Raindrops from above

In case you are wondering, I am still alive from this extremely hot weather. Apparently this is the longest, hottest month recorded since almost over 130 years ago. My mother even messaged me yesterday to make sure I am taking care of myself as a couple of people died suffering from heatstroke and some still hospitalized. Don't worry lah, I know how to take care of myself! 

As I am sitting in my hotel room resting and blogging, I can hear the thunderstorm that is happening outside. Finally - a break from the heat! I am rejoicing because the temperature cooled down by a few degrees, which makes a HUGEdifference!

Today our class went on a field trip to 車敦影視基地, a place where many famous movies were produced using Old Shanghai as scenery. A pretty cool place with a lot of antiques. Here's a picture of what Shanghai in the 1940s look like, and of course, a picture of my face since you all miss me so much :))

Oh, I finally had the opportunity I meet the other Canadian who arrived yesterday! I told only a few people this, but I crept him a couple weeks ago because I wanted to see if he would arrive on the same day so we can take the taxi together... of course, that didn't happen since he had to finish up his work contract in the States. It's actually really weird speaking English with him since so many people in our class speaks another language other than English... Somehow we ended up communicating in Chinese instead.

Good Providence, PTL

I still remember telling people how nervous I was about this trip, but I can definitely tell you that the Big G is good, all the time, and He always provides. 

Maybe because I am one of the youngest in the group, I am always being taken care of. People would always share food with me, invite me to go to places with them, explain things to me, and of course, they always make sure I don't get run over by buses/cars/bikes when we cross the streets. I am beyond blessed to be in this group of awesome teachers! 

This last couple of days, I have been spending a lot of time with this Korean lady. She is the chairperson and professor for the Department of Chinese Language and Literature at DukSung Women's University. She is well experienced in teaching languages and has taught all over the places, including Hong Kong! Her Chinese is so fluent, it's wayyyy better than mine. I am slowly getting used to speak Chinese everywhere I go, I really miss speaking English though... I guess it's a good thing that I am being immersed in this language, hopefully this will continue to build my skills so I can be competent to teach Chinese upon my return.

I am also slowly getting used to this weather... except my face turns bright red every time we are outside.. and so I was forced to buy an umbrella. I have noticed a trend and it is not uncommon for girls to carry umbrellas with them ALL the time, I guess it makes sense so that their faces don't get burnt...

Oh, during our afternoon class, we did Chinese calligraphy... and I discovered that's one thing I have absolutely NO skill in. I write like a 5 year old, it's quite embarrassing. I can't help with the fact that my calligraphy is so ugly since my hand shakes every time I write with that brush... Seeeee? Meh. I will show you guys my result next time we do calligraphy. 

Good Morning, Shanghai!

Good morning, Shanghai! After a night’s rest, the first day of classes began! We are lucky enough to have a shuttle that takes us to and from the hotel and the East China Normal University (ECNU), or else the walk would have been at least half an hour from the hotel… .and in this +40 weather, I would have died very easily.

The weather is just hot – too hot for words. All you have to do is to go from indoors to outdoors and you’re absolutely done. It’s like a heat wave smacking down on you, multiple times.

I got to meet some of my classmates, a few Chinese who resides in Italy and Germany, and the others are from Korea, Russia, Ukraine as well as Spain. There is another Canadian that is coming soon as well as a few Japanese who will be joining us at a later date this week. I am overly impressed with how many foreigners who are so interested in Chinese and are willing to spread the language and culture to the people in their countries. I hope that this next four weeks will be a unique experience for me as I learn more about my own culture and language in depth with people from all over the world!

During the opening ceremony, I was the first to speak up, of course being nervous and not sure what to say, the big G provided and I managed to go through the “speech”. After I went, a couple of the teachers from my group went… the difference between us… I forgot to thank the school for giving me the opportunity to study here… oopsies. But, no big deal, I got my point through and hey, my Chinese skills ain’t that bad after all!

We got distributed student cards and I discovered the BEST thing ever – the access to Wi-Fi! It’s tough with Facebook and Twitter being blocked in China, but it’s nice to be able to talk to the people that I love. Hopefully once I start bringing my laptop to campus, I will be able to update my blog more often!

For lunch today, we went to the cafeteria nearby, reloaded our meal cards and spent time walking around campus… biggest mistake ever. After lunch, we ran back to our classroom (which is about 15-20 min away from the cafeteria) and rested in the classroom with AC. I am thankful for random AC here and there, if it wasn’t for AC, I would have died a long time ago. Yay for AC!

In the afternoon, we learned how to do Chinese knots…. Still not the best at it, picture to follow, but it’s part of Chinese art and I hope I can master it one day. For those who know me REALLY well, I am not good with crafts… I started crocheting during spring break and gave up after 5 minutes…. I persisted today and made the eye and wings for a dragonfly!

Day 1 of the training finished today, I wonder what is in store for tomorrow! 

Safe Arrival!

The plane arrived almost an hour earlier than expected; we got in around 4:00am. Once we walked off the plane, we can feel the hot humid weather right away. I didn’t sleep very well on the plane ride since there was not a lot of space to move around, in fact, I am still pretty sore from sitting in an awkward position. The hotel that I am staying at is almost an hour away from the airport; I got there shortly before 6:00am and sat in the lobby until there was someone available to talk to. I got checked-in pretty quickly and by 7:00am I was already in the hotel room. The hotel room was smaller than expected, but it’s all paid for, so I shouldn’t really be complaining.

I am pretty nervous about meeting my roommate and after being in Shanghai for a few hours, I realized how terrible my Mandarin is because English and Cantonese always comes first to mind and I blank out quite often when I am not sure how to express myself properly. I am hoping this next month will allow me to immerse in the language and when I come back, I will be properly trained as to how to teach Chinese in a high school setting.

Time to go grab something to eat… I’m starving!

Guess what I ate as my first meal here in Shanghai? McDonald’s!! I finally ordered it right this time and got what I wanted! Hot wings combo.. only for 20RMB! I also had the opportunity to meet my roommate shortly after I got back from lunch. She’s almost 12 years older than me, Chinese person who currently lives in Italy! I haven’t had the opportunity to meet much people from our class yet, but I am sure we will all get along quite easily.

When I checked in with the teaching assistant, she had asked me if I could prepare a short speech for the opening ceremony tomorrow about what brought me here. Without hesitation, I said yes (yes, it’s a teacher thing.. when opportunities come, say yes) even though I was not confident at all in speaking in front of people from all over the world.

For dinner, I went on an adventure by myself (because my roommate went to meet a friend) to a place nearby and had the Shanghai famous xiaolong bao. SO GOOD, including a cold soy drink, for 10.50RMB. I am quite enjoying how cheap food is in China…. But I also noticed a decrease in my appetite because of the hot weather.

Well, I only took a half hour nap in the afternoon, so hopefully my jetlag can easily adjust. 

My soft spot...

Tonight at the YVR airport, I had the opportunity to meet an old grandma out. She spoke barely any English, nor Chinese... and she didn't know where to go, or what was going on, and it was very hard to understand her. She was so confused, very lost, but thank God we were able to have minimal communication and we were able to show her the right place to take her connecting flight to Hong Kong. Her flight isn't until 2:05am, that's about a 5+ hour layover. As for me, my layover is around 4 hours and I am already exhausted.... but I am lucky because I have technology that can keep me "entertained" during those times. But can you imagine someone who doesn't understand the language, traveling all alone, and just sitting in the waiting area for such a long period of time? I know I wouldn't be able to handle it...

As I am sitting here reflecting on what I am seeing, it really breaks my heart to see this grandma travel all alone - I really hope someone in Hong Kong will be there to pick her up and be with her. It makes me wonder what her story is. All I know is that she is a kind lady, a really nice person, and when I handed her a bottled water and she said "thank you", you can definitely see the appreciation in her eyes. Well, buying her a bottle of water was the least I can do for her. I guess I am more emotional and soft-hearted towards older people since I lost my last grandparent 3 years ago... I still remember how hard it hit me when my grandma passed away.. I wish I did something more. I wish I spent more time with my grandma and loved her more.

Good news is, having a soft-spot for grandmas and grandpas just gives me more opportunities to love them more :) 

Good Providence

I have arrived safely in Vancouver, praise God! I did not travel alone!! Good providence and blessings from the Big-G up there who takes cares of all things. I ended up seeing one of my co-worker's students from last semester who is also heading to Shanghai!! We ended up walking to the terminal together! It is really nice to have companion during a 4 hour layover and they are really nice people to talk to.

Last but not least, here is a picture I took while I was on my way to Vancouver :)) God is good.