First Post from China
I'm finally here in China, safe and sound. I left St. Louis on Monday the 14th and arrived in Toronto at about 9pm. I had the wonderful opportunity to stay at the airport overnight since I didn't want to pay for a taxi or a hotel room. Although that night I was reading through my materials and I found out that we were supposed to arrive in Shanghai on the 15th and I wasn't going to arrive until the 16th. I called my dad and he read through an old email that said I was to leave on the 15th. So, I assumed that materials I had been reading were wrong. Unfortunately, we were supposed to get in on the 15th. So I arrived a day later than almost everybody else. But there was a teacher waiting for me at the airport to put me on a bus to Nanjing. We also met up with another student going to Nanjing so I didn't have any problem getting to Nanjing.
Once I got to Nanjing I moved into a room. I'm not sure if I am going to stay there or not. I think it may be just temporary because I moved in late, however I'm not sure. My current roommate is from Japan. He knows a little English which is good because his English is better than my Chinese. He seems like a nice guy but there is a definite communication gap.
This morning I woke up early hoping to find one of the program coordinator. I couldn't find anybody and apparently they are in Shanghai. So I went to the front desk to find other people from my group. I found them and they told me everything I had missed which apparently wasn't much so that's good. I spent the rest of the day trying to exchange my cash and get some toiletries. The hardest part about going to the bank, after finding it, trying to cross the street. After finding the bank I went to the nearest corner with a light. I waited for the walk sign that lasted exactly 3 seconds. Which wasn't enough time to cross the 8 lane road. These tasks generally took longer than they should have but I eventually got them done. I've found I can talk to people but when they respond I have difficulty responding. But I seem to know enough to get around and buy stuff.
After finally finding out what was happening with my group and going to the bank I took a long nap because I was tired and had been stressed out all day.
Tonight the group I came with went out for dinner. We ate some spicy chicken, spicy beef, spicy tofu and some spicy potatoes. The food was OK. I'm not a big fan of spicy food. But whatever the food lacked in taste it made up for in cost. The meal was more than enough and came out to less than $2 per person.
zai jian,
Aaron Yates
Once I got to Nanjing I moved into a room. I'm not sure if I am going to stay there or not. I think it may be just temporary because I moved in late, however I'm not sure. My current roommate is from Japan. He knows a little English which is good because his English is better than my Chinese. He seems like a nice guy but there is a definite communication gap.
This morning I woke up early hoping to find one of the program coordinator. I couldn't find anybody and apparently they are in Shanghai. So I went to the front desk to find other people from my group. I found them and they told me everything I had missed which apparently wasn't much so that's good. I spent the rest of the day trying to exchange my cash and get some toiletries. The hardest part about going to the bank, after finding it, trying to cross the street. After finding the bank I went to the nearest corner with a light. I waited for the walk sign that lasted exactly 3 seconds. Which wasn't enough time to cross the 8 lane road. These tasks generally took longer than they should have but I eventually got them done. I've found I can talk to people but when they respond I have difficulty responding. But I seem to know enough to get around and buy stuff.
After finally finding out what was happening with my group and going to the bank I took a long nap because I was tired and had been stressed out all day.
Tonight the group I came with went out for dinner. We ate some spicy chicken, spicy beef, spicy tofu and some spicy potatoes. The food was OK. I'm not a big fan of spicy food. But whatever the food lacked in taste it made up for in cost. The meal was more than enough and came out to less than $2 per person.
zai jian,
Aaron Yates
posted by Aaron at 9:43 PM
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