WELCOME TO PUTIAN! Putian - between modernity and traditions A 3 million inhabitant city, a middle size city, not polluted (we can see the sky every day unlike others cities), the traffic is pretty good for China, middle size, very humid until November. Driving is a madness and pedestrians have absolutely no value! The major industry in Fujian province is shoe but most of them are fake! Putian is very famous for its temple and Meizhou Island that is the sea goddess. Street theatres are also quite common but it will be spoken in Putianese. ;( Buildings and new empty buildings are the new skyline of Putian. Buildings and new empty buildings are the new skyline of Putian, the old China belongs to the past and old China towns tend to disappear. To me, the past has been erased slowly but surely maybe to forget? Private gardens and old houses are history now. If it is not demolished, it will be sooner or later. Old China town & gardens EPutian No1 Middle School, Fujian The school is the best in the province so it is a prestige to attend No1. The school has got lots of greens spots, nice gardens, a sport playground (included 2 basketball grounds). It is very pleasant to walk around. About our accommodation, it is very basic:
We must pay the electricity bill (2€ for the first month! Without using the AC), drinking water (36 l- 4€) and Internet (145€ for one year). Chinese and Westerners are mixed in the same building. But Chinese have a Chinese loo! From where I live I can go to the classroom within 10 minutes and 5 to the canteen. A meal would cost approx. 1,50€. It is cheap and it tastes good. It is also nice to meet students and have lunch with them! Rice & co ... Lunch break at the canteen! When I describe the food, i noticed that I ate pretty much the same every day. I tasted some other dishes but it was not yummi to me. Eating an entire fish or some chicken legs with chopsticks it is not easy! I need more practice. I did have some fish or meet too. Classes and school life I haven’t even had one day break after 20hours flight that I had a two hours briefing about everything in the car going from the airport to the school. I was shown around (where my classrooms were), I was even taught how to use the beamer. The very same afternoon I already taught one class! It hit me in the face. It was just the beginning. 3 days per week, not even 15 hours. It is still a lot as we are still missing one teacher. I teach culture, English for academic purposes, English as second language for grade 1 and 2. Once a week I go out of school to teach basic French. The school life starts at 6am every single day, even on Sunday. The serene goes on every day and the bell rings every 40 minutes! Classes start at 7am until 12. The students as well as the teachers have 2 hours break. They will sleep, do their homework or play basketball. Afternoon classes will finish at 6pm. They have one hour break and go back to study at 7pm until 10. They have exams every month, within two days the students will be assessed on their 9 subjects within two days. To have good grade, they will study day and night. Meals will be taken very quickly. Every second is so important. Their future depends on it! The average here at Putian No1 lies by 60 out of 90. The level and the expectations are very high. They also manage “clubs” i.e. the language foreign club organises speech competitions and other activities. The students run the clubs without supervisors! Students have to complete duties: such as cleaning their classrooms or sweeping the yards. After a month, most of the grade 1 students complaint about the amount of homework to done every day, the lack of free time, they said that they are so tired and even come to a point of hating their studies. It is just a beginning. After three years of this life, students may have a burn out or just give up studying. The one who succeed will become lawyers, doctors or the elite of the society. One thing that stroke me is that they do not wear uniforms but have to respect specific haircut requirements! A rainy day after a typhoon - sport playground 110th Anniversary of the school On 3rd October the school celebrated its 110th Anniversary. On this occasion events and activities were carried out by students and teachers in the morning. The school invited former students from 1950 until today. It was interesting to observe. If you think about it, the oldest generation had known the cultural revolution and Mao! In the evening, students and teachers had to perform such as play in theatre pieces, play traditional and modern instruments, sing, and dance even model. Korean style was dominant! It was astonishing how good the quality of the performances were. It lasted over 2 hours and it was very professional. It was fantastic! Putian life Hard and provincial. The most difficult is the language barrier. They do speak a dialect that is near to Taiwanese. Fujian province ruled over Taiwan. There are a lot of similarities in terms of food, language and even place of interests. People here or Chinese are at first very nice and are interested. They exchange contact on Wechat very easily. Wechat is the Whatsapp, Line, Viber etc. After a first meeting, they are too busy (inefficient busy) to contact you again. For them it means something to have the contact of a Westerner. It is very common to be asked or not for a photo or people will say that “you´re so beautiful and so thin”. Everybody has got dark eyes and back hair. In some cases people will just star at you. Once you caught them, they will ignore you. But as soon as you do not look at them, they will star at you again. Sunglasses help to protect myself! So many people told me we can learn English together but this will be on Wechat only. I really need a teacher that corrects me. They cannot understand that learning with an App is not enough for the beginning. Typhoons are very common but they can damaged a lot. Fortunately Putian is not directly on the coast. Typhoons are not as destructive as it could be. Classes will be cancelled and we have to make-up. It is only heavy rain and strong wind. Chinese organisation and cultural differences As mentioned above, there is not organisation and if there is one it is so inefficient. You can buy a train ticket online but after you have to go either to the travel agency to print it out or come at least one hour in advance to have it printed out at the station. On the top, you pay extra fees! One day at 8 pm, I had been asked to go to teach two afternoons in one of the biggest city, the very next day. After negotiating a good allowance for two afternoons, the supervisor told me that I have to leave early in the morning, stay overnight and come back the very next evening. Two afternoons turned into two days. Discussions had been on for 4 hours on Wechat and with a 10 minutes meeting. I refused to do but Chinese will not discuss and will accept it. Discussions started the very next morning at 7am. Chinese will do everything until they reach whatever they want to! Saying a firm “no” from the beginning is the best strategy, if not you will be asked again and again to take part in such projects! Spitting is part of the Chinese culture. Anytime, anywhere people will spit in the street! Here mobiles are like a third hand! People use it all the time. At the gym, before during and right after a yoga class women will check Wechat! A mobile is not only made to chat or phone but it is a mean of payment (any type of bills), is also used to book a taxi too or transfer money. Smoking is allowed everywhere and is still remained cheap. One will pay about 2€ for a package. My social life Social life ??? What ´s that? The first month was almost inexistent even if... The first week I already noticed that most of the Westerners and I were not on the same planet so I needed to act differently and find ways to make new friends or get busy. How I managed it? I contacted local people on couchsurfing, tried to find volunteering jobs, went to the gym, invented some projects related to photography and finally accepted to be on my own and just had few friends. I took part in some hiking activities too. I had to find a balance in my job ! The gym helps me to keep me fit and healthy in body and mind. Unlike most of Westerners, I would like to interact with local people. Locals dont really to pubs as it is overpriced and not in their culture´, but they go to tea houses. They would hang out outside after sunset and women will take part in traditional street dances. Men will just sit, smoke cigarettes and talk to their mates. HIKING During the first month weeks were never the same due the typhoons, holidays, exams. It was hard to adapt to the system, to the job and to this new life style. It is an experience to take, it makes one stronger. I was so tired because of the jetlag and sleepless nights.
Settled down is not easy. It takes time but things are getting better now. I still don’t have a routine but I am more settled. I wonder what we will say in 9 months, at the end of the school year!
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