But here are some things I really loved about my time in China
I Felt so Safe
Walking back to the flat at 8.30pm to walking around the town at 2am I felt so unbelievably safe. One night after our Saturday classes my co-teacher (Dan) and I went out for a drink. While we were out by the river drinking Tsingdao, as you do, we were approached by these two guys and a woman. We got talking and they invited us to go to KTV (karaoke) with them. Baring in mind we had quite a few beers bought for us so we were um...rather tipsy. Dan and I then got into this guys car and got driven 10 minutes down to road to this building.
I know what this sounds like, if this happened to me in the UK I totally would have thought I was being kidnapped.
We go up in the elevator to the top floor and oh my god.....the place looked exactly like those swish Vagas bars you see in the movies. Marble floors and pillars, mirrored walls and a water feature just chilling in the middle of the lobby. The place looked amazing! I would have taken a photo but I'll be honest,I had no idea where I was and I was in too much awe at my situation,
After 2 wide hours of KTV where I was forced to sing You Belong With Me by Taylor Swift twice because the 4 women there practically threw the microphone at me..both times. Dan and I were taken back to our flat....we offered to pay for the ride and the KTV room, but we were told it's okay.
I never felt uncomfortable at any point during my trip when I walked alone at night.
I spoke to my high school students about safety and they were shocked when I said I felt so much safer in China that I do in the UK.
The People
This kinda ties into the first one. Everywhere I went, whether I was alone or with Dan, people who didn't even know how to speak English would try and talk to us. We were invited to people's homes and cooked for and we were invited out to drink.
We took a 20 hour train to Beijing (That's another story!) and so many people approached us, tried to teach us card games. Nearly everyone I met was so warm and welcoming, even the drunk people I met in bars welcomed me to China!
The people I met there definitely made my trip worth it ^^
The people I met there definitely made my trip worth it ^^
The Vegetables Are so Delicious
AND SO CHEAP!!
I bought a watermelon for the equivalent of £2 and it weighed the same as my little brother when he was 5 years old.
I swear to god.
That watermelon was one of the best moments of my trip.
The walking up 5 flights of stairs carrying it however, wasn't.
Feeling like a Celebrity When I Walked down the Street
When foreigners go to countries that are largely homogeneous they always make posts about how everyone stares at them. But I guess because I was going to quite a small city I was already aware that people would stare at me, so it didn't bother me that much.
But what I wasn't expecting was being approached quite so frequently and being asked if they could take a photo with them!
The only thing I didn't like was when the parents made me pose with their children. This one time I was walking to the school one morning and this man grabs my arm, I turn around and he gestures that he wants to take me photo so I'm like "okay^^", the next thing I know he puts this really young kid in my arms. The kid sees me holding him and starts crying so loudly. Like proper red face bawling. I was just stood there holding this traumatised child until the father took him off me.
I felt so bad for scaring the crap out of that kid *sigh*
THE FOOD!!
Oh maaaaaaaaaan
Legit Chinese food is amazing.
I mentioned in a previous post how I was in the south of China for the majority of my stay, and the south of China is known for having super spicy food,
The first 2 weeks I struggled. Everything I ate had chillies and chillies and more chillies in. But the flavours!! THE FLAVOURS!!
After spending a week in Beijing I started to miss the spicy. But Beijing food is special and mouth watering in its own way~
And then returning to the UK I really started to miss the spicy!!
For the past year I've been putting hot sauce on everything (T-T)
Annnd some things that I didn't like so much
The Bathrooms
You've probably seen things around the internet about the hygiene of Chinese toilets, particularly public toilets.....they don't seem to be exaggerating.
Although, after spending a few months there I became VERY good at using a squat toilet~The Weather
What do you expect going to an Asian country in the middle of the summer?
It was humid, sunny and foggy (smoggy). However, after a few weeks I got used to it and was able to wear jeans in 32 degree heat+humidity~
And that's about it!!
I really loved my experience in China, I just wished I could have stayed longer and learnt the language properly~
