The Diaries

« My First Week Continued... | Main | Durian »

March 8, 2009

The end of my first week

Posted by Kelly

I had a really good week! I am actually pretty surprised things went this well, being my first week and all! Earlier in the work week I met my boss of the company I work at, DDA FESCO, David Ren. He was very kind and made sure that I had everything I needed to make my stay comfortable. I explained to him that Evian (coworker) has gone above and beyond! She’s been so helpful with everything! After being with the company for only a week, I already feel right at home!

My weekend did get off to an unpleasant start, however. When I got to my apartment there was a large dead rat near my door. I can tell it had been dead for awhile so I wasn’t alarmed. I figured it was a gift from the construction men working on the apartment across the hall. I didn’t touch it (don’t worry parents) but I did take a picture in the poor rat’s honor. One thing in China that is interesting is the need for fireworks, for, well, EVERYTHING! Funerals, weddings, a good day, anything that needs a little celebration needs fireworks and also they need them first thing in the morning-usually at 6am. It did cross my mind that maybe I should purchase some Chinese fireworks to honor the dead rat outside my door, but since I don’t know the Chinese word for fireworks I decided that it might be a lost cause. And on Saturday morning, my door-mate was gone.

Saturday I spent the morning video-chatting with my parents. I have to admit it was nice to see them and talk with them. They even held my cat up to the web cam so I could say hello to him. Around noon I decided to venture out to the mall area, mainly because I know how to get there and I was meeting a friend. Yes, I have been here for only a week and have already made friends! During the work week Evian and I went to the super market for some necessities and a Chinese student approached us and wanted to be friends with me. She was looking for a foreigner to practice her English (her major in college) and perfect timing! I ended up meeting with her and her boyfriend at Starbucks to chat and get to know each other. They were very nice and fun to talk to! They also offered their help if I needed anything. Well, since I haven’t had any luck with finding a blow-up mattress or something to put on top of my plywood mattress, I asked if they might want to help me in the search. We must have looked everywhere in Dalian’s Development Area, but no luck. We did go to a market that sells mattresses, but I figured I could hold out for the blow up mattress. I kid you not-all the mattresses have plywood inside! And the comforatable spring mattresses are much cheaper than a hard one!

After our search I asked them if they wanted to visit the Library with me. In Dalian’s Development Zone there’s a really cool looking building. One side is the Library and the other side a stadium type thing, from what I gather. The building is very impressive so I wanted to take a look around inside. Obliviously I won’t be checking out many books since I do not read Mandarin, yet, but I wanted to admire the architecture. We wondered around for a bit and then decided to take a look at the new fitness center. When we got there, we were given a tour of the facility complete with a belly-dancing demonstration. It was a really nice facility and I’m considering joining. First of all, I think it would be good for my health and also I really don’t have much to do during the week days. I get a little bored sitting in front of my computer watching reruns of TV episodes. Plus it would be a great way for me to meet more people! Hopefully I can get my membership in order this week.

At night I got a few more groceries and came back to my apartment to fix some dinner. I hadn’t really eaten all day so I was looking forward to a good meal. In the grocery store I found what looked like microwavable mac&cheese. Pictures can be deceiving! It did not look or taste anything like the English description. Lesson learned!

Sunday I had my first tutoring session with Chen. She is an excellent student and I was a little caught off guard by how well she speaks English. I think I need to step up my English teaching skills and materials! Afterwards, I met with Evian to eat lunch with her and her mother. Together we toasted our Chinese tea to International Women’s Day. I have never heard of this holiday, but I was honored to spend it with Evian and her mom. The food was SOOOOOO good and it was really nice to be apart of their family for the day.

I am looking forward next week. I think I’ll be given the opportunity to do more work for the company as well as be introduced to more aspects of their business. This past week I didn’t really have many tasks at hand so I felt pretty useless. Hopefully I can bring some skills I’ve learned through my time in college and work experience to add to FESCO.

Time to attempt my Chinese cooking skills!