CHRISTMAS IN CHINA

Hi Guys in this post I want to talk about what Christmas is like here in China,

So a couple of weeks ago, I had spent my second Christmas here in China. Now Christmas is not considered a national holiday here in China, fortunately as foreign teacher I was entitled to a day off for Christmas. Well the previous year I did, the Christmas just gone was on a sunday, so it was a non working day anyway...so no extra day off. Oh and boxing day doesn't exist here so no holiday for that either. It's just another working day

However you can see Christmas trees, and beautifully decorated malls, which are really festive. Thankfully even both Costa and Starbucks also had their festive drinks. I have a coffee obsession, so I was sooooooo happy! Black forest hot chocolate though 😍😍😍

Starbucks Pomegranate and Green tea latte

Starbucks Yule log

McDonald's Black forest pie

McCafe (McDonald's) Gingerbread men

McCafe (McDonald's) Gingerbread Latte

Costa Creme brulee latte

Costa Black Forest Hot chocolate & Festive cheescake

Costa Gingerbread Latte

The most creative tree I have ever seen

So yeah there was a lot of Santa Claus everywhere. Apparently there was even a Santa Claus parade in Luohu and OCT on Christmas eve, but I didn't find out until after t had already finished....SO SAAAAAAD, 

This is the problem. Even if there are events going on, there isn't much promotion, or if there is it's probably in Chinese so you would have no idea...if you can't read Chinese.

In Haagen Dasz at Coco park

outside MixC mall

Inside link city

cute Christmas jumper in H&M

Outside Wongtee Plaza

I even heard that there was a Christmas market in Shanghai, but we don't have Christmas holidays so I had no chance to leave the city....so saaaaaaaaad

Any ways, in Shenzhen there are some really great places to buy Christmas trees and decorations from such Walmart, Aeon, Olé, BLT, basically the kind of more international supermarkets. They all have a small selection of Christmas stuff.

But if you want to find some really beautiful stuff, that is somewhat cheaper then you have got to check out the SunGang Christmas Warehouse. They have everything! Christmas trees, baubles, tinsel, beautiful lights, ornaments, even the stuff people put outside in their front garden for decoration..i don't know what they are called. That is located on Bao an bei lu , so bao an north road. The closest metro station is Sungang station on metro line 7. And I think it was exit E?

So anyway, Christmas day in China is called sheng dan jie, which literally means holy birth day. However even though it is called that, there is no sign of anything Christian, or nativity related anywhere. However I did see a Christmas show/ performance at KK One mall By a group called Freedom 61. The show was basically about the true meaning of Christmas. It was really awesome hearing Christian Christmas songs and worship songs sang in both English and mandarin.

So like I said, apart from maybe at a church, or an event such as that one, there is nothing that I have experienced here, that is really “Christian” about Christmas here in China.

So basically it's just like a commercialised day here. Chinese people don't particularly celebrate. So stores and restaurants are open for business as usual. Maybe some young people go out to partys or clubbing events, that are “Christmas” themed. But people here don't celebrate the way we would in the west. And it can be a pretty depressing and lonely time, if you are used to having a big Christmas meal with your family. But not all hope is lost. You may not have the same experience or feeling as you would back home but there are restaurants where you can have a wonderful Christmas meal. My friends and I went to a place in Luohu, close to guo mao station. It was called “spaghetti”, literally just spaghetti. And no we didn't eat pasta for Christmas. There was a wonderful Chef there from Portugal who prepared not only a beautiful but really delicious dinner for us.

Like I said this was my second Christmas in China. I first arrived here at the end of November 2015, so Christmas that year was super depressing for me. I was still new here, I didn't really know anyone apart from my work colleagues, who are Chinese so don't celebrate Christmas at all. So Christmas day, I had to go into work at 7am, which was a whole hour earlier than I usually do. Why? You may be asking? Didn't I just say it is a holiday for foreigners? ….*sigh* well, I was basically “forced” to come in to work, only for an hour that morning...to be Santa Claus....

I know right? Me? Frickin Santa Claus?! Firstly I'm a woman, Secondly I'm not even white 😂. 

my work colleague and I December 2015

Me as Santa December 2015

But I did it anyway, and I've got to admit it was an interesting experience, and definitely an unforgettable one for me. So yeah basically after that I went back to my hotel room, and just sat there, the whole day by myself. I just sat and cried for the rest of the day. I wouldn't answer any calls or talk to my parents on skype. I didn't even eat literally the whole day, because I felt really homesick and lonely. Which is something you really have to get used to sometimes, being in another country alone.

But praise God, here we are a year later and I have made some really amazing friends. So the Christmas that's just passed was awesome because of them. Wonderful food, wonderful company, It was a perfect day. And although there's not much of a Christmassy feeling here in Shenzhen, this time I made extra effort, to make everything around me Christmassy. I bought some really cute stuff from the Sun gang market to decorate my room with and I was watching Christmas movies non stop, and listening to Frank Sinatra and Michael Bublé's Christmas albums all the time. I even introduced the songs and movies to some of my Chinese friends. Just wanted to keep up with my usual Christmas traditions. My friend even got us Christmas crackers and mince pies from Hong Kong, because you cant find them here. But overall, my Christmas was amazing, mainly because I refused to let negativity and loneliness bring me down. Just because it's not Christmassy around me, doesn't mean I can't celebrate or be happy. And aslong as we are surrounded by our loved one, whether it's friends or family, is good enough. That is all that matters.

So I really hope that you found this post helpful.

Love 

Jen-jen

xoxo

THE NEW CHAPTER | CHINA

So for those of you who didn't read my previous post (go back and read it NOW...just kidding), I am living and working in Shenzhen, China. So just a heads up for you, this is gonna be a looooong  post. So yeah, I have been here since the end of November 2015, initially I was going to only stay until July 2016 and then go to Japan at the end of August, after my sisters wedding. However, I liked it in China so much that I decided to stay longer.

This has been one of the biggest and craziest transitions of my life. There have been struggles...oh so many struggles, there have been amazing and unforgettable experiences, there have been moments of loneliness and even depression, but I am pulling through it all, because I know that God did not bring me to this place for no reason, so I will work hard.

So how do I know that God led me here? Well just the way everything worked out. The whole lead up to me leaving, and also when I arrived here. It was all far from a coincidence..

Basically, I was working before, at another place. Doing the same job for the longest time. I was really unhappy, and I wasn't treated well there. But I just stuck at it. Then one day, I just snapped after I had this one rude customer..now, I dealt with so many rude customers for many years, so actually this was nothing, now that I think back. But it pushed me to the point where I just quit my job. I finally decided I couldn't take it anymore. Like God just told me to get out of that place. After that I was really stressed as I didn't have a job, but I felt at peace and like a burden had been lifted. I knew it was time to focus on myself again.

So one month later, I was told by a Pastor, that he had a prophecy that I would go to China. I had not told him nothing of my wish to go.

Also I had already secured my job in Japan so I didn't think too much about it. Then almost a month later, one of my close friends told me that she had a dream about me. That we were in another country and i was leading her through a place with tall skinny trees (she meant bamboo trees lol) so of course I saw this as confirmation that I would be travelling to Asia soon, but I still did not have China in mind. Until my friend in China persuaded me to come visit her. So I applied for China, put Japan on hold and just went with it.

I prepared myself with teaching work experience which I learnt a lot from, and it was really fun. For some strange reason my China application was taking the longest time to process. It was getting very late into the year, the term had began so long ago and then I started to have doubts. I wasn;t sure if it was going to happen after all. Then after a month had passed, everything had finally processed. It was really happening, then before I knew it, it was time to leave.

Without thinking twice, I just did it. I have never flown anywhere by myself, or lived away from home but I was not afraid. When I think about it now, it seems pretty crazy that I was brave enough to actually do it (especially when I had been doubted by so many before that) I just took that step. That leap of faith and everything was fine. I arrived Safely, nothing went wrong. I was so happy....Until the next morning when it actually had sunk in about what I had done..

When I first arrived here in Shenzhen, I was staying in a pretty crappy hotel, with an even crappier internet connection. It was the accommodation that the agency had provided for me. It was an absolute nightmare. It was so frustrating when I tried to Skype with my family and friends back in the UK. Then to top it off I could not access Facebook, Youtube, Blogger, Snapchat, Instagram or even google. I knew Facebook was banned in China, but the rest came to me as a surprise, It made feel really lonely and really tested my patience. But I stayed positive as I was excited and pretty nervous about starting my new job.

So my first day was literally insane. I had arrived in China on a Saturday night, literally only had Sunday to sleep in and get over my jet lag, then on Monday was my first day. Not my first day if training, literally my first day.

So Monday morning, a girl from the agency collected me from the Hotel and took me to the hospital for a full health check. So they literally tested everything, took urine samples, did x-rays, you name it. Then it came to "my favourite part" the blood test. So, I have some kind of problem, I'm not sure what exactly causes it, but every time I have blood taken and even sometimes when I get an injection, I pass out and I don't know why. So they took my blood, and I passed out in this hospital. I'm not sure how long I was out for, but I woke up to a nurse squeezing my hand and poking a pressure point in between my nose and lips, and the girl from the agency was almost in tears. I was so confused.
So anyways, after all that we went to get photos taken for ID cards etc, made a bank account (all whilst I was feeling dizzy and weak from the blood test) then I was taken to the agency office to fill sign my contract (even though I was too out of it to read it). Then finally we had lunch and then I was taken to my School.

I was literally exhausted. Firstly I had not gotten over my Jet lag, and then having blood taken out had really gotten to me. Not only that but also, it was soooo hot in Shenzhen and I had just come from a very cold winter in England, so naturally I was having a hard time adjusting. I literally felt like I was going to die.

So We finally arrived at the school. I was then introduced to the current foreign English teacher, and told that I would be taking over from her, as she was leaving the following week. This explained, the delay in the process of getting me to China. I was delayed because I was supposed t take over from THIS particular woman. She asked me to come into the classroom and introduce myself to the children. I walked in, nervously and all I heard were gasps and a chorus of children's voices saying "Woooooooooooow", followed by applause. It was one of the sweetest and most surreal experiences I had ever had.

So I got to watch her teach her final 2 classes for the day. Literally absorb what I could, then at the end of the lessons, she told me that I was teaching the next day. Literally the next day! So no training, nothing. I was literally thrown into the deep end. So that night I prepared my powerpoint and crashed out to sleep. I was literally drained.

So the next day came. I was so nervous, standing at the front of the classroom. I remember my knees were shaking. I had a full classroom of 50 students staring at me, eagerly waiting for me to begin. And at the back of the classroom was the other foreign teacher. Watching me with a huge smile.

So after observing my classes she gave me some advice and was a really great mentor. I later found out that she was the one who mentored the other foreign teachers, and I was blessed enough to get one on one mentoring from her. So throughout the week, my confidence grew and she guided me a lot. Then on the Friday just before my lesson began, I went in earlier to pray in my classroom, and she walked in. We started speaking about our personal lives and I then found out the reason she was leaving China. It turned out that she was a Christian too. The reason she was leaving China, was to go back to America to get married, to a Pastor. I was so shocked, I knew there was something about this woman the moment i met her. We just clicked. It was the spirit of God who brought us together, and that was in us. She then told me that she had been praying for a God fearing teacher to come and take her place, and that God had heard her and sent me. It was so surreal, but I knew that God had orchestrated everything. Nothing is a coincidence. I know that now for sure. I went home later that night and looked at the quote that was printed on the hotel room wall above the bed and smiled. It said " A journey of a thousand miles, must begin with a single step."

I'm going to stop here now, I wonder how many of you are still reading? If you are still reading, well done, seriously 😂

Thanks for reading and I hope that this blog post encouraged you!

Love Jen-jen
xoxo

LIFE UPDATE | No I'm not dead...

Hello.....It's been a while..I know I'm terrible...
Who am I kidding, it's been an eternity since I last updated here. Yet my intention is to get better at this blogging thing but somehow I always seem to be busy...doing nothing...

Actually no, that's not true..no really, this time I have more than a real reason for the lack of updating...

So where do I begin? Well, At the end of November 2015 I made a very big life changing decision. I
moved out. Not just moved out, I moved to another country, on the other side of the World! I moved to China, to a city called Shenzhen.

So, let me back track a bit..

Since leaving University I have been doing numerous odd jobs but nothing substantial. I had the hardest time getting my graduate job, or even something reasonably paid for that matter. My family had gone through such a hard time for 3 years already.. I totally gave up on my dreams, my goals, just trying to strong and hold my family together. It was draining...and I lost hope and motivation...

Then after that hard time had come to an end, and once I knew my family was going to be okay again I decided to focus on me again. I knew a lot had changed, I had changed, but I wasn't going to let that stop me.

So for the longest time I have wanted to go abroad, well to Asia specifically to teach English. It was always something that I had wanted to do, I often researched how to do this even during my time at university. Actually, during that 3 year period I even applied several times, to go teach English in both Japan and China. I was actually a successful candidate and passed the first few interview stages but I gave up and passed up the jobs because in the back of my mind I was thinking about my family, also I wasn't sure that I was brave enough to go through with it..

Anyways, so the 3 hard years were done, over with. It was time to focus on me. So July 2015, an old friend of mine from China visited me in Birmingham. Now not just any friend, me and this girl go waaaaaaaaaaay back. We met in Shenzhen, China during my first visit here (a university study trip) back in 2007. After that she came to study at the same university as me in the UK, so yeah we have always been close friends. Anyways during her visit she basically persuaded me that I needed to come back to China to visit her and I thought about it a lot. But yeah like I said I was trying to go back to focusing on myself again.

I applied to teach in Japan again and I actually successfully passed and was set to go in March 2016. But even after I had applied and had so much joy and was looking forward to this, I kept thinking about my friend in China and thought maybe I should apply in China too, there's no harm right?  And by the Grace of God, I was given the job, and the city just happened to be none other than Shenzhen. I was sooooooo happy and decided to take it and just push back Japan and go the following term in August, which the agency said were happy to do. So now I had both China and Japan lined up, and meant I was going to be able to visit my friends again, in that city that i adored since the first time I visited it.

So since then I have just been getting used to my life here, getting used to my new job, the environment, just getting used to a LOT of changes. Also to my shock and horror I was unable to access most of my social media accounts, due to them being blocked here in China. So that means, no Facebook, no instagram, no youtube, no snapchat and no google... THE STRUGGLE WAS REAL!!!

However I managed to find a way around it eventually...."the VPN" *insert hallelujah chorus here*😂

Honestly without it I really don't know how I would have coped.  But I will talk more about that later. And that is the only reason I am able to blog again.

I liked it here in China so much that I decided to stay on, another year. I figured, Japan isn't going anywhere, there's always time >____<

So that is my incredibly long, way over due explanation as to why I have been away from this. And now I'm not making any promises, but I will try my best to keep you all posted on everything going on here. Also this will bring a huge change to my blog and other social media content, which I hope you will like. I want to share my experiences, and my journey with you all. So here's to the new chapter of my life. Stay tuned for more, and check out the new videos on my youtube channel and my instagram as I post more frequently there. Also I just want to let you all know that it is never too late to achieve your dreams, so NEVER give up! Have faith and take that first step. Thank you so much for reading this~

Love
Jen-jen
xoxo