Back in Changsha
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When I first arrived in Changsha, a fast developing provincial capital of Hunan province, it was a little over two years ago. I stepped of a long flight with my fellow teacher named Josh, we unloaded our baggage into a dirty little airport in the middle of some rice fields somewhere outside of the city of Changsha, which we were pronouncing entirely incorrectly. Our flight was delayed and there was no-one to pick us up from the airport, we had no contact information for the school other than through the internet, which the airport didn’t have, and even if we would have had a phone number we no idea how to use a Chinese pay phone. Our best plan was to sleep there, that was until we were kicked out into the street at 1 am. Shoving us into the last taxi cab we tried desperately to communicate with our driver who I’m sure took us for a much longer ride than what was necessary to some yuppie hotel in the middle of Changsha. Josh had luckily taken out some Chinese money before we left, and I was quickly finding out that credit/debit cards are unheard of in China unless you are at the icky Walmart. After finally using internet at the hotel and getting a hold of our contact we arrived the next day at our school, were put into our rooms, and told we were to teach English in 3 days.
Here I was, a fresh graduate of college, no experience teaching, no idea how the Chinese education works, or China for that matter, couldn’t speak a word of Chinese, I had no idea what the level of students I was teaching were, no book to work out of, hosting about 50 students for my first class, and my only instructions were to teach English. Asking my students later about their first impressions of me I was described as shy and a little nervous.
My first impressions of Changsha were that it was absolutely insane. I saw families of 4 on one motorcycle racing down the road with a basket full of chickens somehow attached to the back at the same time. I saw people crossing the road where they shouldn’t be. I heard noises I had never heard before. It was difficult to eat on my own, buy things on my own, talk on the phone, ask where I could go to the bathroom, or get on a bus to go anywhere. All these things I had previously taken for granted, I was now feeling very lost. Not only because I had never been to China before, but because I had not done much traveling before and was put in this situation for the first time.
Arriving in Changsha for the second time was a completely different experience, and it has so far been nothing but rewarding. I didn’t realize the fact that this is a very unique city when I first started living here because it was the only Chinese city I knew. Biking west through Jiangxi province last week though I started to notice things change. Things that are defining characteristics of this Hunan region were coming into view, things that make this place unique, that people are proud of. First as we headed south from Shanghai into Anhui and Jiangxi provinces rice became more available. Instead of being able to order one bowl per person or not having rice at all in the northern regions of China we were starting to see huge wooden barrels full of rice, we simply scoop out what we need to go with our meals free of charge, something I had grown familiar with living in the South. Next as we headed through Jiangxi the food started getting spicier. Hunan people are extremely proud of their spicy food, and will tell you so. About 30 k from the border is where I saw my first signs of beetle nut. I was talking with a man who was gnawing on the sticky brown nut between gum and cheek and I felt a sense of nostalgia for every bus driver, shop worker, and local of Changsha. Remnants of the left over nut can be seen spat all over the streets and beside market stalls amongst the rouge peppers and ubiquitous plastic bags. Like the carcass of a large insect left to shrivel and dry. Jim and I looked at each-other with a smile, “oh yeah baby, Hunan.”
Walking through a market right on the Hunan-Jiangxi border I came across a number of sellers of dog meat, another specialty of Hunan province. The animal was cut up much like any pig or cow that would be sold at market, you can buy it by the quarter, you can by the skull, you can by the paws. I asked for a price “20 kuai per Jin, not too expensive.”
Riding into Changsha was a much different than when I landed two years ago. My impressions were much different. After spending two months being in unfamiliar towns, villages, cities and lands it was comforting to be somewhere familiar. I saw restaurants I had eaten in, streets I was familiar with. And comparing it to where we were coming from perhaps most strikingly I saw order. It was a completely different city than when I had arrived in 2005. Where I saw chaos 2 years ago I now saw order. People honked their horns less, the roads were new and paved. People didn’t stare at me quite as much, and there was development through new buildings, fast food chains, coffee shops, and traffic police. I feel a sense of culture shock being in a city with so much convenience and development, whereas when I first arrived from America I felt the complete opposite.
We met with old students of mine for dinner last night and will continue to meet with friends for the next few days. It was spectacular. We ate hot pot, roamed the “hot street” behind our school, and talked about both the past and the future. After being on the road for so long and meeting zero people that I had previously known it is a great feeling to be able to find people you have history with.
This afternoon we have an interview with a Changsha newspaper, tomorrow we will play a concert in the main square outside the library for friends and students.
I know being comfortable here is only a false sense of security and soon I will have to get back out on the road with only my Chinese map, a compass, street signs, and local people to ask for directions. But I’m willing to enjoy this sense of being home as long as I can.