Unfortunately

Unfortunately, some things do not like to save. More unfortunately, one of those things is my post from yesterday. Thus, a quick recap.

Yesterday a bunch of us went to a park that was very mountainous and had some great hiking trails with scenic waterfalls and some steep climbs. Basically, Andrew and I were champs and hiked up the whole way, even the part where the stone steps were so steep and high, we were basically climbing them, rather than walking up them. The view from the top was nice, but I'd say it felt like more of an accomplishment just getting up to the top in the first place. Plus, we got to see the mysterious cave, which was plaguing out curiosities the entire way up the trail. The cave, in fact, turned out to be kind of shallow and not all that impressive, but there was a small shrine built in it, and it was nice to say we'd made it that far. However, top entertainment was definitely the walk back down the trail with some of the Chinese helpers from our program. There were about 5 Chinese guys, and we spent the hike down the mountain teaching them silly slang terms like "Whaddap dogg?" and "Holla atcha boyy" or "Fo shizzle my nizzle." Nothing quite breaks the language barrier like butchering each others' languages. Fo' sho.

Today was probably one of the most entertaining and confusing days I've had here. It began at 7 am with an extremely long bus ride to a hospital for medical checks. I gotta hand it to China - they are extremely efficient. We were able to get about a dozen of us X-rayed, blood-drawn(ed?), and STD-checked within a half hour.

The blood drawing process requires some explanation though. It was one of the weirdest sights to see: a row of small windows, each half-open, looking like drive-through windows. They had little stools in front of them, and people would sit at the stools and stick their arm through the window. You couldn't see the other side, so, for example, I had no idea whose rubber sanitation glove grabbed the other side of my arm and quickly twisted a tube around my bicep to force my veins to the surface. Even more terrifying, I couldn't see the face that belonged to the hand that jabbed the needle into my arm and drew the blood. The process itself wasn't painful (even though yes, I am a baby, and yes, I did cry) but it was unnerving. It was so fast, I barely blinked and it was over.

The STD tests were interesting too. First of all, girls' medical checks cost about 10 more yuan that the guys' medical checks. The reasoning was never really explained to us, but I think it had to do with the STD testing. It was taken via the normal process (girls, you know what I'm talking about), but instead of the normal privacy we are used to with doctors and closed doors and knocking, there were two patients to a room, each with their pants down and legs up in stirrups for the doctors to take samples. Let's just say, this was not a place for the bashful. Also, the doors to the rooms were always open. The only barriers were bedsheets that hung from the door frame about halfway to the floor. Thus, anyone could peek their head in to inquire about how long the wait was going to be, or when their child could be seen for their head cold, or whatever.

After the whole med operation, me, my good friend Michele, and two others were all taken to the 4th ring road in the north east of Beijing to see the school we were going to be working at. It's a Montessori school (I'm pretty sure I've already explained it, but here's the website again: http://www.keerlido.com/). It's really quite cute and very laid back and modern. The teaching style stresses teacher observation and student independence and exploration. A funny thing though - we have to wear these uniforms that are like, traditional dark blue silk Chinese tops and black slacks. It's a matcher's nightmare. Alas, they looked comfy. Guess I didn't need two suitcases of clothes. Oh well. Also, the school's owner and designer is apparently very fond of modern architecture and design styles, so the whole school is entirely white. It's like, insane asylum white. And the echo is pretty intense as well. A whisper sounds like rocks falling down stairs. At one point, one of the guys who was also interviewing decided it would be okay to try and play a piano that was in a dark room with a cover on it. Bad idea. It was so loud, it wasn't long before a worker rushed over and begged him to stop - the children were napping. Also, why was he playing the piano in the first place? These things I cannot explain.

After the interviews and whatnot, the day dragged awkwardly. We weren't really sure when the bus was coming to pick us up, so we got kind of bored and antsy and tired. When the bus did come to pick us up though, it had lots of new, older people in it who were pretty experienced with Beijing from the viewpoint of foreigners. A lot was learned on the bus ride back to Miyun Impressions Lodge today.