Life in Harbin (so far)

October has come in with fog and rain. Typical. I have a week off for China's birthday celebrations, and I'm stuck inside writing this post. Oh well.
On Sunday, our school had a "Sports Day," and all the parents came to see the students (and the teachers) take part in some running events. Even I got roped in to a three-legged type of event. Only it was a seven-legged race, as there were six of us tied together. There were three teams, each with three teachers and three parents. Our team came in dead last. We were co-ordinated enough to reach the finish line without falling over, we were just too damn slow.

The park near my house.

I'm glad of the break, as it will give me some time to get ahead on my lessons. I want to add more than just me talking and pointing to things on the board or the Smartboard, which is what the students are used to, but not quite Canadian style.
I want to start doing a once a week class that will introduce them to some elements of the "Canadian lifestyle," so they won't be quite at sea when they get there. I know more than most how difficult it can be to make the transition to a new country, and I'd like to give them a little heads up.

The city hall for that part of Harbin north of the river.

So let me tell you a little bit about Harbin, which is China's northernmost city, with a population of about 10 million, with over 4 million in the city centre alone. The area where I am in is north of the river, and more sparsely populated. A lot of new development (including my school) being built.
The city was founded in 1897 as a camp for Russian engineers surveying the Trans-Siberian railway (see my earlier posts about my trip). The city takes its name from the original fishing village, which means "a place to dry nets." It kept on growing throughout the 20th Century, enduring occupation by the Japanese during the Second World War, and being fought over during the Chinese communist revolution after that. It is now a major city, a major player in China's economy, as well as the capital of the province of Heilongjiang.

Walking down by the river.

People keep warning me about the cold winter that is coming, but I just come right back with tales of Canadian winters, and tell Harbin's winter to "bring it." I have a fairly warm coat.
So there.
Getting around is pretty easy. Cabs are plentiful and cheap. I took one from the south end of the city to my place for 30 yuan, which is about $5 Cdn. The buses are even cheaper. The one I take to the market costs about 1 yuan (around 16-17 cents. The buses are very similar to the ones I used to take in Korea. Old, uncomfortable, and driven by maniacs who race each other down the street, laying on the horn the whole time.
My first trip to the downtown area took me to the Zhongyang Dajie, or "Central Street," which is blocked off to vehicular traffic. It was Saturday, and the weather was good, so everyone was there. I saw the monument to Flood Control, which commemorates the several times the Songwha River has broken its banks.

A lot of the buildings are in the Russian style, and most of them have been kept up, though they have a variety of different kinds of stores and shops in them now. We found a bookstore where I got a map of the city (all in Chinese), and passed by several beer gardens. There is a beer festival every August, and the local brew is not too bad.
Of course, the big festival occurs in winter, when the main park on Sun Island becomes home to various ice sculptures and houses of ice. I'm looking forward to it.

Tour boat on the river

I am studying Chinese, with a course from Pimsleurs, and I already know a few phrases, enough to get me around somewhat.
There is a Walmart on the central street, and there are various Carrefours, but the selection of foreign foods is limited. There is only one medium sized market in my area, and there are no open air markets at all. The one special treat that we had was an ice-cream bar that is particular to Harbin. There was a steady stream of people going to the various kiosks set up. The ice cream is not bad, kind of a cross between vanilla and white chocolate.
There were a lot of street foods available, from fresh fruit to barbecued meat on a stick. I also saw a lot of stalls that reminded me of the odang stalls back in Korea. Very thick noodles and fried dough. They also do a mean hotpot, and the Russian influence is still seen in the offerings of sausage and bread.
Near the market I go to is a string of restaurants that I have yet to sample. Nearer to my con-apt is a dumpling restaurant (dim sum) which cooks up some really good food.
I've read that there are some Korean restaurants in town, which might be good. I miss Korean food a lot. And when I get desperate, there are a couple of western style buffets at hotels like the Holiday Inn.
All of these things still have to be found and evaluated, the which task I am looking forward to.

Stig Goes to China

It was a long summer of job searching. I must have sent out over a hundred resumes to schools looking for teachers in Alberta, B.C. Saskatchewan, Yukon, and the Northwest Territories. I had one interview, in a school near Edson, but they offered the job to someone else. Friends and former teachers offered me advice, and I tinkered with my resume and fleshed out my online portfolio, but I still received nary an offer.
A friend of mine who I knew from Korea was urging me to apply for a job teaching and China, and so I got in touch with a recruiter that he recommended. I got a job offer from them, but it was retracted after the principal of the school read this blog and "What the Kimchi?". He was upset by the language.

I was beginning to despair when one of my professors passed on information about a job in Harbin, China, teaching Canadian subjects to Grade 10 students who would go on to live and study Grade 11 and 12 in Canada. The recruiter and a representative of the school talked to me via Skype. I think I did most of the talking and asking questions, and I was offered the job fairly soon after the interview. There was some urgency about getting me there, as it was already late August, and classes started the day after Labour Day.

The school, the Harbin American-Canadian Foreign Language School (not sure I like the billing there), was a brand new facility, a branch of an already existing school in Suchow. There were 16 students when I arrived, and two have joined since then. I am thinking that more students will swell the class size as the year progresses.
When I was studying for my degree, and the conversation turned to what kind of school we wanted after graduation, I was always 50/50 on whether I wanted a job in Canada, or a return to overseas work. Since I have made the decision (and especially since I made the trip), I have committed fully to this institution, and intend to do the best job I can.
The need for me to be on the job so quickly necessitated some subterfuge reminiscent of how I used to go to work in Korea. To get a  proper work visa  would take too long, so I came as an exchange teacher, and I will go to Hong Kong at some point soon and get a proper work visa.
The visa process went smoothly, and the recruiter arranged for the ticket. All I had to do was endure the flight from Calgary to Vancouver to Shanghai to Harbin. I wish that I could sleep on airplanes, but nothing I try seems to work, especially when there are a lot of young children and babies making a fuss in the cabin.
I was met at the airport by a couple from the school, and we loaded my bags into the small car for the ride to the school. We all just barely fit inside. The school is set up in the northwest of Harbin, in an area of new developments the other side of the river from the main part of town.

It is quite a river. It is in flood right now, and some islands that are usually parks in the summer are under water. You can see trees and houses sticking up here and there.

The school is quite a facility, and it is so new the builders haven't finished yet. As I was escorted up to a third floor office with the classroom next door, I wondered where everyone was. It seemed like we were the only people in the whole structure. It turns out there are about 100 or so other students in the school. I wondered where they all had been hiding when they all trooped into the dining hall for the afternoon meal.

The teacher's room, with my desk on the far right.

I didn't actually have to teach anything that first day, just meet the students for a couple of minutes. I slept in a hotel that night and moved into an apartment they'd found the next day.
The hotel was interesting. It reminded me of those "Love motels" in Korea, with the various products that complimented the nuts and pop in the mini bar.
There was a product of a company called "Shantone" that promised, "Let you are in intense emotion the safety slips," and "The Man Controls."
Also, "Woman Joy Sex Oil" magic herbs extraction, and his and hers socks and underwear (just in case).
Heh.
The apartment they found for me is pretty nice. It's on the 7th floor, with a view of the river to the east and west - directly in front is another apartment building. I asked if they could knock it down for me, but apparently there's some regulation against it.
Oh well.

My apartment building.

My view to the east...

and the west.

The door of my apartment, with doors to the kitchen (left) and bathroom (right).

The kitchen. I have one, count it: one gas burner.

The bathroom. Note the hot water heater above the tiolet. I have to plug that in and wait 10-15 minutes before the water's hot enough for a shower.

That's the washing machine in the lower left corner.

My wardrobe and bed, with the usual far east style mattress: hard as a rock.

The "living room," with 'puter station, table, and... refrigerator?!

I started in teaching straightaway, and have gradually begun to incorporate more into the lessons than just me talking to them. I have been teaching History, English, and Geography from the Ontario curriculum. There are four other teachers that work with me. They and the students have all taken English names. The supervisor is Linda, and she co-teached English with me when she is not busy with other matters. The other English teacher is Mrs. Zhang. Annie helps me with History class, and my co-teacher in Geography is "Ocean.
The students' English level is not as high as I was expecting, and there have been some struggles as we get used to each other. I have been trying to keep my voice and energy level up, and have had to ask for some interpreting of some of the more difficult language. I have also been trying to make the lessons as relevant and interesting as I can. I teach nineteen 40-minute classes per week. It's been difficult, as there are not as many resources to fall back on like you might find in the average Canadian school. We didn't even have internet for the first week.
But we have been persevering, and I have been working hard to establish a good rapport with the students. The lessons I learned at Ambrose have not gone to waste.I was told on the q.t. (so don't tell anyone, okay?) by Linda last week that the administration of the school has been so happy with my work so far that I may be in line for a bonus. I don't think that the work I have done so far is reflective of the best that I have to offer, but I do think of it as a good start.