Jen In China

I am such an idiot!

I don't know how this happened, but somehow I managed to get out of a taxi without my "briefcase." It's really my laptop bag, but it's what I've been using to transport books and such to and from school. Tonight it only had my Kodak test papers (that I'd spent an hour marking) and final student evaluations (that I'd slaved over for several days), and a few personal items, but dammit I'm an idiot!

I have lost a great bag, my floppy disk drive for my laptop, my Chinese notes, some school supplies, and my recently started cross-stitch project.

I didn't notice the taxi number. (I didn't realize I'd need to!) I didn't realize it was gone for about 15 minutes or so... my brain was elsewhere. My laptop bag is the proverbial needle in the Shantou taxi haystack. Most people are convinced that it's lost forever, but I'm not quite willing to give up yet. Sadly, I can't make the necessary phone calls; happily, I have a sympathetic boss that is helping me out.

Nothing too valuable was lost - I still have my passport, my visas, my wallet, my camera, my keys... it could have been worse. But I am pretty damn irritated with myself nonetheless.

I pet a goat today!

Denice and I were walking from our favourite coffee house to the bus station in Chaozhou, and we pet some goats on the street! I've seen these goats a lot, but this is the first time I've seen them up close (usually we're driving by, or looking at them from a second-storey window).

I've only ever seen them in Chaozhou, but I'm sure it happens elsewhere, too. Farmers (I'm assuming they're farmers) tow their goats into town on a trailer attached to a bicycle. (There are usually about five goats per trailer.) The farmers park their trailers on a busy sidewalk or street corner, and sell fresh goat milk to people walking or driving by. They milk the goats right there on the street, and hand customers little baggies of milk.

I took some pictures today to prove it, to myself as much as to others. I don't think the farmer was very happy with me for taking the pictures, or with us for petting the goats. Maybe we should have bought some milk... (I don't mean to be flip - I wouldn't have done it if I knew I would offend anyone. I didn't see his reaction. Denice told me about it after we were leaving.)

Classes were great, but I'm getting a cold and trying to sing/scream over 60 kids a class is a bit of a strain. Many students in my Grade 4 class decided they wanted to give me stickers, which is not unusual and which I think is cute. However, today they decided to put the stickers on my face. (The arms and my clothes, I'm used to. My face - that was new.) I was covered! Any skin showing was soon covered by Hello Kitty, Blue Cat, and other cartoon characters. They all laughed, I laughed, all the kids I saw on my way from the 5th floor to the 2nd laughed - those students begged me to give them the stickers, screaming "Wo yao! Wo yao! (I want! I want!)" at me all the way down the stairs. I tried to put the stickers I managed to keep on my plastic folder, but most of them had lost their adhesive because I was sweating too much, as is typical of any time spent in that building. (Washing the sticker goo off my face was no picnic, I might add!)

I also witnessed my first case of Chinese discipline. I was relaxing in the teachers' office between classes (and by "relaxing" I mean sitting in a tiny room trying to find some way to cool down away from the screaming children, but actually sweating to death and waving and saying "Hello!" to all the children who have tracked me down and are waving and shouting at me through the doorway and windows). Christina, the teacher of the class I just just been with, came into the room, followed by two frightened boys. She began to speak to them in a very low, stern voice, and they just stood there looking frightened. I, of course, had no idea what was going on, but I knew that they were in trouble. I tried not to watch, because I didn't want to make the kids feel any worse. One of the boys was freed rather quickly, but she kept lecturing the other in that same quiet, stern voice. Eventually, he started crying. Once he did that, he was free to go. I asked Christina what had happened, and she said "He did something that was not very polite to me. So I taught him a lesson."

I felt sick. There was no screaming, no hands were raised (I'm told that some teachers will pinch the children until they cry), but I still felt sick, or like crying myself. But this is what the teachers do (at least at Chengnan - I shouldn't generalize): they lecture and shame the kids into submission. Once the offenders show suitable remorse and respect, with tears, they're forgiven. On my way out this afternoon, I saw another teacher doing the same thing to another boy. I had the same gut reaction. I'm now officially terrified of ever pointing out a child that may be misbehaving - I never want to subject a child to that kind of punishment, nor feel even remotely responsible.

So that was Chaozhou this week - screaming children, stickers, discipline, and goats. Thank goodness I didn't have to stay for Saturday classes this week. I don't know if I could stand much more!

Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow...

I'm not going to be able to live up to my own hype with this "Hen" story. I'm going to have to give it some more thought before I write about it, embellish it a little.

I have figured out why I can't read my own blog. I'm in China. Simple as that. I'm in China. Apparently the government blocks "blogspot" sites. I have no idea why. It shouldn't surprise me - after all (as we say on a daily basis) "This is China."

It's 2:36 a.m. I teach in Chaozhou in 12 hours. I love the kids, as I've said a million times before, but at this moment I am not too thrilled about going back. However, we don't have weekend classes this week, so I'll be home on Friday, with Saturday off!

Must sleep. Can't type. Will write more soon...

Back from Chaozhou. Again, exhausted. 360 kids (approximately) in regular classes on Thursday and Friday, plus another 15 or so today for weekend classes. Quite the difference!

The Grade 1s are adorable, but loud. They love to scream. They seemed to have learned a new phrase: "LET ME TRY!!!!!" 60 kids screaming "LET ME TRY!!!!!" when they want to answer a question (usually as tame as "How are you?" or "Who is this?") is a little daunting. The Grade 4s are about the same - a little older, a lot more English, but the same burning desire to answer questions and the same lung power. The material is boring as hell, but they get so excited!

Weekend classes are entirely different. The material is fun - songs, games, crafts... and they're silent. Barely a peep. Granted, it was hot, it was early, and my singing would scare anyone into silence... but it was still a complete about-face. I just want a happy medium! Is that too much to ask??

I'm long overdue with all those stories I've been promising. I fear that by this point they won't live up to the hype, but I'll give it a shot. Tomorrow!

I'm trying to implement the ability for people reading this blog to add comments if the mood strikes them. So far, things seem to be working. However, since I can't see this blog on the "real" Internet, I'm not sure if they really are working. Maybe someone will be kind enough to post a comment? (hint, hint!) ;)

Time to prepare - it's nearly time to go back to Chaozhou already!

I just found this site about the Mid-Autumn Festival, and thought I would share...
"Mid-Autumn 2003"

I am exhausted. Teaching six classes (five in one day) of approximately 60 students each is exhausting. That's the only word for it. But the kids are just so damn cute, I can't complain.

At Chengnan Primary School, I am teaching five Grade 1 classes (all new students) and one Grade 4 class (formerly Denice's students, most of whom I've met before). Some of the Grade 1 students are a little bit afraid of me, but I was expecting that. After all, I look like Godzilla compared to them, towering above them at the front of the classroom, shouting words at them that they don't understand... Most of them, though, were okay with me, and were very eager to tell me all the words they know - even if they had nothing to do with the lesson! I'm sure the others will come around. It's going to be exhausting, but I also think I'm really going to enjoy it.

The Mid-Autumn Festival was a quiet, understated affair, and one of the most "traditional Chinese" experiences I've had here. Denice and I went with Johnny (our boss), his parents, and his sister and brother-in-law to a mountain near Chaozhou just after sunset (about 7 p.m. - it gets dark very early here). We drove up a narrow, winding road to a plateau, which is home to several temples. Tables were set up across the field for visitors to the mountain - I'm not sure if it's like that all the time, or if it was put together for the festival. (I'm told you can go and visit the temples during the day - I have to go back there and take about a million photos.) There was a make-shift stage in front of an archway, and later in the evening local musicians entertained the crowd with a variety of music, from folk songs to muzak (a little too "Kenny G" for me at times, but the crowd liked it).

The mountain itself was beautiful, even in the dark, and there were temples everywhere. By 8 o'clock, nearly all of the tables were filled with people of all ages, drinking tea and eating "moon cakes." Everyone had gathered there to watch the full moon rise - and when it did, it was stunning. It was like many other full moons I've seen in my lifetime, but last night it felt different somehow. I couldn't stop looking at it. (I know this festival has some religious significance, but no one I know has been able to explain to me exactly what it is. Most people seemed to be there just to be with their friends and family, which by itself seemed pretty significant.)

I wandered off by myself a few times, to explore the grounds and take in the atmosphere. I climbed some stone steps and stood in awe of the temples, but it was too dark to see much and I didn't want to end up falling down the mountain. (That probably would have ruined the whole experience.) I took some photos - most of them were too dark, but I'll post those that did turn out soon.

The whole evening was a strange mix of traditional and modern - we were celebrating an ancient festival at an ancient place, yet there were people walking around talking on cell phones. In a way, that's how my whole Chinese experience so far has been: a bizarre mix of old and new, rich and poor.

Shantou is a fairly modern city (and part of a "Special Economic Zone"), filled with rich people driving BMWs and the like, wearing fancy clothes (aside: Chinese fashion will soon be the subject of a posting here), and talking on cell phones. Yet just outside the city, people live in very small, old stone houses, in poverty, and farm the land. The images I see on the bus ride to and from Chaozhou are the images you see in the movies: sunburned men and women in straw hats, wading through swamped fields; cows wandering about (even very close to the city!); people carrying baskets on sticks... the paradox is astounding. I haven't got it all sorted out in my head yet - but I don't know that I ever will.

I don't know how this post got so long and tangential. I'm still really tired, and though I have become nocturnal since moving to China, I really need to get some sleep. I have big plans for this blog - Chinese fashion, the use of English here (a.k.a. Engrish), the traffic... the list goes on. But it will have to wait for another day!

Not a whole lot to report (though I know I still have many stories from weeks gone by to post). Annie, our receptionist and good friend, has left the school for another job; our colleague, Sophia, has left to study Japanese in Guangzhou. We miss them terribly - but we sent them off in style! We've had two gatherings in their honour, one with the entire staff, and one here at the apartment. Lots of fun. The photos should be up soon.

The typhoon was wild. I didn't get any photos of that, unfortunately - I valued my camera (and my life!) too much to go outside in that. I wanted to get some photos of the aftermath, but the city was quite efficient when it came time to clean up. The next afternoon, nearly all of the debris had been removed from the streets.

Now that September is here, tomorrow we're off to Chaozhou again. We'll be teaching as part of the regular classes this time, not designing our own summer curriculum. This means 6 classes instead of 3, and 60 or so students instead of 35-45. The kids are wonderful there, though, so I'm sure it won't be nearly as daunting as it seems. (I'll update you on Saturday, after week one. We'll see how accurate I am in my predictions!)

Other classes are going well. I'll be happy when Kodak is finished at the end of the month - for a group of professional adults, they really know how to whine like spoiled children. (Not all, of course, but there are a few squeaky wheels that give me a headache every class.) My other adult class is great, though - quite a change from the first night with them, which had me in tears. (Long, silly story - I feel very foolish about it now. I've filed that under "Learning Experience" and have tried to let it go.)

The Chinese language remains a pain in the butt. Our first class with Tina (colleague) went well - but I can't remember a damn thing. I really need to be more diligent if I'm going to be able to function here.

Tina is great - very shy and quiet, but a really nice person. Unfortunately, we had a terrible misunderstanding the other day... I am a sarcastic person. (Shocking to hear, I know.) Anyway, I made a joke when Julian (Dean of the school) asked me how I liked my Chinese lessons, but Tina took me seriously. She went to Johnny (principal, and the man who pays my salary) all freaked out, asking what she had done to make me hate her. I felt awful - and learned another important lesson: sarcasm isn't a good way of communicating in China. We talked about it, she said she forgives me, and I will not try that again (unless I'm 100% sure that my audience will understand that I am only joking).

And that's about it for now. I have a few errands to run before night class, and tomorrow we're off to Chaozhou. Tomorrow is also the Mid-Autumn Festival. (Aside: It sure doesn't feel like autumn to me, let alone "mid-autumn!") We'll be in Chaozhou, but Johnny has invited us to celebrate with him and his family. I'm not exactly sure what that celebration entails, though I'm sure I'll have some interesting stories when we get back!

We're finally back online after 6 days of nothing, due largely to a nasty typhoon that tore through this area last Tuesday/Wednesday. That storm was something else. All day all we could hear was the wind, motorcycle alarms going off, and glass shattering. When we went out after it was over, the streets were littered with signs, glass, garbage, and trees.

And now that I'm back online, I have to dash to my first Chinese lesson. More soon, I promise. I still have to tell you about the men who thought Denice and I were hookers, after all...