The lovely city of Dongguan, South China

COUNTRY: China
PROGRAM: GapBreak
PROJECT: Teaching
WRITTEN BY: Eleah Zisis

Hi everyone!

An update on my life in China so far. I have been placed in the South of China in Dongguan. I am really happy here as it is such a lovely city. One of the best things is that I no longer have to wear a coat and 5 layers! It has actually start reaching the 30's so I'm very happy I've had an excuse to go shopping :) We started teaching the day after arriving at our placement which didn't really leave us much room to unpack but we have now learned that is part of China. One of the biggest experiences has been learning to live every second by every second as things can change very quickly!

Teaching is great, the kids are fantastic and give you the best feeling when they come to your office and drag you to the classroom 10 minutes early just to hug you and make sure your there. Chinese schooling is very different though. Very long days some of the days ending at 9pm (for the students and other teachers but not the foreign teachers) and includes some odd things such as daily eye exercises and assemblies involving exercise / dances but it is really cute and funny the first time you see it. Teaching is great and you always get a laugh especially when you get told teacher your so beautiful and teacher your eyes are so big and many more things that make your day.

I have bad the chance to visit Guangzhou which was fantastic. It is a beautiful city with many things to do. I had the best food there including dumplings for 4¥ and street BBQ. Over the Qing Ming festival I went to Shanghai where many interns met up. Shanghai is a big busy city. It is very different to Beijing though. It was amazing with many tall buildings everywhere. The shopping in Shanghai is insane, you could go and shop for days there! I also got the chance to visit Hong Kong as I had to change my visa which was great it is a lot like Shanghai only bigger and more western. The view from Victoria peak is amazing and something I think everyone should experience. Hong Kong has every thing you want from the busy city to the calm relaxing beach, traditional Chinese food to traditional Italian pizza. It also has a lot of shopping as well, expensive stores and markets are all there.

And the late nights don't stop after Beijing as there are club districts in every part of china as we have now found out. I have had a few weekends where we nearly saw the sun rising. Walking through the streets is always funny as many people will try and talk to you in whatever English they know. It is always a good laugh. There is also many people wanting photos all the time. Chinese people are lovely though and will help you and try and talk to you whenever they can but they still don't know how to queue in a line properly or the bad habit of spitting is always present. Every day is a new experience and makes me realise that doing this program is one thing I will always remember and never regret.