This post may contain affiliate links. That means if you click on a link and make a purchase, I may earn a small commision at no additional expense to you.
Hello everyone!!!
I’ve been in China for 6 weeks now, and it seems like time that I start my blog. I have always told myself that I would start a blog about my travels, and I tried to blog in Sweden, but that only lasted for 2 posts. This year, hopefully, my blogging will last longer. So here it is, my first official blog from China!
I am living in the city of Zhuhai in Southern China, in the province of Guangdong. I work at United International College (UIC), which is tied to both Beijing International University and Hong Kong Baptist University. My job is…unique, to say the least. I’m either an intern or a teacher’s assistant, depending on who you ask, and the duties of my job are extremely loose. I work in the writing center, helping students correct grammar in written assignments, and I work with two teachers helping their students with whatever English language issues they have. I am also in charge of teaching a weekly club, which this semester is the American Country Music Club. I play a lot of songs and videos and try to teach the students about the themes and history in the songs, but I’m pretty sure the majority of students don’t know what I’m talking about most of the time. Although, in their defense, I don’t know what they’re talking about most of the time either.
Now on to China. China is the strangest, most bizarre, interesting place I have ever been! I live in a student dorm in the northern outskirts of the city, so not much happens around here, but when I get the chance to go into the main part of the city, my mind is consistently blown by everything and everyone I see. For example, there are crowds of people everywhere, and no one cares about personal space. In elevators or on buses, people cram as many others in as they can, and it doesn’t matter how close you have to stand to someone else. Furthermore, there are motorbikes (motorcycles and scooters) everywhere, even though they are technically illegal in China. I’ve seen people on their bikes holding babies while swerving in and out of traffic, never wearing a helmet. No one seems to find that dangerous…I just don’t understand. The funny thing about all the motorbikes is that the police drive around on them. Of course, the police don’t actually do anything, so I guess it makes sense that they would break the law. Why not? This is China, after all. Anytime my fellow international TA’s, teachers, or myself see anything bizarre, which is everyday, we just laugh and say, “this is China.” That’s really the only explanation there is for all the strangeness that is seen here.
I’ll go into more detail later about both my job and China, and hopefully I’ll have some good adventures to write about then, too. Something exciting is bound to happen.
This is China, after all. Anything goes.
