Incredible Guiyang.

I have now been in my new home of Guiyang for about one week and boy has it been interesting. When we first arrived, we were greeted at the airport by our school liaison Daisy and the school driver Mr. Lee. The first thing I noticed when I stepped off the plane were the mountains (hills? I'm not really sure what to classify them as). Next was the abysmal (but still beautiful) grey sky.  Finally the ground. Wet. Wet. Wet. You see, Guiyang (which is the capital of the Guizhou province in southwest China) has a wonderful motto: "never three days without rain, never three steps without a hill, never three coins to rub in your pocket". All that being said, the weather really isn't that bad. The first day/night, I nearly froze by caboose off. Sunny San Diego is absolutely no comparison. But it doesn't really rain, it kind of just mists all the time. Or at least every morning.  Then by the afternoon, the sun either battles out the clouds and joins the rest of the world, or the sun is defeated and goes away until his battle the next day.

We were brought to our apartments first. Amber and I share an apartment on the 9th (but sorta 13th...its confusing) floor of our building. We live about a 15-20 minute walk (you guessed it, uphill) from the school. Jake and Cate live in separate apartments in a building about half the distance from us and the school. Our apartment is very spacious, big beds (hard mattress, soft pillow!), a working heater, two big patios, a very nice kitchen...and a dinky bathroom. Our toilet and "shower" are separated by a curtain. No ledge, just water everywhere.  Oh, and no hot water. Or at least our hot water doesn't work.  All that being said, I love our apartment.  After a few days of living in it, it feels more homey, warm, and welcoming. My only issue is with our heater. Its this box/table top type thing that sits in the middle of the living room. I have decided it doesn't like me, seeing as it has branded me more than once and in not so pleasant places...

Our first night, we were treated to a dinner celebrating our arrival and the Lunar New Year. The dinner was attended by the school administration and a few teachers. We were served traditional Guizhou food (which varies in style/flavor vastly because Guizhou is home to more than 50 Chinese ethnic groups!).  I ate everything from sour fish soup (most popular hot pot delicacy) to ground herbs to pig kidneys.  KIDNEYS. And yes, I did enjoy them. At least until I found out what they were. :)

I am teaching at Guiyang Weiming Experimental School.  This is the most prestigious private school in the whole province for primary (1-5) and junior (6-8) students.  And the school is nice! It is a weekday boarding school, but the students go home on weekends. In addition to their normal classes, they are offered dance, music, kung fu, art, traditional calligraphy, and so much more.

I am responsible for primary grades 1-4. I teach 8 different classes of students and 21 classes a week.  Each class has 36 students (288 students total!). They range in age from 5 to 10. It sounds like complete madness, but they are so adorable that my heart is already about to burst.


Now a bit about the city. Guiyang is made up of 6 districts. I don't know their names so don't even ask.
On Sunday, Cate, Amber, and I decided to get on a bus for an adventure. The only bus that comes to our neighborhood is bus 69, so we figured get on, get off, get back on to get home. So we got on, got off and we wandered. We managed to find one of the most visited parts of Guiyang, the Jiaxiu Tower and garden pavilions. This area has one of the only remaining non refinished Miao dynasty buildings. The whole area was very beautiful. It amazes me how the ancient Chinese people would carve such intricate patterns into wood and stone. The architecture, paintings, and sculptures were simply breath-taking.

After walking around for what seemed like hours, wandering down busy city streets and equally busy market alleys, we decided we had had enough for one day and to head home. That in and of itself was an adventure. Finding a 69 bus stop was proving to be impossible. We were walking in circles when we were certain we hadn't seen something before. We were about to give up and take a taxi (our liaison gave us our addresses written in chinese for taxis) when we found bus 69! Now, to figure out the direction to go in....eh let's just guess, it goes in a loop doesn't it.

No, the bus does not go in a loop. We ended up at the very end of the line without ever driving through our neighborhood. So we hopped off the bus, looked around, and realized another bus 69 was about to leave in the opposite direction. So we hop on, sit down, and take off. I ended up falling asleep on this portion of the journey...which seems miraculous with how rickety these buses are. But I definitely had enough time to nap because when all was said and done, it took us 1.5 hours to get back to our apartments. You see, we live at the complete opposite end of the bus line. But, finding the positive in every situation, we had an entire day of exploring Guiyang and a bus tour all for only 3 RMB (each bus ride costs only 1 RMB...or roughly 17 cents!)

So even with the cold(er) weather, wet ground, spicy (!!!) food, no hot water, evil heaters, and kidneys...I love Guiyang. Its everything I imagined it would be but better.