Living and teaching in P.R. China

Tuesday, 6 May 2008

May Day!

I made my plan for this years May Day several months ago. As many of you know, I have been tutoring He Zhi Qing in preparation for her TEM-4 exam. Well, because I had been considering a trip to Hangzhou, a place I intended to visit last year but never did, I made an offer to He Zhi Qing. I told her that if she studied hard and did well on her examination that I would take her to Hangzhou with me and that we would spend a couple of days in Shanghai. This plan got altered when Zeneta informed me that she wanted me to go to Xian, during the week of May Day vacation, and look for some gifts.

The test came and went. It was on the same weekend that I went to Zhengzhou for the medical examination. As I have said in the past, this is a very important examination and the students are not told for several months if they have even passed it. I choose to work under the assumption that she has (remember to ask me about this when you see me).

We worked out our train schedule using the computer and she set off to the train station in order to get our tickets. It turned out that she was only able to get the ticket to Xian and that we would have to get our return tickets in Xian. The tickets to Xian were, sort of, the tickets that I wanted. As I told her, she got two hard sleeper tickets; however, she got top bunk. As I have mentioned I the past, the trouble with the top bunk is that it is to close to the top to sit up in. And, in the heat of summer the top bunk is a lot hotter; however, the temperatures, when we left, were fine.

The trip went uneventfully other than He Zhi Qing discovering that she had forgotten her ID. The rail police accepted her student ID in its place and we had no trouble.

Upon arrival in Xian I reminded her to get our return tickets. There were no soft sleepers back to Xinyang on Sunday evening, the day I intended to return. It turned out that purchasing the soft sleeper tickets, for a few days later, would have been a good plan; but, there was no way of knowing that at the time

We then took the bus to the Bell Tower Youth Hostel and, after waking up the desk clerk, checked in. We only checked in for one night as our plan was to stay the one night and return. This is because the vacation was Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday according to the new vacation schedule. We intended to do some shopping that morning, go to the Shaanxi Provincial Museum that afternoon, the Terra-Cotta Army on Sunday morning and then catch the train back and arrive ready for class on Monday.

To say the least, the plan did not work out smoothly. I checked into a four bed dorm and He Zhi Qung checked into an, all-female, six person room. Most of the people in the room were Chinese nationals, as was expected. Chinese women find the western practice of mixing dorm rooms to be very odd and uncomfortable. At this point the Bell Tower Youth Hostel has enough Chinese nationals as guests that they have, at least, two all-female rooms and nearly all the occupants are Chinese nationals. He Zhi Qing was happy about this because it gave her people to talk to, in Chinese. I was hoping that she would have more western roommates, giving her more opportunities to practice her English; however, she, and several of her Chinese roommates, had problems with the single non-Chinese, roommate, an Australian. I spoke to that roommate and she, the Australian roommate, agreed that the best course of action would be for her to change rooms. The Hostel staff was very willing to accommodate this change.

We then went shopping and got the jackets that Zeneta wanted (250RMB each). I also got some watches (950RMB for three). While in the Muslim Quarter, doing the shopping, we went to the Grand Mosque of Xian. After walking for a while, we sat on a bench.

Now, earlier in the day He Zhi Qing had been commenting on how all foreigners seem to look similar until you get to know them. She had found it very amusing to hear that many Westerners feel that all Chinese look alike (bear with me, this relates to the next bit). As we were sitting on the bench this man starts walking toward us and, speaking of all Chinese looking alike, this guy was a total image of the man who owns the Muslim restaurant that I often eat at in the evening. At the same time he was remarking to the man walking with him on how uncanny it was, all westerners looking alike; even here, sitting on that bench, is a Westerner who looked exactly like the Westerner who eats in his shop. As you can guess, when he got close enough to remove all doubt, we exchanged a few words and got a good laugh out of our, mutual and similar, thoughts.

After dropping those items off at the Hostel we headed for the Museum. We took the bus to the Big Goose Pagoda with the intention of walking from there. Both He Zhi Qing and I have visited the Gog Goose Pagoda in the past so we saw no reason to visit it again; however, we did stay to watch the synchronized fountain display. The claim is made that this is the largest synchronized fountain display in the world. It was big and well synchronized to the music; some of it, like the Blue Daniels Waltz, I recognized.

From there we walked to the Shaanxi Provincial Museum. Here we were met by a bit of a surprise. The museum had been made free for a couple of months so that all could enjoy it. While I think this was great, it was also a great inconvenience for me. They only allowed a fixed number of people in the museum at a time and were only allowing new people in as others left. I think you can imagine the lines.

We then returned to the walled city and walked from the bus stop to the place to get some stamps made. He Zhi Qing helped me translate the English meaning of a friends name into Chinese; which, I am sure the carver thought was a term of endearment between the two of us. We then went looking for the chopstick shop that Zeneta wanted us to visit; but, we failed to find it. We did find the fan shop. The first price given at the fan shop was 120RMB each, I laughed at her, the shopkeeper, and said, "no no no no," while shaking my head. I ended up paying 15 each, three more than the last time I was at the same shop; but, I realize that this is the tourist season. The last day I was in that shop was with Zeneta, on a miserable cold day of winter.

That was pretty much our first day in Xian. The next day, Sunday, we went to the Terra-Cotta Army (about 100RMB for me and 45 for her with her student card). I wanted to go in the morning and beat the crowds. However He Zhi Qing, being Chinese, likes crowds and feels lost without them. So, she dawdled until late in the morning. We then spent almost the entire day there at the Mausoleum of Qing (the correct name): in the three dig pits, the museum, and at the other displays.

The trouble was that our train was to leave at 16:33, our bags were still at the Hostel, and the bus didn't arrive in Xian until 16:00. There was, simply, no time to get our bags and return to the train station in time to catch our train. So, we returned our tickets and got two now tickets. Because of the May Day vacation the tickets were getting harder to get and the new plan was for us to travel, together, in soft seats to Zhengzhou and then I would catch the D train to Xinyang.

The flaw in the plans, at this point, was that she, having never traveled in any of the "soft" class, had no idea what soft seats were. She got hard seats and when I pointed this out to her, she was quite insistent that they were soft seats, they had padding. She continued to insist that they were soft seat tickets until we got to the Hostel and I asked the desk clerk, "Are these hard or soft seat tickets."

Without hesitation, the clerk replied, "hard seats." He Zhi Qing's expression was one of refusal to accept the point. She remained insistent that they were soft seats because they were padded (not all of the trains have padded seats).

The next day I made a bad call, but it still worked out well. We were thinking of going to the sacred Hua Shan Mountain; however, we got to the bus station at what I considered to be a late hour to make our start. It was too late, or too early, as I will explain later. Instead we set off for the Shaanxi Provincial Museum to see the condition of the lines.

There were no lines at all. Of course the reason for this was that the museum was closed. At this point we decided to go to the Small Goose Pagoda (that's right, we are moving into the minor attractions).

A short bus ride later and we were there. The entrance was 50RMB, which seemed high at the time. I did not realize that that ticket got me entrance to two "attractions."

Of course, the first thing we did was to climb the Pagoda. This brought back, to both of us, memories of the time, in Kunming, that we raced to the top of the Iron Pagoda. This Pagoda was a much easier climb, instead of a half meter wide tunnel masquerading as a staircase there were steps and several landings. At several of the landings were instructional posters about the construction of the pagoda and different types of pagodas.

The top level required a ladder like assent to what had been another closed in level; however, the entire top of the pagoda was broken off. This provided a fantastic view of that section of Xian. It also allowed me to see that large, and new, museum was part of the Small Goose Pagoda park.

From the Small Goose Pagoda we walked to the Xian City Museum. They were having an Iranian cultural exhibit in the main floor. While a lot of it was, clearly, reproductions, it was still well worth seeing and He Zhi Qing enjoyed it a lot.

The bottom floor, or the basement, had a large exhibit on the history, and construction, of ancient Xian. The two wings held a large number of relics that had been found in the local area. The top floor featured calligraphy and jade exhibits. In all, it was well worth the visit.

From there we began walking back to the walled city. We stopped and had a pretty good lunch and I purchased a pair of shoes. The shoes I had worn to Xian were pretty much dead. The supports under the heels were broken down so my heel was lower than the front of my foot and had no padding. Very simply, my feet were hurting. Considering that we had a lot more walking planned for the next day it was a very worthwhile expenditure (the cost of the shoes was 250RMB, expensive by Chinese standards; but, they seem to be much better quality). He Zhi Ching immediately noticed that I was able to walk faster and seemed much more comfortable with the new shoes.

That evening we went for a stroll in the Muslim Quarter and purchased some dried fruit to nibble on while walking the next day. We then had dinner there, in that same area. She did not like the dinner, a sort of bran noodles; however, I thought it was pretty good. It was a bit overpriced and when she argued about it she was told that, "we always charge foreigners more."

The next morning, after breakfast (she did like the western style breakfasts at the Hostel) we headed for the bus transfer point. It cost us about 30RMB for the bus to the mountain. From there we purchased our tickets, 100RMB for me and 90RMB for her, with her student discount. The price Debra paid, when she went, was less because Debra went during the off season. The next step was to ride a bus to the tram station; or, the foot of the mountain. This bus was 20RMB each for round trip tickets.

We then bypassed the first leg of the climb, about 1,200 meters of gain by taking the cable cars at 60RMB each. It was her first time in a cable car and she was not quite sure of it. The cars were fully enclosed cars, not ski lift seats (which would have been more fun... but not for her).

From the point we got off the cable car until we reached the "good luck gate" we walked along a narrow and steep path. The path was almost entirely made up of stairs. Along most of the stairs ran a chain to grab for support.

When we reached the "good luck gate" the crowds thinned out appreciably. It seems that this gate is the major destination for most of the pilgrims. After that point the trail got flatter for a while. That does not mean that it was entirely flat, just flatter. It was about this point, when I stopped to look at a map that I began to really understand what the guide books said. The advise is to take a late bus to the mountain and climb to somewhere past "good luck gate," where you stop is a matter entirely of personal preference. However, at several places there are people renting heavy coats to bundle into for the night.

Then, in the early hours, before sunrise, get to a location with an eastern view and enjoy the sunrise. At that point, you will have a full day to get to all of the peaks and destinations. As it was, He Zhi Qing and I did not have enough time to see everything. We went to the plank trail and sat on an exposed rock surface in front of a rather awesome drop and had our lunch.

The test came and went. It was on the same weekend that I went to Zhengzhou for the medical examination. As I have said in the past, this is a very important examination and the students are not told for several months if they have even passed it. I choose to work under the assumption that she has (remember to ask me about this when you see me).

We worked out our train schedule using the computer http://www.travelchinaguide.com/china-trains/ and she set off to the train station in order to get our tickets. It turned out that she was only able to get the ticket to Xian and that we would have to get our return tickets in Xian. The tickets to Xian were, sort of, the tickets that I wanted. As I told her, she got two hard sleeper tickets; however, she got top bunk. As I have mentioned I the past, the trouble with the top bunk is that it is to close to the top to sit up in. And, in the heat of summer the top bunk is a lot hotter; however, the temperatures, when we left, were fine.

The trip went uneventfully other than He Zhi Qing discovering that she had forgotten her ID. The rail police accepted her student ID in its place and we had no trouble.

Upon arrival in Xian I reminded her to get our return tickets. There were no soft sleepers back to Xinyang on Sunday evening, the day I intended to return. It turned out that purchasing the soft sleeper tickets, for a few days later, would have been a good plan; but, there was no way of knowing that at the time

We then took the bus to the http://yhaxianchina.braveblog.com/ and, after waking up the desk clerk, checked in. We only checked in for one night as our plan was to stay the one night and return. This is because the vacation was Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday according to the new vacation schedule. We intended to do some shopping that morning, go to the Shaanxi Provincial Museum that afternoon, the Terra-Cotta Army on Sunday morning and then catch the train back and arrive ready for class on Monday.

To say the least, the plan did not work out smoothly. I checked into a four bed dorm and He Zhi Qung checked into an, all-female, six person room. Most of the people in the room were Chinese nationals, as was expected. Chinese women find the western practice of mixing dorm rooms to be very odd and uncomfortable. At this point the Bell Tower Youth Hostel has enough Chinese nationals as guests that they have, at least, two all-female rooms and nearly all the occupants are Chinese nationals. He Zhi Qing was happy about this because it gave her people to talk to, in Chinese. I was hoping that she would have more western roommates, giving her more opportunities to practice her English; however, she, and several of her Chinese roommates, had problems with the single non-Chinese, roommate, an Australian. I spoke to that roommate and she, the Australian roommate, agreed that the best course of action would be for her to change rooms. The Hostel staff was very willing to accommodate this change.

Now, earlier in the day He Zhi Qing had been commenting on how all foreigners seem to look similar until you get to know them. She had found it very amusing to hear that many Westerners feel that all Chinese look alike (bear with me, this relates to the next bit). As we were sitting on the bench this man starts walking toward us and, speaking of all Chinese looking alike, this guy was a total image of the man who owns the Muslim restaurant that I often eat at in the evening. At the same time he was remarking to the man walking with him on how uncanny it was, all westerners looking alike; even here, sitting on that bench, is a Westerner who looked exactly like the Westerner who eats in his shop. As you can guess, when he got close enough to remove all doubt, we exchanged a few words and got a good laugh out of our, mutual and similar, thoughts.

The flaw in the plans, at this point, was that she, having never traveled in any of the "soft" class, had no idea what soft seats were. She got hard seats and when I pointed this out to her, she was quite insistent that they were soft seats, they had padding. She continued to insist that they were soft seat tickets until we got to the Hostel and I asked the desk clerk, "Are these hard or soft seat tickets."

Without hesitation, the clerk replied, "hard seats." He Zhi Qing's expression was one of refusal to accept the point. She remained insistent that they were soft seats because they were padded (not all of the trains have padded seats).

The next day I made a bad call, but it still worked out well. We were thinking of going to the sacred Hua Shan Mountain; however, we got to the bus station at what I considered to be a late hour to make our start. It was too late, or too early, as I will explain later. Instead we set off for the Shaanxi Provincial Museum to see the condition of the lines.

There were no lines at all. Of course the reason for this was that the museum was closed. At this point we decided to go to the Small Goose Pagoda (that's right, we are moving into the minor attractions).

A short bus ride later and we were there. The entrance was 50RMB, which seemed high at the time. I did not realize that that ticket got me entrance to two "attractions."

Of course, the first thing we did was to climb the Pagoda. This brought back, to both of us, memories of the time, in Kunming, that we raced to the top of the Iron Pagoda. This Pagoda was a much easier climb, instead of a half meter wide tunnel masquerading as a staircase there were steps and several landings. At several of the landings were instructional posters about the construction of the pagoda and different types of pagodas.

The top level required a ladder like assend to what had been another closed in level; however, the entire top of the pagoda was broken off. This provided a fantastic view of that section of Xian. It also allowed me to see that large, and new, museum was part of the Small Goose Pagoda park.

From there we began walking back to the walled city. We stopped and had a pretty good lunch and I purchased a pair of shoes. The shoes I had worn to Xian were pretty much dead. The supports under the heels were broken down so my heel was lower than the front of my foot and had no padding. Very simply, my feet were hurting. Considering that we had a lot more walking planned for the next day it was a very worthwhile expenditure (the cost of the shoes was 250RMB, expensive by Chinese standards; but, they seem to be much better quality). He Zhi Ching immediately noticed that I was able to walk faster and seemed much more comfortable with the new shoes.

That evening we went for a stroll in the Muslim Quarter and purchased some dried fruit to nibble on while walking the next day. We then had dinner there, in that same area. She did not like the dinner, a sort of bran noodles; however, I thought it was pretty good. It was a bit overpriced and when she argued about it she was told that, "we always charge foreigners more."

The next morning, after breakfast (she did like the western style breakfasts at the Hostel) we headed for the bus transfer point. It cost us about 30RMB for the bus to the mountain. From there we purchased our tickets, 100RMB for me and 90RMB for her, with her student discount. The price Debra paid, when she went, was less because Debra went during the off season. The next step was to ride a bus to the tram station; or, the foot of the mountain. This bus was 20RMB each for round trip tickets.

From there we went to one of the mountain peaks (there are four of them). And realized that we, unfortunately, needed to head back. The plan was to walk down the trail that the cable car had taken us past in the morning; however, by that time, neither of us were up to that descent. In returning to the cable car platform we did take a lot of the paths that we had missed in the morning.

We then took the cable car (60RMB each) and the bus (30RMB each) back to Xian. I returned to the lounge to read, and write about my trip to Zhengzhou. He Zhi Qing went out with her Chinese roommates. In general, as we were had tickets on an 8:30 train, we prepared to return the next morning.

I felt that we cut the time very close on the train in the morning. He Zhi Qing was very comfortable with when we arrived. We arrived at the station when the train was loading. The result was that we ran from the security check until we were on the train. As I have mentioned about luggage in China, whatever you bring, make sure you can run with it.

The car was quite crowded. I had to get people out of my seat. All of the seats were in use and the car was full of standing passengers. As for me, I kept nodding off, something that does not work well when traveling in a hard seat. He Zhi Qing then spoke to the conductor and upgraded my ticket.

They do not schedule the seats well on the trans, other than the D train, which uses a modern ticketing system. The result is that a compartment may be used by a person traveling for only a couple of hours and then vacated; however, it is shown as used for the entire two days that the train runs. It turned out that a person was getting off in an hour so once that person got off I moved to their compartment (this upgrade was about 195RMB). Further, because the train was actually going through Xinyang, my ticket was changed to allow me to stay on that train for the entire trip. He Zhi Qing will then use my D train ticket to return to the college when she comes back to the college at the end of the vacation.

As we were moving through the train to my new compartment we went through about six very crowded and chaotic compartments. We then got to the dinning car, which was empty other than a conductor and a few rail police. They checked our tickets before allowing us to continue. We then entered the soft sleeper carriage. He Zhi Qing stopped, looked back at the chaos we had just left and forward into the clean, uncrowded, and silent carriage. He expression was one of indescribable confusion and wonder. She had never been in this type of carriage before and it showed. She looked down the empty hall with nothing but closed doors flanking the side opposite the windows and said to me, in practically a whisper, "is this the soft sleeper car?"

I do regret that, after we checked in with the conductor, she was not permitted to stay long and had to return to the chaos of the hard seat car. She did get to see, and sit in, the soft carriage for a little while. However, she had not upgraded both of our tickets, only mine. I also discovered, at this point, that the train we were on had no soft seats, only sleepers. As it was a day train, I would have been just as happy with a set of soft seats and the price would have been the same as a single soft sleeper bunk. As it was, there simply were no rooms with two soft sleeper bunks. So, as stated, she had to return.

I then took a nap for several hours and got up for lunch as we approached Zhengzhou. I then read the rest of the way back to Xinyang where I met Gao Jing at the train station and returned to the college. Gao Jing then mentioned that her class was getting up at 5:00 to go to a scenic spot near Luoshan, a city I rode my bicycle to on my long trip last summer. I loaned her my camera and she took some pictures of some of my other students and they took several pictures of her.

I then went and ordered several suits. Two of them are to be similar to the suit I purchased last year only in different colors. I also ordered two dresses, for gifts. I also got Debra a pair of Chinese Army boots. I went to the base store and when they found that this was for a woman they tried to sell me these cute little boots that would have looked very good at a night club. They insisted that those were what the women wore. I have no trouble believing them as I have seen the women, in their uniforms, wearing, open toed, high heeled shoes. Again, suitable for nice dinners and clubs; but, not what any thinking person would want to wear if they needed to jump off of a moving truck onto a muddy graveled road. I finally convinced them to sell me a pair of standard officers boots. I am sure that they still think I am crazy, those boots are just not for women.

Shoes - The Peoples Liberation Army of China 3515 Factory

Friday, 2 May 2008

Medical Exam

Last weekend I went with another teacher from XYNU and Ju Hai Ying (Julia) to Zhengzhou in order to take the standardized medical exam. This was at the place I took my first exam, and Zeneta took both of her exams, at.

Julia was a bit tired form having just finished her second stage Graduate exam in Shanghai. It seems that the procedure is to first take a national exam to see if one can even advance to the graduate level in their chosen field. Then, they go to the individual school, that they intend to study at, and take a battery of tests there. The first test is an all day test. The second stage, at the chosen school, takes about a week.

The other teacher was just being himself. By nature he is very short tempered and was upset from the start. He was not happy about going to Zhengzhou for the physical. Last year the end of year physical was done in Xinyang and he refused to understand why the physical, this year, could not also be done in Xinyang; this, relieving him of the need to travel.

The reason was simple. The school was fined quite heavily for doing that last year. The physicals are required to be done at the entry/exit medical examination facilities. Before a Chinese national is permitted to travel abroad they are required to undergo a medical exam and receive a battery of vaccinations. Then when they return they are also required to take an exam, primarily to be tested for AIDS.

It is at these facilities that foreign experts are also required to be tested. It is that simple, and that inflexible.

The next issue, one that I will expand on in my trip to Xian with He Zhi Qing, is that Ju Hai Ying did not get the tickets we asked her to. We asked for "D" Train, or "soft seat," tickets. She got is hard seat tickets on a "K" train. Yes, the seats are padded, which is an improvement; but, they are not "soft seat" which is the first class carriage. To someone who does not travel in China this sounds like a small issue; but, remember that the "hard" carriages are also the standing room carriages with all the chaos and crowding I have described in the past.

We arrived in Zhengzhou late, upsetting the other teacher further, and got a snack; which, due to issues with stomach problems, the other teacher could not eat. We than got to the hotel and discovered that Ju Hai Ying had gotten a single room for the other teacher and I. She had never given this a second thought, or mentioned it to us previously. To many Chinese, sharing rooms is common and normal.

The other teacher again got upset and demanded to be returned to Xinyang. I think this was the third time he made that demand on this trip; and, we were still on the first evening.

After getting the room issue straightened out (the other teacher and I did not share a room; but, Ju Hai Ying spent several hours walking aground Zhengzhou looking for a room that night) Ju Hai Ying wanted us to go to dinner with her and a friend of hers (a man, which was why she was not able to stay at the friends place); however, the other teacher said, "no." (really, he said a lot more than "no;" but, it distilled to, "no.").

I let Ju Hai Ying pick the place for dinner. It was Chinese, very Chinese, but good.

The next morning went fine, other than having trouble getting a cab. It was rush hour and we had a lot of trouble finding a cab that did not already have a passenger.

The medical went as expected. They had a few words about someones blood pressure, not mine, and that was about all. I did tell Ju Hai Ying to make sure that they were aware of my problem with blood draws. She really did not understand; but they did. She started trying to explain what I had told her and they almost immediately interrupted her (which was good, she really did not understand the problem; but they did) and asked if I needed to lie down as the blood was being drawn or after. I told them after and they put me in a draw chair that was right next to a cot that was set low to the ground. I almost didn't make it to the cot.

Ju Hai Ying tried to get me to get my feet off the cot and lie properly and the staff there stopped her and told her that I knew what I needed to do. As I have said, it is simply a case of lying with my knees high, or legs elevated for about five minutes and I am fine; but, if I don't do this after a blood draw, I wont make it those five minutes. I have lost more blood, than is taken in those draws, in accidents and been just fine. Like the doctor in America said, its just needle effect.

We left there and got a snack then wet to the hotel room where the three of us discussed the plan for next year. As you can guess, I said that the other teacher's favored workbook was not suitable as the sole text.

After that it was time for lunch, the need to move fast in the morning through the three-meal-a-day Chinese time schedule off. As a result the other teacher did not eat with us (us being Ju Hai Ying, her friend, and myself). We had western food, steak, for lunch and I tried to coach Ju Hai Ying a bit on western utensil usage.

After this we went to the western food store in Zhengzhou. The purpose was to get some breakfast cereal and cheese. I was not impressed with the cheese selection. Zeneta, later, told me that they had been cutting back on the cheese selection, even, while she had been shopping there.

We left Ju Hai Ying at that point and went back to the train station where we waited for the D-train to Xinyang. I did notice that the train was more crowded than it had been in the past. I think that the D-train has been a big hit here. Along with the improvement in speed, the cleanliness and standard of service is something that is not normal for China; and, the D-trains success shows that there is a demand for it.

Monday, 14 April 2008

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.

Friday, 11 April 2008

Beijing Vacation

I finally got a day off work. I have a three day weekend, It is national Tomb Sweeping day. The decision was made in China to have less week long holidays and to have more three day weekends, more or less on the western model.

I first thought of going to Wuhan and then to the Three Gorges; but I was not sure of the weather. So, I decided to go and spend a few days in Beijing instead. I have only been to Beijing the one time, when I arrived in China. I am often asked if I had been here and I always had to say no.

I do have to say that I came prepared to not like it. Making the arrangements was easy. I wrote to the hostel and told them what days I would be in Beijing and they confirmed room availability. He Zhi Qing then went and got me train tickets. I wanted a sleeper that would leave after school on Thursday and a "D" train to return on Sunday. Surprisingly, that is exactly what she got for me. She even got me a bottom bunk, as I requested.

She was not able to come with me as she is preparing for a retest of the TEM 4. It is shocking to Chinese when we travel alone, as I have said, they are uncomfortable doing things alone. I find it interesting that they see the words, "alone, " and, "lonely," as being synonymous.

I packed and wandered down to get a cab to the train station. Interestingly enough, the cab drive had no trouble understanding my instructions, in Chinese, and we went right to the train station.

You may have heard that there were some localized problems in China recently. I have little else to say on the at issue at this time; however, I saw that it has brought a change to even our small city. The first class waiting room now has a luggage scanner. There was a bit of a row in the waiting room that had the rail police involved; but, it was resolved before my train arrived.

The car was unusually loud and stayed that way most of the trip. However, I did eventually get to sleep. There wasn't much else to note until the next morning, after breakfast. I met some Americans, one was from Arizona, the other was from South Dakota. They were both living in Zhengzhou and were also visiting Beijing for a short vacation. We chatted until it was time to get our bags and prepare to leave the train.

I quickly found a cab and had no trouble getting to my hostel. I am a bit disappointed that this hostel lacks wi-fi. I later rented a bicycle and rode over to Tian'anmen square. I was surprised by the lack of street shops and vendors. It looks like L.A. during the ugly, modern, period of the seventies. there were not many people walking. I am staying in the Hutong district; which is a bit... colorful... but it really is hidden off the main areas and only accessible through narrow, and unmarked, alleys.

I returned to my hostel to find that, while I was gone, He Zhi Qing had cleaned my flat and chatted with Debra for a while on skype. I am also been keeping in touch with people in China by SMS messaging them. SMS is a lot more common here than it is in the states. I was using it as an opportunity to practice my Chinese as I was sending them messages in Chinese; however, to reply, they still need to send the messages in English. I can read very little Chinese; but, as I use it more, when sending messages, my ability to read it improves.

Having scouted the previous day, I was ready for my trip to Tian'anmen square. Getting there was a short walk of about three or four kilometers. To cross the major streets that are near the square there are several pedestrian subways.

At the square the first thing that is noticeable if the Mausoleum of Chairman Mao. It is a huge structure that, really, looks nothing like a mausoleum. on one side is the great hall of the people, there are no tours of this building. On the other side is a building that I was told I could lock up my camera and bag in. no cameras or bags are allowed in Chairman Mao's mausoleum. at the far end of the square is another pedestrian tunnel that leads to the entrance to the imperial city. The imperial city is also known as the forbidden city.

I did not go here first. Instead I went to the ancestral records area. This is a seldom visited section of the forbidden city and is not part of the forbidden city ticket. The ticket itself is very reasonable, at 2RMB. The buildings are part of the imperial city and are in areal photos of the city. The structures are very similar to what one would find in the, more crowded, main part of the imperial city. I recommend this side park to any person looking for the Forbidden City experience without the crowds.

From that quiet park I went to the part of the forbidden city that most visitors see. The first thing experienced, after walking through the large passage tunnels that are visible from Tian'anmen square, is a large plaza filled with people, vendors, ticket scalpers, and plain old hustlers of all forms. At the other end there are ticket booths to enter the main part of the complex.

After purchasing the tickets I also spent 40RMB on an audio guide The guide relies on small transponders throughout the park and frequently got lost (thought I was somewhere that I was not) and required frequent pressing of the buttons I was told to leave alone. An example this was while I was leaving the Louvre exhibit, the guide thought I was leaving the entire Forbidden City complex, instructed me on how to return it and retrieve my deposit, and shut itself off.

These little balls are embedded in the pavement all over the place, I never got a good answer as to what their purpose was.

The Louvre exhibit was one of the first things that I visited. A number of Napoleonic works were on loan and being displayed in the main gatehouse. These were not at all Chinese; but, interesting all the same.

In the side rooms of the entrance plazas to the Forbidden City were other displays featuring the arms and amour of the guards of the forbidden city. Photography was forbidden in these areas and they were watching and barking at people who ignored the rules. As a result I only have a few pictures of these exhibits. (Here I have a minor complaint about the Fiji S5/7/9 series. they have an auto focus assist lamp that is there to assist the auto focus function. It works well; but, it is a visible lamp. This has gotten me yelled at several times, and chased out of a temple once.)

Much of the forbidden city is under renovation; so, I can not comment extensively about these buildings. These buildings include the XXX building, the largest building in the Forbidden City complex.

After entering the inner court yard I was getting a bit tired, it was well after noon by this point. I stopped and took a short nap, only to be awaken by another napper roping his water bottle. I then decided to purchase lunch at one of the overpriced establishments in the complex. There were non any of these so the, typical, Chinese vendor effect was not noticeably, there were just enough of them to be useful.

It just struck me as wasteful to spend the money to enter the complex and then not enjoy it because I had neglected to bring my own water and lunch. I would tell anyone else considering visiting this World Heritage Site (worked that in to attract the search engines; see, I am learning) that they should bring a couple of bottles of water for each person and something to eat. It really is that big. The meal was not really overpriced, having just eaten a meal at the hostel (now, by Chinese standards, those meals are overpriced); but, I ordered beef curry and it really failed to set me on fire.

From there I visited many of the smaller, side, palaces. These were all interesting and worth the visit. I then went through the garden at the north end of the complex, which is also an exit for those who are too tired to continue. And, after having an ice cream (there is a reason that I can walk for 6 hours and loose very little weight), I went to the palaces on the other side of the complex.

Many of these were closed. However, one that was very interesting; both, because it was different than all the others and because it was unfinished for several reasons, was the palace that featured western buildings. unlike the traditional buildings, these were built in a typically western style. as such they were able to house many different programs and displays. they provide the research center for clay pottery preservation and on display are some very valuable, and interesting, examples of Chinese pottery.

From here I was working on my exit and saw several court yards from the other side. I returned the audio guide and there was no notice of my having used the "do not touch" buttons. It then worked my way past the crowd and the tea house scamers. I don't know if I described this scam in any detail in the past; so, here it is. Do understand that my knowledge of this scam is secondhand; however, the stories are plentiful enough to believe it is real (I do sometimes worry that I have brushed off a genuine student, or person trying to be polite; but, this is a "better safe than sorry" decision that I have made [sometimes it is better to miss an opportunity than to invite catastrophe]).

A young Chinese woman will introduce herself and try to make friends quickly. She will then direct the unsuspecting foreigner to a tea house (one of the reasons that I am, generally, leery of tea houses) and proceed to order some unreasonably priced tea. Then, when it is time to pay, they conveniently disappear. They later take a cut from the owner. And, pay note, do not pay with your credit or ATM card. There are plenty of stories of accounts being cleaned out.

The Art scam is a bit more straightforward and I hesitate to call it a scam. It is just a high pressure sales tactic. A person claiming to be an art student will ask you to come and look "just look" at the exhibition from their school or whatever. Then once you are there looking, the high pressure sales attic starts. Like I say, not really a scam, just something to be aware of if you are asked to "look" at a persons art

... Back to the story... From there I walked back and visited several music stores to see what a better violin should cost. I ha some trouble seeing much significant difference between the 4500RMB and the 12,000RMB violins. However, I did see a difference between the ones I was looking at and the one I am currently using.

I made the decision to wait until I have the violin teacher with me before making any purchase. I just wanted to look and see what a increase in quality should buy me. I will also note that the 4500RMB violin dropped to 3500 before I made it out of the shop, there was an indication that the shop owner was willing to go lower.

I then returned to the hostel and finished reading the book that Debra sent to me with a request that I read it. It is titled -MAJOR CHICKLIT WARNING- Sweetness in the Belly. It was a good story and included a lot of detail that I would expect in a book, about contrasting cultures, written by a woman with a PhD in Anthropology.

The next morning (today) I went for a short walk and then took a cab to the train station. Again, having no trouble telling the cab driver where to go. The traffic in Beijing is sane. I noticed lane control , the use of turn signals, waiting for traffic lights, and many other things that are not seen in most of China. I even saw two people get traffic tickets (they were, probably, unimportant people).

The train station was clean and modern and the announcements could be understood. Not only were they in English; but also, they did not sound like "wa waaa wa waaa wa." This was a pleasant change. The D train is more crowded than usual (I am typing this on the train) and it was only when I tried to recline my seat and take a nap that I discovered that I am on the "running and screaming children" car. Now that I am awake they have quieted down.

Wednesday, 19 March 2008

New Semester (no pictures)

As I am sure that you realize by now, a new semester has begun. Most
of my time has been taken by reading and preparing lessons. I have
also been spending a lot of time helping students prepare for the
TEM-4, the national English exam for English majors.

I have been reading a series by Larry Turtledove. While he, having a
PhD in Byzantine History, generally writes in the genre known as
alternative history this series of four books features a Roman
scouting group of 1,500 being displaced (a common alternative
history theme) into a completely fictional, but very human, world.

As with any of the books I read, I downloaded these and am reading
the series on my PDA. While I have been using it for that and
scheduling purposes, I have been using my PDA less lately. I have
been using my, Linux based, Asus EeePC more. I have been using it in
class to keep records and am using it now, between my class that
ends at 18:00, and the next one that starts at 19:00.

Of course, I can not use any Linux based PC to connect to the
Internet here. First off, it should be taken as a given that the
campus is not blanketed with wi-fi. This is a culture that is not
understanding of the idea of free services. If it has value than it
should be charged for and if it has no value then it should not be
done. Actions taken for public benefit are, simply, not part of the
culture.

Further, as I have said in the past, the computer services are
married to Microsoft. Microsoft software products are viewed as
being, essentially, free. The result is that there is no way any
competing system can gain hold. For Internet access there is a
program that is needed to authenticate, remember that there is no
anonymous Internet access; users of public Internet access points,
or, Internet bars, are required to have an Internet users
identification and access card. Private computers must use the,
Microsoft only, authentication software. This all adds up to, I can
not use my Linux computers to access the Internet and have to
sneaker-net my files on and off them.

Lesson preparation is a bit different than it was last semester. I am preparing a single lesson for the non
English majors and delivering it several times in a single week. I
then develop two sets of lesson plans for the English majors to fill
four class hours. Three of those hours are used to cover the
material in the book and the other hour is used to prepare for the
TEM-4 test.

Last year no time was spent preparing the students for this, very
important, exam and it was a disaster. While, as I have mentioned, a
lot of the failure was due to campus politics, I would still like to
see the students do better. Toward that end I am beginning to spend
time working on preparing he freshmen for the exam. The most
important of the preparations, at this stage, is to get them
thinking about the exam and taking it seriously, if they learn
anything, so much the better.

In the other three class hours, per week, where we are covering the
material in the book, we do a number of language and speech drills
that center around forming sentences and reading comprehension
quizzes.

My weekends are also taken, to a large extent, in helping students
prepare for the test. Some of the students, who re now Juniors have
one opportunity to retake the test and I am helping them to prepare.
As a result I am spending a lot of time with He Zhi Qing working on
this.

I am also continuing to learn to play the violin. I will never be
good; but I am reaching the point that I can identify that I am
playing a tune, even if the tune itself remains somewhat elusive. I
am preparing to replace my current violin with a better one. The
plan is to take the D (high speed) train to Zhengzhou and look for
one there. I will take He Zhi Qing and the violin teacher with me. I
expect that for the extra cost of buying the teachers ticket I will
get a better violin just by having someone, with me, who knows
better of how to identify a good violin.

I do not want to be in a position that I am blaming the tool instead
of the user. I expect to give my current one to He Zhi Qing. She has
been attending the lessons with me and interpreting the teacher when
some point needs clarification.

What I have not been doing as much of has been evening rides. The
weather is just now getting warm enough that riding is even a
consideration. The dam that I normally cross, on my ride, is
currently under maintenance. So, I have been riding a different
loop. I also ride to school every day.

I also have to factor in the increase in my classes. Just being a lot
busier has cut into my riding. My new schedule looks like this.

[that sure didn't work]

Which means that I, really, only have Thursday and Friday evenings
available for riding.

Who's here

Here is a short list of the westerners that are here, teaching or otherwise. Of course, any person with even the weakest grip on the obvious will realize that I am here.

There is a South African is here. He has pretty much disavowed any remaining interest in South Africa and still plans to stay long term. He generally identifies himself as a Scott now.

The Browns are no longer here, Virginia has moved into their flat along with her sister. They are both form the Philippines

Soren, from Denmark, is next door to me and he is also teaching up at Hau Rui. He arrived during the winter holiday.

Dez and Lynn are still here. I do not see them much as they are both teaching at the University. They have a friend that is visiting them and she has been here for several weeks.

Mark and Joe, from Utah, USA, are still here; although, they are not teaching. The school has no need for their flats, as Joe’s uncle never did show up. So, there is no real pressure on them to leave as long as they keep paying their utilities. They did return to America for about a week; but returned. If one is going to "just hang out" for a semester, until their MBA program starts next semester, this is about as inexpensive a place to "hang out" as any other; and, provides them with interesting cultural experience.

That's pretty much it. There are the two western teachers at the Agricultural college on the other side of town. I seldom see any of them. And, there are the African Air Force personnel, who come form several different countries, that are attending at the Air Force College. I see them more often than the teachers at the Ag. College.

That is pretty much it. A foreign face really is less than one in ten-thousand in this town.