Week One

Exactly one week ago I arrived in Wuhan, China. After three flights that thankfully took off and landed without any issues, I was able to step onto solid ground, walk through immigration at the Wuhan Airport. Now for those of you unfamiliar with Wuhan, it is the fourth largest city in China, boasting a population of around 9 million. Now to put that into perspective for you, the largest city in the States is NYC, with a population of about 8.3 million, and the fourth largest city back home is Houston with a population of 2.2 million.

Now you would think in a city of 9 million, there would be some sort of massive airport, maybe not on par with Hong Kong International Airport, but maybe something similar to Midway. Well at least that was what I had envisioned before arriving in Wuhan. Needless to say I was shocked when I walked downstairs to the baggage claim and saw that there was only one luggage carousel. After working my way through crowds of people--a mix of westerners and Chinese--and realizing that my conception of personal space was becoming a nostalgic memory; I grabbed my luggage and proceeded to meet my contact Lily and head to  the campus of Zhongnan University of Economics and Law (ZUEL). Following another hour of sitting, we all made it to our apartments on campus.

Being on the sixth floor or a seven story building doesn't sound horrible, but when there is no elevator and you have over a 100lbs of stuff to carry up those stairs, it becomes a tiring and fast. My all white walls, Chinese television channels, wood bench and chair for my furniture in my living, were a little hard to adjust to at first. While I am still adjusting, I have managed to overcome my fear of buying food at the near by streets. The first night I went out for food on my was literally terrifying. And I don't use terrifying in an attempt to be funny, I really had no clue what I was doing, what I was saying and even worse, what was being said at me.  I would like to say in little less than a week, I have mastered the art of ordering food without saying much more than hello, thank you, and goodbye--it is important to keep your manners up even in a foreign language.

On my third or fourth day here in Wuhan I found myself in prison. Not joking. I was at Wuhan Prison for about six hours that night. For everyone who is reading this and having some sort of heart attack after that last sentence, rest assure I am fine. Wuhan Prison is a bar. In fact, it is a bar that attracts a lot of foreigners who are over here teaching at various universities in the city. Amid the mix of Scottish, Irish, Australian, and American accents at the bar, there are a handful of Chinese as well who have become friends with some of the returning teachers, and I realize just how much this little enclave of people will be my go to people for the next year. It was a relief to see all of them enjoying the months and in some cases multiple years they have spent in Wuhan and it relaxed any remaining anxiety I had over whether or not I was going to enjoy myself here. Plus I realize, any place where a beer is less than a dollar and its pretty good cheap beer is a place I might have fun at.

Class starts on Monday for the students here at ZUEL and that means its time to start my job as well. I am really excited to start and really excited that within the first few days of class I can have a Dave Matthews Band unit. I am really only having this because I am missing the concert event of a lifetime--DMB at Wrigley for two nights in Sept, for those of you who haven't been paying attention--and it never hurts to pass along some American music to my new students.

Last but not least, I am doing well and enjoying my time here. I am loving it more and more everyday and I have not gotten sick--knock on wood. I miss you all very much and thank you to everyone who has been keeping in touch. It is great to hear from all of you and see some of you on Skype as well. For now goodbye, and I will write again soon. And since DMB at Wrigley field is fast approaching I leave you all with a video to watch if you so choose.


P.S. If any of you see a video of an American running in Wuhan that was filmed from the backseat of a driver's ed car...it was probably me running.

DMB-Two Step