"Hypothetically, you could be teaching your own class in September..."

 The day after tomorrow, I start my teaching career.  My sponsor teacher back at Graham Bruce said that I might have my own class come September.  I didn't have enough long term vision to see that what he said was actually true.  Focusing on the situation back in Vancouver, I thought I'd be a TOC or tutor for years and years.  Heck, I even doubted that I would get hired anywhere.

Now, I am about to teach in a country, grade level, and course content that are foreign to me.  I don't hide the fact that I'm a bit nervous from all of this.  But I will do well.  I can feel it.  I am ready.  I'm a Toastmaster, and Toastmasters are never unprepared and use whatever nervousness they have (if any) to do exemplary work.

The Yellow Crane Tower

Yesterday, four of my new colleagues and I went to Wuhan's landmark, the Yellow Crane Tower.  From the top, we could see a good chunk of Wuhan.  The view was spectacular.  But the view from each floor's balcony was the same, so by the time we got to the top, it was just the same old view from the balcony below.

Before ascending the tower, we walked around the area surrounding the tower.  We ate at a Mama-Papa hole-in-the-wall restaurant in what seemed to be a back alley of a residential area.  We were walking down that road when a woman came out of a side door and beckoned us to come in.  We did.  I don't think any one of us regret the decision.

We had a large bowl of rice, vegetable noodle soup, and a spicy ji rou (chicken) noodle dish.  Everything was great; I certainly left the place satisfied. It was 35 yuan for all 5 of us.

lfg raid apt 403

Yesterday, Jennifer, one of the veteran teachers at my school invited me and another new teacher to an apartment that was fully furnished.  She said that the teacher that used to live there wasn't coming back, and everything in the apartment was up for grabs.

So I went at it. I got some pretty neat stuff.

- Frozen mozza cheese
- 2 mugs
- a beer mug
- 20 hangers
- a rice cooker
- a pan
- various cleaning chemicals
- an ironing board
- a clothes rack for drying
- a bowl
- 3 plates
- paprika
- cinnimon

...and my grand prize...


A bottle of Pouilly-Fume white wine from France.  The Loire Valley to be exact.  No one wanted it but me, so I got it.  If it was going to any one of the new teachers, I suppose it should have been me. Why, you may ask? Well...hmm...

Eatng Out in Wuhan!

So today I got my cell phone.  I'll post my number sometime later on my Facebook.  After that, the staff at my school and I went down to my principal's favorite restaurant to eat.  It was a fine dining place.

All the food was delicious.  We had:

- bitter-melon soup
- fish ball, egg yolk, and chicken soup
- Chinese lettuce wrap with a fine noodle stuffing
- garlic-steamed soft tofu topped with chillis and Chinese onion
- squid braised in a fried garlic and chili sauce
- long beans slathered with some sort of oily, garlic sauce
- Sweet and sour pork
- frozen, thin-cut sashimi
- boiled potstickers with a lemon/soy sauce/fish sauce dip

 - Chrysanthemum Tea
- Some sort of Pijiu (which the Teacher-Librarian at my school said was a top shelf Chinese beer)

This was probably one of the best Chinese meals I've ever had.

The first 3 days

No pictures so far. Forgot my camera back at my apartment every day my tongshi ("colleagues" or "comrades") have gone out.

3 awesome things that have happened so far...

1. Earlier today, I went to a workout gym off the school grounds.  It was so humid, I was sweating buckets.  The gym itself was dark, dirty and old.  I think the weights on the dumbbells were rusted because people sweat on them too much.  It totally was a place for hardcore gym rats.  There was an Eastern European guy with boxer-t on that seriously looked like the guy in Rocky IV.  It totally would be the place Arnold would go workout back in the 1970s.

2. Walked down a road with some of my new colleagues. It looked like a bomb had hit it. It was broken, and dirty and had its share of "city farts," as my friend Jeremy would put it.  We had street food for lunch.  I ordered a vegetarian noodle stir fry cooked with sesame oil on a searing-hot iron wok.  It was so good!

3. My occasional affinity for whiskey and UBC Mandarin courses really paid off 2 days ago.  Had a night of eating and drinking with my colleagues, principal, and vice principal.  Most of the new teachers left the party early, but a few stayed.  Those that did stay (I myself included) polished off 2 bottles of bourbon whiskey. No baijiu just yet.

I decided to try and catch up with the next group of teachers that left, but got lost (the party was at an apartment about 40 min away by foot from the school).  I hopped into a cab and gave the driver the school card, but he gave it to the security guard at the gate of the apartment complex.  He tried to take me across the Yangzi River, which would be the wrong, and long way.  I guess it was his attempt to up the cab fare.  I yelled out "bu nali! Bu bu bu yao! Wo men qu zai nali?!  Minzu lu Zai Wuchang qu!!" (Not here!! No, no, no I don't want this!  Where are we going?!  Minzu Road in Wuchang District!).  The driver turned around and went straight to my destination within 5 min. I would've been lost without directions in a foreign city. Scary thought.  Next time I won't be so stupid to leave the school without 3 or 4 cards.  I'll never let them go either.

Lesson learned.

Greetings from the Middle Kingdom!

I landed in Pudong a few hours ago.  OMG it's friggin' humid!  The airport is pretty cold, but I'm still covered in sweat INSIDE!

It's...um...Towelie from Southpark?!

Irony of Ironies

So today I went Downtown and to Metrotown - one last time before I leave for China tomorrow morning.  Once I arrived home, my dad was talking to someone on the phone:

Dad: "Paul?  He's not here right now...oh! He's just arriving! Paul! Phone!"

Paul: [Grabs phone from Dad] "Hello?"

Caller X: "Hello Paul, this is the Vancouver School Board calling.  My name is X and I'm calling to confirm that you've filed an application for employment with us."

Paul: "Um...yes I have."

Caller X: "Excellent. Yes, I see here you applied in January, correct?"

Dad: [whispers] "Hahahaha! Are you just getting hired now, Paul?"

Paul: [gives off a sneer at his dad and brother as the chuckle to each other; walks downstairs]: "Yes."

Caller X: "Well, yes, it is quite late, but we are wondering if you are still interested in coming in for an interview. Would you be able to do that?"

Paul: [now alone downstairs] "Well, that's a bit of a problem.  You see, I'm interested, but tomorrow I'll be leaving for China."

Caller X: "Oh, are you going to be teaching there?"

Paul: "Yes, for two years."

Caller X: "Well, we'll put your name back on file.  You can just re-apply when you return."
............


Just my luck, eh?
Whatever.  I'm happy with my decision.

Tomorrow

One more day in Vancouver.  I thought this day would never come, and at times I didn't want it to.  I feel comfortable with my lifestyle here.  All my friends are here.  I've asked myself many, many times: why do I have to go? Couldn't I stay in my hometown?

But now I know I need to go.  I need to experience what I'm about to experience so I can grow.  Not just because of my new career, but for personal reasons as well.  I always wanted to do this.  I will be far away, outside of the English speaking world, starting a new career with people I have yet to meet. 

I suppose I should have been careful for what I wished for. But if I stayed, what then?

A new chapter of my life begins.  I am prepared.  I don't regret anything.

Goodbye, Vancouver

Going away parties

I'd like to thank everyone who came out to my various going away parties. The food and drinks were awesome, the company even better.  I even scored $170 at the casino!

I have had the privilege and honor of having many wonderful friends and family members here in Vancouver.  I will miss you all dearly.

This isn't a goodbye.  It is only a farewell for now.  Make sure you continue reading my blog for updates on my adventures abroad!

Paul

The Chronic-what?!-cles of Mexico #3

Isla Mujeres. Quaint little island.

Saw this elementary school's artwork walking towards a beach.

What the heck is the boy doing in this picture!?

 

...only in Mexico.

And so it ends...and so it begins!

It is ending.  My time here in Vancouver is quickly coming to a close.  And so it begins...me saying goodbye to the various good people I know.

Yesterday was a sort of a bittersweet day. I caught up with lots of my mom's side of the family...but only because it was the funeral of my Uncle Dennis. Will these be the only times I see these people - when family members pass away?  Hopefully, my generation of cousins can pull some tighter knit bond together.

Then a great party at my family's house for some of my old Diversity Cohort peeps (my first Education Program cohort).  I love hanging out with these cool kids, but sadly we only see each other two times a year.  It pains me to think that the time margin in between my reunions with these friends will only become wider.

2:10 AM on Thursday, August 5th.  2 more weeks to go.  I've been running around gathering my many things to pack: personal effects, clothes, teacher resources, and of course, and a big jar of Nutella.  I'm almost ready to send off my boxes of cargo that won't get to me until October or maybe even November.

Aside from being super-duper busy, I've got a funeral and a friend's birthday to attend.  Not to mention I have to host 3 going away parties.  Don't even get me started on lesson planning, because that's taken a backseat in my priorities list as of a week ago.  I guess I worry about that once I'm in the People's Republic.

The Chronic-what?!-cles of Mexico #2

Chichen Itza. One of the several Wonders of the World.  The day started off really, really nice.  But when our tour got to the temple, it started to rain.  Hard.  Just like the last time I was at another Wonder of the World! At the Great Wall of China, there was a massive downpour that got everyone drenched.