"Squatting is a surprisingly natural position." -Anna Neilson

Just in case you weren't aware: the above picture is a man squatting. As you look at him you are probably wondering why the cartoonist drew him looking so at ease. If you are one of those wonder-ers, I would like to assure you that this is a very natural position. One that Chinese people are quite accustomed to. For whatever reason, we in America aren't so good at the squatting position.

Do me a favor. Try to achieve this position. I give you major points if you can stay in it for 5 minutes or more. I give you extra major points if your heels touch the ground when you do this. Since the Chinese practice this position so often, their heels always touch the ground, a fact which I have been supremely jealous of since I first showed up in this country.

Therefore: Today when I squatted down, and for the first time felt my heels actually connect with the back of my shoes, it was a monumentally exciting occasion. As in, I felt the need to exclaim and point it out to Megan, who was squatting next to me.

I felt so Chinese :) Boo yah.

Welcome Home

So remember all those times when you listened to people tell you how lucky we are in America? How rich and spoiled we are? And you mentally nodded agreement and then moved on to the next thought... Well, this time I'm aiming for more than a verbal nod in response to the statement that Americans ARE spoiled.

I live in Guzhen, China. Which I have recently found out, is REAL China. Not tourist China, not upscale Americanized China --- it's China China. And kind of the ghetto. Megan and I traveled to Kaiyin yesterday-- and there is a difference between Guzhen and Kaiyin. And combine that with a couple of other things... well, let's just say I know that living here I am experiencing China. Real China.

Now. I'm not saying I wish I lived in Kaiyin. And I'm not complaining, I'm just letting you know that I know of what I speak. Because despite it's slightly ghetto nature or not, I love Guzhen. And actually, we have freaking great living accommodations for China. We're the spoiled Americans in the building. Want to know how I know that? We have air conditioners. And a small refrigerator. And a hot plate and microwave. Yes. We are fancy. Upscale. Classy.  All of the above.

And since I know that you probably want to see for yourself, I will proudly give you a tour of my upscale abode:

My Apartment Building

We live on the third floor. Which is kinda funny, because there isn't a 2nd floor. Or a 4th floor for for that matter. The numbers in the elevator go as follows: -1, 1, 3, 3A, 5, 6. No joke. Chinese numbering.... haha. I think the lack of 4th floor is due to superstition about 4 being an evil number. So they filled it in with 3A. And the lack of 2? Uh.... maybe the shops are all two stories? And don't ask about the -1. Because I just don't know.

See the little door above the hood of that red car? That's where we enter the building. There are two elevators and stairs... we go up to floor 3 and proceed to the very end of the hallway to find our door.

Buttons in the elevator

 In case you didn't believe me :)

View from the 3rd floor

 This is the view out of the windows when you step out of the elevator before you walk down the hallway to our room.

Walking down the hallway

Apartment 309!

If you can make it through the gate at the front of the hallway, then you can find our apartment. No, we haven't a clue where the doorknob is. We haven't had one the whole time we've been here :)

The Kitchen

 Cooking 101. It's a little bit adventuresome... and yes. This IS all the equipment we have. A mini fridge, hot plate and sink. The microwave is in the living room. Luckily the school usually feeds us.

Eating Dinner

 This night was french toast --- there isn't maple syrup in China, so we used honey. And peanut butter. And bananas. Jam. Brown sugar. Whatever we felt like really. Can I just say that french toast with peanut butter, bananas and honey is divine? Eating it with chopsticks is kind of tricky though...
*note the microwave behind Megan ;)

Living Room

 Yes. We have epic orange couches. They are great. They're also the most comfortable pieces of furniture in the apartment. I love them.

My bedroom

We sleep on box springs. China seems to have missed the mattress memo. Three of us share this room... Anna sleeps in the higher bed, Emma and I share the lower one. See the black bag and green/blue blanket? That's where I sleep. 

Oh. And you may be wondering what the deal is with the bag on the door handle? We only have two mini trash cans in our apartment. And they are both in the bathrooms. So trash bags get tied to door handles....

The dumpsters for our entire building.

 Speaking of trash. These are the dumpsters for our entire building. Chinese people don't believe in large trash cans.

A bathroom

As you may have noticed, there is not a toilet in this bathroom. We affectionately refer to our potties as 'squatters.' At first I thought it would be a tad difficult to get used to, but as Anna puts it: "Squatting is a surprisingly natural position." And it is. More benefits to squatting: You get a nice thigh work out. And it's sanitary. You don't have to wonder who sat on it before you.... 

haha. The shower is hooked to the wall above and slightly behind the toilet. And the washing machine is against the far wall.

Doing laundry

Speaking of washing machines... washing clothes here is a whole new experience. The open part that I've got my hands stuck in is the washer. Basically you fill it with soap and water and it swooshes it around for a bit... then you can drain and rinse the stuff. The dryer is next to it. It spins the clothes really fast to get the water out... then we hang them up outside to finish drying them. They don't completely dry though unless we bring them inside to hang up for a bit.

WELCOME TO CHINA!

Wishy Washies are Wonderful

So there is this book: called the area book. It's a compilation of knowledge passed down by previous ILP head teachers to help us newbies navigate life here in Guzhen. The other day I was perusing the area book, finding interesting tidbits of knowledge, when I came across a mention of something called a Wishy Washy. So. We decided that it had to be tried out. Megan and I went first, as a test run. We walked down to one of the many hair salons in the area, and went inside. The people were so nice, and didn't speak a lick of English. We had 3 or 4 of them gathered around us, trying to figure out what we wanted. Megan mimed washing hair, and I pulled out my dictionary and started pointing at words... and eventually they figured out what we wanted, because they took us to the back of the salon, where there was nice music playing and a whole lot of really comfy looking bed things. At the head of each bed was a sink. And we got to lay on those beds while wonderfully talented Chinese people washed our hair, massaged our head, our necks, backs, and arms... and basically gave us the most wonderful experience.... I pretty much thought I'd died and gone to heaven. When they were done washing, they styled our hair. So. One hour and 30 yuan later (which is about 5 American dollars) we left the salon feeling like new people. I felt beautiful, and maybe like I actually deserved a few of the stares we always get. I haven't felt that pretty in quite a while. It was so great!

After Wishy Washing it up, we decided to stop by a bakery for lunch. After grabbing some things that looked delectable and trying to learn the names of the bakery employees, we stopped at the Lilly Pad Park for lunch. As we finished our meal, a nice looking Chinese man came towards our bench, gesturing with his racket--- he wanted us to play with him. So I got up and went and played badminton with a group of Chinese people. We couldn't speak to each other, but we had fun laughing and chasing the birdie around. It was so great!

Playing Badminton

Later that night we wanted to go Disco Dancing. So we all dressed up in cute clothes, and set out to find the disco club. Upon arriving we decided that the club looked a little to sketchy for us, but after a bit of thinking, and recalling that the area book said something about there being dancing at the Lilly Pad Park, we headed over that way to see what there was. In point of fact there was dancing. All sorts of social dancing going on. With old and young and everyone in between. Some couples looked like they were pro, others just mimicked their moves, some danced in time, others not so much... but it was so fun to be there and watch and dance a little ourselves.

All dressed up and ready to go!

What a great Saturday right? I loved it. One of the things I love most about being here is how kind and friendly the people are. The stares can be a little awkward, and when guys follow us around it's sometimes a little weird, but I love the realization that you don't need words to communicate. A smile goes a long way, and laughter even further. Of course, that isn't going to stop me from trying to learn as much Chinese as I can...

I love China.

Hong Kong feels like

a dream. A wonderful dream, one of those ones that you wake up from and wish that it could have lasted longer.  It was a weekend to remember. I wanted to drink it all in, remember every detail.

Like how there wasn't a 4 or 14th floor at our hotel because in China those numbers are considered evil. All the taxis are red, and there are more escalators than I've ever seen in my life. I guess fitting 7 million people into such a small area requires stuff like that. The fishing village: little dilapidated boats that people actually live on --- and Victoria Peak has the most incredible view of the city --- shopping at Stanley market (which included trying to bargain for the first time) --- oh yes. What a dream.

But now I've woken up. Home in the states... heck even Hong Kong. Those really feel like dreams at the moment. This is my reality. I just survived the longest, hottest, sweatiest, dirtiest and most unusual day of my entire life. I loved it.

We had to be at the school at 7:30 this morning to meet the headmistress and see our classrooms. The school is adorable and the headmistress quite friendly. We had porridge (rice in a sort of soup with little thin meat chunks floating in it) and a sweet roll for breakfast. Very unlike anything I've ever had before, but it was also very good. We then spent quite a while wandering around the city trying to find the bank, and various other places. I've never seen a crazier traffic system in my life - rickshaws and motorcycles and fancy cars all darting and weaving, with pedestrians who don't seem to care whether or not there is a sidewalk for them to walk on. Therefore: there is a lot of honking going on.

I've never felt more conspicuous in my life than I did today. Some people darted sneaky glances at us, most just openly stared. Some would point, and a few would call out 'hello.'  I don't think they knew any more than that. The times I tried to talk to someone they didn't know any English at all. I'm getting good at sign language,  but I try to keep my mouth shut except to speak English because the two times I tried to say 'thank you' in Mandarin, people openly laughed at me. I don't have a clue what I said, but I'm certain that my tonation was wrong. Oh well. Despite the language barrier, I did manage to make two purchases without any help from someone who could speak. I felt quite accomplished.

Our apartment is filthy. Maybe partially because it's been vacated all summer, and maybe partially because this is China --- so we spent about 40 USD on cleaning supplies --- which cost us over 200 yuan --- and we went to work. The room I share with two other girls is now sanitary. Not pretty --- but it's clean and tidy and after a shower tonight I feel like a new body.

I wish I could write more --- but it's midnight and we have to be at the school again at 7:30 tomorrow. The school here is trying to work us to death --- hopefully things cool down soon and I can spend more time feeling like an actual human being.

China is a crazy place. I think I'm going to love it here though.