Interesting Discoveries

Over the past week, I have been learning quite a bit about China. I made the following discoveries, and I was truly fascinated by a number of them.

  In recent years, school was held from 8:00am to 9:30pm (Sunday to Sunday). Now, schools commence at 6:30am and end at 5:00pm. If students have to miss regular classes because of a test or examination, or a public holiday, they have to attend formal make-up classes at the school on a Sunday (6:30am to 5:00pm).

School is held even during very inclement weather conditions (rain, snow or shine). This is unlike Jamaica where schools are closed or dismissed early because of unusual rainfall.

 Each class is only 45 minutes long and is followed by a 10-minute break. Students therefore get a short respite after every session.

 Every classroom has a multimedia projector and interactive whiteboard to foster student engagement. 

  

 Students are uniformed in sweat suits. It is quite cold here and so they can easily wear woolen materials underneath these suits to induce heat.

That's a little girl :)

           Most of the toilets are far from western in design. They are at ground level and so the females have to squat whenever using them. There is therefore little need for additional aerobics :)

Place your feet on the corrugated sides. 

   

Teachers and students use the same restroom. Interestingly, there is no door to privatize each toilet area. You therefore have to "go" in full view of those passing. I can remember the first time I had to use this facility at the school. The girls huddled to witness my intimate blackness, and I had to shoo them away.      

 Most bathrooms do not have a clearly defined shower area. There is just a toilet,  a face basin and a shower head. Consequently, the entire bathroom will be wet every time you take a shower.

 Houses (not even shacks) are rarely seen. Most people live in high-rise apartment buildings. I was told that only the most affluent actually live in detached homes.

Utilities are quite inexpensive. My monthly utility bill is estimated to amount to US$30.  

Mainly local products are found in stores. Food is therefore relatively cheap in most shops and restaurants.

 Chinese really eat dogs, so you have to be ultra-careful when you are buying and eating     meat here.

Yes, that is garlic. It is sweet though. 

The Chinese expressions "nigga" and "jigga" are equivalent to "ahmm" which is a    filler (a sound or word that indicates that someone has paused to think but is not through speaking) often used in spoken English.

People are always hawking and spitting. They do this even indoors, so never go barefooted. I was amazed to see a woman spitting in RT-Mart and then using her feet to make it less apparent. Very disturbing!

 The drivers here are far more reckless than those in Jamaica. They make a U-turn just about anywhere.  Chinese pedestrians are even more careless as they walk in the middle of the road. Some of them do not even respond to the incessant tooting of a horn.

Never think it is safe to cross the road just because the light is on red. Vehicles have a way of emerging from different crevices, so be careful.

Blacks are adored by most Chinese. People will stare at you just because you are black. They may also beckon to you and try to communicate with you in Chinese or English. Just be polite.

 Most families are only allowed to have one child. Very few exceptions are made.
It is almost crime free here in Songyuan, so it is quite safe to go around.