will naturally be better at doing things, including writing, than with the right, then many Chinese get defensive and feel attacked. This is the same with so many Chinese logics. If you question anything that goes against their way of thinking, simply trying to understand why something is as they believe, they are defensive.

Many English believe that China is communist country, after living here, I can say that that's really not the case. But after talking to, working with and becoming friends with many Chinese people, I can certainly say that the government is a dictatorship that certainly has control over it's people and their way of thinking.

That's not to say that all Chinese believe's and ways of thinking are simply a crazy government control, sometimes we simply won't understand why something is so, look at acupuncture, once thought to be nonsense and now available in the UK, on the NHS.

So for now, I will continue drinking my hot water and I will learn to write with my right hand. After all, right now, I'm in China....

Day 2

Day 2 of my 7 day hot water challenge and there is a little more water going down me! In fact I'm getting used to the taste and the smell can be ignored if you hold your breath whilst drinking. Still, I wouldn't go as far as to say that I like it!

Today was again, relatively laid back with the country gearing up for the upcoming new year. School is getting quieter and quieter while the rest of China seems to be getting busier! The past few weeks I have been concentrating on learning the language with a target of conversational level by March. No easy feat! Alongside the language, which uses sounds that we just don't know how to pronounce in the west, learning the cultural differences can equally as challenging.

Last Saturday is a fine example. Teaching an open class to 16 potential new students, a class number far bigger than that I have taught before, I was stressed about the content and delivery of my lesson. With my bosses watching and pressure to get new students, my lessons had to be more than good, it had to impress.

But when running through the delivery with my assistant teacher, I found out I could potentially insult many Chinese parents with my body language and movement. For example, pointing is a big no, no. In China, we use and open palm face up, fingers together to indicate to others. We also don't step over chairs (mini 3 year old type chairs) we go around so not to open our legs to others. These sound like simple things but when your body naturally moves in one way, trying to consciously change that whilst concentrating on another task is hard work!

I'm pretty sure the hot water this week hasn't been helping my language or cultural learning but I certainly don't feel any worse for drinking it... Let's just see how we are at day 7!

Day 1

Day 1 of the 7 day hot water challenge and so far I'm... Dehydrated!

Having always been one for sport, I usually drink at least 2 litres of cold water a day. However, I'm finding it difficult to get the hot water to go down as easily and I have been avoiding water as a result. In fact, the hot water is making me feel slightly sick and, although this could be my imagination, I'm sure that hot water smells...

My day today was an easy one, half day at school and a trip to my company office to pick up my passport and visa. My morning at school was fairly relaxed with only a few children left before the Chinese New eve next week. It's quite exciting being in China for the New Year although I'm still not sure what to expect in terms of celebrations. The tradition 'Red envelope' is well known and in fact I have received my very own at a work dinner last week. The red envelope is a traditional gift given to family members and contains generous amounts of money. New clothes is another tradition and I have seen an increase of numbers out shopping this past week (the usual crazy busyness has been worse than usual).

I explained my challenge to my Chinese colleagues and they were pleased to hear I had switched to hot water but warned that I may not feel the benefits after only 7 days. Drinking hot water is a life long medicine. I'm also realising it's not only cold water they avoid. All cold foods are avoided and thought of to be bad for you, especially if on your 'special 7 days'. It's so easy to dismiss as another crazy Chinese believe, but then once upon a time so was acupuncture.

So tonight I'm sat here, desperately wanting to down a giant bottle of cold water but am instead, slowly sipping on hot water with a cringe.

It may be a long week...

The 7 day hot water challenge...

Cold water is bad for you! Or at least according to the Chinese...

In China, hot water is the key to healthy living. Drinking hot water aids in digestion, gives energy and prevents heart attacks. If you fall ill, it's because you haven't been drinking enough hot water, if you get a pimple, it's because you haven't been drinking enough hot water. In fact any pain or illness can be resolved by drinking hot water. For months now I have dismissed this idea that hot water is some magical medicine as nothing more than another 'crazy Chinese idea'. But should I have been so dismissive? 

After recent conversations with several Western friends who claim to feel far more energised and 'healthy' after giving up their cold water addictions, I have decided to give it a fair chance and take on the 7 day hot water challenge!

For the next 7 days, no cold drinks will hit my belly. I will be drinking at least 1 litre of hot water everyday and where possible, I will avoid cold food (also not good for you). I will of course be blogging daily to let you know of my progress and how this ancient Chinese medicine effects my energy levels and mood. This may not be an accurate experimentation with many outside factors effecting the results, but it will be interesting none the less. 

So here we go, it's Monday and it's day 1 of the hot water challenge... wish me luck!

Patience...

I have been told, even from a very young age, that I have no patience.  When I want something, I want it there and then. In terms of getting things done, this has had its advantages, but more often than not, a lack of patience has caused me to rush into things and make many mistakes.

As the weeks go by in China, I realise that my patience is in training. The frustrating experiences are like weights are to muscles, pushing me to the point of exhaustion. It’s tiring, hard work and can be painful. But, like muscles, through time and persistence, my patience is becoming bigger and stronger.

There are many issues you come across living in China, that require patience. Communicating being the more obvious, teaching would be another. But I have found that the most patience is in fact needed for myself.

This realisation came from my Assistant Teacher, Kelly. After studying Mandarin for an hour over lunch, I returned to my classroom to discover I could remember nothing of what I had just been learning. I mentioned my frustration to Kelly, who was also sat studying English. She simply said, ‘more patience.’

More patience.

Two very simple words, with such an important meaning. There are so many things that I have become frustrated with myself for. Why have I not yet mastered Mandarin? Why don’t I know everything about teaching yet? Why haven’t I seen all of Beijing? Why haven’t I managed this, why haven’t I sorted that? Once again I have found myself wanting everything, here and now.

But, to prevent the same mistakes from being made and to achieve all that I want to achieve in the future, I will have to train my patience, I will have to learn to be more patient with myself.

It seems that patience really is one of life’s hardest art forms to master… 

Back to school...

19th November 2011

I have been in China for just under two months and I can’t begin to explain the experiences I have had and the things seen. Unless you have been here for a period of time I don’t think you can understand what life in China is really like. It’s been an emotional ride and incredibly challenging. 

But, I have done it, I’m here and I’m a full time teacher. I have achieved the goal I set myself almost one year ago and for that I’m proud.

My first week of teaching wasn’t exactly smooth. Thrown directly into the deep end, I was given a class of 12 to teach with little instruction, training or supervision. Not only am I the only foreign teacher of the class but I’m also the lead teacher of a team of four Chinese, expected to lead and delegate accordingly. I was petrified and challenged in every way possible. TEFL certainly doesn’t teach you how teach a three year old to eat properly or ‘Nio Nio’ (pee pee) in a toilet and not their pants! By Friday I was seriously questioning my decision to do this, I was scared and way out of my league, I just wanted to run away. However after a weekend of thought and self- prep talk, I came into week two more prepared and with new tactics to get the kids on side. Generally, teaching kids so young is hard work. They have little understanding of the world and when they don’t understand a word you say, it’s ten times as hard to explain. But I am learning fast. A hug and a kiss has no language barrier and at times, going Super Nanny with the naughty chair means all the difference between them seeing you as a teacher rather than a play friend.

After two weeks, I’m in love with my class and am getting some incredible work experience I would never have been able to get in the UK. This week, I taught about Thanksgiving. We made Indian headbands, had a turkey hunt and a field trip to the local horse ranch (also and experience!) It’s hard work but also fun.

Alongside the stress of the classroom, there has been a fight for a good home with all the perks as agreed in my contract. Here, simple issues escalate into bigger problems and become incredibly frustrating due to the communication barrier. I have spent two weeks listening to a group of Chinese argue, negotiate and discuss my apartment, heating and internet. I have had to push for things and argue my rights which has brought out a side to me I didn’t know existed. But now, I have a very nice apartment (Chinese style) and can finally settle. I’m hoping the hard part is over.

There has been so many times since I came to China that I have felt the need to run away. Being alone in a country so different from my own, I have been pushed past my comfort zone in so many different ways. I came here to be challenged, to face my own fears, my insecurities that I otherwise wouldn’t  face.

I can honestly say that since arriving here, that’s exactly what I've done.

And so the cracks start to form...

One week into the TEFL course and my confidence is starting to crack as I struggle to handle fluctuating emotions on top of a very intense course.

Sat in the classroom, I am reminded of why I left school at the age of 16. My dyslexic mind causes frustration as I misread, misspell and misunderstand my way through tasks. The speed at which we are expected to learn is fast, a concept is simply explained and you are expected to be able to grasp it very quickly. A very Chinese way of learning...

Outside the classroom, my emotions also fluctuate as I continue to face the differences in culture, lack of social support and loneliness on a day to day basis. The language can be problematic and my head will hurt from trying to think of ways to understand or be understood. Nothing is easy and it's not getting any easier either.

I miss the girl. Lots...

However, everything is going according to plan. I have started the course, I have a job waiting and the emotional roller-coaster has been anticipated. I am proud to have accomplished all I have so far and to be where I am...

But, I do question myself on the down days... Can I actually handle this? Or, have I jumped in that bit too deep?

I guess there is only one way to find out...