Going to the Country

Every Sunday Keith and I tutor four primary school students in oral English. This past weekend one of our students, Gary, invited us to spend an afternoon in the countryside at his home. We loaded in his father's van and headed out of the city. It was wonderful to breathe fresh, sweet-smelling air. The city is rather polluted. In China, Gary's family would be considered "rich peasants." Their newly built two-story home has the kitchen in another small building separated by a narrow courtyard from the main house. In the courtyard is the pig pen and chicken coop - but the chickens roam throughout the entire yard.

We walked through the garden and around the rice paddies where we met Harry the water buffalo. I helped Gary feed the chickens and we played with their new puppy, DuDu (which sounds like "doo doo"). I told them they should get another dog and name him PeePee! Despite his English being quite good, I was surprised that Gary actually understood the joke...When I was checking out the pig, I nonchalantly shooed a chick away who was getting to close too my face. I had failed to notice five other chickens sitting in a nearby basket. When they saw my hand swing over them, they all flocked towards me in panic. I shrieked loudly and hurried away swinging my arms to fend off the chickens! I caused such an uproar that Gary's grandmother came to see if everything was OK!

Harry

After a few hours of playing with the kids (none of the adults spoke any English), we had a huge feast prepared by Gary's mother and aunt. It was so lovely to have a home-cooked meal! I never cook at my apartment and eat out almost every evening. It was one of the best meals I've had since arriving in China, particularly the duck legs. After eating like it was Thanksgiving, we returned to campus.

Group Photo

The Feast (which I can't get to load right-side up)

The Red, White & Blue

Last week I passed around a blank sheet of paper and asked each student to write any question they have about American culture, politics and society. So I knew this week that I would be discussing topics of interest on a subject I'm knowledgeable about. It was the best discussion all semester with some students actually participating!

Some questions were rather light and funny, while others were more inquisitive and serious:

"Does everyone have casual sex like they do in American movies?"
"How did Indians (Native Americans) influence American culture?"
"Are American housewives really like the characters in the show Desperate Housewives?"
"How old are women when they get married? How many children do they typically have?"
"Are Americans more accepting of black people after President Obama was elected?"
"What do American women look for in and find attractive about Chinese men?"

I made sure to discuss every inquiry. For a few, I had to do a little research in order to provide a good answer, especially one question in particular. Two students asked about my opinions on America "not thinking that Taiwan is a part of China" and the recent weapons sale to Taiwan. I was surprised to see these two questions written down. The issues surrounding the status of Taiwan independence are the Chinese government's Achilles heel. For example, China refuses to do business with any country that asserts Taiwan's sovereignty. A few other foreign teachers warned I would be entering dangerous territory, but I didn't want to ignore the students' questions after I encouraged them to ask whatever they wanted. Because of the sensivity of the topic, I had to be very careful in crafting my response.

I mostly quoted statements issued by both the Obama and Bush administrations, which essentially leave the American government's stance vague and arbitrary, causing my response to also be. In addressing the $1.6 billion sale of weapons, I said that it was an economic exchange, not a political move. One student then proceded to ask, "How would Americans feel if the Chinese government sold weapons to California?" I explained that wouldn't happen because California doesn't have it's own army (Taiwan does) and continued to emphasis economical reasons for the transaction. While this one student did seem to get aggravated, I kept the conversation from getting heated. My communications degree in rhetoric proved helpful in the situation. I made a conscious effort to avoid saying "Taiwanese government" or any way insinuating that Taiwan has a separate government. (Although Taiwan actually does - It has its own president, political parties, judicial system, tax system, etc. A Chinese passport isn't even valid for entry; Mainland Chinese have to purchase a visa).

So the class discussions went great even though I touched upon a very delicate issue. I succeeded in not angrying or offending anyone! Everyone paid attention and no one appeared bored. If only past attempts at encouraging student oral participation went as well. The students were also glad to not have to do any writing after turning in their preposterous final papers!

Festivities & No School!

Last Wednesday was the Dragon Boat Festival and the first very hot, humid day in Jingzhou. Due to the national holiday, we had the day off school so I enjoyed a fun day in the sun!

Dragon Boat Festival is celebrated every summer in honor of poet Qu Yuan (340BC - 278BC) who lived under the Chu State during the Era of Warring States, a time period of warlord rivalry before the formation of the first dynasty in 221 B.C. The Chu State was actually centered in the city of Jingzhou. When Qu Yuan became shunned by the sovereign and too frustrated with the government that soon formed the Qin Dynasty, he drowned himself in the river. In old China, suicide was a traditional form of protest - and an honorable way to "save face" when one's reputation was ruined beyond repair. After the local people could not find his body by boat, they threw rice into the water to prevent the fish from eating his body, in hopes of preserving it for the afterlife. Because of this, the traditional food is sticky rice dumplings (zhongzi), which can be dipped in sugar or are filled with meat and vegetables, and are wrapped in bamboo leaves.

Besides eating zhongzi, the other major festivity is the dragon boat race. Dragon boats are traditional long canoe-like boats that are usually adorned with decorative dragon heads and tails. The boat is rowed by a dozen men while another man, sitting in front, beats a drum to keep the rowers in sync. About eight teams competed in Jingzhou. Unfortunately, the team representing Yangtze University came in last. Below is a picture of two teams rowing with spectators and a statue of Qu Yuan in the background.

Here's a close-up of Qu Yuan

Good times!

Other than watching the race, we simply enjoyed walking around. Like any other festival, there were tons of vendors and decorations. And, of course, I had dozens of pictures taken with random strangers who wanted to pose with a wei guo ren (foreigner). The pics above are friends though! It was a lovely day except for by sunburned shoulders!

Getting Physical

Students are incredibly active here and many exercise just about everyday. The most popular sports are basketball, football (soccer), badminton and ping-pong. All the boys LOVE the NBA and are huge Kobe fans and many are currently glued to the TV each night watching the World Cup. Girls tend to only play the latter two sports. However, I have two girlfriends who will play b-ball with me sometimes. Although most girls, I believe, find it too unfeminine. Because I'm female, most people are surprised to learn that I play basketball - with the boys! I decided I need to pick-up another one of the fav sports so every Friday I attend Tu's ping-pong class. I tease all the students by saying that I am practicing to compete in China's national ping-pong competition. They don't believe I am good enough.....yet.....

Tu & I

The basketball and badminton courts, the football field and the ping-pong tables are constantly crowded with people. The track (which is called the "playground") is overcrowded every evening from about 7-10 o'clock. Hundreds of students are running, walking or stretching. Several small groups of friends will just walk and talk. Just tonight I walked four times around the playground while chatting with my friend - better than talking over calorie-packed coffees or snacks I suppose. While American college students will go to the campus gym, it isn't considered a place to hang out and it isn't frequented by the majority of students. So, at first, it's surprising to see so many people running every night as their means of socializing. The playground is definitely a popular evening social event. As I have mentioned before, Chinese students don't party like American students do. So evidently when students don't drink beer, they exercise!

Good Thing I Teach on the First Floor

Since final papers are due next week, I just gave my students the class time to work and the opportunity to receive help or ask questions. I would periodically walk around to make sure they were working on their research papers and not other assignments, but mostly I just read if I wasn't assisting a student. Admittedly, class was less formal than usual as I did not have any lesson to give and I was quite laid-back. During my afternoon class today, I got absorbed in my book and looked up only because a female student coughed loudly (to get my attention). As I glanced in her direction, I saw one of my male students running down the hill outside. He had jumped out the window! Without thinking I uttered, "What the hell!" The entire class roared in laughter. After a good laugh, everyone calmed down and went back to work. Then not two minutes later from my peripheral vision I see another student, Danny, jumping out the window. Frankly, I was so taken aback I didn't even say something but just watched him follow the same path downhill.

I understand they weren't wanting to work on their final, but I still find it peculiar. I suppose this is a good example of foreign teachers not being granted the same respect as their Chinese teachers - whose windows they would certainly not jump out of to escape class early. Moreover, I assume being an entire four years older doesn't help in getting them to take me seriously. I was rather worried about that before the start of the semester so I've never told them I am only 24. While American university students can be apt to skip class or slack off, Chinese students are extremely studious and diligent. So attempts to leave or skip class are rare, especially through windows. Mostly, however, I find the incident rather hilarious. Next week I plan to write the definition of a door and a window on the chalkboard and give these two students a hard time. Perhaps I will get all the girls to applaud as they enter and exit through the doorway. And, of course, they lost some participation points today.

Look - A Foreigner!

One thing that can be awkward or even annoying is being something of a novelty in mainland China. Because there are not many foreigners, being non-Chinese causes you to stand out in any crowd. As as result, most people will stare, point and shout at you. It is not uncommon to here people say, "Kan - wei guo ren!" (Look - a foreigner!)

Sometimes it even feels like I am a local celebrity. When walking down the street, groups of people, who are usually young, will excitedly ask to have their picture taken with you. I always wonder what they do with these photos. I imagine they post them on their QQ, which is the Chinese Facebook, with a comment declaring "I met my first foreigner today!" Once when I was with all the male teachers, a few teenage girls went into a frenzy, yelling, jumping and giggling as if I had been walking with Brad Pitt.

I am not too bothered by it, but some of the other foreign teachers find that, at times, it can make them uncomfortable. Don't come to mainland China without being prepared to receive a lot of attention - shy wallflowers will not survive! When someone is gawking, I will usually wave or shout "Ni hao!" at them, which causes them to become embarrassed and quickly look away. On a few occasions, an older man or woman (in their 70s or 80s) will approach me and just start talking up a storm. I will politely listen to them ramble for a few minutes without understanding a single word and then they just nod and walk away. Typically, however, the older folks do not come too close.

The only times that I do feel weird is when I go running on the university's track. Students will not only point, but stop and watch me. I am not sure what they are expecting to learn about Americans from the way I run. So I just turn up my music and do my best to ignore them. I tend to run later at night now in order to avoid those awkward moments.

On a few occasions, when I've been in a silly mood, I will point back at someone and shout "Kan - zhong wen!" (Look - a Chinese!) The stranger will either smile before looking away, understanding the joke, or just give a confused look.

Preposterous Papers!

A few weeks ago I handed out information on the final argumentative paper. The students were completely overwhlemed! They were actually going have to invest effort in this assignment! When I reviewed the five-page requirement, students' jaws dropped in astonishment. A few girls exclaimed, "But why does it have to be five pages!"

I understood when drafting the criteria that I would be challenging my classes; They are smart and certainly capable. All the students have written persuassive essays in the past, but those essays were not research-based. So we have spent a lot of time learning how to find, paraphrase and quote quality, supportive research. Beyond research, the students are at least familiar with the other requirements, of which we have had lessons covering all they need to know. I also devoted an entire class to constructing outlines and writing a thesis statement in order to make sure everyone had a good grasp of the basics.

I was also aware that I would be raising the bar for a class taught by a foreign teacher, which the students expect to be a blow-off course. (On that note: For anyone wanting to teach in Chinese colleges as a foregin teacher, you have to be assertive in establishing respect. While the students may be really talkative in your class, they are definitely not in their classes taught by Chinese professors.) So I had prepared myself for the dramatized reactions when I presented high expectations for their final assignment. Before discussing the requirements, I asked everyone to take a deep breathe and relax. "Even though the paper, at first, may seem overwhelming," I explained, "we have six weeks before these are due, which, trust me, will be more than enough time to complete your paper stress-free." Despite my assurances, I could still hear grieving mumbles. This final may very well effect my reputation among the students next semester... Hopefully they will say, "If you really want to learn a lot, take Ms. Lindsey's class!"...

With the papers due in two weeks, it seems all students are moving along smoothly. Everyone has completed a rough draft and is now working on a revision after we spent last class doing peer reviews. My only concern is that I have observed how the student's do not usually ask questions when they need help. (This has to do with the Chinese concept of "saving face" which maybe I will someday attempt to explain.) If a student does brave it and ask, it is after class in private. I have made a point to address such questions during the next class, assuming that other students don't know the answer either. I can only hope that the lack of questions means they are competently completing their final papers with ease!

Back With a Sack of Turtle Snack!

After a few weeks on a blogging hiatus, I'm finally back and with so much to share! Most recently, Roanne & I had dinner with a student, Emossa (which I thought the most unique but beautiful English name I have heard a student choose). We took her to a restaurant nearby campus in hopes of having their turtle soup. Unfortunately, the kitchen was out of turtles so Roanne & I would not eat turtle for the first time that night. But there was no need to be sad because Emossa claimed that her father's speciality was turtle soup and that she would have us try it that coming Saturday!

When I opened my door, Emossa was standing there with a bag. When I asked her why she would have soup in bag, she replied, "I brought you turtles!"

Literally, a bag of turtles.

Here's the conversation that then ensued:

Emossa: "Do you know how to cook?"

Me: "Uh no, I wouldn't say so."

Emossa: "Didn't Roanne say she is a good cook?"

Me: "Well, yes, but she also said that she's never eaten turtle."

Emossa gives me a confused look.

Me: "So what you're saying it that you just brought live animals to my apartment with no idea how to cook them?"

Emossa: "I'm not sure how you kill them."

Me: "Well do you have any idea about how to prepare them and what ingredients we should get?"

Emossa: I've watched my parents once before."

Me: "I guess we're cooking turtles!"

I immediately thought about my debate dilemma that I had encountered in my classes. This was another example of many of the student's lack of deductive reasoning. Regardless, it could work out well so we had some cooking to do....

I told Emossa that she would have to handle the turtles as I am used to only seeing the food I am going to eat after it is dead and pre-packaged. I told her the best method for mass turtle murder would probably be boiling. I know the following picture is rather morbid, but it pretty much sums up the night:

Emossa took over the entire kitchen and refused any assistance with prepping the vegetables or cooking the rice. We forwent attempting turtle soup and thought it'd be best just to cook it with veges and rice how other meats are commonly served up in China.

Turtle Sandwich

After nearly two hours, dinner was served. Frankly, it was absolutely disgusting. I am pretty sure that not ony had Emossa never cooked turtle, but she has never cooked once in her entire life. I am also pretty sure that she unknowingly threw away most of the actual meat because we were mostly served cartilage from under the shell - and the feet. My pic of the final dish is blurry but I think you've seen enough....

I asked Emossa to take the remaining turtles with her, but she left them. I quickly placed the bag on the balcony because I was running late to meet someone. When I returned home late that evening, I thought it cruel that I had just left the turtles in the bag, especially after their friends had been futilely sacrificed. So I filled a tray with water and lettuce and brought it to the porch so that they would be more comfortable. But there was only one turtle in the bag and I could have sworn there should have been three! Not thinking too much of it because it was late and I was tired, I went to bed.

The next morning I set the one remaining turtle free in the river. Then the following night, I had three friends over with whom I was sharing this story. As we were leaving, I suddenly shrieked and pointed at the turtle I saw in the corner of my doorway. I knew there were three turtles!! We soon found the third one under my couch. How they lived in my living room for nearly two days without being noticed is beyond me. But we finally set them free to go find their buddy.

I am currently unsure if I am still willing to try turtle again - at a restaurant, of course! I imagine I will, but I will need some recovery time before the second attempt.