The semester is in its last death throes. This week I'll be giving the exam to the Tourism English students, next week Oral English for English as a second major, and 2 weeks later for Oral English for the freshmen.
I feel burnt out. Commuting is a pain, trying to think of stuff to teach the Tourism English students who meet twice a week for 2 semesters is ridiculous. I asked the Humanities department to drop Tourism from my schedule next semester. It's still not clear if they're going to do it, but apparently someone approached the chinese woman who teaches the other section of Tourism English students. She told her class one day that she might be taking over my class. A few of my more motivated students were observing her class at the time. Crystal, my best student in both Oral English and Tourism, texted me "I heard you're abandoning us??" She had me meet her to talk about it. She was pretty upset, but I explained my schedule and that I just don't think I can keep it up for another semester.
That conversation with her had an effect on me. My mind was set on dropping the class, but the students apparently like me a lot, even though I can't get them engaged like i can with the Oral English students. They stare at me with glazed eyes. I know that if I drop the class, the 25 students in Ms. Leeta's class will become 50, and those students won't have much chance to speak out. On the other hand, I think they'll learn more. Leeta knows their English levels and she knows tourism. She'll be able to teach them vocabulary they can use... I mostly just treat the class as an oral English class. In the end, I will drop it if they let me. I feel a little bad about it, but I don't think it's worth being stressed out at the end of my week and missing out on things I've been wanting to get involved in here.
There are two other Americans who teach here besides my sitemate and me. They are both pretty strange. Honestly, i try to stay away from them. I want to spend more time with Chinese people. I hardly speak much Chinese as it is: everyone here knows enough English that they would rather talk with me in English than listen to me fumble around trying to get my ideas across in their language.
I had hoped that i would be better with my Chinese than I am by now.
I started taking intermediate Chinese classes with the international students who are Chinese majors (they're all from Kazakhstan), but I can't keep up with the class. I don't have time to do the homework, the class meets 4 days a week for 2 hours and i have to miss one of them to go to the new campus to teach, the textbook recently switched to being exclusively in hanzi. It takes some time for me to translate it. Next semester, I will probably join the second semester of the beginners.
I still haven't found a kung fu school. No one seems to be able to help me. Whenever I ask someone, they laugh. When they realize I'm being serious, they say "oh, there has to be a lot of schools around here." And when I ask where specifically, no one knows and no one finds out. The internet isn't any help on the issue either.
On the other hand, I did find a Taekwondo school (it seems to be far more popular in China than kung fu now ironically). I want to learn a Chinese martial art, and I'm already a black belt in TKD. But if this is all there is, I'll do it. I might start that next semester.
I've been going to this gym across the street for students. It's pretty dingy and unremarkable, but the most important things are there: some adjustable free weights, barbells, and benches. A couple students in my Oral English class found out I go there and they meet me there twice a week. Some of the other guys like to practice their English with me when I'm there. Someone always puts on Michael Jackson, Backstreet Boys, Spice Girls, and Lady Gaga on the speakers. I find it hilarious.
I've been eating a lot more lately since i started going to the gym. I think I'm gaining wait. I feel fatter. It's probably because of all the noodles and oil. I usually eat at the cafeteria because it's super cheap, but the hours are all weird. When it's closed, I go across the street to the Xinjiang restaurants. They're little holes in the wall run by Uyghurs. I really love Xinjiang food. I have to go there one of these days. The food is much less oily than the local food. It's very simple: noodles/rice, sauce, meat, vegetables, spices. Potatoes, mutton, beef, bell peppers, onions, carrots. All the noodles are made by hand right there in front of you before they're put in your dish. The best part is, they have picture menues because the fare is so different from local food that the locals aren't sure what the dishes are called.
EDIT: I was wrong. They're actually Lanzhou restaurants, not Xinjiang. Lanzhou is the capital of Gansu province, which shares a border with Xinjiang and also contains a large Muslim population.
Not that I don't love the local food. I love wai po cai (pickled chopped vegetables), hot pot, xiao bai (super tender slices of fatty pork belly over a bed of wai po cai), the noodles (xiao mian, za jiang mian), jiaozi, chao shou (wanton), anything with pumpkin, anything with sweet potatoes... The only problem is that a lot of these foods have so much oil that they wreak havoc on my intestines... I have to plan accordingly if I'm going to eat hot pot and make sure I can get to a toilet within a few hours after eating it. In Chongqing and Sichuan, "la duzi" (loose bowels, just short of diarrhea), isn't a term that people find inappropriate or embarrassing. It's a fairly regular affliction like catching a cold. "where's so and so?" "oh, he has la duzi" "oh yeah, i had that yesterday." "me too, i get it all the time." and i'm like "then why does everyone use so much damn oil??"
I finally got an iPod touch. It revolutionized everything. I can go down the street, go to the supermarket, go to the bus station and actually understand what's written using Pleco. I'm learning a lot of new characters every day. It's still not as good at translating phrases and sentences as Google translate, but if I can get wifi, i can use Google as well.
Every weekend or so I meet with Brianne and/or Imogen, the British girl who also teaches at Brianne's school. I feel very fortunate that those two are closest to me. They're great peoples.
I had hoped that I would do more with my weekends. I thought I would travel and see more things. I'm not sure why I don't. I'm terrible at making plans. Part of it is that I'm lazy and/or I'm just ready to sit and vege out after my week. It's not that I don't do stuff. I always end up doing something with people, but I just don't feel like I'm experiencing as much as I can.
Hopefully next semester will be better. Without tourism english, I've gained a good full day or two of free time in my week. In fact, without tourism, I'll only have to prepare one lesson per week (and then teach it 6 times). That's a good deal.
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Monday, October 31, 2011
"Joys and Challenges"
For an essay I had to write for my Program Manager who is coming to visit my site. I edited this down a lot before I sent it, but I figured I'd keep the original for this blog.
Joys and Challenges
I have been very happy to be working in China. For many years I’ve been wanting to come here and I’m glad that Peace Corps has given me the opportunity. It has been exciting learning about Chinese culture and learning about the daily lives and conditions of regular people in Chongqing. Many preconceptions I had have been shattered and some confirmed. The students I have met have impressed me with their enthusiasm and determination to learn and succeed in their studies and careers. With China developing at such an incredible pace, I have gotten the feeling that all the students that I meet everyday will have great futures. Jiaotong University specializes in engineering and urban development, and I feel that most of these students will go on to join as well as create their own companies that will build bridges, roads, buildings, ships, and trains, transforming the landscape of China. In America, I’m afraid I can’t say the same for recent graduates because of the economic recession. For the last few years, I’ve watched so many friends, as well as myself, struggle to find employment after graduating, so these students give me a lot of hope.
The challenges I’ve faced in Chongqing have been mostly occupational. Having never taught before, it has been difficult getting the hang of teaching. It’s a constant process of trial and error. The students are very good, and I feel bad that I haven’t been able to do more for them yet. My lesson plans aren’t as good as they could be. The school has given me a difficult schedule. I was able to handle it pretty well before the freshmen started. Once I started commuting to the new campus to teach freshmen, I had much less time to prepare lessons. I had planned to begin taking Chinese classes and martial arts classes by now, but I’ve been stressed out. Hopefully next semester I will have a more manageable schedule.
The commute sometimes takes an hour and a half. Almost 6 hours of my week go to commuting at inconvenient times on top of teaching 16 hours and lesson planning. The bus schedule to the new campus is a little weird. When I get to campus, I have to wait for an hour and a half before class starts, and after class I have to wait for the bus to leave. Meanwhile the students are in class, so I can’t meet with them.
There have been problems on the new campus. The keys to the classrooms are kept at a desk in a building that is a 10 minute walk from the building I teach in. There is only a 10 minute break between classes. I start some classes 20-30 minutes late because I have to shut down the computers and the power and close up the computer cabinets and doors, then walk to the other building to return the key, fill out a form, and sign for keys for my next class, then walk back to the same building to a classroom just down the hall from my previous class. I’m not allowed to have more than one key at a time because other teachers teach in those classrooms. This has especially angered me because it is not fair to the students that a large part of class time is wasted.
I have been trying to build a better relationship with the dean of the English department. I feel that he has been reluctant to address my concerns. I often feel that I am associated with every other foreign teacher. I have tried to convey the idea that I am not like every other paid teacher. My position goes beyond just teaching, and I want to connect with the community and help with other projects. I have asked the dean to lessen my course load for next semester, but he says I can’t drop any classes on the new campus. They don’t have enough English teachers and he isn’t in charge of hiring more.
I’ve tried talking to other English teachers at the school, but they don’t seem to ever be available. On one occasion I talked to one teacher who told me how difficult her course load is. All the teachers are overloaded. They say their lesson plans have suffered because they are just too busy. One of the teachers I talked to said she wouldn’t have worked here if she knew it would be like this, but she has a contract that she has to fulfill. All of these teachers are commuting to the new campus. They get paid extra to commute, but I do not. I have felt a little frustrated because I feel like they are taking advantage of this fact.
Another minor difficulty I’ve had since getting here is that hardly anyone speaks Putonghua unless I ask them to. I can’t understand Chongqinghua and even the Chongqing accent in Mandarin is hard to understand. People can understand when I speak Putonghua, but I can’t understand them. Though I haven’t started with my Chinese learning, I’ve resolved to focus more on reading and writing. I’m still excited to learn more Chinese.
Besides this, I have no complaints. My living conditions are great, and I enjoy a lot of conveniences I wasn’t expecting. I’m slowly working through the difficulties with the school and I think next semester will be better.
Coworkers
I haven’t had much interaction with my coworkers. As I said before, they are overloaded with classes. The dean also teaches, and he says that he feels sorry for his students because he spends so much time on departmental management that his lesson planning suffers. I’ve asked him about how the other teachers are doing, and he said they are all tired from their workloads. All the teachers I have talked to have expressed frustration with the new campus situation. No one seems happy about it. I heard that the government has required that many universities expand by building new campuses, so the decision is not entirely the school’s to make. I have passed by a few English classes, and I see that teachers often spend the whole class sitting at the desk in front of class lecturing through a headset while reading off of their notes or the screen. In some classrooms, all the students have headsets and monitors at their desks, and they sit and listen in silence. Some teachers are more engaging and have some speaking activities for their students, but the classes are almost entirely in Chinese. The English department dean mentioned that he wished to hire more teachers, but it wasn’t up to him. The school decides how many teachers to hire. I went to a meeting once where they showed videos from different companies competing to build the community for teachers at the new campus. The teachers voted on which company they wanted to build the project. I suppose this is an indication of the decision making process, but I assume the administration has the final say.
Joys and Challenges
I have been very happy to be working in China. For many years I’ve been wanting to come here and I’m glad that Peace Corps has given me the opportunity. It has been exciting learning about Chinese culture and learning about the daily lives and conditions of regular people in Chongqing. Many preconceptions I had have been shattered and some confirmed. The students I have met have impressed me with their enthusiasm and determination to learn and succeed in their studies and careers. With China developing at such an incredible pace, I have gotten the feeling that all the students that I meet everyday will have great futures. Jiaotong University specializes in engineering and urban development, and I feel that most of these students will go on to join as well as create their own companies that will build bridges, roads, buildings, ships, and trains, transforming the landscape of China. In America, I’m afraid I can’t say the same for recent graduates because of the economic recession. For the last few years, I’ve watched so many friends, as well as myself, struggle to find employment after graduating, so these students give me a lot of hope.
The challenges I’ve faced in Chongqing have been mostly occupational. Having never taught before, it has been difficult getting the hang of teaching. It’s a constant process of trial and error. The students are very good, and I feel bad that I haven’t been able to do more for them yet. My lesson plans aren’t as good as they could be. The school has given me a difficult schedule. I was able to handle it pretty well before the freshmen started. Once I started commuting to the new campus to teach freshmen, I had much less time to prepare lessons. I had planned to begin taking Chinese classes and martial arts classes by now, but I’ve been stressed out. Hopefully next semester I will have a more manageable schedule.
The commute sometimes takes an hour and a half. Almost 6 hours of my week go to commuting at inconvenient times on top of teaching 16 hours and lesson planning. The bus schedule to the new campus is a little weird. When I get to campus, I have to wait for an hour and a half before class starts, and after class I have to wait for the bus to leave. Meanwhile the students are in class, so I can’t meet with them.
There have been problems on the new campus. The keys to the classrooms are kept at a desk in a building that is a 10 minute walk from the building I teach in. There is only a 10 minute break between classes. I start some classes 20-30 minutes late because I have to shut down the computers and the power and close up the computer cabinets and doors, then walk to the other building to return the key, fill out a form, and sign for keys for my next class, then walk back to the same building to a classroom just down the hall from my previous class. I’m not allowed to have more than one key at a time because other teachers teach in those classrooms. This has especially angered me because it is not fair to the students that a large part of class time is wasted.
I have been trying to build a better relationship with the dean of the English department. I feel that he has been reluctant to address my concerns. I often feel that I am associated with every other foreign teacher. I have tried to convey the idea that I am not like every other paid teacher. My position goes beyond just teaching, and I want to connect with the community and help with other projects. I have asked the dean to lessen my course load for next semester, but he says I can’t drop any classes on the new campus. They don’t have enough English teachers and he isn’t in charge of hiring more.
I’ve tried talking to other English teachers at the school, but they don’t seem to ever be available. On one occasion I talked to one teacher who told me how difficult her course load is. All the teachers are overloaded. They say their lesson plans have suffered because they are just too busy. One of the teachers I talked to said she wouldn’t have worked here if she knew it would be like this, but she has a contract that she has to fulfill. All of these teachers are commuting to the new campus. They get paid extra to commute, but I do not. I have felt a little frustrated because I feel like they are taking advantage of this fact.
Another minor difficulty I’ve had since getting here is that hardly anyone speaks Putonghua unless I ask them to. I can’t understand Chongqinghua and even the Chongqing accent in Mandarin is hard to understand. People can understand when I speak Putonghua, but I can’t understand them. Though I haven’t started with my Chinese learning, I’ve resolved to focus more on reading and writing. I’m still excited to learn more Chinese.
Besides this, I have no complaints. My living conditions are great, and I enjoy a lot of conveniences I wasn’t expecting. I’m slowly working through the difficulties with the school and I think next semester will be better.
Coworkers
I haven’t had much interaction with my coworkers. As I said before, they are overloaded with classes. The dean also teaches, and he says that he feels sorry for his students because he spends so much time on departmental management that his lesson planning suffers. I’ve asked him about how the other teachers are doing, and he said they are all tired from their workloads. All the teachers I have talked to have expressed frustration with the new campus situation. No one seems happy about it. I heard that the government has required that many universities expand by building new campuses, so the decision is not entirely the school’s to make. I have passed by a few English classes, and I see that teachers often spend the whole class sitting at the desk in front of class lecturing through a headset while reading off of their notes or the screen. In some classrooms, all the students have headsets and monitors at their desks, and they sit and listen in silence. Some teachers are more engaging and have some speaking activities for their students, but the classes are almost entirely in Chinese. The English department dean mentioned that he wished to hire more teachers, but it wasn’t up to him. The school decides how many teachers to hire. I went to a meeting once where they showed videos from different companies competing to build the community for teachers at the new campus. The teachers voted on which company they wanted to build the project. I suppose this is an indication of the decision making process, but I assume the administration has the final say.
Friday, September 23, 2011
End of Training, Seeing Biden, Swearing In with Ambassador Locke, Moving to Chongqing
Good lord. I haven't updated this in a month and there's way too much that has happened to try to write about here. I'll give some highlights
The last few weeks of pre service training were super busy.
We went to Sichuan University to see Vice President Biden give a speech. He shook hands with a few volunteers.
The next day we were sworn in by Ambassador Gary Locke. I got to shake his hand. We got group pictures, he gave a speech, and he talked to the press.
Later we were all on national TV. I saw myself on TV, which was pretty cool.
We all moved out of our host family houses and went to an extremely nice hotel for a few days before leaving for our permanent sites. It was nice to have everyone together one last time. We had some final training sessions. Usually this is when volunteers have their swearing in ceremony, but we had ours early. Because of Biden's visit and coordinating with the Ambassador, the schedule got shifted around. It worked out well to have it it like that. It seemed like it would have been more stressful if we had swearing in at the hotel.
Then we all went off to our sites. I was lucky, a guy from my Wai Ban office at Jiaotong University came to pick me up with a driver. Having to take the train would not have been fun. Peace Corps gave me a water distiller and an air purifier in these huge boxes. Combined with my other luggage, it would have been impossible to carry around myself.
I arrived in Chongqing at my apartment after a 4 hour car ride. I met my site mate, who was really helpful.
I had a good week before my classes started. It was nice of them not to make me teach as soon as I got there. I spent the time setting up my apartment, meeting people, hanging out with some volunteers in Chongqing, exploring a bit.
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Site Visit - Thursday, Friday, Saturday
On Thursday, my counterpart/boss? took me downtown and showed me around. I had met "Eric" Chen the day before briefly when Jason had me come back to campus to show me my teaching schedule. The power went out and he wasn't able to.
Mr. Chen is a small, skinny guy who looks kind of young, so I thought he was just my counterpart. But he told me he was in charge of the English department or something. I asked if he was my boss and he said "maybe." He was just appointed to this position a month ago.
He took me to the warf on the very tip of the peninsula where the two rivers meet. That was pretty cool. It would be a pretty sweet hang out spot. Then he took me to Jeifangbei, the heart of the city on the peninsula. Then to the Great Hall and the 3 Gorges Dam Museum.
He took me home and took a nap. Then he met me close to my host family's house to give me my class schedule and text books. I was very happy to receive those. I was starting to think that I wouldn't get them.
I'm teaching Oral English, Tourism English, and a class on American and British News Articles. To my dismay, most of my classes are Oral English that meet on the new campus, and on Thursdays I have to get to that campus at 8am. I asked Mr. Chen if he could change it so I wouldn't have to spend the night on the other campus. I also asked to remove the Articles class because there are 63 students in that class I feel like it might be a bit too much for me to handle in addition to teaching Oral and Tourism. He said he would try.
After looking more closely at the schedule, I found that I unfortunately have an 8am class on the new campus and then a 7pm class on the new campus with a 7 hour break in between. With nothing much to do on the new campus, I'm not sure what to do with myself except go back to main campus, then commute back at night, then once class is over, commute back to main campus... I may not get home until 10 or 11 at night.
That night, Mr. Mao wanted to have dinner with me and my host family at a very nice restaurant. It must have been expensive.
Jason informed me that my host family was going on vacation Friday and I wouldn't be able to stay with them Friday night, so he was going to let me into my apartment on campus and let me spend the night there.
I thought it was weird that my host family didn't tell me about leaving earlier for vacation, but i didn't mind because I'd get to see my apartment and have a night to myself finally.
Around 1pm on Friday I said goodbye to my host family. Foy wanted me to give her some of my photography so i left her a USB drive that I loaded up with my stuff. I gave her my email in case she ever needed help with English homework or whatever else.
Jason let me into my apartment and I was very happy with it. It hadn't been cleaned out, which was good and bad. I didn't mind much because it meant I could keep all of my predecessor's furniture and things. On the other hand, there was a lot of trash and cleaning to do. Jason tried to help me get online, but my macbook wouldn't connect. That concerned me, but I heard that lots of volunteers have had macs and had trouble connecting but were able to one way or another.
Jason left me and said he pick me up the next day to take me to the train station.
I immediately got to work cleaning and fixing. I went to the supermarket and bought 200 kuai worth of stuff. There was only one working lightbulb in each of the chandeliers in the living room and bedroom. I got the impression my predecessor was just too lazy to replace them as they went out. I bought 11 lightbulbs, a mop, a broom, clothes hangers, instant coffee, a cup, and some other thing.
I spent the rest of the day sweeping, mopping, replacing lights, wiping things down, throwing away junk.
He left me a lot of books that didn't didn't interest me, some music that was actually pretty good taste, a stack of papers, a lot of maps that were taped to the wall, a paper cup with filthy brown water where he put out his cigarettes, etc.
But the most interesting relic was a love letter written by another volunteer to him. This girl had left China before him and sent this letter to tell him how she had felt about him. Apparently he had been dating another girl and she was jealous.
I'm very pleased with my apartment. It has an airconditioned bedroom and living room, a small kitchen and bathroom with a western toilet (so crucial). My predecessor left me an HD TV (pretty sweet). I have a desk, fridge, couch, coffee table, dining table with chairs, bigger-than-twin size bed, microwave, stove device, a shower with very decent pressure. The living room is a little dark because there's only one window that looks into the kitchen, which has plenty of windows, but I'm not complaining.
I'm sure some other volunteers have nicer setups, but for Peace Corps standards, this is incredible.
I slept in my own bed. In the morning, I left my big suitcase, and Jason picked me up and took me to the train station.
I worked on my Semester Plans for my Oral and Tourism English classes during the 2 hour train ride.
Mr. Chen is a small, skinny guy who looks kind of young, so I thought he was just my counterpart. But he told me he was in charge of the English department or something. I asked if he was my boss and he said "maybe." He was just appointed to this position a month ago.
He took me to the warf on the very tip of the peninsula where the two rivers meet. That was pretty cool. It would be a pretty sweet hang out spot. Then he took me to Jeifangbei, the heart of the city on the peninsula. Then to the Great Hall and the 3 Gorges Dam Museum.
He took me home and took a nap. Then he met me close to my host family's house to give me my class schedule and text books. I was very happy to receive those. I was starting to think that I wouldn't get them.
I'm teaching Oral English, Tourism English, and a class on American and British News Articles. To my dismay, most of my classes are Oral English that meet on the new campus, and on Thursdays I have to get to that campus at 8am. I asked Mr. Chen if he could change it so I wouldn't have to spend the night on the other campus. I also asked to remove the Articles class because there are 63 students in that class I feel like it might be a bit too much for me to handle in addition to teaching Oral and Tourism. He said he would try.
After looking more closely at the schedule, I found that I unfortunately have an 8am class on the new campus and then a 7pm class on the new campus with a 7 hour break in between. With nothing much to do on the new campus, I'm not sure what to do with myself except go back to main campus, then commute back at night, then once class is over, commute back to main campus... I may not get home until 10 or 11 at night.
That night, Mr. Mao wanted to have dinner with me and my host family at a very nice restaurant. It must have been expensive.
Jason informed me that my host family was going on vacation Friday and I wouldn't be able to stay with them Friday night, so he was going to let me into my apartment on campus and let me spend the night there.
I thought it was weird that my host family didn't tell me about leaving earlier for vacation, but i didn't mind because I'd get to see my apartment and have a night to myself finally.
Around 1pm on Friday I said goodbye to my host family. Foy wanted me to give her some of my photography so i left her a USB drive that I loaded up with my stuff. I gave her my email in case she ever needed help with English homework or whatever else.
Jason let me into my apartment and I was very happy with it. It hadn't been cleaned out, which was good and bad. I didn't mind much because it meant I could keep all of my predecessor's furniture and things. On the other hand, there was a lot of trash and cleaning to do. Jason tried to help me get online, but my macbook wouldn't connect. That concerned me, but I heard that lots of volunteers have had macs and had trouble connecting but were able to one way or another.
Jason left me and said he pick me up the next day to take me to the train station.
I immediately got to work cleaning and fixing. I went to the supermarket and bought 200 kuai worth of stuff. There was only one working lightbulb in each of the chandeliers in the living room and bedroom. I got the impression my predecessor was just too lazy to replace them as they went out. I bought 11 lightbulbs, a mop, a broom, clothes hangers, instant coffee, a cup, and some other thing.
I spent the rest of the day sweeping, mopping, replacing lights, wiping things down, throwing away junk.
He left me a lot of books that didn't didn't interest me, some music that was actually pretty good taste, a stack of papers, a lot of maps that were taped to the wall, a paper cup with filthy brown water where he put out his cigarettes, etc.
But the most interesting relic was a love letter written by another volunteer to him. This girl had left China before him and sent this letter to tell him how she had felt about him. Apparently he had been dating another girl and she was jealous.
I'm very pleased with my apartment. It has an airconditioned bedroom and living room, a small kitchen and bathroom with a western toilet (so crucial). My predecessor left me an HD TV (pretty sweet). I have a desk, fridge, couch, coffee table, dining table with chairs, bigger-than-twin size bed, microwave, stove device, a shower with very decent pressure. The living room is a little dark because there's only one window that looks into the kitchen, which has plenty of windows, but I'm not complaining.
I'm sure some other volunteers have nicer setups, but for Peace Corps standards, this is incredible.
I slept in my own bed. In the morning, I left my big suitcase, and Jason picked me up and took me to the train station.
I worked on my Semester Plans for my Oral and Tourism English classes during the 2 hour train ride.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Site Visit - Wednesday
Today Jason took me to see the new campus. We picked up a girl who works for the school. I don't know who she was. Without any coffee, I was a limp noodle sloshing about in the car. I fell asleep and bobbled about like a buffoon. It took an hour to get there.
When we reached the campus, we drove through all this construction.
"All of this is the campus." The girl said. "In 22 days, this will all be complete and the students will start school."
I really couldn't believe that, honestly. The campus was huge and the construction on it was far from finished. Nothing looked closed to completion.
We went to look at a student dormitory and the girl talked to this lady there for a long time in Chinese, while i sat and did nothing. Finally, she said "So if you have class here in the morning, you are expected to stay here the night before because traffic may be bad in the morning and you won't get to class on time. The school provides a hotel for the teachers to stay in."
Then I started to get kind of angry. I've been super flexible about everything up to this point, but this just seemed ridiculous.
"This just seems really impractical. Is there any way for me to avoid that? If i have classes here 2-3 times a week, that means I have to spend 2-3 nights here? All of my stuff will be on the main campus. It will be difficult for me to do lesson plans. And I will have projects to do on the main campus that will be difficult for me to organize if I have to come over here every other night."
"This is only if you have class in the morning. We'll have to see your schedule." This frustrated me even more because I have been asking about this schedule for several days. It supposedly exists and is ready for me, but everyone keeps forgetting to show it to me.
"But still. The commute is long enough as it is. I really don't want to have to do this if I can avoid it. I really need to see that class schedule. When do classes start?"
"End of August. I think we also have some books for you."
"I don't get here until the first of September. I have to start immediately when I get here? I need to get those textbooks as soon as possible. I need to start preparing for these classes."
This is the first time I've gotten remotely upset or frustrated at anything since coming to China. From what I saw today, I felt like nothing was well organized or thought through concerning my position at this school on the part of the school. I feel like I was just haphazardly thrown into the class schedule and shifted around to wherever there was any space. In order to get what I need I'm going to have to push people to get it, which I'm well aware is not the cultural norm in China. I have avoided that kind of attitude because it's not well received here and doesn't leave a good impression on my colleagues. But I felt slightly taken advantage of. Those feelings grew when I finally did get to see my schedule and saw that most of my classes were on the new campus, an hour away, at very inconvenient times. I'll get into the schedule later.
Jason, that girl, and the driver took me home. I didn't have much to do, so I took a walk by myself. I went to the grocery store in front of the school and looked around to see what they have. I bought some instant coffee.
After dinner, my host parents invited me to san bu (take a walk) again. It was hot, so i wore shorts and a t-shirt. I had no idea we were going to meet up with the Executive Director of the new campus, Mr. Mao. I had briefly run into him earlier that day at the new campus, but only said hi. That evening we spent an hour walking through this community. His English is really good, and he constantly reminded me that we were going to be "close friends" over the next two years. He did all of the talking, so it wasn't that awkward. I felt underdressed though and I was soaked with sweat. But, like all Chinese men do here, he kept his shirt lifted up above his chest to keep his belly cool. It's kind of an awkward sight to most of us I think, but it's normal here and I'm getting used to it.
What was awkward though was how intimate he wanted to get with me right off the bat. He wanted to be best friends with me, talk to me every day so he could practice his English, invited me to come to his office anytime and expected me to drop in whenever I'm on the new campus. He loved the fact that I studied philosophy, and he wanted me to teach him about philosophy whenever I can. He said he would set me up with a Chinese girl. I said "whoa whoa, no. Don't do that." "I insist. We are close friends. It's what we do for each other. What kind of girl do you like? I will find one for you." He also asked questions about my religion, which caught me off guard. I told him I'm not religious and he seemed to like that answer. But I felt like I was in dangerous territory.
It's nice that I can consult Mr. Mao when I need help and the fact that someone with his influence in the school has taken a particular liking to me.
The problem with this kind of relationship, which is common in Chinese culture, is the concept of guanxi. The more someone does for you, the more it's kind of expected that you reciprocate those favors, even though that expectation will never be expressed. This is why I've always been uncomfortable with people doing things for me. I don't know what or how much they expect me to reciprocate. (I feel as though I'm intimately and inherently familiar with this and other Chinese cultural norms, but I'm not entirely sure where I got them from... More on this later). You can make it work for you, but I'm not yet bold enough. The Chinese do expect you to exchange guanxi with them. When they do things for you, they expect you to do things for them and then feel comfortable asking for favors. But asking for favors has never come naturally to me.
When we reached the campus, we drove through all this construction.
"All of this is the campus." The girl said. "In 22 days, this will all be complete and the students will start school."
I really couldn't believe that, honestly. The campus was huge and the construction on it was far from finished. Nothing looked closed to completion.
We went to look at a student dormitory and the girl talked to this lady there for a long time in Chinese, while i sat and did nothing. Finally, she said "So if you have class here in the morning, you are expected to stay here the night before because traffic may be bad in the morning and you won't get to class on time. The school provides a hotel for the teachers to stay in."
Then I started to get kind of angry. I've been super flexible about everything up to this point, but this just seemed ridiculous.
"This just seems really impractical. Is there any way for me to avoid that? If i have classes here 2-3 times a week, that means I have to spend 2-3 nights here? All of my stuff will be on the main campus. It will be difficult for me to do lesson plans. And I will have projects to do on the main campus that will be difficult for me to organize if I have to come over here every other night."
"This is only if you have class in the morning. We'll have to see your schedule." This frustrated me even more because I have been asking about this schedule for several days. It supposedly exists and is ready for me, but everyone keeps forgetting to show it to me.
"But still. The commute is long enough as it is. I really don't want to have to do this if I can avoid it. I really need to see that class schedule. When do classes start?"
"End of August. I think we also have some books for you."
"I don't get here until the first of September. I have to start immediately when I get here? I need to get those textbooks as soon as possible. I need to start preparing for these classes."
This is the first time I've gotten remotely upset or frustrated at anything since coming to China. From what I saw today, I felt like nothing was well organized or thought through concerning my position at this school on the part of the school. I feel like I was just haphazardly thrown into the class schedule and shifted around to wherever there was any space. In order to get what I need I'm going to have to push people to get it, which I'm well aware is not the cultural norm in China. I have avoided that kind of attitude because it's not well received here and doesn't leave a good impression on my colleagues. But I felt slightly taken advantage of. Those feelings grew when I finally did get to see my schedule and saw that most of my classes were on the new campus, an hour away, at very inconvenient times. I'll get into the schedule later.
Jason, that girl, and the driver took me home. I didn't have much to do, so I took a walk by myself. I went to the grocery store in front of the school and looked around to see what they have. I bought some instant coffee.
After dinner, my host parents invited me to san bu (take a walk) again. It was hot, so i wore shorts and a t-shirt. I had no idea we were going to meet up with the Executive Director of the new campus, Mr. Mao. I had briefly run into him earlier that day at the new campus, but only said hi. That evening we spent an hour walking through this community. His English is really good, and he constantly reminded me that we were going to be "close friends" over the next two years. He did all of the talking, so it wasn't that awkward. I felt underdressed though and I was soaked with sweat. But, like all Chinese men do here, he kept his shirt lifted up above his chest to keep his belly cool. It's kind of an awkward sight to most of us I think, but it's normal here and I'm getting used to it.
What was awkward though was how intimate he wanted to get with me right off the bat. He wanted to be best friends with me, talk to me every day so he could practice his English, invited me to come to his office anytime and expected me to drop in whenever I'm on the new campus. He loved the fact that I studied philosophy, and he wanted me to teach him about philosophy whenever I can. He said he would set me up with a Chinese girl. I said "whoa whoa, no. Don't do that." "I insist. We are close friends. It's what we do for each other. What kind of girl do you like? I will find one for you." He also asked questions about my religion, which caught me off guard. I told him I'm not religious and he seemed to like that answer. But I felt like I was in dangerous territory.
It's nice that I can consult Mr. Mao when I need help and the fact that someone with his influence in the school has taken a particular liking to me.
The problem with this kind of relationship, which is common in Chinese culture, is the concept of guanxi. The more someone does for you, the more it's kind of expected that you reciprocate those favors, even though that expectation will never be expressed. This is why I've always been uncomfortable with people doing things for me. I don't know what or how much they expect me to reciprocate. (I feel as though I'm intimately and inherently familiar with this and other Chinese cultural norms, but I'm not entirely sure where I got them from... More on this later). You can make it work for you, but I'm not yet bold enough. The Chinese do expect you to exchange guanxi with them. When they do things for you, they expect you to do things for them and then feel comfortable asking for favors. But asking for favors has never come naturally to me.
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Site Visit - Tuesday
The next day I got up early and it hit me like a ton of bricks that I forgot about coffee. I should have bought some instant or something. I staggered around my host family's house looking for something caffeinated. I failed.
After breakfast, my host father drove me down hill to meet Jason. Jason showed me around campus, took me to open a bank account, bought a train ticket for Saturday to go back to Chengdu, registered me at the local police station, and showed me how to use the buses.
He showed me where my apartment is. It's right on campus. We couldn't go in because the guy who has the key is on vacation until Thursday. He showed me where the "shuttle" is to go the new campus where I will have some classes. I asked him where the damn campus is on a map and he laughed. It's been kind of frustrating that every time I ask anybody about how far away this new campus is and where it is, all I get is a laugh and no information. I bought a map of Chongqing and I asked him again "where is it?"
"it's on this side, but it's off the map." On the map, my campus is on the east side of the city, on the far right side of the map. What he pointed to was the far left side of the map.
"So, I have to commute across the entire city of Chongqing to get to work?"
"Yes. It will take an hour. Probably more because of traffic"
Great.
He walked me around to all these places and then back to my host family's house, which was pretty arduous. Chongqing is extremely hilly and walking around is not easy. I probably wouldn't have minded much if I was walking on my own, but following this guy around and not knowing where, how far, or how long we were walking was extremely tiring.
At home I sat and did nothing for several hours.
Then my host father knocked on the door and spoke in Chongqing dialect, gesturing that we were leaving now. "oh, okay."
We drove through the city, and I looked out the window the whole time saying "jesus… holy shit… god…" looking at all the buildings.
We met up with the rest of the family and ate hot pot… Then we went to see Harry Potter! In 3D IMAX!
The cost was 100 freaking kuai… which just seemed insanely expensive to me. In China especially, that's a LOT of money. My host father paid for it and I felt uncomfortable about it. But… IT WAS THE LAST HARRY FUCKIN POTTER IN 3D IMAX… So i wasn't complaining.
And it was awesome. Everything was just spectacular. Then at that moment when Harry and Voldemort were dueling at Hogwarts and Voldemort's Avada Kedavra just rebounded and was about to kill him… The screen went black and the lights came on like the movie was over. I was so angry. So so angry. Everybody was yelling and standing up and stomping about. Somebody came in and started saying something in Chinese. Finally, Foy translated for me and said the power just went out in this district.
After 10 or 15 minutes, the power came back on and the screen came on again. Then everyone shouted until they rewound to the part that was interrupted… Then Voldemort died… but the moment was lost. I will never regain that moment when I got to see the end of Voldemort for the first time on screen. I'll watch this movie again, but it won't be the same.
After the movie, my host father returned all our 3D glasses and he got a bunch of money back, so I'm assuming he got refunded for the tickets. I'm happy for that at least.
After breakfast, my host father drove me down hill to meet Jason. Jason showed me around campus, took me to open a bank account, bought a train ticket for Saturday to go back to Chengdu, registered me at the local police station, and showed me how to use the buses.
He showed me where my apartment is. It's right on campus. We couldn't go in because the guy who has the key is on vacation until Thursday. He showed me where the "shuttle" is to go the new campus where I will have some classes. I asked him where the damn campus is on a map and he laughed. It's been kind of frustrating that every time I ask anybody about how far away this new campus is and where it is, all I get is a laugh and no information. I bought a map of Chongqing and I asked him again "where is it?"
"it's on this side, but it's off the map." On the map, my campus is on the east side of the city, on the far right side of the map. What he pointed to was the far left side of the map.
"So, I have to commute across the entire city of Chongqing to get to work?"
"Yes. It will take an hour. Probably more because of traffic"
Great.
He walked me around to all these places and then back to my host family's house, which was pretty arduous. Chongqing is extremely hilly and walking around is not easy. I probably wouldn't have minded much if I was walking on my own, but following this guy around and not knowing where, how far, or how long we were walking was extremely tiring.
At home I sat and did nothing for several hours.
Then my host father knocked on the door and spoke in Chongqing dialect, gesturing that we were leaving now. "oh, okay."
We drove through the city, and I looked out the window the whole time saying "jesus… holy shit… god…" looking at all the buildings.
We met up with the rest of the family and ate hot pot… Then we went to see Harry Potter! In 3D IMAX!
The cost was 100 freaking kuai… which just seemed insanely expensive to me. In China especially, that's a LOT of money. My host father paid for it and I felt uncomfortable about it. But… IT WAS THE LAST HARRY FUCKIN POTTER IN 3D IMAX… So i wasn't complaining.
And it was awesome. Everything was just spectacular. Then at that moment when Harry and Voldemort were dueling at Hogwarts and Voldemort's Avada Kedavra just rebounded and was about to kill him… The screen went black and the lights came on like the movie was over. I was so angry. So so angry. Everybody was yelling and standing up and stomping about. Somebody came in and started saying something in Chinese. Finally, Foy translated for me and said the power just went out in this district.
After 10 or 15 minutes, the power came back on and the screen came on again. Then everyone shouted until they rewound to the part that was interrupted… Then Voldemort died… but the moment was lost. I will never regain that moment when I got to see the end of Voldemort for the first time on screen. I'll watch this movie again, but it won't be the same.
After the movie, my host father returned all our 3D glasses and he got a bunch of money back, so I'm assuming he got refunded for the tickets. I'm happy for that at least.
Site Visit - Monday
On Monday everyone going to Sichuan and Chongqing met at the East train station. It was only a two hour ride to Chongqing. I did my best to stay away from some people, but we were assigned to seats close to each other. Sure enough, there were confrontations.
When we entered Chongqing, I was immediately struck by the contrast in landscape. There were mountains and hills everywhere. After passing through some mountains, we emerged into Chongqing city. It was incredible. It's just hills, mountains, and rivers, all of which were completely populated with skyscrapers, houses, and bridges. What struck me the most was that the whole area is just filled with skyscrapers. All of them are apartments.
I found out that Chongqing city lies in a bowl surrounded by mountains. Two rivers cut through it and where they meet forms a mountain on a peninsula where the heart of the city is. It's one of the hottest cities in China because the air doesn't circulate well. The mountains prevent the hot air from escaping.
I met Jason, my Wai Ban liaison. He's 27 and dresses like I do. He's pretty cool. He took me out for lunch and then took me to my host family. Their daughter is 16 and speaks pretty good English. They showed me around the house, which is a pretty amazing house. Their community was built into the hillside that leads up to the mountains. From this house, you can look out and theoretically see the entire city… but it's never clear enough. The house has 4 stories, but it's a very thin house. At the top there is a small garden with fish and turtles. That was my favorite part. They use 3G internet instead of having a modem, which caused problems for me because their USB 3G receiver wouldn't work on my macbook. I couldn't figure out how to install it on my Parallels Windows XP because it's all in Chinese.
After they showed me around the house, I didn't have anything to do for the rest of the day. My host mom could tell I was bored, so she gave me her laptop to use to get on the internet and then gave me her Ipad to play games on… So Posh Corps.
During dinner, I told my host sister that I like photography. She said she did too and she wanted to see my photos. So we sat on the couch and I showed her my photos. She was enthralled by them. For each photo I showed she would gasp and go "OH WOOOOW" and grab the monitor to get a better look. She showed me her photography too, which was actually pretty good.
It made me think more and more about this photography club I'm thinking about organizing at the school for the kids. The area seems affluent enough that the kids would be able to afford cameras and would be interested.
Afterward, my host parents took me out for a walk. My Wai Ban lives right next door and they are friends. So that was convenient. The Wai Ban joined us and we walked down the enormous hill, through the community, and across the street to Jiaotong University.
This neighborhood is really amazing. there are bridges where you wouldn't think bridges would go connecting hill to hill, serving as a walk way between rows of houses and apartments. The winding road allows cars to get to and from their houses. If you look out in any direction, you can't see the ground. Just tons of apartments.
We walked around the school. There's a big soccer field and a track around it. There are two swimming pools, basketball courts, and little shops. There are lots of trees everywhere. It's a nice campus, though undoubtedly a little old.
When we got home, I went to bed on a hard bamboo mat.
When we entered Chongqing, I was immediately struck by the contrast in landscape. There were mountains and hills everywhere. After passing through some mountains, we emerged into Chongqing city. It was incredible. It's just hills, mountains, and rivers, all of which were completely populated with skyscrapers, houses, and bridges. What struck me the most was that the whole area is just filled with skyscrapers. All of them are apartments.
I found out that Chongqing city lies in a bowl surrounded by mountains. Two rivers cut through it and where they meet forms a mountain on a peninsula where the heart of the city is. It's one of the hottest cities in China because the air doesn't circulate well. The mountains prevent the hot air from escaping.
I met Jason, my Wai Ban liaison. He's 27 and dresses like I do. He's pretty cool. He took me out for lunch and then took me to my host family. Their daughter is 16 and speaks pretty good English. They showed me around the house, which is a pretty amazing house. Their community was built into the hillside that leads up to the mountains. From this house, you can look out and theoretically see the entire city… but it's never clear enough. The house has 4 stories, but it's a very thin house. At the top there is a small garden with fish and turtles. That was my favorite part. They use 3G internet instead of having a modem, which caused problems for me because their USB 3G receiver wouldn't work on my macbook. I couldn't figure out how to install it on my Parallels Windows XP because it's all in Chinese.
After they showed me around the house, I didn't have anything to do for the rest of the day. My host mom could tell I was bored, so she gave me her laptop to use to get on the internet and then gave me her Ipad to play games on… So Posh Corps.
During dinner, I told my host sister that I like photography. She said she did too and she wanted to see my photos. So we sat on the couch and I showed her my photos. She was enthralled by them. For each photo I showed she would gasp and go "OH WOOOOW" and grab the monitor to get a better look. She showed me her photography too, which was actually pretty good.
It made me think more and more about this photography club I'm thinking about organizing at the school for the kids. The area seems affluent enough that the kids would be able to afford cameras and would be interested.
Afterward, my host parents took me out for a walk. My Wai Ban lives right next door and they are friends. So that was convenient. The Wai Ban joined us and we walked down the enormous hill, through the community, and across the street to Jiaotong University.
This neighborhood is really amazing. there are bridges where you wouldn't think bridges would go connecting hill to hill, serving as a walk way between rows of houses and apartments. The winding road allows cars to get to and from their houses. If you look out in any direction, you can't see the ground. Just tons of apartments.
We walked around the school. There's a big soccer field and a track around it. There are two swimming pools, basketball courts, and little shops. There are lots of trees everywhere. It's a nice campus, though undoubtedly a little old.
When we got home, I went to bed on a hard bamboo mat.
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