okay everyone, this is the end of my first full week in china. i arrove here in chongqing on wednesday. the man i was sitting next to on the plane snapped a couple of photos of me with his phone. i guess he had to have proof when he told his friends that he saw a laowai (foreigner). the chinese are funny and extremely nice. they will stare at you all the time. when i am walking around i hear random hellos. anyway, upon arriving from the airport, we reach my apartment building. my first impression of the building was, what a shithole. but then i walk into my apartment and i was like wow. it is really nice. the a/c is cold, i have all new furniture and appliances, television, washer, hot water, and high speed internet access. in many ways it is nicer than where i was living back home. one problem is the apartment is on the eighth floor and there is no elevator. everyday with all the stares. play on words. chongqing is known for the three hots. hot weather, hot food, and hot women. i came just at the right time, because the weather is starting to cool down a bit. it is becoming quite nice. never any sun, though. it is either gray or less gray. the food and the women are the hottest in china. i have already seen a huge difference between here and beijing.
i have met all the other foreign teachers. there are six of us. three of us have been here a year and the other three just starting. along with myself there are two peace corps volunteers. they live on my floor along with this alcoholic english snob. he apparently has a drinking problem, and when he gets drunk, madness ensues. a guy and a girl from the peace corps. they both seem really nice. there are other volunteers all over chongqing and through them i already have a network of friends to party with. another teacher is a sixty year old man who has his own place and a car. he says he wants to retire here. i do not know how he drives in this traffic. it does not seem like you obey any rules of the road, you just drive. drive in the other lane, run red lights, whatever. the last teacher all the chinese i have said, you guys will get along. i think it is because he is a black dude from chicago. and you know what, we have gotten along. he has given me the scoop on everything. actually i think all of us are going to mesh well, save for the drunk from the UK.
i am sure there is more to say, but i will save it for my next post.
oh yeah, i finally saw my first baby pissing wherever it wanted. it was in supermarket, disgusting. they sell diapers, but apparently no one buys them.
peace out commie style.