Day 34

14.05.18

WeRun Update: 7045 steps

The waiting game...
So it turns out that I have to wait another 2 weeks to start work. Only today did they send my TESOL application to Shanghai for processing. It takes about 7-10 working days to come back. When I get that, I'll have to update my work visa arrangements so that I'm a foreign language teacher and not a management consultant. Only then will I be able to start work. In the meantime, I'll just be kicking back...

I might as well...
To kick off another two weeks of waiting, I hit up my friend from NJU who was finally free after a few days of hectic preparations for an interview for a position in the government. We had some Peking duck close to campus - she's in that stage of thinking about what career and job she wants after graduation since there are a lot of options and a lot to think about. I reminded her that plans change and it's not the end of the world if you don't get the job that you want as your first job. I know that I wouldn't be here if things went differently after my own graduation. She wanted to watch The Avengers and experience 4D for herself, and since I had nothing better to, I decided to accompany her. I didn't really have any new thoughts after watching it the second time - just that it's a very long movie and you get worn out easily when you're being thrown around by the effects of the cinema. Dinner was some brown braised chicken and rice (黄焖鸡) which was surprisingly decent and you get free refills of rice.

Back at the courts
Since getting gastro, I hadn't exercised for a long time and not being able to shoot hoops made me a depressed man. Tonight, I was finally physically ready to play. The courts that I usually play at recently got a makeover, with the courts being painted in the LA Lakers courts and some banners of Kobe being put on the fences. Nanjing got hot recently and it was like 30 degrees outside at 10pm. It's actually quite nice with a breeze and without the sun. At that time, it was only me and Liam who I told to come down and shoot some hoops. In order to pay for entry, I have to download an app and pay through there instead of getting them to scan my QR code. It really doesn't mean much for me, but it's a sign that things are getting legit on the business side of things - easier to manage finances if it's all done through an app. 

Day 33

13.04.18 (Happy Mothers Day)

WeRun Update: 9803 steps

Fancy some table tennis?

A family friend’s daughter is in Grade 1 and her name is Fancy. Today, I went to visit her and watch her practice table tennis. It’s crazy how much Chinese parents will spend on their kids education and making sure they’re ahead of the curve from such an early age. Before I got to their place (about a 30 minute train ride away), she had been in piano class. Her mum tells me that she practices once a week with a recent graduate who graduated as a piano major in Nanjing. She charges 150RMB for 45 minutes and apparently has around 100 students. She would be making a killing! It’s smart because she’s profiting from a trend of Chinese parents sending their children to music lessons. Nowadays, it seems like every child knows how to play the piano. Fancy is also taking table tennis lessons. We went to Nanjing University Xianlin campus (which is one of the nicest university campuses I’ve seen) to take her lessons from this old uncle who looks like he has played table tennis every single day for the last 30 years. It’s a 1 hr lesson and Fancy doesn’t even rest. She’s bloody good at it as well. Thinking back to when I was in Grade 1, there is no chance my hand-eye coordination would be at her level. Then I’m looking over at the other tables and there’s this boy who is about the same age and he is just on another level. He’s beating all the OGs and table tennis players – I am sure he will be national champion some day, he is that good. It just goes to show that Chinese parents love to push their kids from the start. Fancy studies every day. Today, in between the piano lesson and the table tennis lesson, she was practicing something with her granddad. There was a Mothers Day dinner after table tennis but Fancy had to go study at 8pm for an hour before she goes to bed. It just puts things into perspective a bit – Chinese students get it quite rough from the very beginning!  

Chinese kids are the cutest in the world

I genuinely think Chinese children are the cutest – the mannerisms and the language make them seem a lot cuter than other children around the world. Fancy and another boy were at a Mothers Day dinner I was at and they were just innocently playing and having fun. It made me happy watching them play – they had nothing to worry about and just did whatever they felt like doing without thinking of the consequences. It was a pure kind of happiness, something that evades you as you grow older.

Day 32

12.05.18

WeRun Update: 5055 steps

Get up Blues!
Nothing to get me back in the mood than a win by the Blues over the Dons! Absolutely made my day. I spent my whole afternoon just watching the footy on my balcony with my newly built portable bedside table.

杭帮菜 Zhejiang Cuisine is trending
My friend took me to eat some Zhejiang Cuisine (Hangbang Cuisine) at a place called 外婆家 (grandma's place) in Xinjiekou, a place that has been trending since I came to China in January. There are always crazy lines for it and luckily my friend went early to line up for me. What makes the restaurant and cuisine special is that it really does has a homely taste: it's light (not spicy), it's fresh, it's tender and smooth. I think it's decent but not worth waiting more than 30 minutes for. But it was on the weekend and Xinjiekou is madness on the weekend.

When bored, go on Taobao
I've been very guilty of this. There's always a bargain buy there. I've been receiving packages almost daily from stuff I've bought on there. Today, I got some bedsheets for the incoming summer and a scale to monitor whether or not I've been getting fat. I thought I had lost heaps of weight from gastro but I'm actually the same weight so pretty pleased about that. The only caveat about Taobao orders is that they never deliver to my front door since you have to climb 7 levels of stairs - so I'm always going downstairs to collect instead. Nothing beats the feeling of something you've ordered coming so soon though, so I'm always willing!

Day 31

11.05.18

WeRun Update: 3376 steps

Back to routine
Friday night. Footy's on. I'm at Arcano. Watched a great game between Hawks and Swans. New boy Ronke kicks 7 straight. 

Avengers in 4D
I have never seen a movie in 4D and it just so happened that there was a screening at the cinema near my house. What an interesting experience! The next dimension is the effects in the actual cinema. The seats move whenever punches are thrown, air is blown at you when the characters are flying through space, the lights in the cinema flash at you when Thor's using the hammer. It truly gets you physically feeling the movie - which is different - although tiring at times. Sometimes, the action is already so hard to keep up - try being thrown around in your seat during it! New experience though, definitely something else!

Day 30

10.05.18

WeRun Update: 3708 steps

One month in Nanjing
Wow. It's already been 30 days. I feel like I've done a lot but at the same time, I feel like I've done nothing. I've become familiar with what's around me. I've been to a few places around town. I've made some friends. I'm slowly understanding the rules that govern the people here. And I'm understanding how different life really is compared to back home. But it's only been a month. There's a lot to learn and experience and soak in. Bring it on!

First business meeting
This morning, I had my first business meeting with one of the general managers in Sanpower, who wanted to collaborate with ACYA Nanjing to get foreigners involved in their promotions. The deal was to lend us some spaces in their department store (and toy store) for us to use for our events - free of charge. However, these spaces didn't really suit what we were about so we didn't really see the benefit of using it despite not having to pay anything. Although I wasn't involved with ACYA at university, I'm keen to help it rebuild its name in Nanjing - so we're looking for events to do.

Skyways
After our meeting, Liam took me to his favourite joint Skyways, a bakery run by a German. Had a ham baguette and I must say it was very good. 

An unlikely friend...
Had a coffee catch up with the same doctor I met at Zhongda Hospital the other night. It was really good just to talk about everything from learning English to her career to her childhood to her kid and family background amongst other things. She's probably 10 years older than me, but it's rare to find someone as genuine as her. I'm grateful for the time she gave me and I hope we can continue this friendship in the future. 

VCE in China?
Spending so much time at home the last few days has almost made me crazy. So, I decided to go to quiz night at Arcanos, which they hold every Thursday for a bit of fun and socialising. There, I met another Aussie from Melbourne - a bloke named Rory from Sunshine, who was an English VCE teacher in China for Firbank Grammar. Yes. A VCE English teacher working in China. I was gobsmacked! I didn't know that students here in China do VCE but apparently they do it so they can apply for universities in Australia. They sit the same exams as us. I think it's pretty cool to allow students to do that. 

Day 29

09/05/2018

WeRun Update: 3688 steps

Unproductive...
I came home at 730am this morning and feeling quite scat. Had an awful 3 hour sleep before having my first meal in a long time. Did some cleaning and washing before I watched some TV shows. Don't really know where my time has gone - I've done absolute donuts all day apart from stay in. I've been stuck indoors for the last 3 days and it's not fun at all, especially when you don't get to see or talk to anyone. 

Plenty of things to do but I haven't really been doing...

• Read books 
• Explore Nanjing*
• Teach English*
• Learn Chinese*

*Things I should actually be doing

Okay. I am going to watch some Chinese TV!

Day 28

08.05.18 (Day 3 Gastro)

WeRun Update: 2378 steps

Just when I thought things were getting better...

Symptoms just suddenly got worse and I was going to the toilet every 10 minutes late in the afternoon. I finally gave in and went to the hospital. The first two days, I really wanted to avoid going to the hospital - partly because my ego of thinking everything was going to turn out alright if I just push through it and partly because I don't know what the hospital process was over here.

I got my uncle to come take me to a hospital and he chose the Zhongda Hospital Southeast University. I found out that my family has a long history associated with this hospital, my mum and grandma used to work here. It's the hospital that my family has been going to their whole lives. So first I came to get checked out at the emergency department.

Chinese hospitals are really different. You have to 挂号 register there first (there's a small fee 3RMB). Then you get to go see the doctors. There's no sense of privacy here. As you're talking to the doctor, there are people right behind you waiting for you to finish so they can be next. There's no order, it's just first in best dressed. 

So I'm telling doc about my symptoms and it's not going down well (she can't really understand me) so she pulls out the English and to my surprise, it's actually very good. Everyone's suddenly become interested in this foreign language that we're conversing in and people are curious. I get a blood test (24RMB) and within 5 minutes, I get the results to bring back to doc. There's already a line for the doctor but my uncle pushes in line and sits down. No one seems to have an issue with it. She prescribes me some medication which I have to go upstairs to purchase (some antibiotics and some electrolyte solution). During this time, I find out that the doc actually wants to practice her English (coincidentally, I am an English teacher...) and she says she has relatives in Melbourne (also quite a coincidence) which then she asks for my Wechat (very professional of her to do that in front of everyone - jokes, no one actually cares here about professionalism), which I will gladly give to her (because to have a connection in a hospital is very helpful!!!!)

When I'm back home, the symptoms seem to be worsening. I would have lost a lot of fluid by this time also. I go to sleep thinking I could sleep it off. I wake up again thinking it's at least 4am, but it's 1am and I'm still shitting every 10 minutes. What do I do? I remember I have her Wechat, so I shoot her a message telling her what's happened. She's on the night shift and recommends getting the drip. I'm there within 15 minutes thanks to a 2RMB cab ride. 

I find the hospital is quite empty and quiet. Have a chat with doc and she tells me she gets to sleep at 4am but is chilling in the meantime since she's on the night shift. I buy the drip (126RMB) but there are no beds left so I'm forced to sit down in a designated area for patients with drips. There's two nurses there who look absolutely bored out of their minds and are half sleeping when I walk in. This hospital definitely doesn't look very clean. Lot of mosquitoes flying about. Scraps on the floor. Hygiene's not peaking. The nurses find out that I'm not from China and have suddenly become interested. Their shift ends at 8am so plenty of time to chat. There's no patients around except for me so I'm getting all the attention. An uncle who works security in the hospital joins in our conversation, which is basically them asking me some standard questions that I get asked by most people interested my background:

- Why are you in China?

- What are you doing here?

- How can I improve my English?

- How do you learn Chinese?

- What is Australia like?

- Why are you in China if Australia is so great?

- Are you good at maths because I hear Westerners are shit at it? Did you learn the multiplication tables?

Update - I'm writing this at 420am. I'm about 1/3 of the way in to my drip. The nurses are now sleeping until someone comes in. 

Update - It's 7am. Suns out. Drip's almost done. Feeling rehydrated. Ready to go home for a nap.