Protecting your Email Account

This blog posting is not about living in and experiencing China. Rather I am going to use this forum to blog about another important topic right now- internet security. I feel strongly about this after a recent incident of my own when my email account was hacked into by some shifty West Africans in London. I was out of commission for a couple of weeks because Google went so far as to not only shut down my account to the hackers but me as well. I wasn’t able to access my gmail account, my google calendars, my google documents and this blog was also temporarily shut down. I appreciate everyone’s concern during this entire ordeal. Thanks to my friend Eva who called the guys and gave them an earful as well as my parents who actually called the London Police and Scotland Yard. They’ve got the guys at the crime lab working in shifts so I have hope that justice will soon be mine.

Sadly, I know that I am not the only victim of these amateur but crafty hackers. So from my ordeal I would like to offer a few tips on how to protect yourself from having your account and privacy on the internet compromised.

1) Change your email password- Do this especially if you are afraid that your account has been compromised.

2) Do not use the same password for everything. While it is easier to remember just one password for your email account, your online banking, Skype, and iTunes, etc., it is too easy to be figured out by hackers if you are using the same password over and over.

3) Check your account activity- If you have a gmail account, you can check the location/ IP address of each time you have logged onto your gmail account. That way if an IP address in an unfamiliar location shows up, you will know if your account may have been compromised. This function is in the middle and at the bottom of your gmail mail page (on the same page where you have your Inbox). It is small and says “Last account activity” and you should click on “Details” next to it. If anyone knows how to do this with other web clients like yahoo.com or hotmail.com, please share!

4) HTTPS websites- When possible, access websites that have HTTPS instead of HTTP. Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure or (HTTPS) creates a secure channel over an insecure network. Unfortunately not all web sites are equipped with HTTPS, however you can get an encrypted search engine through google and make it your home page on your internet browser. You can also download a free Firefox extension from HTTPS Everywhere which will allow you to have encrypted communication with a number of websites.
- Google encrypted https://encrypted.google.com/
- HTTPS Everywhere https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere

5) Use a VPN- For folks in China, having a virtual private network client comes in handy to access facebook, youtube and other blocked blogs here in China. However, in addition to your activity not being easily detected by the Chinese government, a VPN client will protect you to some level from hacking predators who just want to get your information and suck your blood. This is why I will aim to use a VPN connection even when I’m outside of China and can freely access youtube.com, etc.

6) Download a free virus scanner- A virus scanner can work round the clock and detect viruses on your hard drive as well as any tracking cookies on your web browser. You can also schedule a full scan on your computer. I do scans every day now on my computer.
- I recommend Avast Antivirus. http://www.avast.com/free-antivirus-download

7) Clear cookies and the history on your internet browser- I recommend doing this every three days or more often if you feel that you are vulnerable.
- Firefox web browser- You can do this under Tools on the toolbar on the top of the page
- Windows Explorer- I think it can also be accessed under Tools on the toolbar on the top of the page. Switch to Firefox!

So there you have it. I am by no means a tech savvy person, but I think these tips will help protect you and your information on the web. In a day and age when so much of what we do is wrapped up in us being able to access the internet and our own information, it really can be quite frustrating if not debilitating when you are suddenly cut off from your email account, your documents, your calendar, your contacts and your email history. Good luck and safe surfing and emailing!

College Life

As of yet, I have not shared any of my experiences as a teacher here in China other than some earlier references about how helpful students have been here. Two months into this, I can now share some better insight into working with Chinese university students.

I teach three different subjects four days of the week. From the first week, I have been teaching Business English to sophomore students. This class is only half credit and I’m lucky if half of them show up. I teach four different class sections of this class Monday and Wednesday afternoons. The initial excitement and chemistry the students and I had has now run its course and I think it’s safe to say we all just show up to class because we have to. Not having any curriculum provided, I teach information, vocabulary and dialogues about telephone use, meetings and negotiations in a business setting. Try as I may, it is very difficult to make this subject material any bit interesting. I have tried to elicit conversations and I ask students about similarities in China. The problem is students do not respond. They do not raise their hands if I ask a question to the class. So the only way I can get a response to questions is if I ask students directly. Students will say “I don’t know” or just look at me. It’s a bit frustrating but I can’t say they are entirely to blame. From their previous education experiences, they may be used to only be lectured at and are not expected to share their opinion or participate in class discussions. Nevertheless, I can only be so understanding, especially when I catch students playing video games or talking on their phone when they should be giving a class presentation.

My saving grace and my pure teaching enjoyment has come from teaching my freshmen 2+2 students. They are called 2+2 students because they will spend their first two years of college here at Nanjing University of Finance and Economics and the second two years at Waterloo University in Ontario, Canada. Therefore, they have intense English courses for the next two years and have the incentive to take their English courses seriously. I teach Writing four hours a week and Oral English three hours a week to them. They are serious, motivated, and inquisitive students and they’re my babies. Every time I show up to class, all 43 of them are already waiting in their seats and they cheer or cry out when I enter the room (Thank you, thank you very much). I push them and give them a lot of work (which in turn is more work for me) but we are all learning a lot. The best thing is that it’s been a great teaching experience for me. It’s wonderful to have a class group of my own with whom I can establish a relationship and I have learned how to manage a class better as well as new teaching and assessment methods. All-in-all, they are helping me become a confident educator.

Go to college and you shall be set free

What mystifies me here is how much freshmen students are coddled. Sunday through Thursday nights, freshmen have mandatory study hall from 6:30-9:30 pm at different academic buildings on campus. By 10 pm, students must be in their rooms and as far as I know, lights have to be out at 11 or 11:30. Women especially have to keep their dorms orderly. Students also live all four years in the same room and with the same roommates (except for my 2+2s because they will go to Canada. Lucky them). The mandatory study time has proven a little tricky because I have wanted to organize an informal English conversation group at a café a ten minute walk off of campus. I soon found out though that they wouldn’t be able to go because of the study hour. I was able to talk to their teacher/ counselor who is in charge of their class. She told me that if students left campus, I would have to give a list to her the day before and then she would have to get the list approved by the dean or other higher ups. I would have to make sure I escort all of them to and from campus. Sheesh- it was too much work so I have agreed to now have dinner with my students in the cafeteria on Wednesdays nights before their study session begins. Freshmen are also not allowed to bring their own personal computers to school. Instead they must go to the library where the computers are quite old and slow. The university wants to limit their time socializing on the internet on Chinese social network sites like QQ. This has also been problematic as I have a class website where I post class notes. After I learned that students do not have easy access to the internet, I decided to stop using the site.

Impressions of love and dating
Students seem very innocent- especially when it comes to the opposite sex and the notion of love (Think 19 years old going on 11). In all my classes, the male students (by choice) sit in one section of the classroom and the female students all sit among each other in another section. Recently when showing the movie “Into the Wild”, there room was abuzz during a scene when the main male character went on a walk with a new love interest. Mind you, they were not even holding hands in scene! I think it was just the underlying sexual tension between the characters that put my students at unease. Still, they are intrigued about meeting the opposite sex. During lunch today, one of my students was checking a text message from a high school class mate. Her roommate exuberantly kept repeating to me, “He’s her boyfriend!” with my student vehemently denying her roommate’s claim. Perceptions of love also seem to be very naïve and innocent. The word love may be used very loosely and for a simple, innocent crush. During an oral exercise in class today, I asked my students a series of questions about interviewing people. One of the questions had to do with what they would ask a loved one if they had the opportunity. Even though I explained what was meant by “loved one” many of them misunderstood “loved one” and its connotation. After they were broken down into groups and were discussing the questions, several of them told me that it was just too personal of a question to answer. They thought that the question was asking what they would ask of a boyfriend or a girlfriend and only after I explained (again) that “loved one” could mean a family member, a good friend or anyone they care about, were they willing to answer the questions. During the same class session, when students were asked who they would interview if they could, I asked one of my students who is a huge fan of the book “Wuthering Heights”, whether he would want to interview Emily Bronte. “Yes!” He exclaimed. “She’s my lover!!!” This obviously got some snickers from the other students and I didn’t go into explaining that Emily Bronte is indeed not his lover. But who am I? Maybe he seriously believes she is his soul mate, that she speaks to his heart, and that they are really star crossed lovers through some strange time-warp dimension.

It's all in the name
Now a word about names. Thankfully for me, many of me students have English names which helps a little to avoid the embarrassment of mispronouncing a Chinese names (usually only embarrassing for me and the student whose name I mispronounce. Also I must admit that eight weeks into the semester, I am still having trouble identifying many of my students). The thing I like about English names is that students can pick an entire new name for themselves and can in fact have a separate identity if they want. Except for the fact that many of my students don’t know each other by their English names. So, for example, when I’m taking attendance and ask for the absent “Maryanne” and try to ascertain from the other students whether she is in fact in class and not saying anything (also common). I’ll repeat her English name 3 times only to get blank looks until I say, “Umm. Sorry. I mean is Zhan Xiu Chen here?” which is then usually followed by a laugh at my total butchering of her name and then the entire class’s recitation of the correct pronunciation of her name. “Um. Got it. Sooo, she’s not here, right??” Also quite confusing is that Chinese custom mandates that the family name (last name) be written and said first before a person’s given name (first name). This is to show respect to a person’s family and ancestors. For the first two weeks I probably called my students (who didn’t have English names) by their last names. I’m sure no offense was taken but I did have to spend some time explaining to my students that it is the reverse order with names in the US and many other countries of the world which may cause them or their foreign counterparts confusion if they ever end up working or interacting in a Western business or social setting.

English name choices are quite interesting. Many names are quite normal while others are quite unconventional. NBA basketball is quite popular here in China, especially among the male students. So it isn’t surprising that Kobe (Kobe Bryant) is a common and popular name. Students may also pick names from a favorite book or movie. My student who is Emily Bronte’s lover is called Austin Earnshaw (having not read Wuthering Heights before, I had to do a google search to figure out how Mr. Earnshaw came up with his name choice). Other unique names include Spawn, Sky, Circle, Arrow, Season, Lucifer and here’s the kicker… Nazi (not one of my students. I think Nazi’s teacher has advised his student to find another moniker).

Students engrossed and involved in group discussions.

More insights on student life in China to follow soon in Part II.

Chinese health care = Easy health care

Recently I had my first foray into the Chinese health system. As many of you may already know from previous posts, I have experienced several different physical maladies since arriving here in China. I’ll avoid going into the details of my recent malady, however I can share a glimpse into the Chinese health system and will also add that I was left completely satisfied from my first experience with it.

My recent malady kept me up all night one recent weekend so I had planned to go to the university clinic first thing in the morning. I was going to do my little pantomime dance and use recently acquired vocabulary from the massage place “Wo tang” (I hurt) and point to the part of my body that was feeling discomfort. I’m sure I would only have gotten strange looks and no help so thankfully, my wonderful Chinese friend and godsend Tien (this will probably not be the last time you will read about her) recommended that I stay away from the clinic. She said that they would probably just give me an aspirin and tell me to monitor my problem. What I needed was urgent and immediate care and real doctors to diagnose and treat my problem, so off we headed to the Xianlin Community Health Service Center, a short bus ride up the road. Now I would like to take a moment to clarify something here. This was a public health facility (hence the name Xianlin COMMUNITY Health Service Center). There were no lines going around the building. There were no numbers I had to pick and no ridiculous bureaucratic hoops I had to jump through to be seen by a doctor. In fact, when we arrived there, the waiting room was eerily empty. Okay, okay and the doctors were also on their lunch break so we did have to wait a little while since I did not have a severed arm with blood profusely dripping out. But other than that, it wasn’t bad for socialized health care.

To kill the time until the doctors returned from lunch, Tien and I walked a block away to “My Shop”, a little store about 100 square feet that sells American, British, Australian and German packaged and frozen food. It’s owned and operated by a Chinese man and not surprisingly, all the customers are expats anxious to stock up on items from home to cure a little bit of homesickness. I was actually on a different mission to get some cranberry juice for my current malady (and now some of you have probably figured out what I had. “I’ll take ‘Stephanie’s physical maladies in China’ for $300, Alex.”). After a German man depleted My Shop’s supply of granola bars, I paid the equivalent of a whopping $7 for my bottle of cranberry juice, a price I was more than happy to pay if it led to some sort of alleviation of pain and discomfort.

When we arrived back at the health center, I had to buy a medical record book at a window in the lobby. In this little booklet, the doctors make notes during any visits. This booklet should be kept and shared with any doctors at any hospitals during any future visits. Cost: 2.20 RMB (about 33 cents). I was then sent to the adjacent hallway with Tien and we walked into one of the doctor’s office. Tien explained my problem and symptoms. The doctor then said I would need to give a urine sample. So off we marched to the window in the lobby again (and still no line) to pay for that and get the cup. Cost: 26.50 RMB ($4). Three minutes later after a trip to the bathroom, another doctor or lab technician examined my pee sample in a very sophisticated, state-of-the-art, advanced microscope, computer machine. A minute later, she printed out a microscopic, computer-generated image of my urine. I then went back to the first doctor who looked at the image and then diagnosed and confirmed that I did have what I thought I had had. He then filled out a prescription for some tablets I would need to take twice a day for the next two weeks. Off we marched to the window again and paid for the prescription medication. Cost: 16 RMB ($2.25). We marched ten feet further to the pharmacy and I was then handed my two boxes of prescription. Total time (not including the lunch break when we first arrived): 15 minutes. Total cost: 44.70 RMB ($6.75)- less than the bottle of cranberry juice.

No deductible. No co-payment. No premium. No referral. No HMOs, PPOs or any other confusing acronyms. Just the doctors and the treatment. Health care was never made so easy…

PS: Two and a half weeks later, I am happy to report that I am now completely cured of my malady!

Lessons in shopping

Greetings dear readers! Today is a national holiday, so just like one would in the US on a holiday, I joined the masses and went shopping. I started my day off at 9:30 this morning at Carrefour, France’s answer to Walmart here in China. Do you think a holiday would keep people from working here today? Not at all!

I had so much confidence on my way to Carrefour as it was the first time I had navigated my way there on my own. Once at Carrefour, I was also able to quickly navigate through the store and find what I needed, even picking up a new pot on sale for 29 RMB instead of 69 RMB. I proceeded to the check-out again feeling pretty smug and proud that I was in a line with only two people in front of me. Riding on that confidence, the woman in front of me saw that I only had a basket and since she had a whole shopping cart, she let me go in front of her. Then suddenly things turned sour. The man in front of me got in a big argument with the check-out lady. I’m not sure what the deal was, but she was reaming him out for probably not having the right price label on the bag of eggs (from the bulk food section) he was trying to buy. The man was there with a small child in his cart and it looked like she was demanding him to get the correct price and he was yelling back to her that he wasn’t about to leave his son in the cart there nor drag him halfway through the store to get the correct price. Then the argument started to escalate when the man’s wife arrived and then the sales lady started yelling at her as well. So it was under these pretenses that the check-out lady started scanning my items. Right away, the pot I was trying to buy was priced at 69 RMB instead of the sales price of 29 RMB. I tried to explain to the woman that the pot was actually 29 RMB (I am proud to say that we have learned the numbers in the last week). Well, clearly she had the upper hand and she barked at me and put my pot aside and made me pay for the bag I wanted to purchase (and forgetting to ring up the rest of my groceries). I fumbled for my iPhone where I have an app that lists some survival Chinese terms. I found the word for “today” and “yesterday”. I kept yelling out “Yesterday 69. Today 29!!!” pointing at the words for yesterday and today on my phone. Meanwhile the line behind me was suddenly ten people deep (although I will give my fellow-Chinese shoppers credit- they didn’t seem the least bit irate or annoyed). At that point, another sales lady came over and I tried to explain to her as well. No luck. Those of you who know me well know how quickly my stress level escalates in, um, a stressful situation such as this (you Steph, getting stressed and panicking? Nooooo!). My voice started getting high and I was on the brink of tears. I was writing out “SALES. PROMOTION” with my shaky hand on a piece of paper (I don’t know what good that would have done. It’s not like they understood my previous short explanation of “yesterday 69. Today 29” in Chinese so why would they suddenly recognize in English “SALES. PROMOTION”?). Finally I called my Chinese god-send who is our friend Tien. I fumbled for Tien’s number and thankfully she picked up. When she answered I went into the litany of problems with the mean sales lady and by the way, would she please explain to the sales, check-out lady that I am not making up the fact that the pot is 29 RMB and NOT 69 RMB? Tien explained the situation and the other sales lady then made someone from downstairs verify the price. At that point I should have left the store and given up on the stupid pot, but I was hellbent on having that pot for only 29 RMB and wanted to be vindicated. I am glad to say that a third sales store employee then showed up shortly after that with a new pot and with the correct sales price of 29 RMB. The second employee told me that it was29 RMB and added a “Sorry!!”. The first sales lady wouldn’t look at me, but the second sales lady ran around and carefully placed the pot in my bag very apologetically. I did feel a little bit vindicated and told them thank you. I should very well have not bothered with the pot, but I am glad that I didn’t back down and that future shoppers will get their pot without any problem for the sales price of 29 RMB. What a true lesson in language and shopping etiquette!

To recooperate from the stress of shopping, I got two massages today!
Here Derek and I are enjoying late night foot massages.

These hot, suction cups on my feet were slightly uncomfortable. I
couldn't help laughing and the Chinese masseurs kept saying,
"Ta pan yang!" (or something similar)- She is so ticklish!

Finding our own comfort level

Hello dear readers. I must apologize for slacking on the blog-front and this is only my second real blog post from China!! I could say that I have been busy trying to adjust to a new culture where I know only .0001% of the language as well as getting over various physical maladies such as the runs, heat rash, swollen ankles and a stuffed-up head from adjusting to air-conditioning. However, it’s really been a case of me wracking my brains to figure out how I can eloquently explain how I am taking in this complete paradigm shift in my life.

Over the last three weeks I have gone through a range of emotions as I adjust to life here in Nanjing. At the time I wrote my last blog post, I was still experiencing the initial emotions and excitement one has when first arriving in a new place. The sense of long-termness had not hit me yet and I was experiencing being here as if I was on a vacation here for one or two weeks. However, after our second weekend here, it finally hit me that we were indeed here for the long haul. It was then that I got the heat rash, swollen feet and had to grab the bottle of Immodium to treat my stomach woes. The Chinese food I raved about in my last blog post started to make my stomach turn and suddenly a McDonald’s double cheeseburger never seemed so delectable (and you know you’ve hit a low point when McDonald’s is all you dream about……). The helpful and accommodating students I referred to before suddenly seemed to give me strange quizzical looks when I would ask for their help in ordering food for dinner at the school cafeteria. And then I realized that I was quite homesick, missing my friends and family, missing Seattle and missing delicious familiar foods. The rug had suddenly been pulled from underneath me and my world had turned upside down.

Sunday afternoon shopping at French brand superstore Carrefour.
Not related to this blog post but a good example of how crowded it is!

I was grateful to have McDonald’s, Starbucks, and Ikea nearby for a sense of familiarity (not only for the food but also for the Western style restrooms). I’m not proud of this nor do I recommend that other Americans try living in major East Coast Chinese cities because they can still have all the comforts of home. I felt guilty that local food was suddenly unappetizing and that I did backflips when I found a western bakery and deli (ovens, baked goods and cheese are hard to come by here) and wanted to spend entire days in our apartment watching pirated DVDs of American TV shows. Thankfully our new friend Jordan- a fellow American teacher, told me that I will overcome this sense and need for isolation. The McDonald’s he pointed out was comfort food. Eventually, the desire for certain familiar comforts will dissipate and rather than them being things I desire all the time, I will realize that I happily will be able to do without many of these comforts and that they will become occasional indulgences.

"Start of the semester" traffic next door at Nanjing Normal
University last Saturday. Loud, constant honking all day!

I have also learned to not apply my old logic to how things should work here. For example, I was scared stiff when it came to crossing streets and roads here. You see, even though there are pedestrian crossings and traffic signals for people to cross the street, scooters and motorcycles will ignore the red lights and continue to go through traffic whether it means going straight, turning suddenly down an intersecting street or getting around on a sidewalk- whichever seems to be the quickest approach. As a pedestrian you can cross cautiously, run across as quick as you can in the hope of avoiding any approaching scooters or you can hope that they will swerve around you (do you remember that video game called “Frogger” from the early 80’s? Yea- like that). This angered and frustrated me to no end when we first arrived because it just seemed like a completely lawless, disorderly, self-serving system (or lack thereof). But that was using my old experiences and expectations of how drivers should behave and act in any US city. I now cross the street a little more comfortably if not with more savvy ever since I have thrown away this prior US-logic.

Typical Chinese squat-toilet in public
restroom with bin for soiled tissue.

I also realize that I need to ease in to some activities, functions and rituals. Take the public restrooms. Most standard Chinese bathrooms have squat-toilets which means that the toilets are embedded into the floor with two places for your feet on either side of the bowl. It actually makes a lot of sense to squat while you do your business. In fact I’m sure it’s the most natural way to do it and can be argued to be better for your bladder and other inside parts. Some would say it’s more sanitary as well. Don’t expect to find toilet paper in public restrooms here either. Always be prepared to carry small tissue packets or toilet paper rolls (without the inner cardboard tubes) and never put toilet paper in the toilet! Little waste baskets are provided in the bathrooms for you to put your soiled paper. And isn’t this also better for the septic system? I would say so. Nevertheless, it’s a big adjustment for me to use the public restrooms here (which is why I happily use Western toilets at Starbucks, etc. when they are available). If I can’t get over my fear of using public restrooms and squat toilets, I will get really squeamish when it comes to traveling off the beaten track here in China and using very primitive, rural toilets. Therefore I have resolved to “ease” into using squat toilets here in Nanjing. Today I started using the squat-toilet restrooms here on campus which are pretty clean and sanitary. This may seem like a trivial thing but I am quite proud of this accomplishment and know that I will soon be closer (literally and figuratively) to using toilets in even the most appalling of conditions. Baby steps, baby steps…..

In order to not fall victims to the sense of isolation and homesickness one can experience in being in a new place, Derek and I are slowly putting ourselves out “there” by trying to meet new Chinese friends as well as getting to know the other foreign teachers in our building. This is why I volunteered to help out last Friday at a booth for the English Salon, a social club on campus here at Nanjing University of Finance and Economics where students and foreign teachers can get together to practice English (and Chinese!) conversation and experience such American holidays like Halloween and Christmas (the non-religious side of course). I walked over to the north end of the campus with Randy, one of the new American teachers here at NUFE but certainly a seasoned pro here in China (he’s been here for almost ten years, speaks extensive Chinese and has a Chinese wife). When we arrived we helped the older Chinese students recruit new freshmen to join the club. To be honest I wasn’t very helpful in effectively recruiting new students. Most of the shy, timid freshmen shied away as soon as they saw the big, imposing figure that I am coming towards them and then they completely scampered off as soon as I opened my mouth and said “Hello!!! Would you like to join the English club????” One of the older students politely said, “Hmm, you are quite tall.” And then suggested I might sit down and take a rest. But that is how I met my new friend “Tom” whose English name I helped come up with right there on the spot (so in a way, I have helped “give birth” to someone’s new identity here!). After a while, Tom and Jillian (also obviously not her Chinese given name) whisked Randy and me away and brought us to the cafeteria for lunch. They sought out a corner in the cafeteria that was comfortably situated near the air-conditioner and told us to make ourselves comfortable as they went and selected some dishes for us for lunch. A few minutes later they came back with some tasty dishes such as a tomato scrambled egg dish, some shredded pork with shredded cucumber on top and for me alone- some “zhu tong” which is translated literally to “soup in a bamboo bowl” (**to all my Seattle friends out there- Stan in particular- I had to share this soup reference. Even here they have figured out my love of soup!). Tom and Jill so patiently and graciously helped me with writing down in my little notebook the correct tones and pronunciation as well as pin yin, the romanization system for transcribing Chinese words and names, of all the foods we were eating. It was sitting right there and then with Randy, Tom and Jill that I suddenly realized that Chinese food was again delicious and appetizing for the first time in a week and I had no desire to rush to a McDonald’s for a bacon, double cheeseburger. I was so overwhelmed and touched by their generosity and graciousness and was curious to learn more about their lives. After eating our lunch and the cafeteria almost empty, we strolled our way back to the main part of the campus until we parted ways. Jillian offered to help Derek and me with any Chinese we are interested in learning and Tom also extended the offer for any help we would need.

Enjoying lunch with new friends Jillian and Tom.

Derek and I have had a dream for a couple of years to live overseas. One of my personal reasons for wanting to travel and live overseas was to push our comfort level. I am learning from our experience over the last few days though that pushing your comfort level doesn’t have to be an uncomfortable, icky, painful or stressful experience. Maybe a better way of phrasing it should be finding your own comfort level. Everyone who comes to China eventually finds their own comfort level. Some may be completely content traveling to remote, desolate spots and living for weeks in an abandoned home with no contact with other foreigners or other people for that matter; others’ comfort level can be reached traveling in larger cities with the occasional comforts from home; and then there may be others who enjoy just staying in Nanjing and enjoying all it has to offer as a city and its elements of Chinese life. We have not found our own comfort level here yet. It may be one of the three I just mentioned or perhaps it will be a combination of all three. Exploring and finding our own comfort level here in China is why we’re here.

Strangest misuse of the English language

TIC- This is China

A whirlwind few days it has been since our arrival here in Nanjing, China late last Wednesday. We’ve finally gotten settled and are on our on our feet but not without a few minor hiccups. Let me explain..

We arrived late last Wednesday night in Nanjing after 22+ hours of travelling only to find out that our checked-in bags had not arrived. Then, when we finally arrived at our apartment at 1 am Thursday morning in a half daze, we had another little hiccup. What is the first thing you want to do when you arrive at your new home after traveling and sitting for 24+ hours? You of course want to use the bathroom. No sooner had Derek finished his business when he told me the toilet did not flush. The next morning, we discovered the phone in our apartment actually didn’t work as it needed batteries. We bought the AA and AAA batteries but those didn’t fit. Today, when we thought we were finally in the clear of all these hiccups, Derek’s key to our apartment got stuck in our door. An hour and a half later and with the patient work of two men, several tools and W40, we finally have an entire new lock and two new sets of keys. Of course everything works out in the end- the toilet does flush, the key does work, and yes we finally got all of our bags. Normally such events would cause my stress level to spike but I’m learning to not worry about things that are out of my control and to take such small hiccups here with a grain of salt. Why? TIC- this is China. This is what people say around here when something doesn’t work, breaks or there is a little hiccup. It’s just what happens here and all you can really do is relax and trust that things will work out in the end.

So, in addition to experiencing the concept of “TIC”, I have several other first impressions and experiences I would like to share. Keep in mind we are on sensory overload at the moment. Details that may seem rather mundane are both intriguing and amusing to me.

Cute overload
I really can’t get over the obsession here with cute things. If you go onto a dollar store here (which I think are the items that are too cheap to sell at US dollar stores, so you can imagine the abundance of both treasures and crap) and want to buy a lamp, all that is available are little plastic lamps in different pastel colors and with little cartoon sheep and bunnies on them saying “Everyday Goodday! Clouds!!!”. Or if you go into the stationery / bookstore on campus, you can pick from two type of notebooks: Communist party- recycled toilet paper notebooks or pink, polka-dot Hello-Kittyish notebooks. In the Carrefour (it’s a French Wallmart) we bought some household essentials. Waiting in line at the checkout, I eyed a freezer bag that had weird looking cartoon sheep on it that were called something like “Sheep-breeze-bearded Glory!!!”. I thought about it and thought that these Chinese manufacturers must secretly have a way to read my creative five year old nephew’s mind and steal his ideas for nicknames, slogans and expressions. But really the oddest and biggest abuse of cuteness I saw was the other day when a white toy poodle rushed by me in the market with bright orange dyed ears and a tail.

Pictionary and Charades
Honing in on my past Pictionary and charade game skills from my childhood, I have been able to communicate on a basic level with people if I am not with a person who speaks Mandarin fluently or on some level. This still leads to some rather embarrassing situations. A few days ago, I went into a nice pharmacy where they sell beauty and personal hygiene products. I was on a mission to find some- ahem- tampons. I looked at what seemed like the Great Wall of Sanitary Napkins. Rows and rows of different brands of pads- and yes- even Hello Kitty ones. Well, I didn’t find my coveted tampons so I finally went up to a couple of woman working in the store and started spouting out names of tampons. “Tampax? Tampons? OB?” They all drew a blank. I then asked is they spoke English (in Chinese- it’s the one sentence I can say) and they summoned a man in the store over. Well, he also really didn’t speak English. Pretty soon there were five of them crowding around me. I searched through my backpack to see if I had a tampon that I show them. Nope. In the end and out of desperation, I had to draw a picture of one. Immediately they stepped back as if they were all embarrassed for me. The man quickly pointed to some boxes of OB tampons- which by the way, were right in front of my face before when I had been scanning for the last five minutes. Honestly, I think they were more embarrassed for me than I was but I felt no shame, because a woman has got to have her comforts. At least now I know where to find them and I’m pleased that my Pictionary skills are up to par.

Dining out
Visiting Derek’s family this summer, his cousin said, “You know what will be the best part of living in China? Chinese food!”. I can happily say Taylor was right and wish we could share some of the wonderful cuisine we’ve tried in the last week. I’m still trying to- literally- get a grip on chopsticks, but we’ve enjoyed some delicious food at street vendors, fancy restaurants and little restaurants under the nearby shopping center. When you arrive at a restaurant here, there is a package of utensils wrapped in plastic wrap at each place which includes a small ceramic plate for food, a small bowl for rice and food, a small teacup for tea, a ceramic spoon, and a small shot glass for drinks. Chop sticks can be found typically in a dispenser on the table or individually wrapped. Napkins are usually not available so it’s best to bring your own packet of tissues (this also comes in handy for public restrooms). Once you sit down, a waitress will immediately come to the table and wait there as the host selects items on the menu. Rather than ordering dishes for each person present, the host selects four or five dishes of meat, chicken, fish and/or vegetables which everyone will share. As the plates arrive you can help yourself to portions of food with your chop sticks and transfer them to your own plate. Rice is viewed as a filler and is something you have to request. The reason for this is if you are a host, you do not want your guests to be hungry. However, if you notice that the dishes ordered are almost empty, you can order rice at the end so that your guests can fill the rest of their appetites with it. Typically I have seen from other tables that people will only eat about half of each of the dishes they ordered and that might be a sign of politeness to show that they are full and have had enough to eat. At some other point I will have to dedicate a separate blog just on food and some yummy dishes we have tried.

Can I help you?
Derek and I have been very lucky to have friends here who have helped us get settled in over the last week. I should add that some students here on campus have also been very helpful and friendly. Over the last couple of days, students have been very helpful making sure my classroom is set up okay, showing me how to use the AV equipment, or how to buy a meal card for the university canteen. I’ve been very impressed so far.

So these are some of my first impressions and experiences. I look forward to sharing more stories, pictures and videos in the weeks to come!