Three Lines of Scrawl

Happy Lei Feng Day

Today, as my Chinese friend told me, “is the day we learn from Lei Feng.”

After Lei Feng’s death in 1962 he was declared by Chairman Mao Ze Dong to be a worthy role model and exemplary Communist. Lei Feng’s life was ordinary; his greatest claim to fame was that he wanted to be nothing more than “a revolutionary screw that never rusts.” Many stories are told of his frugality and the kind deeds he did for others. Most importantly, he let the Communist Party – or Mao – do his thinking for him and taught others to do the same.

Some doubt exists as to whether Lei Feng ever actually lived, and as to whether the “Lei Feng spirit” is even relevant in today’s China. Now the commemorative day is used to promote volunteer work.

And so it was that, when we went for our weekly visit to the local orphanage yesterday, it was mobbed with swarms of students standing around, watching the kids, some passing out candy or fruit. It was a little overwhelming: my first time back to the orphanage since the vacation and it was challenging to really reconnect with the kids amidst the madness. But I still had a good time. I’m not sure how many of the kids know about Lei Feng Day.

| By huzzlecoo | 08:42 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

The joys of technology

I bought my third Chinese flash disk yesterday. I use a flash disk to print my lessons and teaching materials – I type them on my laptop and then take the flash disk to a printing shop. The printing shops don’t have internet access so a flash disk is my only option.

The first one I bought about six months ago for a little over 100 yuan (about $12). After a couple months, it broke – it wouldn’t open. I took it back to the shop but the warranty had already expired. So I bought a second one, from a different store, careful to buy a better brand that would carry a longer warranty. A week ago, when I tried to print my lesson plans, my new flash disk wouldn’t open. I was annoyed but not worried, figuring I would just take it back to have it fixed. Yesterday I went back to where I thought the shop I’d bought it from was. It wasn’t there anymore. It may have moved; it may have just closed; it will take some research to find out and in the meantime I need a way to print my lesson plans, so I bought my third flash disk. Three flash disks, three different stores, three different brands. I’m hoping the third time will be a charm.

My Chinese students and friends say they’ve “never heard of a flash disk breaking before.” Go figure.

| By huzzlecoo | 08:28 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Monday, February 27

That's so China

This morning I went to teach my second class, for the second time, only to find the classroom nearly empty. I asked whether it was Oral English class.
“No,” a couple students replied.
“No?” I ascertained.
“Yes,” they confirmed.

I stood outside the classroom for a few minutes, figuring that if the classroom had been changed, a student would come to tell me. After a while one of the students studying in the classroom came out and said, rather embarrassedly, “I’m sorry, Teacher, but we will not have your Oral English class this term.”
“You mean, the class has been cancelled?”
“Yes, I’m sorry.”
“You don’t need to take Oral English this term?”
“Yes, I’m sorry.”

I wasn’t. Not that I didn’t want to teach them, but it was a class of Japanese majors who were juniors; by this point in their college career many Chinese students have stopped caring. My first lesson with them had more or less convinced me they’d live up to my prejudices.

This afternoon I went for an “interview” at the on-campus kindergarten. The day before I’d been asked whether I wanted a job teaching the kids there once a week – just fun stuff to spark their interest in English. It sounded like something different and potentially entertaining, so I agreed. I surprised the teachers I was meeting with (and myself) by operating in Chinese for most of our discussion. Only a couple times did I revert to English with the university professor who’d come to interpret: once was when they asked me how much I wanted per hour. I didn’t feel confident enough in my ability to negotiate money matters tactfully in Chinese. I had asked Luke (the interpreter) beforehand what he thought was reasonable to charge, and he wouldn’t tell me. The lady I was talking to kept saying, “Our own teachers get 30 yuan (about $3.50) an hour.”
“Tell them I taught an extra class here on campus and was paid 50 yuan an hour,” I said to Luke.
He told them.
“So you want 50 yuan an hour?”
“Yes.”
“How many students in a class? Forty?” (Now we’d switched back to Chinese).
“Um…how about 30?”

After the meeting, Luke and I walked outside together. “I think you could have asked for more money,” he said, “but now that we’ve agreed on it it’s too late.”
So why didn’t you tell me that when I asked you before the meeting, Luke?
Oh wait, I know why. It’s because you’re Chinese. I think that, as the intermediary, he didn’t want to take sides by telling me how much I should charge.

That’s ok. I’m not really doing it for the money.

| By huzzlecoo | 08:06 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

Sunday, February 26

Better late than never

I’ve lived here for two years and have finally figured out how to dress for the weather.

It’s a pity, really, realizing that all those hours of shivering, in the classroom, walking down the street, in restaurants eating dinner, were not necessary.

It’s also a relief to know that my students are not always freezing, since they’ve known the secret for years.

And it’s silly that it took me so long. After all, Chinese people have been telling me for the past two years that I needed to wear more clothes in the winter.

Yesterday I finally broke down and bought a down jacket that I can wear under my peacoat. It was on sale for 79 yuan, or about $10, and is a nice plum color – the same as my new cell phone. I had no idea a layer of down would make such a difference; I assumed adding layers of long underwear would do the trick. I wish I had had this jacket when we went to visit Melody in Xi’an for Chinese New Year last year. Or last December when I was giving finals to my students with numb fingers and toes.

I’m delighted to be back in China after two months’ vacation in the U.S., and doubly happy knowing that I won’t be turned into an icicle by the windy, humid Zhenjiang cold.

| By huzzlecoo | 06:13 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

Wednesday, November 23

Chinese TV

One of my newest loves is Chinese television. It’s at least as vapid as American television, but for language learning, you can’t beat it, especially since a lot of programming in China includes closed captioning. I watch cartoons, game shows, sitcoms, soap operas, the news, documentaries, infomercials, English-teaching shows (useful for learning Chinese because they translate everything) – I’m not too picky.

There’s a PSA they play on the kids’ channel that has brought tears to my eyes more than once, including the first time I saw it, more than a year ago. It opens showing a mom washing her son’s feet in a basin – he’s about four. She leaves him in his bedroom to play and then goes and washes her mother’s feet, saying it will make her more comfortable. Grandma says, “You’ve been busy all day!” and Mom replies, “I’m not tired.” It’s the closing that gets me – the next thing you see is the little boy carrying a basin down the hallway, splashing water all over the place, saying, “Mom, wash your feet!” Then the announcer says, “Parents are children’s best teachers.”

The way family members care for each other is one of my favorite aspects of Chinese culture; but I think my favorite thing about the commercial is how the Communist government-sponsored broadcasters accidentally stumbled upon such a well-known symbol of Jesus Christ’s servanthood in their promotion of traditional Chinese values.

| By huzzlecoo | 07:52 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

Tuesday, October 25

About eating lobsters

Naomi had the privilege of grading this essay last week. The topic she assigned was, "Agree or disagree: the thinner a woman is, the more beautiful."

The Thinner and the Beautiful

I think the women the more thinner the more beautiful. Nowadays almost every people like thin women. So many many women want to lose weight.

Losing weight can make people healthy. Fat people can get alot of illness. So many people keep weight not only to become beautiful but to keep healthy. And keep fit can make someone eat more nutrition. Because people always eat lobsters.

Losing weight can make people beautiful. When you walking in the street, I think you always like to watch thin girl. Thin girl can wear beautiful clothese.

So I think the more thinner the more beautiful. If I can lose weight I will very happy.

| By huzzlecoo | 02:20 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)