What’s Scarier Than Scammers and Thieves in China?

In a country like China, you’ve got to be careful with scammers and thieves. Fortunately, I’ve mastered the art of giving dirty looks so fewer people bother me now about taxi rides, money and tours. (You probably have never seen it before because I don’t normally give dirty looks to friends and family.) With my belongings, I’ve learned the hard way of getting things stolen so I have become extra alert with my bags whenever I am in a crowded environment.

I can deal with people but what I’m finding a harder challenge is my arch nemesis, who is best known for its reputation as a carrier of malaria and many other infectious diseases. Also known as the mosquito, these blood-sucking babies love my blood! Apparently, I smell nice and my sweat is like a fragrance to them. Not sure if it works for humans.

And there’s no need to recommend me the typical remedies. That’s the bigger problem. They will bite, no matter what. I’ve worn long-sleeves and thick pants and they still bite. (EVEN jeans, I tell you!) I’ll remain indoors during peak biting periods (dusk and dawn) and they’d still have me for dessert or perhaps a late-night snack. I am allergic so my reaction to their bites is twice as bad as an average human. Some of you have unfortunately seen some of my ghastly blisters. The best solution I have is to make mosquito repellent a part of my daily routine and plugging in mosquito repellent contraptions into the wall. I’m hoping I don’t have to resort to my Plan B, which is to eat a lot of garlic and rub garlic oil all over me so I can deflect these vampires away from me.

I’ve been in Shanghai these past 4 days for training and I thought I was going to have a blast enjoying the big city but the Sunday night before I left for Shanghai from Nanjing, my ankle became a buffet for a family of mosquitoes so it became massively swollen, which made me a cripple for the rest of the week. :( I couldn’t tour the city as much as I wanted so now I will have to return to Shanghai.

This comes to a lighter note as to how happy I am to have met some great people while I was in Shanghai. I trained with a fellow colleague named Juan, who is from South Africa, and Claire from Essex, UK, who will be teaching at the Shanghai school. (My employer, Shane English School, has many schools across China and the world. The head office of SES is in Shanghai, where they also teach students. I will be teaching at the Nanjing school.) There were also many other lovely people from all over the world: Australia, USA, other parts of the UK.


Juan and Claire


Everyone with David, our trainer from Shane English School

Funny story to others but not really for me: Not sure if people knew this but last weekend, when I first arrived to Nanjing, China, my dad decided to come along to Nanjing to “check out the area” because he was “conveniently” in the area. He was pretty much worried about where I was going and so he followed me around for my first two days of Nanjing. I thought it felt like eternity when he was there because he would lecture me at every second he got. He also spoke for me, since he knew more Mandarin, so it was as if he was making new friends instead of me. Instead of hanging out somewhere outside to wait for me, he came on the school tour with me and every employee in that school saw my dad. He even collected some phone numbers, including the headmaster, so he could be a “friend” (which really meant keeping tabs on me). Wow, you could imagine the steam coming out of my ears at the time. [My dad offered to treat the headmaster and his wife a cup of tea some day. This was my boss and the boss’ wife I’m talking about!!! Fortunately, it may advantageous on my part - possibly greater leniency on vacation times or a higher likeliness of bonuses.]

Of course, time flies by and I remember my heart wrenching as I watched my dad hop onto the airport bus. It was an early Sunday morning and he tried to be considerate by telling me that I could leave and not have to wait for the bus with him. I waited anyways. All the embarrassment I endured in the past 2 days flew right out the window. I guess people express their love for others in the strangest ways, even if it means embarrassing them.


My dad and I in front of my school