Stories from China

Going back a few years, I was lucky enough to spend a year teaching English in China. It was without question the most unique year of my life & one I look back on often. I'm really glad I kept a diary of my experiences as some sound too far fetched to be true. Here I share some of my memories:-

Being invited to a 'party' 

My lovely friend who taught English at the neighbouring college was invited to a party. She was told some people wanted to speak English with her and asked if we'd go with her - another friend & I were happy to. The 'party' turned out to be at the adult education office of the college. We walked in to find what was clearly a class of people expecting us to teach them! 

Having not prepared anything, we improvised - we showed postcards of Scotland, played kids games - guess who I am, I went shopping & I bought & the like. We thought we'd done pretty well given we thought we were going to a party. One of our new students asked what we'd be teaching next week. Funnily enough we didn't go to another 'party'! 

Mad dash across China to Tibet 

We had booked a tour to Tibet from Shanghai during the holidays. You could only go into Tibet as part of a guided tour so when we missed our flight out of Shanghai, it caused more than a little stress. I had limited cash as we'd paid for the majority of our trip upfront. The tour operators told us that if we could catch up with our tour, we'd be ok so the race was on. The next flight wasn't until the following day so we had to stay overnight in Shanghai. We took our flight to Chengdu where we hoped we'd be able to board the flight to Lhasa (but without our group it wasn't clear if we'd be allowed to). 

At Chengdu, they had our names on the list & got us onto the next flight into Lhasa. We found our way to our hotel to find that our tour had just left & were exploring Lhasa. We followed the instructions & found our group - to our immense relief, I really didn't know what I'd do if we missed it! I really enjoyed our trip to Tibet so really glad we made it. The adventure to get there though - I wouldn't want to do that again. 

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"A few words"

A few weeks after I arrived at my school, the head teacher was delighted to find out that my birthday was the day before the school's birthday. The message was passed down to me that I'd be required to 'say a few words' at the celebrations. 

The big day came & as the crowd started to gather - the students, the teachers, parents, I felt pretty nervous. When the crowd of 2000 plus had gathered, I was ushered in line behind a few students (who did share the school's birthday). Still unsure as to what was expected of me, I filed on stage where we were all given cards & then it was my turn to speak. All that was required was literally a few words, I thanked the school for allowing me to take part & wished them a happy birthday. Nowhere near as daunting as I had feared & the head teacher seemed pleased.

Finding the Dinosaur Park

A group of friends & I decided we'd like to visit a nearby tourist attraction whilst staying in a hotel, but we didn't know where it was exactly. Our first snag, the receptionist didn't speak English & our phrasebooks didn't include the word 'dinosaur'.  No problem - we thought, how hard could it be to communicate what we wanted. We each took turns to 'roar' dinosaur style at the poor lady who looked more & more bemused by the second. Suffice it to say, this was unsuccessful! 

Next, we tried drawing dinosaurs - I don't know if it is because we were terrible at drawing or if the roaring had confused her too much already but this didn't work. Until with a flash of brilliance, someone thought of adding a tree to the drawing  -  & all of a sudden she understood what we'd been trying to say.  She helped us get there & we had a great day out. Such a ridiculous memory that still makes me smile! 

These are just a few of my memories, I have plenty more. China is a great destination for those seeking a totally different culture & an adventure. I had an incredible time & have loved looking back at my diary for this article. Let me know if you'd like to hear more. 

The best way to experience it is with a guided tour (private or group) especially if you are short on time. I partner with lots of great suppliers so I can help you find the best option for  you. I'll also share tips & recommendations based on my own experiences. 

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