I knew one day I would come back to this country. It just happened in a bit unexpected way. Sitting in the office of my that-time job, I got a message from my old friend/work agent asking me if I want to come back to China. I was a bit skeptical knowing about difficulties to get Chinese visa etc. Anyway, time has passed a bit and with the beginning of 2017 I was decided to go. The initial plan of getting the visa in Warsaw's embassy failed (I might be black listed already), so I had to go to Hong Kong to get the papers done. A few days before flying the plan has changed again, and I was to go to Malaysia instead (from HK).
After one week in Kuala Lumpur (which for me was like one long daydream) I got my one year visa and the same day flew to Guangyuan (广元）, the city which became my new home for over a year.
The beginning were hard. No Chinese spoken (I obviously forgot all I learned when I was in China for the first time; and not that it was a lot anyway), no laptop, smartphone, no friends. Total immersion in the culture - they say. Yeah, worked. After a couple of months I learned enough to briefly introduce myself and make new friends (all Chinese), become recognizable person in a few bars and a club.
Back to teaching, this time in Middle School, was smooth enough. Only the place I lived sucked big time. They put me in a hotel, just like all the previous foreign teachers of that school. Probably nobody expected an expat to have a circle of friends and a will to cook and make laundry. They were all quite surprised in the school, when I announced I definitely don't want to live in a hotel room.
Anyway, I had to struggle there for 4,5 months before my summer holiday trip to Western China and Kazakhstan.
For years I wanted to see the (in)famous city of Urumqi - the most continental city in the world. The Silk Road, desert, different culture, language and even people's appearance. Kazakhstan was wicked (positively), but that's a story for another post.
So, I come back to Guangyuan and there is it - my new apartment. Chosen from 2 options I got: totally new flat in a modern housing area with no furniture/utensils whatsoever; or cozy, wall-papered (quite rare in China, normally everything is white) 3 bedroom flat. Without a second thought I went for option two. It took me 4 days (afternoons) to clean it, get rid of unwanted stuff and buy new things. Another 2 weeks to get rid of cockroaches (it would have taken 1 hour if I had bought the spray before) and buy remaining items. Then I could say - this is my place. Invested enough of time, money and effort to claim the rights.
The first term was the culture shock period. Trying just about any new food I saw, going out like crazy, in a peak time up to 3-4 times a week. Thanks to that my nicely lost kilos came back in no time (it kinda became a tradition, gain or lose 10 kg at a time). Due to my boredom of the first months I got myself a second part-time job (which I regret doing until today). But the life was still lacking some deeper sense, the feeling of growth or improving. I got into vicious circle of parties and curing handover by another party until my summer break which saved me in a way. I had one biggish breakdown when I really wanted fuck it all and leave China. But then again, I would appreciate the fact that I was here, in this magnificent country.
Second semester was a bit similar with minor improvement of signing up for a pottery course. The winter came and the flat became unbearably cold. Again it was work-home-occasional party period. I started jogging, which was great (I even did 5 km official competition together with a local jogging/running team) but after a few month ended up in a semi major foot injury. Just before winter break I gave up running. Months of continuous work (to two school I added an english lessons in a hotel) wore me out quite a lot but then again, the break came and I could go back on the road.
This time, like each time in China, my travelling was different.
1.Winter time - loads of sweaters, socks, gloves, hat etc. The backpack was still 40 l but packed to the limit coz of the size of the clothes. Not much time for laundry (I literally got it done in a machine like 3 times in 6 weeks time; the rest was hand washing and praying it'll dry by the next day), the need of always stay in motion, especially when hitching.
2. Hitchhiking - seems like the police really enforced "no people on the highway" law. During previous trips (2 times) in China I had no problems with crossing the toll gate and sneaking on the highway (and the staff obviously must have seen me do that). This time on almost all of them I was stopped by the police or highway staff and (not)politely asked out. A few times I manage to cross, a few times I was picked up by someone just to pass the tool gate, other times I would stand before the gate.
3. Phone/Internet - like never before I realized the need of Internet while travelling in China. You just have to have a phone or other device that is constantly connected to the Internet. Otherwise your life will be veeery hard. Loads of times I would check the way to any place I wanted to, and that's just the simplest use of the Internet. From booking a hostel to buying train tickets, checking opening hours, entry tickets, all sorts of maps. Of course you could manage to do all of that asking people or going directly to the places but you would waste a looot of time. The size of the cities may mean that what looks close on the map in fact is 2-3 km away. And you don't want to walk (or take a but if you know which line and stop - again, the Internet has it all) these 3 km just to find out that the hostel is already full. You wouldn't like lining up at the train station for 20-30 min, reach the window and hear 没票(no tickets). Same (or maybe the most important actually) goes for directions. You can ask people, but a lot of them are not that familiar with the city or they wouldn't know but still would point some random direction (to avoid saying "I don't know").
4. Language. The first time I travelled in China with 0 Chinese. Honestly I don't know how I did that. So many times I would be totally lost if not the ability of communication in Chinese which I have now. So many times I would be taken or directed to wrong places if I couldn't explain what I wanted. Reading major public signs also helps hell of a lot (finding a hostel, which has only Chinese characters; otherwise it looks just like any other building; reading signs on the highway)
This trip was expensive coz of an extra cost of side trip to North Korea (about it in other post). Basically 40 days travelling in China cost me the same as 4 days trip to Korea :P
Got back to my flat - all as nice as I left it, and decided to do something productive this (probably last) semester. More online learning, sports, change of diet (I'm fed up with most of the local food anyway). And I still absolutely love China!
After one week in Kuala Lumpur (which for me was like one long daydream) I got my one year visa and the same day flew to Guangyuan (广元）, the city which became my new home for over a year.The beginning were hard. No Chinese spoken (I obviously forgot all I learned when I was in China for the first time; and not that it was a lot anyway), no laptop, smartphone, no friends. Total immersion in the culture - they say. Yeah, worked. After a couple of months I learned enough to briefly introduce myself and make new friends (all Chinese), become recognizable person in a few bars and a club.
Back to teaching, this time in Middle School, was smooth enough. Only the place I lived sucked big time. They put me in a hotel, just like all the previous foreign teachers of that school. Probably nobody expected an expat to have a circle of friends and a will to cook and make laundry. They were all quite surprised in the school, when I announced I definitely don't want to live in a hotel room.Anyway, I had to struggle there for 4,5 months before my summer holiday trip to Western China and Kazakhstan.
So, I come back to Guangyuan and there is it - my new apartment. Chosen from 2 options I got: totally new flat in a modern housing area with no furniture/utensils whatsoever; or cozy, wall-papered (quite rare in China, normally everything is white) 3 bedroom flat. Without a second thought I went for option two. It took me 4 days (afternoons) to clean it, get rid of unwanted stuff and buy new things. Another 2 weeks to get rid of cockroaches (it would have taken 1 hour if I had bought the spray before) and buy remaining items. Then I could say - this is my place. Invested enough of time, money and effort to claim the rights.
The first term was the culture shock period. Trying just about any new food I saw, going out like crazy, in a peak time up to 3-4 times a week. Thanks to that my nicely lost kilos came back in no time (it kinda became a tradition, gain or lose 10 kg at a time). Due to my boredom of the first months I got myself a second part-time job (which I regret doing until today). But the life was still lacking some deeper sense, the feeling of growth or improving. I got into vicious circle of parties and curing handover by another party until my summer break which saved me in a way. I had one biggish breakdown when I really wanted fuck it all and leave China. But then again, I would appreciate the fact that I was here, in this magnificent country.
Second semester was a bit similar with minor improvement of signing up for a pottery course. The winter came and the flat became unbearably cold. Again it was work-home-occasional party period. I started jogging, which was great (I even did 5 km official competition together with a local jogging/running team) but after a few month ended up in a semi major foot injury. Just before winter break I gave up running. Months of continuous work (to two school I added an english lessons in a hotel) wore me out quite a lot but then again, the break came and I could go back on the road.
This time, like each time in China, my travelling was different.
1.Winter time - loads of sweaters, socks, gloves, hat etc. The backpack was still 40 l but packed to the limit coz of the size of the clothes. Not much time for laundry (I literally got it done in a machine like 3 times in 6 weeks time; the rest was hand washing and praying it'll dry by the next day), the need of always stay in motion, especially when hitching.
2. Hitchhiking - seems like the police really enforced "no people on the highway" law. During previous trips (2 times) in China I had no problems with crossing the toll gate and sneaking on the highway (and the staff obviously must have seen me do that). This time on almost all of them I was stopped by the police or highway staff and (not)politely asked out. A few times I manage to cross, a few times I was picked up by someone just to pass the tool gate, other times I would stand before the gate.
3. Phone/Internet - like never before I realized the need of Internet while travelling in China. You just have to have a phone or other device that is constantly connected to the Internet. Otherwise your life will be veeery hard. Loads of times I would check the way to any place I wanted to, and that's just the simplest use of the Internet. From booking a hostel to buying train tickets, checking opening hours, entry tickets, all sorts of maps. Of course you could manage to do all of that asking people or going directly to the places but you would waste a looot of time. The size of the cities may mean that what looks close on the map in fact is 2-3 km away. And you don't want to walk (or take a but if you know which line and stop - again, the Internet has it all) these 3 km just to find out that the hostel is already full. You wouldn't like lining up at the train station for 20-30 min, reach the window and hear 没票(no tickets). Same (or maybe the most important actually) goes for directions. You can ask people, but a lot of them are not that familiar with the city or they wouldn't know but still would point some random direction (to avoid saying "I don't know").
4. Language. The first time I travelled in China with 0 Chinese. Honestly I don't know how I did that. So many times I would be totally lost if not the ability of communication in Chinese which I have now. So many times I would be taken or directed to wrong places if I couldn't explain what I wanted. Reading major public signs also helps hell of a lot (finding a hostel, which has only Chinese characters; otherwise it looks just like any other building; reading signs on the highway)This trip was expensive coz of an extra cost of side trip to North Korea (about it in other post). Basically 40 days travelling in China cost me the same as 4 days trip to Korea :P
Got back to my flat - all as nice as I left it, and decided to do something productive this (probably last) semester. More online learning, sports, change of diet (I'm fed up with most of the local food anyway). And I still absolutely love China!
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