First week in China: Culture shock!

When I hit the one week mark, I knew I could do it. There were times though, in this past week that I have felt like hopping on a plane and getting the heck out of here. It’s hard to explain the loneliness and helplessness you feel when you first arrive in a foreign place. It’s like your world is flipped upside down and you don’t feel comfortable anywhere. But when I reached my one-week mark, I really felt like I had crossed a huge hurdle. But let’s start from the beginning:

I arrived in Wuhan on Monday night after a 22 hour trip. I was picked up from the airport by a Chinese English teacher and the school’s driver. The drive to the school was over ½ hour, and they made a point to drive through all the dingy parts of the city to give me a clear picture of my new home. Every time we drove by an old sketchy apartment complex, I cringed and prayed it wasn’t mine. They drove me to my apartment, which is inside the school and in a gated community, and dropped me off without saying much. My apartment is about the size of my Biola dorm room…tiny. It’s got a little kitchen and bathroom, and there was some food and toiletries here for me. At first I didn’t quite know what to do in a place this small, but once I got unpacked and moved in it began feeling like home. It’s in a 4 story complex full of foreign English teachers. If there’s one thing I’ve learned since I’ve been here, it’s that they give you minimal information, you pretty much have to figure everything out on your own. I started knocking around on doors the next morning to meet the foreign teachers. Some of them are new like me and some of them are returnees. They are very nice and have been so helpful in giving me the low-down of how this whole thing works. They’re all around my age, and are from Australia, England, Canada and the U.S. Most of my first week was spent learning the essentials: where to eat, how to get places, and fixing things that are broken in my apartment (it’s quaint but old). One of the most frustrating things about being here has been having my independence stripped: going anywhere by cab requires being able to pronounce where I want to go and how to get back- not an easy task just yet. As for the food- it’s amazing! Wuhan food is spicy (something my week Oregon tongue is still getting used to) but full of flavor! I think the best food I’ve had since I’ve been here is the "street food" or "alley food". I’m learning how to say my favorite foods, so even when I can’t read the menu (95% of the time) I can still order. Wuhan is a city of 9 million people- aka about the size of New York City. It’s the largest city in central China, and everything in it is large!

Fun fact: Chinese people LOVE Obama! I’ve had people who can barely speak English ask me where I’m from, and when I say America they instantly say "Obama!"