Quote of yesterday via my good friend Brendon explaining the idea of gays in America to a rather homophobic woman in China.
"In America gay people have clubs and bars that they go to, to meet other gay people, so that they don't rape the non-gay people."
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Candy Theives and Mickey D's
Seriously my kids are candy whores. Not that it bothers me, I'm glad because I bought waaaay too much candy. Of course it's only day two in this holiday fiasco and it seems that I will have to buy some more before the week is over.
First of all.....let me know if this is a better template to read these blogs. I've been getting.....complaints.....about the last one hahaha. I didn't mind changing it, I needed something orange.
Saturday we made the excursion out to Dongmen..or should I say I made the excursion out to Dongmen by myself to meet the rest of my shameless crew who couldn't wait a bloody hour for me to finish my training center classes. Failures. I have no patience with these people. I am uber polite, both me and matt are really two of a kind I think and I see it now. Very rarely are these kids considerate or thoughtful, only once in a blue moon. I understand that they had to come back around 5 but it's the principal of the thing. Plus if they had waited for me I would have shown them a faster way. It took them nearly 2 hours to get there while it takes me just under an hour. Oh well, serves them right for not waiting. I got there by myself and everything. I'm sort of glad that I am learning to travel by myself instead of sticking to the group like they tend to do, makes me feel more grown up, more on my own.
All in all, shopping in Dongmen went rather well. We found some cute clothes and I learned that even in China I still tend to have a monochromatic wardrobe of blacks, whites, and greys....must fix that. I also bought some Miyazaki DVDs because no matter how low I am, Miyazaki makes it all better.
Sunday was quiet. I spent the better part of the day cleaning and organizing lesson plans, getting ready for the week. It's rough being a teacher, not to mention a teacher who doesn't have their schedule for the year mapped out for them as a lot of my teachers growing up had. I have to make up things as I go along - which sort of blows. I did have two China encounters Sunday that made up for the quiet however.
Around 2:30pm I decided to leave my cave and head out to wal-mart, find some food and then internet cafe. I stop in front of a bulletin board near my school and start to stare blankly at the Chinese characters trying to recognize any of them. All of a sudden one of the male teachers walks up to me and beckons me to come into the room where they've been having that giant teachers' test all weekend. "Weishenme?" I keep asking him in Chinese which means "why?" I can't understand what he wants me for, because they're obviously busy and I'm just the wandering foreign teacher. I enter the classroom which resembles many of the auditorium classes from college days and notice that most of the teachers have finished for the day, the only few that remain are some of the ones that I know and a few from different schools. Also the headmaster and the vice principal. None of whom speak English. I explain to them a little that I intend to go shopping and eating. One of the men (who this weird little obsession with me) says that he wants to go shopping with me sometime. I say sure, knowing what an awkward situation that would be. Suddenly help arrives in the form of my contact teacher. I tell her that they attacked me and I'm not sure why. We all chat for a while - her acting as translator - me picking up on more and more Chinese than they realize. I can't wait until the day when I can yell at them for talking about me in front of me in Chinese. Can't. Wait.
Eventually I bid them adieu because they need to get back to work and I make my way off for food. I cop out and decide that I'll be having McDonald's...1. because it's edible and 2. because I'm not too nervous about eating there by myself, and 3. because I know what the food will taste like. I sit down with my food and my book and enjoy myself. About 10 minutes later I'm passed by a small group of kids in party hats heading for the counter for ice cream. I get the obligatory double take from them as they pass. I keep reading. When they come back my way to return to their seats I get a couple "hellos!" to which I give the natural response and continue on reading.
About 5 minutes later I am distracted from my story by the same "hello." When I look up it is the same gaggle of kids. The oldest one is holding one of the party hats out to me and says shyly, "this is for you." Wide eyed and smiling I thank her and then they all giggle and rush back to their area of the MacDonald's. I stare at the hat, it's green with a hippo on the front of it. Too cute. What to do? Well, I had to go find these little buttons before I left. So I abandoned my empty tray (which by the way is what you do here, you don't bus your own table and believe me, it's really weird) and headed in the direction they went. I come upon their party in the back corner of the restaurant, all full of giggling and happiness. It must be someone's birthday (I;m kicking myself because I forgot to ask at the time) so I ask if I can take a picture with them. I manage to get the three older girls in the photo and we all put on our awesome hats. They tell me their English names and that they attend Anle primary school (which is actually right next the MacDonald's). I tell them who I am and where I teach. It's about this time that the teeniest one looks at me and says "my name is sissy and I am FOUR!" You haven't seen cute until you've had this done to you by a four year old Chinese little girl. Oh my God. Precious. I thank them for the hat a tell them goodbye and skip all the way to the bus stop.
I'm going to interject here. Mom tipped me on to something that I realize I may or may not have covered and that is the atmosphere of my teaching experience. Every class I walk into is packed with between 50-60 students. It is me against them, there is no translator, there is no helper teacher - just me and them. We get along relatively well, as long as I keep them fairly entertained. If they act up I usually have to quiet them down with a smart and loud "ANJING" which means BE QUIET. Usually when I say it one or two other kids in the class will scream it until they shut up. If a specific kid is acting up I'll sit him in front of the class until he can prove that he can behave. If the whole class won't settle down I explain that we can either do the fun thing that we're doing or we can do book work (which I don't like and they don't like). I've only had to resort to canceling a fun activity in one class so far. I have my good kids and I have my bad kids and I have favorites in both of these groups. I also have my smart mouths who are generally really bright but like to mouth off. In my opinion if they're mouthing off in English okay, Chinese not okay. My younger kids I tend to have more fun with because they are more easy-going and enjoy almost anything. However they are more often the ones that I have trouble keeping quiet most of the time. They do tend to be the cutest little things though. Their ages range from 10-14. The older kids tend to be anywhere from 13-16 and tend to be a little rougher around the edges. Sometimes they don't want to do things, or they find it boring. It really depends on the class with these guys. I'm going to have to do more topic lessons with them and more things to get them engaged in conversation. Some of my older kids are really bright though I have to hand it to them which makes it fun to teach them as well.
So far in my classes we haven't done too much but we've covered introductions, greetings, describing, some brief American culture and now Halloween. Next week they go off to military training for a week so I get a bit of a break. The week after is mid-terms I've been told. There's no rest for these kids!!
First of all.....let me know if this is a better template to read these blogs. I've been getting.....complaints.....about the last one hahaha. I didn't mind changing it, I needed something orange.
Saturday we made the excursion out to Dongmen..or should I say I made the excursion out to Dongmen by myself to meet the rest of my shameless crew who couldn't wait a bloody hour for me to finish my training center classes. Failures. I have no patience with these people. I am uber polite, both me and matt are really two of a kind I think and I see it now. Very rarely are these kids considerate or thoughtful, only once in a blue moon. I understand that they had to come back around 5 but it's the principal of the thing. Plus if they had waited for me I would have shown them a faster way. It took them nearly 2 hours to get there while it takes me just under an hour. Oh well, serves them right for not waiting. I got there by myself and everything. I'm sort of glad that I am learning to travel by myself instead of sticking to the group like they tend to do, makes me feel more grown up, more on my own.
All in all, shopping in Dongmen went rather well. We found some cute clothes and I learned that even in China I still tend to have a monochromatic wardrobe of blacks, whites, and greys....must fix that. I also bought some Miyazaki DVDs because no matter how low I am, Miyazaki makes it all better.
Sunday was quiet. I spent the better part of the day cleaning and organizing lesson plans, getting ready for the week. It's rough being a teacher, not to mention a teacher who doesn't have their schedule for the year mapped out for them as a lot of my teachers growing up had. I have to make up things as I go along - which sort of blows. I did have two China encounters Sunday that made up for the quiet however.
Around 2:30pm I decided to leave my cave and head out to wal-mart, find some food and then internet cafe. I stop in front of a bulletin board near my school and start to stare blankly at the Chinese characters trying to recognize any of them. All of a sudden one of the male teachers walks up to me and beckons me to come into the room where they've been having that giant teachers' test all weekend. "Weishenme?" I keep asking him in Chinese which means "why?" I can't understand what he wants me for, because they're obviously busy and I'm just the wandering foreign teacher. I enter the classroom which resembles many of the auditorium classes from college days and notice that most of the teachers have finished for the day, the only few that remain are some of the ones that I know and a few from different schools. Also the headmaster and the vice principal. None of whom speak English. I explain to them a little that I intend to go shopping and eating. One of the men (who this weird little obsession with me) says that he wants to go shopping with me sometime. I say sure, knowing what an awkward situation that would be. Suddenly help arrives in the form of my contact teacher. I tell her that they attacked me and I'm not sure why. We all chat for a while - her acting as translator - me picking up on more and more Chinese than they realize. I can't wait until the day when I can yell at them for talking about me in front of me in Chinese. Can't. Wait.
Eventually I bid them adieu because they need to get back to work and I make my way off for food. I cop out and decide that I'll be having McDonald's...1. because it's edible and 2. because I'm not too nervous about eating there by myself, and 3. because I know what the food will taste like. I sit down with my food and my book and enjoy myself. About 10 minutes later I'm passed by a small group of kids in party hats heading for the counter for ice cream. I get the obligatory double take from them as they pass. I keep reading. When they come back my way to return to their seats I get a couple "hellos!" to which I give the natural response and continue on reading.
About 5 minutes later I am distracted from my story by the same "hello." When I look up it is the same gaggle of kids. The oldest one is holding one of the party hats out to me and says shyly, "this is for you." Wide eyed and smiling I thank her and then they all giggle and rush back to their area of the MacDonald's. I stare at the hat, it's green with a hippo on the front of it. Too cute. What to do? Well, I had to go find these little buttons before I left. So I abandoned my empty tray (which by the way is what you do here, you don't bus your own table and believe me, it's really weird) and headed in the direction they went. I come upon their party in the back corner of the restaurant, all full of giggling and happiness. It must be someone's birthday (I;m kicking myself because I forgot to ask at the time) so I ask if I can take a picture with them. I manage to get the three older girls in the photo and we all put on our awesome hats. They tell me their English names and that they attend Anle primary school (which is actually right next the MacDonald's). I tell them who I am and where I teach. It's about this time that the teeniest one looks at me and says "my name is sissy and I am FOUR!" You haven't seen cute until you've had this done to you by a four year old Chinese little girl. Oh my God. Precious. I thank them for the hat a tell them goodbye and skip all the way to the bus stop.
I'm going to interject here. Mom tipped me on to something that I realize I may or may not have covered and that is the atmosphere of my teaching experience. Every class I walk into is packed with between 50-60 students. It is me against them, there is no translator, there is no helper teacher - just me and them. We get along relatively well, as long as I keep them fairly entertained. If they act up I usually have to quiet them down with a smart and loud "ANJING" which means BE QUIET. Usually when I say it one or two other kids in the class will scream it until they shut up. If a specific kid is acting up I'll sit him in front of the class until he can prove that he can behave. If the whole class won't settle down I explain that we can either do the fun thing that we're doing or we can do book work (which I don't like and they don't like). I've only had to resort to canceling a fun activity in one class so far. I have my good kids and I have my bad kids and I have favorites in both of these groups. I also have my smart mouths who are generally really bright but like to mouth off. In my opinion if they're mouthing off in English okay, Chinese not okay. My younger kids I tend to have more fun with because they are more easy-going and enjoy almost anything. However they are more often the ones that I have trouble keeping quiet most of the time. They do tend to be the cutest little things though. Their ages range from 10-14. The older kids tend to be anywhere from 13-16 and tend to be a little rougher around the edges. Sometimes they don't want to do things, or they find it boring. It really depends on the class with these guys. I'm going to have to do more topic lessons with them and more things to get them engaged in conversation. Some of my older kids are really bright though I have to hand it to them which makes it fun to teach them as well.
So far in my classes we haven't done too much but we've covered introductions, greetings, describing, some brief American culture and now Halloween. Next week they go off to military training for a week so I get a bit of a break. The week after is mid-terms I've been told. There's no rest for these kids!!
Thursday, October 23, 2008
And then there was that time where my knowledge of hospitals came in handy
Seriously youku.com! Wtf. I was able to watch Doctor Who the other day, why won't you let it work nooooooooooow? >:-( I wasn't even finished with the episode....that's just cruel.
So yesterday this little girl comes into my office and starts to ask me in English if I will teach her class tomorrow. I look at her and ask if she's from class one, because, why yes I do teach class one tomorrow. Then she says, no, she's from junior three. Aha. She's from class one. The ominous class that I haven't met yet because of events on Fridays that just happened to coincide with my meeting them (such as police station and sports day) I got attacked by said class on sports day with a lot of "why have you not come to our class teacher?" "We really want to meet you!" Man, if this doesn't make me feel loved, I don't know what does. I have them third period and I'm actually a little bit nervous. These kids have the best grasp of English in the school. I feel like I should prepare something special for them. However not having enough time, after last night's adventures, I will have to do introductions and questions for the teacher again. (Intros they love because we get to throw that ball around) I just don't want to let them down. I feel that my classes as of late have not exactly been up to their allotted potential and I know that they are expecting greatness. Living up to the expectations of children is one of the tallest orders anyone can ask for - I think.
So Wednesday I walked out to the gate to wait for my ride to Chinese class (i.e. the bus that will be the death of me someday) and I come onto a scene involving police officers, parked cars, and what used to be a perfectly decent bicycle. It seemed that one of the students had been hit by a taxi crossing the street on their bike. Granted I had just left a small group of students when I left the cafeteria only about 10 minutes before. I found the nearest english speaking teacher and drilled her as to what happened, what grade level, was it a boy or girl. It was a boy - luckily that ruled out my stalker girl - from grade two. Now grade two is not my grade, but I still love all these kids so my heart was pulling. I also didn't see the kid. He was taken to the hospital before I had come on the scene and no one seemed to be able to explain it correctly. Here was was opinion I got.......omg chinese people..... "He is feeling a bit dizzy, I hope he will live." WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN?? Gosh Tina! The kids really didn't know how he was, or if it was serious, I kept getting different answers from people. So me and stalker friend decided to go and visit him yesterday after school because he is a classmate of hers. We brought him some candy.
When we got to the hospital, she found that it was much bigger and more confusing than she remembered. Luckily...there was English and chinese. And not only english.....hospital english. "Radiology area, Out Patient Ward, Internal Medicine, Radiation Oncology ward (def not there) Surgery" I was back home. You would have thought I had worked there, I walked with purpose to the area that I figured he would be (Internal Patients) up to the 5th floor (peds). She asked me why we were going to the baby area and I told her it was because pedeatrics was for any kid under 18 - which she refused to believe me. When we got to peds we found that, no in fact he was in the out patient are, in the other building. So back down the stairs we went. When we came to the elevator there were more signs in English. She said that she was adamant that he was on the fifth floor. Fifth floor said "Surgery ward/Orthopedics" I asked "Are you sure?" The students really had no idea what kind of shape this kid was in.
We took the lift up to the fifth floor and asked the reception nurse where the boy was and we took a left down a hallway filled with people in casts and have ligaments set back in place. The room he was supposed to be in was filled with men all sitting around eating boxed lunches. We went in and she asked them if the boy was there and they pointed to the adjoining room. The mother and father came out and said that he was sleeping, but we could go inside. This poor thing had deep cuts on his shoulder, his side, near his lungs, his knee and his hip. Apparently he had had surgery on his hip and collar bone and on his foot that was in traction (I can relate to that) My heart broke, this was alot worse than they made it out to be, and I think that Katherine was shocked as well. Her face dropped, she was expecting him sitting in bed, eating soup and to be back in a week's time, but here was her friend, laying in pain and seriously wounded. We were going to let him sleep and just leave the candy, but when we were turning to go the father came and told us that he had woken. When he saw Katherine he smiled a little, weakly though, but when he saw me his eyes went a little wide and he tried to cover his naked chest - to which his mother yelled at him for touching the cloth to his injuries. I knew he was embaressed so I asked him if he felt any pain and he said no (he was more than likely on Chinese morphine) and I told him he was very strong and that we were very worried. I told him that we would look forward to his coming back and then I told Katherine that maybe we should go and let him sleep.
His mother walked us to the elevator. I could tell that the poor woman was holding herself together for her son but she was shaky. I put my hand on her arm and had Katherine translate a little for me. I told her that her son was very strong and it was a very good sign that he was up and awake. I told her that he would be fine. She nodded a little and I think even if she didn't understand that us being kind and paying her son a visit was enough. Me and a very dejected Katherine got into the elevator and headed back downstairs. The poor girl was shocked. She said that she didn't expect him to look like that, like he was in so much pain. She felt like crying, she didn't understand why these things happen to good boys and girls and not to bad people. She didn't want to go home feeling upset. I wasn't sure what to do. So we walked in the nearby park. It was none other than the first park in Xin An that Benny took me to back in September. It was pretty and clean and we wandered around talking for a while. She told me about the boy in the hospital and how he sat near her in class and how they would make jokes and help each other with homework. Then I realized he was her version of my Curt -san when we were in Japanese class. I explained to her about me and my friend who was like that. (The subject of "romantic love" as she calls it always seems to brighten her up a little)
As we were walking and talking we came upon an area in the park where people were learning to dance. We decided that this would be the perfect thing to take our minds off of her friend being in the hospital. We decided that we would learn the dance moves. The funny thing about Chinese music is that it each has it's own complicated dance moves (sort of like line dancing or THE HUSTLE) each one is slightly different and I've decided impossible for a foreigner to figure out (especially one with two left feet) but we tried anyways - and we made fools of ourselves. But we had fun. We did this for about an hour, and after sweating our butts off and learning some sweet dance moves (that I will never remember) we headed back to the bus to go home. I treated her to an ice cream at McDonalds and I think she was a lot better by the time she left to go home.
I'm glad I saw the boy. If I hadn't I would have been worrying nonstop, but now I know that he will be okay. Waking up and talking is always a good sign. I do think that it will be more than a month before he is back, but I can't wait to welcome him back with the rest of the staff and the kids. Until then I will continue to pray for him as I ask you guys to do please.
Side Note: I just finished teaching my Junior Three (one) class and it went awesomely. They were attentive and they did what I asked of them. We did the introductions and English name thing and then I had them ask me questions. One sneaky little one named Sara asked me a question and then right after asked if I knew any songs. Haha. I've been teaching "Take Me Home Country Roads" to a few of my Junior one classes so it's been stuck in my head all week. So I cleared my throat and sang a shaky if not decent version of the chorus - to which I was met with a round of applause. Now these adorable kids applauded me when I walked in and when I left too. They're really good students, I just hope that I can live up to their expectations of an English teacher. P.s. This is for mom - They knew NBA and they were the first class to know our basketball team PISTONS. One had a newspaper and pointed out Chancey Billups and Sheed Wallace. Lol. Awesome. I was psyched. I think I'm going to go curl into a ball and study chinese and cry because I feel so loved today :-D.
So yesterday this little girl comes into my office and starts to ask me in English if I will teach her class tomorrow. I look at her and ask if she's from class one, because, why yes I do teach class one tomorrow. Then she says, no, she's from junior three. Aha. She's from class one. The ominous class that I haven't met yet because of events on Fridays that just happened to coincide with my meeting them (such as police station and sports day) I got attacked by said class on sports day with a lot of "why have you not come to our class teacher?" "We really want to meet you!" Man, if this doesn't make me feel loved, I don't know what does. I have them third period and I'm actually a little bit nervous. These kids have the best grasp of English in the school. I feel like I should prepare something special for them. However not having enough time, after last night's adventures, I will have to do introductions and questions for the teacher again. (Intros they love because we get to throw that ball around) I just don't want to let them down. I feel that my classes as of late have not exactly been up to their allotted potential and I know that they are expecting greatness. Living up to the expectations of children is one of the tallest orders anyone can ask for - I think.
So Wednesday I walked out to the gate to wait for my ride to Chinese class (i.e. the bus that will be the death of me someday) and I come onto a scene involving police officers, parked cars, and what used to be a perfectly decent bicycle. It seemed that one of the students had been hit by a taxi crossing the street on their bike. Granted I had just left a small group of students when I left the cafeteria only about 10 minutes before. I found the nearest english speaking teacher and drilled her as to what happened, what grade level, was it a boy or girl. It was a boy - luckily that ruled out my stalker girl - from grade two. Now grade two is not my grade, but I still love all these kids so my heart was pulling. I also didn't see the kid. He was taken to the hospital before I had come on the scene and no one seemed to be able to explain it correctly. Here was was opinion I got.......omg chinese people..... "He is feeling a bit dizzy, I hope he will live." WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN?? Gosh Tina! The kids really didn't know how he was, or if it was serious, I kept getting different answers from people. So me and stalker friend decided to go and visit him yesterday after school because he is a classmate of hers. We brought him some candy.
When we got to the hospital, she found that it was much bigger and more confusing than she remembered. Luckily...there was English and chinese. And not only english.....hospital english. "Radiology area, Out Patient Ward, Internal Medicine, Radiation Oncology ward (def not there) Surgery" I was back home. You would have thought I had worked there, I walked with purpose to the area that I figured he would be (Internal Patients) up to the 5th floor (peds). She asked me why we were going to the baby area and I told her it was because pedeatrics was for any kid under 18 - which she refused to believe me. When we got to peds we found that, no in fact he was in the out patient are, in the other building. So back down the stairs we went. When we came to the elevator there were more signs in English. She said that she was adamant that he was on the fifth floor. Fifth floor said "Surgery ward/Orthopedics" I asked "Are you sure?" The students really had no idea what kind of shape this kid was in.
We took the lift up to the fifth floor and asked the reception nurse where the boy was and we took a left down a hallway filled with people in casts and have ligaments set back in place. The room he was supposed to be in was filled with men all sitting around eating boxed lunches. We went in and she asked them if the boy was there and they pointed to the adjoining room. The mother and father came out and said that he was sleeping, but we could go inside. This poor thing had deep cuts on his shoulder, his side, near his lungs, his knee and his hip. Apparently he had had surgery on his hip and collar bone and on his foot that was in traction (I can relate to that) My heart broke, this was alot worse than they made it out to be, and I think that Katherine was shocked as well. Her face dropped, she was expecting him sitting in bed, eating soup and to be back in a week's time, but here was her friend, laying in pain and seriously wounded. We were going to let him sleep and just leave the candy, but when we were turning to go the father came and told us that he had woken. When he saw Katherine he smiled a little, weakly though, but when he saw me his eyes went a little wide and he tried to cover his naked chest - to which his mother yelled at him for touching the cloth to his injuries. I knew he was embaressed so I asked him if he felt any pain and he said no (he was more than likely on Chinese morphine) and I told him he was very strong and that we were very worried. I told him that we would look forward to his coming back and then I told Katherine that maybe we should go and let him sleep.
His mother walked us to the elevator. I could tell that the poor woman was holding herself together for her son but she was shaky. I put my hand on her arm and had Katherine translate a little for me. I told her that her son was very strong and it was a very good sign that he was up and awake. I told her that he would be fine. She nodded a little and I think even if she didn't understand that us being kind and paying her son a visit was enough. Me and a very dejected Katherine got into the elevator and headed back downstairs. The poor girl was shocked. She said that she didn't expect him to look like that, like he was in so much pain. She felt like crying, she didn't understand why these things happen to good boys and girls and not to bad people. She didn't want to go home feeling upset. I wasn't sure what to do. So we walked in the nearby park. It was none other than the first park in Xin An that Benny took me to back in September. It was pretty and clean and we wandered around talking for a while. She told me about the boy in the hospital and how he sat near her in class and how they would make jokes and help each other with homework. Then I realized he was her version of my Curt -san when we were in Japanese class. I explained to her about me and my friend who was like that. (The subject of "romantic love" as she calls it always seems to brighten her up a little)
As we were walking and talking we came upon an area in the park where people were learning to dance. We decided that this would be the perfect thing to take our minds off of her friend being in the hospital. We decided that we would learn the dance moves. The funny thing about Chinese music is that it each has it's own complicated dance moves (sort of like line dancing or THE HUSTLE) each one is slightly different and I've decided impossible for a foreigner to figure out (especially one with two left feet) but we tried anyways - and we made fools of ourselves. But we had fun. We did this for about an hour, and after sweating our butts off and learning some sweet dance moves (that I will never remember) we headed back to the bus to go home. I treated her to an ice cream at McDonalds and I think she was a lot better by the time she left to go home.
I'm glad I saw the boy. If I hadn't I would have been worrying nonstop, but now I know that he will be okay. Waking up and talking is always a good sign. I do think that it will be more than a month before he is back, but I can't wait to welcome him back with the rest of the staff and the kids. Until then I will continue to pray for him as I ask you guys to do please.
Side Note: I just finished teaching my Junior Three (one) class and it went awesomely. They were attentive and they did what I asked of them. We did the introductions and English name thing and then I had them ask me questions. One sneaky little one named Sara asked me a question and then right after asked if I knew any songs. Haha. I've been teaching "Take Me Home Country Roads" to a few of my Junior one classes so it's been stuck in my head all week. So I cleared my throat and sang a shaky if not decent version of the chorus - to which I was met with a round of applause. Now these adorable kids applauded me when I walked in and when I left too. They're really good students, I just hope that I can live up to their expectations of an English teacher. P.s. This is for mom - They knew NBA and they were the first class to know our basketball team PISTONS. One had a newspaper and pointed out Chancey Billups and Sheed Wallace. Lol. Awesome. I was psyched. I think I'm going to go curl into a ball and study chinese and cry because I feel so loved today :-D.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Maybe it's because the English have invaded...
or maybe it's because I'm not in the right climate, but something doesn't feel right. It could also be the fact that I'm not getting enough sleep lately. I keep having to stay up late to rewrite my lesson plans. The ones as of late are not going the best way I'd want them to. Some classes excel and other classes flop. It's a little frustrating. I've also encountered some more of the dreaded writer's block because of this and that is why there have been a lack of posts. This is not to say that there has been a lack of interesting things that have happened, I just haven't been in the mood to share. And of course I feel bad about this, but at the same time can't even remember half of the stuff that's happened in the past few days. I think I'm going to have a nap before supposed J.J. dinner tonight.
My kids are darlings as usual, sometimes obnoxious but most of the time I could pinch them. The singing lesson that I've planned for this week is a bit trying, I have to say. They just get it in some classes and in other classes they just don't want to. Maybe tomorrow we'll cut the song out in favor of something else. Or they can just listen to the music. I have been giving mini performances of "Country Roads" in classes lately and almost every time I get an applause. Haha I guess my fear of singing in public is getting cured FAST.
Any thoughts on what to teach kids about Halloween (or how). I'm a little slow to jump to this topic even though it's my favorite. We can't have a party because that night I can't stay at the school cuz I have class and then Halloween party at night. I still want them to have fun. I am going to paint my face a little bit each day (I bought goache paints hopefully those will work just as well as acrylics and hopefully the Chinese won't mind) and going to look for a costume this weekend in Dongmen.
Funny thing - the other day I was shopping in Wal-mart (which I can happily say that I can make my way to and from now without getting lost) with my little stalker friend. We were perusing the bread section and then out of nowhere this guy says "Hello how are you?" Since English is always refreshing to hear here in Bao'an where not alot of people speak decent English, I happily returned the greeting. Then he gives me this sly knowing look and says "I am from Japan." "Honto ni?" I say which in Japanese means "really."
He starts to give me the common phrases "konnichiwa." "konbanwa" "arigato gozaimasu." However I'm not convinced so I ask him "anata ga nihongo wo hanshimasuka?" He gives me a blank look. I smile.
Meanwhile my little chinese stalker friend is eyeing him quizzically. She starts talking at him in spit fire Chinese., asking him questions, yelling at him and then she turns to me.
"I don't think that he is Japanese," she says in English. He turns to me and says "No I am Japanese, I am." - In English of course.
After about 10 more minutes of her giving him the third degree she has discovered that he is in fact Chinese. I look from her to him and I smile at her. I tell her, "Of course he's not Japanese! I asked him in Japanese 'do you speak Japanese' and he obviously didn't understand me! I knew he was not Japanese 10 minutes ago! She laughed at this.
He wasn't a mean man he was just trying to make a joke. He explained that before he had met a Russian girl and the same trick had worked on her. I proceeded to tell him that it's because Russians aren't that bright ( I kid, I kid) He told us his name was Diego. Ok. Really? A Chinese man who pretends to be Japanese, speaks a little English, and has a Spanish name. That's a little bit too many cultures, even for me. Stalker friend said it was time to go so we peaced out but not before I gave him my name. Not my phone number, I'll wait until I see him stalking around Wal-mart again - pretending to be African or something.
Things are pretty quiet as of right now. Probably because all the teachers are busy studying for their "to become a permanent teacher" exam. It's so weird to realize that it's Halloween and yet it's not celebrated here. It's a little bit of a downer, have to tell you. But that's okay. I'm going to teach them about Halloween anyways. I'm determined to spread the love. I just hope I can buy enough candy :-/
Side note: I have my address almost translated from the super bad handwriting of my contact teacher. When I get it fully translated (via J.J. hopefully tonight) I will send it in an email to mom and some others. Both the Chinese and the English. My advice as has been told to me buy others who have mailed things - print it out and use the Chinese and English. It'll work faster and better and they won't have to fumble with things they can't understand. No you won't have to write it, I'm almost positive. Thank you for being so patient with me. I'm off to finish watching 'The Nightmare Before Christmas" online and then I'm going to take a nap. China beat me up this week.
See you guys later!
My kids are darlings as usual, sometimes obnoxious but most of the time I could pinch them. The singing lesson that I've planned for this week is a bit trying, I have to say. They just get it in some classes and in other classes they just don't want to. Maybe tomorrow we'll cut the song out in favor of something else. Or they can just listen to the music. I have been giving mini performances of "Country Roads" in classes lately and almost every time I get an applause. Haha I guess my fear of singing in public is getting cured FAST.
Any thoughts on what to teach kids about Halloween (or how). I'm a little slow to jump to this topic even though it's my favorite. We can't have a party because that night I can't stay at the school cuz I have class and then Halloween party at night. I still want them to have fun. I am going to paint my face a little bit each day (I bought goache paints hopefully those will work just as well as acrylics and hopefully the Chinese won't mind) and going to look for a costume this weekend in Dongmen.
Funny thing - the other day I was shopping in Wal-mart (which I can happily say that I can make my way to and from now without getting lost) with my little stalker friend. We were perusing the bread section and then out of nowhere this guy says "Hello how are you?" Since English is always refreshing to hear here in Bao'an where not alot of people speak decent English, I happily returned the greeting. Then he gives me this sly knowing look and says "I am from Japan." "Honto ni?" I say which in Japanese means "really."
He starts to give me the common phrases "konnichiwa." "konbanwa" "arigato gozaimasu." However I'm not convinced so I ask him "anata ga nihongo wo hanshimasuka?" He gives me a blank look. I smile.
Meanwhile my little chinese stalker friend is eyeing him quizzically. She starts talking at him in spit fire Chinese., asking him questions, yelling at him and then she turns to me.
"I don't think that he is Japanese," she says in English. He turns to me and says "No I am Japanese, I am." - In English of course.
After about 10 more minutes of her giving him the third degree she has discovered that he is in fact Chinese. I look from her to him and I smile at her. I tell her, "Of course he's not Japanese! I asked him in Japanese 'do you speak Japanese' and he obviously didn't understand me! I knew he was not Japanese 10 minutes ago! She laughed at this.
He wasn't a mean man he was just trying to make a joke. He explained that before he had met a Russian girl and the same trick had worked on her. I proceeded to tell him that it's because Russians aren't that bright ( I kid, I kid) He told us his name was Diego. Ok. Really? A Chinese man who pretends to be Japanese, speaks a little English, and has a Spanish name. That's a little bit too many cultures, even for me. Stalker friend said it was time to go so we peaced out but not before I gave him my name. Not my phone number, I'll wait until I see him stalking around Wal-mart again - pretending to be African or something.
Things are pretty quiet as of right now. Probably because all the teachers are busy studying for their "to become a permanent teacher" exam. It's so weird to realize that it's Halloween and yet it's not celebrated here. It's a little bit of a downer, have to tell you. But that's okay. I'm going to teach them about Halloween anyways. I'm determined to spread the love. I just hope I can buy enough candy :-/
Side note: I have my address almost translated from the super bad handwriting of my contact teacher. When I get it fully translated (via J.J. hopefully tonight) I will send it in an email to mom and some others. Both the Chinese and the English. My advice as has been told to me buy others who have mailed things - print it out and use the Chinese and English. It'll work faster and better and they won't have to fumble with things they can't understand. No you won't have to write it, I'm almost positive. Thank you for being so patient with me. I'm off to finish watching 'The Nightmare Before Christmas" online and then I'm going to take a nap. China beat me up this week.
See you guys later!
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Bao'an boondocks
So yesterday after a rousing "game" of ping pong where I'm learning how to play the Chinese way yet again (and progressing, apparently) I decided that last night would be a good night to attempt to learn the buses and find wal-mart. I could see that there was a wal-mart plain as day on the map that the last foreign teacher had left, I just hadn't been able to find it yet.
So, armed with said map, my book, my ipod blaring Steven Lynch into my ears and about 300 kuai - I marched off to the bus station near my dorms. Remembering what James had said, I hopped onto the 632 and prayed that it would eventually make it's way down the giant blue that all foreigners cling to upon arriving in China. Wal-mart is useful because not only is it cheap but you can often find American products and (even more precious) American sizes.
The bus zipped around going straight and then veering left off into God knows where. I clung to my purse and tried the avoid the stares from the people on the bus, or at least the double-takes, which I actually find funny. Then, only about 10 minutes later - success! I saw that big familiar blue sign looming out in the distance. I smiled and only had to wait until the driver passed it about a quarter of a mile down the road so that I could get off and walk. I was proud. I had found what I was looking for. Something that can be very difficult for me at times......I'm very Ryouga when it comes to stuff like this.
While walking I noticed a common phenomenon in China, a group of about 30 Chinese gathered outside of a shop because a large TV is playing a movie. It's like a small, white-trash, out-door movie theater. The wide screen TV was promoting the movie Hulk with Edward Norton, whom I love, so I had no choice but to stop and watch with the rest of them. There was a grandma sitting with a teeny baby and bouncing him as she made exploding noises while his face was glued to the screen. As was everyone else's. Every once in a while a car would want to get through (on the sidewalk mind you) and would honk for us to move. People would shift positions until the car had passed and then move back to get a better view. I had an advantage due to the fact that I was taller than about half of them.
I watched about the last 20 minutes until the end of the movie and when the credits started rolling I moved on away from the rest of the group and headed for wal-mart. Inside it was clean and big and welcoming. I meandered through the aisles and up onto the different floors picking up the essentials and some things I didn't expect to find (such as a set of gouache paints and paint brushes and a double copy of Pride and Prejudice and Atonement). After paying I headed over to the star bucks for some much needed sit down time and a drink. I was greeted by the kid over the counter in English, which was a pleasant surprise. Although maybe I shouldn't have been so surprised - it was starbucks after all. I ordered a mango smoothie (I don't drink coffee) and after picking it up sat down in one of the comfy chairs. I pulled out my book and read for awhile, every now and again sipping on the fruity drink.
Around 9 I decided it was time to head home. I've been staying up too late for my own good lately (nothing to do with drinking, just doing things are the house) and I needed to sleep tonight. I wasn't exactly sure where the bus stop to get back on the 632 was so I wandered around. Using my sense of direction I know that I only needed to go East since the Wal-mart was West so I headed in the appropriate direction. Unfortunately while looking at the all signs saying which buses are available I couldn't find the 632. Even after crossing the giant foot bridge and wandering over to the correct side of the street.
I decided that no harm could come from riding the same bus that had brought me to wal-mart. Maybe they go in a circle, I thought and hopped back on the 632 which had taken me to wal-mart in the first place. I even met the girl who is an English assistant at the training center where I teach on Saturdays. As I watch the scenery pass by I realize that I am more than likely not going the correct direction, but I sit and wait patiently as more and more people get off the bus. My friend leaves and then it is just me and another Chinese dude. Finally at the last stop that he gets off, the driver turns to me and points to the door and says some random Chinese that I figure means "last stop." So I hop off the bus, a bit dejected, but no worse for the ware.
Ya'll I was in Bao'an Boondocks. I don't even know where I was. It was China ghetto with crazy shops and little mom and pop restaurants everywhere and dark alley streets. I'm going to be honest. I don't have that fear of China that they try to put into your head so that you'll be safe against muggers. This place feels cozy compared to Pontiac. So I start walking. I see a busy road ahead and make my way for it. No bus stops though, so as before I make my way in the opposite direction from which I came. I walk and walk, when I pass bus stops I check for the bus I need but with no result. I forever had hope on my side, and if all else failed I could always hail a taxi home. Those things never stop running.
I started walking towards the non-ghetto-looking side of the city, all the while passing staring faces and motor bikes that kept honking trying to get me to get on. These weren't sleazy men, they are sort of like a taxi service. You hop on the back of a bike and they'll take you where you want to go. Too bad I neither knew where I was, nor which way I wanted to go. And I wasn't about to go trusting a guy who drove along the highway on a moped with no helmet.
I walked for about an hour. Always checking the signs on the bus stops. At last I found on that had the characters for my school on it. When I checked the time I found out that it stopped running at 9:20. It was nearly 10:00. Feeling dejected I turned down the final street and hailed a cab, there was no bus, I was lost, tired and frustrated and I just longed to go home and sleep. The heavy bag holding my purchases was getting heavier by the moment and I could feel the weight of my dejection along with it.
The cab pulled over and I asked him if he knew 海滨中学。He gave me that look, like he had no idea what I'd just said. They told us in the program that if the cab driver looks like he has no clue don't get in the cab. I asked again, telling him it was a school. Then he nodded his head. I said in English "you sure?" and looked at him quizzically. He nodded again and I got in. I didn't care at the moment. He had a better idea of where I was at the moment than I did. Pride hurt and foot sore I slumped into the front seat and huddled my purse to me, my shopping bag at my feet. The cab driver got on the radio and I heard him ask about where exactly my school was. He seemed to get a confirmation and sped in the complete opposite direction of the way that I was walking. Great. Fail. Feeling even more dejected I cupped my head in my hands and watched the passing lights as we sped off into the night, maybe towards my school, maybe to the nearest brothel - who knew.
About 15 minutes later we made a turn and things were familiar. I could cry. Where had I gone. I had no idea. I was in the sticks too far from home. I felt like crying, but I held together. I guided him with points and grunting noises until we turned onto the correct street and pulled up in front of my gate. I could have kissed him. If I'd had more money I would have tipped him a whole bunch. I thank thank thanked him over and over and again and then said good bye. I think at the moment he knew my desperation and my gratefulness because he smiled. I grabbed my things and made for my room, glad to be rid of the confusing streets of China for yet another day. I collapsed in bed and thanked my lucky stars for cab drivers, for English speaking barristas, and for the small amount of Chinese that I know.
So, armed with said map, my book, my ipod blaring Steven Lynch into my ears and about 300 kuai - I marched off to the bus station near my dorms. Remembering what James had said, I hopped onto the 632 and prayed that it would eventually make it's way down the giant blue that all foreigners cling to upon arriving in China. Wal-mart is useful because not only is it cheap but you can often find American products and (even more precious) American sizes.
The bus zipped around going straight and then veering left off into God knows where. I clung to my purse and tried the avoid the stares from the people on the bus, or at least the double-takes, which I actually find funny. Then, only about 10 minutes later - success! I saw that big familiar blue sign looming out in the distance. I smiled and only had to wait until the driver passed it about a quarter of a mile down the road so that I could get off and walk. I was proud. I had found what I was looking for. Something that can be very difficult for me at times......I'm very Ryouga when it comes to stuff like this.
While walking I noticed a common phenomenon in China, a group of about 30 Chinese gathered outside of a shop because a large TV is playing a movie. It's like a small, white-trash, out-door movie theater. The wide screen TV was promoting the movie Hulk with Edward Norton, whom I love, so I had no choice but to stop and watch with the rest of them. There was a grandma sitting with a teeny baby and bouncing him as she made exploding noises while his face was glued to the screen. As was everyone else's. Every once in a while a car would want to get through (on the sidewalk mind you) and would honk for us to move. People would shift positions until the car had passed and then move back to get a better view. I had an advantage due to the fact that I was taller than about half of them.
I watched about the last 20 minutes until the end of the movie and when the credits started rolling I moved on away from the rest of the group and headed for wal-mart. Inside it was clean and big and welcoming. I meandered through the aisles and up onto the different floors picking up the essentials and some things I didn't expect to find (such as a set of gouache paints and paint brushes and a double copy of Pride and Prejudice and Atonement). After paying I headed over to the star bucks for some much needed sit down time and a drink. I was greeted by the kid over the counter in English, which was a pleasant surprise. Although maybe I shouldn't have been so surprised - it was starbucks after all. I ordered a mango smoothie (I don't drink coffee) and after picking it up sat down in one of the comfy chairs. I pulled out my book and read for awhile, every now and again sipping on the fruity drink.
Around 9 I decided it was time to head home. I've been staying up too late for my own good lately (nothing to do with drinking, just doing things are the house) and I needed to sleep tonight. I wasn't exactly sure where the bus stop to get back on the 632 was so I wandered around. Using my sense of direction I know that I only needed to go East since the Wal-mart was West so I headed in the appropriate direction. Unfortunately while looking at the all signs saying which buses are available I couldn't find the 632. Even after crossing the giant foot bridge and wandering over to the correct side of the street.
I decided that no harm could come from riding the same bus that had brought me to wal-mart. Maybe they go in a circle, I thought and hopped back on the 632 which had taken me to wal-mart in the first place. I even met the girl who is an English assistant at the training center where I teach on Saturdays. As I watch the scenery pass by I realize that I am more than likely not going the correct direction, but I sit and wait patiently as more and more people get off the bus. My friend leaves and then it is just me and another Chinese dude. Finally at the last stop that he gets off, the driver turns to me and points to the door and says some random Chinese that I figure means "last stop." So I hop off the bus, a bit dejected, but no worse for the ware.
Ya'll I was in Bao'an Boondocks. I don't even know where I was. It was China ghetto with crazy shops and little mom and pop restaurants everywhere and dark alley streets. I'm going to be honest. I don't have that fear of China that they try to put into your head so that you'll be safe against muggers. This place feels cozy compared to Pontiac. So I start walking. I see a busy road ahead and make my way for it. No bus stops though, so as before I make my way in the opposite direction from which I came. I walk and walk, when I pass bus stops I check for the bus I need but with no result. I forever had hope on my side, and if all else failed I could always hail a taxi home. Those things never stop running.
I started walking towards the non-ghetto-looking side of the city, all the while passing staring faces and motor bikes that kept honking trying to get me to get on. These weren't sleazy men, they are sort of like a taxi service. You hop on the back of a bike and they'll take you where you want to go. Too bad I neither knew where I was, nor which way I wanted to go. And I wasn't about to go trusting a guy who drove along the highway on a moped with no helmet.
I walked for about an hour. Always checking the signs on the bus stops. At last I found on that had the characters for my school on it. When I checked the time I found out that it stopped running at 9:20. It was nearly 10:00. Feeling dejected I turned down the final street and hailed a cab, there was no bus, I was lost, tired and frustrated and I just longed to go home and sleep. The heavy bag holding my purchases was getting heavier by the moment and I could feel the weight of my dejection along with it.
The cab pulled over and I asked him if he knew 海滨中学。He gave me that look, like he had no idea what I'd just said. They told us in the program that if the cab driver looks like he has no clue don't get in the cab. I asked again, telling him it was a school. Then he nodded his head. I said in English "you sure?" and looked at him quizzically. He nodded again and I got in. I didn't care at the moment. He had a better idea of where I was at the moment than I did. Pride hurt and foot sore I slumped into the front seat and huddled my purse to me, my shopping bag at my feet. The cab driver got on the radio and I heard him ask about where exactly my school was. He seemed to get a confirmation and sped in the complete opposite direction of the way that I was walking. Great. Fail. Feeling even more dejected I cupped my head in my hands and watched the passing lights as we sped off into the night, maybe towards my school, maybe to the nearest brothel - who knew.
About 15 minutes later we made a turn and things were familiar. I could cry. Where had I gone. I had no idea. I was in the sticks too far from home. I felt like crying, but I held together. I guided him with points and grunting noises until we turned onto the correct street and pulled up in front of my gate. I could have kissed him. If I'd had more money I would have tipped him a whole bunch. I thank thank thanked him over and over and again and then said good bye. I think at the moment he knew my desperation and my gratefulness because he smiled. I grabbed my things and made for my room, glad to be rid of the confusing streets of China for yet another day. I collapsed in bed and thanked my lucky stars for cab drivers, for English speaking barristas, and for the small amount of Chinese that I know.
Monday, October 13, 2008
I'm sorry but "T-Bag" is not an appropriate English Name...
Really....it's not. But I think I'm going to let him keep it.
Classes are going....meh okay. I think I need to start cracking on some serious lesson plans though. I understand that they are learning a little, but I want them to get engaged. Next week we're going to work on English songs and they'll find out exactly how much I abhor singing in front of people and then the week after is Halloween - so that ought to be fun. :-) Should get a clip from a movie and some fun vocab for the bitty kiddies and something a little heavier for the older ones.
Interesting Things of Note in the Past Few Days:
Walking down the street and noticing that China will slowly destroy every pair of shoes that I own and there is nothing I can do to stop it, there are no repairs that will be permanent, it is something that is inevitable.
When there is nothing left to say to one of my students she absentmindedly will start to braid my hair - I let her and it reminds me of home and being 11 again.
Last night I had to pretend that the pillow beside me was a warm body, otherwise there would have been no sleeping. I blame Curt for getting me accustomed to this.
Listening to the Indian man go on and on, I now can only recall the briefest bits of the conversation. I remember him mentioning the colors of straps of watches and how some colors sell better than others. I remember him talking about Afghanistan and that he pronounced it a different way than we do. I remember that he can only speak Chinese, he can't read a word of it. That entire conversation seems like it was a dream.
I am beginning to have nothing but contempt for a person in our group. It's strange and hard to describe, but I get the sneaky feeling that the feeling is mutual. Give us some light sabers - we'll duke it out when the times comes.
Is it wrong that I like my boy students more than my girls sometimes? I don't think so. This is how I've felt all my life.
All week I had several questions. Riding home in a random car, drunk and sleepy, you took my hand and held it the whole ride. I can't remember those questions anymore.
I received the simplest of emails yesterday - but it made me want to cry. Idiot.
The people here will never understand the concept of very cold rain until they've lived in Michigan in the winter. This is not very cold rain guys.
A new good phrase - Es muss sein! - can wrap up the rest of my worries and frets.
-The ever pondering-
Xiao Na
Classes are going....meh okay. I think I need to start cracking on some serious lesson plans though. I understand that they are learning a little, but I want them to get engaged. Next week we're going to work on English songs and they'll find out exactly how much I abhor singing in front of people and then the week after is Halloween - so that ought to be fun. :-) Should get a clip from a movie and some fun vocab for the bitty kiddies and something a little heavier for the older ones.
Interesting Things of Note in the Past Few Days:
- mom asked if I was dating James Jones - a fact that would have made milk come out of my nose...if I'd been drinking milk at the time
- I met a non-asian! They do exist! He's an Indian man who has lived in Bao'an for the past four years. He's a little over friendly but means well. Although I may have him show me where the nearest pool and gym are and skip out on going over to his place for dinner. Gettin' a little bit of that creeper vibe there.....
- Got drunk with a bunch of Asians over the weekend. Man do they love their baijiu....me....not so much. But really!? They brought a liter of home grown baijiu. That's fuckin' moonshine baby that's what that is! I taught Benny a new phrase that night: "What have you gotten me into?" Comes in handy from time to time.
- The worst thing about not speaking enough Chinese is when the Chinese men start talking about you and your country and how poor it's doing at the moment (I know you're talking about me you little drunken crazy Chinese man BECAUSE YOU'RE GESTURING AT ME! Leave my country alone!)
- The Unbearable Lightness of Being is all about sex. It should be titled "The Unbearable Lightness of Not Wearing Pants."
- We watched the Grey's Anatomy episode of the one with Meredith's hand is on the bomb. That one sort of chilled me. I always get thrills and chills because of Beamont but there was something unnerving in the way they directed that episode. From the very beginning with her crying to McDreamy, to the woman coming full out screaming out of the ambulance to panic attack of Christina Ricci, to Miranda's breakdown, to the acting from all the main characters. Of course the ending tore me up and the final shower scene was a great tie in to the beginning of the episode. The only exchange that was a bit of was of course from McDreamy and Mer at the end. That was weird, weird and pointless. Normal people just don't talk like that, and if they do, they shouldn't.
Gave me sleeping problems that night I guess you could say. - "That is not potato that you are eating - that is some kind of cat spit up..."
- There is a class (2 classes actually) whom I have not yet me due to having to go to police station very long ago and then National Week. I am supposed to teach these classes on Friday but we have Field Day on Friday which is going to be a free day for all the teachers and students. So I will not teach this class until two weeks from now. On Halloween. The other teachers cannot understand why I am laughing uncontrollably about this. Ahhh...me.
Walking down the street and noticing that China will slowly destroy every pair of shoes that I own and there is nothing I can do to stop it, there are no repairs that will be permanent, it is something that is inevitable.
When there is nothing left to say to one of my students she absentmindedly will start to braid my hair - I let her and it reminds me of home and being 11 again.
Last night I had to pretend that the pillow beside me was a warm body, otherwise there would have been no sleeping. I blame Curt for getting me accustomed to this.
Listening to the Indian man go on and on, I now can only recall the briefest bits of the conversation. I remember him mentioning the colors of straps of watches and how some colors sell better than others. I remember him talking about Afghanistan and that he pronounced it a different way than we do. I remember that he can only speak Chinese, he can't read a word of it. That entire conversation seems like it was a dream.
I am beginning to have nothing but contempt for a person in our group. It's strange and hard to describe, but I get the sneaky feeling that the feeling is mutual. Give us some light sabers - we'll duke it out when the times comes.
Is it wrong that I like my boy students more than my girls sometimes? I don't think so. This is how I've felt all my life.
All week I had several questions. Riding home in a random car, drunk and sleepy, you took my hand and held it the whole ride. I can't remember those questions anymore.
I received the simplest of emails yesterday - but it made me want to cry. Idiot.
The people here will never understand the concept of very cold rain until they've lived in Michigan in the winter. This is not very cold rain guys.
A new good phrase - Es muss sein! - can wrap up the rest of my worries and frets.
-The ever pondering-
Xiao Na
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Quick Notes
- J.J. is going to watch me teach and then pillow fight with BA later tonight. Spooning may also be involved although I'm not sure of the details.
- 2 classes down, 3 to go (i.e. I hate Thursdays)
- Last class was the first to have volunteers AND the first class where a student could read the whole paragraph by himself. I'm so proud I could cry. Yay baby class 10.
- Pictures of NBA players is like giving crack to my older students OMG look at you're OWN pictures please, DON'T grab his, NI ZUO SHENME?!?!?! lmao.
- Other students are slowly stealing everything cool that I have at my desk (which includes American money, candy, and pictures that I draw)
- Amy Detwiller has 5 baby kittens that were abandoned on her porch a couple of weeks ago. I want one so much but sadly don't have time to raise a baby kitty. :-(
- Xiaojie can mean both "waitress" and "prostitute"
- Why does it take a half hour to explain anything to my Contact teacher. Her English is not that bad, this shouldn't be that difficult, woman...
- My Chinese language teacher is literally the cutest thing ever
- My classes know the word for "Halloween" but don't get the concept of "scary" weird.
- We are so learning to dance by the end of this year - either break dancing or line dancing or anything - I'm pumped
- We still don't quite get the value of the "yuan" 100 yuan isn't even $20 but we act like everything is so expensive.....it's not.
- My feet will never be the same again after China....
- I know ALL the spoilers from Heroes thanks to different sources (mostly eager Chinese students)
- YAY for rejecting social norms :-)
- The word for "flashlight" literally means "hand lantern"
- One day I'll teach them that "English" English is wrong and "American" English is better. Fail.
That's all for now folks - now to go back to talking to myself and getting weird looks from the other teachers.
Monday, October 6, 2008
The Unbearable Lightness of Being....America
I will start by apologizing for the lack of feeling in the last post. Yes I'm sure that most of you don't mind but for me it just seemed very boring. Sometimes it's hard to write about all the details because while they may have been fun at the time, a week later I find I get bored trying to explain them and it shows in my writing. Plus it's not things that I really want to write about. Especially after all that has happened in the past two days.
For starters I finally got a Chinese person to understand what it's like to be a foreign person in China. Benny and I were standing on the corner after the rains had made us vacate Bao'an city park. W were trying to hail a taxi which proved to be an impossible endeavor due to the fact that everyone in China had had the same thought at the moment. We were chatting a little and looking to and fro and cars were passing. In the blue trucks it's the worst. The men will blatantly stare, I'm not provoking them, but they will rubber neck their heads around to stare at the foreign girl. I shouted "Watch the ROAD" which has become my instinct to say when they do this. "They're staring because you're beautiful" he says. "They're staring because I'm foreign" I say. We were in a more remote area. More remote = no foreigners ever = lots more staring. Jin Chuan is a bit more Westernized than the rest of them, so he understands why staring is considered impolite, especially the obvious staring we get here. I explain that I don't find it too rude I just laugh it off. Now he understands when I yell "watch the ROAD" at the them and he laughs too. A few minutes later he stopped a taxi and we sped off to a different part of Bao'an and for more exploring.
He's still not totally westernized, that Chinese lack of organization slips in when you least expect it. Last night I was sitting in my room minding my own business when I get a text message asking if I could switch my morning 1st and 3rd classes because there would be a test in the morning. I said yes of course, without checking which week was next week. This is crucial because my schedule changes from week to week and I have to keep up and pay attention. It's organized but it's not organized. Thus begins the rolling stone of last night's panic attack.
I panic and ask which week this week is. He says even week. Well even week I have a class 3rd period. I say I can't do it. I call my contact teacher and ask her what week it is and she tells me , in her not-so-good-English that it's odd week. Exhausted and frustrated, I call Brendon and frantically explain how Chinese people are insane. Meanwhile, Benny texts me and says not to worry that things will be fine. With nothing else to be done, I decide to get my lessons together and realize that I need a some pictures from magazines so I'll just nip over to the 7/11 like store near my apartment building. I grab my bag and money and headphones and pull the bedroom door shut. Click. "Got keys?" Nope.
I have exactly one set of keys to my apartment. If I lose them I'm doomed.
I remember how I locked us out of Gavin's apartment accidentally a few weeks back and that he asked his guards to let him in. My guards don't speak English - at all. I calmly walk downstairs. I approach the guard near the back entrance and calmly explain in broken Chinglish that I don't have my key (I use the dictionary on my phone and point) and can't get in. He nods and grabs a large flashlight and starts walking towards the school. I explain, no no my house 我的家。He seems to understand and yet we walk to the other guard house anyway near the front of the school. There is an exchange of rapid fire Chinese between the three of them and they come to the conclusion that they have a key to the 7th and 6th floor but not to my floor (which is the 3rd).
Mind you, it's been a bad day. My last two classes were horrendous. I'd been having fits of depression all week due to not seeing enough English speakers and also lack of communication and homesickness, and plus I just had an ordeal of misunderstanding with my Chinese teacher friends. Now I was locked out of my house with no one around who spoke a lick of English, trying their best to help me but feeling as helpless as I was.
We walked back and ran into some people who were leaving the gym, badminton rackets in hand. They explained the situation to them and one got on the phone. He hands the phone to me. I give him a curious expression (which he is unable to see in the dark) and take the phone. "Wei?" "Hello?" An English speaking voice comes over from the other line, mind you it's a Chinese English speaking voice but it's a blessing to hear. He explains that his friend wants to help and to tell him what happened so that he can translate. I explain in panicky English what has happened and that I need to get into my room but the key is locked in the bedroom door. I hand the phone back to him and then all five of us march on up to my room. The person on the phone says we may need to get the police. This frightens me because that is the last thing that I need today. We all troop up to my room and they watch as I open the unlocked front door. They think “Ah! it is fixed!" but I explain that it is my bedroom door that is locked with the keys inside. The man with the cell phone hands the phone back to me and I begin rapid fire English at the person on the phone. He is trying his best to explain that they will think of something, not to worry. I am almost in tears. All of a sudden there is a cry and all five come barreling out of the room. It seems that they did have a key after all......
Guards....
As everyone piles out of my room en masse and proceeds to head back from wherever they came the man with the phone stops me before I go in the room and hands me the phone. The person on the other end asks for my phone number. Why, I ask. Because I want to be your friend, he says. Meanwhile the phone's owner is pacing in the hallway eager to leave. I explain that I don't know my phone number because it is new and it is locked away and that maybe I should give back the phone because your friend is looking angry and thank you for your help goodbye. I give back the phone and thank the owner. I step into my apartment. I shut the door behind me. I burst into tears. I can't stop, it was the end to a very stressful day. I walk back through the unlocked bedroom and grab my keys off the hook and shove them in my pocket and proceed to reprimand myself. Always. Remember. Your. Keys. Stupid.
There is a knock on the door. I wait, maybe it will go away. I'm in no mood to see anyone. Plus my face looks like hell. Another set of knocks. So I wipe my face and head for the door. I open it. It's the man with the cell phone. He hands me the phone where there is a text message "what is your phone number?" I motion for him to wait and run back into my room and get the card that has my phone number. He types it into his phone and then calls me to make sure. I thank him again and he leaves.
After calming down and grabbing my keys I make for the store across the way and buy a few magazines. The store workers were very sweet and spoke a little English. This cheered me up a little. That and getting text messages from Randy in America. I'm sad he had to leave us (as is everyone else) but I'm glad that he's doing well where he is. I wouldn't want it any other way.
My phone started exploding with Chinese messages about an hour later with bits of English floating in them. I tried to respond in Chinese but this didn't seem to work. Finally, just as frustrated as before I told the person that I was going to bed please talk to me tomorrow. From there he responded in English. It was pleasant to read and to be honest he's quite the smitten kitten with me. Weird. I haven't heard from him since last night which is fine but it's odd how he made his friend come back to get my number. Sort of cute. Wondering if I should mention that I'm already sort of seeing someone. Maybe I will maybe not. Can't hurt to make more Chinese friends I suppose. All in all the day ended well even though it ended later than I would have liked. New days bring new experiences.
This morning things started a little brighter although no less confusing. I found that I had no classes this morning even though I showed up to teach. Benny explained that the kids had a test this morning and that I could teach them in the afternoon. I love his class even if they are a bit out of control, some of the kids are just too sweet.
It's so unbearably frustrating when they are speaking in Chinese about you in front of you and you can tell something is wrong. But then you ask them and they say there is no problem. Don't these people understand the concept of body language. This happened to me a few times today and I wanted to punch someone. I'd rather they forget I can't understand and speak it to me rather than disregard me all together. Today we had to go to the police station so that I could show them my work visa. Gao Shen is really bad at this concept. Before we left my desk he started spitting rapid fire Chinese at Benny and gesturing at me, to which Benny responded (in Chinese of course) and gave this apologetic and pleading look. And then we were off. I shouted at Benny not to worry and hope that it helped whatever the problem was. Benny told me later that Shen was asking him to take me to police station (which I would have preferred because at least he'll explain things to me if I ask him to) instead because he had so much work to do. Benny explained (pleaded) that he had more and had more classes. Bickering. Always bickering. Meh.
At the police station there was a problem. I knew there was a problem with the way they were talking. But every time I asked Gao Shen what was wrong he replied "no problem, no big deal." It is a big deal if I can't work here. Blah. Turns out that they needed my work permit. Which is at the education bureau - information that I received from J.J. a bit too late. They're working on it now. So I'm "not to worry." Bloody Chinese. So if I get deported soon, it's on their heads.
I really am in a better mood today, don't let this post fool you. Tomorrow is Chinese classes and then possibly ping pong afterwards. I just need to see foreigners. It's a need to speak to someone in your language and you don't have to explain yourself. That's all folks cuz the ducks are hovering. Don't need them learning English so fast.
For starters I finally got a Chinese person to understand what it's like to be a foreign person in China. Benny and I were standing on the corner after the rains had made us vacate Bao'an city park. W were trying to hail a taxi which proved to be an impossible endeavor due to the fact that everyone in China had had the same thought at the moment. We were chatting a little and looking to and fro and cars were passing. In the blue trucks it's the worst. The men will blatantly stare, I'm not provoking them, but they will rubber neck their heads around to stare at the foreign girl. I shouted "Watch the ROAD" which has become my instinct to say when they do this. "They're staring because you're beautiful" he says. "They're staring because I'm foreign" I say. We were in a more remote area. More remote = no foreigners ever = lots more staring. Jin Chuan is a bit more Westernized than the rest of them, so he understands why staring is considered impolite, especially the obvious staring we get here. I explain that I don't find it too rude I just laugh it off. Now he understands when I yell "watch the ROAD" at the them and he laughs too. A few minutes later he stopped a taxi and we sped off to a different part of Bao'an and for more exploring.
He's still not totally westernized, that Chinese lack of organization slips in when you least expect it. Last night I was sitting in my room minding my own business when I get a text message asking if I could switch my morning 1st and 3rd classes because there would be a test in the morning. I said yes of course, without checking which week was next week. This is crucial because my schedule changes from week to week and I have to keep up and pay attention. It's organized but it's not organized. Thus begins the rolling stone of last night's panic attack.
I panic and ask which week this week is. He says even week. Well even week I have a class 3rd period. I say I can't do it. I call my contact teacher and ask her what week it is and she tells me , in her not-so-good-English that it's odd week. Exhausted and frustrated, I call Brendon and frantically explain how Chinese people are insane. Meanwhile, Benny texts me and says not to worry that things will be fine. With nothing else to be done, I decide to get my lessons together and realize that I need a some pictures from magazines so I'll just nip over to the 7/11 like store near my apartment building. I grab my bag and money and headphones and pull the bedroom door shut. Click. "Got keys?" Nope.
I have exactly one set of keys to my apartment. If I lose them I'm doomed.
I remember how I locked us out of Gavin's apartment accidentally a few weeks back and that he asked his guards to let him in. My guards don't speak English - at all. I calmly walk downstairs. I approach the guard near the back entrance and calmly explain in broken Chinglish that I don't have my key (I use the dictionary on my phone and point) and can't get in. He nods and grabs a large flashlight and starts walking towards the school. I explain, no no my house 我的家。He seems to understand and yet we walk to the other guard house anyway near the front of the school. There is an exchange of rapid fire Chinese between the three of them and they come to the conclusion that they have a key to the 7th and 6th floor but not to my floor (which is the 3rd).
Mind you, it's been a bad day. My last two classes were horrendous. I'd been having fits of depression all week due to not seeing enough English speakers and also lack of communication and homesickness, and plus I just had an ordeal of misunderstanding with my Chinese teacher friends. Now I was locked out of my house with no one around who spoke a lick of English, trying their best to help me but feeling as helpless as I was.
We walked back and ran into some people who were leaving the gym, badminton rackets in hand. They explained the situation to them and one got on the phone. He hands the phone to me. I give him a curious expression (which he is unable to see in the dark) and take the phone. "Wei?" "Hello?" An English speaking voice comes over from the other line, mind you it's a Chinese English speaking voice but it's a blessing to hear. He explains that his friend wants to help and to tell him what happened so that he can translate. I explain in panicky English what has happened and that I need to get into my room but the key is locked in the bedroom door. I hand the phone back to him and then all five of us march on up to my room. The person on the phone says we may need to get the police. This frightens me because that is the last thing that I need today. We all troop up to my room and they watch as I open the unlocked front door. They think “Ah! it is fixed!" but I explain that it is my bedroom door that is locked with the keys inside. The man with the cell phone hands the phone back to me and I begin rapid fire English at the person on the phone. He is trying his best to explain that they will think of something, not to worry. I am almost in tears. All of a sudden there is a cry and all five come barreling out of the room. It seems that they did have a key after all......
Guards....
As everyone piles out of my room en masse and proceeds to head back from wherever they came the man with the phone stops me before I go in the room and hands me the phone. The person on the other end asks for my phone number. Why, I ask. Because I want to be your friend, he says. Meanwhile the phone's owner is pacing in the hallway eager to leave. I explain that I don't know my phone number because it is new and it is locked away and that maybe I should give back the phone because your friend is looking angry and thank you for your help goodbye. I give back the phone and thank the owner. I step into my apartment. I shut the door behind me. I burst into tears. I can't stop, it was the end to a very stressful day. I walk back through the unlocked bedroom and grab my keys off the hook and shove them in my pocket and proceed to reprimand myself. Always. Remember. Your. Keys. Stupid.
There is a knock on the door. I wait, maybe it will go away. I'm in no mood to see anyone. Plus my face looks like hell. Another set of knocks. So I wipe my face and head for the door. I open it. It's the man with the cell phone. He hands me the phone where there is a text message "what is your phone number?" I motion for him to wait and run back into my room and get the card that has my phone number. He types it into his phone and then calls me to make sure. I thank him again and he leaves.
After calming down and grabbing my keys I make for the store across the way and buy a few magazines. The store workers were very sweet and spoke a little English. This cheered me up a little. That and getting text messages from Randy in America. I'm sad he had to leave us (as is everyone else) but I'm glad that he's doing well where he is. I wouldn't want it any other way.
My phone started exploding with Chinese messages about an hour later with bits of English floating in them. I tried to respond in Chinese but this didn't seem to work. Finally, just as frustrated as before I told the person that I was going to bed please talk to me tomorrow. From there he responded in English. It was pleasant to read and to be honest he's quite the smitten kitten with me. Weird. I haven't heard from him since last night which is fine but it's odd how he made his friend come back to get my number. Sort of cute. Wondering if I should mention that I'm already sort of seeing someone. Maybe I will maybe not. Can't hurt to make more Chinese friends I suppose. All in all the day ended well even though it ended later than I would have liked. New days bring new experiences.
This morning things started a little brighter although no less confusing. I found that I had no classes this morning even though I showed up to teach. Benny explained that the kids had a test this morning and that I could teach them in the afternoon. I love his class even if they are a bit out of control, some of the kids are just too sweet.
It's so unbearably frustrating when they are speaking in Chinese about you in front of you and you can tell something is wrong. But then you ask them and they say there is no problem. Don't these people understand the concept of body language. This happened to me a few times today and I wanted to punch someone. I'd rather they forget I can't understand and speak it to me rather than disregard me all together. Today we had to go to the police station so that I could show them my work visa. Gao Shen is really bad at this concept. Before we left my desk he started spitting rapid fire Chinese at Benny and gesturing at me, to which Benny responded (in Chinese of course) and gave this apologetic and pleading look. And then we were off. I shouted at Benny not to worry and hope that it helped whatever the problem was. Benny told me later that Shen was asking him to take me to police station (which I would have preferred because at least he'll explain things to me if I ask him to) instead because he had so much work to do. Benny explained (pleaded) that he had more and had more classes. Bickering. Always bickering. Meh.
At the police station there was a problem. I knew there was a problem with the way they were talking. But every time I asked Gao Shen what was wrong he replied "no problem, no big deal." It is a big deal if I can't work here. Blah. Turns out that they needed my work permit. Which is at the education bureau - information that I received from J.J. a bit too late. They're working on it now. So I'm "not to worry." Bloody Chinese. So if I get deported soon, it's on their heads.
I really am in a better mood today, don't let this post fool you. Tomorrow is Chinese classes and then possibly ping pong afterwards. I just need to see foreigners. It's a need to speak to someone in your language and you don't have to explain yourself. That's all folks cuz the ducks are hovering. Don't need them learning English so fast.
National Week Travels
It's only Tuesday for Christ's sake......
I'm assuming that my luck of September was worn down to a nub and I no longer will have any luck in October. Maybe I need to start praying to a different God. I am in the land of Buddhism, I suppose that shouldn't be difficult to do.
Let me start by (briefly) talking about what I know you all want to hear, my vacation last week. To be honest, while it was busy it wasn't really that exciting, but I did have fun I'll say that. Monday was a sleep in day and tutor Alice day - during which time I helped her prepare for the speech contest that they will be having at all the schools this month. Her English is good but she needs some help making it flavorful and if nothing else longer. Looks like she needs help from a duh duh duh duh! writer lmao. I'm only joking, although they don't quite get the idea of run on sentences being a bad thing here so I know that I can help in that area.
Tuesday I woke up at the crack of dawn and went to grab BA (Brendon Albertson for those of you who forgot) and we hopped on (actually more sort of forced our bodies onto the already cramped) the 395 bus to Shi Jie Ji Chuang ( to those who can't speak Chinese this means the "Window of the World" which is a popular theme park here in Bao'an where you can see famous landmarks like the Eiffel Tower and the pyramids in miniature form) and from there road the metro for another 30 minutes to Luohu. There we met up with the rest of our troop (Kim, Cara, Tiffany, Allison, and Mariam) and headed on the train to Hong Kong. If you remember Hong Kong has the lovely airport that kindly accepted some 100 odd angry, tired and over-traveled foreigners over a month ago. Gotta love 'em.
Let me stop and explain the metro and the bus system in China. It's cool, and they really try to be organized...but there is no organization. The Chinese don't understand the concept of "get in line" so they sort of mill about and hop from whichever line is moving fastest. If there is room for someone's left shoe in front of you, chances are they will cut in front of you. It's frustrating but you learn how your elbows work wonders in these situations. Same goes for the buses. Metros are bad, buses are worse. Metros are the subways or trains and are very long and if you keep moving eventually you will find some breathing room. Buses are just one vehicle and when you get on (granted if you get on and aren't closed in the doors) you are most likely to be shoved into some of the most compromising positions to where the guy next to you is getting a cavity check from the elbow of the guy next to him. I've seen people crushed, I've personally hurt people by accident in the fray and I've seen people get "eaten" by the doors. I love when you pass one of these "over-stuffed" buses on the road and it's just a see of heads and arms and legs and you can't tell what belongs to whom. Makes me laugh every time.
Why do we ride them you wonder? It's hella cheaper than taking a cab. Cab can be anywhere from 7-40yuan by the time you get to where you want to go and you can't always trust the cabbie. Sometimes they think that the best way to get somewhere is by hitting every single traffic light in the area so to rack up the bill. Sometimes they think that they know where "haibinzhongxue" is but really they don't speak Mandarin. Ridiculous. Buses are generally 2-3yuan and you can ride for as long as you like, granted that you understand Chinese enough to figure out where you're going. I generally go with someone else if I take the bus, but it's still worth it.
In Hong Kong we stayed at a hostel. Now if you've seen the movie or heard about it, don't go jumping to conclusions about thoughts of eye-gouging and the shredding of Achilles tendons. It was actually pretty legit. Maybe there was a weird Indian guy who maybe knew some English and was pretty harpy about our money not quite going through (which it did) and maybe he needed to calm the fuck down. But we handled him. The girls were on the 3rd floor with a room to themselves and BA and I were put in a dorm like situation on the 16th floor. It was simple prison style with 8 bunk beds to a room 4 on each side and I stupidly agreed to sleep on the top bunk. The beds were a matress, a sheet and another sheet and a pillow. Not bad expect when the A/C is blasting in the room and it's right next to my head.
We spent the first day wandering around Hong Kong and Lantou island. Lantou is two ferry rides and a crazy mountain bus ride away to visit the largest Buddha in HK. (I know this is all sounding very Planes, Trains and Automobiles trust me, we were thinking the same thing by the end of it). The bus ride down the mountain would have put the Mexican zip line bus driver to shame. Not to mention that HK they drive on the opposite side of the road like the English. Scary times. The giant Buddha was actually more impressive that I had thought. He stood about 9 stories tall and was on top of a giant mountain so you could see him from a good way off. The whole area was very peaceful and spiritual up in the mountains with just a dash of touristy. There were shrines and burning incense and traditional music everywhere. It felt like the China you read about in books, only it was......Hong Kong. Weird. Not to mention the fact that there were foreigners everywhere. When you get used to living in an area where everywhere you look, anyone you interact with for miles is Chinese then seeing foreigners in such large amounts that you don't know comes at a bit of a shock. We wanted to question them "Who are you? You're not with the CTLC teachers? Get out of my country."
After climbing the marathon of stairs, taking a billion photos (which will be up some day soon I promise) and seeing the ancient relics inside the Buddha, we climbed back down and had a rather decent albeit bland vegetarian lunch. (Cold tea, bland soup, veggies, mushrooms, taro and tofu) which for someone who's been eating a steady diet of really good Chinese food it was a little disappointing. After lunch we spent some time wandering around the local temples and the scary dogs who had mange and then made our way over to the cable cars that would take us back across the water to our hostel in mainland HK. We spent the rest of the evening shopping in the night shopping market and enjoying open air restaurants and some capped the night off with some alcohol. Before we returned to the hostel, Alison, BA and I wandered around looking for any decent bars to throw ourselves in. On our first attempt we promptly sat down and ordered drinks but as soon as the waiter pointed that there would be a $150 cover charge, we promptly booked outta there minus our drinks. The next bar proved to be full of men and looked a little shiesty. The third bar was pretty decent so we sat had a carlsburg (which was gross) and Allison was hit on by a friendly Austrian. We decided to end it there and headed back to the hostel, taking photos of the busy night streets along the way. At the end of the night I learned that one of the hardest things one can do while drunk is try to climb into a rikkety bunk bed. I attempted twice and on the third try griped the mattress and less than gracefully made my way into bed.
The next day we spent at a slightly more leisurely pace (if not more walking) as we took the tram up to "the peak" that's just what they call it. Sounds ominous when you say it like that. We had to stand on the tram which went up the side of mountains at a 80 degree angle to the ground at times it seemed. It was like a cheap thrill roller coaster ride. Up at the peak you could see all of HK spread out before you, buildings and ocean and beautiful foggy gray sky. We hiked around in the trails for a while enjoying the breeze from the ocean and then made our way back down. We had lunch at Japanese restaurant enjoying barbecued chicken and rice for some and udon noodles for others and then headed to the museums. I chose the museum of art of course which did not disappoint. There were two main exhibits, horses and ink brush work showing the progression of each topic through the years in China and HK. I especially liked the modern ink area where the artists start to get creative and take the ink off the paper and make it into installations or computer programs or dining chair sets. It was beautiful I only wish I could have taken more pictures, but they weren't really allowed. I caught some of the horse ones though.
We left HK about 5pm and headed for Luohu. I slept the better part of the way home because we were able to get seats. We ate at a Muslim Chinese restaurant which was halfway decent. I'm not a fan of the sauce they put on noodles but the service was very nice and the tea was hot (something we couldn't say for the HK tea, and something we missed believe it or not.) The rest of the crew headed back to their respective homes and BA and I decided to explore Dong men a big. Dong men is a GIANT outdoor shopping district in the middle of Luohu where you can buy nearly anything. We bought a couple of shirts (that fit omg) from this "funky fly fresh" (BA's term) store where we intend to go back. It was like the Holister of Chinese fashion with some grundge thrown in, perfect style. I need to go back to buy some men's cargo pants cuz the women's won't fit me. I was so pleased when I tried on the shirt that I bought and it fit, but when I walked out of the changing room one of the workers (I can assume she was) was sitting there and asked "too small?" sort of mockingly. Way to make a sale honey? I just smiled at her and said "no it's good!" and walked away to pay. Brats. Have a happy meal and gain some weight. We bought a DVD a piece at another store and then decided to call it a night and grabbed the train and then another bus back home. I love that we call it home. It is home - our respective schools. I feel more comfortable here than I do anywhere else in China. I like it, it's a good feeling. Of course, like all good things here, it is apt to change.
The rest of my vacation was spent with either BA or random Chinese friends. It was a rush of more shopping, dining out, train and bus rides, Chinese cinemas and also Splendid China. Splendid China is sort of like Disney world with a lot of miniature villages. It's a recreation of folk villages and minorities all over China as well as mini sculptures of very famous places in China. Yes, I had my picture taken next to mini great wall and also the mini Tiananmen Square. I was also forced into dancing with the Uyghers in one of their festival practices. Why do these people always want me to dance what is this? I'm terrible but at least I do it. My friend Jenny was so impressed by it though. 'Where did you learn to dance?' People I was literally copying what the other dancer was doing and not very well at that. I think they're just impressed that we're willing to make fools of ourselves which they (the Chinese) generally are not. Of course her father got a mess of pictures of me doing this as well as other photos which I will force him to give me some time this week. Silly man. I felt like this vacation was a whirlwind of things to do and places to be and stuff to see. I'm glad that I didn't go to Shanghai after all because I would have disappointed those who wanted to see me that were here in Shenzhen. I spent the last day relaxing with my friend Benny and just enjoying his company and friendly conversation and all the food that he is constantly making me eat. Horrible man. :-)
All in all it was a good vacation but I feel that I need another vacation after the fact. Luckily after the heavy rains of Saturday night the weather finally agreed to calm down and it's much cooler. It even feels like the beginnings of fall and everyone is enjoying the fact that we're not sweating all over the place anymore. Enjoy this post because the mood in the next one is a little bit angrier....a little more....shauna - like. Ta ta for now.
I'm assuming that my luck of September was worn down to a nub and I no longer will have any luck in October. Maybe I need to start praying to a different God. I am in the land of Buddhism, I suppose that shouldn't be difficult to do.
Let me start by (briefly) talking about what I know you all want to hear, my vacation last week. To be honest, while it was busy it wasn't really that exciting, but I did have fun I'll say that. Monday was a sleep in day and tutor Alice day - during which time I helped her prepare for the speech contest that they will be having at all the schools this month. Her English is good but she needs some help making it flavorful and if nothing else longer. Looks like she needs help from a duh duh duh duh! writer lmao. I'm only joking, although they don't quite get the idea of run on sentences being a bad thing here so I know that I can help in that area.
Tuesday I woke up at the crack of dawn and went to grab BA (Brendon Albertson for those of you who forgot) and we hopped on (actually more sort of forced our bodies onto the already cramped) the 395 bus to Shi Jie Ji Chuang ( to those who can't speak Chinese this means the "Window of the World" which is a popular theme park here in Bao'an where you can see famous landmarks like the Eiffel Tower and the pyramids in miniature form) and from there road the metro for another 30 minutes to Luohu. There we met up with the rest of our troop (Kim, Cara, Tiffany, Allison, and Mariam) and headed on the train to Hong Kong. If you remember Hong Kong has the lovely airport that kindly accepted some 100 odd angry, tired and over-traveled foreigners over a month ago. Gotta love 'em.
Let me stop and explain the metro and the bus system in China. It's cool, and they really try to be organized...but there is no organization. The Chinese don't understand the concept of "get in line" so they sort of mill about and hop from whichever line is moving fastest. If there is room for someone's left shoe in front of you, chances are they will cut in front of you. It's frustrating but you learn how your elbows work wonders in these situations. Same goes for the buses. Metros are bad, buses are worse. Metros are the subways or trains and are very long and if you keep moving eventually you will find some breathing room. Buses are just one vehicle and when you get on (granted if you get on and aren't closed in the doors) you are most likely to be shoved into some of the most compromising positions to where the guy next to you is getting a cavity check from the elbow of the guy next to him. I've seen people crushed, I've personally hurt people by accident in the fray and I've seen people get "eaten" by the doors. I love when you pass one of these "over-stuffed" buses on the road and it's just a see of heads and arms and legs and you can't tell what belongs to whom. Makes me laugh every time.
Why do we ride them you wonder? It's hella cheaper than taking a cab. Cab can be anywhere from 7-40yuan by the time you get to where you want to go and you can't always trust the cabbie. Sometimes they think that the best way to get somewhere is by hitting every single traffic light in the area so to rack up the bill. Sometimes they think that they know where "haibinzhongxue" is but really they don't speak Mandarin. Ridiculous. Buses are generally 2-3yuan and you can ride for as long as you like, granted that you understand Chinese enough to figure out where you're going. I generally go with someone else if I take the bus, but it's still worth it.
In Hong Kong we stayed at a hostel. Now if you've seen the movie or heard about it, don't go jumping to conclusions about thoughts of eye-gouging and the shredding of Achilles tendons. It was actually pretty legit. Maybe there was a weird Indian guy who maybe knew some English and was pretty harpy about our money not quite going through (which it did) and maybe he needed to calm the fuck down. But we handled him. The girls were on the 3rd floor with a room to themselves and BA and I were put in a dorm like situation on the 16th floor. It was simple prison style with 8 bunk beds to a room 4 on each side and I stupidly agreed to sleep on the top bunk. The beds were a matress, a sheet and another sheet and a pillow. Not bad expect when the A/C is blasting in the room and it's right next to my head.
We spent the first day wandering around Hong Kong and Lantou island. Lantou is two ferry rides and a crazy mountain bus ride away to visit the largest Buddha in HK. (I know this is all sounding very Planes, Trains and Automobiles trust me, we were thinking the same thing by the end of it). The bus ride down the mountain would have put the Mexican zip line bus driver to shame. Not to mention that HK they drive on the opposite side of the road like the English. Scary times. The giant Buddha was actually more impressive that I had thought. He stood about 9 stories tall and was on top of a giant mountain so you could see him from a good way off. The whole area was very peaceful and spiritual up in the mountains with just a dash of touristy. There were shrines and burning incense and traditional music everywhere. It felt like the China you read about in books, only it was......Hong Kong. Weird. Not to mention the fact that there were foreigners everywhere. When you get used to living in an area where everywhere you look, anyone you interact with for miles is Chinese then seeing foreigners in such large amounts that you don't know comes at a bit of a shock. We wanted to question them "Who are you? You're not with the CTLC teachers? Get out of my country."
After climbing the marathon of stairs, taking a billion photos (which will be up some day soon I promise) and seeing the ancient relics inside the Buddha, we climbed back down and had a rather decent albeit bland vegetarian lunch. (Cold tea, bland soup, veggies, mushrooms, taro and tofu) which for someone who's been eating a steady diet of really good Chinese food it was a little disappointing. After lunch we spent some time wandering around the local temples and the scary dogs who had mange and then made our way over to the cable cars that would take us back across the water to our hostel in mainland HK. We spent the rest of the evening shopping in the night shopping market and enjoying open air restaurants and some capped the night off with some alcohol. Before we returned to the hostel, Alison, BA and I wandered around looking for any decent bars to throw ourselves in. On our first attempt we promptly sat down and ordered drinks but as soon as the waiter pointed that there would be a $150 cover charge, we promptly booked outta there minus our drinks. The next bar proved to be full of men and looked a little shiesty. The third bar was pretty decent so we sat had a carlsburg (which was gross) and Allison was hit on by a friendly Austrian. We decided to end it there and headed back to the hostel, taking photos of the busy night streets along the way. At the end of the night I learned that one of the hardest things one can do while drunk is try to climb into a rikkety bunk bed. I attempted twice and on the third try griped the mattress and less than gracefully made my way into bed.
The next day we spent at a slightly more leisurely pace (if not more walking) as we took the tram up to "the peak" that's just what they call it. Sounds ominous when you say it like that. We had to stand on the tram which went up the side of mountains at a 80 degree angle to the ground at times it seemed. It was like a cheap thrill roller coaster ride. Up at the peak you could see all of HK spread out before you, buildings and ocean and beautiful foggy gray sky. We hiked around in the trails for a while enjoying the breeze from the ocean and then made our way back down. We had lunch at Japanese restaurant enjoying barbecued chicken and rice for some and udon noodles for others and then headed to the museums. I chose the museum of art of course which did not disappoint. There were two main exhibits, horses and ink brush work showing the progression of each topic through the years in China and HK. I especially liked the modern ink area where the artists start to get creative and take the ink off the paper and make it into installations or computer programs or dining chair sets. It was beautiful I only wish I could have taken more pictures, but they weren't really allowed. I caught some of the horse ones though.
We left HK about 5pm and headed for Luohu. I slept the better part of the way home because we were able to get seats. We ate at a Muslim Chinese restaurant which was halfway decent. I'm not a fan of the sauce they put on noodles but the service was very nice and the tea was hot (something we couldn't say for the HK tea, and something we missed believe it or not.) The rest of the crew headed back to their respective homes and BA and I decided to explore Dong men a big. Dong men is a GIANT outdoor shopping district in the middle of Luohu where you can buy nearly anything. We bought a couple of shirts (that fit omg) from this "funky fly fresh" (BA's term) store where we intend to go back. It was like the Holister of Chinese fashion with some grundge thrown in, perfect style. I need to go back to buy some men's cargo pants cuz the women's won't fit me. I was so pleased when I tried on the shirt that I bought and it fit, but when I walked out of the changing room one of the workers (I can assume she was) was sitting there and asked "too small?" sort of mockingly. Way to make a sale honey? I just smiled at her and said "no it's good!" and walked away to pay. Brats. Have a happy meal and gain some weight. We bought a DVD a piece at another store and then decided to call it a night and grabbed the train and then another bus back home. I love that we call it home. It is home - our respective schools. I feel more comfortable here than I do anywhere else in China. I like it, it's a good feeling. Of course, like all good things here, it is apt to change.
The rest of my vacation was spent with either BA or random Chinese friends. It was a rush of more shopping, dining out, train and bus rides, Chinese cinemas and also Splendid China. Splendid China is sort of like Disney world with a lot of miniature villages. It's a recreation of folk villages and minorities all over China as well as mini sculptures of very famous places in China. Yes, I had my picture taken next to mini great wall and also the mini Tiananmen Square. I was also forced into dancing with the Uyghers in one of their festival practices. Why do these people always want me to dance what is this? I'm terrible but at least I do it. My friend Jenny was so impressed by it though. 'Where did you learn to dance?' People I was literally copying what the other dancer was doing and not very well at that. I think they're just impressed that we're willing to make fools of ourselves which they (the Chinese) generally are not. Of course her father got a mess of pictures of me doing this as well as other photos which I will force him to give me some time this week. Silly man. I felt like this vacation was a whirlwind of things to do and places to be and stuff to see. I'm glad that I didn't go to Shanghai after all because I would have disappointed those who wanted to see me that were here in Shenzhen. I spent the last day relaxing with my friend Benny and just enjoying his company and friendly conversation and all the food that he is constantly making me eat. Horrible man. :-)
All in all it was a good vacation but I feel that I need another vacation after the fact. Luckily after the heavy rains of Saturday night the weather finally agreed to calm down and it's much cooler. It even feels like the beginnings of fall and everyone is enjoying the fact that we're not sweating all over the place anymore. Enjoy this post because the mood in the next one is a little bit angrier....a little more....shauna - like. Ta ta for now.
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