Article
Just read this article which relates a bit to my post on the growing number of cars in China:
http://www.svd.se/naringsliv/nyheter/kina-vaxlar-upp_5136427.svd
http://www.svd.se/naringsliv/nyheter/kina-vaxlar-upp_5136427.svd
The duality of China
Yesterday (Saturday) I went into the city centre to walk around and get a feel of the city, the layout and just get my bearings a bit. First thing I realised is that this city is huge. What looked like a quite short walk on the large map I had took me about 45 minutes! I got lost a couple of times but that's really the best way of getting to know a city according to me. I saw some interesting things while walking around and primarily something I would call the duality of China. What strikes you first in this city is the amount of impressive buildings. Many of them are new and more are in the finishing stages, a lot of money is being put into the infrastructure and impressive buildings because of the Asian games in November.
So, skyscrapers - check! But wandering around the large roads won't give you a view of how most people really live in the back alleys.
What's happening now though is that a lot of these packed and dirty Chinese communities are being demolished.
And transformed from the buildings on the right into the buildings on the left:
This is also affecting the way shopping is done in the packed communities in the back alleys:
The Chinese version of Clas Ohlson.
More and more of these small shops are closing and moving into the large shopping malls á la "western" style. Primarily it's clothing and jewellery stores but it does affect how people shop and I think that soon everything will be in shopping malls.
This will be the third H&M store in the city.
This is nothing new of course, we have seen the same thing back home, that more and more shopping malls are being built at the expense of stores which are not located on the main shopping street. Reading this text I realised that it might seem as if I think it's a bad thing that new and tall apartment buildings are replacing the old and dirty houses and that I think it's a shame that the small back alleys are disappearing. However, I actually think it's a good thing in most aspects. Personally I would rather live in an apartment high rise than in these back alleys, and I prefer shopping at a shopping mall than in some small and "dodgy" store. It just seems to me that most large cities will be quite alike in the future.
So, skyscrapers - check! But wandering around the large roads won't give you a view of how most people really live in the back alleys.
What's happening now though is that a lot of these packed and dirty Chinese communities are being demolished.
And transformed from the buildings on the right into the buildings on the left:
This is also affecting the way shopping is done in the packed communities in the back alleys:
The Chinese version of Clas Ohlson.
More and more of these small shops are closing and moving into the large shopping malls á la "western" style. Primarily it's clothing and jewellery stores but it does affect how people shop and I think that soon everything will be in shopping malls.
This will be the third H&M store in the city.
This is nothing new of course, we have seen the same thing back home, that more and more shopping malls are being built at the expense of stores which are not located on the main shopping street. Reading this text I realised that it might seem as if I think it's a bad thing that new and tall apartment buildings are replacing the old and dirty houses and that I think it's a shame that the small back alleys are disappearing. However, I actually think it's a good thing in most aspects. Personally I would rather live in an apartment high rise than in these back alleys, and I prefer shopping at a shopping mall than in some small and "dodgy" store. It just seems to me that most large cities will be quite alike in the future.
Traffic behaviour
School has started for real and even though our timetables are still a bit dodgy we are getting by, I find the IB psychology rewarding to teach so far although it does entail a large amount of work. Posts might not be as frequent as I would've wished by I'll try to post something every now and again.
Something I was surprised about upon coming here is the Chinese behaviour in traffic, they're flat out nuts! Do you know how the Italians drive? Yeah, the Chinese are about four times worse. They drive fast and brake intensively if s another car cuts into their lane, which happens all the time. Sometimes I wonder if they have disabled their indicators or the purpose of having them doesn't occur to the Chinese. Here, they simply carry out constant chicken races, everybody thrusts their car into that 20 cm gap between the two cars in the other lane, simply expecting them to notice and back down. Some cars drive with about a 30 cm distance to other cars on their left and right. It's therefore strange to me that sever traffic accidents are rare. However, scraping of paint occurs all the more frequent!
In my folly I thought that people would cycle, as the all do in the many photos (see below) taken in China. None of that here though, people take buses, metro or go in cars. Scary to think what will happen to the planet when all the Chinese families wish to get a car, or like they do in the U.S, one car for every family member!
Something I was surprised about upon coming here is the Chinese behaviour in traffic, they're flat out nuts! Do you know how the Italians drive? Yeah, the Chinese are about four times worse. They drive fast and brake intensively if s another car cuts into their lane, which happens all the time. Sometimes I wonder if they have disabled their indicators or the purpose of having them doesn't occur to the Chinese. Here, they simply carry out constant chicken races, everybody thrusts their car into that 20 cm gap between the two cars in the other lane, simply expecting them to notice and back down. Some cars drive with about a 30 cm distance to other cars on their left and right. It's therefore strange to me that sever traffic accidents are rare. However, scraping of paint occurs all the more frequent!
In my folly I thought that people would cycle, as the all do in the many photos (see below) taken in China. None of that here though, people take buses, metro or go in cars. Scary to think what will happen to the planet when all the Chinese families wish to get a car, or like they do in the U.S, one car for every family member!
It has begun!
Today it was introduction for new students! Almost all teachers are home room teachers (klassföreståndare/mentor) and I will be sharing that responsibility with a German teacher named Stefanie. We are responsible for a year 8 class and had 4 new students to introduce to the school. It was a fairly short introduction since I'm new here as well!
We have a lot of Korean students at our school and therefore been given an article about how the Korean educational system works. Korea has a very well educated population, however, everything in Korean education is based upon memorizing, which might be a good thing in a moderate amount but not in all subjects all of the time! It will certainly be a bit different teaching here.
I have taken a few photos of the exterior of our school, Utahloy International School (UIS), which you might see below. I will take a few photos of my classrooms and post them in time. You might also find some photos of the school here.
The logo of the school
The entrance
Admin staff building
There seems to have been some difficulty with the timetable/schedule during these days since we just got it today and were told that there are going to be some changes. Understandably, a lot of teachers are stressed. I don't know why every school I know have difficulty with their timetables, I suppose it's just a very tricky thing to make so that everyone will be satisfied. My timetable doesn't look at all like I expected it to, I've got Psychology for year 11, Design Technology for year 8 and then a couple of English classes as well! I won't have time to explore China I'll be super-busy preparing for all three subjects!
Other than that I'm getting settled in nicely now, I've used the washing machine, I've also gotten almost all the little things I need for everyday life, like a 10 meter long internet cable. I've got fairly slow internet so I won't be hooking up the wireless since that would slow it down even more.
That's all for today, time for me to hit the books!
We have a lot of Korean students at our school and therefore been given an article about how the Korean educational system works. Korea has a very well educated population, however, everything in Korean education is based upon memorizing, which might be a good thing in a moderate amount but not in all subjects all of the time! It will certainly be a bit different teaching here.
I have taken a few photos of the exterior of our school, Utahloy International School (UIS), which you might see below. I will take a few photos of my classrooms and post them in time. You might also find some photos of the school here.
The logo of the school
The entrance
Admin staff building
There seems to have been some difficulty with the timetable/schedule during these days since we just got it today and were told that there are going to be some changes. Understandably, a lot of teachers are stressed. I don't know why every school I know have difficulty with their timetables, I suppose it's just a very tricky thing to make so that everyone will be satisfied. My timetable doesn't look at all like I expected it to, I've got Psychology for year 11, Design Technology for year 8 and then a couple of English classes as well! I won't have time to explore China I'll be super-busy preparing for all three subjects!
Other than that I'm getting settled in nicely now, I've used the washing machine, I've also gotten almost all the little things I need for everyday life, like a 10 meter long internet cable. I've got fairly slow internet so I won't be hooking up the wireless since that would slow it down even more.
That's all for today, time for me to hit the books!
Overnight stay at the boarding school
Yesterday morning the whole staff at Guangzhou Utahloy International School went to our sister school, Zeng Cheng for workshops and to get to know each other. We were picked up at 8 am Friday and the bus ride took about 1 hour. It started off with a few seminars and meetings but it was all done with an easy going approach. Later on it was time to chill out in the olympic size pool they've got at the boarding school but the pool was almost warmer than the air!
After that it was dinner by the pool and then the party got started! With free beer and massiv amounts of wine & beer it didn't take long before people started dancing, jumping into the pool and and catching frisbees, needless to say, everyone was in a great mood. =)
During Sunday there were some games planned, such as races, volleyball and water polo.
All in all, a great kick off to the new semester (SWE: termin)!
It was a beautiful campus but fairly secluded so I'm happy I live much closer to the city.
A gorgeous bridge, seen from the restaurant.
The view from the bridge, it was really bright if you are wondering why I have a strange look on my face.
Part of the campus.
There's still some building going on before the students return next week, I found this self-made ladder interesting. The Chinese quite often follow the rule: "What you don't have - make."
Tonight there's a group going out tonight for all-you-can-eat-and-drink Teppanyaki, better clear my schedule for tomorrow!
Love!
Richard
After that it was dinner by the pool and then the party got started! With free beer and massiv amounts of wine & beer it didn't take long before people started dancing, jumping into the pool and and catching frisbees, needless to say, everyone was in a great mood. =)
During Sunday there were some games planned, such as races, volleyball and water polo.
All in all, a great kick off to the new semester (SWE: termin)!
It was a beautiful campus but fairly secluded so I'm happy I live much closer to the city.
A gorgeous bridge, seen from the restaurant.
The view from the bridge, it was really bright if you are wondering why I have a strange look on my face.
Part of the campus.
There's still some building going on before the students return next week, I found this self-made ladder interesting. The Chinese quite often follow the rule: "What you don't have - make."
Tonight there's a group going out tonight for all-you-can-eat-and-drink Teppanyaki, better clear my schedule for tomorrow!
Love!
Richard
A few days later
Hiya!
Now I've gotten a bit more settled in and even been to Guangzhou Ikea! See the photos further down. It was great to get all the small things one needs to set up a home, things like towels, dishbrush, clothes changer and a basic chair named Rickard! It's been a few busy days with meetings, medical check (which I survived!) and shopping tours. Yesterday evening was the first 2-3 hours I had to myself, I spent most of them talking to Rebecka using Skype but also had a walk around the area in which I'm living. It's quiet and more like a park than a busy city. I live outside the city centre but I actually prefer it here since it's closer to school, the teachers' bus takes us directly to school in 15 minutes while it the other teachers' bus from the centre takes 35 minutes. In preperation for the asian games there's a metro buing built quite close to this area so using that it will only take my 15 min to the city centre in comparison to 40 minutes on the bus now (20 in a taxi which costs 35 kr).
Speaking about Ikea, it was fun to notice that Chinese people come to Ikea to rest in the sofas and sleep in the beds, I've also heard that Chinese people often go on a date on a sofa in Ikea! See photo below:
This is the chair Rickard:
Looks like this: http://www.ikea.com/cn/en/catalog/products/10159363
As I'm getting settled in I starting to realise that I really like China so far, people here are not as I expected them to be. As I thought everyone would be a slave to the "communistic" goverment and western ways would be shunned, but it's not at all like that. People really like to enjoy themselves here, there's dancing on every square, the laugh a lot and have a lot of western values and goods. i have found stores of H&M, Jack & Jones, Selected, Apple, etc etc so my stereotypical image of the suppressed people of China didn't survive very long.
So far, the weather has been really good, sunny (and hot!) and bordering on 40 degrees, as I thought it would be rainy and a lot of tropical storms this time of year I'm surprised.
I'm trying to get to know my do's and don'ts in China and some of the things I've learnt is that one should not put your chopsticks in to your rice so that the stand like a pole since that means death, I've also learnt that the number 4 is avoided at all times since the chinese symbol for 4 is similar to death. Another thing I've learnt is that in China you don't tip, not even taxi driver as they will chase you down the corner for one CNY/RMB! I quite like that!
That's all for today, I will try to blog tomorrow as well.
Take care and 注意安全!
//Richard
Now I've gotten a bit more settled in and even been to Guangzhou Ikea! See the photos further down. It was great to get all the small things one needs to set up a home, things like towels, dishbrush, clothes changer and a basic chair named Rickard! It's been a few busy days with meetings, medical check (which I survived!) and shopping tours. Yesterday evening was the first 2-3 hours I had to myself, I spent most of them talking to Rebecka using Skype but also had a walk around the area in which I'm living. It's quiet and more like a park than a busy city. I live outside the city centre but I actually prefer it here since it's closer to school, the teachers' bus takes us directly to school in 15 minutes while it the other teachers' bus from the centre takes 35 minutes. In preperation for the asian games there's a metro buing built quite close to this area so using that it will only take my 15 min to the city centre in comparison to 40 minutes on the bus now (20 in a taxi which costs 35 kr).
Speaking about Ikea, it was fun to notice that Chinese people come to Ikea to rest in the sofas and sleep in the beds, I've also heard that Chinese people often go on a date on a sofa in Ikea! See photo below:
This is the chair Rickard:
Looks like this: http://www.ikea.com/cn/en/catalog/products/10159363
As I'm getting settled in I starting to realise that I really like China so far, people here are not as I expected them to be. As I thought everyone would be a slave to the "communistic" goverment and western ways would be shunned, but it's not at all like that. People really like to enjoy themselves here, there's dancing on every square, the laugh a lot and have a lot of western values and goods. i have found stores of H&M, Jack & Jones, Selected, Apple, etc etc so my stereotypical image of the suppressed people of China didn't survive very long.
So far, the weather has been really good, sunny (and hot!) and bordering on 40 degrees, as I thought it would be rainy and a lot of tropical storms this time of year I'm surprised.
I'm trying to get to know my do's and don'ts in China and some of the things I've learnt is that one should not put your chopsticks in to your rice so that the stand like a pole since that means death, I've also learnt that the number 4 is avoided at all times since the chinese symbol for 4 is similar to death. Another thing I've learnt is that in China you don't tip, not even taxi driver as they will chase you down the corner for one CNY/RMB! I quite like that!
That's all for today, I will try to blog tomorrow as well.
Take care and 注意安全!
//Richard
Hi everyone!
I'm finally here! First up, this will be a fairly short post as the time here is 1:30 am (GMT +7). So, I arrived yesterday evening after a 25 hour flight, and with only about 2 hours of sleep during the flights I finally arrived in Guangzhou, China! I was picked up by Hugo, the music teacher for secondary).
I was driven to my apartment which is lovely, I have posted a few photos to give you an idea, they're fairly dark but it's a really light apartment. A four room apartment with a kitchen and a balcony! For me living here alone, it's huge! It's at the top floor (7th) with similar tall buildings nearby and they form a gated community. I have free access to the pool, basketball court and tennis courts! It's really like living at a 5 star hotel. Did I mention that the school pays for it all? I was lucky and managed to get internet access on my first day here as well, which was really a relief being able to talk to my darling Rebecka at home using Skype.
So during the day the group of new teachers have been opening up bank accounts and we were given a tour through the school and then went for a dinner, the staff is really friendly and welcoming and we're a group of about 17 new teachers this year so it's nice to have some that are as much of a newbie as myself. Tomorrow I will be going to the medical check (of which I have heard some stories involving poking) and police registration. Will try to post tomorrow evening as well. Even though everything here is overwhelming and really beyond all of my expectations I still think about all of you and miss you already! Hugs from China!
I was driven to my apartment which is lovely, I have posted a few photos to give you an idea, they're fairly dark but it's a really light apartment. A four room apartment with a kitchen and a balcony! For me living here alone, it's huge! It's at the top floor (7th) with similar tall buildings nearby and they form a gated community. I have free access to the pool, basketball court and tennis courts! It's really like living at a 5 star hotel. Did I mention that the school pays for it all? I was lucky and managed to get internet access on my first day here as well, which was really a relief being able to talk to my darling Rebecka at home using Skype.
So during the day the group of new teachers have been opening up bank accounts and we were given a tour through the school and then went for a dinner, the staff is really friendly and welcoming and we're a group of about 17 new teachers this year so it's nice to have some that are as much of a newbie as myself. Tomorrow I will be going to the medical check (of which I have heard some stories involving poking) and police registration. Will try to post tomorrow evening as well. Even though everything here is overwhelming and really beyond all of my expectations I still think about all of you and miss you already! Hugs from China!
