Day to day living

On Tuesday and Thursday nights I teach in the area of Shenzhen called 'Coastal City.' It's an area of brightly lit buildings and oodles of restaurants. The picture below shows the big, beautiful theatre building with a water garden out front. There are many modern buildings in Shenzhen, as it's one of China's newest cities, and they build to impress! Right across the road is where I teach, and when I leave my classes at 8:30 in the evenings, there are always groups of people outside doing exercise to music. There's also a musical group that gathers by the metro station, playing traditional Chinese music. I don't mind the sound of it until the women sing... their shrill voices leave a lot to be desired.

Here are some more photos from the park down the road. It's a fair-sized park, and the residents take full advantage of it, which is really nice to see. There are peddle boats for hire in the park, and on this day I was there it was a lovely, sunny Sunday, so many people were out peddling in the water.

This is the street I live on, Yucun Street, which means 'Fishing Village.' This is the original part of town, which actually used to be a small fishing village. In the early mornings and early evenings the street is bustling with shoppers and vendors. From my apartment on the 7th floor I can hear all the action, the honking of horns, karaoke machines on the street, and the hum of people talking, like in a concert hall before the show starts. The noise rarely bothers me, (okay, maybe the karaoke machine does!), because I love the sounds of life on the streets below. There is such a variety of sounds, compared to the mundane traffic noise I became accustomed to back in Canada. 

My weekly classes with Johnny are going well, for the most part. In this picture I had him putting sentences from a story in order, to test his comprehension. As he is an active, kinaesthetic learner, I try to create games that get him out of his seat and moving. We have fun playing foosball at break time!

Wise words on the back of a guys jacket: "Do not regret anything you do cause in the end it makes you who you are."  

Chinese job interviews

Tomorrow I have yet another job interview. It will be the 6th one since I arrived in China a month and a half ago. I'm looking forward to the interview tomorrow because the centre intrigues me, and once you've had five interviews in six weeks, one more is hardly intimidating. 

Yesterday afternoon I went for an interview at an English Training Centre here in Shenzhen. It was my second interview there. I was asked to come back to meet the boss and to give a 15-minute demo class for 5-year olds. It is standard practise to give a demo class, so they can see your teaching style and ability. Fair enough. First I met with the boss, who asked me some standard interview questions. Then I was lead into a classroom where I was to give my 15 minute demo. Expecting to have up to five little kids sitting in front of me, I was surprised when seven Chinese employees entered the room and sat before me. "We'll be your students," they said. A retired university professor friend of mine once told me that to be a teacher you have to be an actor. I can't agree more. I began my demo by introducing myself to the seven "children" who claimed to be 7, 8, or 10 years old rather than 5. The book I brought was "Sammy the Seal" so I began by asking about their favourite animals and whether they had seen them at the zoo, etcetera, etcetera. Then I spent ten minutes talking about the pictures in the book, doing my best to engage the kids, while also reading aloud to them. It went fairly well, or so I thought. Following the demo, the group of seven proceeded to discuss my performance in great length…. in Chinese. I couldn't understand a word. I was on display, and I felt frustrated and aggravated. I wished so badly that I could understand Chinese. Once in a while they would stop, turn to me, and tell me their concerns. The best one was, "We are concerned because your voice is very low and soft and it makes us want to fall asleep." I responded by saying that I can change my voice to be more lively and energetic, and that this is something I'm more likely to do in a classroom of real kids, rather than in front seven adults pretending to be kids. They also expressed their concern about whether I can make a class fun enough. "Would your classes be fun?" they asked. "What a stupid question," I thought to myself, but gave a confident answer about my teaching technique and how I plan my lessons to be educational, accompanied by games and activities that compliment the subject matter and enhance their understanding. They then asked if I could wait around for 50 minutes and then give another demo to a class of real students aged 7. By this point, I was done. They had been discussing me in front of me for probably fifteen minutes. I just wanted to get out of there! So I told them it was a lot of time to expect from me and that doing two demos is a bit much to ask, so, basically, no. They accepted that. I mean, if they wanted to see me teach real kids, they should've let me do that in the first place. My aggravation was soaring at this point. They kept talking amongst themselves, and I tried to end the interview by suggesting that they discuss it together and get back to me. This didn't work. They just went on and on and on. In the end, they offered me a part-time position and said that they liked me very much! My impression was that they didn't fully believe in me, but they were intrigued and interested, so offering me a part-time position allows them to have me on a trial basis, without having to commit to a year of full-time, which would also require them to provide a work visa for me. Luckily, this works better for me, too. I can try working there and see if I like it. If it's a good fit, I'll stay and they'll eventually hire me on as full-time. If not, well, I can fall back on the full-time job I got that starts in February.

I walked out of there feeling frustrated and pissed off. Why do I have to teach English in order to make a living? This is how I feel sometimes. It's hard starting out with virtually no experience, and with very little confidence. As I walked away I thought of how much I loved working as a graphic designer because I knew how to do it and I believed I was good at it.

So that's my long-winded tale of a Chinese job interview. Now I have four jobs in China, although two of them haven't started yet. The full-time job I got was supposed to start on January 7th but it has been postponed to February 4th because the work visa won't be done in time for the January start date. In the meantime, I figure I may as well keep job hunting, in case something better comes along and I can start earning money now instead of waiting six more weeks. I hope to land a job where I feel confident, capable and happy to be there. Wish me luck!

Living and Working in China

Going to work on the metro.

As I head off to work from my cozy little apartment, down the bustling alleyway behind my building to the metro station, I think to myself, "I live in China and I'm going to work!" It's surreal, and it feels pretty darn amazing. On Tuesday and Thursday evenings I teach at a private learning centre. The owner, Josie, has converted her apartment into an English language centre for kids. It has great atmosphere and is such a fun and engaging environment for kids. Lots of colourful art on the walls, plenty of toys, a couple of foosball tables, a little classroom, two whiteboards, and plenty of teaching materials. I really enjoy working with her. The student I have is a 7-year old boy named Johnny. He is a bit of a "little emperor," stubborn, impatient, restless, and somewhat disobedient, but he also has a silly side, which I try to tap into. It is a good challenge for me to create a lesson that will engage this restless little fellow. These photos were taken by Josie during our first two classes.

Being silly with party hats.

Reading practise and making origami fortune tellers.

Druing break time Johnny gave me some lessons on how to play his card game.

Playing "pin the tail on the donkey."

Reading practise.

Playing a doodle art game.

I've been in my new apartment for about a week now, and I am thoroughly enjoying it. It is small (35 sqm), compact, simple, and bright. There's a nice little deck where the washing machine and "clothesline" are, and there's room to sit and gaze out over the horizon of buildings and down below at the alleyway. It's exactly what I wanted. The area of town is called Dongjiatoa, one of the original three fishing villages of Shenzhen. It's hardly a village anymore, but there is an authenticity to the area that is reminiscent of earlier days. There are people with little kiosks on the street selling goat meat, home made sausages, cobs of corn, and dumplings. Down alleyways are small shops selling basic household items, fruit and veggies, and bottles of Tsingtao beer. At night there are street BBQ's with meat on a stick, and mushrooms and eggplant. In the early morning and early evening the streets are bustling with shoppers and vendors, electric bikes scooting about, pedestrians weaving in and out of traffic, and cars trying to squeeze their way down the narrow busy streets. Across the street from my apartment building is the local "wet market" where you can buy meat, fish, eggs, and vegetables. The meat is laid out on tables under hanging red lamps that are the symbol of a marketplace. The seafood is displayed in plastic bins fed with bubbling fresh water, or laid out on ice on tables. This is the market that I stumbled upon while out walking about when I was here in China the first time, and I was in complete awe and fascination over it. And now here I am living right across the street.

Home sweet home

View from my apartment.

The wet market across the road.

The meat section of the wet market.

Colourful veggie stands.

Typical Chinese shop owner. They know how to relax.

One month in… things are falling into place.

One month ago today, I arrived back in China. I now have three jobs and I'm moving into my own apartment this week. Life is easy here. There are so many opportunities and it's simple to get your feet on the ground and to build a life. After spending the past two years in Canada trying to do the same, but with little success, it is such a relief to finally be moving in a positive direction. China is very good to me!

This month I have enjoyed reconnecting with the friends I met when I was here in the spring, and I've also made a handful of new friends, each with their own interesting stories to tell. Shenzhen is a very international city, which is one of the attractions here. There is the old life mixed in too, creating a dynamic environment.

At the beginning of the month I did a lot of walkabouts. One late afternoon I walked along the waterfront where the fish boats come in. It has always been one of my favourite spots. As the sun was going down, the sky turned a beautiful red and the silhouettes of people fishing off the dock was stunning. It felt good to be out and about, mingling with the locals, although keeping to myself. It can be lonely when one first arrives in a place, and it helps just to get out and be amongst others, even without interaction.

Random pictures...

Fish sculptures at Seaworld

Street performance

The longer I'm here, the more inspiring this city becomes. I visited a friend's place the other day and his neighbourhood was a whole new fascination. The building across from him provided the most beautifully symmetrical tower of lives. Life spilled out onto the balconies, with laundry strung about, colourful bowls and bins here and there, women washing clothes or preparing food. It's all so natural and so real. I love the way everyone lives so closely together, in rows and rows of apartments side by side.

I love the geometric style of this building, with the flashes of colourful laundry.

Colourful living.

There are new buildings popping up everywhere in Shenzhen.

All kinds of meat, drying in the street.

I have had the privilege of seeing and experiencing many different places in my life so far, and I am so very happy and excited to be starting this new China chapter of my life. I am in love with the sights and sounds and smells, the people, the personalities, the warm weather, and I love how the streets come alive at night. In the cool evenings people take to the streets to eat together, play instruments together, and to have exercise classes with matching jump suits! There are so many things here that I have never seen anywhere else. It really is a breath of fresh air… and for the record, the air is pretty clean here, and there are plenty of blue sky days!