Why am I in such a good mood? Well the answer could really be a very long-winded one, but I'll keep it relatively short and sweet for you, my dearest of readers. Both of you.
Firstly, I finally found a great apartment at a reasonable price, so that's great news. Secondly, I found out that the new center in which I'll be working doesn't open until near the end of October. So I'll be at the older center until then. The clutch thing is, they don't like to change teachers on the kids mid-session, so they won't be giving me any classes until I move to the new center. Bonus! My Director of Services (DOS) even told me I could bring in my laptop to work and study Chinese/surf the internet literally all day. On top of that, bran new schools usually have an extremely light load until about 2 months after they open. that means even after the new school opens, I'll still have nothing to do for weeks and weeks. Thirdly, I just got back from the Shanghai ultimate league, and they have seriously improved since the last time I was there. I know I am going to have a BLAST with these people on the field, and I think I'm going to be having a sick time with off the field --read: in the bars -- with a ton of them, too.
These things are cool and all, but they aren't the real reason why I am so happy. I'm in a good mood because I just had "lamb sticks" again for the first time in almost a full year. I was riding my bike home from the Ultimate fields, not really knowing where I was headed, and I realized that my small dinner of two bananas and an apple just wasn't going to hold me over through the night. I was'nt really hungry enough for a full meal, but I was scoping the storefronts I was passing in case anything caught my eye. I was thinking of just throwing down some money on any old thing I could munch on, but then I saw him: the lamb stick guy. There are a ton of these people in Shanghai, and they only seem to come out after dark. Usually near bars and other places people get wicked munchies. They work over this thin, coal-filled barbecue-type thingy, which is really just a rectangular cube of metal without a top. No grill, just the edges of the rectangle. But therein lies the beauty of food on a stick. The lamb stick guys have these shishkebabs that they push this lamb meat down onto it in thin, diced sections. I'm sure the meat is grade D, taco bell style stuff, but I try not to think about that because it is just so effing delicious. Kinda like taco bell. Anyway, they cook these meat sticks over the coals for about 10 minutes, coating them with hot spices and pepper. When they are done, you just munch down on them and then throw the sticks on the ground for the lamb stick guy to pick up later. I keep calling them "lamb stick guys," but they actually also sell other meat and veggies on sticks. It doesn't matter, because the other stuff sucks balls compared to the lamb. Lamb sticks are easily my favorite food in all of Shanghai, and I had nearly forgotten how amazing they taste. After getting that delicious lamb meat again, I could care less if I had a good apartment, good job, or good sport. I think I could seriously live off of the stuff. I like them just about as much as buffalo wings, and that is saying a lot.
Oh, and did I mention they are only about 20 cents a piece? Yeah, China rules.
Monday, September 24, 2007
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Here we go again.
Alright, so I realize this is my second post in as many days, but this just one couldn't wait. I'll keep it short:
I had my dinner meeting with my Director of Services (DOS) tonight at a nearby restauraunt. I honestly had no idea what to expect, so I was a little bit nervous. I knew my DOS was named Burcu Aydin and I knew Burcu is a she, but that's about it. I met her in front of the restaurant and suddenly realized she is very good looking. This is a pleasant surprise. We sit down to dinner and I find out she is from Turkey, and has taught English in 5 countries over the past 5 years. She finished undergrad in 2002 and has a masters in teaching. It turns out she is totally cool and really laissez-faire about the teaching job. She tells me that for 2-4 weeks we will both be working at the PuTou district school, but that we will be moving to a new center which is opening up 5 minutes away in a much nicer part of Shanghai, in a much nicer building with a much nicer view. She also tells me that between both of the centers, I am the only guy! It turns out they have had a huge male shortage, and that the girls who are teaching have been gossiping about what the new guy will be like. I didn't even know what to think at this point. Needless to say, I was practically beaming. After a huge dinner, we left for the subway and headed home. My stop was two before hers, so we said our goodbyes until tomorrow. I am now going to bed very happy.
I had my dinner meeting with my Director of Services (DOS) tonight at a nearby restauraunt. I honestly had no idea what to expect, so I was a little bit nervous. I knew my DOS was named Burcu Aydin and I knew Burcu is a she, but that's about it. I met her in front of the restaurant and suddenly realized she is very good looking. This is a pleasant surprise. We sit down to dinner and I find out she is from Turkey, and has taught English in 5 countries over the past 5 years. She finished undergrad in 2002 and has a masters in teaching. It turns out she is totally cool and really laissez-faire about the teaching job. She tells me that for 2-4 weeks we will both be working at the PuTou district school, but that we will be moving to a new center which is opening up 5 minutes away in a much nicer part of Shanghai, in a much nicer building with a much nicer view. She also tells me that between both of the centers, I am the only guy! It turns out they have had a huge male shortage, and that the girls who are teaching have been gossiping about what the new guy will be like. I didn't even know what to think at this point. Needless to say, I was practically beaming. After a huge dinner, we left for the subway and headed home. My stop was two before hers, so we said our goodbyes until tomorrow. I am now going to bed very happy.
Day One
It's 5:14 AM NY time, and I have just arrived at the hotel, but just barely. After 18 hours total in the air and 3 hours layover in Vancouver, the last thing I want to deal with is problems at the front desk of a Chinese hotel. But problems, of course, arise. Jessie, my future coworker and aid in settling into Shanghai today, tells me the clerk at the front desk won't allow her to use her Chinese credit card to make a deposit on the room, and that I will have to pay it, as well as one day's fee, and then get reimbursed. I don't even want to deal with this, so I tell her that my visa card gets extra charges for uses overseas. She decides it's worth her time to go to the bank around the corner while I wait at the hotel. But I get ahead of myself. The real problems started about 13 hours ago, when I arrived in Vancouver.
As the passengers of the JFK flight arescuttled into customs, an airport employee is shouting something about international connections needing to go another part of the airport to be herded through another section of customs. I get her attention and she asks me, "which flight?" I tell her the 12:00 to Shanghai and she sends me up some stairs and around a corner. I find another customs line in the new room, so I queue up. Little did I know, that same airport employee was later jogging up the stairs behind me to give me the bad news. "You, you're headed to Shanghai, right? There's a problem with the flight. Due to Typhoons in that area of Asia, the Shanghai flight will likely be redirected to Beijing [about 500 miles away] and you'll be responsible for any further connecting flights. You can go through customs and wait at the terminal for any updates." Fuck, I scream inside my head. My Chinese is barely functional and there is no way I'd be able to figure out how to get into the Beijing airport, book a new flight for sometime after this typhoon thing blows over, keep the receipt so I could get reimbursed by my new employer, find a hotel so I can wait out the storm, and then get in contact with my employer to tell them the good news. I make it through customs and sit and wait for any updates, as my flight wasn't scheduled to leave for another 2 hours.
After about an hour, a decent sized group of Chinese people has amassed. They are chatting away, so I'm guessing they are oblivious to the typhoon problems. The lady behind the counter finally comes onto the loudspeaker and makes the following announcement:
"Due to dangerous weather conditions created by a typhoon in southeast Asia, we are currently unable to guarantee your flight into Shanghai. We will be departing toward Shanghai and the pilots will be making the decision of if it is safe to fly into PuDong Airport mid-flight. If conditions are deemed unsafe, we will be rerouting to Beijing. If you choose to fly today, you will be financially responsible for any further necessary connecting flights to Shanghai."
I'm about to shit my pants over the decision I have to make in the next 15 minutes but the rest of the crowd looks like they could care less. I'm in awe of their fortitude until a CHINESE speaking attendant comes onto the speaker and makes the same announcement. Panic ensues. I ignore all of the hubbub as I try and decide whether to shit or get off the pot. I finally figure that a couple of days in Beijing would be cooler than a couple of days in Vancouver, so I get on the flight. Ten hours (of 12 total flight hours), two naps, and a movie later and the captains come on the plane speakers and announce that the typhoon is moving away from Shanghai, and that we will be able to make a safe descent. I almost cry a little. If I were stuck in Beijing to fend for myself I might have wound up being sold for body parts on the black market. Who knows.
So I arrive and Jessie, an English First (EF) employee, is at the airport to bring me to my hotel and help me get settled in. As I chat it up with Jessie on the shanghai maglev, the fastest in the world at nearly 300 mph!, I find out she's a WuHan native who has only been in Shanghai for 3 months. The last time I was in Shanghai I was here for just over 3 months, so I might even know the city better than she does! But more important than knowing the city is being able to deal with the Chinese people. This is a twofold problem for me, as I can't speak in Chinese very well and I don't THINK in Chinese. The Chinese all have this crazy, roundabout way of confronting even the most simple of problems and it really TAKES a Chinese to UNDERSTAND a Chinese. On an interesting side note, Jessie told me at her old job she was a model scout, and that she knows many photographers in Shanghai. If I can find a modeling job in Shanghai, I would take it in an instant. Easy money! I've been joking about it for a while, but imagine if I found my way into Shanghai modeling the very first day I arrived! Ha!
But anyway, I'm here at the hotel and we finally got the room sorted out. I am exhausted right now and really need a nap, so I am signing off. I'll be sure to keep updating on cool happenings. Until the next post, good luck in America.
As the passengers of the JFK flight arescuttled into customs, an airport employee is shouting something about international connections needing to go another part of the airport to be herded through another section of customs. I get her attention and she asks me, "which flight?" I tell her the 12:00 to Shanghai and she sends me up some stairs and around a corner. I find another customs line in the new room, so I queue up. Little did I know, that same airport employee was later jogging up the stairs behind me to give me the bad news. "You, you're headed to Shanghai, right? There's a problem with the flight. Due to Typhoons in that area of Asia, the Shanghai flight will likely be redirected to Beijing [about 500 miles away] and you'll be responsible for any further connecting flights. You can go through customs and wait at the terminal for any updates." Fuck, I scream inside my head. My Chinese is barely functional and there is no way I'd be able to figure out how to get into the Beijing airport, book a new flight for sometime after this typhoon thing blows over, keep the receipt so I could get reimbursed by my new employer, find a hotel so I can wait out the storm, and then get in contact with my employer to tell them the good news. I make it through customs and sit and wait for any updates, as my flight wasn't scheduled to leave for another 2 hours.
After about an hour, a decent sized group of Chinese people has amassed. They are chatting away, so I'm guessing they are oblivious to the typhoon problems. The lady behind the counter finally comes onto the loudspeaker and makes the following announcement:
"Due to dangerous weather conditions created by a typhoon in southeast Asia, we are currently unable to guarantee your flight into Shanghai. We will be departing toward Shanghai and the pilots will be making the decision of if it is safe to fly into PuDong Airport mid-flight. If conditions are deemed unsafe, we will be rerouting to Beijing. If you choose to fly today, you will be financially responsible for any further necessary connecting flights to Shanghai."
I'm about to shit my pants over the decision I have to make in the next 15 minutes but the rest of the crowd looks like they could care less. I'm in awe of their fortitude until a CHINESE speaking attendant comes onto the speaker and makes the same announcement. Panic ensues. I ignore all of the hubbub as I try and decide whether to shit or get off the pot. I finally figure that a couple of days in Beijing would be cooler than a couple of days in Vancouver, so I get on the flight. Ten hours (of 12 total flight hours), two naps, and a movie later and the captains come on the plane speakers and announce that the typhoon is moving away from Shanghai, and that we will be able to make a safe descent. I almost cry a little. If I were stuck in Beijing to fend for myself I might have wound up being sold for body parts on the black market. Who knows.
So I arrive and Jessie, an English First (EF) employee, is at the airport to bring me to my hotel and help me get settled in. As I chat it up with Jessie on the shanghai maglev, the fastest in the world at nearly 300 mph!, I find out she's a WuHan native who has only been in Shanghai for 3 months. The last time I was in Shanghai I was here for just over 3 months, so I might even know the city better than she does! But more important than knowing the city is being able to deal with the Chinese people. This is a twofold problem for me, as I can't speak in Chinese very well and I don't THINK in Chinese. The Chinese all have this crazy, roundabout way of confronting even the most simple of problems and it really TAKES a Chinese to UNDERSTAND a Chinese. On an interesting side note, Jessie told me at her old job she was a model scout, and that she knows many photographers in Shanghai. If I can find a modeling job in Shanghai, I would take it in an instant. Easy money! I've been joking about it for a while, but imagine if I found my way into Shanghai modeling the very first day I arrived! Ha!
But anyway, I'm here at the hotel and we finally got the room sorted out. I am exhausted right now and really need a nap, so I am signing off. I'll be sure to keep updating on cool happenings. Until the next post, good luck in America.
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