First week in the "Middle Kingdom"

The first week has really been a period of acclimatisation and adjustment to a new culture and a different mentality. My first conclusion is that China is indeed different, very different! The occidental laws of gravity simply do not fly in the Orient. Well, anyways that is my first impression.

I still have to get used to the fact that it is completely impossible to mingle with the locals. I am constantly made aware to be the Waldo in a classic “Find Waldo” scenario. Fact is that you can actually count the amount of Westerners in Wuxi (4 million inhabitants) on two hands. It is thus definitely difficult to keep a low profile! Anyways, it is part of the experience I guess.

Most of the other foreign teachers come from native English speaking countries (Australia, England and Northern America), with the exception of a lady from Israel (don’t ask me why she chose Wuxi! Actually, the same can be said for me!). Thus in short, there are no Europeans! I am happy to have brought some Edith Piaf CDs with me, so that I can at least enjoy my own roots from time to time.

I had my first lecture just before the national holidays and celebration of the People’s Republic of China on October 1. Actually, I had my first lecture already on the second day after my arrival! However, I must admit that I probably have benefited from commencing so early. I think it helped to keep me busy and undergo the drastic changes day- by- day. The students (they are freshers) are pretty nice and a few of them really smart. They had English for some time already (about 6 years) and thus have some basic knowledge and understanding of the language. I tried to provoke some discussion on Western versus Chinese culture, which was an adventure in itself. I recognized that they see Western culture as mainly individualistic and possessive. Moreover, I found that they equaled Western culture with Anglo- Saxon traditions. I still have to teach them soooo much!

Yesterday, we (6 foreign teachers) visited a market (Please find a photo to the left). As you can see the roads are even denser than on the Kalverstraat (Amsterdam) on a busy Saturday afternoon! The change of smells on the streets was also an experience: I can confirm fried pigeons smell funny! Anyways, I think I leave that kind of experimental eating to the Chinese.

Enough for now, I don’t want to bore you with more of my stories. I will keep you informed as the days pass and the experiences grow in number J.

Cheerio e a presto!

M.