The first week we were here was honestly a blur. It was a whirlwind of activity, getting new things set up, seeing new things and trying to understand basically everything in a place that was so foreign and new. We set up bank accounts, set up cell phones, set up the internet- all with the help of my new employer, none of which we could have done without their help and assistance. We did all this while I was also starting training in my new job. It was a full week of everything new, and I don’t know about Rhys’ brain, but mine was ready to melt by the time Friday rolled around. And melt it did. Because in a new country where you don’t speak the language almost everything can be, and usually is, a challenge.
During that first week we had relied on the school for meals and now we were on our own. “Where do we eat?” “are you sure wechat pay will work?” “how do we get there?” I remember feeling lost and a bit adrift as we tried to navigate taking care of our basic needs. I was so thankful Rhys had been able to be at home and not at training with me as he knew some of the answers I was seeking. That weekend we braved the metro all because Rhys had the capacity to research it and get it figured out. And although riding the metro now seems easy at the time it was a HUGE step.
The metro has limited English in it, and, with few exceptions, the stops all have Chinese names. Trying to read the names, hear what the loud speaker is saying and navigate all the people pushing about seemed almost overwhelming to me. Rhys handled it with relative ease, seeming to be able to ride the metro like a seasoned pro from ride one.
That first weekend we tackled going to Wanda plaza, the place that would become our favorite place to go and find local food. We took a ride up the Canton Tower to see a bird’s eye view of the city, and discovered that line three of the metro in downtown is damn near impossible to ride during rush hour. Seriously I could have been lifted off the ground I was surrounded by so many people, to say we were sardines is a gross understatement. It was so crowded Rhys and I got off and took a didi home. Didi’s have been a lifesaver for me. I take them to work, from work, and would take them just about anywhere we go if Rhys wasn’t so great at navigating public transport.
Seeing the city from the top of Canton tower is an experience I’ll never forget. Once you get past the “lines” of people you get an uninterrupted view of the city in all directions. The Canton tower is so tall you’re looking down on other skyscrapers in the city. The sheer amount of skyscrapers that make up the city of Guangzhou is staggering. I’ve never been in a city so full of skyscrapers, buildings upon buildings that just seem to touch the sky. And at night, when they are lit up, it’s a light show like no other. We can see it from our apartment. Buildings that blink red, buildings lit up with full light displays and the iconic Canton tower soaring above them all. When we came down there were vendors aplenty around and Rhys grabbed a sweet treat of strawberries covered in candied sugar. We later discovered street vendors that covered many fruits in this delicious candied sugar, even tomatoes!
That weekend we explored Grandview Mall, a mall so big it makes the Mall of America look like a plaza. The mall itself was seven floors, included a small museum, an imax, and on the 7th level housed a rainforest exhibit where live animals roamed and you could feed them! Animals like deer, and capybara roamed around happily as they munched on the foods people were able to feed them. We saw a sloth that was actually moving and we watched in amazement as it slothed from one tree to another slowly creeping around as if in slow motion. It reminded me of something I told Blair years ago when we were talking about anxiety “be like the sloth, move slowly, you’ll get where you’re going.” And sure enough with enough time that sloth made it to the other tree, curled up and went back to sleep.
By the time the weekend was over we were exhausted and it was time for me to leave for the week to go to Shenzhen with BASIS. I was scheduled for a week-long training in a city about an hour and a half from our new home. It felt daunting to me to just be immersed in my new home and then have to leave for a new city for a week-long training on how our school’s network works. I was slated to be in training from 8am until 4:30 pm each day that week, learning, as if I wasn’t doing enough learning already! So I kissed Rhys goodbye on Tuesday morning, hopped on the bus with my new coworkers and set off for Shenzhen. Rhys told me later Shenzhen is home to the Ping tower, the 5th tallest building in the world. It seemed it didn’t matter where I went in this area I’d still be surrounded by towering buildings. The rooftop at the Hilton in Shenzhen is dwarfed by the surrounding buildings and it was there, sipping basil smashes with my coworkers, that I was taught the phrase ‘ting bu dong’.
The sheer amount of learning that week combined with the enormous amount of learning I was taking in, in general was intense and humbling. I don’t remember another time in my life I felt like such a newbie- everything was new. I've been teaching for the better part of a decade and I felt like I was a brand new teacher again. Pair that with trying to navigate another new city and I ended up taking hot baths in my hotel room and going to bed at 8 pm trying to give my brain a break to just literally soak in the new knowledge.
That week flew by and before I knew it I was back in Guangzhou ready to explore with Rhys. That weekend we explored Beijing Lu road, a street full of food vendors and shops that is a pedestrian only street. We strolled along the road drinking milk teas and being constantly asked if we “wanted to buy, very low price” counterfeit goods. People mostly approached Rhys, to ask him to buy things for me lol. I felt bad Rhys had to constantly fend off the dealers, and yet thankful for them approaching me less. I guess sexism, sometimes, has its perks. Two young men did approach Rhys to ask if they could take their photos with him, Rhys obliged and gave the thumbs up, while they gave the peace sign and snapped their pictures with the handsome foreigner.
We continued our day in downtown Guangzhou making a stop at the lofty 70 stories high bar at the Hyatt to take in a beautiful nighttime view of the city. We drank well crafted cocktails while we watched fancy dressed locals delight in the view and drinks. Perhaps my favorite thing we saw that day were some bronze sculptures by the Chinese artist Xu Hungfei called the Cubby Woman Sculptures. They are joyous to see and encounter and show a unique picture of women that you don’t typically see in art. These sculptures show cubby women pushing strollers, dancing and being held aloft by fit, slender men. They are pure joy to witness and see on display, especially coming from a country that prizes thinness in women. To see chubbiness celebrated was a breath of fresh air. I later did some research on these sculptures and found there are about two dozen of them around the city displaying chubby and exaggerated overweight women doing playful, realistic things. The artist is from Guangzhou and gained international fame with his sculpture series. One article says “With the statues of different chubby women full of humor and free spirit, the artist wants to encourage people of any backgrounds to live their lives with joy, confidence and positive energies.” I love everything about these sculptures, the artist who brought them to life, and the city that proudly puts them on display.
