Lesson #14: How Living in China is Different from Living in the US

Before moving to China, it was hard for me to imagine how my life in China would be different from my life in the US. Tim and I moved to China in order to seek a more simple lifestyle, and for me, a life with more purpose and direction as well. Now that I've settled into more of a routine here, I think that my life overall is less stressful. Because I'm only working part-time, I have more time to rest and relax. Having more time to rest has been really great for my pain!

The easiest way that I can describe what my life in China is like is by describing a typical day here:
I wake up around 7:00 AM. While I'm getting ready for work, my school (which is by my apartment) blares marching music beginning at 7:39 each day of the school week. (I never have to worry about sleeping in!)  I usually eat cereal, oatmeal, toast with peanut butter or avocado, or fruit for breakfast along with coffee or tea. I boil water in my kettle so that it can cool off while I'm at school so I'll have water to drink when I get home. I also fill a water bottle up with drinking water to take to school since the only drinking water available is hot water. Since I can't use the tap water to brush my teeth, I fill a glass up with boiled water chilled in my fridge to brush my teeth with before leaving my apartment.

I leave my apartment at 9: 30 on Monday and Tuesday, 7:30 on Wednesday, and 8:20 on Friday. (I don't teach at my school on Thursdays, so that's not a typical day for me). I take the elevator down to the first floor of my building. Then, I exit my building and walk past the front gate of the apartment complex. I turn left and walk on a sidewalk which is usually filled with lots of people either standing around or also walking to work. I turn the corner where there is a small yellow stand selling traditional Chinese breakfast snacks (like steamed buns). As I walk straight ahead, I swerve and walk around the huge pile of concrete and building scraps blocking the path. I must step onto the busy road in order to walk around. As I continue walking, I again step onto the busy street in order to get around the cars that are parked on the sidewalk blocking the path. I must step carefully to make sure that I don't get hit by a scooter. Along the way, I also pass chickens in crates which I unfortunately know will be killed and served in one of the little restaurants that I pass by. I know this because curiosity got the best of me on my walk to school one morning, and I horrifyingly witnessed the chickens being slaughtered on the side of the road and their blood being drained in one of the street drains. I also pass many little general stores, convenience stores, tea stands, and fruit markets on my way to school.

My walk takes about 10 minutes. When I get there, the guards must open the gate to let me in. I walk across the campus to my building and walk up the stairs to the second floor. I let myself in, then turn on my computer console; which also turns on the projector and lowers the screen. After setting up for the day, my first class enters my classroom when the music begins to play. I greet all of my classes with "Hello class," and they all respond with "Hello, Miss D." I decided Miss D would be the easiest name for my students to call me. My lessons here are divided into five parts: A warm-up, a review, teaching, tasks, and follow-ups. All of my classes are 40 minutes long. My class ends when the music plays, and all of my students exit my classroom. I have about 10 minutes in between all of my classes. I straighten up my classroom and prepare my materials for the next lesson which will be a different grade. Lunch is at 11:45. I walk to the cafeteria and walk up to the window for my lunch tray. They usually serve a couple vegetables and a couple of foods with meat. I tell the cafeteria worker "Bu yao rou," which means "I don't want meat." Then I take my tray over to the ladies serving rice, and I get a scoop of steamed white rice. I usually have to pass on the soup because I've learned that it often contains tiny little shrimp. I sit down at the adult table where the adults who don't have to eat with their students sit. Because I teach at a Chinese public school, no one around me can speak English. So I eat my lunch in silence. Everyone finishes their lunch by 12:15. I often feel like I have to scarf my food down to finish my meal in time (but that's no different from my life back in the US). I don't have any classes scheduled until 1:30, so I go back to my classroom to work on lesson plans or other paperwork. I'm allowed to leave during this time, but it's really just not enough time to walk back home and walk back and feel like I have time to get anything done (or nap). My last class usually ends at 3:05, but on Wednesdays I leave at 9:40 AM!

Because there is a large mall with a French-based hypermarket store called Carrefour across the street from my school, I sometimes will stop there after work to pick up things like milk, bread, or cheese. But I hate going there after school because my school bag is really heavy since it contains my personal laptop which I take back and forth. For that reason, I've been using a grocery delivery service called Fields China. I found it through lots of online searching. I actually was just trying to find organic produce, and I came across their website. It's amazing! Not only do they have organic produce, but also lots of other organic foods and natural products. Ever since then I have placed my weekly grocery deliveries through them. Fields doesn't have everything, but I've also discovered the Chinese version of Amazon (in English) called BaoPals. They have super fast delivery! After shopping, I sometimes stop at the Starbucks at the mall, too. Then I walk back home the same way that I walked to school. After school I will often get chores done like washing dishes or sweeping the floor. My cat leaves cat litter everywhere, so I literally have to sweep the laminate floor every day! (Unless I just want to live in an apartment with cat litter everywhere!) At 4:30 PM, I can hear my school blasting somber (and creepy) "Chinese opera music." Then I spend the rest of the afternoon resting until the evening. We can see the sunset from our apartment balcony! I usually do an Essentrics workout DVD, and make dinner in the evenings. Eating out here can be difficult since I am eating a vegetarian diet, and we can't read Chinese. We have found a few places that we really like and have English menus. There's actually a Papa John's right outside our apartment complex! We also discovered a place that serves grilled cheese sandwiches and all-day Western breakfasts (including french toast and pancakes!) No one uses cash here (and many businesses don't even accept debit cards), so I've learned how to pay using apps such as WeChat and Alipay. Also in the evenings we sometimes are able to watch shows on Hulu or Netflix if we can get the VPN connection to work.

On Tuesday nights, we go to an English Bible Study Fellowship that meets at the Wuxi International Christian Church. Different English teachers take turns leading the group of people from all different countries in a Bible study discussion. We tried taking the bus there, but I quickly learned that the buses are really hard on me. So instead, we downloaded the ride-share app called Didi (which they have in English). Now we take Didis everywhere. It's a bit of challenge to locate all the addresses we need, and the driver usually calls us. When that happens, we have no idea what to say since we don't speak Chinese and the drivers don't speak English! (Although, I have started doing Rosetta Stone lessons on Mandarin).

A big difference that I've felt here is the sense of community amongst all expats living in Wuxi. There is a WeChat group called Wuxi City Guide Friends. It's a group with hundreds of expats who live in Wuxi. Any time we have a question about doctors, directions, stores, or any concerns, we can just ask the group and there is always someone available with an answer. Despite being so far away from my family and friends back home, I actually haven't felt alone. I'm just amazed by the support that the expats all willingly give each other here.

I realize that this post is super long, and I still don't think that I've covered half of what my life here is really like. I really just wanted to give you a glimpse into my life here in China, and maybe help to compare life here to life back in the United States.