Week 5

Week 5: personal

22/03/12

I cannot believe I am sitting writing blog number five already. My time in China is going so fast and I really am having the time of my life.  I am thoroughly enjoying the company and encouragement of being with Keith, Dan and Dani.  We all get on really well and it has made this experience so much better sharing it with them.

                                                   The four of us together at a Thai restaurant

Andrew and Heather came to join us this weekend in Guangzhou. It was great to spend time with them and show them around the city.  I felt like I had been living here for years and that we where their tour guide showing them all the local spots.  This showed me just how settled I have become living here in China.  It is a huge change from the culture shock I felt in the first week.  The weekend was filled with reminders from home as we celebrated St. Patrick’s Day, had Pizza hut for dinner and another massage for Keith and Dan’s joint 21^st birthday.  To finish off the weekend in style we went on the famous ‘Pearl River Cruise’.  It was beautiful to see Guangzhou lit up at night time. 

View from the river cruise

                                                 Keith, Dan and Heather on a Chinese boat ride

After Andrew and Heather left I was struggling with missing my family and friends.  This is because we have very little contact because our internet connection is so bad and it is too expensive to call or text home.  My good friend from home was getting married this week and it was hard not being able to wish her a great wedding day.  I also was missing my Mum as it was Mother’s Day on Sunday but I was able to speak with her on Skype to wish her a good day and she really encouraged me to continue to enjoy every day and make the most of this amazing experience because it will be over before I know it.

I feel like my understanding of Chinese people has grown significantly over the past 5 weeks.  Things which I found strange at first are now normal to me.  Whenever it rains in China the streets literally become empty within seconds.  At first I thought this was ridiculous and I had no idea why the people seemed afraid of getting wet.  It is actually because the Chinese people think that getting a cold is very serious.  If they get a cold they will not go to work and will immediately go the hospital to get some medicine.  There is huge difference between the way Chinese people and Northern Irish people care for their health. 

Every day we see more and more disabled and homeless people on the streets.  It is clear that the Chinese government do not provide as much help for these people as is given in the UK.  I feel very privileged when I see these people and remember just how much I actually have in life.  I have good health, a fantastic family and have been very blessed in life.  Being away from home has opened my eyes to see other people’s desperate needs and I am being encouraged to try and be less selfish and think of others before I think of myself. 

On this street there were at least 5 homeless people

Week 4

Week 4: Professional

15.03.12

The past week has been our busiest so far.  We have been in class everyday with most classes lasting on average for 3 hours.  I find it very difficult to concentrate for this length of time as we only get short breaks in between.

In most of our classes it is just Dan, Keith, Dani and myself with our lecturer.  This is completely different to our lectures in Stranmillis.  I am enjoying these small classes as it means we can have more in depth conversations and it ensures we all understand what we are learning.

My favourite class so far is Chinese Culture which we study with our lecturer Charles. He has named himself Charles because he thinks he looks like Prince Charles. He is very funny and is really interested in what we can teach him about Western culture.  This class has taught me about the different beliefs that the Chinese people have.  In China there are different many beliefs and religions.  Buddhism, Daoism and Confucianism are some of the main ones.  These beliefs influence a huge deal of the Chinese people’s lives.  It is really interesting learning about this because it helps me understand more why the Chinese people do different things.  We often see Chinese people practising Tai Chi in the streets.  They are trying to connect with the ‘qi’. Qi is the natural energy of the world.  They believe that if they can connect with the ‘qi’ they will be more powerful.

 A Chinese man practising Ti Chi in the park.

We are continuing to have mandarin classes every week.  I am slowly picking up the language and it has proved extremely useful for impressing my students in school with a few Mandarin phrases.  It is much harder to write the Chinese characteristics.  We were able to practise our calligraphy writing this week.

 We have enjoyed more time with our Chinese buddies this week.  It is so good to have friendly, helpful people looking after us during our time here in Guangzhou.  We finally got to experience the famous KTV.  Ever since we arrived we have been asked to go to KTV.  It is a karaoke place where you go with a group of friends and have your own booth and you sing songs and eat food! It was great fun and I enjoyed getting to experience what the Chinese students normally do on their weekends. 

                                                                    With some friends at KTV

I was teaching in school again this week.  I taught my students about School life in Northern Ireland.  In one of my classes there is a boy with special educational needs (SEN). I noticed him straight away because he laughs randomly during lessons but he cannot speak and has difficulty walking.   It really saddened me to see this boy struggling in this mainstream school class with no additional help.  It has made me really appreciate the fantastic Special Needs Schools that we have in Northern Ireland. 

After spending a week last semester in a special needs school I can’t help but feel that China should do more to cater for the needs of SEN children in their schools.  So far, I have not heard of any SEN schools in Guangzhou.

The experiences I am having in school and in my classes at SCNU are helping me both professionally and personally.  I am inspired by the diligent students to take more pride in my own work and realise what a blessing it is to be a part of such a fantastic education system in Northern Ireland.

Zaijian - Goodbye