Can't quite make up my mind about China

Let me preface this entry by saying that Shanghai was not my favorite place. We started off on the wrong foot (getting horribly ripped off by a taxi, which my pride will not let me forget) and it somewhat soured our time there. I tried to be as objective as possible and would overall give the city a 6/10, but there were a lot of negative aspects (namely the overcrowding, smelliness, and rudeness of the people we met).

Once we arrived at the hotel, the trip got much better. Our hotel was fantastic. Anyone looking for a recommendation, Les Suite Orient is at the top of my list. Taking a nice hot bath while overlooking the river and the picturesque Shanghai skyline was pretty amazing.

Ahhh. Bliss.

But you're not here to read about the hotel. At least I hope not. That'd be weird.

First thing we did after settling into the hotel was to visit the observatories in Shanghai's tallest building, the Shanghai World Financial Center (or as I called it, the bottle opener). I say observatories because Shanghai scoffs at the paltry attempts of other buildings by offering 3 floors for viewing. The 94th floor has a shop and restaurant, the 97th  has glass walls and ceiling, and the 100th has glass walls and floor (kind of). We got there are dusk, so the photo quality wasn't ideal, but it was still amazing to see how far the city stretches beyond the small area we explored.

Dusk or pollution?

View from the 100th floor. Not as impressive as I'd imagined.

 The second touristy thing we did was go on a river boat cruise. 'Downtown' has built up around the Huangpu river, and taking a tour up and down the notable parts at night was incredible. The skyscrapers are lit up with messages in Chinese and English, with ads for Samsung phones covering over 70 floors with blindingly bright blue, and nearby towers are trying to compete with sparkling reds, greens, pinks, and purples. There were a surprising amount of boats on the river at night, many of them as lavishly decorated as the one we were on. It was one of the experiences that really enforced that we weren't in Kansas Korea any more...

... do I?

We started the next day by going to the YuYuan gardens, one of the top tourist places to visit in the city. Different parts were built at different times, but all within the 19th century. The architecture was amazing, my favorite features were the entryways into new sections; each frame was a different shape. As can be expected in every garden ever, there were a lot of fish. But these were not normal fish. Brightly colored and HUGE, they were everywhere. I spent a lot of my time watching them interact with the children that were so clearly enamored with them. There were toddlers being pulled back a millisecond before falling in headfirst trying to pet one.

A stranger asked me take a photo with her (is it weird that I don't think that's weird anymore?).

Possibly the highlight of my trip was the acrobatics show. Roberta was determined to go to one while in China, and I am so glad that she was insistent. Parts of it were expected (2 man strength demonstration, jumping through hoops, and the young girls with the bending and the flipping and whatever else hurts my back just to watch), but there were also spinning plates and diablos, chair balancing, bicycle pyramids, roller skating (WTF?), and a motorcycle cage. For the last one I'm pretty sure I didn't breathe, which caused Alex and Roberta great concern and amusement. Sorry for the lack of photos, they were very insistent about no cameras. Although there's always some guy in the front row with an iPad who thinks he's James fucking Bond being all sneaky. Dude. We see you.

And of course the food was amazing. We mostly ate dumplings (both the xiao longbao that's famous in the area, and other dumplings like gyoza, bao, and shumai). So. Many. Dumplings.

Eat ALL the dumplings!

Living in Korea for so long has made me comfortable with where I am. I hardly ever feel rushed or panicked in my day to day life, at least when I stay in my safety bubble of Daegu, and have so many people that I can call in an instant if I need help. Traveling (not by myself) outside of Korea was a bit of a wakeup call and reminded me very quickly that I am a very far way from home. In Korea, I can sound out most of the words I see on signs and menus, but when I tried to do the same with Chinese and obviously failed, the panic set in.

Writing this post helped me to remember that coming back to Korea was like coming home (a home where a trip to Hong Kong is a feasible weekend plan). I've decided to stay right where I am, at least for now. I'll revisit the idea of switching to high school or another country next year. Thanks to everybody for the support and advice :)

Next post: Taipei!

안녕!

That is the question

As a quick break between lengthy travel posts, I decided to write up a quick somethin somethin about my decision making process for the future. Namely: to renew or not to renew.

I am a very logical person. I enjoy making lists, pros and cons, the occasional bar graph, and I ask nearly everyone for their opinion. Today I'm going to walk you through my train of thought.

Reasons to stay:
1) My coteachers are fantastic. I have heard horror stories about coteachers here, but I got incredibly lucky. Even teachers that I only see in the hallways or at lunch are friendly. While I don't go party or meet up with them often outside of school, they're always helpful with any questions I have. Heck, Mijin helped me make shorts! They're my friends, and I'll miss them when I eventually leave Sawol.

2) My students are very high level. This means that I don't have to worry about things going over their heads, and I can explain things more quickly. These kids are crazy smart and pick up ideas and vocabulary so quickly. I've already noticed a difference in the confidence of my fourth graders, who will now approach me in the hallways to say hi, whereas before they crouched/ducked/ran away in fear of an English interaction. That or they just hated me.... Let's be positive, shall we?

3) Mostly good location. I live in a quiet, beautiful neighborhood. Instead of the downtown-ish, tall buildings with small alleyways kind of area, I get a wealthy residential neighborhood with lots of coffee shops, bakeries, and am only a 15 minute walk from bars and restaurants. I have 4 friends that live on my street, and several others a very short distance away (which is unheard of for a lot of teachers).

4) My apartment is huge. Most of you have seen the photos of my apartment, and you can see why I'd be crazy to leave it. I have two rooms and a relatively spacious kitchen, instead of the cramped one room + kitchen that other teachers were 'gifted' with. Not only the size of the place, but my landlady is adorable and brings me things all the time. Water, grapes, kimbap, anything she's got. Doesn't speak more than 2 words of English, but we work it out. Lots of 'ok's are exchanged... Although the internet was just changed to her name, which means I don't pay for it, but it's slow as molasses. We're gonna have to have a talk soon.

5) Moneyyyyy. That's right, I added extra y's to that word. You know why? Because I am making a good amount by living here, at least more than I could reasonably expect at home with my resume. Granted, much of it is going to travel, but that's what I'd be saving it for back home too. If/when I renew, I get a month's extra salary as a renewal bonus, another 100$ per month, and an extra week of vacation, just to sweeten the deal.


Reasons to leave:
1) Family and friends. The obvious answer, of course. I speak to my family (most of them...) more than I did when I was living in the US, but kakao and Skype don't exactly equal a hug

2) Career goals? I'm still figuring out what the heck I'm doing with my life in the long-term scope. Right now I'm happy where I am, but how long can I reasonably expect to stay here? Genetic counseling was always the plan career-wise, and it's something I still love and think about often. Every additional year I stay in Korea is another year that path is postponed. But at the same time, maybe more career opportunities related to my work here will present themselves if given more time (university jobs, high paying private schools, private tutoring, etc). Anyone that wants to tell me what to do, feel free to chime in...

3) Creature comforts. Goddamn do I miss my dryer. And oven. And Firehouse subs (which I dream about regularly). And pedicures. And cats. And Reeses. The list goes on.


That's where I'm at right now. Decision-making that will affect my life makes me want to pull my hair out. To my friends who I've been ignoring the past few weeks/months, this is why. I get the paperwork for my renewal in the next week or two, so the decision is looming. Any and all advice is welcome and will be rewarded with virtual hugs. Even you strangers in Germany and Russia, feel free to say hi! I enjoy new perspectives.

Now I'm gonna take a nap.

안녕!