Adventures in Guangzhou!

June 4, 2007

Barnga

With my last lesson, I decided to play a game with my students that I actually played for the first time about two years ago at my PiA orientation. The game is called "Barnga" and is actually an example of cultural differences, more than it is a card game. After explaining basic vocabulary to the class like "dealer," "trick," "hand," and the four suits, I gave each group a list of the rules, stressing that talking would not be allowed starting in the second round. The rules I handed out were roughly as follows:

• Players are given 5 cards each.
• Choose one person to give them out, called the "dealer."
• Each person chooses one card to place in the middle.
• The highest card wins, with Ace being the lowest card and 10 being highest.
• Playing any diamond card is "trump," which means it beats everything else. If two people throw trump cards, the higher card wins.
• Winning a hand is called a "trick."
• Whoever wins the most "tricks" will move clockwise to the next table at the end of the round.
• Whoever loses the most tricks will move counter-clockwise to the next table.
• Everyone else stays at the same table.
• Ties are resolved by paper rock scissors.
• Each round will be about 4 minutes long and each round will consist of any number of games that the time allows.
• After the initial round, players will not be allowed to see the rules or speak to each other. Gestures and pictures are allowed, but players are not allowed to use words.
• The game "winner" will be the person who has won the most tricks in total.
• The dealer can be anyone at the table and the person who plays first will be to the right of the dealer .
• The first player for each trick may play ANY suit. All other players must follow suit (play a card of the same suit). For each round, each player plays one card.
• If a player does not have that suit, a card of any suit must be played. The trick is won by the person with the HIGHEST card of the ORIGINAL suit.

The twist was that each group had slightly different rules. While the rules above state that diamonds are trump, other groups had hearts, spades, or clubs as trump. While the rules above state that Ace is the lowest card, other groups rules stated that Ace was the highest. And so on. The kids were excited about the game and seemed keen on memorizing the rules before I took the sheets of paper back.

Of course the excitement and trauma starts in the second round when certain players have to switch tables to new groups, when they're playing by different rules. I found it extremely interesting to watch their reactions both when there were disagreements and when they raised their hands to ask clarifying questions (that I ignored). It turns out that it was the students with the best English who had the toughest time with the game, positive that they had learned it right and that everyone else had screwed up learning the rules.

The best moment was, of course, at the end of class when the game ended and I asked them guiding questions about what they were feeling and what happened. When I admitted that each table had different rules it really blew their minds. I think some of them really learned about how to communicate in ways other than speaking and about what it's like to be in a foreign culture--something that rarely happens in China.

In other teaching-related news, I have been teaching a Baseball class this term complete with the rules, music, movies, literature, and slang of America's pastime. After finishing "Field of Dreams" the week before, it was time to put it all to use and we headed outside this week to actually baseball! Okay, so it was whiffle ball, but close enough. One particular section of the class really took to playing and we went on to play for two hours instead of the short forty-minute class period.

A few of the boys came to me yesterday and said that about a dozen of them had gone out and bought a bunch of gloves, bats, and balls and were starting the first HuaFu baseball team in school history! They also asked me to be their coach, which I am ecstatic about, except for the fact that I have really limited time over the next couple of weeks. I am going to go out of my way to help them, though. I have visions of major league baseball really taking off in China sometime in the next few years and these kids being pioneers. I hope they stick with it...

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April 16, 2007

A Story

This past week I kicked off a small unit on ethics and morality with my students. This was one of my favorite things to teach last year and I had been looking forward to doing it again for some time. It's a perfect unit for the spring because at this point the students are comfortable enough to speak their minds without worrying so much about making a mistake or feeling embarrassed. I decided to start off with something new this year--a story.

After a brief writing prompt about the meaning of "responsibility," I handed out the following story to every student:

THE DRAWBRIDGE

As he left for a visit to the countryside, a jealous King warned his pretty wife: "Do not leave the castle while I am gone, or I will punish you severely when I return!"

As the hours passed, the young Queen grew lonely, and despite her husband's warning, decided to visit her lover who lived nearby. The castle was located on an island in a wide, fast flowing river, with a bridge linking the island and the land. "Surely my husband will not return before dawn," she thought.

After spending several pleasant hours with her lover, the Queen returned to the bridge, only to find it blocked by a madman wildly waving a long, cruel knife. "Do not attempt to cross this bridge, Queen, or I will kill you," he raved. Fearing for her life, the Queen returned to her lover and asked him to help. "Our relationship is only a romantic one," he said, "I will not help."

The Queen then sought out a boatman on the river, explained her plight to him and asked him to take her across the river in his boat. "I will do it, but only if you pay me my price of five gold coins." "But I have no money with me!" the Queen protested. "That is too bad. No money, No ride," the boatman said flatly.

Her fear growing, the Queen ran crying to the home of a friend, and after again explaining the situation, begged for enough money to pay the boatman his price. "If you had not disobeyed your husband, this would not have happened," the friend said. "I will give you no money."

With dawn approaching and her last resource exhausted, the Queen returned to the bridge in desperation, attempted to cross to the castle, and was slain by the madman.

DIRECTIONS: In the story above, there are six characters. Rank the characters (from 1 to 6) in the order of the responsibility for the death of the Queen.

1:­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­ ____________ (most responsible)

2: ____________

3: ____________

4: ____________

5: ____________

6: ____________ (least responsible)

The story in and of itself is thought-provoking, but I have found that it's also an interesting clue into basic cultural differences. Personally, I feel that you can make a compelling case for each character to be most responsible (which, I suppose, is the point), but across the board, almost every one of my students put the Queen as #1. When asked to defend their choice, they all said, "She disobeyed her husband. If she hadn't disobeyed, the rest of the story never would have happened."

It took quite a bit of prodding and leading on my part, but by the end of class I had at least one person in the room arguing vehemently for each of the six characters to be most responsible. It's extremely satisfying as a language teacher when you can just melt away into the walls and allow the students to engage in debate without any assistance, especially when it's completely in their second language.

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April 4, 2007

Reality Strikes Again

For the second year in a row I decided to do a unit about Reality TV with my students and it was a hit. After giving them a brief overview of shows like American Idol, The Apprentice, Survivor, and Big Brother, we discussed what made these shows different. Reality TV is hitting China pretty hard lately both in imported form and in domestic creations and students seem to enjoy the genre. Though I happen to loathe these types of programs, it does go over well in the classroom.

The best part of teaching Reality TV is that the final project. This involves the kids going up to the front of the classroom in groups and performing a 5-10 minute segment of a Reality TV show of their choice. Besides forcing every student to have a speaking role, it also lets the creative juices flow a little, which is always a bonus for these kids. As a teacher, you never quite know what will happen when you give students free reign to create or perform something from scratch; It's part of what makes teaching interesting and exciting.

This year I had several noteworthy performances that are blog-worthy. I explained the concept of the makeover and how many shows like to take people and give them new clothes, a new hairstyle, or, in some extremes, plastic surgery. I was actually surprised how many of my students had seen "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy." Anyhow, several groups took the opportunity to "makeover" other classmates and it was hilarious.

I had more than a few girls actually bring in makeup, jewelry, and even different outfits to change into. Most of the time they actually tried to do a good job but I had one group that took a different slant to the idea. This particular crew took a very pretty girl and tried to make her as ugly as possible in a five minute period. Needless to say, it was a riot. By the end she had hair braided on one side and clipped in front of her face on the other. She had purple and green eyeshadow, bizarrely dark lipstick, and a sweater that would make even a homeless person blush.

Somewhat along these lines, I found that for the second year in a row, I had at least thirty students pretend to be a member of the opposite sex. For some of the makeover shows, there were boys who were supposed to be girls. In addition, there were girls who pretended to be the boyfriends of girls getting makeovers. And no--it was not due to a lack of boys or girls. More entertaining, though, were those who pretended to be the opposite sex in imitations of "The Bachelor."

In these performances there were boys pretending to be girls dating boys and vice versa. Every time it happened, the students shouted out things like "kiss!" or "get closer!" and then laughed hysterically. The laughter didn't surprise me as much as the willingness by all involved to switch genders. I can't decide whether it would happen more or less in the States, but it's pretty funny.

Another one of my favorites was when groups did versions of "American Idol." Much like "American Idol" is a ripoff of a British show, China ripped off "American Idol" and created a show called "Supergirls." As such, it's a very familiar format to the students and one they all enjoy. For the second year in a row, I was thoroughly impressed with how many students were willing to sing without accompaniment in front of the class. It's not just the outgoing kids, either. I had some timid students get up there and belt out with a voice I had barely heard before. Again, sometimes you just never know. Once a kid is in the right situation he or she might just surprise you.

Without a doubt, though, the highlight of the entire week was one particular "contestant" in an American Idol performance. This girl had not previously made a name for herself, other than being completely lost in the crowd. With 360 students, I know all the really good ones, all the ones that struggle, and all the ones with strong personalities. It's the ones in the middle that often get lost in the shuffle. Sad, but true.

Anyhow, if I had to describe her, I would say that she's the quiet, homely type that probably doesn't do too many sports but always hands her homework in on time. She got up to the front of the class and without warning plugged her mp3 player into the speaker system and launched into a rap. I didn't know the song but it was definitely by an American gangsta-style rap artist and was complete with curses, sexual innuendo, and more slang than I would ever want to explain. I was *floored*. Usually I would stop something that involved so many four-letter words but I was just completely shocked! What brought it to the next level was the fact that her pronunciation was perfect--not an easy task, especially given how fast the words had to come out of her mouth.

She finished the song and I was flabbergasted. I have no idea where she found the song, how she learned it, if she had any idea what the words meant, or if she knew any other raps, but I was pretty impressed with her courage. A lot of the students seem either confused or disinterested, but I gave her a hearty round of applause.

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January 23, 2007

Exams

It's that time of the year once again--final exams. Despite its being printed on the syllabus I handed out and announced approximately five times throughout the term, I once again had dozens of students who were shocked when I gave the two week warning. I mean, I suppose that's the card I would have tried to play if I were in their shoes, but they're all pretty much SOL. Even if I were adamantly opposed to testing them, my contract mandates that I have to administer at least one exam per term. So there you have it.

Much like last year, I spent half a class before the test doing a review of everything we had covered and everything that would be on the exam. As I was covering the material, I saw the majority of the class dutifully copying everything down into their notebooks. But what about the other section of the class? As a teacher I've never been able to figure this one out since it happened back when I was teaching at Brookline as well--do the students just not care? Are they so confident in their knowledge that they feel a review is below them? Are they just spacing out and don't realize I'm giving them answers? Whatever the reason, it's somewhat disconcerting. I even paused a few times, pointed to the board and then to their notebooks, only to get a brief nod followed by inaction.

The exams have all been given and I have to say that I'm slightly disappointed in the results. The whiz kids who always get A's got A's, the kids who skipped class got F's, and everybody else fit somewhere in between. The problem is, the medium is definitely a bit lower than last year. What I can't decide is, did I fail them or did they fail me? It's possible that I'm grading a bit tougher this year because I had higher expectations. It's possible the exam is simply more difficult. It's possible that I didn't prepare them well enough. It's even possible that the average level of English is lower this year compared to last. The frustrating thing is that there's really no way to tell.

Nick and I have also been having a few interesting discussions regarding grading. Suppose there's one student in a class with amazing English but a terrible attitude (skips every once in a while, doesn't pay attention, etc.) and another who struggles daily with ability but really tries hard (volunteers to answer questions, focuses on every word spoken, etc.). Exam time rolls around and the student with an attitude aces the exam easily while the other student fails outright. Is that fair? I'm faced with this exact situation in more than a few incarnations.

I'm also trying to figure out whether grades should be relative to the class section (some classes are always better than others), relative to the grade as a whole, relative to effort, or simply based on the numerical score each achieved. The funny part is that I'm pretty sure my final grades will either a) never be seen by the students or b) not matter even a little bit in the grand scheme of things. The marks they achieve in class are completely unimportant to the college process so maybe I'm wasting time worrying about it.

Regardless, this term's exam brought about several unintentional comedic moments which I figure I should record for posterity's sake. In one section I asked the students to identify three of the five important categories when applying to American universities (we had done a 3 class unit on the subject) and most students were spot on: grades, non-academic achievement, recommendations, personal statement, etc. One kid really hit the nail right on the head though with the response, "give lots of money to the head of the university." Right you are!

In another section where students are required to complete sentences with choices from a word bank, I gave them the sentence, "Talking about your boyfriend/girlfriend in front of the headmaster is strictly________." The answer I was anticipating was "taboo," however I had more than a few students fill in "suspect," which was listed in my mind as a noun. It sort of works, though, as an adjective and it made me laugh so I gave them credit anyway.

They also had to write an informal dialogue between me and George Bush which brought me more than a few chuckles. One of my favorite students wrote the following conversation which I think is highly realistic:
Ari- Hey dude, where are you headed?
Bush- White House. I have a lot of work to do today.
Ari- About Iraq? Yo, why did you start that war anyway?
Bush- Thing is, we need lots of oil and I didn't think it would be so rough.
Ari- But it's caused so many deaths. Don't you feel sorry??
Bush- Not really. Chill out, okay?
Ari- Do you think you're cool? Because you're absolutely not.
Bush- How about you ask my daughter out? That will make it better for you. She's hot!
Ari- Will do.
Bush- Okay, I gotta bounce. Later.

Possibly my favorite response, though, came in the section in which I asked student to briefly explain the origin of Christmas, Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa (I taught a lesson on this). One of my students chose Christmas and wrote, "Christmas is a festival celebrating the burn of Jewish." Now, I can only assume he was going for "birth of Jesus" but as it stands, I thought it was pretty funny.

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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." Sometimes I have no idea where to begin with this--the bad feelings run so deep that it's hard to rationally discuss the issue.
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!

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June 6, 2006

Evaluation

The school year has truly come to an end and I only have 3 classes left before '05-'06 is in the bank. I gave my final and had a whole ton of grading to do in a short period of time. Though there must be some sort of solution, I haven't quite figured out how to avoid grading 360 exams. Anyhow, for my last day of class, I handed back exams and also had my students fill out an evaluation. I think it's good for them to think back about everything we've done this year and it's certainly helpful for me to get some feedback. The jury is still out on the efficacy of their comments though.

I had four different sections on the eval. The first prompted them with the very basic questions, "What was your favorite topic/subject that we learned during this school year? What was your least favorite?" This seems to be a very unpredictable section. If I was looking for consistency, it was wishful thinking. With three hundred different students, I received over three hundred opinions. Some students thought the project on Reality TV was the best. Others hated it with a passion. Some enjoyed my "bellringer" writing prompts. Others found them to be a chore. Some enjoyed anything involving acting in front of the class. Others abhored having to perform in front of everybody.

Out of all the responses I've gotten so far there have been only two consistencies in this section. First, a significant number of people cited my lesson on law as the best. I can't remember if I blogged about this before, but Todd and Nancy, recent law school graduates, helped me design a lesson on the absolute nature of law. That is, is it ever acceptable to break the law? In a society that is dominated (at least on the surface) by the Communist Party, the thought of breaking the law is never unobjectionable. The government teaches that the law is in place to provide stability--something the people crave. Therefore it doesn't make sense to break it. Ever. However in that lesson I challenged my kids to think a bit more outside of the box and consider other circumstances. Once they allow for the possibility of exceptions, it becomes a lesson in defining terms and creating boundaries--something that they rarely have an opportunity to think about. I'm glad that it made a lasting impression on a good number of them... Oh, and the other consistency? A significant number of students cited the exam as their least favorite part of the class.

The second section of the evaluation asks the students, "What will you remember from the class 20 years from now?" This question is half for fun and half for me to try and find out what had any lasting effects. Again, the answers were a riot. A few mentioned pop culture. A few mentioned the unit on improvisation. A few mentioned that they'll remember my Ari-isms such as, "Good guess... but not exactly," "Good start but we can do better," and "Move up!" Well, I guess that's better than nothing.

A few random evaluations had non-sequiter responses to this section that I found particularly amusing. For example:
"Maybe"
"I have said 'Only the strong survive'"
"Wolfe is a really strange family name"
"Really special things"
and perhaps my favorite,
"You are a boy"

The next section asked, "What was the most difficult part of the class?" I did get some amount of consistency here, as many students agreed that the informal speech and dialogue was the toughest. However, some students also noted that they thought the exam was most difficult. It is interesting to note the correlation here that the students who wrote that particular comment tended to have the lowest scores. In most cases I would guess that they simply didn't study. My favorite response to this question, though, was one student who wrote very simply, "words." Yeah, I guess words are pretty tough!

The last section of the evaluation asked for some suggestions on improving the class for next year. Some students wrote very cute comments about how nothing should be changed because it was all perfect. Others asked that the class be easier. I did find a somewhat unexpected response amongst a big chunk of students--they asked that I take the class outside and teach outside of the classroom. Ummm, what? I mean, I guess I used to beg for that in high school too but did it ever happen? Not a chance! And if we did go outside, I spent the rest of the period staring off on to the track. I have to work hard enough INside to keep everyone engaged; there's no way I'm taking them outside. I think that's just asking for daydreaming. I think my favorite comment from this section was from one student who wrote, "Don't talk about the things we already know." I'm not quite sure how I'm supposed to know, but I suppose he makes a good point!

Besides that, I now have a vacation since the Senior 3 students are all taking the Gao Kao, the college entrance exam. I feel bad for them, but I am excited to have another chance to travel before heading home. I think tomorrow or the day after I will be traveling to Yangshuo, supposedly one of the most beautiful places in all of China. I can't wait! With my time off so far, I finished watching season 5 of "24." One of my students knows about my man-crush on Jack Bauer and burned the whole season on to DVD for me. Gotta love it. I have to agree with my favorite sportswriter, Bill Simmons, who noted that Season 5 was "Ridiculous, far-fetched, improbable, over-the-top and somewhat ludicrous. Absolutely the worst of the five seasons. And with that said, I enjoyed every minute and can't wait for Season 6. Especially since Jack Bauer will finally be taller than everyone he's fighting." I am psyched to see how they deal with the whole China angle.

Otherwise, I'm taking off for the US in only 8 days. What happened to this year?!

Posted by awolfe at 12:00 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

June 1, 2006

Children's Day

Happy Children's Day! What? What's that you say? You say you've never heard of such a thing? Well join the club. When I announced my final exam 3 weeks ago and heard grumbles about having to take a test on a holiday I inquired a bit further. I discovered that June 1st is Children's Day here in China, though I haven't quite figured out what that means yet. All I know is that I can hear my mother's voice in my head chuckling and remarking, "But every day is children's day..." I guess I can't really disagree with her.

But anyhow, I am indeed now finished teaching and giving my final exam which is wild. I have no idea where the time went this term but it is most definitely over. The beautiful thing about my schedule is that I'm giving my exam this week and giving them back randomly over the course of the next two weeks. Why the disparity? Because I have a 7 day vacation coming up which ends 3 days before I go home! Gotta love it. The senior 3 students here are not quite as psyched because they have to take the Gao Kao at this time, the college entrance exam. Picture the stress of the SATs times about 1000 and you're getting close. Poor kids...

The exam I'm giving is relatively similar to my exam last semester with a big focus on informal speech. I've decided that more than anything else I want my kids to be able to communicate and for me that means learning how younger people speak. We did a few more lessons on slang and similar informal phrases which always make me laugh. There's nothing like hearing a 17-year old Chinese kid say, "It's all good, dude."

The last section of my exam requires the students to write an informal dialogue using about 15 words/phrases from a word bank of twenty five or so. Some of them had to write a dialogue between Michael Jordan and Bill Gates. Others had to write one between me and Jay Chou, a Taiwanese pop star. Without fail, they are absolutely hilarious to read. For example, one of my better students wrote the following:
Ari: How you been, dude?
Jay: 'sup man. Same old, same old. How's your Chinese coming?
A: Let's just say they're not knocking down my door for any translation services.
J: I hear ya. Have you had any exams lately?
A: Yeah and it sucked. They used one of your tunes to test my listening skills!
J: Oh bummer, they didn't pay me for that. How'd you do?
A: The jury's still out but I don't feel good about it.
J: No worries--no one will pass!
A: Thing is, I had been locked up with studying for a long time. It's not fair!
J: Eh, forget about it. Wanna hang out tonight?
A: Sure. I was thinking about hitting up KFC to grab some grub. Lets go together.
J: Sounds good. I have to go home first though.
A: Okay. Drop me a line when you're ready to go.
J: Alrighty. I'll text you. Peace.
A: Later.

That right there makes me pretty happy. He used every phrase in a realistic, natural way. Perhaps I have actually been helpful this year! I certainly hope so. I plan on giving my students an evaluation to fill out before I give back exams. I'm curious to hear about what they think of my teaching. I'm afraid that the culture dictates they don't say anything negative but that's exactly what I'm looking for--constructive criticism. We'll see.

Besides being content with their dialogues, a few students absolutely blew me away by getting the extra credit correct. I decided to up the ante a little this time because so many got it right last time. Last semester's was to figure out the next line of the following sequence:
1
11
21
1211
111221
312211
13112221
?
I thought it was tough but apparently I underestimated them. This time around I decided to give them an LSAT-style logic puzzle. It is by no means impossible, but it certainly takes some time and these kids didn't have more than five-ten minutes to work on it. I'm amazed:
Five friends from across the United States planned to meet at a convention in Milwaukee. Each friend came from a different city and each was employed in a different profession. Use the clues to determine the full name of each friend, their home city, and each one's profession.
1. The doctor and Mr. Cross both arrived a day early.
2. By coincidence, the secretary from San Diego and the doctor, Ms. Forest, arrived at the hotel together.
3. The lawyer arrived late. He was delayed by a case and had to catch a later flight from Baltimore.
4. Jane, Mr. Smith, Mark, the mechanic, and the friend from Chicago all planned to spend the weekend after the convention together. Then on Monday, Ms. Trent and Tom would leave to return to work. Dan, the teacher, and Cindy would leave on Tuesday.
5. Dan Richards does not live in Baltimore. Cindy does not live in St. Louis.
6. Ms. Trent laughed when asked if she was a teacher. "No, he's from Atlanta," she said. "I'm from San Diego."

I won't give the answers here in case anybody wants to do them but maybe I'll post them in my next entry... Finishing up here for round one of the China experience certainly has my mind focuses a bit more on the states, of late. I find myself wondering about changes. Will I see new stores or buildings near any of my former homes? Will I be shocked by some new element of US pop culture that hasn't reached China yet? Will it be weird to eat western food everyday? Will I forget all my Chinese in the two weeks I'm home?

More importantly, I suppose, I find myself wondering about myself. Have I changed in the past year? I suppose it's inevitable that people mature and learn more over the course of any year, but I've had an especially different year than most. What do I have to show for it other than some decomposed clothes and elementary Chinese skills? Will my friends and family see me differently? I guess there's no way for me to tell while I'm still here but I am getting more and more excited everyday to get back and see people before studying all summer. I only hope people are equally as excited to see me!

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March 23, 2006

Big Brother?

Big brother is watching and I had no idea. This week I started a mini-unit on Reality TV in which my kids have to design and perform their own Reality TV program in front of the class. So far it has been a very fun topic because a lot of the kids enjoy American pop culture (you can even catch American Idol and Survivor here through the Hong Kong stations). I am quite excited to see what they do, be it in the form of imitation or something new. I was even asked to play the role of Simon Cowell!

But before we got to talking about the actual shows, I asked them (in the form of a writing prompt) to define reality and reality tv. I got some very interesting responses to both questions but I was totally caught off guard when one boy told me that reality tv was not actually a program but rather the feed from a close circuit camera. Woah, what? I asked him for clarification and he did one better--he showed me.

I had no idea what he was doing when he walked to the front of the room near the blackboard but I got my answer as he pointed to the camera that was in the classroom! I never noticed it before because it's very inconspicuous, covered in a dark glass sphere a la casino surveillance cams. I quickly sent him back to his seat and told him it was a good guess but incorrect.

As I walked out of the room at the end of class I glanced back at the camera. Why was it there? At first I had visions of the Communist powers-that-be spying on my classes but I realized this wasn't all that likely. The cameras are in every single classroom, not just the ones with foreigners teaching. So are the school authorities just peeping in to all rooms at random? Why? Why not just come in and observe? Are they looking in on the students more than the teachers? That seems like a stretch. These kids are some of the most well behaved students around so it's hardly necessary.

I have not come to any logical conclusion about the presence of the cameras. In fact, they have only raised more questions--are there microphones in the rooms? Should I be worried about what I'm saying or doing? Should I be annoyed? Concerned? I have no idea.

In other news, we are officially in the rainy season here in Guangzhou and it's super annoying. Everyday now is either raining or so humid that it might as well be. What makes it even worse is that China has quite the affinity for marble. Whenever possible they put marble (or marble imitation) on the sidewalks, stairs, and floors. It sure looks pretty but the corollary is that it also turns into a death trap when wet. Everytime I walk down the stairs in my apartment now I am clutching the handrails. Everytime I walk out across campus towards the main gate, I pray that I don't bite it. I look at it as the "China Marble Challenge" and award myself points for every successful trip down the stairs and walk across the sidewalk. All are invited to join me in my reality TV adventures of free-form walking.

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December 22, 2005

Democracy and Johnny Damon

One of my students recently sent me an article that got published in a local indie publication here and I was incredibly impressed. I think a great deal of people in America are under the impression that Chinese people are brainwashed by the government and education system at a young age. My experience has obviously proved that to be false but this is the icing on the cake. The following essay was written by a 17 year-old high school student without any outside assistance or editing:

Democracy in China

"When people think about China these days, they see a country on the cutting edge of major changes â€" both economic and internal. Coming out of a 5000-year historical cocoon defined by many of us looking back at our early beginnings as a slave and feudal society, the idea of a democracy and the freedoms that come with it hasn't been something that China's despotic emperors wanted to encourage. As far as they were concerned, there was no civilization as great as China's and democracy could remain millions of miles away from their shores. But over the past 100 years, China has taken steps towards democratic reforms, which have caused the decadent feudal dynasties to collapse â€" the arrogance or their power peeled away.

Many outsiders automatically point to the Tiananmen Square incident in 1989 as the turning point for China's democratic revolution when many students gathered first in the intension to cherish the death of the beloved Zhou Enlai. But it turned out totally different. Of particular interest were many handwritten poems that were posted there. On the surface, these poems could appear to a naïve observer to commemorate ancient events from Chinese history, but they actually expressed critical sentiments regarding those in power in China while allowing some distance to be kept between the protesters and the wrath of the government For example, one poem implicitly criticized Jiang Qing by attacking the Empress Wu Zetian, a 7th century Tang Dynasty empress who ruled after her husband died. Such a massive outpouring of sentiment alarmed the government. In an emergency session meeting, the Politburo in the Great Hall of the People just west of the Square determined to remove all the wreaths and poems. This was done that night.

But the fact is China's first democratic campaign came on May 4, 1919. Known as May fourth Movement or Wusi Yundong, it was the first mass movement in modern Chinese history. The student demonstrations represent the most visible events in a process of change. Intellectuals identified the political establishment with China's failure in the modern era, and hundreds of new periodicals published attacks on Chinese traditions, turning to foreign ideas and ideologies. The movement split into leftist and liberal wings. The latter advocated gradual cultural reform as exemplified by Hu Shih who interpreted the pragmatism of John Dewey, while leftists like Chen Duxiu and Li Dazhao introduced Marxism and advocated political action. The movement also popularized vernacular literature, promoted political participation by women, and educational reforms. And even as China becomes a major player on the world economic stage, many westerners are mistakenly informed that our country is inhumane â€" that the government doesn't grant freedom of speech and that it violates human rights. The West does not see the rays of democracy in China, only the cloud cover of the People's Republic of China, which was founded in 1949. They see that the community owns the major resources and means of production, and there's no public voting in China, and students are pressed too much etc. -------all these gives them the impression that there's no democracy or human right here. We do admit that all the above are true, BUT- .

But democratic reforms truly are happening every day in China. The situation is different. And despite of this, more and more access to politics are being achieved, since government is reporting more and more about its work, and the impact of the Internet has caused the public to learn different points of view without simply accepting one way of thinking. All of a sudden, the customer's needs and individual's legal rights have grown alongside the rise in our economy. On the other hand, I think that the population can vote does not mean that the population has a "say" in government policy. True, the government must respect the population wishes for it is the who elect them, but how many times have we all seen American protests going on because the some of the populace is displeased with government policy? It is also true however that in a communist regime that the state is the media, the law and judge. But how many American politicians have their hands (stock, ownership etc.) in the media? How can we watch what goes on on CNN and not say that it has a republican bias? So as you can see, Communist and Democratic forms of government are very contrary to each other. As they both have benefits and disadvantages, people continuously argue over the superior choice, despite history.

But the question remains â€" will China ever be as democratic as America? Will the system that works well in a country where freedom has rung in people's minds for centuries, also work in China? I guess that should be questioned. We should take China's unique history and situation into account. While many Chinese are well-educated today, especially my generation, more than half of our population was brought up to believe that democracy was not the best choice for our country. Many are concerned that democracy threatens national unity. Maybe they are right. Maybe America's version of democracy won't work well in China, but that doesn't mean that China isn't continuing to take steps towards reforming our civilization."

Wow, right? I don't think most American high schoolers can think on that sort of metacognitive level. I find this btoh impressive and encouraging. If everyone can imitate this level of independent thinking, I think the future of the world is in good hands.

On a completely separate note, Johnny Damon to the Yankees?! Good lord, I leave the country for a couple of months and suddenly there's chaos. This is absolutely monumental and I can't fathom this kind of signing. I've always hated Damon but I guess I will have to try my best to like the idiot. We'll see. Besides that, the Wolfes arrive in China in less than 48 hours! Woohoo!

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December 9, 2005

Informal Dialogue

The last two weeks I've been working with my kids on teaching more informal speech. We've gone over some basic slang (e.g. "what's up?") as well as some slightly more obscure phrases. I have to admit-- I get an absolute kick out of the fact that almost all of my students now say goodbye to me at the end of class by either shouting out, "Later!!" or, even better, "Peace!" They seem to enjoy learning these types of phrases and I am more than happy to teach them how to go beyond the basics.

That seems to be very common here. For the people that do spend the time to truly learn some English, they are limited to the basic greetings of "Hello, how do you do?" or "Good afternoon, how is the weather?" I don't know where they get these from but it's a difficult habit for them to break. As such, it has been a breath of fresh air to hear students walking up to me saying, "What's up?!" I laugh and say "not too much, you?" They are definitely still getting used to it though as sometimes I will say "where are you headed?" and they will say "not too much." Baby steps, ya know?

The best though, is that I've taught my kids the following exchange:
-Hey buddy, what's goin' on?
-Chillin'.
That might be my favorite right there. Besides the fact that "chillin'" is a very common phrase with younger people in the states, it's also one that I commonly use, in the right context of course. This is also somewhat of an homage to my friend Paul (spent time in S. Korea on a Fulbright) who taught his middle schoolers to begin every class with a similar greeting process. Gotta love it.

So we graduated from basic salutations and moved on to a full conversation. I modified an old PiA lesson and handed out the following dialogue to my class, with instructions to read out loud in pairs:
Chris: Hey, 'sup Jordan? Where you headed?
Jordan: Oh hi, Chris. Not too muchâ€"'s goin' on with you? I'm off to the library to hit the books.
Chris: Oh, bummer. I was gonna ask if you wanted to go grab a drink or shoot some pool.
Jordan: Yeah, sucks. Thanks thoughâ€"woulda been fun, but if I don't do well on this Chinese test tomorrow, I'm totally screwed. You know how rough that class is!
Chris: Yeah, dude. Yo, why are you taking Chinese anyway? Isn't that language impossible? Why don't you just do Spanish or something?
Jordan: Hey, believe meâ€"I thought about quitting. Thing is, Pat is in that class and we've sorta been hitting it off. I think I'm going to ask him/her out this weekend.
Chris: Oh man! You mean Pat Rodriguez? Wow, she/he is so hot! That girl/guy is smokin'! You're really going to ask him/her out? Boy, you're bolder than I thought. Maybe you're moving up in the world!
Jordan: Well, we'll see how it goes. I'm not counting on anything. Truth be told, I'm actually pretty nervous about it.
Chris: Aww, don't be nervous. If you let him/her know that you're nervous, you'll scare him/her off. You have to make him/her think that you're, ya know, THE MAN/THE WOMAN. Know what I mean?
Jordan: Oh I hear ya. But come onâ€"like you're one to talk? When was the last time you asked someone out? Exactly.
Chris: Okay, okay. You made your point. That's pretty cool though. Lemme know how it goes.
Jordan: Will do. Okay, I gotta bounce. Later.
Chris: Peace.

Since almost every other word is some kind of idiom or slang, they then had the task of trying to decipher this dialogue and figure out what everything means. I tried to explain the concept of using the context to figure it out, but I think that has been lost on a good number of them. Regardless, I have been able to lead groups of students step-by-step through a process of discerning meaning from this so-called gobbledygook.

Some of my better classes have "translated" virtually all of the phrases in one class period. Others have struggled quite a bit more and come up with some hilarious responses. For example, one class was convinced that a "hot" girl was a dangerous girl. I laughed pretty hard and told them that they may be right but that that wasn't quite what I was looking for. Heh. Another class suggested that to hit the books was to sabotage them. Hmm. Not exactly. Suffice it to say that it's been a really fun lesson.

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October 31, 2005

Ladykillers

I have been continuing the mini-unit with my students on debating (in the talk show format) and have had some very interesting performances. Today I had two in particular that were noteworthy, the first being about Chairmain Mao. When the group first proposed this idea to me I really liked it. Besides the fact that I just read Kristof's review of the new Mao book and got excited about it, Mao is a fascinating figure. In addition, to be honest, I didn't think Chinese high schoolers had the wherewithal to criticize someone so heralded in their history. Isn't that the unwritten rule? The fact that they wanted to tackle such an issue was exciting for me. I had visions of an impassioned debate followed by sweeping class participation.

The more I thought about it though, the more nervous I got. There is a section in my contract that specifically forbids any disparagement of China, the Chinese government, Chinese history, or Chinese culture. It's also worded in such a way as to apply to whatever they want. Basically they can reprimand me for speaking about virtually anything, but I get the feeling they just want to cover themselves. I started to feel apprehensive about getting in trouble with the administration though and had a few daydreams about getting hauled away by the local police. I mean, stranger things have happened! I know for a fact that there is a file on me at the police station because we had to register with them upon arrival. I'm guessing that there are also a couple students responsible for reporting any polemical comments that I make because, so far as I understand it, that's s.o.p. with foreign teachers. Who knows.

Anyhow, their presentation rolled around today and I geared up for whatever might happen. The introduction was relatively tame and centered more around his great accomplishments than any negative traits. Once the "guest speakers" began giving their spiel though, I was almost in awe. The girl speaking out in favor of Mao started listing off how he brought China into the modern age and liberated the country from the evil and corrupt Nationalists. After a couple more minutes of this, the other girl began speaking. She started off with the soft stuff, mentioning how Mao had some fidelity issues and went through four wives. I was wondering if she'd stop there, but she slowly started listing off his policies on shutting down schools, destroying temples & museums, and creating a food shortage. Noticeably and decidedly absent was any mention of killing his own people.

Once again I decided carpe diem and push the limits a tad, without really incriminating msyelf. Sitting in the "audience" among the rest of the students, I asked the members of the group what they thought of Joseph Stalin. I pointed out that he was not only responsible for modernizing the country and increasing industry twentyfold, but also for knowingly killing countless millions of Russians. Without so much as batting an eyelash, they all denounced Stalin and his methods as inappropriate and unacceptable. Interesting. I wonder what my students would think if they were privy to a more complete history of Chairmain Mao.

The second noteworthy presentation was the highly anticipated talk show of who is more attractive, Steven or me. The students who designed this one happen to be some of the smartest and funniest kids in the class so I decided to give them the okay for the topic, under the condition that if Steven were in the room he wouldn't be offended. They titled the show, "Who is the true lady-killer, Steven or Ari?" I laughed. In the end, it was a really funny show. They had the two guys each taking one side and the girls in the group were audience members. After all was said and done, they decided that it was a tie and that we are both the highest level of "lady-killer." Heh.

On a completely separate note, I found out today that the faculty and staff of HSFZ will have a track & field competition in a little over a month. Oh boy. Howard, my supervisor and friend, informed me of this news with full knowledge that I ran in high school and college and that I have an affinity for competition. With a big grin, he began to list off the different activities and even asked if I wanted them to set up a 400m hurdles race. Ummm, no thanks--I'll pass on that one. I definitely have the date circled on my calendar and I am psyched for the races, but I'm also well aware of how long it's been since I raced on a track.

I decided to find out for sure and headed out to the track tonight in lieu of playing football. I did a quick 400m warm-up and decided to get right to it. Thinking back to my very first track practice back in high school, I can still picture Coach Butterfield's weathered face announcing, "100m, 200m, 300m, 400m, 300m, 200m, 100m." I mean if I could do that without ever having run before, I could do that now, right? I struggled through about half the workout and it wasn't pretty. Lets just say I'm quite far away from my days of running 50 point in the quarter.

That being said, I already feel self-imposed pressure to perform at a really high level when we have the meet. Besides my inherent competitive nature, I feel a strange sense of obligation to get out there and represent the U.S. against all of the Chinese here. It doesn't really make sense but I want to win in a bad way, to prove myself to the other teachers, to the administration, to the students, and to also to myself that I can still do it. Of course everyone told me that I was crazy to pack track spikes in my luggage before I left the U.S. so I took them out of my bag. Now I'm kicking myself!

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October 29, 2005

Howl

This weekend being Halloween weekend, Steven and I both decided to do a lesson on the holiday. While China does have some semblance of Halloween, it is entirely commercial and my students definitely had no idea where it came from. I had a whole lesson of different games planned out (Halloween crosswords, word-searches, jumbles, mazes, etc.) but then the technology gods decided I was unworthy. After I emailed all the files over to the copy center, I discovered that the Chinese computers didn't appreciate the format of my graphics. Tragic. Not to be turned away, I decided to turn to my iPod for inspiration.

A month ago I did a lesson analyzing the lyrics of Michael Jackson's "Thriller." Now that would have been perfect. What else could I do? As I was cruising through my iTunes looking for another Halloween-ish song, I came across SteveSongs, the children's music of my good friend Steve Roslonek. Steve is an alumnus of Wesleyan University, the Spirits (my collegiate a cappella group), the Vineyard Sound (my summer a cappella group), and is one helluva talented musician. He has released 5 or 6 full length albums of original children's music, each of which receive regular play on my stereo, despite their target audience of primary schoolers. I still hold that if I had listened to SteveSongs growing up, I would be a *much* cooler person now. If you know his funk version of hickory dickory dock, you know exactly what I'm talking about.

Anyhow, Steve wrote a song called "Werewolf" which is about a werewolf (surprise) that used to be a reaaaallly scary monster until he heard rock & roll music for the first time and was inspired to dance. Heh. The song has a scary-sounding introduction which happens to talk about Halloween so I played the whole thing for my kids. They seemed a little unsure of it at first, but once the beat kicked in they got excited. Afterwards we discussed the Celtic roots of the holiday and how it has evolved into modern day trick-or-treating.

After the first two periods of going through these motions, I was getting bored with the lesson. Halloween is so engaging and has so much potential for fun that I felt like I was wasting it. I racked my brain for a way to liven things up and found my answer once again in Steve's music. Having attended my fair share of SteveSongs shows, I know that there is an audience participation that goes along with the Werewolf song. Basically the chorus has three "howls" that correspond to different body motions, followed by a loud howl at the end. This was designed for American kids, ages ~7-12 but I figured I'd give it a shot. 3rd graders in America, 11th graders in China--pretty much the same thing, right??

So I went ahead and taught the Werewolf dance! Admittedly, they were a little hesitant to get up out of their seats. They were even more self conscious of howling out loud, but I pressed them to give it their best. Luckily, there was one student who has no conception of embarrassment and went all out howling. He unabashedly did the growling and claw movement too! I think that broke the ice enough and finally I got a chunk of the class to howl away. Thinking back now, I'm kicking myself that I didn't have my camera--it was hilarious.

Tonight I will be attending the "That's GZ" party, a Halloween bash for expats in the city. As I'm known to do, I waited until the very last minute to put together a costume. At this time, I'm debating between wearing my HSFZ football uniform and going with the old standby--a toga. Once again, I must tip my cap to Mr. Hayes, my high school latin teacher. Not only do I still remember the correct way to pronounce veni, vidi, vici, but I also remember how to make a pretty snazzy looking toga with only a basic bed sheet and a safety pin. You can never go wrong!

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October 26, 2005

The Grind

This week has been somewhat of a rude awakening back into the working world after a ridiculously fun weekend. Tired and hungry, I taught Monday with a half-finished lesson plan. Once again, I was pleasantly suprised to discover that sometimes the last-minute lessons turn out the best. I modified a plan from the PiA lesson book and decided to go with the idea of debate, via the medium of the talk show.

I took a page out of Hessler's teaching (from "River Town") and started off class by having my students discuss the merits and disadvantages of the United States space program. Specifically I asked, "Should the U.S. continue to spend billions of dollars on NASA?" While I could probably have gotten away with having them debate China's space program, I wanted them to make the connection and evaluate China on their own.

I got some very interesting (and somewhat disturbing) responses from my leading question. More than a few students responded yes, that America should continue its space program in order to assert itself as a world power. Others said that it was the best way for the military to control the world. Only a minority of the yeses cited technological innovation or scientific exploration as a reason for going up into space. On the other hand, I was pleasantly surprised with how many students noted immediately that it was incredibly expensive to send a ship up and that the money could potentially be used in other, more beneficial ways.

After this opening debate I introduced the concept of the talk show and split every class up into groups of five or six students with the task of creating their own 5-10 minute talk show to be performed next week. I gave them several suggestions for topics but offered complete freedom to choose whatever they wanted, as long as I gave my approval. The range of topics has been both wide and hugely entertaining. I have one group debating whether Hermione should get together with Ron or Harry Potter. Another is discussing the efficacy and necessity of their school uniforms. There is one group talking about the benefits and drawbacks of the Cultural Revolution.

One of the funniest moments of my teaching career came when one group proposed to me the idea of having a debate about who was more attractive- Steven or me. Naturally I was hesitant to give the okay on a subject like this so I pressed them for more information--how could they present logical arguments and reasons defending each side? After attempting to explain, one of the guys in the class offered the following bit of erudition:
The boys don't really care but the girls talk about it all the time. You see women are born to judge men, don't you agree?
I almost fell over laughing so hard.

Beyond teaching, we had another soccer match yesterday. I have a bit of a cold but of course I wouldn't miss the game. It was a hard-fought contest but we lost 3-2 to a group of future-teachers from the neighboring university. I hate losing. A lot. I was extremely disappointed, especially since I just missed a diving header that would have tied the game. A few weeks ago I was under the impression that our season was done but apparently I was wrong. I get the feeling that we will continue to have games all year since the weather never really gets too cold for some football. Basketball, on the other hand, seems to be tailing off and we have only been playing pick-up games now twice a week.

This weekend is Halloween and I find myself wondering, where has the time gone? If it's the end of October it means I've been here for over two months already. Wow. In some ways I still feel like I just got here and still have SO much to learn, do, and see. Another part of me feels like it's been years since I was in Boston and that I have managed to learn quite a bit since my arrival. My language study has gotten increasingly difficult lately as I have been trying to cram far too much information into my head. Not only do I still have to think about correct pinyin pronunciation, but I also have to remember the tone, the definition, and now the stroke order for the character. It's quite a task. Still, it's coming along and that is promising.

Steven and I watched "Dances with Wolves" the other day and I saw some amusing parallels to my experience here. The Sioux saw Costener as looking, acting, and speaking in a bizarre way. He was the one white guy in a land that was largely devoid of any others. Yet he gradually began to learn the language, dress the part, and even act as they did. The transition is slow but noticeable nonetheless. I think if someone were filming a documentary of my life they could also see a lot of the same advances and pitfalls. I find myself wondering, will people from home see a noticeable difference in me when we meet again?

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September 24, 2005

Fall?

Yesterday in Guangzhou was the first day that could remotely be considered autumn here and I loved it. I guess mother nature took note of the autumnal equinox and responded accordingly because it was in the low 80's and there was a nice breeze. It was the first day that I did not sweat through multiple shirts during the course of the day (too much information? you be the judge). I was amused to see that a good chunk of my students were wearing their jackets during class. Jackets! It was definitely cooler than it has been, but it was by no means cold. I'm not breaking out the jacket until it's at least in the sixties. Naturally after yesterday's respite from the heat and humidity it has gone back to approaching unbearable today. Well, it was nice while it lasted.

Last week was the first time I assigned any homework for my regular English conversation classes and so far I have been extremely disappointed with the results. In the first class I went around to collect their papers (they had to translate three chinese riddles into English) and only about four out of the thirty kids had done the work. For the first time in my teaching career I "blew a gasket" (as Rabbi Chatinover used to say) and gave a very angry lecture to my students. Given my usually convivial mood, the kids were shocked. I ended the warning by telling them that they shouldn't bother coming to class next week if they don't do the homework reading. I think I got my point across.

I felt a little bad about it after the fact when we were discussing their "bellringer" writing assignment. I am in the middle of doing a lesson about descriptive adjectives and asked the students to write a couple sentences about how they were feeling. After my lecture, every single student responded that they were either "sad," (for not doing the homework) "scared," (because I yelled at them) or "ashamed" (that they had let me down). Geez. Maybe Chinese teachers don't yell at their students. Or maybe their other foreigner teachers let them get away with more in the past. Either way, I felt a little bad about it, but I don't take crap from my students so be it.

On a more uplifting note, I gave my students a couple of weeks to pick English names if they didn't have one already. I was prepared for ridiculous names and so far I have not been disappointed. At this point some of my favorites include "Whisper," "Echo," "Air," Silence," "Shadow," "Small," "Gunther," and "Raindrop." However, I have had much more fun giving names. Several students have not been able to decide between different options and have asked me to give them a new name. This has given me the ability to bring my friends to China! I now have all of 44 Home (my old house from Wesleyan) represented here with a Biggie, Steve, A.C., and Deefs. It makes me chuckle everytime I get to call on one of them. I also have a Kate, a couple Laurens, a Drew, a Mos, a Deacon, and an Evan. And for one of the kids who never pays attention (and thus annoys me a bit), I dubbed him "Keith," after a kid that I never liked in high school. Ha!

Apartment 205 of Building 1 here at HSFZ officially has a new couch. I am absolutely amazed that we managed to communicate well enough to give them the right address for delivery and that they got it here without a hitch. It's lime green, straight out of a 1970's lounge, folds down to a bed, and I love it. It looks a bit out of place with the rest of the decor in the place, but I'm not sure furniture this color could look appropriate anywhere in this decade. I guess you get what you pay for. Regardless, it has provided me with a very comfy seat for the excessive number of "24" episodes I've watched recently.

I am off to eat some homemade dumplings and I am extremely excited. Before I do though, I want to comment on the fact that the hit counter on my blog has gone over 1000. Now unless my parents are both checking the site approximately 50 times a day (hi mom! hi dad!), it means there are a bunch of people reading this out there and I am humbled. It means a lot to me that people are interested enough to check in on my adventures. So thanks for reading, and I hope to keep your attention for at least a little while longer...

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September 16, 2005

Riddles, Haircuts, and Spoons

The lesson I've been doing this week with my kids has involved teaching them the right phrases to request clarification, e.g. "I'm sorry you lost me, can you repeat that?" etc. In order for them to practice, I put two students together and give one an English riddle to read out loud to the other. The listener then has to ask for clarification until they understand it. When they get the right answer, they switch with another set. I compiled about 16 riddles to give out, thinking that it would be waaaaaay more than enough. Silly me. My kids are wicked smart! They have been tearing through these riddles faster than I did the first time around!

For instance, most got the following riddles in less than a minute:
-Where can you find a road without cars, a forest without trees, and a city without people?
-What demands an answer but does not ask a question?
-Mountains will crumble and temples will fall with it, and no man can survive its endless call. What is it?
I have actually had some extra time at the end of class where I have had to request they write their own riddles because they solved all sixteen. Needless to say, I have been quite impressed. If anyone has any good riddles out there that aren't ridiculously hard, feel free to email me (ari.wolfe@gmail.com) and I will use them for my remaining lessons.

On an additional teaching note, I got a belated "Happy Teacher's Day" poster/card from Class #9 that has since gone up on the fridge. It was really sweet of the kids and it definitely made me smile, for what will soon become obvious. The following are some of the comments I got on the card, all anonymous:
"Your attractive smile, energetic words, and body language have deeply impressed us. Yeah!"
"I just want to say one thing- 'whatever happen, I will always back you up.'"
"I'm waiting for playing sports with you Ari"
"Fancy meeting you in our class!"
"It's always cheerful to know that foreign friends share such a crush in domestic culture. We like American culture as much as you guys enjoy Chinese one. It seems we are meant to be friends. Hope you guys have fun and achieved what you wanna persued here in China!"
And last but not least, "I don't know whether America has a teacher's Day such as ours. Anyway, Happy Teacher's Day! I hope we can be good friends!! I'm a girl!"

On a non-teaching note, I got my first haircut yesterday since coming here. I generally do not stress about haircuts at all but I found myself getting a bit nervous as I walked over, knowing I would not be able to communicate with the barber at all. I had visions of walking out with a mohawk. Or maybe a mullet. Or maybe a combination of both? Anyway, one of the teachers gave us a tip that South China Normal U., located right next to the school, has a cheap barbershop so that was the destination. When he said cheap I figured I'd pay a couple of dollars for a haircut. That would be a good deal, right? Well, it turns out I paid all of about 60 cents. But I digress.

I walked into the place and before I could even mime "I'd like a haircut," some guy beckoned me over to his chair. He sat me down, put the cape on, and there was no looking back! Steven had given me the word for "short" so I said it to the man with as much confidence as I could muster. He grinned even more and went to work. And, well, I've definitely had worse! The guy worked quickly and efficiently, taking care not to cut my ears off so that was a plus. I could tell that the other barbers in the place were definitely giving him a hard time too because they kept looking over and laughing after someone gestured in our direction. I'm guessing it was something along the lines of either "Hey don't screw up the foreigner's hair," or "My god, have you ever seen a Jewish afro like that?" Regardless, it was painless and I will definitely be heading back there for the rest of the year. It was funny that, similar to American barbershops, there seemed to be a whole bunch of people hanging out in the place that were neither giving nor receiving haircuts. I guess it's a fun place to hang out...

On a completely separate subject, Steven and I finally acquired a couple of spoons yesterday. Why is this significant, you ask? Well it turns out that in the school "canteen" where we eat lunch every day, no one uses chopsticks. I venture to say that we have even looked foolish eating with chopsticks everyday until now because literally everyone else had a spoon. We looked in our kitchen but there was not a spoon to be had. I finally cracked under the pressure and bought a pair so we could fit in a little better. It's only been three weeks without western silverware, but I have to admit, it felt both strange and as if I were cheating today when I was able to shovel my food down with a spoon. It just seems odd that everywhere else I have been so far has used chopsticks exclusively. Is the teacher's lunchroom some strange vortex within the Guangdong Province? Only time will tell.

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September 7, 2005

School Culture

After a 36 hour internet black out, I'm back online! I've been teaching for over a week now and there are a few things that I find very interesting about the experience. In one of my first education classes at B.U., we talked about the particular culture of any given school: it's traditions, customs, unwritten rules, written rules, expectations, and norms. For instance, at Newton North H.S. where I taught summer school 2 years ago, the main hallway in the building is called "main street" where students hang out in very distinctive groups and teachers have virtually no voice or authority. At Hall High School, my alma mater, we had a "kickboard" in the back of the school that sports teams would paint over and cover in graffiti-like encouragements and shout-outs.

HSFZ (where I am teaching now), though lacking a kickboard, has an interesting school culture. For starters, there is a very distinct school uniform that students wear ALL the time, both in and out of the classroom and campus. Apparently all high schools have a uniform and they are so identifiable that as I walk around the city, I can ask any of my students about another group and they can tell me the name of the school and where it ranks in terms of best to worst, just by looking at their clothing. As HSFZ is the best high school in the province, these kids love wearing their school uniform and barely take it off, even when playing sports.

Every morning between the 3rd and 4th periods, there is a 15 minute break when everyone marches out to the field in the stadium and participates in a short period of exercise. I guess this is pretty standard in Asian cultures but I am astounded. The speed and efficiency in which they can get over 1800 students out on to the field, lined up, and doing coordinated exercises along with music over the p.a. system would make the U.S. army weep. I try to picture my high school doing it and it's laughable.

Anytime a student speaks up in class, either by raising a hand or being chosen, he or she stands up. I can't tell whether or not I like this practice, but it sure puts people on the spot! I have enjoyed picking on students to answer questions who were clearly not paying attention to me. The rest of the class almost looks down on them for not knowing what to say and this, in turn, forces everyone to stay focused. Not exactly my ideal method, but it is effective.

The 11 different sections here are split up in an interesting way. Section 1 is called the Olympic class, and contains students who are the cream of the crop-- those students who compete on a national and international level in physics, math, and engineering. Sections 2 and 3 are the all stars who didn't make the cut for section 1 but are extremely talented, and from outside the city district (all boarders). The rest of the sections are by subject interest, be it history, politics, music, geography, or one of several other areas.

Despite being across the world and in an entirely different culture, the classic "Breakfast Club-" like groups of students appear in every class. There are the nerds, weirdos, jocks, popular kids, rich kids, poor kids, and well-intentioned but awkward kids. The distinctions aren't always quite as pronounced to me as in an American school but they're definitely there. In addition, there is the subgroup of those whose families are Party members. These students all wear a small red pin above the school insignia on their shirts that signify the party membership (I want one!). It seems to be somewhat of a status symbol, yet does not preclude students from being friends or working together or anything like that. So far as I can tell, it basically means that they're going to be hooked up after school, no matter how well they do.

Teaching in general appears to be much more respected here than in the U.S. While I don't know what an average salary is, I can tell that most teachers here tend to live well. They drive nice cars, dress decently well, and certainly seem to be happy. There are various perks to being a teacher that provide discounts at various stores (much like in the U.S.) and even a national teacher's day which happens to be this weekend. Apparently anybody who has ever taught at the school is welcome and we all go to some fancy restaurant for another banquet, all paid for by the school/city. Needless to say, I am definitely looking forward to it.

A few other funny teaching stories: I mentioned before that I was asked a rather inappropriate question about my dating habits, but I got a few more queries that were even more unexpected. One student asked if I thought racial bias among the Bush administration prevented an adequate response in aid towards the Hurricane crisis in New Orleans(!) Sidenote- I've been following the news of Katrina over here. How awful! Thank god the Betheas, my former Spring Break parents, managed to get out okay. One student asked what time I go to bed, followed immediately by, how long does it take me to fall asleep. Ummm, 5 minutes? I don't know! Another student asked if I thought China was better than the United States (no specifics there, just on an overall level). A different student asked what I thought about Bush in terms of his decision to invade Iraq. Geez! No sugarcoating that one! I find it somewhat difficult in these situations to adequately articulate my criticism of Bush without sounding like I'm trashing America. It could be in my head, but I get the feeling that a lot of the questions are definitely loaded and spoon-fed from either parents or other teachers. It makes me a feel a little awkward. That's about it for now. More to follow soon...

Posted by awolfe at 10:31 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

September 1, 2005

Firsts

Today was the first day of classes, signifying the end of Camp Guangzhou and the beginning of oh-right-I-guess-I-actually-have-a-job-to-do Guangzhou. All in all, I have to say I was very pleased with how things went. Steven and I were assigned to teach the level of "Senior 2," which is the equivelant of a high school junior. The entire class consists of ~650 students that are split into 11 different sections. I'm no math majpr but that makes for HUGE classes. Luckily, the classrooms are all equipped with TV's, speaker systems, overheads, and connections for laptops which is pretty amazing for any high school. It's funny though because 60 kids are squished into a comparatively small room with only a few fans--no A.C.

I don't know if I have emphasized this enough but Guangzhou is HOT. And by hot I mean HUMID. 60 students in a small enclosed space is a very good recipe for sweat pie. Trust me. Anyhow, Steven and I saw three sections today and taught together, introducing ourselves, the course, and consequently splitting the room up into two sections for the remainder of the year. I am very glad both to have my own class and to limit the number to around 30 students; any more is just overkill and puts a major strain on classroom management. Plus apparently I'm selfish and really like having my own class. By the same token, I recognized today that I really need to work on cooperative teaching. Steven was a bit nervous (having never taught before) and I found myself talking over him a few times because I felt he was too quiet or that he was using overly-complicated words. In other words, I need to chill out a little bit.

It sounds ridiculous but it is tough for me to remember what state I was in on my first day of teaching, over a year ago. I haven't been doing it for very long yet I feel like that was eons ago. On a positive side, B.U. must have done at least something right because I felt very confident, organized, and focused, despite never having taught English before. I am really excited to work with these kids and they seem happy to have us. If only they knew that I am making the course up as I go...

The first funny/awkward moment arose in the second section of the day. We gave the students the opportunity to ask us questions about our lives in America as a sort of get-to-know you activity. The students are somewhat shy and self conscious about speaking English in front of their classmates though so we had to solicit a few volunteers. I picked on a boy in the back corner of the room who seemed to be off in a different world and made him ask me the question he had written down. It was as follows (though in slightly more broken English)-
"How many times have you gone to the movies with a beautiful girl since you were 16?"
I was definitely caught a little off guard! I figured there were a few ways to go with that but decided to stick with humor. After I stopped chuckling I responded with, "Too many to count." He seemed pleased with my response.

After classes today I made my way over to the athletic center (literally a 45 second walk from my apartment) and walked out into the stadium. This morning I met one of the physics teachers in the copy room who asked me if I played football. Those of you from "Fatal Attraction" fame know that I was B-league intramural champion senior year at Wesleyan, so naturally I responded with an enthused, "Yes!" I considered explaining that my ball-handling skills were distinctly lacking but that I could run down anyone on the field without a problem, but I decided against it. So I made my way out to the soccer field and looked for the man but I didn't see him. Maybe I got the time wrong? I didn't want the afternoon to be a complete bust so I went inside to the gym where there are 3 or 4 basketball courts. Again, I knew I would be a bit rusty but I wanted to get some exercise and meet some people.

After standing around clueless for about 10 minutes, a man finally approached me and started speaking cantonese/mandarin, all while pointing to the middle court. He took me over and said something to the group of students playing there, at which point one of them pointed to the side and said, "You will play on that team." I played one game of 3 v. 3 with them after which they all packed up and left. Something I said? No, apparently they get booted off the court at a certain time and the faculty have free reign of the place. A group of 6 or 7 guys of various size and shape came over and we split up into teams. Now with the students I could communicate in broken English but these teachers did not know a single word. Splitting up teams and figuring out what we were playing to was quite a task but I pieced it together. I kept laughing to myself throughout the game because despite the language barrier, I kept yelling out various phrases like I do at home, e.g.: Pick right! Shot! Board! Switch! Up strong! Outlet! For the most part it was probably gibberish to them but I was pleased that more than a few times we managed to work pick & rolls as well as a few backdoor cuts. I am definitely out of shape right now, but my size ended up being a major asset with these guys. Me! Size! I was no giant but I think I out-rebounded everyone on the floor. Heh. I definitely tossed up a couple air balls at the beginning of the first game, but I found my groove eventually and hit a number of threes and lay-ups by the end of the evening. Still got it!! Okay, kind of.

I found that I felt a sense of self-imposed pressure to play particularly well in front of these guys, both to prove myself to them, but also to represent the U.S. After all, this is our game, right? Naismith invented the thing about 45 minutes away from my old home! I felt that I would be letting them down and breaking a stereotype if I got on the court and embarassed myself. This made me a little uptight but after a couple games I think I loosened up. There is definitely some amount of universal basketball body language and trash talking which I thoroughly enjoyed. One of the bigger guys stuffed a lay-up at one point and said something to the guy right after. Immediately everyone went, "Ohhhh!" I can only venture a guess at what he said but I'll bet it was funny. Once again, yet another incentive to learn the language...

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