Chilly

Fifteen hours after leaving my room I return to find my cozy little home just as I left it this morning. All is in order, housekeeping has visited and I have clean towels and a nice hot shower screaming my name. All is well in my world and I am happy to the core.

I had my second teaching model today and it went as well as I had hoped for. In all honesty I think I would make a good English Language Teacher, but I heard about something else that was quite intriguing to me today. There are positions for TEFL instructor assistants that open up all around the world, I think that would be equally as wonderful because you could go for a 6 week period at a time. Who knows where this will lead, but I do know that I will be involved in it in the future (just not sure of the capacity).

It is a very different China I am visiting. I have began to notice that the more I try to pay attention to the locals the more I am ignored. Take this morning for instance. On my way to class I decided to listen to my iPod. Armed with the usual robin egg blue backpack, bright red coat and sunglasses I headed out the door. I simply decided to live inside my music on my walk to the school and let the world around me slip away.

I noticed that as I approached the elevator a young woman came up along side me. Usually they will stare at me but never ever, ever acknowledge me. I have learned to live with being pushed into the elevator, being pushed out of the way of entering an elevator and even being pushed out of an elevator. What happened this morning astounded me. As I approached, listening to "Everybody" by Ingrid Michaelson (happiest song out there right now) the young woman smiled at me, said hello and motioned for me to enter the elevator first! That was the first time since I have been here that I have been shown such a courtesy. Exiting, she did the same motion and smiled as I left.

I began my decent down the road. Normally I am pushed aside as I walk down the sidewalk, but people slid over to one side or the other giving me passage. They still stared but in a friendlier fashion than usual. At the street corners people would look and smile, it was welcoming and warm. Maybe it is because they accepted the smile I gave them or simply found it funny that I stood bouncing on the street corner as I tapped my foot and bobbed my head to the music streaming through my headphones.

Whatever the difference, it was welcome. It felt like a softer side to a people that have been living in a frozen land the past few days. The cold was still there, the frost was prevalent, the air was frigid and numbing...but all in all, the people have thawed a little and showed a side I have found lacking since my arrival.

The day ran smoothly and I had a lovely conversation over a few beers and a bowl of noodles with Margo, a fellow classmate. As I headed home in the dark I left the iPod tucked away safely in the warmth of my backpack. Remembering the atmosphere this morning I eagerly began my walk back to the hotel. I smiled at people as I approached them only to be stared straight through. I was pushed along the crowded street and forced to move off the sidewalk rather than being allowed to share it. Only once did I have a friendly gesture thrown my way. It was the lonely pineapple carver who had his wagon full of pineapples he was crafting into beautiful sculptures. As I walked past him I heard a joyful, "Hello!" I quickly turned to say hello back to him. In retrospect I think he was being polite to lure me into buying his wares, and showed signs of disappointment as I kept walking. For me though, it was a greeting, a cheerful happy greeting given to me in my language, in a small way it removed the chill that had overtaken me and filled me with a very satisfying warmth. Perhaps tomorrow I may have to return the warmth and buy a pineapple :)