Boxing Day Borderlines

If my Christmas was quite alternative, my Boxing Day this year trumps it in terms of being unconventional. Normally I spend Boxing Day eating left overs of Christmas dinner, seeing more of my family for yet more food and playing card games well into the night. This year, I spent Boxing Day exploring the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) of Korea - a 4km wide strip of land that stands between both North and South Korea. Nothing quite says festive spirit like paying a visit to one of the most tense borders in the world.

The only way to explore the DMZ in Korea is to go with a tour company. Luckily our lovely guide Gina was really informative and militant with the half day schedule we booked onto, ensuring we got to see everything in a timely fashion. We drove about an hour outside of the centre of Seoul and the weather seemed to get more bleak the further we went. It had snowed over night so everything felt quite peaceful but also quite tense. We were dropped off at Imjingak, a small tourist resort which is home to the Freedom Bridge significant for returning thousands of Prisoners of War (POWs) back to the South at the end of the Korean War.

Next part of the tour took us for a visit to The Third Infiltration Tunnel. To date, only 4 secret underground tunnels which were intended to be used by North Korea to spy on and invade the South have been discovered. The Third Tunnel was only discovered in the late 1970s but there is thought to be many more yet to be found. We were given hard hats and ventured down the tunnel. The descent was a little steep and the tunnel itself stretched some 1600m long. It was a bit of a tight squeeze for some of the boys, but this was probably the first time being a little short has paid off for me. Of course, I was still grateful for the hard hat though.

The DMZ is a bit of a odd place to visit. The signage and monuments all speak of a hope that one day, both North and South will be united again. Perhaps it was the bleak weather, but you could really feel how deserted and eerie the area was. It was as though any sudden movements could cause big trouble.

Next stop on the tour was the Dora Observatory. It was already quite drizzly on the way to the first parts and Gina told us it was doubtful we'd see much out of the telescopes. She was right...

What should have been a panoramic view overlooking North Korea was a big foggy blur. I suppose it was still pretty beautiful in it's own way though.

The last stop of the tour was a trip to Dorasan Station. One might say it's a pointless station because no trains run through it and no one is actually allowed to use it. If anything, the station is another symbol of hope for reunification one day. The main destination sign reads 'To Pyeongyang Station', North Korea's capital. Although trains don't run there yet, it shows that there's hope for the future. 

It was a real whistlestop tour of some important landmarks in modern Korean history. I can't say I really knew much about it before going to Korea, but physically being in the places certainly helped to understand it in a poignant way. Given more time, I'd have liked to have gone on a full day tour including the Joint Security Area (JSA) where North and South Korean soldiers actually face each other. Still, the DMZ visit was definitely one of the highlights of my time in Seoul.

So, after an interesting and unconventional morning at the DMZ, we decided to occupy our afternoon with a visit to the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA). If I haven't mentioned it before, I bloody love a good visit to a contemporary art museum and MMCA did not disappoint. With a flash of my provisional driving license, my ticket was free. Apparently if you're under 24, you account for a student in South Korea.

We spent quite a few hours at MMCA. Some of my favourite pieces included Julius Popp's 'bit.fall'. The installation uses water droplets which shoot down in short pulses, forming words which disappear after a second. I could have spent a long time just watching the water fall and attempting to read the words. The whole installation is supposed to represent the temporary nature of information today in a world of social media and the high speed ability for news to travel around the world and quickly be forgotten. I thought it was really clever.

My next favourite piece was Rebecca Baumann's 'Automated Colour Field'. I'm a sucker for quite colourful art pieces so I was instantly drawn in by this one. The wall was mounted with flip clocks but rather than numbered cards, they were replaced with various colours which flip and change intermittently according to the time.

Amongst the rest of the exhibitions, we saw a big range from French black and white documentaries, goldfish installations and a concrete sphere which invited you to step inside but be silent. It was particularly hard not to giggle inside the ball to hear your own echo.

Before we left, Beth and I decided to leave our mark. In the museum lobby stood a massive Christmas tree where you could write a message to tie onto the tree. Mine is below:

Thanks Seoul, it was a good one!

An ab-Seoul-lutely alternative Christmas

I have to admit that one thing I was dreading about this year in China was having my first Christmas away from home. Being away from my family and away from all the Christmas traditions we have made me feel odd. On top of that, Christmas in China isn't really a thing. It got to the middle of December and my life really lacked festive spirit. Strangely enough, everything in Tianjin seemed geared towards celebrating the festive period. Tall lit up trees popped up outside every shopping centre, restaurant menus filled with Christmas offers and coffee shops played Christmas song playlists on repeat. Despite all of that though, it just didn't feel genuine.

Instead of wallowing in sadness that Christmas this year wouldn't be what I was used to, I decided to embrace how different it would be by booking a trip to South Korea for a few days over Christmas. I was a little freaked out at the thought of waking up in a hostel on Christmas Day but I had a really great -if not a little alternative- Christmas in Seoul.

Feeling truly welcomed by the locals running Free Restaurant, Seoul

My flatmate Bethany and I had arrived in Seoul the day before some of our language assistant friends based in Guangzhou were due to arrive. We took the first evening easy and stuck close by to where we were staying by having dinner at a restaurant right underneath the hostel. We stumbled into Free restaurant, a place which had a very cosy, local vibe. For our first meal, we ordered a plate of cheese buldak to share, a Korean dish consisting of spiced chicken with melted cheese. It wouldn't be our last chicken and cheese based meal in Korea. In my opinion, Koreans really nail it when it comes to food because combination of the two is pretty glorious.

At one point, we were briefly interrupted by a Korean man who seemed to be asking if one of the chairs at our table was free. Later, he joined us and insisted on getting a round of beers for us both. Despite speaking in broken English to us, our new friend Hong-Jong turned out to be a very lovely and modest man. After giving us his business card, we discovered he was a senior manager at one of South Korea's leading banks, Wooribank. Often roping in some of the restaurant staff and some of his friends sitting at nearby tables to help him translate, Hong-Jong told us how much he loved both China and England but his job kept him too busy to give him time to travel.

Our new friend, Hong-Jong

Our first night in Seoul was great and both Bethany and I felt so welcomed by the locals. We even made it onto the wall of the restaurant and Hong-Jong gave us both signed polaroids to keep as something to remember him by. We enjoyed his company so much, we came back the following night where he held some modest birthday celebrations to celebrate turning 42 (although you'd never guess that was his age if you looked at him).

'Ever Life - 2015/12/23'

Early the following morning (Christmas Eve), Elijah, Owen and Sam arrived in Seoul after catching a 2am flight. We wasted no time and got stuck right into exploring Seoul. Of course, no exploring can be effectively done on an empty stomach, so it was time for more fried chicken and cheese.

That day, we wandered through some of the busy shopping streets, passing people offering free hugs and were generally bowled over by how perfect looking Korean locals appeared and how stylishly they dressed. Things felt a bit more Christmas-y after we paid a little visit to Myeongdong Cathedral where rehearsals of a dramatic nativity play took place. Later, we took a cable car up to the top of Namsan Park to get a closer look of Seoul Tower. Our timing was pretty perfect. Seeing Seoul from above at sunset made for some great views, which made the chilly weather worth staying out in.

Dreamy sunset through the trees

 Embracing the selfie stick life at the top of Namsan Park (Photos courtesy of Beth)

The top of Namsam Park is perhaps one of the most romantic spots you can find in Seoul. Couples often head to Seoul Tower to secure love locks to fences and get selfies overlooking the panoramic views. Seeing all the lights of the city come up when the sun goes down, the whole experience is quite ideal for a date.

Love locks 

Seoul city lights at night

On Christmas morning, we all made a trip to the Hello Kitty Cafe. Originally, the idea to go for breakfast was made as a joke but it soon turned into a real plan. We'd actually got a little lost trying to track it down but after some determination, we found it in all of its pink glory.

It was surreal to say the least. Never in a million years would I have imagined I'd be sitting in a cafe dedicated to Hello Kitty on Christmas morning but the Christmas coffee finished with Hello Kitty chocolate topping and the photo opportunities made it worth it.

Normally on Christmas Day, my standard routine involves waiting for my older siblings to come round, we open presents and then we head to my uncle's house for a big dinner with my extended family - aunts, uncles, cousins, the whole gang. This year, I had a very cultural Christmas. We went to a museum dedicated to the life of King Sejong, a Korean royal and scientific scholar. Later, we took a tour around Gyeongbokgung Palace with an English speaking guide who told us a lot about palace life, including the King's involvement with concubines. In the cold but crisp winter weather, exploring the palace was well worth it.

 Palace Polaroids

 Changing of the Palace guards

Rooftop ridges

 Looking like a holiday card

In the evening, we wandered through the back streets of some night markets and enjoyed an alternative Christmas dinner of Korean BBQ (I have no regrets - I love Korean BBQ!). We ended the evening with some casual beers and it even snowed a little that night. Hooray for a white Christmas! Overall, it was a really nice way to spend Christmas because it was special in its own kind of way. Of course I missed spending quality time with my family but Christmas turned out to be a pretty good one anyway. I'm really grateful that everything in South Korea still remained open on Christmas day because I highly recommend a 'cultural Christmas' for anyone looking to switch up the way they celebrate.

Voices

For a long time, blogging was something I was tempted to dabble in, but the thought of getting your voice out there can be a little bit daunting. Coming to China seemed as good of time as any to start though. I started this blog to not only to serve as a way to record my life here in China, but also to keep practising my writing skills and share my experiences. I hope that my ramblings will be of interest to some people, or at least helpful to anyone considering a year out to teach or move to China.

When the opportunity came along to continue sharing my experiences through a different platform, I jumped at the chance. I'm really pleased to have worked with British Council to have this article about my time in China so far published on their online Voices magazine. Based on one of my earlier blogposts 'Laowai Label', I was interviewed by the lovely digital team about what it's like to be living and teaching in China as a British born Chinese girl with novice Mandarin speaking skills. A sneak peek of the article is below:

For more of my musings, you can read the rest of the article on the British Council Voices website here.

More than anything though, I'm just chuffed to be able to speak more about my unique experiences. I've come a long way since I first experienced the frustrating struggles of looking like a local but living with a 'foreign' mindset. It's something I'm still adjusting to but I still wouldn't change a thing. Big thanks to the British Council team for taking an interest in my experience in China and giving me a nice little pre-Christmas present!

Guilty Pleasures

One of the most unexpected things that has happened to me whilst I've been out in China is the unashamed unleashing of my inner pop princess. For those of you wondering what kind of English music the kids listen to here, all you need to do is cast your minds back a few decades when cassette tapes were a thing. For some strange reason, China's English music scene seems stuck in a bit of a time warp. But luckily for me, its allowed me to give into some of my guiltiest pleasures in terms of music.

It's not all dated though. The majority of my students like music by Taylor Swift, Adele, Justin Bieber and some even like Whiz Khalifa (likely because he features on a Fast and Furious soundtrack). I was already a fan of good ol' Tay Tay/ T. Swizzle and when my students ask me what music I like, Taylor is pretty much my go to answer (mostly because my students would be puzzled if I named any bands or artists I actually like). My answer of Taylor Swift was a big hit with the girls in my class anyway, so much so that one student treated me to some awesome Taylor Swift postcards for my birthday way back in September (pictured above).

Since that fateful day I confessed that Taylor Swift was my favourite singer, I felt obliged to keep to my word and go along with this idea that I was really into pop music. But little did I know, this was just the first step into admitting that I really enjoy all the pop music the kids seem to enjoy from a decade ago. Get ready for a flashback! - below are some strong favourites I've come across with my students.

Westlife - My Love

It still kind of confuses me that a band hailing from Ireland, a band that began their music career when I was about 6 years old, a band that kind of went downhill after Bryan MacFadden left - could still be so popular in China. Often when I ask my students what their favourite English song is, they answer with 'My Love'. It's the ultimate throwback. I didn't even know I knew all the words when I listened to it back, but thanks to my sister who was a big Westlife fan when I was growing up, its probably just been ingrained into my unconscious memory (Cheers Jen!), and with it, I've been flooded with musical memories of Westlife songs.

Fool's Garden - Lemon Tree

I'd never actually encountered this song before coming to China, but it didn't take long for me to know every single word. The school bell to indicate that lessons should begin in my school is an instrumental version of this song, so I pretty much find myself humming the tune on a daily basis. It still doesn't stop me from being perplexed by why on earth a song released almost 20 years ago by a German band has made it so big in China. Any explanations are welcome! 

Avril Lavigne - Complicated

Watching this video back brings back so many memories for me. In my final year of primary school, we were asked to bring in a CD album with music from your favourite singer or band (that's right - CD). I remember thinking I was the bees knees for being a little different from my classmates and bringing in my Avril Lavigne Let Go album. Back then, my family had just got Freeview for the first time and Complicated used to get played repeatedly on the music channels. I actually really loved the album beyond the main songs she released from it (I'm With U and Sk8r Boi), and it is a little embarrassing to admit that I still belt out song from this album from time to time. But it is nice to be able to relate to my students on this one though because even to this day, I still quite like Avril circa 2002.

Adele - Rolling in the deep

Maybe it's the fact that she's British and the fact that I am too, but another favourite singer my young students often admit to liking is Adele. Back at training camp, there is one night I remember fondly. It was one of the student's birthday, so his classmates surrounded him and got him to sing along with the help of some of the other ELAs. His song of choice? Rolling in the deep, of course. I'm quite glad that Adele is appreciated on this side of the world because she has an incredible voice that you can't fault. My flatmate, Beth, and I have become quite obsessed with 'Hello' in recently weeks. We play the song all the time in our rooms and any greeting of 'hello' must be followed up with the response, 'it's me...'

Taylor Swift - Blank Space

Oh Taylor. I don't think I even really need words. She's not really even a guilty pleasure in my eyes. Disagree? Well haters gonna hate hate hate hate hate...


Knowing that my students have a weakness for old/ pop music, I'm always tempted to get them to listen to the pop music that was around when I was growing up. Backstreet Boys, S Club 7, Blue. I'd definitely count that as life enriching because lets face it, cheesy pop, although no-one would like to admit, is one of all our favourite genres of music. China really has let me accept that and give into my guilty pleasures.

Life lately

So my intention to update my blog fairly regularly hasn't quite gone to plan so far. I  always do my best to find some time to write about the big things I've got going on on this side of the world, but then as a result, I skip over some of the smaller things. So here's an update from me about what I've been getting up to in general!

Snow and smog hits Tianjin

I turned into a massive kid when Tianjin experienced it's first snow a couple weekends ago. I had been snuggled up in bed, none the wiser until a fellow teacher messaged to say there was snow on campus. I couldn't quite believe it, but I drew open the curtains to find this...

Snow on campus!

Cue Christmas music! Normally, I'm pretty anti-Christmas-anything-pre-December. But I think I can make an exception this year, simply for the fact that I won't be having a normal Christmas anyway. I put Mariah's All I Want For Christmas Is You on full blast and couldn't wipe the smile off my face.

All the snow in Tianjin gave me another good excuse to go shopping for cosy jumpers and winter accessories. Although I'm pretty kitted out with clothes to wrap up warm in, the novelty of snow didn't last forever. My body just isn't cut out to deal with the cold for long periods of time, let alone a standard -6 degrees everyday. I'm also relatively clumsy so it was a bit of a miracle that I didn't suffer any major injuries walking across sludgy snow.

The snow stuck around for about a week and a half but recently, we've been hit with pretty high levels of smog and pollution - as has been reported a lot in the news. It's probably been the worst I've seen it in Tianjin so far, so much so that you can pretty much taste a kind of metallic-ness in the air. I don't suffer from asthma or breathing issues, but I definitely felt a difference in my chest when the smog was at it's worst.

#nofilter - no seriously. No filter.

Factories have since been shut down to prevent the dangerous levels of pollution from sticking around and we've had pretty clear skies for the last few days. Strange what a difference cutting down factory usage can make. Here's a photo of the same river just a few days later:

Weekend in Qingdao

Last weekend, I went to visit Charlotte who is a fellow-ELA teaching English in Qingdao for some belated birthday celebrations. It was a lovely  chilled weekend where I went for my first bus ride, first trip to the cinema and first Indian dinner in China. We saw the latest James Bond film, which I actually ended up quite liking despite a lot of my friends and family back home telling me it wasn't all that. Sure, it was cheesy, but it still had its 007 charm.

I wasn't too fussed about cramming in all the tourist-y things to see in Qingdao because I'm certain it won't be my last trip there. I'll more than likely visit when the weather picks up again and check out the beaches Qingdao has. But overall,  my first impressions of the place are pretty good and Charlotte is massively content living there. For me, it was nice to do some more travelling, as well as head somewhere with a little warmer weather than what I was experiencing in Tianjin at the time.
We did take a little visit to May the 4th Square and got some good photos by the sea front.

For her actual birthday celebrations, we had dinner at a local Indian restaurant along with the many friends Charlotte has made, all of whom showered her in gifts. It was so lovely to meet some of her friends!

After a night of bar hopping, Charlotte took me to Kiwi Cafe to have brunch before I was due to catch my train. Of the few things I miss from back home, regular brunch dates is definitely up there on my list, so I was so pleased to get a fix of eggs benedict. I also ordered some French toast which was equally glorious!

Overall, a sweet little weekend away!

Writing

As some of you may know, I've recently got involved with writing and editing for a local magazine called Tianjin Plus. It's a free magazine publication aimed at expats in Tianjin, giving them the latest updates on what's going on in the city. I've also written a few articles for it's sister publication, Business Tianjin. Hooray for being published!

Sometimes it's a bit difficult to fit it all in with my teaching schedule and everything else I do to fill my time, but I'm enjoying it so far. It's been a good way to get up to speed with all that Tianjin has to offer in terms of restaurants, bars, education, business and more. It's also been a good opportunity for me to interview some important people and get their perspectives on life in Tianjin to compare with my own.

Writing articles and such isn't something I'd say I was massively great at, but as they say, practice makes perfect and I'm grateful for the opportunity so far.

Teaching

I'd realised that so far in this blog, one thing I haven't mentioned much is how teaching is actually going (definitely something I'll focus more on for future posts). Becoming a teacher was never the main motivation for me to come to China, but three months in and I can say that I actually quite enjoy teaching.

For anyone wondering, I teach Junior 2 and 3, which is China's equivalent to Year's 8 and 9 in the UK. In total, there are about 400 students I have to remember the names of - which is still a struggle for me even at this point of the year. Luckily though, the vast majority of my students are absolutely lovely and very well behaved. Having heard a couple stories from other ELAs about what they have to deal with in their schools, I count myself very lucky for how easy it is to teach my kids.

My school specialises in foreign languages so along with learning English, all students also take on an additional language with a choice between French, Spanish, German or Japanese. As a result, the students I teach are accustomed to learning a new language which makes my job quite easy.

In terms of what I actually teach, I'm given a fair bit of freedom. I find the most interesting lessons are ones in which students discover something completely new - whether that's English idioms or English history. I also do my best to always put a fun twist on lessons because I would say my teaching style differs completely to what other teachers at the school do. And who doesn't want to be the 'cool, fun teacher'?

Learning Chinese

One question I get asked on a regular basis is how my mandarin is coming along. My answer is pretty much: "Slowly, but surely". Each week, I take at least 2 hours worth of lessons which cover HSK 3 content. I have an lovely teacher called Grace who is always keen to mix up lessons by teaching us useful day to day conversational phrases, as well as terms that Tianjinese people use specifically.

Still, I'm not sure that what I've learnt in the time I've started taking lessons is enough. One thing that I would say is of a disadvantage to me at the moment is that I don't spend nearly enough time testing out my newly learned Chinese because the majority of my time is spent teaching in English. I'm hoping to dedicate a little more time to learning in the coming months so that I feel more confident with being able to communicate whilst I go travelling during Spring Festival.

In the mean time though, I have discovered a lovely little cafe close to Tianjin Foreign Studies University, where my lessons take place. I tend to set up a little corner there before lessons to review my homework (didn't think I'd be saying that again at the age of 23).

An ideal set up indeed!

What's next?

Admittedly, I don't have much planned for the next few months as I'm cutting back on eating out and travelling on weekends in order to save as much money as possible for Spring Festival. I have a million plans to visit places both in and out of China as I have about 7 weeks off for holiday.

I am very excited however to say that I'll be spending Christmas in Seoul, South Korea this year! I figured Christmas will be strange enough not being around my family for the first time ever, so I might as well do something really different and just head to a different country. Although I'll be waking up in a hostel on Christmas day, I'm super excited to be spending Christmas abroad this year!

That's all for now!