FOMO

With the death of a fellow member of the Marietta College Pio Nation, I only felt it was appropriate to write about Marietta today. I’ve been struggling with not going back there this year so much. It’s not because I am halfway across the world. It’s simply due to the fact that it is the first time in four years where I am not returning back to the beautiful, historical riverside city with all of my classmates.

I never saw this coming. My fear of missing out (FOMO) is off the charts this past week with more and more students arriving back on campus. Those four years at Marietta were truly the best four years of my life, just like my parents told me before I even started my journey there. I never realized how great college would be.

Not only was I immersed in a great learning environment, I was also fortunate enough to have such great friends in so many organizations. I would love to go back and just have one more day with all of these people who have impacted my life in more ways than I could have ever imagined.

But now that students are returning, I’m afraid of so many things. I’m afraid people will forget about me. I’m afraid that I will forget about all the good times. I’m afraid that Marietta will change because the people that I am used to being there are also leaving as more and more people graduate each semester. I’m afraid Marietta will never be the same.

Though some of those fears will more than likely happen, it’s something I need to learn to accept, and that’s what my focus is this week. The people that I bonded with the most will remember me and stay in contact, just like after high school. Change is bound to happen, but I have to remind myself that life goes on. Just because it is not exactly how I remember, people are still enjoying themselves there. I want them to have an amazing experience there like I did.

RIP Zane Carter. You will never be forgotten and will forever and always be a part of the Pio Nation.

A Place Called Home

Finally, I can say that I have my own apartment – well, it’s shared with two other girls, but still, you get the point. Though it is in a foreign country, I have a key for a place that I can call home. I just want to talk about some of the differences about apartments in China and in the U.S.A. today.

1. No dryers, just hang dry

It’s common in China to see clothes hanging off of buildings as they air dry them. Even in our fairly Western apartment, we have a rod which is inside our laundry room where you hang dry your clothes. You just have to plan to have a day to get your laundry because it sure isn’t instant like a dryer.

2. Most come furnished

The number of people that live in Beijing is around 25 million I believe. With that being said, almost all of the apartments here come with furniture that the landlord supplies. It wouldn’t really be logical to have huge semi-trucks moving furniture from apartment to apartment. Although some people attempt to move some furniture on the back of their little tricycles and other smaller vehicles.

3. No ovens, but we did negotiate a toaster oven

It isn’t common to bake things here or even use an oven in any means. Explaining to the landlord during the negotiation process that we wanted a toaster oven was quite an interesting endeavor.

4. Pay 3 months of rent up front – plus the deposit

This was a huge part of the moving expenses (besides the plane ticket I bought at the last minute thanks to the visa process). This is the main reason that housing in Beijing is so expensive. You pay rent quarterly, which means I will have to pay at the end of October as well. I don’t mind paying for this view though – the skyline is Guomao

5. Pay for utilities before you use them, or else you have no utilities

Unlike the states where you pay for your utilities when you get a bill for how much water, gas and electricity you have used in the month, China works on a pay as you go system. If you don’t pay ahead for your utilities, you just won’t have any until you pay. Quite simple, but something we need to pay attention to.

6. Water heater has to be turned on in order to use hot water 

Inside the kitchen there is this huge mechanical box that has to be turned on in order for there to be hot water. Luckily, ours doesn’t take that long to heat up because other can take up to 45 minutes to heat the water. However, you have to press the on button as well as plugging it in - I had to teach my roommates that after they took a few cold showers.

7. Take your shoes off inside

The ground in China is considered dirty which makes sense because I’ve seen so many children use the restroom on the sidewalk and the squatter toilets aren’t the cleanest. When you enter someone’s home, it is likely that they will give you slippers to wear in order to keep your “dirty” outdoor shoes off of their floors inside their house.

8. Chinese deep cleaning is different than American deep cleaning

Our apartment was “deep cleaned” before we moved in but deep clean in China has a different meaning than in America. With that being said, we did our version of deep cleaning before moving in completely as well.

9. Can’t flush toilet paper down the toilet

If you choose to do so, then you will more than likely clog the toilet. The piping here just isn’t made to have the paper be flushed through them. So having a trash can next to the toilet is necessary.

10. Bathrooms normally don’t have shower stalls

Typical Chinese bathrooms do not come equipped with a glass shower stall or even a tub. The whole bathroom instead just gets wet and the water is moped into one central drain on the bathroom floor. I’m so grateful for our bathroom glass shower stall.

All of these pictures are picture from the first day we saw our apartment, so of course, we have added our own personal touches to it at this point in time. We will add much more once we get our first paycheck at the end of the month!

Real Chinese Food

I'm sure many people are wondering about what I have been eating here in China. No, I haven’t had General Tso’s chicken, orange chicken, crab rangoons, or even fortune cookies. All of those are American Chinese food. So I wanted to introduce some Chinese culture and cuisine.

Street food 

Though I haven’t had any yet, it can be seen on many streets here in China. They can sell things like fruit, veggies, or even full meals like pork sandwiches. It shocks me sometimes as to what they can whip up on the street within five minutes. Some will be on carts like this one which is attached to a bike and others will be pulled by a donkey which I actually saw the other day

Hotpot 

 
 This is one of my favorite dishes. The idea here is you have a boiling pot of water and spices in the middle, and you put whatever meat, noodles, and veggies into it, wait for it to cook, and then eat it with a peanut butter-like sauce. It is also common to have this with an extra-large Coca-Cola, but I am not quite sure why.

American Franchises

KFC, McDonalds, Starbucks, Pizza Hut, Subway, and an occasional TGIF or Hooters can all be found in China. I haven’t had any of these yet either, but last time I had KFC, the meat seemed a little more real than in the United States. Of course, they adapt the menu to the taste of the Chinese so there is rice and pork on the menu. The nice part about having these here is that most of them deliver. Pizza Hut is also a fancier, sit down restaurant where you would take someone on a date, and they serve alcohol.

Traditional meals

The typical Chinese meal will consist of many dishes being shared in the middle of a circle table on a lazy Susan. Sometimes the meal seems to be never ending so make sure to pace yourself, but it allows every to try a little bit of everything. You will normally have your own small bowl of rice to eat towards the end to fill you up. At the end of the meal, Chinese will fight for the bill because one person wants to treat the rest of them. Dividing up a check here is not common to do, but we still find a way to divide it as equally as possible. I have added some pictures here of a chicken dish, some pumpkin buns, dumplings, an egg and tomato dish (which is one of my personal favorites), green beans, as well as a picture of the table with my wonderful co-teachers.

 IKEA food

With moving into a new apartment soon, we needed to get some things at IKEA so we decided to check out the food there. I don’t recall ever eating at an IKEA in the states, but I do know about the Swedish meatballs. We couldn’t say no to trying them, and I was rather happy with that choice. They were delicious, but the salmon lasagna on the other hand wasn’t as good. The cheese here just isn’t the same.

So after just a week of being here, the food is just as good as I remembered. I did not include any pictures of Chinese eggplant dishes (simply because I forgot to take pictures whenever I ordered it). With that being said, keep an eye out for more posts about food in the future.

I wanted to leave this one for last because I honestly have no idea what this guy was doing today. He had a turtle tied to a stick and just standing in the road. If anyone knew what his goal was or even had any guesses as to what he was doing, I would love to hear them.

Officially Employed & Almost Settled In

Three days ago, I started my first full-time job. I cannot believe I signed a yearlong contract and will receive my first paycheck of more than around 200 USD as if I had my old part-time jobs. Now don’t get me wrong, I am not doing this for the money in any means, but the realization of being on my own is definitely sitting in. The morning of the contract signing I had a cup of coffee. Not the best idea because shortly after I couldn’t tell if I was shaking from the caffeine or the excitement of beginning this new chapter.

Taking this leap of faith was something I was confident with. I can easily get by with my Chinese here in China even though it is nowhere near close to being fluent (and I don’t have a Beijing accent - future blog posts will tell great stories about this). Some people don’t have ANY Chinese language background at all, but they still make it! Just because the language is so foreign does not mean that it is impossible to even vacation here. Every metro sign has the written out pronunciation of the stop, most menus have pictures, some young people speak English, and on top of that, there is always gesturing! That’s the most fun one because sometimes you just look like a fool, and they don't even understand what you are saying. It's all a part of the experience in my opinion.

Now this part of the post is a little more personal, but I wanted to share with the world honestly about my experience. I’ve decided to reflect upon this experience before I got lost in the repetition of everyday life. With that being said, these are some thing I am looking forward to:

• Being a minority – In the U.S.A., being white and having white privilege is something people definitely overlook every day. Living here in China puts it into a different perspective when you get called 老外 (laowai) which means foreigner over and over again. It also challenges me more to prove to people that I can speak the language and that I can survive in a country that is so foreign to people. Most importantly, I want to become accustomed to this unique culture that I will call home for the next year.
• Being an expat – Working abroad has always been my dream, and now it’s finally happening! I want to take advantage of meeting more people in the same boat as me and networking with as many people as possible. You never know where one connection will take you.
• Having a full-time job - I love working and probably will end up being a work-a-holic, but I am looking forward to that this first year. I want to get my schedule down to a routine while at the same time challenging myself to become the best teacher that I can possibly be.
• Exploring a new, incredibly large city – Beijing has an endless amount of activities to do, places to see, and food to eat. I want to explore as much as possible and see what all it has to offer. This may involve meeting people to play ultimate Frisbee with or even finding a new delicious restaurant! I am willing to do whatever is necessary to fuel my adventurous spirit.
• Having an apartment – After a long, stressful weekend of apartment searching, we have found a place. A nice 3 bedroom with 2 bathroom apartment with a park in the apartment complex and many restaurants (international and Chinese) right outside the main gate. I cannot wait to sign the contract and move in. This will be my first time having my own place besides living in a dorm, and I look forward to making it our new home.

And these are some things that I expect of myself (AKA realistic goals):

• Meeting people from all over the world – Once a month, I want to think about the friends I have made and make sure that I am still reaching out to new people, as well as maintaining the old friendships that I have made.
• Learning how to teach – Thankfully, my company has many resources to further our education in teaching, and I want to be proactive in learning something new about it every single week to better myself.
• Teaching the children – The reason I am teaching is for these children, and I want to make sure that they are making improvements. I will evaluate and adjust my teaching style to make sure that they are learning as much as possible.
• Managing money well – Being the first time receiving a salary in this amount, I want to make sure to save a good chunk of it and start being a responsible adult when it comes to money. This means following a budget as closely as possible while still being able to enjoy life.

I will leave you with a picture of the subway map just giving you an idea of how big this city of 25 million people really is.