Yueqing 乐清 is the city we’re in. We got in around 5 in the afternoon and we immediately amazed by how beautiful the city was. The city is surrounded by mountains and you can see them! There is not much smog as we’re in a small city. The first few days in Yueqing were not very easy. We got to our room later in the evening and were told that tomorrow we would start teaching. Nich and I were both flustered by this comment. We had just found out that we would six classes first second, seventh, and eighth graders earlier that day and now we had to actually lead a class of them. We were both confused and stressed, but distracted from those emotions because our living situation was equally shocking. The room was not an apartment, but more like a dorm room, which Nich and I can handle. The issue was that the room was not ready for people to live in, the floors had a layer of dust, as did the sheets, counters, and every other surface of the room. There was only one sheet, no towels, a broken kettle, a broken lamp, and an extremely dirty toilet, but the air conditioner worked and we were thankful for that. The first night was hard. The first day was hard too.
Clean!
Nich cleaning…. He’s a bit taller than the local population so sweeping up is hard.
We’ve been in Yueqing for five days so far. This last Saturday we spent the day cleaning our place and getting basic supplies (towels, a working kettle, sheets, hangers, cleaning supplies, and so on). I think Nich and I are both happy with how our apartment turned out. It’s clean!
We also took those days to explore around the city a bit. Half of thecity is old and really picturesque, there are temples found here and there in the old part of the city. Then there is the “new city”which has high rises, modern looking buildings, and Starbucks that just opened in August. Still no McDonalds, so we know it is still a small city.
The view from our building of the school. Yueqing International Foreign Language School 乐清国际国语学校
Four Peaks and the view from our terrace!
Starting tomorrow both of us have off until Monday for the Lunar Festival. We are planning on going to Yandang mountain 雁荡山 for some hiking and sightseeing.
isn't it a beautiful day 