Arriving in China

A Beautiful Day at Sun Yat Sen Memorial Park

Hello Everyone,

It only took me a week, but I suppose I should say it, “I’m alive and well in China.” This first week has been pretty crazy, to be honest. There have been times when everything goes super smoothly, and times when everything is in complete disarray. Despite these mixed times, I’m growing to love this country. Granted, there are some things that I’m not yet used to, but I know that by the end of my time here, I will grow to enjoy (or at the minimum, tolerate). Now that I’m here, I am realizing that many of my inhibitions regarding moving to China were misguided. I didn’t need to be panicked about using a squatty toilet. In fact, I have successfully used it many times. As an added bonus, the bathroom in our apartment is normal. I didn’t need to be scared that the city would be completely filthy and crowded, because it’s rather clean. Granted, there’s definitely a fair bit of litter, but my city of Zhongshan is fairly well maintained. The part of town we live in is also very quiet, which is great. There was no need for me to be so scared of moving here.

Admittedly, arriving in China was not as laid back and easy as I would have liked, but that’s all part of the traveling experience. Upon landing in Beijing, our group had a few surprises. The first surprise was that our luggage, which was supposed to continue on to Guangzhou (the airport near our city), actually had to be picked up, and re-checked in. This took us all by surprise, and resulted in a bit of a panic on the part of our whole group. Here’s the situation; when flying internationally with Hainan Airlines, passengers are allowed two free checked bags weighing a maximum of 50 pounds. When flying domestically in China with Hainan Airlines, you are only allowed 44 pounds in each bag. Each one of us was under the impression that our bags would not need to be rechecked in China, so naturally we all packed about 50 pounds in each bag. When we realized our mistake, the whole group began rearranging his and her bags in a complete frenzy. I’m sure the Chinese people in the airport had a great laugh as the 12 Americans nervously threw their belongings around on the airport floor.

As Jordan and I were in charge of the well being of the group, we decided to sacrifice ourselves, and check our bags first. We approached the check in counter, where a nervous Chinese woman helped to check our bags. As you check your bags, they scan them for prohibited items in front of you. In the US, you can pack almost anything in your checked bag, and have harder restrictions for your carryon bag. This is not the case in China. 

The lady weighed my bag, and I breathed a sigh of relief as it came in at exactly 44 pounds. This was a short-lived victory, however, as the alarm immediately started ringing on my bag when they scanned it. Jordan and I were then pulled into a cage behind the check in desk, where I was asked to open my bag. This cage resembled something of a jail cell. Meanwhile, our little ILP volunteers were in a panic as they watched both of their head teachers get dragged into airport jail in front of them.

It turned out that my camera battery, which I specifically packed into my checked luggage (because TSA in the US has a restriction on how many camera batteries you can put in your carryon), was the issue. We were told to take the battery and put it in my carryon. Finally, once the issue was resolved, we were able to finish checking in, and exit Chinese airport jail. Blessedly, the rest of our volunteers didn’t have the issues that we did.

The group had a collective sigh of relief as all of our bags were safely checked. Feeling good about life, we moved onto security, which in theory was going to be easy. After all, I had all of my liquids separated into a Ziplock bag, and my laptop was within easy access. No big deal. This was where I was wrong again. Seriously, getting through the Beijing airport was a serious learning experience. The airport security staff laughed as all of the Americans began removing their shoes and putting it onto the conveyor belt. Turns out you don’t have to do that in China. I then got a pat down as the single zipper on my leggings set off the alarm. After being adequately frisked by the security officer, I was then put through the ringer once more, as my bags were thoroughly searched. It turns out that the Chinese people really hate batteries… and chargers. Seriously, everything that could potentially be a charger or battery was removed from my bags. When I say that something could potentially be a battery, I mean that my sequin makeup bag was re-scanned because it was shiny. So after every Chinese security officer had looked at my underwear, I was permitted to move forward. At this point, I was exhausted, frustrated, and downright sad, but dang it all, I had survived Chinese airport security. Another blessed thing was that the rest of the group didn’t have to go through what I did. I would rather that I have a challenging experience, than the volunteers in my group have a bad experience. For some, this is their first experience abroad, and I want them to have the best experience possible. I’ve been abroad many times, so it’s okay if I have a slightly harder trip through the airport. Now, after going through this adventure, I am wiser, and ready to take on anything that the Chinese airport throws at me.

The moral of the story is this: if you fly to China, have ALL of your chargers, batteries and electronics in one place. Also assume that you should pack less into your bags, so you don’t have to scramble at the airport.

The Beijing airport had a photo area. Gotta take a picture in front of terminal 1

After leaving Beijing, we flew to Guangzhou, where we were picked up by one of our local coordinators. When we arrived at 1:00 a.m. in Guangzhou, we had been traveling for nearly 30 hours, so needless to say; we were completely delirious.

Because 30 ILP volunteers had delayed visas, 19 of them being in our city, Jordan and I had the responsibility of ensuring that every volunteer who flew into the Guangzhou airport, arrived safely, had her luggage, and was put safely onto the bus. Gathering all of the groups took some time, but once we had everyone with us, our coordinator had us all trek across the airport, in order to find our bus. That alone took nearly three hours. By this point, we were completely out of it. Once we had everyone, we drove two and a half hours into Zhongshan. At 6 a.m., 17 exhausted ILP volunteers stumbled up four flights of stairs into their respective apartments, and finally slept. Although we only got about five hours of sleep, it was the best sleep I’d had in days. That small amount of rest got Jordan and I through the rest of the day.

The school

Our apartment building - across from the school 

During our first official day in China, we were able to meet all of our local coordinators. Our little Chinese coordinators are so cute. I really like them. The main coordinator is named Marine. She is in charge of all of the ILP teachers at our school. She has round Harry Potter-ish glasses, and is 7 months pregnant. Marine is honestly the cutest little pregnant woman. Another coordinator is Jas. She’s so funny and sweet. She isn’t too confident in her English skills, but she does a great job. Our last coordinator is Nicole. She’s very nice, but is rather quiet. She only opens up to the volunteers when she is working in the Kindergarten. Since arriving, the language barrier between the coordinators and us has been a struggle. Although they speak English very well, they don’t know how to explain things in a way that make sense to Americans.

A typical breakfast at the school

Our first few days in China were spent trying to understand the school’s teaching schedule, and working to train our teachers. Over the weekend though, we were able to gather our teachers and go out to the Sun Yat Sen Memorial Park in Zhongshan. Sun Yat Sen is considered the father of modern China. Marine, the coordinator gave us directions of how to get to the park. Feeling confident that we could figure out the bus system based on Marine’s instructions, we rallied the troops, and walked to the bus stop. We were told that the cost to ride the bus was 2 yuan. Since we had been in the country for only a couple of days, none of us had small bills. We all had hoped, though, that the bus driver would be able to make change. It turned out that he was not as generous as we had hoped. The driver gestured that we needed a bus pass, and kicked all 12 of us off the bus. After about an hour and a half of walking back and forth between the markets and side streets, hoping to find a place to purchase a bus pass, we sought help from our coordinator, who explained that the drivers will accept cash, but only if it is with exact change. With the new information, we were finally able to board the busses and get to the park. Although the process of getting on the bus, and to the park was challenging, the park itself made up for all of the difficulties.

Going to the Sun Yat Sen Memorial Park truly helped me to feel better about being in China. It was a glimpse into all of the reasons why I was excited to come to here. The park is full of history, nature, and beauty. The whole experience at the park was a breath of fresh air (so to speak- after all, we’re in China, and the air is super polluted).

While we were there, the weather was incredibly hot- stiflingly so. The air was thick from the humidity, making it difficult to cool down, but that gave me an excuse to buy a beautiful paper fan in the park, which helped me to cool down slightly. *As a side note, later that day we were hit with a monsoon. We found out that the air gets extra hot and humid right before and right after a storm. 

The Sun Yat Sen Park is massive. We were there for about three hours, and managed to see most of the park, although we may have missed a few monuments or gardens. What we did see, though, was amazing. The park is filled with statues, flowers, waterfalls, and bamboo fields. Everything in the park was beautiful. It was a nice break from the stress of flying, planning schedules, and preparing to teach.

Although there are definitely some difficult things about living in China, we are enjoying the wonder of living here, and are excited to travel and see more of what this country has to offer.

-Madison & Jordan

Entrance to Sun Yat Sen Memorial Park

Monument to Sun Yat Sen

PS. The kids at this school are ADORABLE! I love them! I think you will love them too.

"Teacha! Selfie!"

I love this kid. He doesn't like me very much yet, but I'm determined to make him like me.

Tell me this kid doesn't look like Minho from The Maze Runner Movie

One word all Chinese children know: Selfie

This kid is a total suck-up, but I love him for it

Technically, these kids are from a different school that Jordan visited. Still cute!
Also, check out those gang signs!

This kid's name is literally Handsome.