China: First Impressions

After a month living in Budapest I wrote my very first blogpost about my first impressions. Now that I have been in Hangzhou for a month, I am going to continue that tradition and write about my first impressions here. It was no shock to me that this first month has gone by so incredibly fast. I have been teaching for  nearly three weeks and can honestly say that I am surprised how comfortable I am working with elementary kids. On the other hand though I am not surprised at all that I am absolutely loving the college counseling work that I am doing. I will never tire meeting with and getting to know students at such an exciting and hopeful point in their life. It is fun getting to see how different they all are and of course it doesn’t hurt getting to talk about higher education :)

China has been living up to the expectation of being full of history and culture. In Hangzhou alone there are countless historical sites and beautiful scenery. We have traveled outside of Hangzhou for two weekends to Shanghai and Nanjing, and the more I see of China, the more eager I am to continue exploring. In a country as big as China and with as many people as it has, the options for travel and people watching will never run dry. Stay tuned for my series of first impression posts to include Hangzhou (the city itself,) the food, the language and the people.

Missing Hungary for the Right Reason

Before moving to China Bill and I said on countless occasions that we cannot compare everything to Hungary or we would likely be miserable. After all, we moved overseas in the first place so we could experience something different, and a big part of feeling that difference is being open to it and seeking it out. We have tried to stick to this, and are treating China as a completely new experience in and of itself.  Despite this, we still talk about Hungary A LOT and cannot deny that we have missed it every day since we have left.

This past week I missed Hungary even more than usual. I thought this feeling would come at a time when I was having a bad week at work, was lying in bed sick, or hitting a wall with the language; you know the typical triggers for being homesick. But this was not the case. This week at work has been the best so far, and besides waking up with my eyes bloodshot and burning everyday, I’m healthy and feeling quite good.  I am really just missing Hungary for the best reason possible.  This week the people that I miss and love sent a flood of emails, pictures, and even my first piece of snail mail since arriving in China. I get giddy waking up to an inbox full of Hungarian names. I love hearing from them, knowing how they are doing, and finding out what’s going on in their life and in Hungary (and elsewhere for those who are not currently in Hungary). It helps me feel as though I am not as far away as I really am. It also reconfirms my belief that I have shared with many others by this point that Hungarians are some of the most genuine and caring people I have ever met. Ten more months until I can be back in that beautiful country visiting some of my favorite people in the world. Szia szia puszi.

Liberal Potty Training

Chinese baby with split bottom pants (via)

Not having kids of my own has afforded me the opportunity to not think about the topic of diapers and potty training for most of my life. Then, I arrived to China. Here, whether you want to know about potty training or not, you will bear witness to it in parks, on the street and even in restaurants. I found it a little strange when I was first walking around Hangzhou and saw many parents carrying infants wearing 'slit-bottom' pants, exposing the naked bottom of the baby. My first thought was oh dear, what if the child has to go to the bathroom, what a disaster that must be. Then a little later I saw a mother suspending her approximately one year old daughter in the air over a planter and a steady stream of liquid made its way down to the dirt. In a strange way it all began to make sense, this was not an accident, this was part of the potty training process. I've seen parents pull down the pants of their young baby boy and encourage him to pee on a tree. Once I was even eating in a restaurant and the daughter of the restaurant owner walked about 15 feet away from where I was sitting and squatted and peed on the floor. No uproar, no strange looks, just business as usual. Oh and I cannot forget just yesterday when I saw a woman cleaning up something a little more graphic than pee in the middle of the sidewalk, which I can guarantee was produced by a baby, not a dog.

This of course seems strange to me, but apparently has been a method of potty training used in China and other eastern cultures for centuries. I did a little research online because I assumed there was more to it than what met the eye.What I learned was that at a young age, rather than keeping children in diapers, parents or caretakers will hold the child over a toilet, make a consistent sound that will be used each time and encourage them to release over the toilet. This practice then apparently continues when the child is out of the house as well; cue the 'slit-bottom' pants and the baby making the world its bathroom. I hear less and less families are using this method in big cities, but I sure do see a lot of babies' bottoms around these parts, so who knows!

First Day of School

Adorable first graders

School

After two weeks of settling in and preparing for school, the students have finally arrived. Thursday was the first day of school for kids, and my first day of school as a K-12 teacher. Seeing a bunch of little first graders running around feels quite different than being surrounded by college students. None the less, it was a lot of fun and will definitely be a new experience which I am sure I will learn a lot from. It is pretty hard to not have that warm fuzzy feeling when these adorable little faces are smiling and giggling all day. 

My position is all over the place, but it will keep me on my toes. I am teaching two sections of third grade art, helping teach four classes of ESL (grades 1-4), and developing the university counseling program. Just to put into perspective how nebulous my position is, my ID card actually reads: 'Jamie Hoversen, Art University Counselor.' That's right, I specialize in sending seniors to art school....Julliard and the Art Institute of Chicago better watch out. In all seriousness though, I cannot wait to start meeting with the seniors about college applications, and begin the exploration phase with grades 9-11. I've been giddy with excitement getting everything in place, and it will only get better when I am working directly with the students. Two days down, and a whole school year to go. 

We made it to China!

West Lake in Hangzhou

The month of July has absolutely flown by. We moved out of our apartment in Budapest at the end of June and then traveled to several countries in Europe during the first two weeks of July. I was back at home near San Francisco for one week and then in Chicago for another week. It was great getting to see family and friends, but it was a strange feeling being back in the States. That feeling was short lived though, because on July 29 we jetted off on a 17 hour flight from Chicago to Shanghai, followed by a three hour van ride to our new home in Hangzhou. 

We have only been here for two full days, but we are getting our bearings and starting to explore what the city has to offer. The city is very green, clean, and doesn't feel very crowded, despite being a big city. The highlight so far was taking a walk around the West Lake in Hangzhou, which is one of the most popular domestic tourist destinations in China. It was absolutely stunning and was filled with lots of couples, families and people exercising. Within five minutes of arriving to the West Lake a man came up to me with a pen and manila envelope, and was signalling for me to write my autograph. I of course smiled, chuckled to myself, and gave him my hideous signature which I am sure will be worth millions of RMB within a few weeks. My first impression of Chinese people in Hangzhou is very good. They are very smiley, friendly, and curious. I'm excited to begin learning Mandarin so I can better communicate and explore further. 

Expect more updates about what's going on here. I also hope to have more free time to write about some more of my experiences in Hungary and Europe, so don't be surprised when those pop up too. 

Putting Hangzhou on the map for those who have never heard of it

Saying Goodbye

My last week in Hungary will by far be the toughest of weeks during my time here. I know that I will be back to Hungary, but the 'when' is unknown, which makes saying good-bye or 'see you later' extremely hard. I would have never been able to guess two years ago just how hard it would be to leave Hungary and say goodbye to all of the wonderful people I have developed relationships with. My friends here are so much more to me than just friends; they really are family.When I left my roots, family, friends, and what is familiar in the US, I didn't expect to come into a world where I would feel so comfortable, connected and truly at home. I have fallen hopelessly in love with Hungary, and the driving force behind that love is the people here. I have seen the good and bad of Hungary, and that only reaffirms my love of this country. Words will never be able to describe what this place means to me. 

Every goodbye and every tear shed (and oh there will be lots of tears), makes the reality of moving all the more vivid. It is hard saying goodbye, but I think it would be even harder to look myself in the mirror and know that there was no one worth saying good-bye to. I feel blessed that it is going to be so hard to say goodbye; that means my time here was truly precious. Sometimes I feel weak for being so emotional about leaving, but on the other hand I believe that the more you put into an experience, the more attached and emotional one will become. I am proud that I have put every bit of myself into these last two years and have gained something that will stay with me forever.

The Taste of Summer in Hungary

Cherries are the taste of summer in Hungary for me. I know from this day forward, any cherry I eat will bring me back to a lazy summer day spent in the Hungarian countryside. There is something so relaxing and carefree about strolling down a quiet street and picking a few cherries here and there and watching the seeds slowly roll on the pavement after you've enjoyed the sweet fruit. Or when invited into a friend's home, spending hours on end chatting in the garden and picking (and of course eating) cherries to make the company and conversation that much sweeter. Cherries have been present during so many of the wonderful memories I have made in the last month or two. It makes me happy to know that something so simple, a cherry, will help bring back these memories and allow me to remember the amazing people I have met here, time after time.