Today in the morning I had still quite a strong longing for home with all the good and 'safe' things around me
... but not anymore :-) ... it became a very nice day after all.
One nice person knocked my door and asked me if I'm interested to join him and his friends to go to get some
massage where some blind people give treatments. I had been thinking that it would be so nice to get
massage so of course I was interested. Then I also was able to tell him how I had been feeling and so I started
crying again ... so I cried against his shoulder for a while. Oh my ... but it was comforting and I felt a bit better
after been able to talk about things.
I had also long Skype talk with a friend in Stockholm and it was so nice to hear his voice.
It's not easy to find time to make these calls because there is 6 hours time difference between
China and Sweden. So when it is 12.00 during day in Stockholm it will be 18.00 in the evening here
in Chongqing. When I get up here it's still middle of the night in Stockholm. Only weekends seems to
work to make calls in that way. I have discovered that 'voice messages' with Google Talk is also nice
way to let people hear you and give more 'live' contact. It's good that there is different possibilities
to communicate even though you are on the other side of the globe.
We had to split our group and some of us went to another place to get massage. It was relaxing and quite ok
but not the best massage I have got. Next time I will try the other place where blind people give massage.
It sounded that it was more effective and cheaper, 30 yuan for treatment of whole body. It is
extreamly cheap compared with prices in Europe.
Afterward we went to eat in a restaurang 'Statue of liberty' ... despite the name it seemd to be a very
common Chinese restaurang with very good food and nice beer. Massage and afterwards some good food and beer
is a lovely combination and I will do it many times while staying here. With good company it's even better.
Finally we did some sight seeing to 'The Supermarket' ... the one and only ... and then taxi upp the hill to 'home'.
Well, living in a new country is always strange at first, I think. Nothing works the way you are used to, people have the strangest customs, it's almost impossible to find everyday things that you've gotten used to... Give it some time, and spend time connecting with the other foreign teachers.
SvaraRadera