Back in Nanjing

[TimD]

WOW...What a trip it has been this past week. I don't know what was worse packing up my house or flying China Eastern to Shanghai.

 

The packing was a real pain. I had been in my house for almost 8 years. I filled a 10yd dumpster with old crap and junk I have accumulated over the years and filled a 10x5 storage locker with the stuff I am saving.

 

The most hardest thing for me was saying goodbye to my daughter Astrid. Of all the things I miss most right now it is her. For the last couple of years it's been just she and I back in Columbus. I didn't have much of a social life back in the US since she was always with me. She seems happy to be living with her mother for the upcoming school year. The past couple of times I have called she seemed more interested in her cartoons than talking to her Daddy, poor me.

 

For this trip out here I took a China Eastern flight to Shanghai. We wanted to avoid Beijing due to SARS and some of the restrictions here in Nanjing for folks traveling through Beijing. I wanted to avoid being quarentined.

 

The flight out here was awful. 14 long cramped hours in a hot plane. I normally travel United to Beijing which is an easy flight. On United they have the LCD screens on the backs of the seats and a few movies to choose from as well as other programming. This has always made the flight more tolerable as well as the fact I always had enough room and was able to stay comfortable. This time I tried to get some sleep but Icold never get comfortable, blah. One thing I didn't understand is that when they served us drinks they gave us a very small plasic glass that was gone in one gulp. I had to keep asking the attendent for more coke.

 

Once we got into Shanghai our flight was diverted to the other Shanghai airport due to weather. We had to sit on the plane for about an hour while we waited for immigration to arrive.

 

My cell phone was out of juice and I wasn't able to contact my wife to tell her where I was at, but being the smart Chinese lady she is she and her driver were able to get to the airport and pick me up anyway.

 

We had a 3.5 hour trip to Nanjing which was uneventful. Yesterday we went to the police station to register me. This was a walk in the park and the folks at the police station were very nice.

 

After that we did a little grocery shopping at the CE Mart across from our apartment. It will take some time to get use to shopping here. Just sooooo many people. What I do like is the produce, meat and seafood choices. I do prefer Chinese food over food in the states for some reason. Though I do miss good pastry and dognuts.

 

Today we are meeting with some folks at one of the schools here to discuss me teaching kids English. I hope this works out since I love teaching kids. It should help me get over missing Astrid.

 

That's all I have for now, I've got to get ready for this meeting. I hope you are all doing well.

 

-Tim

[tonado]

Tim,

 

Enjoy your stay in Nanjing with your gal. My mom was born in Nanjing. However, she doesn't remember much about the city.

[Mick]

Tim:

 

Good to hear you arrived safe and sound. Look forward to hearing more about your stay in China. Stay cool. I imagine Nanjing will be hot for the next two months.

[TimD]

Oh yea, it is hot and humid here in Nanjing. My tall skinny white legs have been getting a lot of looks on the streets here when I wear shorts

 

Last night was a wonderful night. After dinner Vicki and I went for a walk to the CE Mart across from our apartment. It was so cool just walking with the rest of the Chinese people just doing the business of life. The past few times I have been here I have felt more like a tourist or visitor, but last night I felt like a temp resident. It's hard to explain what it was like, but it was very nice.

 

Back in the states I use to do shopping at the market after dinner to avoid the crowds and thought this would work last night...wrong!! CE Mart was packed as always. The only thing I can equate this to is the holiday season in the states, just people everywhere...of course there are 6 million people in this city.

 

Today we went to a local kindergarten and I accepted a job teaching english and I guess they want me to teach computers too, how fun!!!! I go in on July 1 for an orientation of sorts and then back on July 3 for registration day to meet the parents. That should be a lot of fun, me meeting all these Chinese couples with only a pocketful of Chinese vocabulary. I'm pretty excited about this. I love kids and think this will be a fun thing to do on a temp basis. It's only 2 - 3 hours a day 5 days a week. I have a couple other opportunities, employment wise, in the pipeline, but I've learned not to get my hopes up on such things.

 

Today we had some water delivered to the apartment. I wish I had a camera to take a picture of the guys face when I answered the door. I think I scared him, but I gave him a big smile, paid him and gave him a happy Xie xie ni.

 

I think I am going to like it here. It's going to be a grand adventure!!

 

Take care all!!

-Tim