http://survivetravel.com/a-little-trouble-in-big-china-yuncheng-shanxi-china/

Over the weekend I went from the town I am living in, Hejin, to Yuncheng to meet up with some of the other foreign teachers. I do not plan on making this a regular thing but though it would be nice to at least meet them.

I caught the bus in. *Swallow told me it would take about 30 minutes. It took about 3 hours, but at least I got there because all the bus signs were written in Chinese so for about half the journey I wondered if I was even on the right bus.

I got to the bus station in Yuncheng and had to meet the guys at Walmart. Unfortunately it is not pronounced Walmart like I know it, and I was told how to pronounce it but no taxi driver could understand. Finally I jumped in a TukTuk but apparently he did not understand either and dropped me off at some random place. I decided to give in and call **Swallow whom quickly straightened it out. 10 minutes later I was at the restaurant with the others. 50 Yuan (4.25yuan = 1usd) for all you can eat Chinese and western food, and all you can drink beer.

After that we played a few games of pool and then headed to a club. This would be the first time I had gotten drunk in about 2 or 3 months. I got really toasted and for some reason forgot that I should only stick to beer. I had this stuff called Bai Jo or something. It is like 48%, then people just keep giving me shots in the club. I woke up in the basement of a set of flats. As I tried to exit a woman spotted me. Still inebriated I decided to flee and strolled off with this lady shouting at me in Chinese. I guess I went the wrong way cause I hit a dead end. Next thing I know three guys are chasing me so I jump a fence which apparently just lead to the other side cause then I get nabbed. I am pretty sure that i could have got away had I decided to just ball through but figured I was better off trying to explain… so once again i had to call Swallow.

20 minutes later I am in the Police Station. Then the bosses of the company I am employed with come in to bail me out (not literally bail me out, I was not actually under arrest, they just sorted the situation out). They penned it down to a misunderstanding. So they take me to my apartment and I pack my stuff. Fired?? No. Apparently they do not want to because I am too good of a teacher, even though I haven’t taught a single class yet. Further more, by co-incidence I have to move because I do not have the right visa for the school I was supposed to teach in.

A ***2 hour drive later and I am in a town called Yuan Qu. It is smaller than Hejin and surrounded by mountains. Also, my teaching hours have dropped from 22 to 16 a week. I get a new assistant (Amy) and we go for dinner. The apartment is also nicer and I am literally across the road from the school, as opposed to a 20 minute ride.

*Swallow is my teachers assistant. They pick their own English names, or someone does, but it is not given to them by birth. They just make it up if they need one.

**The teachers assistants are not just for the classroom. Should you need their help to go shopping, show you around, translate over the phone or even clean your place, it is their job to help. Call it a sense of pride or whatever, but I try not to ask for their help unless absolutely necessary. China is the first place where I have had access to someone like this, and to be fair, probably the first place I’ve needed it. Actually, I still reckon I do not need it. I think the fact that I know she is there means I prepare less. If I knew I could not rely on her I probably would have written the characters for Walmart down or something.

***Worst drive ever. Stuck in the car with 3 of the heads, still hungover. They just keep asking me questions about what happened and I am like ‘shit happens, get over it’. Of course I do not say it like that, and they understand anyway, except Harry who laughs about it with me, fukin legend. I slept as much as I could.