I’m employed full-time as a secondary teacher with the Sino-Canadian International program in a Chinese school. Our program runs on a Nova Scotia curriculum with approximately 120 students from grade 10 – 12. The students are all Chinese, but our classes are (supposed to be) entirely in English. I liken it as an English Immersion program to prepare students to go to university in Canada or the United States. They’re a good crew. Right now I teach PE Leadership 12 and Strategies and provide a support role. Next semester I will add Economics and Global Economics.
My Mandarin still stinks.
Aside from teaching I have been keeping busy exploring the city on my bike and playing hockey. Beijing, even moreso than Shanghai has a gluttony of things to do and see. Apart from the usual ‘foreign explorer in China’ past-times – finding incredibly cheap and delicious food to try; finding very cheap and insane things to buy; trying your best not to… die, - Beijing and its surrounding area hosts seven UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
While it's not quite as clean or fancy as Shanghai, Beijing has a thriving artistic community and gets some of its character from the grime between everything. There is a large and welcoming ex-pat community. I ride my bike to and from work everyday. While it is not the greatest way to keep my blood pressure down - Chinese drivers/walkers/cyclists aren't the most considerate/attentive commuters - it's still a blast. It is getting only slightly less fun as it becomes increasingly cold. Beijing winters are dry and windy, with cutting Siberian winds. They make for a nice slap in the face wake-up on the way to school every morning. My 15 minute bike ride is much more enjoyable than a crowded 45 minute subway ride, so I can manage through it. |
The league includes over 80 players has games every Sunday. Players range in gender, age, ethnicity and skill level from beginner to former semi-professional players spread out on seven teams. Social and charitable events both happen frequently. It feels great to be part of a community of like-minded people that have this similar background interest. It was a surprise to me how much hockey meant to my life, but having skated every year of my life since I was around 3 years old really sticks a habit. It's actually more of shared obsession than an interest. My first weekend here I played in an introductory tournament to meet people in the league and have a rust shaking skate. My team won the tourney. It felt good. First game of the tourney was against Mongolians, some of whom play for the National team. It felt awesome.
There’s even a great and growing craft beer scene. The air is a concern of course, but we all together I’d rank recent good air days to bad air days about 50/50. Beijing with blue skies seems like a city unparalleled with opportunity. The wind seems to be blowing some of the pollution away, and China recently agreed to work on reducing its emissions and shift towards green energies once again towards a goal for 2020. Let’s hope it works.
I just celebrated my 25th birthday. I’m young and hungry and going to do my best to do away with my crippling procrastination this year. It’s a lofty goal. The internet is a dark pit of time begging to be wasted. I’ll be celebrating my second Christmas away from Canada in four years. Miss you all back home, come visit China! It’s cool!
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