Decorations

Well, they don't understand the reason for it; but, our Chinese colleagues have given in on the point. We, the foreign teachers, have our own classrooms. It is great to not be lugging stuff all over the campus and to not be running from class to class. It has also given us the opportunity to do something very un-Chinese, to decorate our classrooms.

As the normal mode of operation is for the students, and the teachers to be constantly changing rooms, it is not common for anything to be done to them. Further, because no one is permanently assigned to a room, the rooms are, generally, filthy.

Along with rooms, one thing we requested were trash cans for the rooms. This is turning out to not be as easy as we had hoped. Getting the trash cans was no problem, the problem is getting the students to use them. They are conditioned to, just, throwing trash on the floor. Or, leaving it on the desks when they leave, for the students in the next class to throw on the floor. It is a lifetime of cultural conditioning that is proving to be hard to break (remember, we are teaching western culture as well as English, this is our job).

I also had the college provide me with a large thermos (or kettle). It seems that I do something very odd with this. I allow the students to use it. Remember, there are no drinking fountains and no one drinks tap water.

Before I go to class I pick up my kettle in the room with the boiler and fill it. I then pack it up the five floors to my classroom (this is China, no elevators). I then put it next to my desk. If a student needs water they can then fill the bottle that they have with them (all the students carry small water bottles); however, if they empty it, or I go to use it and the re is not enough, then the student who used it last will go and refill it. Then at the end of my day I take it back down to the boiler room and leave it for the night.

I have done a couple of things, so far, to decorate my class. The first thing I did was to get some plants. He Zhi Qing and I went and got some plants. We then had them delivered on a motor trike. He then dropped them off on the ground floor. At that point He Zhi Qing said that I should goto the dorm and call out my name and for my students to assemble (something like, "English majors! classes 5, 6, 7, and 8! Assemble in the front!"... she says this is how things are done...), grab a few "volunteers"out of the number that do respond and have them pack them the plants up the stairs.

This seemed too weird to me so I grabbed on side of one of the three, large, potted plants and told her to grab the other. We then packed it up the stairs. Her expression when she realized what we were going to do was evidence that she has mastered the, female, "your an idiot, and I'm being to forced to do something that I don't want to do because your an idiot," (...as she read this, she claimed to have no idea what I was writing about here). When we finally got to my classroom she told me to wait there; which was fine, I had something I needed to do. In about ten minutes she walked into my classroom with a self righteous grin on her face; you guessed it, she was followed by a number of the young men in my classes, carrying the rest of my plants.

In addition to plants, I have also ordered some posters. It is important that the posters be in English. This is to set to tone of the class. I found that several US government agencies will send free posters on request; so, I requested them. So far, the only ones I have gotten (they arrived on Friday, after class) are a set of tourism posters and maps from the Maryland Department of Transportation. I am also expecting some from the EPA.

The students seem to be very excited about the attempts to make the classroom more attractive. It is just not commonly done in China.