oh china

so i've now been gone for a week. it already feels like it's been a month.

this weekend has been sort of crazy...i mean, the whole week has been super busy, but since we started the orientation here at Shanghai High School i feel like i've barely had a chance to just sit by myself and think. maybe that's a good thing, cause if i wasn't busy i'd probably be more homesick or culture shocked or something.

one of our interesting experiences this weekend was the medical examination on Saturday morning. in order for us to be able to stay in the country for 10 months and teach, we need to get "Expert Certificates" that supplement/change our visas. When Mr. Zhu explained it to us, he told us not to worry about the fact that we are not, infact, experts. How reassuring. Anyway, in order for the school to apply for the expert certificates on our behalf, we had to have a medical examination here in Shanghai at a clinic that caters exclusively to foreigners. We had been told what to expect, but I still found the experience absolutely ridiculous. Most medical exams tend to include blood pressure, listening to your heart, maybe a little poking and prodding. Not so with this one. From the moment our numbers were called, we were shuffled through a series of 8 or 9 rooms in a matter of an hour or so. in the first room, we changed out of our regular clothes and put on a robe. Then we were weighed and measured, and sent to another room. In these various rooms, they proceeded to give each of us (one at a time, of course) an ultrasound (for gallstones and kidney stones?), an x-ray of our chests, an EKG, an eye exam (the woman actually laughed at me. maybe i should have worn my glasses...), they drew our blood, took our blood pressure, and listened to our hearts. It was a well-oiled machine, but incredibly invasive. And they told us we weren't allowed to eat or drink beforehand, so the nurse ran into some trouble trying to draw blood from me, since my veins are quite small. Luckily, when we got back to the bus, monika, one of the women from the school who is in charge of us, provided a breakfast of an interesting bread that was really sweet and also had onions and ham on it...and a little juice box of warm milk that i think was 3.5% considering it said 3.5 on the box. Needless to say, I had a sip of the milk and almost promptly threw up.

This orientation process has really started to show me more about the difference between Western culture and Chinese culture. Everyone always talks about culture shock, but it isn't until you start to feel it that you actually believe that it exists. Here's an example of a difference that I noticed:

When Mr. Zhu talked to us at the orientation, he mentioned what his job is (he used to be the director of the foreign affairs office), and mentioned our bonus system ($2600 at the end of the year, but money is deducted from the bonus for any infractions like being late, dressing inappropriately, etc). But he also mentioned that if we don't do a good job, HIS bonus is affected. He actually went on for a little while about how he gets more money if we stay at the school, more money if we do a good job, less money when we make mistakes or have problems. Then, when Monika was explaining her position to us yesterday, she mentioned that she has two small children and that Helen (her partner in the foreign affairs office) also has a small child, and that the more work we cause for them makes it difficult for them to be able to spend time with their children. I can understand Monika and Mr. Zhu's concerns, but I feel like in the US we don't say those types of things out loud. It made me feel guilty, which I guess is probably the point-- because of the sense of community in China, the point is that if you make a problem or mistake, it lets other people down. Interesting.

I've realized that this is could be a very long post. i'm going to take a little break and discuss yesterday and today in a new post. oh man.