How I Landed in Hot Water

Hello awesome people! Today at my job I served a customer a nice, hot cup of water after her massage. It wasn't anything out of the ordinary since it's something that we do for all our customers. Upon taking her first sip, I saw her take a sip and make a face. She remarked how it was weird to drink warm water. I couldn't help but laugh and share some of my stories from China.

In a previous post, I talked about things I miss. I definitely forgot cold things haha Even our ice cream in the summer time would be be melted because the freezers would barely be on in the store. Brit and I hated to go to Pizza Hut in the summer time where it was sweltering hot and be given hot water. In the winter time, I learned to appreciate it, but in the summer time.....um no! Hot not lukewarm or room temperature but freakin hot as hell water surrounded me everywhere. When Boba came to visit I was sure to buy lots of drinks and keep them super cold in my mini fridge a week before he came. He loads his drinks up with ice, no really he goes in. Luckily, when we were in Beijing we got to enjoy normal cold drink temperatures ^^

Ice was pretty non-existent and believe me you didn't want it anyway. The water in China is undrinkable. Most restaurants in Dongying would forget this and if by a snowball's chance in hell they had ice they would have filled up the ice tray from the tap. Eileen got a HUGEEE stomach ache one time because of this.

I work at a Japanese medical salon. I am the only non-native Japanese employee. I was told the reason we serve water at 120 degrees is because it is the same temperature as your organs. It seems like I am the only person that catches some customers giving their drink the side eye.

I'm not a fan of hot drinks either, actually I kind of hate all hot drinks except for hot chocolate. I'm a Southern girl, so my aversion to hot drinks makes since. I like my temperatures hot and my beverages cold. When I first came to New York, I would burn my tongue all the time because I just wasn't used to drinking hot things. 

You give me a fresh ice cold glass of sweet tea and lemonade I'll stan for you. Give me a glass of freshly made piping hot Kool-Aid and I will look at you like you farted loudly at a funeral. 

Last Day in Beijing and Dongying Time!

My last few weeks have been super crazy, busy, and tiring! There were a few downs, but I quickly picked myself up with the help of my friends and family. Special shout out to my wifey! I don't have much time left, so I refuse to be stressed or upset. I'll talk about the factors later, but everything's great now (except for my super case of boredom haha). I just had a wonderful birthday a few days ago!

I’m going to break up the rest of Boba’s visit into two posts. Some interesting things happened in Dongying that would be waaaayyyyy too long to put in one post. We packed in a lot during his time here. 

Our last day in Beijing was very chill. We checked out early and utilized the luggage room at Sanlitun (a cool perk!). We had a late bus back to Dongying, so we decided to walk around the mall area. We had dessert at the Godiva cafe! It was SO yummy!

We went to Uniqlo where I bought Boba a Metal Gear Rising shirt for a late birthday present. We had the pleasure of witnessing a Chinese man trying on pants in front of everyone. The men’s changing room was about a two second walk to his left. The security guard yelled at him in Chinese. Boba and I tried to contain our giggles. 

We had three awesome days in Beijing, now it was time for five days in Dongying. We arrived at the bus station about an hour early for our bus; I was not excited for the ride. I had just been on a bus a few days before, and I wasn’t feeling being on one again. We got back to Dongying around 11:30 pm. It took us awhile to get a taxi back because a lot the drivers were trying to cheat us. I really don’t like when they crowd around you boxing you in and refusing to me out of your way even though you are clearly ignoring them. I tend to go for the drivers that aren’t in my face. We finally get back to my school and promptly pass out. I had to wake up early to work the next day. Here begins Boba’s five days in Dongying!!!

I had to work seven days in a row to make up for our break. Holidays don’t really exist in China for teachers. Most schools make you make up the days you were off. What results is usually us working seven days in a row -_- This eats my soul and is usually atrocious. The kids get so cray when their schedule is broken. I love my babies, but it is a test of my strength, I tell you!

There isn’t much to do in my city (I’ll talk about this more in another post). Regardless, it was nice to have Boba see the area. As much as I wanted to see him, I didn't want him to visit last semester because I felt that there wasn't anything to see him. I didn't want him to waste time or money to come to Dongying, and I didn't know if I would have time to take him anywhere. Silly me, I forgot that he just wants to see me and didn't care about the other stuff lol 

I took him to the restaurants that I frequent. Taking him to Pizza Hut was super fun because it’s a super ritzy big deal here. He said that it reminded him of the scene from Demolition Man where they go to eat at Taco Bell! He had me rolling with that one! I could picture the scene in my head.

I did receive some frustrating news from my boss. He offered to have the school’s driver take Boba back to the airport. I was super excited because catching a taxi from the bus station to the airport is not fun. You literally have to stand on the side of the highway and fight against everyone that just got off the bus with you to get a taxi. Let’s not even add being at the airport four hours before your flight into this equation. My boss texts me to tell me that the school can’t do it. Of course he does this at the last minute, but it’s all good because this is typical behavior. I was already prepared and had back-up plans. I know I haven’t gone into much detail about my working situation on here, but it has been a hot mess. I usually have to expect the worst with my school and that's exactly what I get with a side of tom foolery. The best thing is I'm always prepared ^_^

Also, Boba got to meet Britni! I was so happy because she is my boo from another mother. We have SO much in common. We have that positively hated our previous job-are both Black-are both Geminis-in LDRs with awesome boyfriends-came to China-now we here connection. We have always understood the other and had each other's back. I definitely think we would have been friends in America. She later told me that Eileen asked what he looked like. Brit told her that I did good haha

The next post will be the last one for this break. Looking back I did a heck of a lot!

Things I Miss

China has been an interesting experience. It's very different from my upbringing and my experiences living in New York. I've learned a lot about myself during my time here. I'm excited to be going home next month! I'm excluding people from this list because they aren't fixed to places. Regardless, my family, friends, and Boba should know that I miss the hell out of you!

Things I Miss About Home

People looking at me like I am a normal person. 

Sometimes residents of Dongying stare at me like I am a walking unicorn or like I slapped their mother. When I am going up stairs, people walking in the opposite direction will stop beside me and stare in my face.  

Being able to fully communicate. 

My Mandarin isn't horrible and it allows me to do the basics. I can understand what's being said to me most of the time. Mandarin (as far as grammar is concerned) really isn't a hard language. As soon as you know the vocabulary; you string the sentence together and it's right most of the time. It's the writing system and the tones that are the killers. I would have loved to learn more, but unfortunately Dongying does not have any place for me to study.  

Food, food, food, food!!!!

I really really really love food, especially delicious food. I resided in New York prior to my departure to China. One of my favorite things about NYC is it's variety of food. You can pretty much find anything! I was born and raised in the South, so you know I was eating right there, too! I can't eat any bird or egg right now due to bird flu in China. I'm not willing to take the chance. I love me some chicken, but I'm not ready to die for it.

Internet

The internet in China is atrocious! The speeds are very bad (at least the places I've been); not to mention the censorship of websites. Of course things like Blogger, Facebook, Twitter, Wordpress (basically social networking) are blocked here. Brit and I also have to deal with things that we desperately need (Sallie Mae and other bill paying websites) deciding not to work one day. I have a VPN, but my connection at my school is very bad, so sometimes I can't get on it.

Not Seeing Bodily Functions

In China, it is very common to see men urinate in the grass, kids defecating and urinating on the sidewalk, and people picking their noses like there's gold inside. It's common to burp loudly with your mouth open, sneeze and cough and not cover your mouth near people.