Settling In

Ni hao!  Wo jiao Courtney Keck.  Wo yao gali chao fan.  (Hello!  My name is Courtney Keck.  I like curry fried rice.) 

Davis and I have finished week 1 of teaching.  I had 2 classes, and he had 4.  Our first day of teaching was pretty rough, as our students wouldn't stop talking and would not listen to us.  The next class we each had was on Thursday, and they were surprisingly much better than the first classes we had.  Our spirits were drained, and then lifted again, thankfully. 

The first time I taught English in China, I was determined to give all of my students real English names.  If there was a 'Seven', 'Mountain Fist', 'Yellow Dirt', and so on, I made them change it to something more appropriate.  This time around, I'm just going to let them keep the English name they already have.  Besides helping me remember them better, their peculiar names give them character and a story.  I have one girl whose English name is Bruce.  She explained in her journal that she was named Bruce by her friends because she liked to fight with classmates, and that reminded her friends of Bruce Lee, the famous Chinese kungfu artist.  So, for this reason, she said she does not ever want to change her English name. 

Now, let's move on to the city of Hangzhou itself.  I have done a lot of comparing in my mind between Hangzhou and Wuhan, probably because they are so different.  Hangzhou is more laid back, at least the Binjiang district we are in.  I was also surprised that I haven't been able to find any meat markets or animal markets on any streets.  Wuhan would have outside animal markets where you choose the live animal you want, and they kill it right there for you.  I remember my friend Drew telling me one time a man's dead fish jumped out of his grocery bag he was carrying it in, when he was waiting for the bus.  The man simply stepped on the flopping fish and put it back in his grocery bag.  One thing I love about Hangzhou is that it rains almost every day (while we've been here), which somewhat cleans the pollution out of the air and brings cooler temperatures.  Wuhan was a hot mess, and it didn't rain as often.  Another major difference between the cities is that food is not spicy here!  I always had to say, "Bu yao la jiao" (I don't want/like spicy pepper) in Wuhan, but not in Hangzhou!  It's great.  The scenery is much better here.  There are so many mountains around Hangzhou.  It's probably 30 minutes bus ride to West Lake, where we can hike in the mountains. 

I'm starting to like it more and more here, but that's my character I suppose.  I become attached to places once I've stayed awhile and built a routine.  Who would have thought this shy, quiet girl from Devil's Den State Park, Arkansas would become a world traveler?  I'm sure my mom did not suspect that.  How the Father does surprise us with the plans he lays out for us! 

Davis and I have also started making friends with the other American brothers and sisters here, and have a pretty decent size group of house fellowship members.  This is comforting to Davis and me.  Heather is one American that has been so helpful to us and makes us feel welcome.  She has lived in China for a decade now, so she is fluent in Chinese, and works for a business now, instead of teaching like us.  Her place is in walking distance from our apartment/school.  It only takes 30 minutes from school to walk there, which is great.  Speaking of walking, Davis and I also plan to buy bicycles very soon.  This should cut down on our walking time dramatically.  The traffic is not too bad in this district, and there are bike lanes on most of the roads.  The bike lane is shared with mopeds and tut tut's as well.  I'm nervous, but it will be a good skill to learn here.  My last memory of riding a bicycle on a busy-ish road was in Dublin, Ireland, where I crashed in a walkway on a bridge.  Graceful, I am not.

To all our friends and family back home:  Davis and I sure appreciate your prayers, love, and support of our time here.  Things are going well now, we're starting to settle in, and we're making some permanent friends already. 

P.S. If I forgot anything, please email us with questions.  We'd love to hear from friends and family other than on facebook!  ;)