Radical Eclecticity

I went to see Hancock today with 小季 and his fiancé. I was actually kind of surprised to see it advertised outside the theatre because it just came out in the US, too. It was simultaneously released in both countries, which I knew happened, I just didn’t realize it was that common. The next movie in the Mummy series is going to come out before I go home, too. It actually comes out here on July 30, when the US release is scheduled for August 1. It’s called the Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (I can’t remember the Chinese name, or I’d tell you that, too). It takes place in China, too, so I’m going to try to see it here in Chinese before I go back to the states. No doubt I will then have to see it again in English, but that’s kind of a cool experience.

Anyway, the cool thing about seeing this film in Chinese is that I already had a pretty decent idea what the movie was about and I have a decent amount of background knowledge in that genre of story. I was pretty much able to put my language skills, my background knowledge, and a whole bunch of context together to understand almost everything that happened in that film. In fact, I would say I was at nearly 95% comprehension, despite the colloquial language unlike the stuff I have studies, all the way up until the sudden and unexpected plot twist with the woman. I caught less of that. Twice I had to ask 小季 for clarification. I got the gist of most of the bits concerning her, though.

I still don’t understand the storm, though. If someone could fill me in on that, I’d appreciate it, but it’s not necessary really. I’m going to see it in English, too. I want to see if I understood certain bits of it properly. Oh, and I want to see the business meeting in English, too. I think I got that, but I need clarification.

Literally, the title means “long time, no see.” Ironically, this is a phrase that we adapted to our language from theirs and, somewhere along the way, lost track of where it came from. What’s even more ironic is this: Almost every time I leave somewhere and say, “再见,” the native speakers of Chinese will reply, “Bye bye.” This is practically universal, so I finally asked 小季 about it. Apparently, the locals don’t just say it to me; they say it to each other. “Bye bye” is currently one of the most common things to say when parting company in China. Depending on the area in question, it may even surpass “再见.”

This begs the question: As I teach an introduction to the Chinese language and culture next year, what do I teach my kids to say when they part company? Am I really going to ask a bunch of students to practice using the Chinese language for an 80 minute block, and then wave and cheerfully say “bye bye” as they leave?

Heh… like anything else, I’ll probably do what I always do: I’ll explain the whole picture, express my preference, and accept either one as a correct response. This means that, even in the states, I’ll probably still say “再见,” and a bunch of people will reply, “Bye bye.”

But I digress. I used that title because it’s been a week since the last blogging, and as much as I have assured myself that I would write more frequently, I have gotten sidetracked by other things. Insert both a shrug and a heavy sigh here, in whichever order you prefer, and we’ll carry on. The reality of it is, that now that I have had gotten into the swing of things here, there’s less “I’ve got to tell you this really great story!” and more reflections on human nature. The nature I’m reflecting on includes my own, by the way. Reflection takes longer than tales, so that stuff will probably come later. Regardless, there are great stories to tell, and I’m sure I will tell them at some point, too. The longish ones may have to wait until I have more time to type them up. For now, I’ll try to toss out little bits like the one I started with today, and call it good. We’ll see how it goes.

So, in my first week with the kids I’m doing lessons on time and date. We start with things like the days of the week, how to say the date, how to say the time, talking about tomorrow and yesterday and things like that, and then we wrap up by talking about special days and holidays. Now, it was not until I started planning the holiday lesson that it really hit me: Friday is the 4^th of July!

This made for an interesting teaching point. I mean, yeah, we can simply call July 4^th America’s birthday and that totally works, but I tried to explain that the US was once a part of England, and that we had a war to break away from them and be independent. Suddenly I realized the odd parallels that could easily be made between our historical situation, and current politics is Asia, and I decided it best not to connect those ideas. I did tell them about a student we had at HMS once, though, that didn’t know the US and England had ever had a war because we’re such good allies now. They chuckled, but it might have just been out of politeness. 

Anyway, I should say at this point that I am, in fact, still alive and well. I haven’t posted this week for two reasons. The first is that I’ve never planned lessons that teach English as a foreign language. That process has been a bit more time consuming than I had thought. I’m getting the hang of it now, though, and I have started building my mental plan of the overall flow and structure, and then cranking out the individual classes much more efficiently. All told, I think it’s going well, but I might be giving them too much new material each day. 小季 is monitoring that for me, and said not to change my style until after the first week. He’ll get an idea from the students, and then let me know whether to scale it back, step it up, or keep it about the same.

The second reason is that, for my reading class, this is one of those spiffy double-weeks. See, FOR-PD is a reading course designed by the state of Florida as part of the reading endorsement process. It’s designed to be taught over 14 weeks, but the summer semester at UCF is only 12 weeks long. Thus, on two different weeks we have to do two lessons at once, and this is one of those weeks. My hosts have graciously reduced my time commitments this week to help me adjust, but between my reading class and planning my lessons, I’ve been a bit busy.

All told, though, this has been a great experience. My students rock (students always do), and they’re a lot of fun to work with. I’m not sure if it’s cultural, or just the subject matter, but it seems like these students’ facial expressions are much more transparent than my kids in the US. I can totally tell when they are lost or confused, when they know the word they’re looking for but just can’t find it, and when they’ve got the word but they’re just unsure of how to pronounce it. Hopefully we’ll get to know each other better and better as the class progresses.

I think the time and date lessons are a bit tedious for them, but I wanted to do that at the beginning, so that we could practice it throughout the course as part of the Small-Talk that we start class with. Next week’s lessons on sports, hobbies, action words, and describing things should be a bit more active and cool.

So I had an interesting conversation with my principal the other day. He asked me in an email when I was coming back in a way that gave me the impression that he wanted to discuss something with me. When I told him that I wouldn’t be back until the day before pre-planning starts for next year, he asked if it was feasible for me to call him. I grinned to myself for calling that one accurately and then gave him a ring.

Turns out, he wanted to ask if I’d be willing to teach Social Studies next year, instead of Math. I told him that I’m always willing to make such a change. I never considered myself a math teacher, anyway. I thought of myself as a teacher, who just happens to be teaching math. That might explain what a math teacher was doing working  with the drama department and with History Fair. Well, now the History Fair is a better fit, but helping out with MathCounts might seem a little odd. <shrug>

I am actually kind of excited about this change for a couple of reasons. I’ll be able to work with my students more directly on History Fair, and that program is really cool. Florida’s History Fair program is part of the annual National History Day contest. It’s a really great program, and Horizon has always been very active in it and excelled.  I’m also really excited because I am currently taking a reading course that has gotten me thinking about reading instruction in the content areas. While I was fully prepared to integrate the principles I was learning into a math course, it is a more natural fit in a social studies course.

Not only that, but as a social studies teacher, I’ll get to have a homeroom! I’ve always wanted a homeroom. 

The Changzhou Apartment

Originally uploaded by mattlavery

I live on the fifth floor. In Chinese, 我住在五层的公寓. In china, though, the ground floor is not numbered. You don’t take stairs to get to the second floor, like you do in the states; you take the stairs to get to the first floor. That means that, every day, I descend five flights of stairs to get out, and climb five flights of stairs to get home. I do this at least once a day, but normally two or three times. I find this particularly interesting because Dad expressed concern when I moved into an apartment on the second floor in Kissimmee (which only involved climbing one set of stairs to get to) after my accident. When I get back to the states, those stairs will be like a little stairway-vacation. I am a little bit winded when I get to my apartment, but not in an “Oh my goodness I’m about to die!” way, just in a “Wow, that’s a lot of stairs,” way. The apartment is cool, though. I posted some pictures of it on Flickr.

In an effort to reduce the onslaught of huge-ish posts, I may as well periodically toss out my little observations and call it good. This does sort of save me from writing for an hour when I don’t have an hour available. That’s never good, right?

Anyway, the observation of the day seems to be yet another aspect of one of my favorites: “People are people, wherever you go.” When I say it in Chinese, I change it slightly. “世界上，人就是人。” Which, literally translated, means, “On the whole surface of the world, people are just people.” Today’s observation appears to be, “Cabbies are cabbies, wherever you go.”

Twice now, I’ve taken a cab by myself, and been given incorrect change by the cabbie. The meter said 8元 both times. Both times I gave the driver a 10元 note, and both drivers gave me a 1元 coin in return. So there I am, thinking to myself, “What’s that about? It says 8, right there.”

I let it go on both occasions for two reasons. The first, is that 1元 is worth less than 15 cents, and in a culture where tipping is not customary, I’m don’t want to pitch a fit over less than 15 cents, when I would have given a much larger tip than that anywhere else, anyway. I mean, if those drivers want to be the kind of people that crave a dishonestly acquired 15 cents, let them go for it. The laws of sowing and reaping apply here. That’s what I was thinking anyway.

The second reason is that, on my first solo cab ride, the fare was actually 10元, but I only had 8元 and a 100元 note. Since he couldn’t give me the proper change, he graciously accepted the 8元 instead. I figured that between that and the overcharges, balance had been restored in the cabbie universe.

When I took my third solo cab ride, I looked at the meter and said, “8元, right?” He said, “No, 9元,” and pointed to a sticker on the dash that, of course, I couldn’t read without my big ‘ol dictionary. I did notice that it said “1元” on it, though, so I asked my hosts about it later. As it turns out, about six months ago, all cab fares were increased by 1元 because of recent increases in fuel costs. This means that I was not overcharged at all, and thus, instead of having all things balanced in the cabbie universe, I am actually 3元 in the hole. 糟糕!

I never challenged their honesty to their face, but I did question it to myself, and that was just not actually very cool of me. Now I feel a bit like a 屁股. The lesson here, for me, is that people are people, wherever you go. Cabbies are regular people, too. Most of them are decent folk. If my charge seemed wrong once, it could have been intentional. When I got to the second time, I should have realized something was up. People generally deserve the benefit of the doubt, and I should seek clarity and not assume. Sometimes I need reminding; what can I say?

So here I am, sitting in Starbucks, all excited about hopping on their wireless Internet while I sip my coffee… and my computer can’t find it. What? you’ve got to be kidding me! Ever since I got to China I can’t find a single wireless network anywhere!

Wait…. ever since…. d’oh!

So there’s this little switch on the front of my computer that you can use to disable the wireless card while you’re on the plane. Y’know, so you don’t mess up the nav systems and wind up becoming the cast of another hit TV series. Well, I never use mine. I mean never use mine. But when you’re on the same plane for 14 hours, you kind of need to. Apparently, when you never ever use it, it’s harder to remember to turn it back on.

I wonder how many other free wireless opportunities I’ve missed. Somebody in the apartment next door is probably broadcasting an unsecured network with a ridiculously strong signal. I’ll have to check that when I get back.

<continues singing along with the Barenaked Ladies song>

There are now several things to discuss, none of which are the items I thought my next post would be about. So I guess the first thing I should tell you that I learned is to stop giving teasers and previews of blog posts. I will probably write the bit about giving English names at some point, but not in this post. Other points trumped it (that, and Xiaofeng is proving to be somewhat indecisive).

I have now been here for one full week. Actually, as of this writing, I’m about 8 hours shy of a week, but that’s close enough for me. That completes about one seventh of my total stay. No… I can’t let myself get away with that. I’m a math teacher, and I’m going to be here for seven and a half weeks, so that means I have completed two fifteenths of my stay. Either way, it’s a trip of just the right length that none of my fractions will simplify very easily, so 没关系 (“whatever”).

In the last day of this first week, three things happened that are worth reporting. Let’s start with the good ol’ Internet, shall we? I am posting this blog entry from my own, in-house, land-line access to the net. <insert sound of a cheering crowd here>. My hosts came and finished preparing everything and hooking it all up yesterday afternoon. Not only is it significantly faster than my at&t wireless card, it is also significantly less expensive.

I’ll still have to pay my monthly minimum for the at&t service, but I’m not going to have sport the $5 for each extra meg of data, now. I might even make my data limits this month too, which would be cool. I’m still really glad that I went with the at&t contract, though. Without it, I would have failed one of my classes at UCF already, and my grade in the second would have seriously suffered.

By way of an odd segue, which really only makes sense to me until we get to the end of this bit, I can no longer cast aspersions on Starbucks while I’m here. I have often identified Starbucks as a source of corporate evil (or a corporate source of evil, 都可以 (“whatever”)). I’m going to have to retract that statement, at least as it applies to 常州. Since I’ve arrived, I have surprised myself by making coffee a daily part of my beverage regimen. I normally just drink a lot of water, but at home I have a sink-mounted filter and I fill up three liter-sized bottles of water for the day. I don’t often get through them all, but I always have three liters available. These bottles are either in my classroom, in my living room, or I carry one around with me.

I have been spoiled by the taste of my spiffy filter and the convenience of my big liter-sized bottles. The water doesn’t taste right to me here. Mind you, faucet water from home doesn’t taste right to me either, so I’m not saying China has bad water, I’m saying I’m a wimp. In the absence of all this water to drink I was getting ridiculously thirsty. I got some tea, some packets of instant milk-tea (read, “tea with milk in it”), and some packets of instant coffee. I’ve been rotating through them all as part of my morning routine. The coffee, though not horrible, is not real coffee. If I didn’t get anything even remotely like coffee while I was here, I’m sure I would have been fine with it, but having this “almost coffee” on a regular basis has left me craving the real thing.

So I asked my contact (I’d say “friend” but that seems presumptuous. Sometimes I think he must shake his head and either chuckle or sigh at some of the questions I’ve sent him.) that had taught in 常州 for two years where to find fresh-brewed coffee and how to ask for it correctly. He replied simply, “There’s not a Starbucks at 南大街 anymore?”

Duh! Starbucks is everywhere! Of course they would have a location at the biggest, most popular shopping venue in any city in China that’s large enough to have an Olympic venue! I felt like a total dummy-head. They do; I found it; and it was yummy. But that’s not all! They also have free wireless Internet! (hence the segue that only made sense to me until now). Given that I almost always wind up completing my weekly work for my online reading class in a single weekly marathon session, I may be going to Starbucks once a week, much like I used to go to the Dandelion once a week. The dandelion is still cooler, but you go with what you’ve got. Now, I am attempting to pace out my work more effectively so I can avoid that, but we’ll see how that works out.

Third (and finally, because I’ve written a lot), I had my first completely successful outing on my own. I’ve gone out on my own before, but I didn’t accomplish the things I set out to do. Yesterday, I set out to buy a map, have lunch, check out the Starbucks, and get some books for next year. I did all of those things successfully, and more. I found my way, without getting lost (I didn’t even need to use my map for that bit), ordered my own lunch, found Starbucks, had coffee, got my books, made it back here, and gave myself a “w00t”. At the bookstore, I spent $80 on books that I intend to ship back for use next year. For that amount, I got two smallish dictionaries for student use, one large Chinese to English dictionary (the title, 汉英大词典, literally means “Chinese English Big Dictionary”), one large English to Chinese dictionary, four large wall maps, and all seven Harry Potter books written in Chinese. In the states, half of the Potter collection, alone, would have busted that total. Now, my price tag isn’t totally complete, mind you. I still have to ship them home. But I’ve done this early enough that I should be able to use the cheapest method and not worry about them showing up a month after I need them.

LINGUISTIC NOTE: You may have noticed that I used two different phrases, and translated them both as “whatever.” If you think about the way we use that word in English, it does have several different meanings, and those uses get translated in different ways. This includes the third one that I’ve listed below, but didn’t use in my post.

• 没关系 - mei guan xi - lit. “There is no relation.” Used in the sense of “it doesn’t matter”
• 都可以 - dou ke yi - lit. “all are O.K.” Used in the sense of “it’s all good”
• 算了 - suan le - “whatever” in the dismissive or angry sense, like “forget it,” or “leave me alone,” or to imply that the speaker doesn’t care

Over the past two days, I have visited two schools and taught guest lessons at both of them. This was an interesting and highly educational experience, and both schools were very different. We went to both schools to coordinate first, and then I came back later to teach the lesson.

The first thing I noticed, in both cases, was the awe with which the students received me. It was actually kind of cool. It made me feel a bit like a celebrity. As I walked through, the students would pause what they were doing and stare at me. It wasn’t rude or with gaping mouths or anything, it was just an acknowledgement of my… unusualness. Many times they would give sidelong glances, or try to appear as if they were not staring, or whisper to their friends and giggle. It was kind of entertaining.

Of course, I’m sure the students didn’t consciously think that I would understand what they said, so I overheard lots of comments that they made to classmates, like, “那么高!” (na me gao = so tall) or “外国人!” (wai guo ren = foreigner (literally, “person from outside the country”). In a country as ethnically diverse as the US, seeing someone different is not really a big deal at all. In China, although it is a very ethnically diverse country, all of those ethnicities are Asian. It is very rare to see people who are white, black, or Middle Eastern here, so I tend to be quite noticeable.

The lessons themselves were very interesting. The students here seem very eager to participate. I didn’t need to use any advanced classroom management techniques to entice them to engage in the activities or to volunteer. I did notice, though, that they were very accustomed to choral response. If there were words on my Powerpoint, and it wasn’t immediately clear what I wanted them to do, the class read the words aloud together.

At the first school, I felt a bit like a rockstar, though it was both surprising and a bit overwhelming. After class, one of the girls came up and asked me if I could write my name. I thought she wanted to see it in writing so that she knew how to spell it, so I started writing for her. Well, apparently, she wanted an autograph, and once it was apparent that I was willing to give them, I instantly had 45 little hands with 45 pieces of paper thrust at me and heard 45 very excited voices calling for a signature all at once. For someone who tends to get claustrophobic with crowds, it was a bit overwhelming.

At the second school, the class seemed a bit less dynamic. I didn’t launch the lesson with the same level of energy, and the class itself seemed a bit more subdued. That could be why, when I met with the teachers afterward and asked for suggestions, I was told that I could make my lessons more interesting. Granted, I agree with her input, but I was looking for suggestions on how to do that. The students in this area have a very different background of experience from the students that I usually work with. I wanted to know what they would find interesting. I did get a few good ideas from her, though.

All told, it was a great experience. I look forward to more learning experiences. It’s been less than a week, and I already have had enough experiences to remember and stories to tell for many years to come. Up next, coming to a blog near you, “choosing English names.”

I figured I should write another post since I’ve been here for a bit less than a week. I’m getting settled in, and thoroughly enjoying my time here. I’ve made a couple of trips to Wal-Mart already, but both times I have been escorted so I didn’t want to shop in my normal wandering style. I typically go through the store and look at everything. The visuals help me figure out what I actually need. I know I need to go a third time (I need a mop.), but now I know how to get there on my own. I’m not sure if it’s just because I’m so new here, or if it’s just their style, but my hosts seem like they feel that it is impolite to give me time to myself. It’s a delicate cultural point, to be sure, but I know myself well enough to know that I need some time by myself to process things and get some work done. The way that I work, I need to sit down with many of my books to reflect and plan, then I can crank out my lessons and materials.

I digress. That was actually not the point that I wanted to write about at all, but in the stream of consciousness, “getting settled in” implied getting the things I need for around the apartment which in turn led to Wal-Mart. The thing I most wanted to write about is how much my hosts totally rock! 季老师 (Ji Laoshi) and I have had some great conversations about life and linguistics, Xiaofeng (whose name I still need to learn the characters for) is a lot of fun and really gives me insight into the local culture and style Nancy and 小蔡 are really great at interpreting during conversations with others and they bring a huge helping of joy and laughter with them wherever they go.

I’ll write next time about the first lessons that I’ve done and my experiences being at the local schools, but if I get into now I’ll be in mid thought when it’s time to leave. Until then, greeting to all my friends from the other side of the planet. I’ll talk to you soonish!