A New Place

Immediately after the last day performance we headed back to the hotel, grabbed our bags, and headed to the train station - on our way to the next town and school. It was a really sad time because our group was splitting up. Gayna was headed back to the USA, Cheri  was headed to another school, and Donna, Jonathan, and I were headed to a school in Shijiazhuang, where we would be joined by 2 other teachers. We had the most awesome group. We all got along, enjoyed the culture and people, and were easy going and eager to learn. I'm not sure if the group was carefully planned or simply put together by chance, but I was very grateful to be with such a great group. I was sad to see it ending.

Things got worse when we sat down to wait for our train. Anmeng (our handler) stepped away to call her boss, and when she got back she was visibly upset. She told us that she wouldn't be staying with us at the next school because the school felt they could meet our needs without her and didn't want to pay her salary for her time. We were all shocked because we were not expecting to have to say good-bye.

I was really upset because I was worried about being at a school where I didn't have someone to advocate for my interests. We were supposed to live in the teacher dorms, eat all of our meals in the cafeteria, and, of course, teach on the campus - all behind a guarded and locked gate. I was worried about being stuck, having no one to speak up for my needs or wants who doesn't work at the school. It's not that I thought the school was "bad" in any way, but they have their own interests to consider, and I wasn't sure they'd always align with mine. I wanted a representative. (FYI - normally I can speak up for myself just fine, but in this case I couldn't because I don't speak Chinese.)

After we got to the hotel in Shijiazhuang I immediately emailed the directors of the program to voice my concerns. I really wanted this to be fixed ASAP. I didn't want to wait for their to be a problem before I voiced my concerns. Thankfully, my email was immediately answered and a compromise was resolved. Anmeng visited us everyday during our morning break to check-in and take care of any issues. I was also able to contact her via QQ (a Chinese texting app) when I needed her. So all was well.

I have to admit that when I was told we'd be living in the teacher dorms I was not excited. The word "dorm" implies old and gross and yuck to me. I was very nervous about what I'd be forced to live in. Boy was I surprised. It turns out that we each got our own apartment, built for teachers who stay for a year or more. They had just been renovated. We were the first people to stay in them. Each apartment had a bedroom, living room, full kitchen, and a bathroom. It was all brand new and pretty. There were two thrilling parts: 1) the western mattress. meaning it was soft and padded - not rock hard. and 2) we each had our own washing machine! WOO! See pics of the awesome apartment below:

View down the Teachers Apts Hall

Shower

Toilet and sink

I think this bed was bigger than my king size at home. I love it :)

I didn't cook but that refrigerator was amazing!

This is a "normal" chinese washing machine. You have to hook it up to the water source every time you use it. We still had to line dry clothes, but it was so nice to be able to wash them ourselves (but not in the sink).

living room

See the gates locking us in? -that's the police/guard station right next to it.

We had a few days off to rest and plan before we started teaching on Monday, July 21. I was very happy to get some time to sleep and relax before having to start teaching again. Though I love teaching, I find it terribly exhausting.

One interesting thing did happen after we got to the school. It is common practice by now that we have to turn in our passports at hotel etc so that they can register us being there. However, the girl who helped us get set-up at the school came around and asked for our passports. She said, "Can I get your passport? I need to make a copy to give to the police". This was somewhat alarming! I didn't say anything, but in my head I was thinking "Why do the police need a copy? - What do they have to do with this?"  Turns out that all the hotels etc have been doing the same thing the whole time. All of these places have been reporting the location of all of us Americans to the police and government. We are officially being watched and tracked.