Hi everybody :-)
First I have been told that my grammer is terrible, so let me apologise now for all future articles. Lucky I am teaching young kids so its mainly spoken english and they don't have to pick up my bad mistakes.
So the flight from Beijing was good, I think I was the only westerner on the plane. It was bad weather so the flight had some turbulance. As we landed it had begun to snow. So the weather was much colder than Beijing!! I was met by my host, Mr Long, who was very nice. The poor guy had arrived 2 hours earlier as that was when my plane was ment to land but the time changed when I left from Beijing so I had no time to tell him. So I made a great first impression, DAMN AUSTRALIANS!! The drive to the school showed that Urumqi was a very poor city compared to larger cities on the east coast. Urumqi which is pronounced WURUMCHI also has a very different culture compared to other parts of China, very different food and people. They eat a lot of mutton, and their food is very spicy. They have a lot of the same vegies, potato, sweet potato, onion, capcicum, tomatoe carrot etc. The cooking is nothing like western Chinese, though some of the Chinese I had in Beijing was like home, sweet and sour pork etc.
So we arrived at the school, my first impression was that it was a poor school, but it is one of the best in Urumqi with a lot of facilities like computers, sports and two canteens serving different chinese food. One is for the Muslim children and does not cook pork!! I live at the middle school in the apartment blocks on the 5th floor, lots of stairs!!Above me lives another foreign teacher, from South Africa who has been here for 3 years. My apartment is HUGE, with a kitchen, lounge room, bedroom and bathroom (its bigger than your place Megan). It is fully furnished, with a big TV, fridge and washing machine. So this is no poor school!!!
My first night in Urumqi I was taken out to dinner with the other foreign teachers which also included a dinner show. It was great and it was good to meet the other teachers. Though my tummy is still adapting to the new foods and might take a while :-( Lucky I have a good western toilet in my apartment and not a squatter!!!
My first weekend in Urumqi I was taken to the city centre and shown around. I made some DVD purchases, I got all the latest releases for about $7 AUS and I got 7 DVDS. They all work well, so if anyone wants any let me know, I can also get all the TV shows dirt cheap!! I was also shown to the western cafe where I can get a good cheap western meal, even STEAK!! I was also able to catch the local buses which are cheap and easy to navigate.. Going shopping for food is fun, eveything is in chinese, but generally its like going to a super market back home!! I can get coke, chips and chocolate..So I will survive URUMQI :-)
On to the school. I am working at the primary school. I had no idea I would be teaching young kids, but they are fun and love to play games. The other teachers think they are naughty, they like them to be quiet and not make any sound, but I let them loose. They like to ask me lots of questions, so all day I answer the same questions, Iam 20, my favourite colour is blue, my favourite food is chocolate on and on. The Chinese teachers are really nice and helpful, they also like to practice their English with me. I work with the Chinese english teachers and I am the only foreign teacher that works their Monday till Friday. There is still a language barrier with these teachers and I am surrounded by Chinese all day, so hopefully I will pick up some of the language!! I teach the children spoken english, so its just simple language and then they practice speaking. They are not shy and like to show off their English. A lot of the foreign teachers don't like teaching the primary kids as they think its to loud because each class has about 40 kids. I don't mind it, the kids are nice and very cute, but its nice to go home to my quiet apartment. On Monday and Tuesday other foreign teachers come to the school from a program called English First and teach the kids english as well, I met them and they were really nice, but found the kids to loud!!My first week has been hard, adapting to the Chinese way of doing things and also finding out what level the kids english is at. Generally the children have a good grasp of the English language, but sometimes I think they don't understand what they are actually saying. They are only repeating what they have been taught to say!!
I am looking forward to the weekend and to a good rest as I am not feeling to well. I will keep you all up to date with any news and don't worry postcards are coming, I still haven't sent them, sorry!! Happy easter to all.
Love Katie xxxx :-)
