My trash truck plays "Jingle Bells" over and over...

Not sure why...Imagine my surprise when I discovered it was not, in fact, an ice cream truck.

It’s been quite the week- I’ve been to Lanzhou and back and liked it very much! All the Gansu folk left last Sunday for our train ride through the countryside. I tell you, Chinese sleeper trains are the way to go! We had “hard sleepers” which means bunks in an open sleeper car. The bunks were clean and well-padded and very comfortable. By day, you get a good opportunity to see the scenery and chat with the people around you, and the beds make for good sleeping at night. They lights go off at ten and come on again at seven, so everyone felt rested. As we approached Lanzhou, the scenery became more and more arid. There are lots of mountains that look a lot like the desert mountains in the American Southwest (link to my album at the bottom of the page). All in all, it was a most pleasant way to spend 20 hours.

When I got to Lanzhou, the assistant from the waiban (foreign affairs office) was waiting for me along with my counterpart teacher. They were both very friendly and had a car waiting to take me to my new apartment. We dropped off my stuff, and then headed to the train ticket office to buy my return ticket. There had been a miscommunication and it hadn’t been bought the week before, and by the time we got to the office, all the train tickets were sold out. After many phone calls to my new boss and my old boss and a break for lunch, we got it all settled, and I got a plane ticket for Friday. Much faster, but probably not as pretty.

After that was sorted, my ever helpful counterpart helped me negotiate the bus system home and then I took a nice nap in my new apartment (again, see pictures.) It’s a nice place with a living room, study, bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen. Furthermore, my new bed is the most comfortable one in China. Most Chinese beds are quite hard in a way that is supposed to be good for the back (and I’m sure it is), but my bed is just the right amount of soft. It’s not so much soft as it is deep, if that makes any sense. If you come visit, I’ll let you sit on it and see for yourself.

Also, the apartment is completely furnished. At least two volunteers have lived there before me, so it has accumulated a healthy amount of furnishings and knickknacks. I have nice blankets for the winter, cushions for the sofa, and a starter set of kitchen supplies. The last volunteer even left me a hutch full of books and teaching materials, so I’m looking forward to weeding through that.

On Tuesday, after I had rested up, my counterpart Ai took me around the two campuses where I’ll be teaching and showed me the noteworthy buildings. I live on the west campus but will likely teach all my classes at the Peili campus. Many teachers do commute every day, and there is a school shuttle that runs at intervals. There’s also a public bus that runs every ten minutes during term, and it’s very cheap. I’m looking forward to going back and exploring more in September (and in the next two years) because most of the shops and restaurants near my apartment were closed since it’s the school vacation. Most of their patrons are students, so the owners go on vacation when the students do.

After exploring my new stomping grounds, we went to a tourist attraction- White Pagoda Mountain. They have ramps and stairs built up the mountain to facilitate getting to the pagoda at the top. Apparently, during the expansion of Genghis Khan’s empire, the Tibetan Buddhist sent a priest to pay their respects. Unfortunately, the fellow died in Lanzhou, and the pagoda was built a century or so later in his memory. Now, it is a “cultural relic under the protection of the province.” It was a very nice tower. Also, they have a pond at the top of the mountain where they have giant plastic balls that you can climb in then have inflated. Once you’re all sealed up in your ball, they push you into the pond and you can scoot about on top of the water like a hamster. I watched a couple kids do it, and the final result is somewhere between bizarre and amazing.

During the rest of my time in Lanzhou, I was pretty much free to explore on my own. I expanded my knowledge of the bus system, explored nearby shopping options, and found an internet café. I also had a brief meeting with an official and learned I’ll likely be teaching freshman oral English and writing for students in their final year of a three year program. I’m lucky in that I’ll probably have a break for a couple weeks- freshmen have two weeks of military training at the beginning of the term, and my third-years begin with a month of field study. It’ll be nice to have a cushion between getting off the train and teaching.

It was also interesting to see the different ways shops work there. I went to a restaurant for dinner one night. I thought it was a normal restaurant where you sit down, they bring you a menu (hopefully with pictures!) and then you can order. I started to walk in, and a lady near the door started flapping at me and called me back to the entrance. I went back, and she said I had to place my order with her. Ok….so I told her what I wanted and paid, and then she gave me a ticket and turned to the next customer. A ticket?! What do I do with a ticket? Fortunately a waitress noticed me wandering aimlessly near the door and explained that I should get a plastic wrapped bowl from the stack and take it to the kitchen window in the back. So I passed over my ticket and bowl and got what I ordered in no time flat. THEN I sat down and ate it- very tasty. So, now I know how a ticketed restaurant works!

Now that I’m back in Chengdu, time is flying by until swearing in. This is my last week with my host family. We have our final language test this week and our host family appreciation dinner. Next Monday (a week from tomorrow), I’ll move back to the hotel for a little while. Swearing in is the 28th, and I’ll move to Lanzhou permanently soon after. Time flies when you’re having fun!