Eat, sleep, practise Chinese, repeat.

I forgot to mention in my last blog about my traumatic moped experience last weekend. Having just left the market, I was happily sat on the back of the moped eating my fried chicken when all of a sudden I heard an almighty whack. Then the pain hit me and I realised that my head had been hit by a security barrier. A huge, solid metal, security barrier. The security guard just sat there laughing at me! On the plus side, I managed to keep hold of my chicken throughout the incident.

This week, my lessons have mainly been the exam preparation lesson. I do still feel like somebody is going to come and demand to see my qualifications any minute because I swear I was in a lecture receiving this lesson myself, less than two years ago. Anyway, I think I’ve scared them enough so it’s been a successful week of teaching.

My students....

On Wednesday, I FINALLY got to venture to Hankou for fun. Obviously, everybody knows about overpopulation in China and so there is a novel way of solving this on the roads. There are three ways to get to Hankou; the 1^st or 2^nd bridge across the Yangzte river or the underground Shugohu tunnel. My friend Janet has a number plate ending in 8, therefore she cannot go along the underground tunnel on dates ending in 9 or 0 e.g. 10^th, 19^th. She can also not go across the 1^st bridge on even dates e.g. 2^nd, 4^th, 6^th. This way of driving would completely baffle me, I mean, can you imagine working out your route of driving and having to choose another way because of the number on your car registration?!

Anyway, we finally made it (legally) and ended up at this modern precinct full of small shops and restaurants. The food menu was in Mandarin but the cocktail menu had an English version! I had this fruity cocktail called a Bi Xian (don’t ask, I just saw the words Absolut and passion fruit), but it arrived with a spiky cucumber chilling in it. That definitely wasn’t stated on the menu! When we left, it was sleeting and freezing! We were right near the harbour in Hankou, therefore, practically experiencing a sea breeze alongside the sleet. That afternoon I had my heating on full in an attempt to thaw out slightly.

Cocktail bar / restaurant

My Bi Xian complete with cucumber!

Pumpkin soup

Fried noodles with cabbage and chicken with lotus and mushrooms

Spicy cauliflower and bacon

Pork ribs and twisty breadsticks

On Friday, I was meeting a friend for Starbucks but I had some time to kill after my class. I ended up going to Chicony, the John Lewis of Wuhan. This place has everything – cinema to karaoke, Pizza Hut to Haagen Daaz, cosmetics to clothes and EVEN a supermarket in the basement. I wandered to the supermarket and found some foreign food! I managed to get my favourite hot chocolate, cinnamon graham cereal and ear muffs. I can definitely make loads of meals with these ‘essentials’.

Swiss Miss hot chocolate!

One of the things I was missing from home was the Christmas drinks at Starbucks but THEY HAVE THEM IN CHINA! They are Chinese versions of the drinks, but the options of tiramisu latte, white chocolate and cranberry mocha or toffee nut latte in a red cup was very exciting. I ended up taking advantage of the free wifi and sat reading a book on my tablet for a good hour. It was also an excellent chance to people watch, especially how Chinese people behave in such a Western environment. My conclusion? They just don’t understand the concept of Starbucks, but it’s okay, more experience for me.

Friday turned into a mass food shopping day. Having already visited Chicony, I also went to the Arabic supermarket, my local supermarket and finally, the market. I find that living on my own means that I tend to leave food shopping until my fridge is left with some garlic cloves, Caesar dressing and a half-empty bottle of Sprite before I deem it a necessity to go food shopping. Luckily, I now have a nice, full fridge. I was supposed to go out Friday night, but after a filling meal of pork noodles, I ended up having an early night. This was the best decision I ever made because I woke up so refreshed on Saturday morning. I even managed to rustle up a BLM (bacon, lettuce, mayonnaise) before my crazy day began.

Christmas decorations at Huashi cultural street

Yesterday (Saturday) was a super busy day. It started at 12pm, where my friend Janet picked me up and I went to a training centre to do an extra lesson. Every couple of months, Chinese training centres pay native English speakers to moderate their work for a very good amount of money. So after a quick meal of pork dumplings, I had a two-hour time slot with some 9 and 10 year old children, on the topic of the past tense. It actually went fast and before I knew it, the time was 3pm. After teaching I went straight to Mr Mai’s and volunteered until 5pm at the kids club. It was so busy this week with at least 20 children but on arrival one little girl said to me, ‘Wow, you are so beautiful’. This was a very nice greeting! Volunteering finished and it was time to enjoy my evening!

Pork dumplings and pork baozi

Rooftop terrace view at the training centre

Even though the Lincoln Christmas market is always a disappointment, it still always makes me feel all Christmassy. So in true Ellis style, I decided to recreate attending the Christmas market by visiting the Jianghan Road night market in Hankou, with my friend Greg. This market was huge! Rows and rows of people selling everything you could ever imagine. I went to buy a watch and instead, came home with a leather rucksack, two lipsticks and a pair of fake Uggs. We also tried some different street food, including a sausage on a stick, spicy potatoes and a rice based pasta in sauce.  

Puppies for sale

Guy casually washing a whole, plucked chicken

Jianghan Pedestrian Street

Djing in the middle of the road with traffic being directed around him!

So happy with all my food! 

There were also puppies for sale and a random man DJing in the road whilst the police just casually directed traffic around him! The market itself was next to Jianghan Pedestrian street – the longest walking street in Wuhan – so I would like to come back to see more of that. On the way back home at the subway station, I saw a man selling a few watches and decided to take a quick look. This obviously fake Cartier watch ended up on my wrist and then he had the cheek to say it would cost over 1000RMB to buy. That’s over £100! A Cartier watch being sold by a man in a subway station is DEFINITELY not real.

To finish off my crazy day, I decided to go out with everyone at night. After grabbing some Tung Mian (vegetable noodles), I went to join everyone on a bar crawl. We went to Radio Rock, where after asking for a White Russian cocktail, I was presented with a tumbler only containing Kahlua, Vodka and Baileys. I had to practically beg for milk to save myself from the world’s strongest drink. Then it was time to go to Helen’s, another foreign bar that I haven’t yet visited. Finally, we got a cab to Prison and ended up in Vox, where one of the foreign teachers was Djing. Walking into Prison, I saw a ginger cat asleep on the bar. Well, I thought it would be a brilliant idea to pour my remaining sambuca over the cat. Cue sticky, intoxicated cat, which fell off the bar. Whoops! In Vox, I ended up talking to two German guys and whenever I have a drink, I do still think that my German is amazing. Luckily, I just about managed to pass off my German as acceptable and they seem very impressed.

Helen's bar...

Reggie my new friend

Vox!

So after my busy day yesterday, I plan to do very little today. I’m going to tidy round my apartment (is it just me or does anyone seem to become a tornado after a night out and throw things everywhere when they come home?) and then pamper myself. But first, I really, REALLY need food...homemade burger and wedges to the rescue!

A final thought – am I actually becoming Chinese now?

This week, I have realised how much I have adapted to living in a foreign country. Considering that before I came to China, my vocabulary stretched to Ni Hao (hello) and now I can order dinner, say how spicy I want it, ask for no green beans and that I want to take it away. I am also finally able to use Chinese toilets like a pro and FINALLY know my address in Chinese. The taxi drivers no longer look at me with a confused expression when I ask to go home.