Ni Hao from China - April 17, 2007
Trip Start
Jan 01, 2007
1
4
17
Trip End
Ongoing
Zhongshan, Guangdong,
China
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
My first lesson was comparing school life in China to school life in Canada. Again, probably not the most exciting lesson, but it sure gave me some insight in to what it is like to go to school in China. I asked them about the start and end time of school, the number of classes they take per day, the number of days per week they attend school, the type of classes they take, and whether or not they belong to any clubs. First of all, they start school at 7:40am, and most of them finish at 5:15pm. However, there are some students who go to school until 9:10pm. Most of the students go to school from Monday to Friday and Saturday morning, but there were a couple of classes where they went to school on Sunday as well. (As an aside, there are many students from No. 1 Middle School who also take classes at Bond. They usually go to Bond at least one day on the weekend). I teach approximately 30 students a class, and 24 classes over a two week period. When I asked the students about clubs, they knew what they were, but not one of them out of all my classes, said they belonged to one. No wonder, they don't have any time! If they aren't going to school in the evenings, their evenings are spent doing homework until about 9:30. Many of the students told me that they were also loaded up with homework over holidays. If Bond is open over any of the holidays, students will attend classes at Bond.
All the classrooms at No. 1 Middle School are set up with a computer and projector. They have given me my own access card so I can present my lessons using the computer. Although it's very time consuming, it has been a godsend being able to do my lessons using Powerpoint. The students love it when we show them pictures on slides or even when we draw pictures ourselves! It seems to get their attention more rather than having to write everything down on the blackboard.
All the students who go to school wear a school uniform, right down to the runners they wear and the haircuts they have. If you look around, all the kids have variations of the same haircut. Although the students don't seem to like their uniforms, I think they are a great idea. It is so easy to spot somebody on campus who is not a student.
There is quite a mix of the levels of English in each class. Apparently in China, it is illegal to separate the smart kids from the not-so-smart kids, and in some classes, we have kids who speak very little English to students who speak English so well that it almost sounds like they don't even have an accent. It makes it very hard to present a lesson in 40 minutes, try to address all the different levels, and try to get as many as kids possible to practice speaking. I know that it's practically impossible, but we're trying to do the best we can.
After I finished my second class at No. 1 Middle School, there was speaking/music coming over the loud speaker, and all the kids had their eyes closed. I thought that maybe they were listening to their national anthem. I asked the teacher what was going on, and he said that because it was raining outside, the students were staying inside to do eye exercises. Every morning at 9:30, the students do exercises on the field for five minutes, and if it is raining, then they stay inside and do eye exercises. They do eye exercises in the afternoon as well. They are all very disciplined about doing them, and while I am packing up my belongings to go to my next class, I have a quick look around to see if anyone is peeking. No one ever is.
When it is not raining, students do their morning exercises on the field. Whenever we are at school during morning exercises, I always take the time to watch. As soon as the bell goes, the students start pouring out in to the field to find their spot to do their exercises. I'm always amazed at how they know exactly where to stand. Of course, they are all wearing their uniforms, and watching a sea of students all doing their exercises in unison is magic. There are teachers that walk around patrolling, to make sure the students are doing the exercises correctly. If not, they are pulled aside after the exercises are finished, and made to do them all over again. Once the exercises are finished, the students line up in rows of four, and file off the field in an orderly fashion. It is my favourite part of the day and a memory of China I will never forget.
When I first started teaching at the middle school, it seemed that whenever I would introduce myself as Gaye, there would be this hushed laughter that would break out in pretty well all of my classes. I asked Lisa if she experienced the same thing, and she said she didn't. I thought that maybe my name sounded like a funny or dirty word in Chinese, so I decided to ask our Chinese teacher, Tracy, about it. When I asked her, she looked very uncomfortable, and started to turn red. She said 'maybe it's like homosexual or something like that'. I guess gay(e) has universal meaning!
When I was doing my lesson on comparing school life, one of the questions I asked them was about the type of classes they take. When they said math, I stuck my tongue out, made a sour face, gave them a thumbs down and told them that I didn't like math. They all burst in to laughter and looked over at a man standing at the window. Immediately after I said it, I wished I hadn't. When I sheepishly asked them if that was the math teacher, they continued to laugh while they nodded their heads. Way to go Gaye!
One day when I was approaching one of the classrooms, a kid came up to me to ask if I was going to be in class 1. When I said yes, he started cheering, then ran in to the class to tell the rest of the students. When I walked in, the whole class started cheering and clapping. Now THAT'S the way to start your day!
The last two weeks we had been doing a lesson on 'What does she look like?' - words we use to describe what someone looks like. I would start off the class and say to the students, say you went home after school tonight and told your parents that you had a new English teacher, her name is Gaye and she is from Canada. If your parents said to you 'what does she look like?', what words would you use to describe what I look like? Most of the students would sit there with a blank look, but in one of my classes, they started calling out words like 'thin', 'model' and 'beautiful'. So far, they are my favourite class ☺
Although it's been a bit of a slow start at the middle school, I am really enjoying the experience. When I first started, many of the students would say hello, but in the way they would say hello to a boy or girl they really liked. They always seemed so shy when they said hello, and I always made sure that I said hello back to them. I'm feeling much more comfortable with the students and the classes, and it's a great feeling when I walk around the campus and the students say 'Hello Gaye'. Classroom management used to be an issue when I first started, and although there are still some naughty students, for the most part, the kids are good, and are a lot of fun. I'm even finding that their personalities are starting to come out, and some of the students are quite funny.
As for my other classes, I continue to teach my favourites, Sisi and Fiona, but not enough for my liking. The other day Fiona asked me if she could have a picture of me. I asked her if she wanted a digital picture, or a paper picture, and she said she wanted a paper picture, so that if she goes back to Hunan and misses me, she can look at my picture. I ended up taking a picture of myself to give her, plus I gave her a couple of pictures of me from my travels in 2003. Every time I see her now, she thanks me for giving her the pictures and assures me that she will look after them forever.
On Tuesday nights I teach a Business English class for a company called Job001. They are an online recruitment company who has joined forces with a company in Ireland. Every Tuesday night at 6pm I am picked up by a driver on a motorbike and taken to their nice, modern office. I really enjoy teaching them, as they are so keen to learn. The size of the class is different every week, as they only attend the class if they are not too busy with work. Last week we spent the class going over their monthly report and making sure the English was correct. I found it very interesting, and they said it was very helpful.
On Wednesday nights I do an adult class. I share the class with another foreign teacher, Christy, from Australia. She does two nights and I do one night. I love teaching this class, as there are so many different types of people from so many different backgrounds. The thing that is so great about teaching adults is that you can have so many interesting conversations with them. Not only that, they are keen to learn so classroom management is never an issue. During the last class, we were talking about corporate hospitality - taking clients out for nice dinners, to sporting events, the theater, etc. I asked the class if anyone had experienced any corporate hospitality and what the situation was. One of the ladies works for a company who imports pianos from Europe. She said that they always had problems getting the pianos in to China, so they took a handful of government officials out for a nice, expensive dinner. Apparently, getting the pianos in to China is no longer a problem!
On Sundays, I teach PETS (middle school aged students) classes all day at Bond. I must say I have had many interesting conversations with my students about life in China, and one of them is on the one child policy in China. Apparently parents are only allowed one child. The exception is that if you own a farm, and your first born is a girl, then you can have a second child. If you don't own a farm, and you end up having a second child, then you have to pay a penalty to the government of approximately 100,000 yuan ($15,000 Cdn). In one of my classes, when I told the students I was from Vancouver, one of the boys told me he has a friend who lives in Vancouver. Apparently his mother lives in Zhongshan, and the boy in my class mimed that his friend's mother was pregnant. Once the baby is born, the mother will go and join her son in Vancouver. Condoms can be easily bought in Zhongshan, and there are displays of them everywhere. They are at all the cashiers, right next to the gum and chocolate bars!
I have really been trying to make an effort to make a life for myself here in Zhongshan outside of Bond. I have decided that on at least one of my days off each week, I will go exploring in a new area. About a month ago, I went to Shenzhen for the day. It is only a two hour bus ride away, and it's pretty easy to get around on the metro once you're there. I made my usual stop for my Starbucks fix, then had a look around in the shops. Just before I headed back, I had a look around the hundreds of small shops at the bus station. Everyone is standing outside their shops trying to sell you something, and it's not uncommon to hear 'hello Missy you looky in here hello'.
At the beginning of March, there is a huge charity walk in Zhongshan. Apparently the foreign teachers from Bond were supposed to participate, but for some reason, it never happened. I went down to watch the parade and I can't believe how many people were involved. The place was packed with spectators, and there must have been thousands of people in the parade itself. There were bands, there were floats, and all kinds of Chinese dragons. When they finished doing the parade, they would end up before a panel of which I believe were distinguished guests, and they would put on a bit of a show for them. It was pretty impressive. The only problem was that afterwards, all the roads were blocked off, so it was hard to find a way to get home. I had done some grocery shopping and had lots of bags with me, so I went looking for a taxi. I came across a motor bike driver who motioned for me to take a ride, but I somehow told him that I needed a taxi instead. As I was walking away, he wished me 'good lucky forever'.
I have started running again, although I haven't done many long distances yet. I have been asking around to see if there are any running clubs in Zhongshan, and it seems that running is not very popular here. When I do go out for a run, I get many stares (more than usual). There is one gentleman who seems to be a bit of a character, as every time I run by him, he pretends he is running as well. I keep trying to get him to run with me, but he won't have anything to do with it. I am waiting to see if I'm able to run in the hotter temperatures. If I can, then I would like to start getting in to running longer distances. I am told that it can get as hot as 40° here in the summer, so between the high temps and the humidity, I'm not sure how I'll make out.
I have been invited to play badminton with the gang from Job001 (my business English class), and last weekend, I finally went and joined them. Boy did I feel like an amateur playing against them. They were all so good, and it was good for me to play against them, but it's going to take a long time before I get up to their caliber. Unfortunately, when I was rallying with one of the guys, I put my shoulder out. I have been trying to put patches on it, as well as Tiger Balm ointment, but I have a feeling that the only thing that is going to make it better is surgery. It just feels like it's so far gone now that it comes out so easily. The Job001 gang have also invited me to 'climb a mountain' with them, and I think that is probably more my speed. I've been told that the air is very clean up there, so I'm very curious to see this mountain!
A few weeks back, we were invited to attend a trade show here in Zhongshan. We were relieved of our classroom duties for the morning so we could attend the ceremonies at the Cultural Center, then afterwards, we were invited to a nice lunch at the Shangri-la, a posh hotel close to where we live. We were only six of about 10 foreigners that attended the trade show and the next day, there was a picture of three of the English teachers from Bond walking down the red carpet with a caption to the effect that people came from all over to attend the show!
There aren't many foreigners here in Zhongshan, and it seems that whenever you do see one on the street, they practically walk right by you and ignore you, so I was surprised when I was in the supermarket one night and this foreigner walked by and said 'hi'. I remarked 'Oh my God, a foreigner said hi to me'. We got to talking in the lineup. His name is Daniel and he is from California. He has been in Zhongshan for three years, is married to a Chinese woman, and has a beautiful little girl named Anna (Banana). It turns out that he lives in the same complex as we do (Bi Hua Li), teaches kindy students, and has opened up a shop called FunEdics, a store where you can buy educational ESL games. We exchanged phone numbers, and Lisa and I went by his shop the next day on our day off. We ended up chatting to him for over an hour, and it was so nice to be able to talk to someone outside of Bond, and at a normal speed. The next week he and his wife Angie and Anna took Lisa and I out for Chinese tea. We went to a place not far from where we live, and we must have spent over two hours there. I was a little nervous about going because of the food, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that there were many dishes that I really enjoyed. It was interesting to find out from Daniel that to thank your neighbour for filling up your tea cup, you tap your first and index finger on the table (kind of like asking to be hit when playing Blackjack in Vegas). This tradition apparently dates back to an emperor who was traveling in disguise. When he took his turn to pour the tea, his companions maintained his disguise by tapping their fingers on the table, rather than pressing their foreheads to the floor.
A couple of weeks ago, I was at the lunar market picking up a new mop. I went back to a woman who I had bought some stuff before. I asked her in Mandarin how much it cost, and there was a Chinese girl close by who told me what the price was in English. I continued to look at some other items, and while I was doing so, I felt something move around the pocket in my skirt! There was a man who was in the middle of stealing my cell phone! He had a pair of long, silver tongs, and was attempting to lift the phone out of my pocket. When I realized what he was doing, I whacked him on the back (I'm sure he was really scared of me after that!). When I looked over at the woman, she had a smirk on her face, as if she was enjoying the fact that the guy had almost succeeded. I started pointing my finger at her saying 'did you see him doing that?' (as if she could understand English), and the other girl said 'yes!'. I put everything down that I was going to purchase, told her that I would never buy anything from her again, then stormed off. I couldn't stop thinking about what had happened for the rest of the day. As foreigners, we are such easy targets, and I hate the fact that I constantly have to watch my belongings.
Last week, Laura and I went to Macau for the day. We stopped for our Starbucks fix, went and visited a bunch of churches, then went for a pull at the casino. Lucky me, I actually won! There was a small crowd gathered around me as I was winning, and I wasn't sure if it was because I was winning, or because I was a foreigner. We were back in Zhongshan by 7pm. It's great being to close to Macau, and I plan to go back there many times before my contract is up.
So, life in China is good. However, if I had sent this update two weeks ago, I probably would have been writing about packing my bags and heading home. You see, I was frustrated with everything - with Bond, with the middle school, with the apartment, with the food - everything. After sending out e-mails to friends who were also teaching English, I discovered that I was experiencing culture shock. It's funny, but one of the first lessons I did with my TOEFL student Jin, when I first got here, was on the five stages of culture shock. It's strange that I wasn't able to figure out that I was going through culture shock, on my own. The first stage is the honeymoon stage where everything is exciting - the language, the people, the food (well, maybe not the food ;-)!), etc. The second stage is denial, and I went through it in a big way. I was so frustrated because when I went traveling in 2003, I experienced so many different cultures and sometimes situations that were less than perfect, but I took it all in stride. I couldn't believe that after three months, I was ready to call it a day and pack it all in. What I finally realized was that when I was traveling in 2003, I was never in a place long enough to move out of the honeymoon stage. It is quite different just visiting a place than it is actually living there where you have to work, maintain a household, cook, do laundry, etc., especially when nobody speaks your language and everything is written in characters that you don't understand. I then moved in to stage three - anger - where everything is so frustrating, and it was at this point that I was ready to talk to the people at Bond to see if I could change my contract from one year to six months. I figured that mentally, I could handle staying here for another three months, but there was no way that I could stand it for another nine. For some reason, I waited before approaching them, and I'm sure glad I did. I have NO idea what changed my mind/attitude, but now I am loving it here, and am finding that it's actually better this time around than when I first got here because I now have everything figured out - even the food!! Not only that, I've actually entertained the thought of extending my contract so I can do some more traveling. China is an amazing country, and after talking to students in my classes, I come home every day with a new place I want to visit. There certainly are things about China that I don't like (like when I saw the hide of a German Shepherd hanging out to dry), but they are all a part of this amazing experience.
May holidays will see me doing my first solo trip to Hangzhou. I will take the bus to Guangzhou, then fly to Hangzhou from there. I will be there for five days and head back to Zhongshan on May 6th. It's back to work on May 8th.
Until next time,
Gaye
