Settling In...

I've made it to China and am settling in quite nicely!  It's been a fantastic journey so far.  I am happy to report that the flights over to China (all three of them) were quite easy.  I had a lovely friend help me on the final leg by placing me in another seat...one that was situated at the window on an exit row.  I got plenty of leg room, and luckily, there was no one next to me so I was able to maneuver myself in different positions to get a decent amount of sleep. I was also able to watch 4 movies on that flight from Vancouver to Hong Kong, but I'll tell you I didn't feel like it was all that long.  I had only done up to 9 hours on a plane before this journey, a total of 13 hours from Canada to China, but it wasn't bad.  I drank water throughout the flights (only water the whole time), and took no meds (it's funny because I had planned on taking a muscle relaxer, but I packed them in my checked luggage!!) and I was perfectly fine.  I walked to the bathroom at the back of the plane, even though there was a toilet near my seat, to get a little exercise. I think I did this 4 times total.  I stood in the space in front of my seat as often as possible and stretched my legs and back.  I tried to move my feet often, circling my ankles, while I was seated. I took my make-up off with one of those face wipes and brushed my teeth twice to try and keep myself feeling fresh. It worked pretty well.

I arrived in Hong Kong with a slight battle of the nerves at the thought of being in completely unfamiliar territory and wondering if I'd make it through Customs and Immigration ok and then whether or not I'd be able to manage all of my luggage on my own, but I have to tell you it was a breeze. The airport was really calm, to my complete surprise. I didn't have to wait in any line, I wasn't asked any questions, and because a new colleague of mine had told me to go through the "nothing to declare" passage, I was out of there in no time.  I went to the baggage claim area where I grabbed two baggage carts and, per the instructions of that same colleague, pulled out my duck tape and taped the break of each cart down so they'd be easy to push.  I loaded all five of my checked bags along with my two carry-ons onto the carts and put one in front of the other to push (this made me extend my arms rather far and stick my behind out, but hey, it worked).  I managed to get to Nic, the person holding the "International School of Dongguan" sign, and he helped me to the driver.  Nic didn't come with me to Dongguan because he had others to collect from the airport, so the driver and I headed out on our own. We drove about 2 hours, not too bad, towards my new "hometown."  We had to stop once on the way for immigration from Hong Kong to Dongguan, but this was much simpler than I had imagined too.  Based on what I'd been told, I was under the impression I would have to get out of the car, take my luggage, and go through immigration on my own. This was not the case at all. The driver simply gave me a form, pulled up to a booth much like a toll, used his arm to reach back and open the door so the immigration officer could see my face, then popped the back door so they could see my luggage.  Boom, done, and we were on our way.

We arrived in Dongguan and I was again shocked to see it wasn't overly crowded.  Don't get me wrong, it's a big city for sure, but it's not like there were so many people out you couldn't move through the streets.  We pulled up to my apartment complex and Michael, my new boss, Mrs. May, the school's head "housekeeper"/auntie to all, along with two other Chinese men (Mr. Bill and Mr. Xin) helped me get all of my luggage up to my apartment on the 11th floor.  I walked in, threw my hands to my cheeks, and almost cried.  It was beautiful, and I immediately felt at home.

That night I tried to stay up as late as possible to ward off the jet lag, and also because I'm rather OCD at times, I unpacked my suitcases.  I put away everything I could without hangers to hang clothes... I brought A LOT of them.  I finally went to sleep between 11 and 12, but the next morning, I woke up at 3:30 anyways.  I got up, unpacked more, and fell back asleep at 4:45. I got up the second time at 7 and decided to get up and get ready. I didn't have internet yet (no wifi for FaceTime), so I prepared for the day.  We were picked up (and by we I mean the other new teachers from nearby buildings) at 8 to go to our medical exams.  This was an event for sure and deserves its own post, so see the next blog for a good laugh regarding that experience!  After our exams, we went to the school for a tour and once again, I was overwhelmed with joy and excitement.  The school is amazing and I can't wait to get my classroom set up and begin working with the students.  I walked in and right away felt that moving back to a public school classroom was not in my future...more about this at another time.

We left the school after our tour and brief orientation and went to a Thai restaurant where Michael treated us to several wonderful dishes...spicy, but delicious.  After lunch, we were all taken to Metro, a Sams/Costco type club, where were could begin purchasing things to help us settle in.  The school provided each of us with 500 US dollars worth of RMB, but after two days, mine was all gone!  ;)

The Metro trip was a good start for shopping and a good end to the day.  After waking so early,  I was beat, as were most of the teachers who had arrived the day before. We went back to our apartments, I unpacked the few items I'd bought (hangers being one of them), and returned to the task of putting clothes away.  After speaking with family finally (the tech guy set up my wifi the night before), I got myself ready for shopping day two.  We took our coach (our school bus which happens to be a huge 45 seater chartered bus) to Ikea in Shenzen, an hour or so away. We were given 4 hours to shop.  I kid you not, we used almost all four.  We ate lunch in Ikea on our 35 RMB allowance and I only spent 20 of this on a bottle of water and a huge plate of rice and tofu stir fry.  20 RMB is less than $4!!

I bought a huge buggy full of items at Ikea to make me feel more at home.  My purchases included four dinner plates, four salad plates, four pasta bowls, four small bowls, silverware and an organizer for the drawer, a dish rack and a sink cover (hard to explain but it folds out to make the top of your sink a shelf of shorts to help veggies to dry after washing, but I bought it for the bathroom sink and the pic attached explains why), a pasta pot, a smaller saucepan, a frying pan, some utensils for cooking, a duvet, pillows and comforter for the master room, two rugs for the master, a laundry basket, and some cute starfish and fish shaped ice trays.  I think that's it besides one placemat of sorts for the table to be placed as a centerpiece.  I spent over $400, but was very happy with my purchases.

After Ikea we went back to town and unloaded all of our belongings.  It took several of to help each other get everything we had purchased up to our apartments.  After we'd all unloaded though, we took an hour or so break before having to head out to Michael (our boss)'s house for Papa Johns and drinks. He treated all of us.

By 8 o'clock or so I was beat, so we headed back home shortly after.  When I got home, I made sure to finish unpacking all the Ikea buys and washing and putting them away.  I just hate when things sit out and aren't in their respective places.

This morning I woke at 5 and got up early to begin this blog. I thought I better make use of the time and let you all know what's going on. After that I piddled around a bit then Facetimed with Katy, whom I'm trying to get to come visit soon. At 10, I met some girls an Niki, our shopping guru, so we could all get groceries, etc.  We went to All Good, an amazing store and possibly one of my favorites here, then the market underneath where we saw some truly interesting things.  After this, we went to Share Foods, a perfect little Western market with all things European and American...my kind of shop.  We had lunch at a noodle shop nearby then went on to WalMart, what a trip, and by the time we finished there were were all shopped out, or so we thought.  We had so many bags we took the car back and thought that might need to be it.  We wanted to drive to a nearby park though to check that out so we went over quickly and walked around for 20 minutes or so, but it was so hot, we decided to go on home.  We unloaded all of our things back at our apartments and Niki went on home, but a few of us wanted to go to Carrefour so we took a short break before heading back out.  I was completely drenched with sweat, sorry but it's true, so I literally took off my shirt and sat in the cool of the apartment for a few minutes. There was not point in showering and going back out, so I let the shirt dry, gross, I know, and then headed back downstairs to meet the girls.  Erin and Josmary, who live in the building near me, walked with me to Carrefour to meet Shu Lin, who lives just above the store.

I think Carrefour was even worse than WalMart with crazy crowds, but I was able to really stock up on pasta and such. I was super happy.  I had been a little stressed about money as I only exchanged $250 worth of US currency before coming over and my debit card was declined at 3 different ATM's, but the one outside of good old WalMart worked, so I was able to get much more cash.  Now I'm feeling really comfortable about where to get foods, and I mean a lot of them.

After Carrefour, the four of us said we'd get pedicures but two girls got super tired so Shu Lin and I took my things up to the apartment and then headed back out to find a nearby salon.  About two hours later our toes were painted and our heels were softened.  I have decided I may get pedis every other week or more as it only cost us $11 and the pedicure lasted over an hour!

Now I'm exhausted and filthy, so I think it's time for my second daily shower.  Then it's bed time for this chic as we have our first day of training tomorrow.

Life is good, I'm settling in well, and I'm excited for what lies ahead!!