Sunday, September 11, 2005
First Few Days in Hainan
Hi from Rupert and Hannah
We travelled from Hong Kong to Hainan on friday. We caught a train from Hong Kong to Guangzhou, and then flew from there to Hainan island. The train was really cool, not only were we in first class (we hadn't planned to be) but the seats we sat in also swivelled completely around! We sat down in the train and when it started moving, everyone was facing the wrong way, all the Chinese passengers around us starting making lots of noise and got up out of their seats, I thought they were going to get some food, but they started to fiddle with their chairs. Suddenly, the whole row of seats in front of us turned round and started crashing into ours! We had to move our seat otherwise we would have been squashed up very close to the guys in front of us! It was all kinda odd and cool, British Train companies take note (also take note about the way the train was at the platform waiting for us, the efficiency, the cleanliness and general proper functioning of the train, especially you bosses of First Anglia Trains..)
Umm, yes, right, so we took the train to Guangzhou and then took a taxi to the airport, about a 50 minute driver, during which I was introduced to real Chinese driving......Hannah was obviously use to this, but it was a new experience for me, everyone just drives wherever they want, to get to where there going in the straightest line possible, resulting in everyone going for the same place, which gets kinda interesting when everyone includes 5 taxis, a bus and a lorry. Still, it works and we got there in one piece. The airport was very new and cool but erm a bit crazy and we had the most disgusting food ever in a buffet thing, it was gross.
We got to Hainan island at 5.30pm after an hours flight, we were met at the airport and brought straight to our apartment which is on the college campus. The college is only four years old and the campus is really attractive, loads of the buildings are brand new, it is like a mini town in itself with shops, banks, restaurants and post office etc. We're generally pleased with our apartment, it is big and airy with an amazingly powerful air conditioning unit in the sitting room. On the first night we found five massive cockroaches in the bathroom which Rupert heroically killed. We have only seen one since. We also have a small population of cute little lizards sharing our home that live on the walls and ceilings, but we don't mind them. It is very tropical here, the air is very heavy and humid and it is ridiculously hot, even now at half ten in the evening. On our first evening we had dinner with our general minder bloke, who is great, and he told us about a few problems in the apartment (loo not working, new gas tank needed, needing to connect to the internet etc) and that he would get them fixed as soon as possible. We were incredibly surprised to be woken up at 8am the next morning by a loud hammering on the door. During the rest of the morning a whole host of people were traipsing in and out fixing, repairing, replacing (and sitting, staring and spitting) various things in the apartment. Suddenly almost everything was fixed apart from the gas, which heats our shower. I was sitting next to Rupert and said "Now all we need is for the gas man to come, then I can have a shower." At that second there was hammering on the door and the gas man arrives, it was very funny (well, maybe you had to be there....). I am still amazed at this efficiency, I expected these things to be done over a period of weeks or months.
Today we got a taxi into the city centre and had a wander round. It is less developed than all other Chinese cities I've lived in, but fascinating, the roads are quite narrow and crammed with shops spilling on to the road, people, bikes, cars, busses etc. Lots of the buildings are old colonial buildings which are crumbling and jaded, but look very cool with the bright garish Chinese shop signs splattered over them. We found McDonald's and KFC and Rupert was very excited but all the small little shops selling cool looking HiFis and speakers and really cheap prices and has threatened to fill the flat with one of them. We are looking forward to exploring more of the city and the surrounding area. The campus is on the edge of town by a river and when we drove in from the airport we passed some interesting countryside with people working in the fields wearing coolie hats and saw some water buffalo. We also are hoping to explore some of the nearby beaches.
We have met a few other foreign teachers and students, all Americans. They are families and hence not our age, but are very friendly and helpful. Hannah has a second year Business English class who she will teach on tuesday and thursday mornings. The rest of her classes and all of Rupert's classes are first year students. First years only arrived last week and like all students in China must spend the first two weeks of their course doing military training. The military come and train the students from early in the morning to late at night. They seem to spend most of their time marching round the campus and singing military songs. The main aim is to teach the students independence as it is their first time away from home, although we aren't too sure how this works. But this means that Rupert has two weeks off (yay!) and Hannah only has four hours teaching a week for the first two weeks, but then after that we'll both only be teaching about 12 hours a week (kinda like being in J3 PGCEers!).
We have a good feeling about this place and other people we have spoken to say it is a very good place to work. There are lots of places to visit, Sanya is highly recommended for its beautiful beaches and there are many sources of entertainment (cheap DVDs and VCDs to rent of films not even out yet in the UK cinemas) and lots of interesting street scenes to take photos - expect the quality of the photos to shoot up once Hannah gets hers developed (Rupert wrote this, Hannah is whining No in the background) .
We travelled from Hong Kong to Hainan on friday. We caught a train from Hong Kong to Guangzhou, and then flew from there to Hainan island. The train was really cool, not only were we in first class (we hadn't planned to be) but the seats we sat in also swivelled completely around! We sat down in the train and when it started moving, everyone was facing the wrong way, all the Chinese passengers around us starting making lots of noise and got up out of their seats, I thought they were going to get some food, but they started to fiddle with their chairs. Suddenly, the whole row of seats in front of us turned round and started crashing into ours! We had to move our seat otherwise we would have been squashed up very close to the guys in front of us! It was all kinda odd and cool, British Train companies take note (also take note about the way the train was at the platform waiting for us, the efficiency, the cleanliness and general proper functioning of the train, especially you bosses of First Anglia Trains..)
Umm, yes, right, so we took the train to Guangzhou and then took a taxi to the airport, about a 50 minute driver, during which I was introduced to real Chinese driving......Hannah was obviously use to this, but it was a new experience for me, everyone just drives wherever they want, to get to where there going in the straightest line possible, resulting in everyone going for the same place, which gets kinda interesting when everyone includes 5 taxis, a bus and a lorry. Still, it works and we got there in one piece. The airport was very new and cool but erm a bit crazy and we had the most disgusting food ever in a buffet thing, it was gross.
We got to Hainan island at 5.30pm after an hours flight, we were met at the airport and brought straight to our apartment which is on the college campus. The college is only four years old and the campus is really attractive, loads of the buildings are brand new, it is like a mini town in itself with shops, banks, restaurants and post office etc. We're generally pleased with our apartment, it is big and airy with an amazingly powerful air conditioning unit in the sitting room. On the first night we found five massive cockroaches in the bathroom which Rupert heroically killed. We have only seen one since. We also have a small population of cute little lizards sharing our home that live on the walls and ceilings, but we don't mind them. It is very tropical here, the air is very heavy and humid and it is ridiculously hot, even now at half ten in the evening. On our first evening we had dinner with our general minder bloke, who is great, and he told us about a few problems in the apartment (loo not working, new gas tank needed, needing to connect to the internet etc) and that he would get them fixed as soon as possible. We were incredibly surprised to be woken up at 8am the next morning by a loud hammering on the door. During the rest of the morning a whole host of people were traipsing in and out fixing, repairing, replacing (and sitting, staring and spitting) various things in the apartment. Suddenly almost everything was fixed apart from the gas, which heats our shower. I was sitting next to Rupert and said "Now all we need is for the gas man to come, then I can have a shower." At that second there was hammering on the door and the gas man arrives, it was very funny (well, maybe you had to be there....). I am still amazed at this efficiency, I expected these things to be done over a period of weeks or months.
Today we got a taxi into the city centre and had a wander round. It is less developed than all other Chinese cities I've lived in, but fascinating, the roads are quite narrow and crammed with shops spilling on to the road, people, bikes, cars, busses etc. Lots of the buildings are old colonial buildings which are crumbling and jaded, but look very cool with the bright garish Chinese shop signs splattered over them. We found McDonald's and KFC and Rupert was very excited but all the small little shops selling cool looking HiFis and speakers and really cheap prices and has threatened to fill the flat with one of them. We are looking forward to exploring more of the city and the surrounding area. The campus is on the edge of town by a river and when we drove in from the airport we passed some interesting countryside with people working in the fields wearing coolie hats and saw some water buffalo. We also are hoping to explore some of the nearby beaches.
We have met a few other foreign teachers and students, all Americans. They are families and hence not our age, but are very friendly and helpful. Hannah has a second year Business English class who she will teach on tuesday and thursday mornings. The rest of her classes and all of Rupert's classes are first year students. First years only arrived last week and like all students in China must spend the first two weeks of their course doing military training. The military come and train the students from early in the morning to late at night. They seem to spend most of their time marching round the campus and singing military songs. The main aim is to teach the students independence as it is their first time away from home, although we aren't too sure how this works. But this means that Rupert has two weeks off (yay!) and Hannah only has four hours teaching a week for the first two weeks, but then after that we'll both only be teaching about 12 hours a week (kinda like being in J3 PGCEers!).
We have a good feeling about this place and other people we have spoken to say it is a very good place to work. There are lots of places to visit, Sanya is highly recommended for its beautiful beaches and there are many sources of entertainment (cheap DVDs and VCDs to rent of films not even out yet in the UK cinemas) and lots of interesting street scenes to take photos - expect the quality of the photos to shoot up once Hannah gets hers developed (Rupert wrote this, Hannah is whining No in the background) .
