Brands in Unusual Places...

One of the things I noticed early on about China was how a fair few of the familiar household brands from home appear here on a variety of different products, and with ‘copyright infringement’ being just a long, difficult-to-pronounce English phrase here, anything apparently goes! And I mean these things are just in shops being sold normally, as opposed to down a back alley on the hush hush. 

So here are a few famous brands* you see on a surprising amount of products:

~ Apple does… not only Macs, iPhones, iPods and iPads, but apparently also make scooters, perfume and nail varnish. Interesting…

~ Nestle does… water? Whuuuut? Is this a thing in the UK? (Though it’s not like we have to buy bottled water to drink there)

~ Hello Kitty does… you name it! As a MASSIVE name over here, Hello Kitty produces hair accessories, crockery, nail varnish, jewellery, food (sweets), stationary,… need I go on?

~ Angry Birds does… EVERYTHING. I ain’t even kidding. Another famous name over here, but not just for the game, oh no my friends. Angry Birds (and knock-offs) produce a crazy amount of stuff. Anything and everything as far as I’ve seen (stationary, crockery, clothing, belts, shoes, earmuffs, sleeping masks, phone accessories etc.)

~ Songs… just a quick note here. I can’t remember the amount of times a song has come on in a bar or in the gym that I’m all like ‘Yeah, I love this song!’, but then, oh wait, it’s a badly sung cover of the original. Sung in English, by someone who clearly doesn’t speak English; and this happens quite a lot. The covers sound odd, but A for effort I suppose. Or there’s also the case when you hear a familiar melody and then come the Chinese lyrics, just stealing the music unashamedly. Popular instances of song theft: Call Me Maybe, many-a-Michael Jackson song, Adele is another popular artist to rip-off, Doctor Jones (you know that song by Aqua – takes me back to primary school discos) and others I can’t think of at this moment in time

*not all are fakes, but Apple scooters? Yeah, I reckon.

Here are a few pics:

Yeah, I totally bought an Angry Birds pencil case.

Love the Hipster Hello Kitty purse

Yum yum for my tum!

On a side note: what in the world is the PG Tips
monkey doing in a little shop in China?!
I mean, WHY?? HOW??

Well that's the end of that! To be honest, there aren't going to be many more posts while I'm still in Fúzhōu. I don't do an awful lot of exciting things (as you can probably tell by the content of this post). Oh and for those who are interested, the Wednesday just gone marks the 4 weeks to go point! Eeeeek! I'm in utter disbelief as to how quickly the time has gone by. Seems like only yesterday I arrived, a bright-eyed, bushy-tailed mess in Fúzhōu airport... How time flies.

Anyway, 再见!


xoxo

Hannah 老师!

Firstly, apologies for the lack of activity on here. Forgive me? Good. OK, anyway, as I am shockingly nearing the end of my contract, I decided to do a post on my teaching experiences here.

I have to be honest, after actually arriving in China and facing this new job in reality and not just safely from my laptop screen, I suddenly remembered that I’m not actually all that good with children. They’re kind of scared of me for some reason. Oops. But! I grabbed the bull by the horns and jumped right in and I think – or I hope – I’ve done an above average job! Since moving here, I have taught children from 4 to 18 years old, in classes ranging from one to 30 students. What can I say? Well, my very first class went awfully – (11 students, all around 10 years old) with the students working through my plan too quickly, talking over me and my assistant totally taking the reins without me asking/wanting her to. After that one I was about ready to throw in the towel, but my second class was fantastic! Same age as before but fewer students which meant it was MUCH easier to control them. One boy in particular – Steven - was my absolute fave (though I tried to hide this during class), comprising the winning combo of intelligence and politeness. What a doll.

To date I’ve had my fair share of awful classes – classes that are too loud, naughty, boring (for everyone involved). But then there are those classes that make the whole job totally worth it and that’s one of the reasons I’ve decided to continue teaching English next year – but DEFINITELY not at my current school (I’ll explain this later). Corny I know, but to see students enjoying educational activities you’ve planned and actually enjoying using English is hugely rewarding. One particular highlight of any lesson is the children’s use of ‘Chinglish’. So adorable. I can honestly now say how much I respect all the teachers from my school days; they had it ROUGH. Children here, by at least English standards, are tame. Talking and fidgeting aside, they come across as much more polite and boy are they eager to please and receive praise – think it’s definitely a cultural thing! Though they could be insulting me all lesson for all I know, not being particularly well-schooled in Chinese insults.

So, about my current employer… In Fúzhōu there are – surprisingly - dozens of language schools, and I work at Belief Education. To say this school is the most disorganised organisation I’ve ever encountered would be a grave understatement; and as an especially organised person (it's a blessing and a curse), this factor alone would definitely discourage me from signing for another year. Now don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a massive bitch-fest, there are many things I really enjoy about my school. Things like my students, my colleagues, the cute little library we have, the books we use, but alas, they don’t outweigh the bad. From MANY visa issues and delays to miscommunication between the different branches and inadequate advertising campaigns, I find it astonishing that Belief are still going. Having said that, I’ve heard from many other foreign teachers that I’ve met that their schools are also slightly lacking in the area of organisation so I think this is possibly a Chinese thing. But here’s hoping for my next placement!

To finish up, here are a few things I’ve noticed in Chinese schools that are strange/funny/interesting to me:

~ The students clean their own school. Unlucky!

~  For some reason (I think concentration?) at various intervals during the day, the students sit down, close their eyes and rub their temples and eye sockets with their fingers counting to 10 about 4 times while very irritating music plays over the P.A. system

~  Saluting the P.A./the Chinese flag at the front of the classroom at various points of the lesson

~ In addition to P.E. class, apparently students from middle to senior school must take part in a military camp-esque training week each year – which is mandatory. HA.
~ The school day here is very different to any in England I know of: students arrive at school around 7.30am and then have lessons until 11.30am; they then go home for lunch/a nap; then they're back at school from 2.30pm to 4 or 4.30pm
~ Back bibs! So what with temperatures frequently reaching over 30°C here in the summer - similar to bibs babies wear to catch falling food/snot etc. - children here have started to wear what I’ve called ‘back bibs’ to soak up their sweat! Strange to me at first, but I’m fast realising the total genius of it and wish it were socially acceptable for me to wear one as in this heat I’m sweating like ‘a fat lass at a disco’ (to quote one of my favourite Geordies). Every lesson I had with one class, a student named Craig (AKA the cutest child in the world – see below) would always be running manically around the classroom while his father chased him, trying to put his back bib back on. Cutest spectacle to watch.

All in all, I’ve loved my time here as a teacher. Partly because the novelty of wiping a blackboard still hasn’t worn off, but mainly because I actually love working with children, especially when their keen and eager to participate. 

Oh and here are a few pics of me in action and some of the adorable students I’ve had:

Winnie - I think he's 6 - loved playing hide and seek/
spy on the teacher pre-class.

Ian - age 6 too - this lesson was on clothing,
so naturally I got them to dress up in mine. Too cute.

Winnie and Pepper (age 6)
Puttin' on ma socks.

More t-shirt fun - Elaine and Vincent - ages 5 and 6
Elaine was the funniest little girl ever, she just
kept making the strangest noises/faces each lesson.

Elaine again and Nancy (age 6, right)
More dress-up - this time jeans!

Pepper again, Nancy again
and I. 2 of my fave kindergarten kids, they
are SO sweet. Pepper especially, bless her cottons.

Left: Sunny - age 5. ADORABLE, but very fidgety and moody. Had the cutest bowl cut though
Right: Elaine again, this time drinking milk from a bag

Sunny behind the camera

Class portrait! Definitely not camera shy!

On the left is Lucy, and the right is Leo - cousins, both 6, who both wanted to try on my sunnies.
Also, Lucy is SO cute. One of the few people on this earth I let hug me.

Listening exercise
Some not-so-subtle cheating going on at the back.

Bella - age 5 - loves singing and dancing, and
performing said singing and dancing for the class (see below).

Bella, Craig (in the middle) and Jerry
(age 6; I have a surprising amount of students named Jerry).
OK, so Craig (I think 5 years old) is literally the cutest
child I have EVER SEEN - I can't even.
Anyway, here's a still of them mid-performance of 'Eddie the Earthworm'
Below are a couple of short vids! Hope they work!

Poor attempt at a panoramic of the whole class
performing the 'Eddie the Earthworm' song.

One of my 5 classes at 温泉小学 (Wenquan Primary School)
Kids all from 8 to 9 years old.
They don't usually wear this very Chinese uniform, but it was Children's Day or something.
The red sash things the majority of the kids are wearing are supposed to identify
the outstanding students - though I'm pretty sure every student I've seen has had one.

Just helping a student (Cici) to write!

On account of the summer holiday, I only have a few classes left now, so to be honest, all I’m really doing is twiddling my thumbs and counting down the days (54 to be exact) until I depart Fúzhōu and have bare bantz in Thailand and Cambodia, and then FINALLY head home. Excited and impatient are just not strong enough words for how I’m feeling now, and how I will feel until 21^st August rolls around!

Whew, long post. I’ll be seeing ya!

xoxo

KTV, as easy as 1, 2, 3!

A little after the day itself, but here’s a post all about my first birthday in China! Now I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling 22 - and at this mature age (and because I’m in China) a normal drunken birthday night out is off the cards. Instead, I went to the next best thing… KTV! 

Now I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned this before on here somewhere, but if I haven’t KTV is, simply, karaoke. But it isn’t the run-down, pathetically-depressing karaoke we’re used to in England. Oh no. In China (as well as Japan and South Korea I believe) it is an INSANELY popular alternative to a bar or club based night out; in fact, most of my Chinese friends don’t go to bars or clubs, they go to KTV for their big night out LOL. KTV clubs (are they called clubs? Dunno) are very frequent here, the best chain being Agogo with a better choice of foreign songs. All you need to do is book a room (depending on the number of guests) buy the booze and snacks (needless to say they have so WEIRD stuff available) and settle in for a long sesh of screaming until your lungs get soar. 

One of the stewards distributing our alcohol and snacks!
Lovely people. Strangely accommodating though

Delicious fruit platter. They have these in clubs too.
Such a good shout, I'm definitely going to miss these when I'm home

Left: the screen for choosing your songs. Slightly difficult to navigate in Chinese, but hey.
Right: the 'music video' for a Chinese song. It appears as though they use any film they want for the video for some of these songs. Here for example, is Donald Duck and co. 

Top left: Ana and I. Top right: Tina, Sunny and Cuby
Bottom left: Cletus and Nathan. Bottom right: Sunny, Cuby and I

Top: KTV in action
Bottom left: Jane, Angela, Tina, Sunny and Cuby
Bottom right: Cletus and I

Left: Ana and Mark
Right: Nathan and Kennis playing the dice game EVERYONE plays at every bar/club

Two birthday cakes! YES!

KTV clubs stay open until about 2am, which is about the same time as normal bars and clubs – in Fúzhōu at least. So we partied on there until then and in classic lăowài fashion went for street food afterwards. The perfect end to a night out! I love me some 炒面.

All for now!

xoxo

A Snapshot of 'Real' China

Super sorry it’s been over a month and a half since my last post guys! Long story short, I’m actually busy these days. This is only a short one though, soz.

Anyway, since arriving (nearly 9 months ago now – Jeeeeez!) I’ve been collecting photos of what I call the ‘real’ China. You’ve seen the many skyscrapers and temples and food pics I’ve posted already, and although all of that is the norm, there are a few things that I can’t really tell you about, I had to take obnoxious tourist photos of instead!

One day whilst taking a stroll near my flat, I came across
this little river and walked along it. These houses were
ridiculously dilapidated on the outside.

Also here! Note the plastic sheet covering the roof. Madness.

Casual snooze on one's scooter. You see this a surprising amount.

China's answer to barbed wire... broken glass! Of course!
The best ones are the broken beer bottles you see.

Gambling on street corners. Another thing you see a fair bit.
Gambling is actually illegal in China, but ya know, whatever.

Dogs! Strays? Owned? Dunno

Plant stall on a guy's bike.
You get the strangest things sold off of bikes.

Fuzhou from my friend's building

Personal fave: street food. This is just a small sampling of what I eat on a regular drunken basis but it's
usually kebab type things that are cooked on a make-shift barbecue.
So maybe it wouldn't pass health standards in England, but it's damn good food.

Things I was unable to capture: crazy crowded buses, the non-existent road rules and rush hour, women selling small animals/birds from portable stalls (now THAT is one I will definitely try to get later), flimsy-looking scooters carrying whole families (I’m talking father, mother, child and baby – all without helmets of course!) and much, much more. Oh China.

This post is in no way meant to be condescending or cause any offence by the way! I just wanted to show people who have never experienced China, or a completely different country to their own, how unorthodox things could be!

All for now

xoxo

B-B-B-Bakery

One of the major cravings I’ve had since being in China has been for bread. Be it plain, toasted, in a sandwich (supporting delicious, delicious bacon) – you name it. Unfortunately, what I always assumed was ‘normal bread’ (that is, savoury) is not quite so readily available or greatly desired here. For some reason, in China the vast majority of bread you see will be sweet. In a loaf? Sweet. A normal-looking burger bun? Sweet. See a toasted sandwich? Sweet. After initially learning this lesson the hard way through trial and error, I can now semi-enjoy this sweet bread knowing full well what to expect. Don’t get me wrong, when it’s with other sweet things (like jam-esque goo), it’s pretty much cake-like and yummy. But what I don’t get is when it’s with tuna, sweetcorn, a chicken fillet, beef or a hot dog (the list goes on!) why does it have to be sweet?! JUST STOP PUTTING SUGAR IN THE DOUGH! IS THAT REALLY TOO MUCH TO ASK? 

Anywho, this post is on the traditional Chinese bakery and it’s sometimes delicious, sometimes disgusting contents!  A picture is worth a thousand words so it’s probably easier to just show you the typical things you’d find in a ‘bakery’ here. 

Don't let the savoury looking things fool you, even the garlic bread is sweet

No idea what some of this stuff is...
The orangey, stringy stuff you see on a few is actually beef, don't cha know

OK, so the top left is one of the rare savoury things you will find! 
It is actually normal pastry! Hurrah!
The bottom one is quite strange. It's savoury (with chunks 
of 'bread' and maybe meat on a toasted slice, but it has some
kind of sweet sauce on it)

Sweet bun!

Looks like cheese. Nope.
And that's sweet bread with the hotdog, obvs.

The outside of this thing was like what sushi is wrapped in - seaweed?
Inside: cucumber, that strange beef, and I can't remember what else

Desserts are another matter entirely though! The cake here I’ve found is quite different to cake back home; it’s hard to describe, but I guess I would say it’s more dense? Heavier? But delicious for sure! (They ain't got nothing on http://www.thepatchworkbakery.com/ though). These cakes below are from fancy bakeries. There are other - I guess I’d still call them - bakeries around that sort of operate as stalls, and these sell cake too, just not as prettily decorated you see. My fave thing to buy from these though is what I call ‘flat bread’; it’s a savoury, doughy thing kind of like a naan or pitta bread (but much more oily) and tastes so delicious!

So I bought this cake for our lǎowài Thanksgiving
The icing was kind of creamy and light, the filling 
was layers of sponge with layers of fruit (not sure what - mango?)
Really good!

Something sweet! Apologies for the darkness of the photo
- the bakery was having a powercut at the time

Green Tea Cheesecake!
Well it said cheesecake, but it wasn't. Nice though!

White Chocolate Mousse thingy
SO good!

下次见 (Xià cì jiàn)!

xoxo

My Spring Festival Extravaganza - Part 3

The final stop on our journey was the so-called ‘Paris of the East’: Shànghăi! It certainly did not disappoint! We didn’t have a huge list of sights we wanted to see, unlike Běijīng and to a lesser extent Xī’ān, so we were quite content to just wander around for a few days enjoying a new city. Unfortunately, what with it being Spring Festival and therefore insanely busy, we weren’t able to go via train to Shànghăi so we had to fly. Not all bad of course, quick and easy – despite a little (or a lotta) lighter trouble…

I have to say, I LOVED Shànghăi! It was everything I was expecting: bright lights, cosmopolitan demographic, beautiful (European-looking yay!) architecture in places, incredible skylines – the works! It goes without saying that this is definitely a city worth a visit, and I wish we could have stayed longer than a few days! 

Our first evening was spent wandering the area near our hostel which happened to be East Nanjing Road – where the first shopping centres in China were opened in the 1920s. According to Lonely Planet, Shànghăi’s reputation as the country’s most fashionable city was partly created here, once known as Nanking Road. For some reason there were an excessive amount of people selling detachable rollerblades whenever we walked through. Whatever.

East Nanjing Road at night

We began our first day with a walking tour of the Bund. The Bund was once Shànghăi’s Wall Street being home to the most powerful banks and trading houses in the city (Thanks again Lonely Planet!). Now however, it’s known for its fancy restaurants, bars and boutiques with kick-ass views of the Pŭdōng district of Shànghăi (see below!).

A couple of pictures from the stone carvings
from the Monument for People's Heroes on the Bund

My brother and I in front of the Pŭdōng skyline

Top left: Union Church dating to 1885;
top right: Bank of China building, commissioned in 1936;
bottom left: Bund - fancy shops; bottom right: more Bund

Fresco above the entrance to the former home of
the North China Daily News, which ran from 1864 to 1951.
Spot the mistake? 

I think it was the next day, and again we were just wandering, and we ended up at a VERY crowded area – I can’t remember where it was sorry! Here’s a few pics of Spring Festival decorations for you to enjoy though!

One of the highlights of Shànghăi for me, and one of sights I wanted to see was the World Financial Centre. Like Hong Kong, I really REALLY wanted that night-time skyline photo, and one of the best places to get it is the 100^th floor of this building. It was insanely, ear-poppingly high but what a view! Like my HK experience, it was foggy in Shànghăi too, but luckily not too bad as to mean it was a wasted journey.

Nifty little model of the city!

 

From top left to bottom right: shows the various
stages of the city being lit up

The last place I fo sho wanted to visit while in Shànghăi was the French Concession. It once housed the bulk of the city’s revolutionaries, gangsters, writers and prostitutes, but now is known for its architecture and many-a restaurant and cute little shop – great for souvenirs! Quite maze-like and deceptively large, the area we visited was Tiánzĭfáng and had loads of little boutiques selling everything under the sun. I loved walking around the area! So cute and felt like I wasn’t even in China anymore! Bliss.

The French Concession

I'll leave you with this:
one of the freakiest things I've ever seen.
Why? Just why?

 So... there you have it! My whole Chinese New Year holiday. I can’t tell you how happy I am I got the chance to leave Fúzhōu, experience more of China, be a tourist for a while and see my brother. It’s a trip I’ll never forget and just made me want to see more of this crazy world we live in! You only live once after all right? 

I bid you adieu!

xoxo