Another country. Another journey...

Green Lake in the center of the city. These birds migrate from Siberia for the winter.

 After a long 26 hours of traveling I arrived in Kunming, Yunnan, China. If you ever decide to travel to China, do not travel during their Spring Festival/Chinese New Years. During this time it is the biggest migration of people, with millions of people traveling home to visit with family during their 10 days off from work. 



around a Buddhist temple

So far I have nothing but great impressions of this place. As it is a city of 6 million, it is so densely populated, so the city itself doesn't appear that large and it is relatively easy to navigate. It seems there are more people on scooters or bikes than cars, which helps minimize the air pollution and traffic. Even the garbage collectors ride bikes. Of course, many still wear those sars/pollution masks.

"Dumpster Bikes"

The language is seemingly impossible to learn. The writing (symbols) I will likely never learn, but I hope to take some classes to help me with some basic vocabulary for speaking and understanding. So far my vocabulary consists of, "I don't understand." "This one." "Thank you." and "Hello"

Ommmm

I like my job so far even though I haven't started teaching. I've been doing many observations, and I've decided there can't quite be anything cuter than small Chinese children learning English. There are about 15 other foreigners at this school, 10 of them being from England. 1 French guy, 1 Australian guy, and 3 Americans (Wisconsin, Seattle, Portland) My workload will be quite small to start off, only 11 hours a week with 6 office hours. So I will have plenty of time to work on my Chinese, explore the city, and the beautiful countryside.

Some co-workers and I up to the temple

 Kunming is the capital of the Yunnan province. So it's a big city, but just minutes to ample hiking, climbing, and beautiful countryside in the surrounding mountains. I went with some co-workers this past weekend on a hike up to a Buddhist temple. Of course, I had to respect that I couldn't take photos inside. I'll never forget the moment I walked into that temple. For someone who is intrigued by Buddhism, to enter a temple for the first time was quite moving and peaceful. The smell of the incense burning, the calm, the comfort, the giant gold Buddhas, the colors, the peace, the details, the cherry blossoms lined outside, etc.The overall affect was very appealing. Everything about the moment was perfect. It's moments like those that remind me why I do what I do....

I think it is safe to say I will like it here. The best part of it all is the weather is essentially perfect. It has been 73 and sunny since I've gotten here. Now that I am thinking about it, I don't even think I've seen a cloud here yet.

As much as I do love this place, obviously things haven't been "perfect" for me. The lack of language skills makes things a bit more difficult. I've gotten lost on my own. I've ordered food which was disgusting. (Generally, I like the food here, but when you are starving, and you walk into a restaurant and point to what someone else is having you just don't know what you'll be getting.) I've given in many times to go to McDonalds (a place I haven't gone to in years) for some comfort food (and a menu that isn't in symbols.) I've learned to laugh at myself as I know it is all just part of my journey here ... and with a city of 6 million, it isn't very likely I will run into the same people very often.

I'll finally be able to move into a place next week, so I can begin cooking for myself. It is with another English teacher from the UK. It is close to the lake, so it will be nice to escape the big city feel and relax in nature every now and then.



Chinese traditional toilet

 Some other things worth mentioning: The Chinese traditional toilet (see picture above), which of course is a step up from the "outdoor hole in the ground" or "just pee along side the house" bathrooms in El Salvador. At the hospital, the doctors were smoking. Not just that, but in the chest x-ray room. The only construction workers I have seen are women. Which is especially bizarre for me coming from El Salvador, where the men do all the working, and the woman stay home with the family.
 

PS-  Facebook and blogspot are blocked here in China. So when I am on a computer that has it unblocked, my time is very limited and the connection is quite slow.  Excuse me for any mistakes or confusion on this blog, I had to write it quite fast for that reason.
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