The first week, part two

8 January 2008, daytime

A flush of fear

The morning went without any major incidents. I met the lovely HR lady who looks after new hires along with a couple of other new colleagues. The four of us went to do the Chinese medical check for foreigners, which I had already done but which I had to do again because my Irish doctor didn’t put a date on the form at the time. Ah well! The examination went more than smoothly, and I began to admire Chinese efficiency- in and out without any fuss, very much to my German liking. On the cab rides there and back I had another chance to gawk out the window at the tall buildings and stunning architecture around me.

Mad high buildings in central Beijing

Lunch was at a local restaurant, and we were well looked after. The meat-eaters got a crispy-looking Beijing kao ya (Beijing roast duck), and I had a lovely combination of spicy tossed, cold vegetables with nuts and dressing (a Chinese salad, I thought) and some very refreshing papaya slices in an orange sauce.

When I followed the HR lady to the restaurant’s toilet, however, I had little idea that I was about to experience my first light culture shock. We arrived at the ladies’ room, each of us went into separate cubicles, and there it was- the first squat toilet I had ever seen.

Now I had heard and read before that it was possible to encounter squat toilets in China. I had assumed, however, that it was predominantly a countryside phenomenon. (I was soon to find out that squatters are much, much more common than I would have ever dreamt.)

So there I was, standing in front of what looked like a urinal sunk into the ground, a filthy ground it was, too, with no toilet paper in sight anywhere.

The decision took one very painful second- no way, Jose. I made sure, however, that I made a bit of a rustling noise and flushed so my companion wouldn’t be offended.

A squat toilet, just like the one I decided not to use

8 January 2008, evening

Prost in Peking

The Irish do it. Whenever they’re in another country, whether it’s on business, holidays, or to begin a new life abroad, the first place they tend to look for is the local Irish bar.

I was trying very hard to use this idea as a justification when my boyfriend and me stepped into the Paulaner Bräuhaus in Beijing on Tuesday night. Quite a fabulous place it was, too, with an impeccably German pub menu (shame we’d already eaten!) and the best Weinschorle I’d had in ages (with authentic Munich prices to match). It felt more than surreal being in this booming east Asian capital city and sitting in a quaint, absolutely authentic-looking Bavarian-style beer house. The only thing that felt just a little out of place was the scantily-clad Thai girl band providing the evening’s entertainment (and they were very good too, or at least I thought that after the first half-litre of white-wine spritzer).

Bavaria, in the middle of Beijing

9 January 2008

Harsh realities

Nothing too special happened, except that Himself departed for Shenyang to look at his new job, and I went to China’s Silicon Valley, Zhongguancun district, to take a look at the school I’ll be teaching in. The office and all the people in it were lovely, the only bummer was learning that I’ll be working lunchtime to evening, Wednesday to Sunday, with Monday and Tuesday being my weekend. Pah. On the bright side, however, there will be very little lesson preparation, and out of my 40 working hours, 25 will be classes, resulting in a very acceptable package. I like.

10 January 2008

T-t-t-rue m-m-magnificence

This was the day me and another newbie went on a guided tour of some of Beijing’s most famous sights. I had been seriously looking forward to this; however my anticipation was slightly curbed when I found out that we would not only be departing at 7:20 am, but that the temperature was predicted at -8.

Our first stop was the beautiful Temple of Heaven, which is surrounded by a very large park where the local elders famously come for their morning gymnastics, on all days and in all weathers. And work out they do- there was huge groups of old folks across the park, doing everything from Tai Chi to ballroom dancing, from Badminton to sword fighting. The admirable sight of them made me feel incredibly lazy and unfit.

Elderly people doing Tai Chi in the wee hours of the morning

Walking around this massive green and the temple area in the early morning also made me feel the coldest I had ever felt, and by the time our designated 40 minutes were over my toes had frozen in my thick wool socks, and I had to take my shoes off on the bus and rub them back to life. The sheer force of the coldness left me speechless- and very afraid of what was to come.

Temple of Heaven

Next up was Tiananmen Square- you know, that square. I had gone by it before in a cab, thinking that it didn’t really look all that big. When I was standing in it, however, it turned out that I had merely seen one of its four sides (it has some sort of green in the middle nowadays), and being on the other end trying in vain to spot the Mao portrait, I realized that it really has to be the world’s biggest inner city square.

The Forbidden City, located opposite Tiananmen, is a sight that deserves its own blog- home to emperors and all of their families, concubines, ministers, eunuchs, soldiers and servants since the 15th century, it is simply awe-inspiring. Both its size of 9999 sqm (not 10000 for the sole reason that the emperor didn’t want to offend the other gods up in Heaven!) and its stunning architecture made it absolutely unforgettable to me. Neither the cold nor the restoration that was being done on some buildings in the run-up to the Olympics were able to spoil the incredible impression this city (and it truly is a city of its own) left on me.

Entrance to the Forbidden City- couldn't ever do it justice!

The final proper sight we were brought to (outside the two sales shows we were taken to, in a pearl bazaar and a tea house) was the Summer Palace. Retreat to Dragon Lady Empress Dowager Cixi (Soo-shee, the one who installed the last emperor and who is generally blamed for the end of the imperial monarchy in early-20th century China), it is essentially a very large, lush garden with several small, secretive buildings scattered across it. The main palace building is on a hill overlooking a huge lake, which was completely frozen and had about 30 or so locals slithering around on it. The peaceful, gorgeous setting of the palace may make this a rival of the Forbidden City as my favourite of the day.

Garden of the Summer Palace

Said day then ended with a solitary, somewhat mediocre meal in my altogether very mediocre hotel. I was very happy I’d seen some of Beijing’s impressive history and culture. I was also at the same time looking forward to and dreading the start of my real life tomorrow- I was scheduled to meet an interpreter early in the morning to start flat hunting, and was due to begin formal training at my school.

Check back soon and be frightened by some of the apartments I saw!

Bis dann,

Nadine

(All pictures mine apart from the first two)