Monday morning

I am sorry I made the crack about Chicago's weather. I woke up to a howling wind, 67% humidity and 58 degrees. Fall in Jiangxi Province, PRC.

I am posting a series of pictures of a two bridges.

In the first picture of the Bayi Chow I was facing east. This bridge has 8 lanes for all traffic. By all traffic I mean small trucks, three-wheeled scooters, cars and bicycles.


The second grouping are pictures of a two-lane bridge, it has a rail line separating the two lanes of vehicle traffic. Each traffic lane is about 15 feet wide, there is no separate lane for pedestrians or bicycles. It can be nerve racking when riding a bike across this bridge.








The final grouping is of the Bayi Chow and the surrounding area.

The pictures that appear to be under a structure were taken from under the bridge. People play cards and other gambling games, sell various wares (political signs to fruits) and simply relax. The garden is really pretty and is set just off the water and in the "footprint" of the bridge.

Note the lady with the child on the bike. She could have taken the bike up to the sidewalk but, they don't seem to protect their children the way westerners protect theirs. It is not uncommon to see a child, in fact it is a common sight, standing on the floor board of a scooter as it moves in and out of traffic.













Have a good week, Terry.

This is a copy of a posting by another blogger in China, it is interesting, the link is: http://carolenchina.motime.com

China's role as a world leader....China's booming economy.... All kinds of things are written about China in the news....makes one think that it has caught up with the rest of the world and is a modern country.... but don't sell the farm to make a bet on that. Let me tell you about my merry adventures with banking in China. First of all, personal checking accounts are all but unheard of. Travelers checks are not accepted except maybe in the eastern corridor, being Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou. I dont know of anyone in Xiangfan that has been able to cash one. Visa and Mastercards are only accepted at a couple of the hotels here and maybe (newly opened) Walmart. You don't go out to dinner and put it on a card. China is a cash society and everything must be paid up front.

The school I last taught at in Guangzhou used Bank of China...Bank of China, Guangzhou. The agency I write for wanted to wire my earnings to me. First of all, the gentleman who does the paying thought I should open an US acccount. After all, that bank could send me a visa debit card and things would be easy. I explained, I cannot use a atm card from the US in China. I know of foreign teachers that traveled all the way from Wuhan to Shanghai just to use their USA bank atm card at Citibank. And since I live in China, why not just Western Union wire it to me? It would be immediately available and I could get it anywhere in China. Well, he doesn't like Western Union. It never accepts his credit card and the fees are high. I said, bank fees are high. I am paying the fee, so that shouldn't worry you. No, he didnt want to deal with Western Union. So finally he decided that he would wire the money to Bank of China, Guangzhou. I was able to get him the swift codes, and told him I was leaving soon to go to another part of China. And if the funds could not be there before I left Guangzhou, I had no access to them. He put off wiring it for a couple days, and I had to leave Guangzhou.

This all started back in July. Now it is almost November. I should have had the money months ago. I went to Bank of China, Xiangfan. They politely told me that I could not get information on my B o C, Guangzhou account here. They suggested I write a letter asking B o C, Guangzhou to let my friend have my banking information. I did that. My friend went to the bank and they told him the money had arrived and I had to come and get it. Now, isnt that fun. I am half a continent away...I dont know who I feel more frustration with...the man sending the money or Bank of China. The money does not show up on my balance...because it is in US Funds. My friend is suppose to call the manager tomarrow and see what can be done to get the money out and posted to me. I am not holding my breath waiting for the money. Bank of China, anywhere is not known for its customer service. I appreciate my friend's efforts. As far as the agency that I write for sending funds to me again, I will ask that they be sent to my family and they can Western Union wire them to me....The irony is I cannot put my BofC atm card in the Bank of China machine here and get anything, it rejects my card. I have a card that can be used for purchases, so I put my Bank of China card in another bank's atm and it shows my balance. I think People's Bank of China needs to bring itself out of the days of Mao and into the present. The bank manager here said point blank, "Oh we are not linked together......"

Missing pictures

Late October

October 28, 2007

In this area and probably most of China, 6’ by 4’ wooden carts haul all forms of refuse. The cart is pulled by two 4’ wooden handles mounted on each of it’s’ sides. The beast of burden stands between or is harnessed to them. A majority of the time, the beast of burden is a man over 60 years of age. In one shape or form, these carts have been in use for thousands of years.

Last night, while walking towards my apartment I was approaching a man going in my direction, he was pulling a wooden cart. During this portion of the walk I pass the pond and on the other side of the roadway are dorms, there is very little light in this area. As I approached, I noticed the man was wearing a long blue janitor type coat and dark heavy corduroy pants. Then reached into his pocket, pulled something out and started talking on a cellular phone. What a dichotomy.








The step up from the cart is the three-wheeled scooter.

They haul any number of items. They deliver cooking gas canisters, bottled water, food for the canteens and, beer.

I love the sound of the wind through a stand of trees. It is very windy today.

Recycling occurs here. You pay a deposit on plastic and glass bottles. Numerous people have scavenger rights or rights to harvest the abundance of plastic and bottle disposed of on this campus. The three-wheeled scooters are used to take the recyclables to the recycling center.

Windy does not get in the way of these people driving the scooters. They have to make money whether or not it is windy.









That is it for now. Over the last few days, I have taken over 200 pictures. I need to catalogue and caption them all. I should post a bunch of them this week.

It is in the 70’s and windy here; what is it like in Chicago?

Pictures

I purchased a camera and hope to regularly post pictures. The ones I am posting today are of two classes I teach, the canteens where we eat most meals (remember bad college food) and the sign identifying the office as the "Electricity Office", no one can tell me the significance of the risque pictures of a woman. There are also pictures of my old apartment building, students playing basketball and some canteen food.

The picture of the man is a Chinese graduate student, his uncle is an administrator. I am too teach him english, really it is to improve his english skills. The administrator made it clear that I am doing him a favor and that he will help me with any problems I have with the administration. That problem may be soon, I have to fly to Hong Kong to get my full-year visa and some in the school have balked at them paying for it. My contract say they pay for all visa expenses incurred in China, to me this is one of them.

The picture of clothes hanging demonstrates how EVERYONE on campus must dry their clothes. There are no dryers.

That is it for the day, except for one last thought.

Being here is making me more introspective. I hope/think I am learning more about myself. Maybe, just maybe, this experience will make me a better person and friend.

Miss you all.

From the heart.
Terry

A boring couple of weeks

October 17, 2007 UPDATE

I began this on 17 October, when I post it, no one knows.

These last couples of weeks have not been boring, but slow. Since the trip to the ancient villages, I have gone nowhere else. Next week, the week starting October 22 is what they call sports week. That means we get three days off, with pay. I will teach one class that week. Now it is time to figure out what to do with all that time. I am thinking of traveling to Shanghai.

The trip to Shanghai will be like going to Memphis from Chicago by train. I do not know what to expect and will have to do some on-line research to figure out what to do and see. I do know one thing I will seek.

I have concluded (I was told this many times by other foreign teachers) that the students in my class are well off and spoiled. They do not think the rules apply to them and, I am not sure that the administration really tells the students what the rules are and that they have to follow them. Enough of that.

The weather has finally changed it is now fall. One week it was in the 90’s the next week it is in the low 60’s. Mind you, that is what I think the temperature range was, I have not had instant access to the internet to know everyday and, frankly, I do not care. I cannot change it so I live with whatever the temperature is that day.

From what I am told, I do not expect the leaves to change colors. Some change and fall off but most just stay the way they are, unless there is a frost then I think they fall off without changing color. Frost is 0 degrees centigrade and it does not hit that temperature here often.

Crime has struck the western teachers. Chrystal had $100.00 U.S. stolen from her new apartment then, someone opened a window in her old apartment and left it blocked. I do not know what is up but it seems crime is everywhere.

Attached to this Blog are pictures of students, mostly female, standing in the woods practicing their English before class. There is a picture of what they call a lake; I think it is more pond size. Notice the green color. Because of the sewage, it does not get enough oxygen and turns this color.

I took a long bike ride, well not long, only 10 kilometers but it was into the northern portion of Nan Chang. To get to the village I had to cross part of a river, the bridge that spans this portion of the river has a rail line down the middle. There is one lane for traffic on each side of the bridge; the lanes cannot be more than 15 feet wide. Large trucks, not semis, use this road. At one point, I pictured being struck from behind and the headline would have read; Stupid Lowaii uses Rail Bridge to cross River Guo and Dies. If I had been knocked over the rail I would have fallen in front of the many improperly and unbalanced barges that travel this water below.

I wound up on a village situated between two forks in the river Guo. It has dirt roads and many small commercial businesses. Because of the rapid growth here, shops that cater to tradesmen are everywhere. They run the gamut, compressors to conduit to roofing materials.

This village has poultry running through the streets, cats and dogs scavenging for food and many restaurants. At first, I did not see the commerce in this area, but it exists. I stopped and purchased water and smoked cigarettes with the locals. We did not understand each other but I think they appreciated that I was on a bike and stopped in their village to hang out with them.

The other pictures are of the campus and some students. The guy is my student helper, Oscar, he has a real good looking girlfriend, she tries to control him but he has at least two others in his back pocket. Guys are the same everywhere.

Well that is an update of what is becoming a typical week in my China.

TTYL Terry

More pictures

Sorry

For some reason I thought I would be able to place comments by each picture, I can't. Next time I will write something about each pic in order. For now these are all pictures of the ancient villages, the picture of what appears to be a girl in red is in fact a Chinese teacher at the university. Her height though not common is not uncommon. There are a couple of mountain pictures, rice paddies and a lady washing clothes.

More pictures to come.

Three ancient villages

Holiday Week

China just finished a week of celebrating its liberation by Mao. The first three days of the last full week in September are holidays. The universities take the entire week off, students who live far away have time to go home. This includes my student helper, Oscar. Soon I will write about him, he is an interesting sort. My first impression was that he was not very “quick”. I was wrong. Some students must ride a train 20+ hours to get home. To take the entire week off, classes are held on the preceding Saturday and Sunday.

In anticipation of the week off, we made arrangements to meet other westerners for dinner and a trip to a bar frequented by our types. The establishments are called Detox and Escape Club, respectively. We took a taxi into the city. It was the first time we traveled to the city at night.

Nan Chang is a large city and, at night it has the vibrancy of a large city at night. Many cars and a lot of neon lights. We drove past Bayi Square, the light standards are beautiful. Each standard is about 20 feet high and are adorned with, maybe, 30 individual lights fixtures The lights are pyramid shaped and give off a soft white light. I will get a picture of the lights and post it.

As this was the beginning of a holiday weekend, the square was PACKED and remained so until 2 in the morning. Kites. People were flying really cool kites. Some may ask how I know they looked cool because it was nighttime, some kites had lights, some of which were iridescent, and others reflected the lights from the city below. Again, pictures to come.

Back to the trip to the restaurant and bar.

The cab dropped us off about 3 blocks from where we were supposed to meet the rest of our group. Of course we had no idea where to go, so I called Andy. Our description of our location was no use to him: he asked if there was someone I could trust with my phone? Being the trusting soul I am, I gave my phone to the first man I saw. He spoke with Andy and then walked us to our meeting point. He refused the money we offered. This reaffirmed my faith in my fellow man.

Detox had been open 2 days. The food cannot be called American but, it has a definite American style about it. The owner, head chef and chief bottle washer is Kyle, another Brit. The food was not spectacular, just damn good. Why did it take coming to China for me to have rice pudding. It reminds me of risotto, but very sweet. Budweiser and Heineken are the same price, don’t try to figure it out. Our dinner party consisted of 8 people, three Americans, one Japanese and the rest were British.

After dinner we went to Escape Club. There our group expanded to about 15 people, including several locals. One is a pilot for China Eastern Airlines. One-hundred Juan buys 8 bottles of local beer. After several hundred Juan were spent we began a drinking game, the pilot lost. The owner knows the foreigners and spoke with us for quite awhile. I learned that there is graft in the police, building and fire departments. I also learned that there is a lot of drug usage at the night clubs in Nan Chang. I knew drugs and graft existed here, however, it seems that it is more pervasive than I thought. Unsafe clubs stay open and the younger crowd goes to the club and get wasted on cocaine, sound familiar? People are the same everywhere.

After Escape went to a dinner companions bar. The pilot had beer muscles and wanted to arm wrestle me. He is about 5’8” 175 pounds and sort of muscular. He lost, repeatedly. He even lost left-handed. He also suffered because we bet shots of Jack Daniels. My head hurt the next morning, he later told me he was in serious pain the next day. He did not have to fly Monday, they have the same rules about that as do we.

The Japanese guy was so wasted he passed out at the bar. The entire night he may have had four beers. We finally wandered home at about 3:00 in the morning. I had to practically carry the Japanese guy to his apartment.

Later in the week we had lunch in the city at a pretty good Chinese restaurant, afterward Rodney and I went to Metro. Metro is a store that has a large foreign food section. It is nothing remarkable however, 69 Juan for 6 ounces of maple syrup reflects the cost of bringing foreign food into this country. The purpose of the trip was to get the makings for spaghetti, I had a birthday party for Christol today (10/6). The clerk was rather rude. This is an example of Chinese customer service: The package of pasta would not scan and the clerk looked at me as she said something I did not understand then she tossed the pasta in the bin to be returned to the shelf. This happened to be the last pasta on the shelf, I needed it. I took it out of the bin and told her to pickup the phone and get the price. Five minutes later, no price had been provided. I took all of the things for the pasta and told her to take it off the bill. She was VERY put out but, I did not need them if I was not going to make spaghetti. I wound up making chili. The point is that customer service in China is poor. Chinese people are used to being told what to do, what they can’t do or have and accept it.

The next day we went to a village called Anyu (Iee). Anyu is the portal to three ancient Chinese villages. They are 1000 to 1400 years old. They manage to stay in existence by being a tourist attraction. I have posted some pictures of the villages. The villages have restaurants. These places serve everything from eel to dog. We did not eat there.

This is getting long and by the time I post the pics it will be very long so I am stopping now and will rethink this posting to see if I can elaborate on last week with interesting information. Two of the subjects will be Oscar and Elic (Elic is a religious organization.)

The easy way out.

What does a newspaper columnist do when he has nothing to say? He writes musing...here are my musings.

This place is humid.

Students have to pay for hot water when they bathe.

Students (some teachers too) don’t bathe everyday.

Paper towels are not provided in any public lavatory used by the locals, EVER.

The same applies to toilet paper. Bring you own or suffer.

I do not trust people that do not keep up with current events.

It is ok for a student to sleep, read, play video games or listen to music in a Chinese
teacher’s class.

The Chinese dump raw sewage into any body of water.

Many students in the Lambton Program are DUMB.

Chinese teachers are afraid of western teachers.

Dogs and cats do not understand English.

Some people are afraid of black people.

People are the same everywhere.

Maintenance mops the bathrooms and surrounding hallways after every class break:
it is not really mopping, they simply spread ALL of the liquid on the floor around so it will dry quicker.

The hallways around the bathrooms smell like urine.

This place is hot.

People smile more if they don’t live in China.

Cute large breasted Chinese women do exist.

Most Chinese technology is acquired by ill-gotten means.

Why does the Chinese army use an abacus to target their nuclear missiles?

The Olympics mean A LOT to the Chinese.

The Olympics mean so much to the Chinese government, in Beijing it is now illegal to spit in pubic.

I am not an asshole. Everyone, repeat after me: Terry is not an asshole.

China is a very militaristic society.

Chinese bread products are very sweet.

Christal tries to belch like a man.#

At any time, day or night, three Chinese television channels are broadcasting a movie, play or documentary about one of their military victories.

It has been too long since...

Pizza Hut in China is not that bad, nor that good...just like in the States.

Fried fish bones are a traditional Chinese food.

Chinese people spit the bones from the food they are eating on the table next to their bowls.

You are always moist here.

They (the leaders) turn off the electricity to the dorms at 11:00 pm: Students pay for the electricity they use.

Using chopsticks at every meal sucks.

Whatever you do, do not have a local restaurant make you something that is not on the menu.


I have next week off and will do some sightseeing. Pictures in the next post.

UPDATE 09/23/07

Let’s see if I can put some new information in this update. As you can tell I can still space things out. In fact, that is one of my problems today. I have been spending a lot of time with Christal and a guy named Rodney. Neither one of them is stupid but I am the one that has to do the thinking. We have been dubbed the “gang of blondes” but it seems to be me that has to remember what we are doing, going or what we had planned to do. I have had a headache for the last three days.

Now that I am done with that, I will describe the other foreign teachers:

Trevor is about 6’5, in his late 50’s (if not older) and Brit that passes himself off as a Canadian. This is his second year here and he complains about everything. That is common amongst the teachers that have been here more than 1 year. One day I will ask one of them why they stay. Anyway, last year Trevor taught the students I am teaching this year...he is the one that taught them that learnt is acceptable. As I type this, I am realizing that describing them could be redundant.

There are a total of 7 westerners teaching here. The youngest is Rodney and the oldest is Mike; Rodney is from Hollywood, CA. and of Chinese descent, Mike is from Maine (ascent and all). The others are Christal, I have written about her, John who is from Australia, Mike from India and I can’t remember the others now. One thing is that if you are over 30 and here you are not right. Well excluding me, you ain’t right being here.

On to Nan Chang City.

Nan Chang is a large city. Some locals say it has 33 million people. I can believe it. This city’s pollution problem is not as bad as the other major cities but it can be very bad on some days. You are required to get a medical checkup to stay and teach in this country. They are concerned about sexually transmitted diseases; it seems that they think all westerners do is have sex and spread disease. Anyway, we started the 10-kilometer trip at 7:30 in the morning. When we arrived in the city there was a haze in the air. I thought it was similar to the marine layer the west coast experiences. It was not what I thought, it was pollution. The factories belch out smoke and the trucks are old and not regulated in anyway. Most of the cars are newer so I assume they have some type of pollution control but I am not sure. And, that is one of those questions you would not get a straight answer to. When we finished the exam and went outside people had surgical masks on their faces as they walked through the streets. I would like to wear one all of the time because these people do not cover their mouths when they cough, dis-fucking-gusting.

Back to the city. I have come familiar with the downtown area. We go down there at least twice a week. We go to Wal-Mart and an electronics mall. Wal-Mart is almost always packed. People are shoulder to shoulder, shoving, stopping the middle of the aisle or simply putting about. PJR, is that spelled correctly? However, the prices are cheaper than most other places. I say most because I bought a bike lock at the Mart only to find it for less at a small store near the school.

The electronics mall is huge, three floors and each floor is about two city blocks long. This mall has every type of device you can think of and they are CHEAP. I purchased a cell phone for 300 RMB, the exchange rate hovers around 7.43 RMB (after fees) per $1.00 US. Figure it out. If you want the latest in hand held technology email me and I will check out the price. Most convert to English, the only problem is you will need a converter for the electricity but a converter costs $10.00 US.

When I go into Nan Chang I am stared at constantly. Sometimes it is funny, others it is annoying. The service at most of the restaurants is annoying. You do not tip in this country. They should adopt the practice so service improves. When we go out with a local, the local is treated poorly.

Rodney and I were talking outside another teacher’s apartment when a local teacher approached us. He ignored Rodney and spoke with me, he did not look at Rodney until I spoke up and told him Rodney was an American, and then he spoke with him.

Teenagers and children look at me and say hello. When I answer the mostly giggle and scuttle away. If I am annoyed I will speak to them, they get a strange look on their face and scuttle quicker because they only know Hallo, I mean Hello.

The Chinese way is strange. They will never tell you the full story. You have to ask specific questions and think of what they could have left out of the answer then re-ask the question. They lie to you. While trying to get me to open an account at Bank of China so that my pay will be directly deposited in an account at their bank, one of the administrators told me, there was not a branch of the bank I am using in Nan Chang. On the way to the medical exam, I saw a branch and said to her, “I was told there was not a branch of this bank in this city.” She replied that there are 4 scattered around and bitched about the person that told me that information. I snapped and told her that she told me. LOL, my directness catches them off guard. She has been much nicer since then. The problem is that these people lie so much they forget their lies. Learning to adapt and understand will take me the entire first year I am here.

I am trying to find a teacher to teach me Mandarin. Problem is they are all afraid of westerners. One they are afraid their English skills are not good enough and they will be embarrassed. Secondly, last year the teachers were not going to get their last paycheck on time. Once you contract is up you have two weeks to get out of the country or move on to a new job. They were told, well can’t you wait around and grade some papers until we are ready to issue your checks. They have so many layers of bureaucracy that getting things done takes forever. Turns out the department keeps a slush fund to make sure westerners are paid on time. This also irritates the local teachers who can go months without being paid. I am going to have to have a student teach me the language.

I did not want to use a student, I feel/felt as if it could show favoritism. However, the students want to help us. Moreover, the school does not frown on it; in fact, it is ok to date one of your own students. I can’t figure this place out.

Back to the City. It is an interesting mix of the new and old. The old is fading but it exists in the back alleys and side streets. People go around on bikes pulling carts and clanging a bell to announce they are there to sell their wares, sharpen knives, do mending or perform other services. In one of the alley/side streets I found a tailor that makes custom pants for ten bucks and you choose the fabric,

The alley/side streets are about 16 feet wide, if that. The shops on these streets are about 12 by 30 and every fourth one is a restaurant. Sanitation is pathetic and I will not eat in one. I will eat from a street vendor that grills some type of meat on a stick right before your eyes before eat in one those places. I have yet to see a pigeon or a dog older than two in the city. That is what “don’t ask don’t tell” should be about.

For the first couple of weeks I was taking in the “big picture”. I am now seeing the homeless and poor problem. In the downtown area 5 beggars a block, that is an over-estimate, can besiege you but it is pervasive.

Starting this Friday, we have an entire week off for some kind of holiday. During that time, we will be taking a trip to the Venice of China. I should have some good things to say about the trip. And, maybe some pictures to upload.

Sorry if this sounded too crabby.

Keep in touch.

Miss the homeland.

Terry

UPDATE SEPTEMBER 23, 2007 OR IN LOCAL SPEAK 23-09-07

Forgive me because this update may be rather long, I have to get up to date and this is the one.

The campus of Ziangxi Science and Technology Normal University is bucolic compared to Nan Chang City. Once you step off the campus, it becomes semi-chaotic.

The campus is located 7 kilometers northwest of Nan Chang. It sits on about 200 acres of a rolling tree covered hill. Inside of the University gate, there is the administration building. They are rehabbing it and it will be done soon. It should look nice. Across the roadway from that building is a 4-acre pond. The pond is the color of the Chicago River on St. Patrick’s Day. Moreover, at times it smells like a sewage treatment plant. It is not unusual to have that odor wafting through the air at any time or any place you may be.

The first apartment I lived in is located close to the back campus boundary, amongst a grove of trees and away from the majority of the students. The unit it self is located on the top floor of a building of indeterminate age. Unlike the units occupied by locals the residences provided to western teachers have parquet floors, hot and cold running water and separate laundry facilities. They sound nice but the upkeep is close to nonexistent. For example, the seat on my toilet is upside down and maintenance never seems to get around to correcting the situation. When I pointed the problem out to a maintenance man, he looked at it, nodded, indicated how the problem would be fixed and left. He never came back.

Everyday I lived in that apartment I woke up with a stuffy nose. One evening another foreign teachers were over and pointed out that mold appeared to be growing along the baseboards. Up until that point I had always minimized the affect of mold spores in a residence, I will not do that anymore. Once I saw new apartments for westerners in another building I decided to move. I have never been one that felt guilty about what I had compared to others but the move into the new apartment brought on that emotion.

The new apartment has a large, even by western standards living room. There is a separate eating area and a small self-contained kitchen. The bedroom is large and the room that could be another bedroom, which is my office, is equally as large. In addition, I can no longer use the toilet and shower at the same time. Why do I feel guilty? Students helped me move in and I learned how the live.

There are about 13,000 students on this, the old campus. There are about 7 dorms averaging 9 floors each. That explains why some of them live 12 to room the size of my living room. They have no hot water or heat when it gets cold (take into consideration that the locals start to get cold and wear jackets when it gets to be 60 degrees) and the rooms has no adornments and the floors are concrete.

There is more to say but I don’t want to get too negative.
I am teaching in the business department. All of my classes are in one six story building. No elevators. I must go from a subterranean classroom to the 5th or 6th floor two times a week. One other day I am on the 5th floor all morning and the last day I start on the 6th floor and go to the basement.

I am teaching juniors and seniors. By the time they reach this level they have had 8 to 9 years of English education. They have been “taught’ English but have not come close to mastering it. One major reason is that they never use it outside of class. Another is that most of the western teachers come from different countries. During my first class a student used the word “learnt.” I corrected the student on the proper past tense of learn. She replied that their previous teacher had said it was correct. Over the weekend I met a man that is now teaching in Japan. I told him of that incident. Christophe is from Australia and is dedicated to teaching. He informed me (meaning I learnt something new) that in his country, Canada and the UK. Learnt is the proper past tense of learn and that those countries think Americans are “daft” with our past tense version. Some of you may not believe this but, the next class I told the students I was wrong about the past tense. I went on to explain that learnt was an example of how difficult English can be to learn and use. What is right in one country is wrong in others.

I don’t know if they understood. You never know if they understand because no matter how many times you tell them to speak up if they do not get it or disagree with you they will not.

Getting my students to be interactive is one of my most difficult tasks. Every class I write on the board that class participation is part of their grade and that if they consistently volunteer they will get extra points. And, I tell them that if they do not talk they will lose points. This is an example of how stoic they can be: I was setting my office hours and asked one class if they had classes Monday afternoon, no one said a word. I then said raise your hand if you have a class Monday afternoon, not one hand went up. I said ok and told them my Monday office hours. EVERY DAMN ONE OF THEM HAS CLASSES MONDAY AFTERNOON. Fortunately, I already knew that and used their failure to respond as an example of what happens when they are not interactive.

The primary reason these students behave as they do is the teaching methods of the vast majority of the native teachers. They will stand in front of a class, it does not matter how small or large the class is, and drone on without hesitation for 40 minutes. They do not encourage the students to interact. The student is there to hear what the teacher has to say.

The Chinese teachers do not care what the students do in their class. I have seen students playing video games, texting or talking on their cell phones and, of course sleeping. I have confiscated three cell phones and one mp4 player to date. One of each from the same girl not 10 minutes apart.

One student is really good looking; she knows it and flaunts it. To add fuel to the fire she is intelligent. She is fully aware of her attributes. To bad for her, they have no affect on me, LOL. She waltzed into class 35 minutes late with an ‘I am sorry teacher”. I said my name is Mr. White and you can leave, 35 minutes late is unacceptable, leave. She missed my next three classes. When she came back she looked like a normal college student that woke up right before her 8:00 class and I was nice to her.

This has gone on way longer than I wanted. I had hoped to tell you about the other foreign teachers and a little bit about Nan Chang City. But that must wait.

Hope all is going well in the world I think I understand.

Wow, I am an idiot. 1256 words about a subject I already covered. No wonder I can’t catch up.

I will come back later today and write about Nan Chang City. Shit..............I am a natural.

Ten days at Jiangxi University

I have been at Jiangxi Science & Technology University for 10 days and I can sense my English skills going down hill. That is a joke between Christol and me. We are talking to so many people who speak Chinenglish that we are adopting some of there speech patterns. This must stop, I am sounding more blonde than ever.

I am teaching 16 hours per week that equals seven classes. The classes are Business Communication and Writing, Business Report (the students have to prepare an analysis of business} and Business Project (those students have to prepare a business plan). I have classes on the 6th, 5th and 1st (which is quasi-subterranean) floors. The buildings here on campus do not have elevators. Because of the heat and humidity (no air-conditioning in the school buildings), the hike from the 1st to the 6th floor is a bitch.

I am teaching juniors and seniors enrolled through the Lampton College Program. A college in Canada puts this program together. The students that are “accepted” to this program failed to qualify on the normal university track; and, what I was told, they come from fairly well off families. The kicker is that their parents do not want them at home, so they ship them off here. I have to be a disciplinarian and teacher; you can imagine that it is hard for me to fill that role. Being normal, yet immature, students they try to get away with anything they can. I have confiscated on cell phone that was ringing, told a student that was 35 minutes late to class to leave and lectured 75% of them that you are not prepared for class if you don’t brink pen and paper to class.

The female students appear to be smarter (or maybe just more interested) than the male students. The guys sit in the back and everyone avoids the front row. I have one particularly bad class. Three of the guys, after 20 minutes, had not started an in-class writing assignment. Took them out of the room to find out why, they had not brought pens to class. I counted to 10 then told them how wrong that was and that they have to get their shit together. The next day I found out that after two weeks the students evaluate you for the administration and that information is factored into your one-month probation review.

The campus is set on a hillside walking anywhere is up and down slopes; they are gentle but repetitive. This school lacks the facilities that are common on our college campuses such as, a gym, pool, tennis courts and student union. One thing that is in common is the food on campus.

Campus food service is the way American college food service was before it was out sourced, bad cafeteria food. There is very little beef, pork or poultry served. When “meat is served it is in tiny bite sized pieces and mixed with a wide variety of vegetables. All the food, except in one location, is kept under heat lamps in a warm water bath. It is not appealing to see. One location on campus has a service line where you pick your veggies and they cook them where you can see. We tend to eat there once a day. It is good to see that because sanitation is poor. There is not a health dept checking out how they store food pre and post cooking. I am starting to get tired because of the food. The first problem was the chopsticks, now it is from the food be unappetizing. I went out and bought eggs today so I can increase my protein intake.

The school does have a military presence. Every freshman must undergo two months of drilling. Watching them all that comes to mind is that they are dead meat in any type of war (cannon fodder.) Anyone that tells you there are only 1.3 billion Chinese people are crazy, I would bet the real number is closer to 2 billion. Explains why most of their military training is rudimentary. I guess they don’t need to know how to operate equipment if your sole purpose is to reinforce the idea that the leaders can just keep sending wave after wave of soldiers at your position.

LOL, I used the word “leaders”, that is the way everyone here describes people of authority.

There are two malls, really more than that but the others are indescribable, within walking distance. These malls carry the types of things you find in discount strip malls in large U.S. cities or Springfield, Illinois. Both have supermarkets on the upper floor and both keep their eggs out and un-refrigerated. They both have meat products, chicken feet, chicken carcasses, whole chicken and what appear to be the leftover trimmings from slaughterhouses in the U.S., the parts we don’t/won’t eat.

I am going to wrap this one up because it is longer than I thought it would be with these final comments. These people have a complete different way of thinking than most westerners. To them it is acceptable to pick your nose in public, spit on the floor of a building and spit out bones from you food on the table. Littering is rampant (you know that gets to me) they will drop whatever they have wherever they want (except in my classroom).

Next I will tell you about the Nan Chang City, PRC.

Even though it is strangely relaxing not understanding the language I miss English radio and television. Thank God, Buddha, Sol or whatever you believe in, for the internet and WXRT and WCKG. Seems the others don't work as well and aren't worth the aggravation to listen to.

Sheshe for reading.

Terry

It begins

I arrived at O’Hare at 8:15 a.m. and went to United to check in for the flight. Everyone was going through the check in process rather quickly, and then it was my turn. My large bag weighed 103 lbs, $390.00 overweight. The ticket agent was nice, he told me he could sell me a box in which I was allowed put 35 lbs worth of stuff and take it with me for an additional $130.00. So, there I am unloading my bag and tossing suits, shirts and other personal items into a brown cardboard box. Once I was done with repacking, it was off to the gate.

At the gate, I learned that the flight was delayed. The ground crew had found a fuel leak in an engine, there was no estimated time of departure. At 10:15, no flight information was available, the gate attendants disappeared and I began to worry about my 3:00 connecting flight out of Vancouver to Beijing. As Rick was checking websites for other airlines, I used the courtesy phone to call reservations. To my surprise United came through and booked me on the 12:30 direct flight to Beijing, they even honored my Air Canada ticket. The Air Canada ticket was about one-half the price of a United ticket.

If I never come back to the States it is because I do not want to be in a long tube hurtling through the air at 550 mph for 13 hours. That flight was a flight from hell. One piece of advice, on a flight of that length do not use the lavatory after 9 hours in the air...nothing more to say about that except, that the smell prepares you for the smells of Nan Chang City, China.

The flight took us over, well damn near, the North Pole and Siberia and northern China. Looking out the window of the plane it was hard to comprehend the vast empty land. For hours, there was nothing on the ground to be seen, just mountains and valleys. Those regions are barren.

Once we landed, I had to get my bags, I grabbed a Porter and we went off to the baggage carousel to wait for my bags. We waited and waited and waited and waited. My bags are lost (United calls it misplaced). Before I left O’Hare I checked with several people to make sure my bags made it on my flight. United let me down there. The only good thing is that I did not have to pay Air China extra money for the extra/overweight bag because United now has to get them to me. As of this writing, Sunday the 9th of September, my bags and I are still not reunited.

By the way, the Porter wore a tag that said free. LOL he took me for $100.00 RMB (about $8.50 US)

A word of warning: beware of gaggles of Korean women at airport baggage carousels. They pushed and shoved the Porter and me out of the way to get at their baggage. It was like the videos you see of women trying to buy a wedding dress at some annual sale in NYC.

The United flight got me to Beijing City International Airport about 6 hours before my connecting flight to Hangzhou, after the bag fiasco I had about 4.5 hours to kill. What do you do when you are exhausted and have that much time to kill. I don’t remember anything except sitting and talking with an American named Blake for several hours in a cafe.

The Air China flight was uneventful. However, when I arrived there was no one at the airport to meet me. I started to worry and was preparing to check for hotel for the night when my “minder” arrived.

Hangzhou China is where I landed at about 10:30 on Monday the 3rd of September. It was raining on the drive into the city. The drive was in a vehicle they call a LeBoucher, a mini loaf of bread type van. It clanked, clanged, chugged and heaved its way to the city and my accommodations for the night; a dorm room at a university. It was here that I learned the true meaning of “squatter”; the standard Chinese commode is a porcelain hole in the floor. Moreover, though they use it, toilet paper is not available in public restrooms. Enough on that, except my apartment here in Nan Chang has American type facilities. Happy happy joy joy. Though, the shower is on the wall between the commode and sink so you shit where you shower.

I spent 1.5 days in Hangzhou. If the company I was working with was organized, I could have been in and out of there in 5 hours. I am learning that the Chinese way of doing things has to be a certain way and that is it.

I left Hangzhou on the 12:37 train to Nan Chang, 376 miles away. The train traveled at 120 mph, that was neat. I did not have a window seat so I did not get to see a lot of the countryside, what I did see was interesting. Rice paddies everywhere. I saw very little to no husbandry. There were lots of empty brick apartment buildings and factories. We traveled through a four-mile long tunnel, right through the middle of a mountain.

I arrived in Nan Chang City at about 4:30 and was met by Joanna (her Chinese name is Quan Hong) who unceremoniously dropped me off at my apartment and told me that there is a dining room over there somewhere. By that time I did not care, I just needed to rest; I really needed to sleep, that not easy to do because of my bed. The typical Chinese bed is less comfortable than sleeping on a box spring. The bed feels like a piece of plywood with ¼ inch of padding. I did sleep, not comfortably but it was sleep.

TBC

ONE WEEK

My heart rate increased as I sat on the floor booking my flight to Nanchang, China. Buying the tickets was the final commitment. I am happy to say that the plan I devised and implemented, to date, has come off with out any one hitch delivering it a death blow.

Before I board the plane for Nanchang, I hope to have written enough here for you to feel how I came to this point in my life. I must thank my parents for raising me so that I will try to make a silk purse out of a sows ear. Even if I have to go a million miles to get the ear.