Hi everyone!!!
Wow, time is really moving quickly. I have now been away for 1 month and I have been teaching for 3 weeks. So I am now getting an idea of where everything is and it is now easy to catch the bus (well the ones i know). School is going well, I have quickly learnt that bribes are a good motivator. I am still getting treated really well, I have now tried a lot of the local food and eaten in many restaurants, I could never go by myself, I never now what they order but its always DELICIOUS and very SPICY..
In a week everyone gets a week holiday and I am going to Kashgar. I am going with a friend I met through the other foreign teachers, her name is Aliya and her family is from Kashgar. It will be good to have a guide, as little mandarin is spoken, its mainly the local Uiger population outside of Urumqi. So I am looking forward to going, it is the furthest west city in China, right on the border.
This weekend I went to a local western cafe owned by an expat Canadian called Bob, it was nice to be surrounded by English again. I stayed for a couple of hours as it was bad weather and played cards with some other foreign teachers, a guy from Ireland and a girl from England who are working for another volunter agency called project trust. Also an older guy called Carl from New Zealand, who told me a story about an encounter with a snake in Australia, he also knew where Taree was, the first person in a long time. They were all nice, but told me some bad storys about the school I am working for, it seems there has been a lot of unhappy people work for my school. I think its just a cultural difference, the Chinese people have a very different way of life to us, they make there own rules and they do things when it suites them, you just have to let things slide that you wouldn't back home, you have to or you get very stressed out and angry as I found in the first couple of weeks. I think the best option is not to expect much, because what I am getting is a lot better living than most Chinese people living in Urumqi. I didn't come over here to earn money anyway and it does not cost me much to live, like I bought my dinner, which is a large meal, for $0.70. So what do I have to complain about.
I am also doing a lot more looking around in the shops, I have gained more courage. What I have found is that you can get a lot of things very cheap. An MP3 player for $60 and converse shoes for $28. I am really starting to enjoy my time here in Urumqi and learning more about what life is like living in China. Like catching the bus, they are really pushy, its not being rude its just that evryone is worried about missing there stop or missing the bus. Its also a rush to get a seat, its a lucky day if you get a seat, but once you do get it an older peson usually gets on so you give up your seat for them. In the morning when I catch the bus to work, they cram it full so thats when you have to push to make sure you don't miss your stop. But this is just like catching the train in Sydney in peak hour, you learn to give up your personal space.
Wow so everything is great, I can't wait to go to Kashgar, but I am not looking forward to the 24hour bus ride :-( I will let you know how that goes. I also booked my flights for travel in July as I finish teaching at the end of June. Its all very cheap, I got some very cheap flights and its cheap hostel accomodation. I fly from Urumqi to Chengdu then on to Xián then to Shanghai then back to Beijing. From Beijing it's on to Vietnam. I can't wait to see everyone, it's great Georgie booked her flight. I am looking forward to it all. I am the luckiest person in the world!!!
I hope everyone is well back home and you are all enjoying the cooler weather. Lots of love Katie XXXXXXX
