Just in Case You're Interested

By Benjamin Findley

Ben always knew he wanted to go travelling since hearing
the stories and exploits that his uncle experienced from his
time travelling. However, he never thought about teaching
English to get there. So with money for a plane ticket he
moved to China to teach.

When he started writing, it was only a way to communicate
with family and friends to keep them up to date with his
antics in a different culture, teaching and travelling. It turned
into something much more, a way to document experiences
both physical and emotional, from teaching in China to walking
the Inca Trail in Peru.

Without the extortionate price of living back home, he was
able to save money so I could go to the places hes always
wanted to go, to meet new and interesting people and to
have an experience he would never forget. . . . . . .

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse UK
• Release date: Feb 27, 2013
• ISBN: 9781481785228

Book preview

28th August

It’s three days until I fly on the 31st of August and I begin writing this, my journal through my ‘journey’ in China, with a feeling of anxiety and excitement. However as I’ve contemplated what I’m doing, not only expectation but ideas of culture, I have no expectations what-so-ever. I couldn’t believe the amount of jobs on ‘tefl.com’ for China and the amount of offers I received. I chose Yuyao because it seemed the best of both worlds, not too big but still has things to do. Also the package I received from English First (EF) was pretty good; a decent wage for the area, support with regard to translating and organising and housing with the water bill paid for.

It may sound ignorant but it might not have helped that the city I’m going to, Yuyao (a couple of hours south of Shanghai), has very little information on culture, population and tourism. In a way I suppose it’s a good thing, go with an open mind and you can’t be disappointed (right?).

I have been distracted through my summer job, teaching English in Bournemouth at Anglo-Continental, and through waiting on documents from China, primarily my expert certificate, to receive my visa. I haven’t had chance to worry about the normal things people worry about: missing friends/family, How will I survive somewhere I speak four words of their language etc.

So now my job has finished, my visa is ready to be picked up, and I’m ready to go. I’m sitting in a large, open tent in the middle of Cumbria, Chai in one hand my journal in another, worrying about the people I’m leaving behind and how I’m going to survive, not only not knowing the language but being a type 1 diabetic.

When I look back at friendship groups in schools and social activities, I may only talk to one or two of them now. However going to university and working after I have met people that will (I hope) stay in my life for a very long time.

I just hope when I leave I have made a deep enough impression in their lives that they will stay in contact and stay in my life.

Many people walk in and out of your life but only true friends leave footprints in your heart.

A very true and meaningful message I was given by a truly incredible woman that six weeks ago was a complete stranger to me, whose philosophy on life and attitude towards living life has changed my way of thinking in trying situations, which I am undoubtedly going to go through in the coming months.

It’s friends like this, as well as university friends, that are saviours to me in times when even my stubborn and ‘stiff upper lip’ Englishness just doesn’t cut it. However when I go where will they be? . . . Six thousands miles away where organising a Skype call really takes away from the phrase ‘I’m always here for you’ yeah a week next Tuesday at 2pm. I think that is going to be the toughest thing, knowing they’re all carrying on with their lives in England while I’m leading another life. I’ll be in a completely different culture, trying not to be overwhelmed by the vastness of the country or the density of the population.

We will see.

29th August

Saying goodbyes are never easy. I’ve never really had a problem with them, maybe because I never get close enough to people and only consider a few people as friends, I’m not one for saying the people of ‘Facebook’ are all my friends because surely no-one has 700 friends. I reckon I have about 4 or 5 proper friends compared to my 400ish internet friends! But today was different…

Saying goodbye to my Mother with tears in her eyes nearly had me in floods of tears. I could tell what was going through her mind: pride, worry, excitement for me and a real mothering instinct which always gives me support and uplift in a time like that.

Nearly all of my goodbyes have been said, and I’m already emotionally drained, just my Grandad and Tessa (my Grandad’s wife) on the day I fly. What words of wisdom will my Grandfather impart I wonder. All of the anticipation of what he will say has built up so much he probably won’t say anything at all.

1st September

Well where to start?

So I arrived at Heathrow only to have to wait for Tessa to come and meet my Grandad and I to say goodbye. After waiting she came up the escalator gave me a hug and I was off (short and sweet).

I went through security only to be stopped as I had 67 insulin pens on me. I gave them my documents and it all went rather smoothly, maybe because I didn’t make a fuss when they confiscated my sealed orange juice carton which is technically a means to get out of hypoglycaemia (low blood sugar, shortened to ‘hypo’), and I went through to departures.

There were very few people on the plane considering the size of it. I sat by the window over the wing. A gentleman sat two seats away from me, only a few minutes later he was moved to the seats with a large amount of leg room as he was considerably taller than me. I did think to myself that this was a bad start, with everyone seemingly getting special treatment, until I realised I had the entire row to myself. So I lifted the armrests and stretched myself out.

The flight seemed to go quite quickly (so I won’t bore you with details on the food etc.) and as we came to the end of our descent I was reminded just how fragile airplanes really are. As we landed the brakes were slammed on and all of the sections on the wing lifted exposing the components lying within. The thought passed my mind that if a single component had a malfunction I would be in real trouble.

However we landed safely in Hong Kong and were taxied to our gate.

I was then stopped for the second time through security. This took slightly longer as they insisted on counting each of the insulin pens in my possession, also they attempted to read my doctor’s letter to confirm I am diabetic, for which they had to get someone else, presumably someone who could speak English. However I was sent on my way with minimal fuss once again.

I then boarded my next flight to my final destination of Ningbo, this time I was flying into the night. An hour into the flight I had been given my dinner and looked out of the window to see the sun setting, covering the entire sky in a tangerine colour. When you see something of that scale of natural beauty it makes you think about the concept of your own importance and mortality.

I landed and was met by a lovely Chinese man James (English name), James is an owner of the English First (EF) school I will be working for. He then drove me to show me the outside of the school and to my new home. That’s when I met my new flatmate for the foreseeable future, Mark.

Mark was very welcoming and showed me the flat and warned me about the cockroaches, you know the usual stuff…

He then took me to one of his favourite bars for a drink and a game of pool. As I walked in I could hear the shrieking of someone attempting to perform a song in karaoke.

As we were waiting for the pool table I was witness to a very unusual and some may say rude custom. As one game finished a Chinese man called over the waiter and demanded he set up the balls for their new game. I was told that this is, in fact, the norm.

After they were finished we set up ourselves and had two games before heading back to the flat.

So here I am in China, in my new flat with my timetable for the weekend, and what can only be described as a tropical storm erupting.

I think it’s time to get some rest.

2nd September

As I woke up and looked to the end of my bed I saw my bags still packed from the trip. So I dragged myself up from my extremely firm bed, got myself ready and unpacked. Although I say my bed was firm it was nothing compared to some of the Chinese beds which are literally wooden. They commonly place a wooden mat on the bed and sleep on that, this happens especially in summer as the mat helps to keep you cool, and as far as it being firm I hear you get used to it.

At about 12pm Mark walked in from his Chinese lesson, which I will soon be joining. He offered to take me for some lunch. The most ravenous hunger came over me in that moment so I agreed to go with him.

We walked out of our air-conditioned flat, outside, and the heat struck me. The sun was blazing in the sky; however it was still very humid at 35C.

We walked down the road skipping past the unruly traffic to a small diner/restaurant. It was extremely basic, and needed a good clean. Mark had mentioned that he had been to some of the nicer restaurants in Yuyao only to fall ill after (there are obviously exceptions), and that he found the smaller, grubbier places actually served better food at a fraction of the price.

Our food was cooked outside to be brought inside. It was a noodle dish in broth with peanuts, spring onion, cabbage and beef (or what they said was beef! Sometimes ignorance is bliss!). The portion size was huge, piled over the level of the bowl. In the background was a TV showing a typical Chinese game show where the contestants would literally jump through hoops and run across unbalanced platforms over water (much like ‘Total Wipeout’).

I think it’s a good thing I’ve had a small amount of practise with chopsticks as my lunch may have been a problem. I ate about half and couldn’t handle another mouthful. I looked over to Mark’s and he had wolfed the lot. Don’t get me wrong the food was delicious but if I had to tried to eat it all I would be sweating more than I already am.

Mark very kindly paid for lunch, 16 RMB or £1.60 for a meal that frankly would feed a family of 4. It really is amazing how these people can survive on the money they must earn.

We left and Mark went back to school to teach his first lesson of the day at 2pm. I went back to the flat and waited to be taken to the supermarket.

At 1.55pm the door bell went and I answered it to be greeted by a Chinese lady, Judy. We left the flat and the initial conversation wasn’t what I would call conventional but she said ‘you’re very handsome, you will have a very beautiful Chinese girlfriend’. I wasn’t really sure how to respond to that, I’m not used to such direct and blunt conversing.

We went to the supermarket ‘Vanguard’ and, I had been told before but it had only just occurred to me, the locals stare. I’m not talking about the shy English approach; as soon as there is eye contact you look away and blush slightly about the inconvenience you have caused. No, blatant staring. In some cases they would actually stop in their tracks and stare. I thought I must look like someone famous but then, I think, in this relatively small city of Yuyao there are about 20 or so westerners in a population of one million so a different race of human is hard to come by, however it was quite unnerving.

After getting lost several times in this 4 storey supermarket I had paid for my small amount of shopping consisting of coffee, juice and coke zero… oh and an umbrella.

I was then taken to the school to meet everyone. I walked into the staff room and met a very shy man, Peter, he was a nice guy but very quiet, as I have usually been around quite extroverted characters. I also met a man called Mak. Mak, if you had never met him would think he was Hongkongese. However as he spoke to introduce himself a broad Scottish accent came out. It took me by surprise but still managed to mutter ‘nice to meet you’.

The other teachers started trickling into the staffroom and introducing themselves. As I was waiting for Tom (DoS Director of Studies) to arrive Mak and I went to the roof for a cigarette, or as the teachers here say ‘are you walking?’ When I’ve been at teaching jobs or jobs where I’ve looked after children there is always some sort of code for smoking or drinking, for instance in one of my jobs in England we used to ask ‘are you going to the library after work?’ obviously meaning pub.

We sat on wooden garden furniture overlooking Yuyao; I was overwhelmed at the sight of this developing city with a spectacular mountainous landscape surrounding the whole city.

When I came back downstairs Tom had arrived and we planned to get me a sim card and have some dinner later in the day. So I went back to the flat, quite proudly not getting lost, and relaxed for a couple of hours before going back to school to meet Tom and Jenny (Chinese woman dealing with foreign teachers’ welfare).

I went back to the supermarket and bought a new phone as my phone didn’t work with the sim card; even though my phone was unlocked it didn’t mean it would work in China. Tom and I then went for some food; he ordered 2 rice dishes that came in a heavy black bowl that had been heated so the boiled rice would fry and stick to the bowl. This gave the rice a nice caramelised flavour. The first was served with an egg, preserved vegetables and pak choi, the second with pork and pak choi.

I then left Tom at the school and walked home. As I walked by the river I passed a park with about 30-40 women and a few men line dancing to some Chinese/Country music. I see Friday night entertainment is bursting with excitement.

As I have been having problems with my internet I am yet to speak with anyone from home. This, as well as not speaking Chinese, has left me feeling very isolated and alone. Maybe once I start properly at school these feelings will subside. I’ve still got to wait until next Friday to teach. Hopefully my internet will be alive soon

Fingers crossed.

3rd September

I had such good intentions of not writing in this everyday as I’m not usually one for words. However my first few days here have been busy to say the least.

I’m still very daunted by the prospect of being here but as I’ve grown to know, some of the teachers’ support is invaluable, taking me out and showing me the city and support within work.

My day started with my internet being set up so now, at least, I can communicate with loved ones back in the U.K. This has given me some relief from my isolation out here.

I then went to the bank to set up an account as I get paid in cash. Why do I get paid in cash? I have no idea, but it may just be the easiest way for them logistically. After this I went to the school for a full day of induction and observations. The information thrown at me was plentiful and I could feel my brain going numb by the second.

My observations were interesting. The level of English here is at a very low standard to what I was used to in England where the students would be classed as pre-intermediate but would still be able to hold a small conversation. The students’ mental age also seems to be very young for their actual age, this is probably because they are at school all the time, studying extremely hard and don’t really socialise, so they don’t grow up in the conventional way which we know and I think it holds them back. This, I feel, is going to take me a while to get used to.

After my long day I went to the bar I visited on my first night. A few of the other teachers were there and a man called Terry and his Chinese wife Mary. Terry is American and is 25 years senior to Mary, but seemed very much in love. Terry holds a striking resemblance to the Doc from ‘Back to the Future’, and whilst talking to him he told me