A jumbled mess...

Normally, I like my blag entries to be a bit...well, orderly, I suppose.  This is not one of those times.

I'm here in Tongzi, Guizhou Province, PRC, at Number 2 High School, waiting for...well, you'll see when you read on, O Kindly Audience.  So without further ado, here are my notes from the last couple days.

Wednesday, 28 August, mid-afternoon:


Driving to Tongzi, with Mr. Wang and Mr. Chen - my FAO and, if I understand correctly, fixer. The weather at Chonqing was a mere 30 before humidity, and Tongzi is further north, so I should be fine. I hope.
 
Mr. Wang took us for lunch, and I wish I had the presence of mind to snap photos, 'cause it was gorgeous and delicious. We started with hard-boiled, blue-shelled eggs; fried cured, spiced pork a la pancetta; and a jelly-like rice noodle I couldn't manage to get the knack of, despite my valiant attempts. The main events were two fish dishes - one in a rich, sour tomato broth with sesame seeds and green onions, and the other boiled in oil with peppers and garlic. We also had boiled cabbage and rice. Quite delicious, really!

(Author's Note:  Mr. Chen is a fixer, but not a fixer.  Rather, he does odd jobs at No. 2 HS)

Wednesday, 28 August, late-evening (originally to be the blag post, and entitled "I'm heeeere (or, Here's Jimmy!)"

So, as the clever ones of you may have surmised via the title of my blog post, I've arrived at my assigned school: High School No. 2, in Tongzi, Guizhou Province.  This is a relatively new school, and they're building a lot of new additions to it, which is always a good sign.

I arrived around 5pm and promptly put my foot right into it.  I was wearing a T-Shirt and jeans, owing to the fact that I had just made a 10 hour journey from Yangshuo, and Mr. Wang, my FAO, brought me to the President of the School; he greeted me, and asked me to wait in the adjacent room - no problem at all.  Mr. Wang and I made small talk, and I commented, off-handedly, that I felt under-dressed for meeting the President.  After the President finished his meeting with his Assistants, Mr. Wang spoke to him, bade me enter, and the President greeted me.  Then dismissed me.  No conversation, nothing.

I intend to find out if he smoked and give him one of my pipes as a sort of peace offering, but I'm not sure that it will work.  And Mr. Wang then took me to the school canteen, where he asked if I wanted supper; I was still full from a delicious lunch of fish in tomato broth, and fish boiled in oil, and declined as politely as I could.  He seemed...unimpressed by that.  After that, we finished our tour of the campus, and Mr. Wang bade me goodbye.  There goes another pipe, I think.  The Armellini Natural Brown and the Brigham Voyageur, like as not.  I like those pipes, but amends must be made and face saved, so they are sacrificed on the altar of having a year that isn't terrible.

After that, I got back to the flat, which is immense, and clearly intended for two (or even three!) but, alas, Josh is not here as he had a family emergency and needed to return to the States, so I'm here alone for at least a week, until the second teacher from the 60th arrives.  At that point, I'll help them manoeuvre the second massive dresser from my room into theirs.

Thursday, 29 August, mid-day:

Cooling heels in police depot. When I first arrived, thought the town looked like a war zone - and it does have that Hue, '68 quality in parts, but I realized that the debris and detritus aren't from neglect or poverty, but demolition for new construction. They occupy rooms as soon as they're done, here, which leads to hectic, but interesting, situations.

My flat, for example, got running water at 7am today; Internet, too. With those (the water, mostly, to be honest) in place, the previous night's anxiety (and, honestly, minor panic attack) faded away, and I'm ready for a year here. The President doesn't smoke, so I keep my Armellini. Mr. Wang seems confused and bemused by the whole thing rather than interested, so the Brigham's probably safe, too.

What gets me most about China is that you can smoke everywhere. Which is cool, but weird.

Thursday, 29 August, late-evening (writing this now, so it's the most up to date):

I kind of wish it was hotter and more humid here, and that I had no AC in my room, that way I could get the full Captain Willard experience.

I'm probably being overly cynical, but still; Mr. Wang informed me that I won't be teaching until late next week at the earliest, which is after the second teacher from Buckland (from the 60th Training Group) arrives.  It would be an OK vacation, were I not effectively confined to quarters; my visa is still with the police, and they want me on campus all the time to find me should they need me.

The campus, by the way, is gorgeous; six completed buildings, plus two under construction, and it's own security gate.  I live just off campus, above a shop, about 10 metres from the main gate.  Nice place, really.  My schedule is 17 classes per week, all three grade levels, and I've  gotten quite the following over the last couple days; lots of kids here are excited to see me, and say hello.  Of course, I'm probably the biggest, hairiest thing they've ever seen that's not quadrupedal, but hey, I'll take it.  One girl asked me to teach her English class tomorrow, even!  Alas, I had to let her down (gently, of course) and told her that I wouldn't be starting for a few days yet.

They seem like good kids, and the chow here's not bad either (and it's free!) which is always a plus.  My FAO is all over me, though, like a Predator drone on an Afghan wedding ceremony.  That kind of chafes me, not gonna lie.  Still, it's probably for the best; my Mandarin is terrible, and I really should be working on it, so Mr. Wang's my interpreter.

We're headed into town on Saturday, to check out the Post Office, bank, etc., which is nice (it also means that tomorrow and tonight will be filled with letter-writing!), so there's that.

Also, I took some photos and videos of the place.

They are, as always, under the jump.

I didn't start the fire

It's been going for two days, according to Mr. Wang.

Ominous, to say the least.

It's in Chongqing province, though, so not our concern.  Haha!

The lovely view of downtown Tongzi, from the second floor of the Police department

I was there to get my visa converted to a residence permit

I haven't been arrested, yet.

They're doing some renovations on the cop-shop, thus the scaffolding

More downtown Tongzi

Even more downtown Tongzi

Looking away from downtown Tongzi, but still at the Police Station

It was a long wait.  What else can I say?

I had no clothesline

But I did have a skipping rope!

Clothesline successfully MacGuyvered! (please forgive my underpants there)

The view of the front gate of my school from the main education building.  Also, students!

More students, plus the mountains directly behind my flat

Here she is, the main education building.  The Teacher's offices are to the left, the library, girls and boys dorms, and canteen are to the right.  They're not pictured, though, because I didn't think to take photos of them today

 And I also promised you videos, so there's a video tour of my place, too!  First, you get to see most of the apartment.  It's spacious and quite nice, really!

The ceiling light in my living room is awesome enough to warrant it's own video.  Trust me.

 And, finally, my bedroom.  Because why not?

 So there you have it, folks; another update, another bunch of pics, some video, and the promise (threat?) of more in the future!