Wow, Did I Really Move to China?

It is hard to know what to write about first. There is so much to comment on. If I thought life in Qatar was wildly different when I first arrived there, it was nothing like the adjustment to life in Beijing, China. I will say that despite all the reading I tried to do and research I thought I was doing, living here is NOTHING like I expected it would be. 

I am very happy that I chose to come to Beijing. Beijing is one of three "municipalities" of China, which basically means that the city is so massive that it is its own province. I learned this when I was trying to order stuff on amazon.cn, the China Amazon (love it and hate it). I can't compare it to anywhere else really, but I can now see why I did not feel good about going somewhere smaller. This is a major urban center and it is still really hard to get some of your familiar creature comforts and equally as challenging to find a taxi driver who speaks any English. Now, I know that this is China. People speak Chinese. But that does not make it any easier. We have had many hilarious and not-so-hilarious mishaps already. Try doing any of the following in Chinese: a) set up a bank account, b) set up an Internet service, c) buy a sim card for your cell phone, d) tell the hairdresser what you want done to your hair, e) order food or even Diet Coke (and no, you can't say "cola" or "coke light" like you can in other countries...doesn't work) f) order a smoothie or bubble tea, g) get medicine for your stepson's cut leg, h) read the messages that get texted to you by the cell phone company, i) read notices on your door from the property management company, i) understand from the outside of a store what is sold on the inside, h) negotiate the price of your bike, i) explain that you want a drink without sugar, j) explain that you want a drink without alcohol, k) explain that you want your dinner to be peanut free, l) tell your cleaning lady what you would like her to do, m) understand the random person on the other end of the phone who just called you and is clearly enraged....the list, of course, goes on and on.

Brody got his head practically shaved. Paul got his side burns lopped off. Neither was planned. We tried to order a smoothie and ended up getting one bright green, one pure black, and one creamy tan colored beverage on ice. Paul still hasn't found a way to buy a damn sim card. The other day I walked into what I thought was a small store and found a family eating noodle lunch on the floor. Needless to say, each step outside your door is a challenge. So I am glad I am in a big city, where there are at least a few expats and English speakers around. It is always a nice surprise because survival in Chinese can be exhausting.

Utilities here are a struggle. You have three to four utility cards. One for toilet water, one for tap water (which you should not drink, so order a third type...bottled...instead), one for gas to cook and one for electricity. Much like a prepaid phone card, these have to be pre-loaded with money, then brought home and swiped through the appropriate machine that may be in your kitchen, in the main hallway of the building, or somewhere else. In order to load money onto the cards, they have to be EMPTY. So you can't add money if there is even a small balance. How do you know you need to add money? The specific utility stops working. So for example, you can be in mid-shower and the water will stop working. Then you have to go downstairs, grab your tap water card, put shoes and a robe on, go into the hallway, swipe your card to get the balance onto the water meter, then go finish your shower. Then go reload your card. The challenge is that no one reloads in the same place. We are lucky. We go to the basement of Building 1 to do tap, toilet, and electric. Gas is paid at a bank about six blocks away. But many of our neighbors have to go to the city grid building, and other banks to do the same tasks. So if your water runs out in the middle of your shower, you may have to go to the BANK. Crazy. This Is China.

It is fun to rant about these crazy things, but I have to say, for the most part I am SHOCKED at how much I love, love, love Beijing. I thought there was no way in hell I would want to live here, and right now I absolutely love it. The food is delicious and cheap. The food is only weird if you choose weird, like when Paul ordered frog, or last night when he ordered duck from a street shop instead of a restaurant and they included a lovely duck head that was barbequed to perfection. I thought it was the foot until I realized I was holding a neck and prying apart the beak with my finger in duck eyeball. I didn't eat the duck last night. In fact, I haven't had one animal product since the duck head incident. It may be a great while before I do. 

I love the green trees and grass everywhere. The streets are lined with elms and weeping willows and beautiful bushy flowering plants. The people, both here in our suburban area of Shunyi, and the ones we have encountered downtown are very polite and kind, unless they are driving. When driving, they rival the Qataris for pure crazy. I love the way people live outdoors in the summer and how people of ALL ages can be seen working out, jumping rope, doing weights, playing sports, walking, jogging, biking, and scootering everywhere and all day long. I love living across from a gorgeous city park where I can hear old men practicing their Indiana Jones whip, or ladies playing pipes, or someone on her karaoke machine, crooning away to some Peking Opera.

I love my school. I love how it is growing and expanding instead of hanging on with its bare teeth in a dying neighborhood. I love that my classroom is huge and bright and new. I love that my students are so sweet and polite and KEEN. I love that I have time before every single class to set up for it. I love that I have a couple of HOURS of prep time every day. I love that when we figured out how to buy medicine for Brody's cut leg it cost us 1 RMB, or 17 cents Canadian. 

I love the sound of the cicadas in the trees. Some people think it is annoying. It reminds me of being in the tropics. I love all the dogs everywhere...and NO, not to eat. The PET dogs everywhere that can understand Chinese way better than I can. I love that I am starting to understand things people say ONCE in a while. I love that there is so much to do here, that I don't know when I am going to get a chance to do it all. 

I love that I just baked chocolate chip cookies for Brody's lunch in my oven that is smaller than most peoples' toasters back home.

I was so freaked out to come here before I left and the first while was so hard. And there are lots of things that are strange and a few things that are frustrating, but overall, I feel excited, and happy, and pleasantly shocked and surprised. I hope the feeling lasts a while.