Back in China Again!

Well here I am, back at it again. I think the fact that I haven’t written a blog post yet is a testament to the great time I’m having. I can barely find time between working and fun times.  I have finished two weeks of classes already, and can’t believe how fast the time is going.

Teaching is much easier this time around. I can feel myself being more confident in my teaching, and I think that is rubbing off on the students. I have the exact same two classes as last time (now second and third year students), which has turned out to be valuable for both the students and for myself. They are accustomed my teaching style, and they know exactly what I expect from them. For example, they know that each class, I’m going to call on almost everyone, and really try to get everyone to contribute. Compared to the beginning of last semester, they are so much more used to talking. It’s such a great feeling to see some progress that is (at least I hope) a direct result of your teaching!

It’s also much easier for me, because I now know exactly the speed and pace that works for teaching them. I’m trying to incorporate a lot more in-class activities and assignments, both individual and in a group. This really helps to break up the class time, so I don’t have to stand and lecture for the whole time! I think the whole class, myself included, gets sick of the sound of me droning on after awhile. Also, it means everyone has to participate…even the sneaky students who sit at the back of class and play on their cell phones or simply sleep on their desk.

One of the courses I’m teaching, Food and Beverage Management, is the same as last time, so I’m able to use all the same materials. The two new courses, Holiday Tourism, and Front Office Management, are much more interesting and practical than Human Resources (the course I taught last time), so I’m finding the students are paying more attention.

The other thing that is much easier this time is the fact that I experienced virtually no culture shock. Of course, the second time around is much easier, but I must say the biggest thing has just been returning to my same great circle of friends. We have lots of fun together, and there is no time to even consider feeling lonely! On Sunday afternoons there’s volleyball at the International High School. My friends and I make a team, and then there’s the high school girls and boys teams, plus some teachers and parents that come out to play as well. It’s the highest level of volleyball that I’ve played since college, so it feels great! On other days we play basketball, or just kick a soccer ball and throw the Frisbee around. It feels great to be so active, and we have to take advantage while the weather is still beautiful.

Of course there’s still time to go out for drinks and lots of different interesting dinners. My favourite restaurant has to be the Beijing Duck restaurant. We normally go with a crowd of at least 8 people, and I just sit back and let the seasoned veterans do the ordering. They bring out 3-4 ducks, roasted to crispy perfection, along with mini crepes, delicious hoisin-like sauce, and sliced cucumbers to make little wraps. Then, there’s the most amazing spicy cabbage dish, sweet and sour pork (the real kind, not like Manchu Wok at home!), and delicious green beans. At the end of the meal, when you’re already beyond stuffed, they bring out all the bones from the duck, which have been deep-fried. Oh man, delicious! All this great food, combined with wine, baijiu (60% Chinese liquor) shots, and wonderful company make for a great evening…and then there are the epic dance parties at the Blue Marlin bar afterwards!

Next weekend I have plans to travel to Shanghai with some friends. The weekend after that is the National Holiday in China so everyone has a week off from work. A few of us decided that we really want a fun in the sun holiday, so we’re headed to Boracay, in the Philippines, for an amazing vacation. What can I say…life is rough here in China!

Mike and I at the PNE just before I left for China. Saying goodbye is hard, but I feel like it's much easier this time around, because I know we can do it, and three months really isn't that long.

 My students and I. Yes, these are second year students. No, they are not junior high school students.

 Hard at work after giving them an assignment.

 You may have noticed, in this class, the boys all sit on one side and the girls on the other. There is absolutely no mixing. Again, these are not junior high students!

 The sea of students walking back from class towards the cafeteria at lunch time.

 Ryan pushing his scooter after it broke down.

 The first year students have to complete a mandatory two weeks of military training. The last few days, I've been woken up at 6am to a bugle call, and then military chants and marching.

 Playing some basketball at Nichole's school, the college right next to ours.

 Eating dinner at the same time as all the freshmans.

 The best is the tiny girls in their oversized military fatigues. Somehow they still look cute.

 Brian and Ryan posing with some freshmen students.

 Watching a little football, streamed from Oklahoma.

Taylor's birthday was celebrated with a bottle of Maker's Mark, followed by Quiz Night at the local bar.

            

The Metropolis of Shanghai

So I realize that some of the previous photos are not visible. I'm sure it's something to do with the files being too big, but I can't figure it out. I'm going to post a Facebook album soon so for now I'll just post my writing on this blog! 

This weekend I took an amazing trip to Shanghai. I have been meaning to go for a while, but I realized I am running out of time and running out of weekends to go! It’s amazing how quickly the time has gone by.

Dion and I took the train together, because she was also going to Shanghai for a business trip. It turns out that my really good friend from Rossland, Mike Sullivan, has a brother, Kevin, who lives in Shanghai. Although we had never met, he offered to show me around the city. I knew that if he’s anything like his brother we would get along great, and I was right! And of course even though I really like all my American friends in Nanjing, it was definitely nice to hang out with a fellow Canadian for the weekend.

On Friday night we went out for dinner at a really nice Thai restaurant. Then we did a little bar hopping; Kevin wanted to show me some Shanghai nightlife so we basically had one drink at each bar before moving on to the next. It was great! Shanghai is so metropolitan and very trendy, and I felt like I was in New York or London.  We were in the French Concession, which is a cool part of Shanghai that still has a lot of French influence. And I could not believe how many foreigners there were. Kevin can speak Chinese so he was great to have as a host. I ended up staying at a hostel right by his house that was very nice and clean. The only bad part was getting woken up by the housekeepers yelling outside my door at 8am!  

On Saturday I did a little bit of exploring by myself. The metro system in Shanghai is really great and easy, so I headed into town to the famous Nanjing Road, where there are a lot of shops and hotels. I walked for about two hours, just taking everything in, before ending up at the Bund. I loved walking through the lobby of the Fairmont Peace Hotel – sometimes it’s nice to pretend you have money! As I was exploring Nanjing Road a lady approached me and asked me if I wanted some handbags. I was curious so I followed her into a side street, then up a long, dark flight of stairs to one of the upstairs “markets.” They then brought out endless supplies of counterfeit name brand handbags. It’s amazing how many they have, and the quality of the merchandise. I ended up buying a few purses (I know it’s terrible, but I couldn’t help myself!)

Then I met Kevin at a restaurant to try some of Shanghai’s specialty – dumplings. There were so many different kinds, and all of them delicious. If you’ve ever been to dim sum it’s similar to that. The whole time I was thinking how much my dad would love it! My treat to myself this weekend was coffee; I had Starbucks three different kinds and realized just how much I’ve been missing my soy mochas. Before dinner we decided to go for foot massages, which was a nice treat after being on my feet all day.

That night we met up with Dion at a bar/restaurant called Zapata’s for some Mexican food and dancing. Fun night! Sunday morning was sunny and beautiful, and we went for brunch on a rooftop patio with a bunch of Latvians and Tunisians. It was a very interesting group of people, and from talking to them I definitely got the feeling that I would love to live in Shanghai. They kept saying that there is something about Shanghai that draws you back, and I definitely agree. I hope to visit again before I return to Canada!

No Street Smarts in this Country

It never ceases to amaze me how the Chinese seem to lack a basic understanding of life skills. I’m not even talking about learning and teaching styles; it’s more like they are missing any sense of “street smarts.” Sometimes this is mildly annoying, but more often than not it is a source of amusement.

For example, I went with the English club on a trip to Yun Long Lake (Cloud and Dragon Lake). It was a lovely spring day, and we had fun lazily wandering around, playing on the playground (yes, these are college students we’re talking about), and checking out some historical sites. But the highlight of the day definitely had to be renting bamboo rafts on the lake. They are long rafts, and you use two long bamboo poles to push yourself along the bottom of the lake (think gondolas in Venice). I was on a raft with Dion and two other students, and the two students took the poles first to give it a try. They had absolutely no idea how to make the boat move. The one girl was using the pole at a paddle, but paddling backwards. The other boy was pushing on the bottom, but of course since he was doing it on one side we were just going in circles. Imagine me, sitting there, trying to patiently explain to them what I consider very simple concepts. It was definitely hilarious. Dion and I soon took over and things ran much smoother.

Another time with the English club, they organized a day for us to play volleyball and badminton, because they know I like sports. Of course, I showed up wearing a T-shirt, shorts, and running shoes, ready to play. All of them were wearing inappropriate footwear, sweaters, dresses, etc. Then, when we started to “play” volleyball (really just standing in a circle and attempting to pass the ball around), I was truly shocked at their complete and utter lack of athletic abilities. This was especially true for the girls, who possess no hand-eye coordination, and are so afraid of the ball that when the volleyball comes toward them, they take a step back, so the ball bounces in front of them, and then bounces right over top of them. Wow. This was not a moment for my naturally competitive side to come out, that’s for sure!

Another example: I wanted to give one of Dion’s nieces a piggy-back ride, so I knelt down and told her to hop on. She had no idea what to do, so Dion lifted her on my back, where she then started freaking out and saying she wanted down. I don’t think she’s ever had a piggy-back ride before! It was very cute. 

Today in my Human Resources class, I wanted to give a little bit of review before the midterm on Friday. I decided to divide the class into teams and play a Jeopardy style game to test their knowledge. For prizes I gave Canadian flag pins. I asked each team a new question, in order (ie. Team 1 went first, then Team 2, etc.) and if they answered correctly they received one point. However, the catch was that if they answered the question incorrectly, the next team had a chance to “steal,” then the next team, and so on. If that team stole, they received a bonus point, but it didn’t count as their actual turn. Anyway, it seemed quite simple to me, but everyone in the class, including my T.A., was convinced I was dumb and just randomly going out of order and being unfair. At one point I yelled at my T.A., “No, you’re wrong, and I’m right!” Oh man, sometimes it can be so frustrating. My T.A. is the one that is supposed to be translating for me, and half the time I think he doesn’t even understand! Anyway, after a long time they finally got the hang of it and it was actually quite fun.

Here are some photos of my trip to Dion's hometown, our English club outings, and some photos from a BBQ we had on the Nanjing Wall. 

 She was definitely terrified!

 I braided the girls hair while they taught me how to count to 100 in Chinese.

 We took a walk around this lake, then watched tons of people fly kites in celebration of the Spring Festival.

 We had a BBQ on the Nanjing City Wall, as the sun was setting. I threw the baseball around with a bunch of American boys. It was such a great day! This was the day I lost my camera, so thank you to my friend Drake for these beautiful shots.

I know it is a terrible stereotype, but so far every Chinese person I've met has been good at badminton. Also, please note Dion's outfit. Yes, she's wearing slippers. 

 Our outing to Cloud and Dragon Lake with the English club.

Dion and I killing it on the boat. I of course immediately declared a race with the other boat, and we won!

Communicating Through the Language of Food and Dance

The last three days were the Sweeping Tomb holiday in China. Basically it’s a time when families honour their ancestors, and visit their graves to bring flowers, etc. Because we had three days off from Monday to Wednesday, everyone works Saturday and Sunday to make up for the days off. Hmmm, doesn’t really make sense to me, but oh well! So last week was a bit grueling with seven days in a row. By the last day, I gave up trying to teach anything (you know it’s bad when more than 50% of the class has their heads on the desk, asleep) and put on the first two episodes of Modern Family, with Chinese subtitles. They loved it! Maybe not in the subtle kind of humour way that I was laughing out loud at, but they definitely thought it was funny (and probably really risqué).

On Sunday afternoon I took the train with Dion to Xuzhou, her hometown. It was a two hour train ride, and pleasant enough, but the worst was taking the subway to the train station. Seemed like half the city had the same plan as us, and even though I’m not claustrophobic I was definitely not having fun being stuffed like sardines in the hot subway cars.

I stayed with Dion and her family. It was a great experience…although they don’t speak any English, it’s amazing how much we were able to communicate through my broken Chinese, hand signals, and a lot of laughing and pointing. It was also really nice to have a big home-cooked meal after all the cafeteria food I’ve been eating.  Dion’s sister lives next door, and she has five-year-old twin daughters. They loved me, and I had lots of fun singing English songs with them, doing dances, and braiding their hair. They also taught me to teach to 100 in Chinese!

The first night we arrived, we went for a walk around the neighbourhood, and stumbled upon some ballroom dancing. Apparently ballroom dancing is huge in China, especially with middle-aged and older people. Basically every night a bunch of couples gather in a courtyard area, put on some music, and do different dances. At first I was mesmerized just watching…then Dion’s father asked me to dance. It was incredible! I just followed his lead, and with no words exchanged, he taught me three different dances. So much fun.

On Saturday I did some sightseeing while Dion and her family visited their grandmother. I went to a mausoleum from the Han Dynasty, which was an underground tomb from 300BC. There are also smaller versions of the famous terra cotta warriors. They are all displayed in the same place they were uncovered, so that was quite the sight to see. I met a Chinese student who was somewhat enamored with me, and explored with him for a while. He told me I was very elegant. I can’t say I’ve ever been told that before! Together we climbed up a mountain to a large temple overlooking the whole city.

On the way back to Nanjing, I took the bullet train. It goes over 300km an hour and was very cool. It was a little more expensive but worth every penny!

I took tons of photos on my trip…but unfortunately I lost my camera. I have the worst luck with cameras; I don’t know why I even bother! What a great trip though. It was so nice to finally get out of Nanjing and experience a new side of China. And it’s always so nice to get to stay with a family and really experience their way of life. I was so grateful to meet Dion’s family and be a part of their holiday. Let me tell you, any man that can teach me to waltz has already won my heart over. Mike, you may have some competition!

The photos I am posting were actually just stolen off the Internet, but they can give you an idea of where I was.

The lake I walked around with Dion's family. 

 The mountain I climbed to reach the temple at the top. My calves were burning by the time we reached the top! It was a lot of stairs.

The miniature terra cotta warriors. It's amazing how well they are preserved.

 An underwater museum where the terra cotta warriors were found and are still kept.

The bullet train.

Sheep, Fish, Demons, and Doorbells

Sometimes I don’t know whether to be impressed with, or to laugh at the Chinese students’ choices for English names. Part of me is ashamed at the fact that Westerners come to Asian countries, and because we can’t pronounce people’s real names, they have to assume an alternate identity for easy identification, which is a name they often literally pick out of a book. That being said, I personally know that it would be much harder for me to memorize 55 Chinese names, and most of the time I would probably botch the pronunciation anyway.  Plus, their choices for names are definitely a source of amusement.

Here are a few of my favourite English names:

L. Bee

Sheep

Dota (stands for Defence of the Ancients, for anyone who is not familiar with the international video game sensation that is World of Warcraft)

Waka

Rey

Tom and Jerry (only funny because they sit beside each other and are best friends)

Huskar

Coco

Fish

Beata

Voctor

RainMaple

and my personal favourite, Demon (naturally, he’s a troublemaker!)

There’s another funny story that I wanted to share. I gave my HR class a quiz about different departments and positions in the hotel. The question was, “Name 4 entry-level positions in a hotel.” Some of the students often get confused about the terms “doorman”, “bellman,” “bellboy,” etc. I’ve tried to explain that they all mean the same thing, but naturally this could be a bit confusing. Anyways, three of the students, after lots of crossing out and scribbling and trying to figure out the right answer, wrote “doorbell” as one of the answers. So today I had to give a quick little lesson about how doorbells do not work in hotels!