So, obviously China has not had the ability to convert me into a more consistent blog updater. In the long and short, I have been busy living life and adjusting to my new role here over the past couple of blogless weeks. I am fine, more or less healthy, and settling in well. I finally have (a more or less) consistent schedule, which is great and takes some of the stress out of life. I am also enjoying two-day weekends again, which, anyone who has ever experienced one day off a week or less will tell you that two days are heavenly! I have made two trips up to Beijing to visit the special someone who lives up there and he has also come down to visit a few times which has also been a great improvement. That is the nutshell version of my life lately.
Now for the version that I have been composing in my head as I cycle to work or gaze over the polluted landscape outside of my apartment (it is always kind of a let down to realize that none of my mental blogs actually get published, I feel like I am updating frequently, but alas, I still do not possess the mental capacities to magically write blogs with my mind and have them appear in digital text :( )
I am currently in a love hate relationship with my time here in China. Some things are so great, I love the architecture, the food, the bicycles, the contrast, but then other things just stink (sometimes literally). It is depressing to wake up in the morning, look out your window and have the next building over be hazy because of pollution. I actually hope for a few rainy days so that the pollution will be cleared from the air and the next day we will have a few hours of bluer sky. It's frustrating when I can't communicate with my students or my monitor - in Spain I could default to Spanish and clarify, here you just both go off a bit frustrated and confused. It is strange to walk into an elevator and have a small child peeing into a bucket next to you. It is annoying to have a light bulb die and have to spend 45 minutes arguing with the maintenance person just to find out that you have to go buy another one (it isn't covered in our maintenance fee - our original question 45 minutes earlier) and then have to wait for a driver to come and pick up the bulb, go buy a new one, then come and put it in. It is a light bulb, I have been able to change them on my own since forever, but that isn't how it works here.
Small things that I took for granted are slowly being reevaluated. At home, running a red light, even on accident, always left me with a horrible sensation of guilt on top of it's being down right dangerous. Here, I arrived at work the other day and realized that I had run no less than 9 red lights on the way there. What is worse, so did the hundreds of other cyclists around me. Traffic works different here. Janet, my boss, compares it to fish; fish can swim in any direction at a moments notice. Here the fish are busses (sharks), cars (big fish), bikes (medium fish), and people (little fish) darting here and there. The traffic lights are set up like a drag racing track counting down the time until they change, this means that many people jump the gun a bit and are off the mark before the light is done being red. That is, if they actually stopped for the red light in the first place. It is also interesting that a green light here means that you can go left, right, or straight from both direction at the same time, you can also turn left or right from the opposite directions. Now, two months ago I would think that this is completely impossible, obviously everyone would collide and die, but now I just appreciate the fact that people drive slower here and know that the honking horns aren't mad at me, but rather warning me that the car is close to me as I weave my way through the chaos to the other side of the street.
Luckily the love hate contrast at my job is more often on the love side of things. I love my boss, my coworkers, and my students (most of the time). How can you not love kids who tell their mother that they "Love Mandi" and when asked why respond with "because she is beautiful." I enjoy working with my 4-6 year-olds, they are challenging, but it is so easy to make the most mundane task into a fun and exciting game. My 7-10 year-olds are great most of the time (there is the occasional kicking and punching match that requires bodily restraint, but this is not a typical day's work). This group is also the group that provides some of the best phrases and philosophical takes on life. I had a kid come bursting into the staff room the other day to tell me that "Michael is broken." I hurried back to class to find Michael flapping his arms like a bird and jumping up and down, obviously not "broken" in our sense of the word. The child meant to say that "Michael is crazy" (a statement that is, I believe, accurate), but not knowing the phrase in English, literally translated from Chinese, where crazy people are described as broken! It was this same group that produced the child who after a moment pondering the question "Where do we cook?" suddenly smiled and proudly declared "I cook in the chicken!" My adult classes are equally enjoyable. I have one intermediate class once a week and then two life clubs. Life clubs are basically my chance to pick whatever topic I like then teach it. My students are now versed on table manners, body language, Michigan, the proper way to make a s'more, how to use a dictionary, and how to talk about things that annoy them. These are the most fun for me. The only part of hate in my job comes with my teenagers. I do not have any amazing skills when it comes to dealing with this group. Luckily I only have one group that fall into this category, so I don't spend too much time dwelling on this.
Ok, so now that I have dragged on for far too long, I have to actually head into work to prep a few classes! This week's schedule is a little strange, they reworked our weekends so that we have all of next week off! Jackson and I are heading to Shanghai, so stay tuned for news on that trip. On the down side, I don't get my normal weekend this week, so I am dragging a bit. I won't promise more soon, but I will promise more news sooner than last time. I hope everyone is doing well, I love the emails I am getting, so please keep them coming! Miss you all and sending my love!
Monday, September 22, 2008
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Lesson Up in Smoke
So to start the day off with an adrenaline boost, I exited my room this morning in search of the vacuum cleaner to clean the apartment for my new roomie who will be arriving tomorrow and I am greeted with a meek “hello” that made me jump about three feet in the air and wonder if my heart was still lodged firmly in my chest. I guess they forgot to tell me that my new roommate was actually moving in today. Shelley, the name of my morning heart attack, is very nice. She will only be here for a few days, but we have talked a bit and it seems that she is a University computers teacher who is looking for a job. Her boyfriend works for EF which is why she is temporarily living with me (somehow this works in Chinese logic, but I am still a bit foggy on the details). So that is the roommate status folks.
Now to the title of the post. I went into work today at noon (I didn’t have a class until 6:15) because I had to open a new bank account so my first pay check (wow, I’ve been here almost a month!) is coming at the end of the week, and the lady who helps us set them up could only help me at noon.
I could go off onto the story of how a few weeks ago I discovered that my ATM card had been stolen/gone missing and had to close my account and have been living with all my cash in a stack in my dresser drawer, but I will leave this run on sentence as the only discriptor of that incident.
Anyway, went into work early, got account settled, and I still had a HUGE amount of time before I had to teach my class. So, been a good dedicated person like I am, I started working on my lesson plan for class. It was my first time with a group of 4-6 year-olds and after purusing the past records of this particular bunch I realized that they were working on animals, colors, shapes, the usual kindergarten things.
In a momentary flash of genius I decided to use the book “Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See” as the lesson’s central element because of how nicely it ties in with colors, animals, and the grammar point of “I see a ...” which is the next thing the class is to study. Smiling at my ingenuity, I spent the next few hours patting myself on the back at coming up with such a cohesive solution and constructing a completely illegal version of Eric Carle’s book (please forgive me oh copyright people, isn’t there a clause exempting people from punishment if it is for academic purposes???).
So as my class draws closer, I am putting the finishing touches on the book. I have recreated the text, located pictures, printed the pages, colored them by hand (we only have bw capability), backed the pages on stiffer paper, and am just sending them through the laminator when smoke starts issuing from the laminator. This is when I realize that my paper isn’t coming out of the other side. I go to put the machine in reverse when one of the Chinese monitors comes in, sees the smoke, and panics and turns the machine off so my paper is left on fire in the machine. I force the machine back on and wrench the paper out, but by now my “Black Sheep, Black Sheep, what do you see?” is all brown and crinkled, and my sweet lesson has literally gone up in smoke. After switching off the offending machine, I turned back to my desk faced with 10 minutes in which to recreate an entire lesson for a class I have never taught before. This is when another monitor comes in and decides to yell at me for breaking the laminator (I didn't do anything wrong, this is a typical occurrence here, I have seen three machines blow up since I got here, so lay off it missy), and the missing evaluation sheet I have been asking for all week is miraculously found and thrust upon me.
In the end we did a lot of unconnected review activities which the kids thought were the best thing since sliced bread and I managed to accomplish my main objective which was to get a feel for the class and assess their level and how much they remembered from before their weeklong vacation.
The rest of the evening continued through a Life Club with adults about “Things that annoy us.” I would like to state for the record that yes, it really does irk me (one of our phrases) when no less than 12 cell phones go off during my class, which is only an hour long. It’s called “vibrate” folks, learn to use it. I also got to meet the new teacher, Andrew, from Texas (I’m no longer the newbie!!!!), and see a procession carrying leafy branches and an orange paper-mâché bull walking across the 6 lane busy street on my way home. No, I can’t explain the bull. Go China!
Now to the title of the post. I went into work today at noon (I didn’t have a class until 6:15) because I had to open a new bank account so my first pay check (wow, I’ve been here almost a month!) is coming at the end of the week, and the lady who helps us set them up could only help me at noon.
I could go off onto the story of how a few weeks ago I discovered that my ATM card had been stolen/gone missing and had to close my account and have been living with all my cash in a stack in my dresser drawer, but I will leave this run on sentence as the only discriptor of that incident.
Anyway, went into work early, got account settled, and I still had a HUGE amount of time before I had to teach my class. So, been a good dedicated person like I am, I started working on my lesson plan for class. It was my first time with a group of 4-6 year-olds and after purusing the past records of this particular bunch I realized that they were working on animals, colors, shapes, the usual kindergarten things.
In a momentary flash of genius I decided to use the book “Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See” as the lesson’s central element because of how nicely it ties in with colors, animals, and the grammar point of “I see a ...” which is the next thing the class is to study. Smiling at my ingenuity, I spent the next few hours patting myself on the back at coming up with such a cohesive solution and constructing a completely illegal version of Eric Carle’s book (please forgive me oh copyright people, isn’t there a clause exempting people from punishment if it is for academic purposes???).
So as my class draws closer, I am putting the finishing touches on the book. I have recreated the text, located pictures, printed the pages, colored them by hand (we only have bw capability), backed the pages on stiffer paper, and am just sending them through the laminator when smoke starts issuing from the laminator. This is when I realize that my paper isn’t coming out of the other side. I go to put the machine in reverse when one of the Chinese monitors comes in, sees the smoke, and panics and turns the machine off so my paper is left on fire in the machine. I force the machine back on and wrench the paper out, but by now my “Black Sheep, Black Sheep, what do you see?” is all brown and crinkled, and my sweet lesson has literally gone up in smoke. After switching off the offending machine, I turned back to my desk faced with 10 minutes in which to recreate an entire lesson for a class I have never taught before. This is when another monitor comes in and decides to yell at me for breaking the laminator (I didn't do anything wrong, this is a typical occurrence here, I have seen three machines blow up since I got here, so lay off it missy), and the missing evaluation sheet I have been asking for all week is miraculously found and thrust upon me.
In the end we did a lot of unconnected review activities which the kids thought were the best thing since sliced bread and I managed to accomplish my main objective which was to get a feel for the class and assess their level and how much they remembered from before their weeklong vacation.
The rest of the evening continued through a Life Club with adults about “Things that annoy us.” I would like to state for the record that yes, it really does irk me (one of our phrases) when no less than 12 cell phones go off during my class, which is only an hour long. It’s called “vibrate” folks, learn to use it. I also got to meet the new teacher, Andrew, from Texas (I’m no longer the newbie!!!!), and see a procession carrying leafy branches and an orange paper-mâché bull walking across the 6 lane busy street on my way home. No, I can’t explain the bull. Go China!
Monday, August 25, 2008
On My Side of the Ocean
Jackson finally made it to China late Wednesday evening, moved into his apartment, set up his internet, and bought a cell phone all in time to come down to visit me on Thursday after work. I can say that I have never been as happy as the moment when Janet, my boss, came into the staff room and said that there was an unknown white person standing in the entrance and I was able to say that he was my unknown white person! After an exceptionally humorous attempt at biking home with a passenger (several Chinese people had a fun story to go tell their families about) we opted for the safer route with Jackson walking as I cycled slowly home.
Friday was spent showing Jackson the shops I knew, basically a very limited activity. This was interrupted by my first ever loss of complete bodily control in the middle of a supermarket. Obviously I am still not in need of laxatives, so please refrain from sending them.
Saturday and Sunday were busy as usual with two sets of two-hour classes each, but they were punctuated by lunch with Jackson, my first real chance to use a menu here which made my food options exponentially increase!
I thought I would have Monday off, but my schedule changed once again, so I only had the morning to explore with Jackson before going with him to the train station (wow, confusing, I may never leave the city if I have to go by train). I am going to try to attach the pictures of our adventure below. While short, it was a very productive morning as we found a park where we could practice riding my bike with a passenger. This is much more difficult than the Chinese ever let on. I will admit that I have balancing envy whenever I see them perched so casually sidesaddle speeding down the street. My progress looks more like a jerky wobble that causes me to sweat buckets while my passenger sits astride behind holding on for dear life, but I can at least keep my passenger on (this is aided a great deal by the addition of foot studs that I picked up at Carrefour). It is my goal to two-person bike with grace before I leave China!
Friday was spent showing Jackson the shops I knew, basically a very limited activity. This was interrupted by my first ever loss of complete bodily control in the middle of a supermarket. Obviously I am still not in need of laxatives, so please refrain from sending them.
Saturday and Sunday were busy as usual with two sets of two-hour classes each, but they were punctuated by lunch with Jackson, my first real chance to use a menu here which made my food options exponentially increase!
I thought I would have Monday off, but my schedule changed once again, so I only had the morning to explore with Jackson before going with him to the train station (wow, confusing, I may never leave the city if I have to go by train). I am going to try to attach the pictures of our adventure below. While short, it was a very productive morning as we found a park where we could practice riding my bike with a passenger. This is much more difficult than the Chinese ever let on. I will admit that I have balancing envy whenever I see them perched so casually sidesaddle speeding down the street. My progress looks more like a jerky wobble that causes me to sweat buckets while my passenger sits astride behind holding on for dear life, but I can at least keep my passenger on (this is aided a great deal by the addition of foot studs that I picked up at Carrefour). It is my goal to two-person bike with grace before I leave China!
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