Super Education!

As I have mentioned more than a few times, my job here in China isn't too taxing. In fact on most days, it is pretty enjoyable. Awhile back, Steve, one of the Chinese English teachers told me that he had a contact that worked for an English education company and was looking for a foreign teacher. He said it was only for a few hours a week, so I told him I was interested. So I went downtown for a meeting with the director of Super Education, the company. The meeting was like most meetings or business dealings in China. Which means the Chinese were passive aggressive when making requests and concessions, very reluctant to give out necessary information, and egregiously talkative and thus inefficient. Luckily I had been through a few meetings here, so I knew to hold my tongue and not back down on anything important. My job was to work with the staff at a factory to improve their oral English. I was given a book, although I would soon realize it's inadequacy for the course. So, with a not so great book, I headed off to the job (I hope you are picking up on the 'sparse directions and information' theme).
I have been teaching this class for a few weeks now, and it has turned out to be pretty enjoyable and occasionally very interesting. I am working with 5-10 upper level employees at a factory of Modine Manufacturing, which is an American company making heat transfer devices. At this factory they make radiators and some other device for Korean and Chinese car manufacturers. Because all of the people I teach have graduated college, I ditched the middle school level English book halfway through the first course. Essentially, they all just want to practice listening to a native speaker, but I know this is of little benefit, so I do my best to balance my speaking with group discussion. Every class we usually discuss one or two articles I find from the Internet, or go over some idiom lists I give them (which they really like). They are all really kind and respectful, and have even poked fun at me a few times. Considering that they are staying an hour after work to participate in the class, I do my best to make it interesting and engaging. I am also getting a much better understanding of political commentary (much less political satire) programs aren't that popular in China. Because there is only one party, and free press and political dissidence aren't exactly encouraged here, most of the employees share the same opinion on political and social issues. On the other hand, because I have absolutely free reign over subjects in this class, I have been able to gain some of their opinions on some issues deemed too sensitive for the classroom. I was able to weasel my way around the question of whether Taiwan is its own country today by saying that it was a complicated issue and that I needed to know more to make a firm statement, adding, though, that I was taught in the U.S. that it is its own country and kind of leaving it at that. It has been a really nice also to teach mature adults, and be able to discuss some things (romance, relationships, etc.) without getting giggles (well still a few I guess) and to have them interested in things like politics and economics.
This job has also featured one very adventurous aspect, the journey. The factory is all the way on the other side of town (remember: city of 2.5 million), so Super Education has arranged for a car to take me to and from the factory. Private cars, this is the life of a "foreign expert" in Changzhou. My first driver had a sort of menacing scar all the way across one of his cheeks, so as we stopped on the side of a busy street I didn't ask any questions. Well, it was only to give a motorcycle driver we had been following some money. Apparently my driver didn't know the way, so he paid the motorcycle driver to guide us. I admired his resourcefulness. The next week, with the same driver, on the way home, we stopped at an intersection next to a motley looking crew of men standing next to their motorcycles. My driver rolled down the window and handed out a considerable wad of cash to a member of the motley crew. We then continued home. Now, this errand didn't really bother me, except for the small (and crazy) idea that maybe that cash was the ransom from the last unsuspecting foreigner they kidnapped. Luckily, my worst case scenario was wrong at all was fine. Last week, I got a text while teaching that a new driver would be picking me up, and there he was as I left the factory. So far, so good. Well, immediately upon getting in, he started speaking much faster than I can, and with a lot more words than I have written down in my learning Chinese notebook. Eventually, I was able to kind of tell him where I live. So he pumped the Chinese techno up and lit a cigarette. Now, unlike every taxi driver I have encountered, he actually didn't know where my school was, so I gave him turn by turn instructions (luckily I had paid some attention in earlier rides). My real problem here is that the company I am working for arranged this driver, but apparently didn't tell him where he was going. I would generally assume that if a driver is hired to take someone from A to B, he might want to know where B is...but maybe that's a bold assumption. As we are just a short distance from the university, the real adventure begins. Instead of going where I recommended, he opts for a dirt road into a large field. We pass two construction trucks as we head down this road (albeit in the direction of the school) until we reach the end of it at a massive gravel pile where a Caterpillar is loading a dump truck. Needless to say this was not a through route, but rather a large construction site. So we take the uber-bumpy road back and eventually he takes the turns I suggest and we arrive back at the school. So, I wait in anticipation to see what adventures the ride to and from this part time job will bring next week!

Nanjing

The weekend before last I took off early Friday morning with Dave and Danthemanstan to head to Nanjing. Nanjing is the capital of the Jiangsu province (where Changzhou is located) and just a short train trip away. It's a city of 7 million, and the name Nanjing means 'Southern capital', for those wondering, yes Beijing means 'Northern capital'. Nanjing has had a pretty important role in the ancient and recent history of China, so we figured it would be a good place to visit. Danthemanstan had taken the initiative to book a hotel with the help of Teddy (our advisor). So we made it off the train, through the subway (only one line-thus a 50% chance of making the right decision!), and in a short walk we were ready to check in, drop our bags and hit the city. Well, the hotel receptionist didn't exactly see it that way. Apparently we needed our passports to check in, well none of us were carrying them. Now, Dave and I have done a fair amount of traveling so far; not once needing our passports. They wouldn't accept a copy of Dave's passport, they scoffed at Danthemanstan's driver's license and my foreign resident certificate wasn't good enough. Now, this certificate is issued by the Chinese government and has about all the information I would ever want, but apparently they needed to see our visas. I am not aware that China is having a big problem with American refugees, but this hotel was doing its part to make sure the problem doesn't start.

So, bags in hand, we headed to see some sites. Our first visit was to take a boat ride through some of historic homes and the old town of Nanjing. We soon discovered that the boat ride must be more popular in the summer. The three of us were accompanied on a cold and grey boat ride by the driver, the tour guide and someone who seemed to be a friend of the driver. After describing two of the items, the tour guide realized how useless her information was and left us with peace and quiet. For the record, I don't recommend the boat tour in Nanjing, unless of course you speak Chinese and are interested in the backs of famous old buildings. The highlight of the morning was instead the item featured in the picture. Now I had seen people eating these mysterious red balls on a stick everywhere. So Dave and I tried them. They turned out to be a small fruit covered in a red sugary coating. Now the fruit was unknown to us, being the size of a large grape, having the consistency of an apple, but being much more sour. Well it turns out the food is called tang hu lu, and is candied hawthorn fruit. It was my first candied hawthorn, and probably my last.

The next site was much more impressive. We made our way up the large hill that overlooks the city and got some really good views of the city, the growing Chinese economy provided a bit of smog as well. We also visited the Mausoleum of Sun Yat Sen, who is the father of modern China and led China in the early 1900s after imperial rule and before its civil war. The tomb is at the top of a very impressive staircase surrounded by beautiful gardens and forests. We capped our day off with some of the best food I have had in a while. Danthemanstan had heard of an French restaurant in town, run by actual French people as a side project while living in China for business. Now, don't get me wrong, the food here is great, I have always found something good to eat, and even enjoy the cafeteria food which my students despise. But this food was very delicious and featured cheese, something which does not exist (at all) in Chinese food. The restaurant was very nice, very French, and will be worth visiting again if I am back in Nanjing.

Luckily, Dave was able to contact one of the students from our school who is from Nanjing, who let us stay at his apartment. Robin, (his English name) and his family obviously have a little bit of money, as this was his own apartment. Some of the other more well off students have the same set-up; where their parents will buy them their own small apartment to hang out and host parties, etc. It was a step down from a hotel though, as Dave and I shared a bed and small blanket and Danthemanstan had the couch, although no blanket in the unheated apartment. While waiting for Robin to get back from the other side of the city (remember it's bigger than Chicago) we went to a bar he recommended. Normally it is a popular bar with foreigners, but we were in for a special treat. We were able to enjoy metal night at the bar. The big feature was Corrupt Absolute, an American heavy metal band!!! It reminded me again very clearly why I have never listened to heavy metal, and have no plans to do so in the future. They did have some very dedicated, head banging fans, all 7 of them.

In the morning we headed to the Nanjing Massacre/Rape of Nanjing memorial museum. China was in a civil war from 1927-1950, resulting from the Nationalists (Kuomintang) and the Communists both trying to control the country after the fall of imperial rule in 1911. In 1937, Japan used the civil war (and some complicated sea hostilities) as an opportunity to attack China. They were having lots of success, and Nanjing was an important city to take. They took the city in late 1937. For reasons essentially unknown, but often opined about, the Japanese stayed in the city for about two months and killed around 300,000 people, mostly civilians. Rape, torture, and looting also occurred in great numbers. The museum is dedicated to this incident. I thought it was very well done, sometimes a bit tedious, but very, very interesting. There is a very anti-Japanese sentiment in the whole museum, mainly stemming from Japan's tendency to down play or even outright deny the incident. I think it is pretty sad that even in this day there are still factions (albeit very minor) of the Japanese government that deny the event. I do think some of the anti-Japanese sentiment also comes from intense Chinese nationalism, and the incredibly tense and complicated Sino-Japanese relations. The last place we visited was a gate on the city wall, which was really cool. It was quite a structure, built originally in the 1300s. I don't know how this city could've ever been attacked without modern explosives, and judging by the great condition of the wall and gate, it wasn't. In the end it was a great trip to Nanjing, and next time we will bring our passports.

Mid Term Review

A few weeks ago, we had a mid term review with some of the higher-ups in the English department, which was a fairly interesting meeting. It was just quite different than meetings in the US. But I mention that because I have written a lot about the travels and 'special' or 'interesting' experiences in which I have taken part, but have written very little about my actual job. So I will attempt to give an overview as well as some interesting tidbits.
First of all, just for the record, my first job out of college is as a 'Foreign Expert', a title which will probably take me some time back home to ascertain. I teach 8 classes a week, each of which is two hours. All of my classes are titled 'Oral English.' That's about all the instruction I received. The book which I was given isn't bad, but a little outdated and basic. So I made a rough syllabus based on the themes in the book and headed to class.

After a few weeks in class I realized that the class description (albeit sparse) was pretty much what the school wants me to do, and what the students really need. That is, to improve their spoken English. So, for the most part, I find activities from some of the various ESL websites and try to get my students to talk and maybe even use the vocabulary I teach them. Now, this is much harder than it sounds for one main reason. Chinese students are incredibly shy. I mean incredibly shy. This comes partially from the Confucian teaching method of accepting everything which the teacher says as fact and not asking questions (which is actually not quite what I think Confucius wanted). To almost all of my students, asking a question would be to disrespect the teacher. Additionally, in the Chinese culture, personal embarrassment or 'losing face' is about the worst possible thing one can suffer. I think this is also true in Japanese culture. What this means is, students will not answer a question in fear of being wrong, will not speak in front of the class in fear of being embarrassed, will not attempt to construct a new sentence in fear of being wrong, will not express an alternative viewpoint in fear of being different (and thus embarrassed). The list goes on. So, I do my best to put them in small groups and give them hypothetical or outlandish situations so that they can act like what they say isn't their own opinion.

I think that my classes this semester have gone pretty well, and I have enjoyed teaching immensely. I encouraged all my students to email me with any questions or comments. There have been a few students who have commented positively on my class and the variety of activities and that most activities are interesting. There are two main complaints; that I am too strict and that I don't let them leave early. The first day of class I told them that I only had one rule: English only, only English. I reminded them kindly the first few weeks, but they could not seem to shake the habit. So, whenever I hear Chinese, I write the students name on the board and then after class assign them a short essay explaining to me why they spoke Chinese. The reason I don't allow Chinese is not to be harsh or mean (as my students think) but because switching back to one's native language (even just for a word or two) really hinders any chance at becoming fluent. More importantly, if one of them actually has to speak with an English speaker, dropping some Chinese words in the sentence will only hurt the communication. So, apparently my attempt to help them makes me strict, and that's just fine with me. As for the leaving class early complaint, I guess some other foreign teachers often let them leave early. I of course, can't stand injustice, so I wouldn't think of cheating them out of the minutes in class for which their hard earned tuition dollars pay. Even with that explanation they still want to leave early. Tough luck for them I say, because I am getting paid to teach (for 2 hours each class) and I intend to do my job.

As for where all this learning goes on, it isn't quite the plush, wired classrooms I enjoyed at TU. My teaching materials include chalk and a black board. That's it (but in some rooms there is colored chalk). Most of my classrooms have desks and stools, yes just stools, the luxury of a chair back is far too much for students spending 30 hours a week in class. The classrooms are of course not heated, so most of my students are now in coats, scarfs, and fold down mittens or fingerless gloves. Now the school is building a giant ten story library, so the funding for massive capital projects is easy to come by, but apparently heating for the classrooms is an egregious expense. So far it hasn't been too cold and I haven't yet had to wear a coat, gloves, or a hat to my classes, but I am quite glad I brought all my sweaters.

Trip to Wuzhen

The weekend before last, I set out on another weekend trip. This time the destination was Wuzhen, a water village in Zhejiang province, just south of Xihu (West Lake). Along with me on the trip were David and Daniel (who we call Danthemanstan...to only small protests). The journey there was smooth, although my chronic tardiness almost made us late for the bus, but we rolled through the gate with just enough time. We knew that Wuzhen was to be a bit touristy, and all this was confirmed by the swarm of ricksha drivers offering us a ride to the center of town. We opted to walk, and as we were checking out a statue in a park, (honoring the 'people' working of course) a particularly persistent ricksha driver was harassing David. I guess that is one of the downfalls for David learning faster than the rest of us. But eventually she promised cheap lodging, so into the ricksha we went. The first place was a bust and the second one looked way out of our (desired) price range. The prominently displayed price sign said 560Y for a triple room, but after many doubt filled exchanges, the woman was true to her word and it was only 60Y per person. And the ricksha ride was free. How the hotel made money on less than a third of the posted price, and paid aforementioned ricksha driver her finder's fee, is something I don't know. But then again, three full beds bring in a lot more money than empty ones. It's funny to see full out, bare bones market economics in work in the great "communist" country.

The town was a lot like the many other villages I have visited. It's set on a canal, and the old town along the canal is much of what you may envision on a postcard. But, the rest of the town just looks a lot like developing China; fairly dirty, cramped, uber-commercialized, and hectic. Yet, for me, walking these streets and seeing modern development in progress as well as the occasional shop or home untouched by development is very interesting. Because it is just a short bus ride from Shanghai, it is pretty expensive compared to similar towns a little farther from the coast. It also meant that Sunday featured a deluge of day tourists, complete with the mic and mini-speaker wielding tour guides. We visited the ancient bed museum, now I've never really found beds that interesting, and the museum sure didn't change my mind. But, while there, Danthemanstan pointed out a well marked exit to me (see picture on right). Initially, I could just see the sign, but after seeing the actual exit I realized the source of his amusement. I guess we will also need a saw and bolt cutters in case of an emergency.

The one really sad thing which happened in the trip was that I lost my faith in the honesty of the small businessman. Maybe I had just been lucky, or naive, or both with my belief that the shop and restaurant owners were all fair and helpful to us foreigners. We selected an especially rustic and unmarked restaurant for dinner Saturday, as they usually have great food at the lowest prices. We four mainly vegetable dishes, a good amount of rice, and tiny glasses of yellow wine (which tasted like it belongs in a lawn mower engine). I guessed the dinner was maybe 30-40Y, but possibly cheaper. When the woman told us how much it cost, Dave and I both thought we misunderstood, and asked again. No, we heard correctly, she had said 120Y. We were a bit outraged but really more amused. Not even Dave has learned the Chinese to debate this, so he called the always reliable Steve. Well, he got them down to 80Y, so we paid and left without even murmuring xie xie (thank you). Now granted, it was only a difference of about $11 between what we saw as reasonable and what they asked. So it was much more of a principle thing; and now we all know to get a price before ordering up or stick to the restaurants kind enough to post prices. The trip back even provided some entertainment when our minibus' brakes heated up and the driver's ill advised fix (pouring water on the overheated brakes) actually locked the wheel up. But another bus snatched us in less than 15 minutes and we were on our way.
**Note: all of my pictures can be found in my Picasa gallery, link to the right.