So when I last left you I was about to leave for Fukang to see Jamie and Jony.
We had a lovely weekend with them - we watched 3 films all cuddled up together, Jony made us his famous chili con carne (with a Chinese twist..) and we explored the city. We arrived on the Saturday and didn't really do much other than eat.. But on the Sunday we walked around Fukang, met their South African friends and went to the local park. Every park in China is the same - no swings or slides or anything but beautiful flowers and fountains etc. They took us on a tour around the park in the boiling heat and we had a rest by the pagoda at the top. When we got back to the bottom we hit a lake with a tradition Chinese bridge and building built over it on stilts. It was utterly beautiful and we sat happily there for ages. When we thought that we wasted enough of the day there, we got back on our feet and began to leave the river. However while still on the 'floating building' we were ambushed by a group of 70 year olds. They were playing traditional Chinese instruments and singing at first and we stood and watched until they were finished. Then as soon as they were done, they jumped up and pulled us over to a nearby square (all still over the water...). They then began the music again and looked at us expectantly, wanting us to dance. We had a small group meeting and then burst into a ceilidh. We pulled some of the elderly into the dance too and taught them what to do. After a good few dances of this, they began a dance of their own. Each one chose one of us to dance with and they taught us what to do! We all swapped partners so that we danced with each person, each time learning a slightly different move. After this they decided that the time had come to bring out the alcohol! A clay bottle full of Baiju came out along with shot glasses and they began to toast us each, one after another. The rule in China is you drink until the person who made the toast stops....... So that was interesting.... After many many toasts and lots of alcohol, we thought the time had come to say bye. After a few photos of course! We quickly went back to Jamie and Jony's flat and picked up our things just in time to dash off for the last bus back to Urumqi and Kuitun.
We had one more week of teaching before leaving Kuitun again for two weeks! Me, Tessa and Georgina spent a night in Urumqi where we found and tested the Pizza Hut (very good I'll have you know) and explored shops. In the evening we jumped in a taxi and shouted various things at him where he looked confused. I called up our good friend Jasper and asked him to ask the man to take us to a piercing place. Me and Georgina both wanted piercings so we thought why not! We were in the taxi for a very long time and he kicked us out at a dead end, in the middle of a market, pointed to the left and said some things in Chinese.... After about an hour of asking people where it was he was talking about, we walked into a set of market shops and saw a board with tattoo designs on.. So we knew we were close. We asked the woman there where the piercings were and she pointed across the building. We walked over and saw a selection of body piercings hung up on the 'wall'. I pointed to my belly and she nodded and grabbed me, grabbed a piercing gun and began cleaning everything. I was surprised and confused as I was expecting it to be done by a needle and belly ring.. Not a piercing gun and earring! After much deliberation we thought 'oh why not'. So I got it done. In a market. In China. It was completely clean and safe... Just a bit different! Georgina got her lip pierced while we were there too! When we got back to our hotel I looked at it.. It was basically an earring but in my belly. The end was secured by a butterfly and everything! I talked to Tessa who is a piercing pro and she said that when she got her belly done, they put the belly bar in straight away. So we sterilised the bar for 30 minutes, took the earring out and put the belly bar in. Well.... we tried to. We discovered at this point that the belly bar was much thicker than the earring so my piercing wasn't having any of it! After about 30 seconds of trying to get the belly bar in, I gave up and put the earring back in.. Again..... I tried. By that time, the piercing had healed because it was so new! I tried forcing it back in for a painful hour or so but gave up.... So I had a belly piercing for a full 3 hours! I plan on getting it re-done at some point but I'll leave it alone next time!
We took a train over night to the capital city Lanzhou in the province of Gansu where we met up with a few other volunteers. We then all took a taxi to where we'd be staying. We spent the first night in University dorms and this is where we met up with all other volunteers. We all went out for a meal and then went to a bar where we all drank a lot... Drunken Chinese games were played and everybody had a really good night - the morning after was a bit worse!
In the morning we were taken by a bus to the school where we'd be spending the next week. We were here to take part in the language course and we spent the week living with host families. Once we got to the school we had a 'welcome talk' with some of the important people at the school and then we met the children we'd be living with. Each volunteer had a child each and they took us to and from school. Mine said she was called 'Jessy' but spelt it 'Girthy'..... So not sure what happened there..... She was really nice and throughout the week we became really good friends. Her mum was lovely but didn't speak any English and she had a cute little brother. One evening her grandmother, aunt, uncle, someone else and a child of some relation came over. The aunt and uncle spoke fluent English so we had a good chat which turned into a 3 hour Chinese lesson for me! The food cooked in that house was brilliant and they looked after me really well!
As far as the actual Chinese lessons went..... It wasn't great..... They were teaching us things like 'this is what a 50 kuai note looks like' which was just patronising and a waste of time... By that time, we had been in China for over a month so a lot of what they taught was pointless. It was really good to see everybody again though and swap teaching tips! We did get a calligraphy lesson though which was really good.
After the week in Lanzhou, a lot of the volunteers travelled to a nearby city (well, 8 hours away by train.. Near for China!) called Xi'an. Now Xi'an was absolutely beautiful. In the hostel that some of us stayed in, there was even a wall dedicated to previous PT volunteers! It was pretty cool seeing who had been there before and where they were from etc.. We made our mark too obviously! We spent most evenings at the other hostel, where the other half of volunteers stayed. It was such a cool hostel. It was huge with really cool decor.. There was a restaurant which served western food and there were westerners everywhere! It was so surreal seeing white people so often..... Downstairs there was a bar, always completely packed. There was a stage which always had someone performing on and it was just brilliant. This bar is where Tessa and I found our love for sex on the beach and screaming orgasms.
One night, we all went to the bar and played pool for a while. After a couple of hours, a lot of the volunteers went to bed but Tessa, Ella and I joined a table with some friendly strangers and a few other PT vols. We got chatting and one of them bought a few rounds of tequila shots. It was about 3am when they shouted 'we need to go to a club!' so we all jumped in various taxis and went to a club! The club was brilliant and full of drunken Chinese and Western people. We danced a lot and drank some more and after a few hours us 3 girls went outside for some air.. Within literally 10-20 seconds of sitting outside, a group of 4 men came up to us holding wads of money and saying 'how much? how much?'.. We shouted back 'too expensive' in Chinese and after a bit of them trying to sort out money, we ran away. So.. that was an experience! We got to bed at about 6am and I woke up at 7am to leave for the Terra Cotta Army. Busy me.
We did the general sight seeing in Xi'an but nothing was as good as the day we spent in the Muslim Quarter. There was a huge food market selling all sorts of things which opened up to a never ending market which sold 'genuine' designer clothes, really nice Chinese paintings and basically everything you could think of.. I spent 350 kuai there on 6 really nice things which is only about £36! You have to be a good haggler to go shopping in a market though.. For example I was looking at a fluffy, warm Abercrombie hoodie and the lady said it would cost 360 kuai.. But after being brilliant I got it for 90. It's really fun! We went round the corner and into another section which was possibly the best thing I've seen in China. It was another huge market-like place full of colour with Chinese music playing and the most traditional looking, beautiful Chinese things I've seen. It was a brilliant experience just standing there and we all remembered exactly why we wanted to come to China.
After a really good week in Xi'an it was time to take the two long trains back to Urumqi. We said our goodbyes to the other volunteers and left for home! When the bus got closer and closer to Kuitun, it was so good. We really missed our city and we forgot how lovely it was! We feel so lucky to be in Kuitun and as soon as we got back we went to see Jasper again. He fed us free food and we used his wifi and life was good.
I started teaching again yesterday and it was weird to go back after being a student for a week again! But I was teaching new classes and they were really lovely and friendly. I gave them my QQ number (like a Chinese MSN) and I now have 31 best friends! One was saying last night how she wants to take me shopping, another said how I should come round and eat some of her mums food and another said 'There are many students in our class are love you, want to let you when they girlfriend' which is sweet ahah
I have a day off today due to exams in Grade two which is nice! I go back 5 lessons tomorrow though which is a lot..
We plan to get a dog soon too. A friend of ours said that we can look after his dog and when we go travelling or when we leave to go back to Britain, he could just take him back! Tessa, Georgina and I all have dogs at home and miss them SO MUCH so it would be so nice for all of us to have a dog around the house again.
Basically life is still good here.
I'm getting very close to applying to University now too! I'm so excited about it at the moment by seeing loads of freshers photos. In the past couple of days I've read all there is to read about Nottingham Trent, Nottingham city itself, where the Nandos in Nottingham is, EVERYTHING.
So yes. Very excited.
I will upload another blog the next time something exciting happens, but it looks like we'll be in Kuitun pretty much solidly until the big holiday around Christmas and New Year. So I'm not sure when the next exciting thing will be!
I can't upload photos on here.. I think the internet is too slow.... So if you want to see photos then click here and you can see every photo ever! https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.4492273874346.178447.1515259728&type=1
Much love to you all
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