Summertime?

It was a hot, summery Monday. Classes were good; the students have midterms next week, so I decided to give them a break this week. I’m showing the kiddos about twenty-five minutes of Stardust and we finish the session with a Mr. Bean episode, though I’m not sure this choice is good for their health. As I experienced the last time I played Mr. Bean, the humor in the episode is almost too much for these Chinese kids to handle. Two boys actually fell out of their seats and I was nervous that the zealous foot stamping would cause the ceiling to crash into the room below mine. It’s going to be an entertaining week, that’s for sure!


Blossoms are out and summer weather has arrived. Here are half of the photos I took today. (I’ll post the rest tomorrow or the next day.)

Culture Fair

Yesterday afternoon, No. 1 Middle School hosted a Culture Fair and a few local schools were invited to participate. I wandered around the event for a little while, taking pictures, before Jean-Jacques met up with me. There's not much need to say more, since I think the photos do the best job of describing the scene.

Traditional Chinese costumes

Calligraphy

Easter eggs? 

Boy playing the erhu

Girl dancing to music

Some of my students who performed in a Japanese animation skit

More of my students!

Three of my students who are taking a break from dancing

Lots of students

My students

Some of my students playing traditional instruments

Princess Katie (the students from another school thought it was hilarious that I tried on the hat)

Emperor Jean-Jacques (he also caused much laughter when he put on the costume)

Emperor Jean-Jacques tries on a new hat

Disorientated

Has the world become topsy turvy? How can it possibly be Friday tomorrow? I just started my week yesterday! According to my computer, it’s almost the end of my week. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining, I’m just a little confused.


The lessons have been going well. The topic for this week has been celebrations. We cover baby showers, graduations, marriages, and funerals. The students seem to enjoy the content and (for the most part), classes are going smoothly. I did have twelve students missing from one section this morning, but I called my helper and all will be sorted out soon. (I have gotten the class rosters I was promised, but not the keys to the empty room next door and none of the class monitors had heard anything about taking attendance in my class. I won’t hold my breath on the keys.)


Other than that, there’s not been much exciting news to report. The weather has been drizzly the past couple of days, which makes me happy because I’m not fond of stifling heat. We’ve been more adventures with our food choices and have enjoyed the results. 


Hope everyone is doing well! We sure miss the States, but we’re in the home stretch now. We’ve only got about ten more weeks left in Anqing. Yes, this is hard to believe; it also feels like I’ve been gone for seven and a half months, though. I’ve become so used to life here that I don’t think I’m aware of all the differences that exist between the two countries. I imagine that I’ll probably experience reverse culture shock and be so thankful for the little things (drinkable tap water, showering in a tub that doesn’t get the entire bathroom floor wet, breathing clean air, eating salad, hearing quiet, walking on spit-free streets, etc.) that I’ll annoy people. 


My year in China has certainly put life into a different perspective for me; I know I've become a more thankful person as a result. Travel broadens the mind and helps you realize that Americans are lucky. We really are. Sure, we have issues, what country doesn't?, but to gloss over or ignore what we have (drinkable tap water, opportunities to relax, nice houses, the money to pay for indoor heating, short school days, the freedom to choose our profession, and an education system that encourages creative thinking to list a few examples) is ignorant. I think of myself as a patient person, but I know I'll lose that calm if I'm forced to constantly hear about the horrors of American life. No, I don't know everything about the world (thankfully), but I do know that I've visited a few countries, lived in a couple for more than two weeks, and I've gotten out of my comfort zone to experience life differently. As a result, I feel that I have a little bit of authority to say, "Americans are lucky. Count your blessings, luck, or whatever you want to call it. Appreciate your life and realize that you have it easier than most of the rest of the world. Make the US and the globe a better place to be (it sure needs the help), but recognize the good in your life and don't complain too much to me about how it's hard to afford those extra lattes on your $45,000 a year salary." I'll listen (for a couple of seconds) to your sorrow; just know, that I'll have a hard time feeling overly sympathetic. 


Ok. Rant officially over.

A bee-utiful adventure

The outing yesterday was a huge success and we enjoyed ourselves immensely. We rode a rickety old ferry across the Yangtze (which happens to be the third longest river in the world), took a carnival-style bus ride to a park, walked up and down a gazillion stairs, had our pictures snapped with numerous strangers, visited a Buddhist temple, watched people harvesting royal bee jelly, and ate a delicious linner (lunch/diner) with our friends. The sights were fantastic, the weather outstanding, and the company superb. We loved seeing a different aspect of Chinese life.

Since Jean-Jacques did such a wonderful job of explaining the excursion, I’ll refer you to his blog for a detailed account of our journey. In this entry, I’ll just post some of my photos.

View of Anqing's shoreline from the ferry.

More shoreline.

A big old barge in the middle of the river. We can't clearly see the bridge because of the pollution.

A cool gate.

A road in the Chinese countryside.

Fu dog!

Bee stuff

People and a rest stop.

Can you tell I love fu dogs?

A Buddhist temple.

Girls who are nervous to be in my photo.

Fowl at the temple.

Mmm incense!

And more incense.

Inside one part of the temple.

This was awesome to see.

An interesting roof. Makes you feel like you're in China, right?

Entrance to temple compound.

A real bamboo forest!

Canola flowers.

Home of the bee keepers and dog. (Yes, the people live in the yellow "building".)

Bees.

Bee dog.

Harvesting royal jelly.

Jean-Jacques, about to taste the royal jelly. (The smile vanished quickly after...)

Getting on the ferry to go home.

Happy

Yay for a well-earned and relaxing Sunday. Yesterday we had a busy day because we bought groceries, taught two classes, and worked on lesson planning. Although it was a bit challenging to teach on a Saturday (we’ve been conditioned to think it’s unnatural), I’m thankful for the three-day weekend.


I knit a lot today, designed two patterns for a cardigan and a vest, talked with various family members on Skype, processed some photos I took on Saturday, took a nap, and watched the horrendous movie Battlefield Earth. (Last night we saw another terrible, but fun film called The Proposal)


Tomorrow we’re going on an excursion with our best friends here. The plan is to visit a place that makes honey, but our guide isn’t quite sure how we’ll get there and back. I’m not worried. As long as I’m with someone who can speak both English and Chinese fluently, I’m certain that all will turn out smoothly. It should be an adventure and I love exploring new aspects of Chinese culture.

This cat was glaring at me because I chased it away from it's trash-bag dinner.

There's a lot of concrete in China.

Magical baijiu that was left outside.

I took this on my way home.

Cultural inundation

What a thrilling past couple of days! Yesterday started with a phone call from a friend explaining that the head of all the Senior 1 teachers was a bit unhappy that there were students playing basketball during my classes. At first the teachers here thought that I had been asking large numbers of students to leave my classroom; however, this hasn’t been the case. Instead, many of the teens have been skipping my class. Since I don’t have class rosters and no one communicates with me about excused absences, there has been an attendance loophole that many of the children have used to their benefit. However, the practice has now become an issue because people have been visiting the campus and No. 1 Middle School wants to impress everyone. I understand this, but it would have been helpful if the problem had been discussed sooner. We have now worked out a system -- if I need to ask a student to leave the room, I will send him or her to the hall or an empty classroom next door. (Before now, no one had mentioned how I should handle discipline; the school has gate guards, so I assumed that no one would get into that much trouble if I sent the individual out. Plus, I’ve been using this system for about two months now.) Class monitors will begin taking attendance and I should be given class lists; no, I won’t understand the names, but at least I’ll know how many bodies should be sitting in my room during each meeting. Hopefully, this new arrangement will make everyone happy. (Actually, my classroom management issues have drastically reduced now that we’re watching movies for half of the period. I think it helps the students blow off some steam.)


So today was an “open campus” day where teachers from other cities, parents, and the greater Anqing public can attend classes and observe the instructors at No. 1 Middle School. I was vaguely aware that this was happening, but no one explained exactly what it meant. I knew extra people would be wandering around campus, but I didn’t think they’d want to observe me. When I woke up this morning, I was in Friday mode and almost wore jeans -- thankfully, I didn’t. As I arrived at my classroom door to set up for the day, a teeny bit later than usual, I discovered about five people waiting for me. I was slightly surprised, but began the process of readying my teaching materials. The students even arrived earlier than normal and soon there wasn’t enough room for all my guests (which had swarmed to a total of about ten). Not knowing what to do, I apologized to the visitors, but plugged through the lesson. (Some workers at the school eventually located some extra chairs and added them to my room.) Many of the visiting teachers enjoyed it so much that they asked for a copy of the presentation. 


My second class of the day only had three visitors, but I think they (mostly) enjoyed watching me.


After teaching, I had been planning to observe a friend’s history class, but I couldn’t find the room so I visited an English class instead. What a fascinating and insightful experience; it helped explain much about the Chinese education system, culture, and students’ behavior. In many ways, the lesson was well planned out and contained many aspects of the forward-thinking pedagogical practices that we learned about in our MAT program. Remember the similar-in-appearance-only concept that I’ve mentioned before? That rule also applied to the class I watched today. The teacher did a great job of introducing the content, asking questions, and supporting the students, but the essence of discovery that’s common in American-style teaching was missing. The educator introduced the topic by asking students the benefits of bicycles; she then had students read aloud a passage about Amsterdam and explain the main points of each paragraph. The students listened to a British person read the passage and paraphrased the content with specific prompts to assist them (most used exactly the same words that they had read). As I was observing, I wondered if the students truly understood what they were doing, or if they were simply parroting lines they had memorized. Sure, they had a shallow comprehension of the text and were even able to talk about if they thought that more people should ride bicycles in Anqing, but I was left feeling that something was missing. Like some deep connection hadn’t been made.


Seeing the class helped me further realize that my students lead tough lives. They may have a difficult time restraining themselves in my class or get frustrated with me that I ask so many questions. However, in the end, I’m showing them a little slice of a world outside of China and that’s worth it to me. Thanks to my time here, I’ve seen a side of life I didn’t think existed and I would like to share that feeling of discovery with my students here. 


I held another Friday Movie Lunch today. We finished A Bug’s Life and started Mulan. It was fascinating for me to observe the students’ faces as they watched the movie. One girl couldn’t stop giggling and another said, with a confused look on her face,“It’s so strange to hear ancient Chinese talking in English.”


Another girl said, “The people are too white.”


Occasionally, I would stop the film to ask the students if something portrayed in the movie was culturally “accurate”. They had fun explaining things to me and it was interesting for them to see how we view Chinese culture. 

Presents

It was a great day, filled with many joys. Recently, a number of students have been giving me small gifts of candies or cookies before class. Today I received an orange from a boy and two pieces of Almond Rocca from a girl. The Almond Rocca was extra special because it had been a gift from the girl’s elder sister after she, the older sibling, returned from a trip to the United States. I felt honored when the student gave it to me and said, “I hope it reminds you of home.” 


I received applause from a class when I was passionately explaining that American history is important and that it’s impossible to understand American culture if you don’t learn about the country’s past. I had just finished saying, “You know, American students are just like you guys. When I was teaching them about Chinese history they didn’t care. They said, ‘I’m never going to China. Why should I care? China’s not important.’ I got mad at them just like I’m getting mad at you. This stuff is important! You can’t understand America without understanding its past!” As I was pausing to take a mid-rant breath, one student started clapping and the action quickly spread throughout the room. The response was shocking, but it made my day because it showed me that the message had broken through the language and cultural barriers.


This may sound strange considering the fact that my needles have been furiously productive during my time here, but I miss knitting. I miss my knitting books, the semi-completed projects that are stored in plastic boxes, and my special crafting tools. I miss being able to read a yarn label or knowing the yarn’s content and weight. I miss placing an online order for supplies at KnitPicks.com and anxiously waiting a week for the shipment to arrive. To keep things in perspective, I keep reminding myself that I will be back to my comforts soon and that I have years to enjoy it all; now I must savor my time in China because we will be leaving shortly. We’re almost able to count our remaining weeks on our two hands. Strange, isn’t it?