February 2014

A TV with no English channels, a quick Wifi service with strict internet censorship, restricting me from logging onto Facebook or YouTube, along with others, a Google search spitting out limited links, and a plug sockets that resembles that of the U.S. unit, many differences that I have come to accept in my first 3 1/2hours in China.

My hotel view is somewhat restricted, I’m looking out over a group of old apartment blocks,some smaller buildings,convenient stores,and hardware stores in the distance, and a busy road linking to a highway, in the direction of the famous IFC building, if memory serves correctly during an earlier taxi ride.My hotel is located down an alleyway, close to the Canton Tower, about 5 minutes by foot from a metro stop,somewhere in the Tianhe District of Guangzhou,but my Apple Maps refuses to work, so all I can do is guess and try to recollect the layout of the city, and match the dots, trying to remember the detailed map from a recent email sent from my recruiter.There’s a touch of the west around the corner, a McDonald’s is nearby,about a 2 or 3-minute walk, nothing or nowhere else resembles the west and I’m left to explore what is or what I may soon be eating and drinking over the next while.

There are a few banks right down the street, ICBC and Bank of China,luckily all have English options,thank god for that, I have less than a thousand euro in my account now after a joyous trip to the Middle East and India,and I’m hoping it will stretch for at least a month, maybe even longer.I know nobody, I don’t even speak the language,neither Mandarin or Cantonese, not even the basics, I barely know Chinese customs and traditions, and I haven’t even managed to meet my new boss, or any of the new staff.

I don’t know how widely English is spoken, I can only assume for now, the earlier natives that I met upon registration at the hotel didn’t even speak broken English, they were just happy to take 800 Yuan, 400 for a deposit,and point me to my hotel room on the seventh floor, not even offering a bottle of water or a quick snack. It’s a cold night, a lot colder than I originally assumed coming from the glorious weather in India, we were told weeks ago that it would be hot and humid upon arrival, sadly that’s not the case,it’s almost the same as a winter’s night back home in Ireland and there is even a sprinkle or two of rain and possibly a light storm could follow later in the night.I’m pretty flaked out, exhausted and jet lagged, but still curious about what I may find in this busy section of Guangzhou aiming in the opposite direction, further down the street, if only I had more energy.I’m not willing to be too adventurous tonight,and I’m afraid that a block in the wrong direction could be difficult for me to reconnect my earlier steps ,my hotel is slightly hidden from the main street, and all of the signposts are in Chinese. It’s a new test and it’s a new era, a new strategy, a new adventure, and who knows what lies ahead in South East Asia!