New Years continued...

I've realized that Chinese New Year would be nothing without its fireworks. For the last week, fireworks have been going off 24 hours a day. Firecrackers at 5am, loud crackling bottle rockets in the afternoon, Roman candles at any time of night. Even as I type this, the streets outside my apartment sound like a war zone, exploding with street level fireworks.

Tianjin has virtually no laws or regulations about buying or setting off fireworks, so anything goes really. We've seen huge light shows right outside our 22nd floor apartment window. And there have been countless people setting off flares and bottle rockets in the middle of the streets, even as cars go by.

But the best part was on January 23, when the entire city of Tianjin seemed to be lit up. From our rooftop, as the clock struck midnight, we could see fireworks all over the skyline. The views were unlike anything I've ever seen before. Being on the 48th floor, we could see everything. It looked like the whole city was exploding with fireworks.

None of the pictures do any kind of justice to what it was really like. I had my heart set on huge dragon parades and festivals, only to find out thats actually done in Hong Kong, not mainland China. But the fireworks display made up for it.

Happy New Year

Tomorrow officially marks the beginning of the Chinese New Year... the year of the Dragon. There are 12 animals in the Chinese zodiac (dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog, boar, rat, ox, tiger, and rabbit) each one cycling over twelve years.

The Dragon represents the ultimate success and happiness. The figure of the dragon is meant to bring good luck to everyone. And those born in this year are said to be free spirits, fearless with lots of creativity, and a tendency to dream big. (Other recent years of the dragon are 1976, 1988, 2000.)


As a New Year's tradition, Chinese people hang red envelopes containing their wishes for the new year. My wishes for the new year seems to be off to a good start. I'm happy to be teaching again, and hope to finish my teaching certification this year. I get to be back with Gary and not worry about what country we can go to (for the next 12 months anyway!).

I hope the Dragon brings you happiness in 2012! Happy New Year from Tianjin. Celebration photos to follow.

Adjustments

The first week in a new place is always an adjustment, and this first week in China is exactly that. I’m adjusting mentally and physically to my new surroundings, and definitely finding some easier than others.

My first adjustment… time zone. I have to say, it really hasn’t been too bad. After a flight from London, a layover in Istanbul, and a slight luggage incident in Beijing’s airport (Gary’s bag was left behind in Turkey) we were pretty exhausted. But we arrived to our new apartment in the early evening, which helped us slide right into the local time after a long night’s sleep.

The next few days were great. We checked out our school, met a few welcoming coworkers, and were shown around our city. This is where the physical adjustments come into play… exploring the city, and all the pollution that comes with it, has been a little rough. My skin feels like it’s never seen moisturizer a day in its life, my eyes have been red and itchy, and Gary and I both find ourselves waking up feeling congested and coughing more throughout the day.

Tianjin is actually a great city, very European feeling in certain parts, oddly enough. But the millions of people here, with the millions of cars, and lack of environmental consideration leave the place hazy and gray and seems to cover everything with a thin layer of unidentifiable dust. It’s noisy and traffic is heavy and chaotic, but everyone else seems to have the hang of it, so hopefully I will too in the near future.

On the flip side, I’ve had to many some adjustments to my general understanding of what things actually cost in the world. Things here are dirt cheap… I mean, incredibly low. I almost feel like I’m stealing. Examples: Our electricity bill is about $12 a month, our water bill is $7. A full of fresh fruits and vegetables was about $4.

Subway rides cost about 25 cents, and taxis around the city haven’t topped $2. And tipping is frowned upon. This adjustment, hasn’t been so hard to swallow.

Into the Deep

In just a few days, I’m going to be jumping into a new world adventure. And this time, I’ll be a small fish in a very big pond. More accurately, I’ll be a very American fish in a very Chinese pond.

Being a foreigner in such a massively homogeneous population will certainly come with its fair share of cultural bumps and bruises. And I’ll be sharing all the stories along the way… the good, the bad, and the ugly of being an American in the middle of 1.3 billion Chinese people.

I’ve secured a job teaching English to kindergarten and elementary students in the city of Tianjin. It’s about 30 minutes outside of Beijing in the northeast part of the country. Gary and I have an apartment ready and our bags packed.

So check back and see what 2012 has in store. From the looks of it so far, it’s going to be a good one.