Good mornign guys,
and sorry if you missed me sooo much!
Today I want you to know about my adventures in Turkey, Instanbul actually. That's all I saw of Turkey, so it's just Istanbul not Turkey...I guess the title should be Istanbul delight...well, doesn't matter!
I went with my boyfriend and it took us at least one month to decide where to go on holiday...oftern arguing! Firstly we wanted to go to India...but then we found out that in June is monsoon season...so...mmmh... better not to go. So we thought...why not Canada? And we thought and we thought and we thought...by the time we decided the flight was to expensive, so...no Canada! So...what was the other one? Don't remember..must be getting old...anyway, at the end we booked a flight to Istanbul. I've been lucky to be honest, because my flight costed me only 150 euros return! But soon you will find out why...
So! The big day arrives (I don't remember the date, sometime in June.,.23rd? Could be) and my parents take me to the far far far far away airport. We get there to find out that the flight is 2 hours late. And here I start panicking, coz that meant getting to Istanbul at almost midnight...buses? Taxis? Now, the fact is that my boyfriend was supposed to get there like 5 hours earlier than me (he was flying from Manchester, me from Milan) so he was going to wait for me in the city centre. But now, considering the time, I asked him to get me a shuttle from the hostel. Meanwhile, I call my sister and I tell her to check all the possible bus timetables on the net! Ah, poor Ellie. So...we seat on a chair, me mum and dad. One chair each, obviously, and we wait for the check in to open. Let me tell that this was the first time in many years in which I decided to check in my bag. Normally I fly with Ryanair and I just take a hand luggage (Ryan is too expensive when it comes to check ins...) but Blue Panorama included the bag in the ticket! So I thought...why the hell not?
Finally, after the moon and the stars moved slowly in the sky, the check in opened and I happily join the queue, celebrating. It was almast my turn, when the check in closed, and I had to join another queue. Oh, how happy I was. Swearing loudly, I changed queue and I ended up behind a massive and noisy turkish family! Ah poor Ellie...finally my bag was on and my parents left me alone, heading to Istanbul.
The flight was ok, and I finally got where I had to be...2 hours late.
So...get off the plane, stamp the passport, go and collect my bag. Stand in front of the rolling thing and wait for the bag.
Wait for the bag.
Many people collect their bag and go.
Wait for my bag still.
Wait for my bag.
Me and an Italian guy left waiting for the bag.
Silence surrounding us.
Wait still.
The rolling thing stops.
My bag wasn't there.
Swearing softly, me and the guy look at each other, our eyes lost in some other planet or parallel dimension where, a so much happier version of us, was now leaving the airport. With the bag.
So...we collected our courage and went to the lost luggage office. Mmh...mmmh...and here the problems start. Yes, they start NOW, can you believe it? I couldn't. Anyway. Obviously, English is a language mostly unknown and overlooked mostly suspiciously...luckily (some luck at last) the girl was very nice and tried her best to understand and help us. But there wasn't much we could do, our bags weren't there. So we filled some form and left...
I started calling my boyfirned who said that a driver would have been at the airport waiting for me. Obviously he wasn't there (that reminded me a bit of China...waht about you?) so I called him and he said that he didn't know what to do. What's the point of having a boyfriend if, when you are stranded in a far away airport, he can come to pick you up because he's watching the world cup?
No comment.
So, after sheding some tears (just 2 or 3...I was nervous and angry, you know!!) I left the airport and I started wandering around, avoiding taxi drivers and looking for coaches. I approached all of them just saying "Istanbul?" till someone answered... yes Taksim! Got it!
Jump on the bus, keep texting to my sister who tried to cheer me up (bless her) till I get to Taksim square..and the world cup boyfriend at least was there! And even paid for the taxi back to the hostel.
So I went to bed, slightly smelly and hungry, sheding some tears (just a few...) and I fell asleep...
Tenerife
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Thinking about Italy
Life in Italy is strange. Italians love to look great. Massive sun glasses that make them look like flies, all the same. You just want to stop them and ask if they think they're skiing. All boys cover their hair in gel and shoot them to the sky...ok, Italians are small...but...how many cm do you think you can get? I don't understand...why do you wear sunglasses in the shade? Why are your pants falling off, we don't really need to see your underwear! Come on, pick them up. And they think they are cool...all wearing the same clothes, pretending to be original...bah!
Just look at our prime minister...a shame, a clown, a joke. He couldn't rule in any country but Italy. Because he's rich and full of women (paid ones) and Italians want to be like him. Well done. All the world take the piss out of us because of him, but Italians...keep voting for him.
Thanks god I live in England.
God save the Queen!
Just look at our prime minister...a shame, a clown, a joke. He couldn't rule in any country but Italy. Because he's rich and full of women (paid ones) and Italians want to be like him. Well done. All the world take the piss out of us because of him, but Italians...keep voting for him.
Thanks god I live in England.
God save the Queen!
Chinese Life part 2
Hallo there my friend!
here is so unbelievably humid that you must forgive my spelling mistakes but the keys are slippery (good one, isn't it?).
Anyway, where were we?
Oh yeah, my first day. on Monday I didn't work, so I was planning to sleep and sleep and sleep. what else? But obviously I was wrong. First, I had to call my family to tell them that I was somehow surviving, and to do that I had to get up at 6. then, when I was gladly falling asleep again, my colleague stood under my balcony calling my name. What? I go downstairs and she tells me (at 7am) "Should we go for breakfast?" what? "Mmh...maybe a bit later..." "Oh you know, breakfast is served between 6 and 8" and that is the deepest and darkest hour of the night for me "I see" I said "I think I'll skip it for today". I haven't been since. but she forced me to go with her at lunchtime, at 11am.
see how Chinese work? breakfast is actually a midnight snack; lunch, between 11 - 12, is breakfast; dinner, between 4 - 5.30pm, is actually lunch. and then? I throw some dumplings in the microwave at 9pm and I feel better. The Chinese way...
Anyway! we get to the canteen and I see a room as big as my village (no, seriously...it looked like a stadium) packed, and I mean PACKED, with minuscules children, all the same, running and screaming up and down hunting for food. I stood still. What? Song smiled and I followed her to the teachers quarter, as a big as a napkin, where more less 200 teachers were packed sucking their lunch. Chinese eat sooo fast that in 5 minutes they've swallowed a bowl of various stuff (normally rice+hot vegetables+hot meat+spicy soup). I sat with my bowl and I attacked with my chopsticks. Ya hi! To be honest the food was GORGEOUS on the Italians' face (on my face, then...mmmh...). it's so tasty and varied...all this unknown things floating in I don't know what, but for some reason soooooo good. I loved it. Obviously we had to eat in 5 minutes, giving me a very heavy stomach all day. I'll never get used to that! After lunch Song forced me to have a rest (?)...and I actually needed it, and a lot of hot tea to free my stomach from the massive ball of stuff I had in it..."I'll come to pick you up at 5 for dinner" food again???? "Ok...see you in a bit" and I went back in to burp loudly!
Later we went to see my future classes. and a long shiver chilled my spine.
Ok, there are 2 big buildings with more less 6-7 floors each. Each floor has 4 classes. Each class more less 80 kids. You count them...
Obviously even the kids were staring at me, jumping on each other to get a better view. Oh god...I decided to get sunglasses and a black wig...that could help!
Whatever! Dawn came, and with it...gym time! At 7am a very loud music is unleashed from the loudspeakers all over the campus, and the Chinese exercise! Now, you have to see that the earlier I start working is 8.50am so I have the damn right to stay in bed till 8, at least! No, wake up at 7, and they keep playing music for a hour or so...don't ask me why.
but I stay in bed, skipping breakfast and gym! ole'!
But the real nightmare is the classroom. I got in and counted them. 86. 86! eighty six, my god! All looking at the green alien standing in front of them. WHY ME!!!?!
In some way we went through the lessons, and I noticed the most strange thing!
At around 2 o'clock in the afternoon a relaxing music is unleashed from the loudspeaker with a voice giving instructions, I guess...and the kids start massaging their heads, eyes, noses...for 5 minutes or so...and then we start the lesson.
During lunch time I was eating happily (fighting with my chopstick) when a lady approached me and started talking to me. how nice! She said I speak English very fast (clearly, so you won't notice my mistakes) and she underlined that this is the best school in the city. and so I thought...is it not the ONLY one???? But I didn't say it. She kept asking me question for half hour and, came 12, the canteen guy kicked me out because they had to close. Nooooo, my rice!!!! Oh well...
The big problems start in the evening. there's nothing to do in this city, it's very small. No bars or pubs. People just sit in front of their houses and chat with the neighbor...but unfortunately I can't chat much...so I have to stay at home on my own, writing this stuff, chatting on skype or watching movies. The fact is that it takes me between 2.3 and 5.7 minutes to plan a lesson, so I don't have much more to do. and anyway, 2 lessons are enough for one week, since I have 18 different classes in 5 days. Rock on.
Between one class and the other I go back home for a quick nap (I don't sleep at night, I will have to sleep sometimes) and at the end I just go home and sit.
This is the problem of being a celebrity! they all look at you in awe but nobody seems interested in getting close to you. how depressing.
And another good thing! Soon we'll be 5 below 0, and there's no heating in the whole house and/or school. Well, I have the air conditioning in my bedroom (that can work as heating as well) but what about bathroom???? I will wash myself with blokes of ice.
So, it's all uphill, and yesterday night I found a mouse in my house and today my fridge broke. Bye bye dumplings, had to throw everything away.
So I ask Song if someone could come and properly clean my house, and she finally revealed me that the house hasn't been clean since the last teacher left...4 months ago! Well done! So...this week end I'll be away and meanwhile they are supposed to clean. Fingers crossed.
Let me just take a short digression and explain you about the weather in Hu Bei. We are on the tropic, even if I don't remember which one. So...it's SLIGHTLY humid. just a bit. I'm so sticky that everything I touch get stuck to me. I feel a bit like a blue tack. It's never sunny in Tianmen, just cloudy (or too polluted? probably the second) so the heat stays on us. Oh well, it's breezy, but never enough. I visit the shower very often (not as much as I normally do in August in Italy, anyway) but it's completely useless, because, as soon as you are out, you're sweating again. and the whole house smells of humidity. My clothes never dry!
And now came the rainy season...you can imagine the smell...HAPPY HAPPY DAYS!
But let's talk about happy things! Tomorrow after work I'm leaving Tianmen and going to Wuhan! Yahiii, to the big city! There I will meet up with Stevie, a friend I made while studying for my celta. yes, she live close to me (in Chinese terms, obviously...). But she lives in a real city, stays in a real flat (no mouses!) and work for a university. Now you see what is the difference between being mother tongue and not be. ah ah. but we, mixed race, are stronger!!! ahahahahah! Anyway....I complained so much to her that she decided to leave her shiny tower and come down to visit the mortals. how nice...sigh sob...I can't wait to see her!!!!!
Ok, I leave you now and go packing.
Bug hug to everyone, I'll update you next week!
Ellie
Fun fact of the day: at the ticket office everybody approaches you telling any timetable, but the one you need. And once they got what you want, they can tell you up to 5 different journey lenght for the same route. How can you plan something here???
here is so unbelievably humid that you must forgive my spelling mistakes but the keys are slippery (good one, isn't it?).
Anyway, where were we?
Oh yeah, my first day. on Monday I didn't work, so I was planning to sleep and sleep and sleep. what else? But obviously I was wrong. First, I had to call my family to tell them that I was somehow surviving, and to do that I had to get up at 6. then, when I was gladly falling asleep again, my colleague stood under my balcony calling my name. What? I go downstairs and she tells me (at 7am) "Should we go for breakfast?" what? "Mmh...maybe a bit later..." "Oh you know, breakfast is served between 6 and 8" and that is the deepest and darkest hour of the night for me "I see" I said "I think I'll skip it for today". I haven't been since. but she forced me to go with her at lunchtime, at 11am.
see how Chinese work? breakfast is actually a midnight snack; lunch, between 11 - 12, is breakfast; dinner, between 4 - 5.30pm, is actually lunch. and then? I throw some dumplings in the microwave at 9pm and I feel better. The Chinese way...
Anyway! we get to the canteen and I see a room as big as my village (no, seriously...it looked like a stadium) packed, and I mean PACKED, with minuscules children, all the same, running and screaming up and down hunting for food. I stood still. What? Song smiled and I followed her to the teachers quarter, as a big as a napkin, where more less 200 teachers were packed sucking their lunch. Chinese eat sooo fast that in 5 minutes they've swallowed a bowl of various stuff (normally rice+hot vegetables+hot meat+spicy soup). I sat with my bowl and I attacked with my chopsticks. Ya hi! To be honest the food was GORGEOUS on the Italians' face (on my face, then...mmmh...). it's so tasty and varied...all this unknown things floating in I don't know what, but for some reason soooooo good. I loved it. Obviously we had to eat in 5 minutes, giving me a very heavy stomach all day. I'll never get used to that! After lunch Song forced me to have a rest (?)...and I actually needed it, and a lot of hot tea to free my stomach from the massive ball of stuff I had in it..."I'll come to pick you up at 5 for dinner" food again???? "Ok...see you in a bit" and I went back in to burp loudly!
Later we went to see my future classes. and a long shiver chilled my spine.
Ok, there are 2 big buildings with more less 6-7 floors each. Each floor has 4 classes. Each class more less 80 kids. You count them...
Obviously even the kids were staring at me, jumping on each other to get a better view. Oh god...I decided to get sunglasses and a black wig...that could help!
Whatever! Dawn came, and with it...gym time! At 7am a very loud music is unleashed from the loudspeakers all over the campus, and the Chinese exercise! Now, you have to see that the earlier I start working is 8.50am so I have the damn right to stay in bed till 8, at least! No, wake up at 7, and they keep playing music for a hour or so...don't ask me why.
but I stay in bed, skipping breakfast and gym! ole'!
But the real nightmare is the classroom. I got in and counted them. 86. 86! eighty six, my god! All looking at the green alien standing in front of them. WHY ME!!!?!
In some way we went through the lessons, and I noticed the most strange thing!
At around 2 o'clock in the afternoon a relaxing music is unleashed from the loudspeaker with a voice giving instructions, I guess...and the kids start massaging their heads, eyes, noses...for 5 minutes or so...and then we start the lesson.
During lunch time I was eating happily (fighting with my chopstick) when a lady approached me and started talking to me. how nice! She said I speak English very fast (clearly, so you won't notice my mistakes) and she underlined that this is the best school in the city. and so I thought...is it not the ONLY one???? But I didn't say it. She kept asking me question for half hour and, came 12, the canteen guy kicked me out because they had to close. Nooooo, my rice!!!! Oh well...
The big problems start in the evening. there's nothing to do in this city, it's very small. No bars or pubs. People just sit in front of their houses and chat with the neighbor...but unfortunately I can't chat much...so I have to stay at home on my own, writing this stuff, chatting on skype or watching movies. The fact is that it takes me between 2.3 and 5.7 minutes to plan a lesson, so I don't have much more to do. and anyway, 2 lessons are enough for one week, since I have 18 different classes in 5 days. Rock on.
Between one class and the other I go back home for a quick nap (I don't sleep at night, I will have to sleep sometimes) and at the end I just go home and sit.
This is the problem of being a celebrity! they all look at you in awe but nobody seems interested in getting close to you. how depressing.
And another good thing! Soon we'll be 5 below 0, and there's no heating in the whole house and/or school. Well, I have the air conditioning in my bedroom (that can work as heating as well) but what about bathroom???? I will wash myself with blokes of ice.
So, it's all uphill, and yesterday night I found a mouse in my house and today my fridge broke. Bye bye dumplings, had to throw everything away.
So I ask Song if someone could come and properly clean my house, and she finally revealed me that the house hasn't been clean since the last teacher left...4 months ago! Well done! So...this week end I'll be away and meanwhile they are supposed to clean. Fingers crossed.
Let me just take a short digression and explain you about the weather in Hu Bei. We are on the tropic, even if I don't remember which one. So...it's SLIGHTLY humid. just a bit. I'm so sticky that everything I touch get stuck to me. I feel a bit like a blue tack. It's never sunny in Tianmen, just cloudy (or too polluted? probably the second) so the heat stays on us. Oh well, it's breezy, but never enough. I visit the shower very often (not as much as I normally do in August in Italy, anyway) but it's completely useless, because, as soon as you are out, you're sweating again. and the whole house smells of humidity. My clothes never dry!
And now came the rainy season...you can imagine the smell...HAPPY HAPPY DAYS!
But let's talk about happy things! Tomorrow after work I'm leaving Tianmen and going to Wuhan! Yahiii, to the big city! There I will meet up with Stevie, a friend I made while studying for my celta. yes, she live close to me (in Chinese terms, obviously...). But she lives in a real city, stays in a real flat (no mouses!) and work for a university. Now you see what is the difference between being mother tongue and not be. ah ah. but we, mixed race, are stronger!!! ahahahahah! Anyway....I complained so much to her that she decided to leave her shiny tower and come down to visit the mortals. how nice...sigh sob...I can't wait to see her!!!!!
Ok, I leave you now and go packing.
Bug hug to everyone, I'll update you next week!
Ellie
Fun fact of the day: at the ticket office everybody approaches you telling any timetable, but the one you need. And once they got what you want, they can tell you up to 5 different journey lenght for the same route. How can you plan something here???
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Right...why?
Hallo!
See how cool? Yeah, and that was just the beginning...so many things more happened after that...heheh
Do you know how I ended up in China? Long story...well...i decided to become an English teacher. Yeas, an Italian English teacher. Controversial indeed. But what can I do? That's me. So i got my qualification (a CELTA. do you know what a CELTA is? no? google it) in London and then, just to work, I accepted a job in China. I left UK not even really knowing where I was going. I just had a ticket, a temporary tourist visa and many heavy luggage. Poor crazy Ellie!!!
See how cool? Yeah, and that was just the beginning...so many things more happened after that...heheh
Do you know how I ended up in China? Long story...well...i decided to become an English teacher. Yeas, an Italian English teacher. Controversial indeed. But what can I do? That's me. So i got my qualification (a CELTA. do you know what a CELTA is? no? google it) in London and then, just to work, I accepted a job in China. I left UK not even really knowing where I was going. I just had a ticket, a temporary tourist visa and many heavy luggage. Poor crazy Ellie!!!
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
A Chinese life (part 1)
This is the story of my adventure as an English Teacher in China. It all started strangely in September last year, to end horribly one month later. Enjoy...
Good afternoon my friends, good afternoon from happy and humid China!
I don't even know precisely where I am, but it doesn't matter. Let's start from the beginning.
Thursday morning I left Milan full of hope reading to embark on a forever - hours flight to Beijing. To the credit of British Airways, the food was pretty good. Even the movie choice. But the flight was long, looooong, LOOOOONG! And I just can't sleep on airplanes...so you can imagine!
I got to Beijing at 5.45 am and I had to pass 3 controls...health, flu, passport. Then my luggage, and I run out looking for a sign with my name written on it...that OBVIOUSLY wasn't there. so I sat and waited for a while...probably traffic...waited another bit and the strange feeling that they forgot me was growing bigger and bigger.
So I decided that I had to make a move. With my massive luggage I started moving from an info desk to another, trying to find a way to get to the internet. Guys, you can't imagine how hard it was...Chinese people speak a version of English that I haven't updated yet, and it get really frustrating after a while. But I managed it. The phone staff (yes, they have phone staff....) helped me out in logging in with my laptop and I finally found the number I had to call. Super happy, I open skype and called. and skype doesn't work. what a surprise. So I swear very loudly, write down the number, switch off the laptop, pack everything and go back to the phone staff. I bought a sim card and called the guy "Hey it's me, I' in Beijing airport" "Oh are u? good, get the shuttle bus to sdfgsejchigh" to... WHERE???? so...the lazy cow didn't pick me up and I had to struggle with tickets buses with destination unknown and so on...and Chinese people do not raise a finger to help a poor lady with a massive luggage struggling up the stairs. happy days!
I got to the coach station of bdfgheiufhwiudh and called the guy again "Ah ok get a taxi! pass me the taxi driver so I can explain him where to take u!" WHAT?! you lazy f****r!!!
So I got on the taxi and arrived there...at that point I was unbelievably tired, not having slept for around 15 hours. and they made me wait...and wait...and it came out that, because of the anniversary of the republic, entrance is restricted to foreigners...so, no more Zhengzhou. cool. while waiting, I met a couple of Australians that had already been there for a week waiting to be assigned to a place. GOOD. what about me, not even native speaker...midday was approaching and I was falling asleep everywhere, my head as big as a balloon and my eyes as heavy as stones. get me a room!!!
So the strange man - lazy cow told me that he finally found a place for me in the city of jhfghv province of jgbhjbghv. What? I don't know, doesn't matter...I just said yes yes and finally they took me to the hotel.
Now...consider that Beijing is big (the size of Belgium) and they put me in a hotel on the border with Holland. I asked the guy "Where I am????" "oh...beijing...suburbs..." ok "Don't worry have a rest!" ah ok...Now, it's difficult to describe where I was...take Fez and Xochimilco and put them together...and here we are! I was in a motel where the staff obviously spoke only Chinese...in a suburb where they only spoke Chinese. I sat on my bed and I felt so badly lonely that I wanted to cry. But I braced myself and I said "Cheer up and sleep". And I slept a good 5 hours and then I went out for a walk. Not bad, not considering the people constantly shouting or staring at me. I felt like a green alien with silver hair. I tried to approach a couple of diners, but the look in their eyes just pushed me away. so i just bought some biscuits and water and I went back to the motel eating that and watching Chinese cartoon...till I fell asleep listening to the neighbours shagging vigorously. how cute.
In the morning I got up full of hope. Today they'll tell me what it will happen to me! So I had some biscuits and water and called mister lazy cow. he doesn't answer. ok I wait...called him again "Lazy cow it's ellie! any news?" "Who? oh yeah, hi...yes you will be leaving tomorrow I'll call u later bye!". and he hung up. and now? I don't even know where I am or how to get to Beijing! and if I get I taxi, how do I come back if I don't know where I am? at that point, my friends, I started crying. oh yes I did. I felt so desperately lonely and abandoned that I just wanted to get the first taxi to the airport and go home. but again, I braced myself, sent everyone to P*** O*F had a shower and got ready. I go to the centre, whatever. At that point I hear a knock knock at the door and it was the reservation guy passing me his phone "Hallo?" "Hallo it's Lenny!" who? "The guy who took u to the hotel...listen, u will be leaving Beijing at 7 tonight, so I'll come to the hotel to pick u up at 12!". thanks god. so super happy...I went back to bed, while the neighbours started having fun again. At 12 KNOCK KNOCK and it was Lenny! no man looked so beautiful to me at that moment in time, he was God to me! someone to speak to! "WE r a bit early, we leave at 2. let's have a rest, meanwhile" and he jumped on my bed and fell asleep. WHAT???? what about some food. so I breathed deeply, sat on the bed and started reading. he woke up at 1.50 (how, I don't know...) and we got few buses to get to the office. buses in China r so funny...anyway...got to the office Lenny The Saviour decided that it was lunch time. so we went to a...mmmh...noodle place (that the nhs would have closed in 5 second) and I had a basin of noodles with vegetables and eggs for 30 pence. really guys...in Europe u would pay that a bomb. and it was good. and no diarrhea. yahii! Then we went to the bank and to the station...and Lenny The Magic Man waited with me (he even took me to a posh waiting room) and he took me to my very seat. a bed! yeah, in china u can have a bed. there are bunk beds...but not normal ones, ones with 3 beds. and guess which one was mine? u guessed it, the one on top. I banged my head so many times that i look like and octopus upside down. happy days.
Chinese eat all the time, the strangest things ever. i was hanging from my tower looking down at the stuff passing by on trolleys. I could recognize only peaches.
Around 1 o'clock I fell asleep and at 7.30am I was up again...they were eating, very noisily!!! slurping and burping a lot. happy people, the Chinese!!!! =D I had some biscuit and water and I tried the bathroom. open the door. close the door. I sat beside the window waiting for my station (and this time I know the name: Xiaogan! pronounced ZIAAAAoGA'). Get off after 14 hours and started walking up and down steps again, with the familiar feeling that nobody would be there! but this time I was wrong! a happy Chinese man (ages between 20 to 60) came smiling at me saying my name "Elinla" what? I'm sure it was me. He offered me some breakfast and when I asked for tea and cake he looked at me as if I was an green shiny octopus with silver hair asking for grated concrete on toast, as we use to eat on my planet. and he answered "Noodles?" so his friends (called The Driver) got me a pot of...rice floating in a kind of jelly with pieces of yellow and brown stuff. my stomach closed the door and went hiding behind my liver. but I couldn't throw up at his smiley face...so I dipped the spoon in it and ate. Gosh, how good it was! it tasted of grapefruit and something else, but it was great!!!! I had it all.
Then we jump on the car and NIU (the guy) said happily "Now 3 hours" how good! And I fell asleep.
We stopped somewhere for lunch and Niu was very happy coz that was his hometown and we were eating homemade food at his girlfriend house. great. Guys I ate like a pig, Chinese food never tasted so well!!!!! Fish, fish, strange potatoes, dunno what, soup...great great! I loved it. and they were looking at me happily smiling a lot. and I ate. smile smile, I eat!!! ;P
Back to the car we finally got to our destination were Sung, my co-teacher was waiting for me with a bunch of flowers. she's so cute (even if I have some problems in communicating with her....). they took me to my flat (immense, on 2 floors. all for me) and then shopping! but I couldn't find an adaptor. soon I'll be without laptop and mobile...poooooooooooooooooo. but I'll keep looking, this city of which I don't know the name is big, I will find it. if not I'll buy it on the internet.
Now I start being slightly more positive about china...let's c how it goes. Tomorrow I'm off and Tuesday is First Day.
Ok...I go to have a shower now.
I'll update u soon!
Good afternoon my friends, good afternoon from happy and humid China!
I don't even know precisely where I am, but it doesn't matter. Let's start from the beginning.
Thursday morning I left Milan full of hope reading to embark on a forever - hours flight to Beijing. To the credit of British Airways, the food was pretty good. Even the movie choice. But the flight was long, looooong, LOOOOONG! And I just can't sleep on airplanes...so you can imagine!
I got to Beijing at 5.45 am and I had to pass 3 controls...health, flu, passport. Then my luggage, and I run out looking for a sign with my name written on it...that OBVIOUSLY wasn't there. so I sat and waited for a while...probably traffic...waited another bit and the strange feeling that they forgot me was growing bigger and bigger.
So I decided that I had to make a move. With my massive luggage I started moving from an info desk to another, trying to find a way to get to the internet. Guys, you can't imagine how hard it was...Chinese people speak a version of English that I haven't updated yet, and it get really frustrating after a while. But I managed it. The phone staff (yes, they have phone staff....) helped me out in logging in with my laptop and I finally found the number I had to call. Super happy, I open skype and called. and skype doesn't work. what a surprise. So I swear very loudly, write down the number, switch off the laptop, pack everything and go back to the phone staff. I bought a sim card and called the guy "Hey it's me, I' in Beijing airport" "Oh are u? good, get the shuttle bus to sdfgsejchigh" to... WHERE???? so...the lazy cow didn't pick me up and I had to struggle with tickets buses with destination unknown and so on...and Chinese people do not raise a finger to help a poor lady with a massive luggage struggling up the stairs. happy days!
I got to the coach station of bdfgheiufhwiudh and called the guy again "Ah ok get a taxi! pass me the taxi driver so I can explain him where to take u!" WHAT?! you lazy f****r!!!
So I got on the taxi and arrived there...at that point I was unbelievably tired, not having slept for around 15 hours. and they made me wait...and wait...and it came out that, because of the anniversary of the republic, entrance is restricted to foreigners...so, no more Zhengzhou. cool. while waiting, I met a couple of Australians that had already been there for a week waiting to be assigned to a place. GOOD. what about me, not even native speaker...midday was approaching and I was falling asleep everywhere, my head as big as a balloon and my eyes as heavy as stones. get me a room!!!
So the strange man - lazy cow told me that he finally found a place for me in the city of jhfghv province of jgbhjbghv. What? I don't know, doesn't matter...I just said yes yes and finally they took me to the hotel.
Now...consider that Beijing is big (the size of Belgium) and they put me in a hotel on the border with Holland. I asked the guy "Where I am????" "oh...beijing...suburbs..." ok "Don't worry have a rest!" ah ok...Now, it's difficult to describe where I was...take Fez and Xochimilco and put them together...and here we are! I was in a motel where the staff obviously spoke only Chinese...in a suburb where they only spoke Chinese. I sat on my bed and I felt so badly lonely that I wanted to cry. But I braced myself and I said "Cheer up and sleep". And I slept a good 5 hours and then I went out for a walk. Not bad, not considering the people constantly shouting or staring at me. I felt like a green alien with silver hair. I tried to approach a couple of diners, but the look in their eyes just pushed me away. so i just bought some biscuits and water and I went back to the motel eating that and watching Chinese cartoon...till I fell asleep listening to the neighbours shagging vigorously. how cute.
In the morning I got up full of hope. Today they'll tell me what it will happen to me! So I had some biscuits and water and called mister lazy cow. he doesn't answer. ok I wait...called him again "Lazy cow it's ellie! any news?" "Who? oh yeah, hi...yes you will be leaving tomorrow I'll call u later bye!". and he hung up. and now? I don't even know where I am or how to get to Beijing! and if I get I taxi, how do I come back if I don't know where I am? at that point, my friends, I started crying. oh yes I did. I felt so desperately lonely and abandoned that I just wanted to get the first taxi to the airport and go home. but again, I braced myself, sent everyone to P*** O*F had a shower and got ready. I go to the centre, whatever. At that point I hear a knock knock at the door and it was the reservation guy passing me his phone "Hallo?" "Hallo it's Lenny!" who? "The guy who took u to the hotel...listen, u will be leaving Beijing at 7 tonight, so I'll come to the hotel to pick u up at 12!". thanks god. so super happy...I went back to bed, while the neighbours started having fun again. At 12 KNOCK KNOCK and it was Lenny! no man looked so beautiful to me at that moment in time, he was God to me! someone to speak to! "WE r a bit early, we leave at 2. let's have a rest, meanwhile" and he jumped on my bed and fell asleep. WHAT???? what about some food. so I breathed deeply, sat on the bed and started reading. he woke up at 1.50 (how, I don't know...) and we got few buses to get to the office. buses in China r so funny...anyway...got to the office Lenny The Saviour decided that it was lunch time. so we went to a...mmmh...noodle place (that the nhs would have closed in 5 second) and I had a basin of noodles with vegetables and eggs for 30 pence. really guys...in Europe u would pay that a bomb. and it was good. and no diarrhea. yahii! Then we went to the bank and to the station...and Lenny The Magic Man waited with me (he even took me to a posh waiting room) and he took me to my very seat. a bed! yeah, in china u can have a bed. there are bunk beds...but not normal ones, ones with 3 beds. and guess which one was mine? u guessed it, the one on top. I banged my head so many times that i look like and octopus upside down. happy days.
Chinese eat all the time, the strangest things ever. i was hanging from my tower looking down at the stuff passing by on trolleys. I could recognize only peaches.
Around 1 o'clock I fell asleep and at 7.30am I was up again...they were eating, very noisily!!! slurping and burping a lot. happy people, the Chinese!!!! =D I had some biscuit and water and I tried the bathroom. open the door. close the door. I sat beside the window waiting for my station (and this time I know the name: Xiaogan! pronounced ZIAAAAoGA'). Get off after 14 hours and started walking up and down steps again, with the familiar feeling that nobody would be there! but this time I was wrong! a happy Chinese man (ages between 20 to 60) came smiling at me saying my name "Elinla" what? I'm sure it was me. He offered me some breakfast and when I asked for tea and cake he looked at me as if I was an green shiny octopus with silver hair asking for grated concrete on toast, as we use to eat on my planet. and he answered "Noodles?" so his friends (called The Driver) got me a pot of...rice floating in a kind of jelly with pieces of yellow and brown stuff. my stomach closed the door and went hiding behind my liver. but I couldn't throw up at his smiley face...so I dipped the spoon in it and ate. Gosh, how good it was! it tasted of grapefruit and something else, but it was great!!!! I had it all.
Then we jump on the car and NIU (the guy) said happily "Now 3 hours" how good! And I fell asleep.
We stopped somewhere for lunch and Niu was very happy coz that was his hometown and we were eating homemade food at his girlfriend house. great. Guys I ate like a pig, Chinese food never tasted so well!!!!! Fish, fish, strange potatoes, dunno what, soup...great great! I loved it. and they were looking at me happily smiling a lot. and I ate. smile smile, I eat!!! ;P
Back to the car we finally got to our destination were Sung, my co-teacher was waiting for me with a bunch of flowers. she's so cute (even if I have some problems in communicating with her....). they took me to my flat (immense, on 2 floors. all for me) and then shopping! but I couldn't find an adaptor. soon I'll be without laptop and mobile...poooooooooooooooooo. but I'll keep looking, this city of which I don't know the name is big, I will find it. if not I'll buy it on the internet.
Now I start being slightly more positive about china...let's c how it goes. Tomorrow I'm off and Tuesday is First Day.
Ok...I go to have a shower now.
I'll update u soon!
Hallo
Hi there everybody!
Why am I starting a blog? No idea...probably bored coz of the rain or because of my backache. Probably coz I don't talk much and I prefere writing to share my thoughts...
Here's about my travels around the world, past, present and future. Oh yeah I'm a serious traveller, you will see! And I had awsome and awful adventures...
Let's get started then! ^.^
Why am I starting a blog? No idea...probably bored coz of the rain or because of my backache. Probably coz I don't talk much and I prefere writing to share my thoughts...
Here's about my travels around the world, past, present and future. Oh yeah I'm a serious traveller, you will see! And I had awsome and awful adventures...
Let's get started then! ^.^
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