Friday 5th Dec
Strange thing happened on the flight. Stewardess came around
asking if 'i'm chinese?'. I said yes, but i can't speak chinese. she just smiled and gave me a feedback survey to fill in, all of which was in mandarin! so i felt pretty silly sitting there with this thing in front of me, but managed to fill out most of it in the end with the aid of the smiley and frowny faces on the form. but there were some faceless questions which i had to randomly answer. when it came to filling in my details i left that part blank...It didn't start off too well, after i forgot to bring my winter jacket, and only had like 2 jumpers. The temps have been lingering around 0-10 degrees max and down to negative 3 min! Had to get to a market the next day and get myself a new jacket. luckiily the school principal was nice enough to accompany me, as i'm sure i would've been badly ripped off on my own. I've heard you should start bargaining at 10% of the marked price, or even end up paying 10% of the price!
The host family are an elderly couple in their late 50's. the couple don't speak much english, which is good from a learning perspective. at least unlike my spanish mama they don't have a dog who understands more of the local language than me! still tho, understanding more than the pet dog would've been a good motivator yet again. Uncle (or shu shu) seems like a really mellow guy, but aunty (ah yi) seems to be a bit of a harder shell to crack. I think she's slowly warming up to me though.It's a little weird having to live with a host family again, feels like i'm a kid again. It's like i'm 27, but you're a guest in this persons home, so you have to obey all their house rules and customs. anyway toilet and shower don't look to shabby at all, so i'm pretty happy with the place.
Hey Al. Glad that you make it there in the first place. About the form, you did not mention that you don't READ Chinese...hahah...can't blame her. The aunty, you have 2 months to make an impression.
ReplyDeleteAl, I guess the good think about looking asian to you is that people won't try to rip you off as soon as they see you :p (imagine if you look like a caucasian and try to shop in the midst of a sea of asians over there, they'll all probably look at you like a drowing guy seeing a life raft in the ocean, and wouldn't let go!)
ReplyDeleteAnyway, great to see that you are brave enough to take on one of those daring trips, again. Hope you have fun, and be able to come back in one piece! I look forward to conversing with you in Chinese back in Aussieland. (I still hope you can go and pay Taiwan a visit if possible, it's really a lovely little country)
Anyway, take care of yourself, and will see you when you come back!
Thanks Al!
ReplyDeleteWould love to follow as I am grounded sob sob.. I wish i could go to China and do what you are doing. I am finding I prob need mandarin when I want to volunteer or work in aid work.. as Canto isn't that widely spoken.. but at least I can sort of read hehe...
would love to see photos of the bathroom/toilet... as you mentioned it.. is it western? want to see the house too!
Take care
hey al! this blog is great - keep it up! love hearing about your stories so far in the 'motherland' i'm sure your charm will win over aunty by the end of your stay -remember to keep the toilet seat down! or is it one of those typical 'chinese' toilets i.e. in ground and need to squat?
ReplyDeletehope you're warmer now and your mandarin is improving day by day...take care of yourself!