Welcome to Shenyang! I knew my journey had begun as I was sitting in the Seoul airport, waiting to board my plane to China. A Korean gentleman approached me and started chatting with me in English, and before I knew it he was asking if he could take a picture with me. Of course. Then I got on the plane... only to realize I was the only non-Asian on board. Literally.
Arriving in Shenyang went smoothly, and my luggage came, too. The biggest struggle was finding a place to change money, but enough time and persistence and that worked itself out. Long taxi ride later, I was standing on the curb in front of Liaoning Daxue (Liaoning University, my school) with all my luggage and no idea of where I was supposed to go. What on earth have I gotten myself into? That wasn't the first time, and certainly won't be the last time I've had that thought.
Using my limited Chinese, I simply grabbed all my luggage and started asking anyone I passed by which way the Foreign Student Dormitory was. Eventually two Chinese students offered to take me there and help carry my luggage. I gratefully accepted!
But, you never know what you will encounter in China. I checked in to the dorms, and it turns out: 1.) I have a roommate, who doesn't speak any Chinese and for some reason won't really speak English with me (although that's what she uses with her friends). Clearly it's been a good relationship so far. 2.) We have no bathroom. The toilets - if they can be called that when they are simply holes in the ground surrounded by a little bit of ceramic - are down the hall, and the showers are in the basement. Oh, and the showers are like the ones you used after middle school PE, without any curtains or privacy. Nice. 3.) I currently don't have internet in my room. Hence the slowness in posting here. Sorry.
So I wasn't terribly impressed with my accommodations when I first saw them, but it's all starting to grow on me. Oh, and there's a possibility of me moving to a single room in a hotel across the street in a few days/weeks. We're working on that. (As a master's level student, I had heard that I should be in a single room. Hence my surprise to find out I have a roommate.)
I could go into far more details on everything that's happened so far in the three days I've been here, because clearly a lot has happened. But I'll try to keep it relatively short. I have had an absolutely marvelous time. I have not met or seen any Americans in Shenyang yet, although supposedly there was one American at the school last year who just left. And I did meet one Canadian. One. He looked relieved to see me. I have been spending my time mostly with a group of Africans, which has been both fun and an educational experience for me. I actually have only eaten Chinese food once so far, because several times various people have cooked African dishes... and I certainly am not turning down free homemade African food! Several of them have been here in Shenyang for a year - or more - so they have been very helpful in showing me around.
Meeting this group of Africans almost immediately upon my arrival at LiaoDa (the nickname for the university) has been an incredible blessing. Most of them are active participants in the community I had already been planning to try out on Sunday afternoons. It helps that they speak English (which, surprisingly, the Africans seem to be the only relatively sizable group around here that speaks English, since as the one American I can't really be considered a "group"), but besides just the language, I can obviously connect with them at a different level because of this community.
A few random things I've done so far: Yesterday I went to buy a cell phone, since it is just assumed that I will have one. (Literally, when I registered they told me I had to give them my new cell number by Friday.) That was a fun experience, and it turned out well: I now have a nicer phone than I've ever had before and I can keep up with various people I'm meeting here. Today I went down to an English school to look into getting some teaching posts, and that looks quite promising. Perhaps they will call my new cell phone soon to offer me some hours. I've also had plenty of fun (and frustration) trying to do other business things in Chinese - like complain that my internet doesn't work, try to get a single room, etc. And, I've decided that if being a white American walking down the road in a city like Shenyang does not bring enough stares from curious passers-by, simply try being a white American running down the road in a city like Shenyang. It's entertaining - to them and to me. So I'm enjoying my morning jogs.
Overall, I'm in great spirits and loving my experience so far. It's going to be a marvelous year, if challenging at times, and I'm excited for it!
Arriving in Shenyang went smoothly, and my luggage came, too. The biggest struggle was finding a place to change money, but enough time and persistence and that worked itself out. Long taxi ride later, I was standing on the curb in front of Liaoning Daxue (Liaoning University, my school) with all my luggage and no idea of where I was supposed to go. What on earth have I gotten myself into? That wasn't the first time, and certainly won't be the last time I've had that thought.
Using my limited Chinese, I simply grabbed all my luggage and started asking anyone I passed by which way the Foreign Student Dormitory was. Eventually two Chinese students offered to take me there and help carry my luggage. I gratefully accepted!
But, you never know what you will encounter in China. I checked in to the dorms, and it turns out: 1.) I have a roommate, who doesn't speak any Chinese and for some reason won't really speak English with me (although that's what she uses with her friends). Clearly it's been a good relationship so far. 2.) We have no bathroom. The toilets - if they can be called that when they are simply holes in the ground surrounded by a little bit of ceramic - are down the hall, and the showers are in the basement. Oh, and the showers are like the ones you used after middle school PE, without any curtains or privacy. Nice. 3.) I currently don't have internet in my room. Hence the slowness in posting here. Sorry.
So I wasn't terribly impressed with my accommodations when I first saw them, but it's all starting to grow on me. Oh, and there's a possibility of me moving to a single room in a hotel across the street in a few days/weeks. We're working on that. (As a master's level student, I had heard that I should be in a single room. Hence my surprise to find out I have a roommate.)
I could go into far more details on everything that's happened so far in the three days I've been here, because clearly a lot has happened. But I'll try to keep it relatively short. I have had an absolutely marvelous time. I have not met or seen any Americans in Shenyang yet, although supposedly there was one American at the school last year who just left. And I did meet one Canadian. One. He looked relieved to see me. I have been spending my time mostly with a group of Africans, which has been both fun and an educational experience for me. I actually have only eaten Chinese food once so far, because several times various people have cooked African dishes... and I certainly am not turning down free homemade African food! Several of them have been here in Shenyang for a year - or more - so they have been very helpful in showing me around.
Meeting this group of Africans almost immediately upon my arrival at LiaoDa (the nickname for the university) has been an incredible blessing. Most of them are active participants in the community I had already been planning to try out on Sunday afternoons. It helps that they speak English (which, surprisingly, the Africans seem to be the only relatively sizable group around here that speaks English, since as the one American I can't really be considered a "group"), but besides just the language, I can obviously connect with them at a different level because of this community.
A few random things I've done so far: Yesterday I went to buy a cell phone, since it is just assumed that I will have one. (Literally, when I registered they told me I had to give them my new cell number by Friday.) That was a fun experience, and it turned out well: I now have a nicer phone than I've ever had before and I can keep up with various people I'm meeting here. Today I went down to an English school to look into getting some teaching posts, and that looks quite promising. Perhaps they will call my new cell phone soon to offer me some hours. I've also had plenty of fun (and frustration) trying to do other business things in Chinese - like complain that my internet doesn't work, try to get a single room, etc. And, I've decided that if being a white American walking down the road in a city like Shenyang does not bring enough stares from curious passers-by, simply try being a white American running down the road in a city like Shenyang. It's entertaining - to them and to me. So I'm enjoying my morning jogs.
Overall, I'm in great spirits and loving my experience so far. It's going to be a marvelous year, if challenging at times, and I'm excited for it!
No comments:
Post a Comment