I had a fantastic Christmas. The CCEPers had a Christmas party at Steph’s place two weeks ago and last Friday all the foreigners were invited to a party held by the government. The past two days, I’ve been treated to dinner by my school. My classes have given me apples or cards or some other kind of gift. I might be making dumplings on Monday with one of my classes. At least I hope I can go. I felt bad because this past Thursday I said I’d go and then I got the invitation to go to the school sponsored dinner which is compulsory. So I couldn’t go make dumplings. : (
The wrapped apples and oranges are popular gifts here because apples signify peace and security and oranges signify happiness. Tomorrow I’m going to Beijing to meet up with Jeremy, CJ and Michelle. I might meet up with Jenna and Aleks because they’re also going to be in Beijing. I think Steph and Kelsey might be in Beijing too, but I’m not sure. CJ is leaving for good on January 4th. It makes me sad. She’s also a really cool, chill person to hang out with. She’s moving on to grad school, so I guess it’s for the best, but I’m still going to miss her.
It still seems surreal that I’ve been here for 4 months now. I’ve been contemplating staying another year. I just really like it here. My Chinese is progressing albeit slowly and I’ve settled into a nice routine. Routine is a relative term in China as anything can happen at anytime. Classes are winding down and finals are beginning here. I’m officially finished January 18th, but the last day of classes is January 4th. Then I’ll be off until February 24th. I’ll be traveling with fellow CCEPers. We’re going to go to Harbin up north for the ice festival and then we’ll make our way down south to Hong Kong and Sanya, Hainan. Sanya is where the Miss World pageant was held recently. This is where Miss China was crowned Miss World. Another interesting fact to note, she was born in Shijiazhuang, where I live. How nuts is that?
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
I'm a teacher? What??
I now have confirmation that what I am teaching does not matter at all. Why? Yesterday while I was giving a final in my class, I had a student show up in the middle of it that I had never seen before. She asked me to give her a grade for freshman English. What she was telling me wasn’t making much sense so I told her to come back after class. She was a sophomore who had changed her major so she hadn’t taken freshman English because she was an education major last year. So she wanted me to give her a final and then a grade even though she’s not on my roster or ever been in my class. I talked to one of my bosses and she said I should do it. Hmmm…okay. So, there’s no need to go to class or participate or do anything other than show up for the day of finals and ask a random teacher for a grade??? How does this make sense? Oh that’s right. I’m in China. And yes, I’m giving her a grade today.
Friday, December 14, 2007
Handan and Xi'an!
In other news, I went to Handan and Xi’an this past weekend!! It was fantastic. Jenna and I went to Handan where Erin and Ben teach and from there we took the train to Xi’an. Pictures do not do the terra cotta warriors justice. We also visited a famous mosque in Xi’an. Xi'an is a great mix of old and new. I really liked Xi'an. Handan is nice because it's a small town and everybody knows each other. It seems like a nice place to teach.
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Okay, I know I’m not in India but there are some things that are identical to how it is in India. First example: On a bus in Xi’an, the extra people standing in the aisle ducked to avoid being caught by the police. It’s illegal to have a packed bus and have people standing in the aisle. At least for a bus passing a checkpoint. Second example: Bargaining with vendors. They say, “Mingtian, wu kuai” meaning “Tomorrow, 5 kuai.” They say the same thing when you bargain with vendors in India. Tomorrow it’ll be that price. Of course they don’t mean it but it’s funny they say the same thing.
I got back from a very shady dinner with some old creepy Chinese men. I went with my friend because there was no way I was going to let her go alone. There was nasty Great Wall wine involved and some bizarre phone calls. The “tea master” would not let us leave and I just finally got up, put my coat on and said I have to teach early in the morning, which I do. I don’t know how we would have gotten out of there if I hadn’t done that. The tea master kept making excuses, “one more glass,” or “one more cigarette” to my friend. It was not that late, but late enough. I was tired and the whole American and Indian fetish is getting old.
Today I decorated my room for Christmas. I feel more cheerful already.
I got back from a very shady dinner with some old creepy Chinese men. I went with my friend because there was no way I was going to let her go alone. There was nasty Great Wall wine involved and some bizarre phone calls. The “tea master” would not let us leave and I just finally got up, put my coat on and said I have to teach early in the morning, which I do. I don’t know how we would have gotten out of there if I hadn’t done that. The tea master kept making excuses, “one more glass,” or “one more cigarette” to my friend. It was not that late, but late enough. I was tired and the whole American and Indian fetish is getting old.
Today I decorated my room for Christmas. I feel more cheerful already.
Monday, December 3, 2007
Living in China
I think James Fallows has China down to a T. If you want an idea of how things work in China or why there are so many accidents in China, you should definitely read this. http://jamesfallows.theatlantic.com/archives/2007/11/the_way_vs_a_way_japan_v_china.php
Other related news:
I have now wandered onto two constructions sites since being in China. This doesn’t include the construction site that a taxi driver took my friends and I through once upon a time. How many have I walked through in the US? Zero. I was trying to get out of Future Mall, the basement of which has a grocery store. The rest of the floors are under construction. One would think it would be simple to do this. Not so. The exits were clearly not exits in this mall o’ the future.
Other related news:
I have now wandered onto two constructions sites since being in China. This doesn’t include the construction site that a taxi driver took my friends and I through once upon a time. How many have I walked through in the US? Zero. I was trying to get out of Future Mall, the basement of which has a grocery store. The rest of the floors are under construction. One would think it would be simple to do this. Not so. The exits were clearly not exits in this mall o’ the future.
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Weekend recap
Saturday
Vikey woke me up at 8:30 am to remind me about today’s radio broadcast. I woke up a couple times, at 4 am due to Richard’s loud talking and 9:30 to get ready. I heard lots of people talking in the hallway and then it got quiet so I thought people had left. Nope, at 10:30 am when I went downstairs, the hallway was filled with people, many of whom were wearing suits. Obviously, I had no idea what was going on. There were maybe 100-200 people in my hall just standing and blocking the way out.
I went to a housewarming with Rich, Hugh, Josh and Jenna. I met a lot of new people including Mike and Cindy who grew up in Des Moines. It’s bizarre how many people have ties to Des Moines. They’ve lived in China for 17 years now.
Sunday
I met up with Caroline to go Christmas shopping near the train station. At lunch, we were stared at by a Chinese beggar for the entirety of our lunch, maybe a good 30-45 minutes. After lunch, he started to follow us and so Caroline and I split up with Sharon and Wendy (our Chinese acquaintances) to distract him. It worked and we walked away quickly.
Jenna met me later for dinner and we watched a Korean movie and part of the Simpsons Movie. We also got delicious lamb sticks.
Vikey woke me up at 8:30 am to remind me about today’s radio broadcast. I woke up a couple times, at 4 am due to Richard’s loud talking and 9:30 to get ready. I heard lots of people talking in the hallway and then it got quiet so I thought people had left. Nope, at 10:30 am when I went downstairs, the hallway was filled with people, many of whom were wearing suits. Obviously, I had no idea what was going on. There were maybe 100-200 people in my hall just standing and blocking the way out.
I went to a housewarming with Rich, Hugh, Josh and Jenna. I met a lot of new people including Mike and Cindy who grew up in Des Moines. It’s bizarre how many people have ties to Des Moines. They’ve lived in China for 17 years now.
Sunday
I met up with Caroline to go Christmas shopping near the train station. At lunch, we were stared at by a Chinese beggar for the entirety of our lunch, maybe a good 30-45 minutes. After lunch, he started to follow us and so Caroline and I split up with Sharon and Wendy (our Chinese acquaintances) to distract him. It worked and we walked away quickly.
Jenna met me later for dinner and we watched a Korean movie and part of the Simpsons Movie. We also got delicious lamb sticks.
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Oh China
A few days ago I was warning Jenna to avoid riding her bike in or near any puddles at my campus. “Why?” she asks.
“Oh because there’s sewage spilled everywhere.”
“And how did that happen?”
“Oh well they couldn’t fit it in the truck, so they spewed it on the ground.” This sounded very logical when I said it. Then I realized how absurd my life really is.
A few nights ago, I went to go get lamb skewers with Jenna at the corner across from my school.
Jenna- “Man, I will never be able to out hard-core the Chinese.”
Me – “Yeah” We watched for a few minutes as the couple set up their corner stand and start their fires for the barbeque pit.
Jenna- “He just walked through the fire.” Exactly.
Other absurd things that now seem normal:
-couches and branches in the middle of the street covering manholes where construction is happening (who’s really going to be stupid and run over a couch, right?)
-cars in the wrong lane…and on the sidewalk…and wherever there is enough space
-walking calmly into said traffic and expecting not to be hit
-foreigners drink free at certain clubs
-everybody is your friend…Hallo!
-Communist party members closing buildings instead of security closing buildings
Things I will miss when leaving China:
-eating family style and the food
-barbeque!!!! (lamb sticks and mantou steamed bread are particular favorites of mine)
-how everyone is always outside doing something
-only working 12-15 hours a week
-bargaining (or arguing in some cases)
-there are no drive thrus in Shijiazhuang!!!
-not understanding what’s going on and claiming ignorance when stuff happens
-working on my Chinese with cab drivers (see above)
-naps!! People will just conk out wherever they are after lunch, for example, at a counter manning a shop or under/on a statue or on a streetcart. It’s fantastic and I don’t know why Americans don’t have scheduled naps
-milk tea with boba
“Oh because there’s sewage spilled everywhere.”
“And how did that happen?”
“Oh well they couldn’t fit it in the truck, so they spewed it on the ground.” This sounded very logical when I said it. Then I realized how absurd my life really is.
A few nights ago, I went to go get lamb skewers with Jenna at the corner across from my school.
Jenna- “Man, I will never be able to out hard-core the Chinese.”
Me – “Yeah” We watched for a few minutes as the couple set up their corner stand and start their fires for the barbeque pit.
Jenna- “He just walked through the fire.” Exactly.
Other absurd things that now seem normal:
-couches and branches in the middle of the street covering manholes where construction is happening (who’s really going to be stupid and run over a couch, right?)
-cars in the wrong lane…and on the sidewalk…and wherever there is enough space
-walking calmly into said traffic and expecting not to be hit
-foreigners drink free at certain clubs
-everybody is your friend…Hallo!
-Communist party members closing buildings instead of security closing buildings
Things I will miss when leaving China:
-eating family style and the food
-barbeque!!!! (lamb sticks and mantou steamed bread are particular favorites of mine)
-how everyone is always outside doing something
-only working 12-15 hours a week
-bargaining (or arguing in some cases)
-there are no drive thrus in Shijiazhuang!!!
-not understanding what’s going on and claiming ignorance when stuff happens
-working on my Chinese with cab drivers (see above)
-naps!! People will just conk out wherever they are after lunch, for example, at a counter manning a shop or under/on a statue or on a streetcart. It’s fantastic and I don’t know why Americans don’t have scheduled naps
-milk tea with boba
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