4 days in Wuhan

The funniest thing about China so far, besides the little babies with slits in the bums of their pants (from front to back), is that the Chinese choose their own English names. For example, my "boss" is Mr. Wonderful. My TA is Kitty. And some of my students names are Letitia, Kiwi, Milk, Snowy, Orange, Sea, and Fram.

I began teaching yesterday. I am teaching oral english (listening and speaking) to 1st year students. They have some grasp of English, some are incredibly smart and one boy knew we just had a new prime minister elected in Canada. For some reason, I am one of the lucky english teachers who works weekends!! The admin. staff here tell me that it is nice that I will make the sacrifice and teach class Friday night 7-8.40 and Saturday morning 8-11.40....should be interesting, most of you know I am NOT a morning person!

Since I've only been in Wuhan for 4 full days, I haven't done too much. The university I am at is in the "suburbs" but these 'burbs are nothing like the 'burbs in Canada. It is much dirtier out here and the way of life seems a bit more relaxed. I kinda like living in the more rural setting vs. the urban core. Myself and 2 other teachers explored downtown Wuhan on the weekend, even ate at McDonalds....they serve corn as side dishes at Mickey D's and at KFC, it's very odd but they love it. The pic below is of our 2nd Chinese meal that we somehow managed to order from a very confusing food court in Chicony mall (each dish came from a different food stand and luckily all tasted delicious). It all cost about $3cdn.....for 2 of us!


Street vendors are a VERY popular place to eat at. If you think street meat is bad, you can't imagine what the street meat is like here! Basically someone will set up their shop on some makeshift table of buckets and wood, then they will have one big wok sitting over a flame and will fill it half full of oil. They will add whatever you point to, but they use their hands, and their hands are disgusting. They will grab raw meat and vegetables with their dirty hands! My favourite (and only) street vendor to eat at is one where the man dresses in a suit. And when he is not there, his son of about 16 will wear his father's suit and cook. A huge dish of fried rice that can easily feed 2 people costs about 50cents Cdn from the man in the suit. The pic below is street vendors in downtown Wuhan and is always busy.



In Chicony mall, kids were gathered around here to catch nice big gold fish and small turtles. The little guy in the front was trying very hard to (unsuccessfully) catch fish using that colourful pole.



This is the university I am teaching at. This is also the building I am teaching in....it might look nice however it is the oldest building on campus and the classrooms definitely prove its age. Also interesting.... the washroom stalls do not have doors and the toilet is a hole in the floor with grips at the side for your feet. Lovely!


My first days in Wuhan had me fighting the worst possible cold you can have. An American teacher took me to a pharmacy to get some drugs for my sickness. He called his Chinese friend who then text messaged cold medicine in Chinese characters and we showed the person in the drug store who then gave me a box with 8 little vials of the sickest tasting shot you could ever imagine. I later found out from my TA Kitty that it is a good herbal remedy for colds. So here I am, sucking back Chinese herbal cold medicine from a vial. (The ceramic cat came with my room).