« August 2006 | Main | October 2006 »
September 25, 2006
Chinese Internet Strikes Again!
It's been far too long since I've posted and this time it's actually not my fault. Ever since I've returned the Guangzhou, the Internet has decided that it hates me. Last spring the Internet in my apartment broke and was never fixed. I heard a vicious rumor that it returned for a brief interlude over the summer but apparently that was short-lived. After it went down inside my building last year I depended solely on the teacher's office computers in order to access email and stay caught up on Yankees scores. For whatever reason, the Internet in the office (and in every building at the school) is now about as unstable as the East Timor Government (shout out to PiAers there!). On the days that I can get online, the network usually crashes after five minutes of use. It's actually become somewhat amusing--I'll be trying to read the New York Times or study the box score on Yankees.com and all of a sudden I'll hear every teacher in the office sigh, swear, and then throw their arms up in frustration. Everyone is annoyed. I just can't help thinking that if this were a school in the states, a) it would be fixed within a day, b) if it weren't fixed within a day, teacher's would riot, and c) somebody would be held responsible for the whole thing falling apart.
Regardless, life goes on in the internet-less world and it is good. We've all settled into the routine of teaching, just in time to have a one-week vacation next week--again, I love this place. Though I'm still getting to know all +350 of my new students, I think overall the students have a higher level of English than my kids last year, which is saying a lot. They are incredibly enthusiastic which makes my job that much easier. I have some students that are unbelievable critical thinkers and really enjoy discussing complex world issues with me. That being said, I have had several interesting teaching experiences over the last few weeks that I'd like to detail here.
Two weeks ago we played a game that was more or less a dumbed down version of Taboo in which students in pairs had to describe certain words from a list without using the most obvious word in which to do it. For example, if the word was "clock," I made the taboo word "time," i.e., they are not allowed to use "time" in their descriptions. The game is a great tool because it forces the kids to think a bit outside of the box and practice using words they do know to describe something they don't know or can't use. I'm hoping to build them up over the course of the year to playing with two, three, then four or five taboo words. We'll see.
Anyhow, listening to them during this first round, I heard some very interesting descriptions that caught me a bit off guard. A few examples:
1) The word to describe was "money" and the taboo word was "buy." I figured they might say something like, "the paper we have to give to a shop owner if we want something," or something to that effect. As it was, the most common thing I heard was actually something more along the lines of, "this is something we want more than anything else." Huh. Interesting thought from residents of a self-proclaimed Communist country. It doesn't surprise me that this sentiment is so prevalent, but once again it makes me think about the government here and what kind of ideology, if any, they are still trying to push.
2) The word to describe was "Japan" and the taboo word was "country." I suppose I was asking for it with this one, but the idealist in me was hoping the kids would rise above and beyond. While I did hear a few innocuous comments like, "this is the place where sushi comes from," the bulk of the remarks were downright scathing. I heard things like, "this is a place in Asia with evil people," and "this is a group that wants to take over China."
3) Finally, two other words to describe were history (taboo word--past) and art (taboo word--paint). For both of these I heard a number of descriptions that all amounted to something like, "this is a worthless class." Again, this is such a deep issue that I can't even try to enlighten these kids on the necessity of arts and humanities. The entire educational system here is built around putting math and science on a pedestal while everything else is looked down upon.
This week I have been doing a lesson with the kids about the U.S. Space Program based around the question, "Should the United States continue NASA? What are the advantages and disadvantages?" I did something very similar to this last year around the time that the Chinese had their first manned mission return from space. This year I thought it was timely given that Atlantis-14 just returned after working on the international space station. Anyhow, while I framed all the questions around the U.S., I was hoping it was thinly veiled enough for the kids to transfer their answers to China.
The students came up with some great ideas for both positive and negative but one idea kept coming up in class that somewhat surprised me. At least one group in every class said that the most important reason the U.S. should continue its space program is in order to show that it is a world power. Not scientific exploration. Not the search for intelligent life. Not improving life on Earth. It's certainly true that going up into space is a symbol for achievement and stature, but the Space Race is over; the Cold War is over. In each case I asked the groups to imagine that they were the richest people in Guangzhou. After some chuckles, I asked them if it was necessary to spend 5000 kuai on lunch every day simply to show everyone else that they were rich. They told me that that was ridiculous but apparently they didn't get my point because they stood by their initial statements.
I wonder how much of the rest of the world thinks the U.S. goes up into space simply to prove that it is a superpower. This would never have occurred to me, then again until this week I never gave it a second thought that placing the U.S. flag on the moon would be seen as an aggressive act by others. Regardless, a lot of my students are totally gung ho about the Chinese program simply because they think it proves that China is the next superpower. I have few doubts that China is a rising superpower but I also see an overwhelming number of domestic issues that need to be dealt with before that happens. In my opinion, going into space should be one of the last of their concerns.
As a last teaching note, I was checking homework today and almost collapsed in shock when I saw one girl's notebook. The assignment was simply to write any kind of riddle, since we did a lesson based around riddles last week. Most were very witty and got the standard check in the book but one girl floored me with her question. She wrote, "Why should black people not eat chocolate?" I had an idea where this was going but much like a moth that can't turn away from the burning light, I asked her for the answer. She replied with a smile, "Because they might eat their hands off!"
Every time I think my students are incredibly worldly and in many ways ahead of students in the U.S. of the same age, something like this comes along and the whole notion comes crashing down in a fiery inferno. Much like with the Japan issue, I feel incredibly disillusioned when it comes to discussing matters of race with most Chinese people. The idea that saying something like that as a joke is so completely unacceptable just wouldn't occur to them. The feelings run so deep within the media and governmental system that it's a tough circle to break. I simply don't know where to begin. I think the first issue is that when you live in such a homogenous society, people don't know how to handle anybody who is different. While white people seem to have a magical get-out-of-jail-free card, people everyday still stare at us because we're different. People of color have it much worse here. Something as simple as going through customs at the Hong Kong border entering into the mainland can be a nightmare for an African. It's almost like you're guilty until proved innocent--a very un-American concept.
I gave the girl a short scolding about why her riddle wasn't okay but I'm pretty sure she walked out of class more confused than anything else. For all I know her parents told it to her or she read it in a magazine. For me, I also walked out just as confused because I have no idea how I can try to change some of these kids' minds about race. I think I may have to design an entire unit based around tolerance and diversity. Any ideas are welcome, ari.wolfe@gmail.com.
Other than that, things are great. I managed to get down to Hong Kong last weekend and did some incredible hiking before being a beach bum for as much time as I could. That, coupled with the fact that the weather in Guangzhou has actually been surprisingly tolerable, has made for a very pleasant fall. Playing football with the guys here has been great and I look forward to our first match. As always though, my thoughts still drift back to my family and friends back in the states. To all my fellow chosen people out there, shana tovah and chag sameyach. And to the most excellent older sister an expat can have, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
Posted by awolfe at 5:07 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
September 9, 2006
New Things
I have finished one week of my second school year here in Guangzhou and I must say that it has been great. One of my fears in deciding to stay for a second year is that this year would be somewhat boring. I worried that the novelty would have worn off and that everything would be old hat--no mystery in making my way around the city, no excitement walking into class for the first time, no wide-eyed stares from my coworkers, etc. I have been pleasantly surprised though as a number of new experiences snuck into my daily life over the past seven days.
I thought that I had more or less been to all of the major sites in Guangzhou after last year but David, my good friend and coworker, proved me wrong on Tuesday. He invited me to play basketball with some of his friends which I gladly accepted. I figured we would play where we usually do when we go off-campus (a court in a health club down the road) but I was wrong. It just goes to show that anytime you expect something or depend on something to be the same in China, you are mistaken. But I digress.
We headed off on to the highway to the outskirts of the city (which I sometimes forget is ginormous) and lo and behold I see a massive stadium rise up in the distance. My fellow passengers informed me that this was the athletic stadium and training complex which was built three years ago for the Chinese olympics. If I understood them correctly they have a big competition around the country every few years that serves as a national championship of sorts. In true China style, this facility was over the top, graying from air pollution, and looked sorta bizarre.
Since we arrived a little early we drove around the whole area and saw the provincial training facilities for all of the top athletes. I learned that anybody who is truely a top level prospect for any sport is pulled from school and trains full time. This includes young and old and means that the kids either make it professionally or are kind of screwed. I pointed out that the lack of education for those who don't make it is devastating and they just sort of shrugged. Sure, it's less than ideal, but I guess it's just one less kid competing with their kid for a spot in one of the better universities.
The basketball itself was pretty unexceptional (we got worked around by a bunch of high school kids) but the experience as a whole was well worth it. And speaking of new sports experiences, I had a fun adventure with my football buddies after we played this past Wednesday. China was playing Singapore in a qualifying game for the 2007 Asia Cup and the captain of my squad decided to have people over to watch. I went over to his apartment once last year but left after a little while because I really just couldn't communicate and was tired. This time it was a *completely* different experience.
For the first time I saw my teammates as what they really are--good friends who like to sit around telling jokes. As we waited for the game to start we sat outside the flat just chatting and enjoying the early evening breeze. I think these guys' idea of paradise is to play football as much as possible and sit around afterward making wisecracks--a concept that I must admit appeals to me in every way.
The game itself was only noteworthy in that China missed about half a dozen golden opportunities, but what was noteworthy was that I felt like I really belonged. As usual I couldn't understand everything they were saying, but I could follow quite a bit and managed to contribute some commentary of my own during the game. In some ways it's depressing to think that my Chinese is still closer to not understanding a word than it is to being fluent, but I have made progress. And I'll continue to improve, even if it's only slow and steady.
After the match (an embarassing 0-0 tie) I went out with four of the guys to get some dinner. I figured that we would just grab something quick but once again my expectations were wrong. We went to a little hole in the wall joint that served seafood and ordered up this porridge-like creation in which you choose what goes in the broth. I went with Mr. Huang to view the possibilties and tried not to act surprised when he chose. The shrimp swimming around in the bucket didn't freak me out, but the frogs did--once we chose them and the guy slammed them down on the sidewalk to kill them. Yum!
I got over the shock though and it tasted great. I thought that we'd take off right after we finished but that's when they ordered beers. Hmmm. Being a Wednesday night I figured that we'd have one or two and then had home but once again, it was not to be. They told me they were going to teach me a ppopular Chinese drinking game and without letting them finish I told them I already knew how to play. I was betting on the fact that they were going to play the dice game (pretty much the only game they play in bars here) and I was right.
The dice game is a basic drinking game where each participant gets a cup with five dice. Each person shakes the cup up and looks at his or her dice without showing anyone else. Someone then starts the "bidding" in which you wager how many of a certain number there are (e.g., nine 4's in total). The next person either has to up the number of dice or the number being wagered (e.g. nine 5's or ten 4's) or call B.S. If someone class B.S. then everyone shows their dice and the person who wagered has to drink if wrong. If the number on the table equals (or is greater than) the wager, the person who called B.S. drinks. I'm making this sound complicated but it's about as basic as it gets.
Anyhow, it's a fun game and not all that difficult so it was easy for me to wow them with my skills. About two hours later it was time to go home so we had to end the game. The way they decided to do it is that if you were wrong on a wager or call you stopped playing, survival style. With a bit of luck I ended up being the last man standing, after a standoff with Mr. Huang. This was pretty satisfying both because I like winning and because it won me that much more "street credibility" with the guys. On the way home they told me that I was fun to go out with and that we needed to do it again. I can't even imagine what adventures may lie in the future with these guys.
And to top off the week of new experiences, we had our school banquet yesterday to celebrate the start of the year and Teacher's Day. While this was not my first banquet it was definitely a new experience. While last year we had the banquet only with our school, this year the powers that be decided to have it together with the three other schools that are loosely affiliated with ours. As far as I understand it our Hua Fu is the main branch and the top school while the others are almost like satellite campuses for those that weren't good enough to get into our school.
Whatever it is, there were a ton of people at this thing. They had to move the banquet to a restaurant in Foshan, a neighboring city, because there was no establishment in the GZ that could hold so many people. In all I'm told we were a party of over 1000 people with hundreds of different tables. The restaurant we went to was just as big as I anticipated and the food was pretty decent. I also enjoyed it because this time I knew exactly what to expect and went around toasting all of my friends and coworkers, as is tradition. I drank enough cheap red wine to get a whole table of Chinese people drunk but walked away at the end of the night with only a small buzz. I love this place.
Posted by awolfe at 5:38 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack