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.
No comments:
Post a Comment