All the Tea in China

I’ve already gotten a few colds since I’ve been here, which isn’t surprising seeing the environment. My apartment is old, and because of the humidity everything molds. My room isn’t as bad as some of the others, but it’s still not helping my health. Also the pollution is bound to take a toll on anyone. I told one of my co-teachers about being sick, and she brought me to the pharmacy to get some Chinese tea. It was really cool going with her because she was able to tell me what each type of tea (all loose tea) was for and which ones I should get. I got a chrysanthemum flower tea, one that looks like a red seed and is good for your immune system, another one that looks like small pieces of straw and is good for your throat, and some dried lemon slices. And I swear it really did help my throat and my cold instantly! Most people drink the loose tea just in a normal mug, and somehow manage to strain it through their teeth. But I was getting so annoyed by pieces going into my mouth that I went out and bought a really cool glass mug with a strainer a the top. It also has a lid so I can bring it around with me just like the Chinese do!

I’ve picked up a couple of extra teaching jobs on the side to fill my time and make some extra cash. I find it so ironic that this summer in the states it was an absolute nightmare just trying to find a temp job even with a bachelors degree, and here I am literally being offered teachings jobs left and right just for being an English speaker. I’ve found that its easy to get a little greedy here, because we (foreigners) are such a rare commodity and we know that people are willing to pay just about anything to hire us. I took a job 1 day a week (40 mins of teaching a day) at a kindergarten, and it makes me almost $100 extra a month! I teach the youngest kindergarteners, and they are…get this…2 and 3 years old! The first day I walked in I couldn’t believe it, they were babies staring up at me and I was supposed to teach them how to speak English. They can barely speak Chinese! But boy are they adorable! The classes are 20 minutes each, and they can sit still for about 5 of those. They sort of just look up at me blankly and mimic the sounds I’m making. But sure enough, they are learning and remembering the words I’m teaching them! The learning center they go to is very nice and they each have their own crib or race-car bed that they take naps in, with a made that changes the sheets, etc. I enjoy the class a lot because its small, less than 10 kids, as opposed to my usual classes of 45 or more. I have another private job in the lurks for a friend of a friend’s child and her friends children, all around 3 as well. They start ‘em early here!


I began Chinese lessons last week. The Wuhan government is offering them free to foreign teachers for the first time this year. Score! They’re held at a learning center, and our teacher is really good. The first 2 classes we spent the time just practicing making sounds used in Mandarin words. It was actually really helpful and makes it easier to know how to pronounce a word I see written in pinyin (Chinese spelled out in letters instead of characters). The frustrating thing, though, is that no matter how efficient I become in spoken Mandarin, I’ll still never be able to read a menu, a sign, or anything else written in characters. But I just have to take it one step at a time, and it’s my goal to be able to learn as much spoken Mandarin as possible in the next 8 ½ months!

Fun Fact: Not only are most children in China only children, but only grandchildren as well, on BOTH sides! This was my co-teachers explanation of why my 1st graders get a little rambunctious in class...and who can blame them :)