Two Weeks

I'm sitting at home, waiting for the water guy to come and give us our two new water bottles (will explain in a few minutes), and it suddenly dawned on me: I have called China home for two weeks today.  Two weeks ago, I was getting off the plane, overwhelmed by the stickiness and heat, timid about trying some food that might result in future discomfort, and not knowing how life here would be.  While I am far from being a pro at all of the ins and outs of life here, I am comfortable in my home, don't have to turn on the AC as soon as I walk through the door, and know where to go to buy the basics.  Walmart doesn't even overwhelm me anymore...at least not quite as much.

Life here feels a lot like life back home in many ways, and I'm sure if you follow me on Facebook and have been looking at my pictures you might wonder if it is in fact any sort of culture shock for me.  Well it is, so let me explain some of the big differences, at least as I see them now.

Transportation
I live a ten minute or so walk from the school, but I purchased a scooter about a week ago and have been making good use of it.  Chengdu is a busy city, and while cars and buses are a preferred form of transportation, scooters are quite marvelous for the shorter distances...or even the longer distances when traffic is bad.  I haven't gotten brave enough to go into the city on mine yet, but I will in the next few weeks, hopefully.

Water
While the water here isn't horrible for you if you drink it, there is enough of a risk that most people (even national staff at the school) have water coolers in their houses/classrooms/offices that they have to buy large water bottles for.  It's quite the system of purchasing the base and then paying a deposit for the plastic and periodically having to call the guy to bring more water.  He rides a little bicycle, so I'm hoping that some day I can see him in action and figure out how exactly he balances it all.  Until I can figure out enough Chinese to actually converse with him, I'm thankful for good friends who speak the language and can help me with ordering and telling him where to go.  I can say thank you when he drops it off, and occasionally can even figure out how much I owe him without too much frustration, so that's a start :)

Language
The biggest difference that I see here in comparison to the rest of the world is the need for English.  Everywhere else that I have lived overseas, there is almost an urgency about learning my native tongue.  English is a ticket out...a way to opportunity in the minds of many (or so I had always been led to believe).  However, almost 20% of the world's population lives in China, and financially there is a security here that we definitely don't have in countries with such great national debt like the US, so there is almost no need to speak the most popular language to learn in the rest of the world.  As a result, rather than being able to somewhat communicate in at least a broken level of English and whatever the national language is, here I feel somewhat deaf and mute, knowing nothing and being able to say nothing.  Perhaps this is my hint to be silent more often, and I'm learning to simply sit back and listen more...trying to avoid the typical "smile and nod" so as not to commit to something that I haven't the foggiest about.

Okay, that's enough differences/writing for one day.  It's a beautiful day in Chengdu...I should do some laundry and make the most of it!

Location: Chengdu, China

Local Time (CST -- GMT+8): 4:54 p.m. (8/20/2012)

Auburn Time (PST -- GMT-7): 1:54 a.m. (8/20/2012)