Merry Christmas!!

Where to begin? I have certainly made some unforgettable memories for my first Christmas in the Middle Kingdom. This past month has been a whirlwind of activities, not to mention the roller coaster of emotions that generally define my daily life in China. I finished teaching about a week ago, but I have felt just as busy during this past week as I did while I had classes. My school has planned several events to celebrate any and every occasion. The end of the semester, the New Year, and, yes, even Christmas. There has been everything from parties and dinners to phone calls and text messages. Last weekend, people who work in several different departments (the School for Foreign Languages, the Foreign Affairs Office, and the International Business School) organized at wonderful event called “Night of China.” Basically formatted like a variety/talent show, everyone involved in the University had an opportunity to display their talents, foreign teachers included. We were asked to sing some Christmas songs – Joy to the World, Jingle Bells, Auld Lang Syne, and We Wish You a Merry Christmas. If you look at the picture you will see me holding a toy keyboard, as I somehow was appointed Choral Director. Another foreign teacher bought some garland and made some fashionable headwear for the women to sport. Really, though, I enjoyed the party, and it was a very entertaining evening.

To celebrate Christmas Eve, I decided to stay in for the evening. Apparently there is a major celebration in the city center, Jie Fang Bei. I have heard (and seen pictures from the past) that people fill up the square and beat/hit one another with plastic/blow up hammers and mallets and spray silly string all over. (I have also been told they do this because it is a “Western” tradition…) As intriguing and fun as that sounds, several people warned me that a foreigner would be the most sought after target. It didn’t take long for me decide not to go anywhere near the area. Instead, I made some Chicken Wild Rice soup and bought one of my beloved baguettes and enjoyed both while watching Love Actually. I wish I would have had It’s A Wonderful Life. The movie was constantly interrupted by phone calls and text messages from students wishing me a Merry Christmas. I wondered whether I should wish them a Merry Christmas in return. Most of my students don’t celebrate Christmas in the religious sense, but have recently invented their own unique way to mark the occasion (see above story). Christmas is like a novelty in China, I guess.
Maybe next year I will be brave enough to go and check out whether the stories about silly string and hammers are true.

Merry Christmas to everyone! I certainly miss spending the holiday with my family and friends!
圣诞快乐!!!

To be a teacher

As my first semester teaching in China comes to close, I can't help but look back and think: Did my students learn ANYTHING? One of the biggest struggles I have encountered during my first few years as a teacher is trying to answer this question. I suppose it would be make more sense to phrase the question as "What did they learn?" as they had to have learned SOMETHING, even if that something is merely my name.

As difficult as it was for me to gauge student learning in the States, it feels at least ten times more difficult to assess it in an entirely different system of education. Yikes. What have I gotten myself into? I am already thinking about next semester. What should I do differently? And by this question I am referring to essentially every aspect of the classroom (topics/content, delivery, activities, behavior, expectations, and on, and on.) It never ends. And trying to answer these questions in China is really hard. I look to other PCVs and foreign teachers, only to realize that everyone who is teaching here is really just doing whatever they think is best, and every Spoken English class varies greatly. Classrooms lead by foreigners entirely determined by the individual and singular desires of the teacher.

Wouldn't you like to be a Chinese student?

A Day in the Life

I sometimes have a difficult time trying to think of what to write and post for all of you to read. A part of me knows that I could write anything I wanted to, and that even the really mundane things would at least be something to let you know that I am indeed still alive. Well, I am alive; there is no doubt about that. Daily life in China has strangely become “normal,” and believe it or not, I sometimes forget that I am so far away from Minnesota and the life I used to lead. Perhaps this is just another stage on the Peace Corps experience, settling in, getting accustomed to the culture, and the whole transition phase wearing off. I don’t really care to put a label on it, I guess.

Having said all that, my days in China still include their fair share of surprises, excitements, and difficulties. I am writing to you from my apartment, wearing a scarf and winter jacket as there is no indoor heating. The air temperature doesn’t get nearly as cold as MN of course, but the temp. has dropped to around 50 degrees during the day and the low 40s at night. I have a portable heater, but I have to be careful about energy consumption. When you live in a neighborhood that has around 2 million people [yes, I am talking about my “neighborhood” district, not even the entire city] you have to be especially conscious of what you consume, which means I usually only use the heater around dusk, when it gets really cold in my apartment. Teaching class wearing my jacket is somewhat of a new experience as well. Although I do recall a time last winter when the pipes or something in my classroom in Big Lake froze, and I did actually wear my scarf, gloves, and several layers of clothes to keep warm. When I recall memories such as that, I can’t help but thinking it was in preparation for what I would face in China.

The semester is almost over, and I have to say I am looking forward to the break. I look forward to next semester as well, mainly because I can put all the things I learned this semester to good use. I have had a lot of fun with my students and slowing learning more about the Chinese culture. My language skills feel like they are still seriously lacking. I study with a private tutor, but I find that I too afraid to make a mistake, so I hesitate to use the spoken language. (It is a bit ironic because I spend a great deal of time with my Oral English students trying to convince them their mistakes don’t matter and they just need to TRY…) I have been trying to learn the characters, and I do find some fulfillment when I go out into the city and can read part of the signs/billboards/advertisements.

By the way, I will be posting some new pictures on Picasa. If anyone would like to view them, email me so I can send you a link/invitation! The picture I posted with this entry is of me and Margaret, another foreign teacher. We were at a buffet/reception sponsored by some student volunteers.

I know I always say this, but I will try to write again soon. I hope everyone is doing well! I miss you all!

It is the little things....

It has been a week of some exciting adventures. I suppose you could argue what defines exciting, and after reading this post you may find yourself wondering about the life I am now leading, but, all the same, I have found joy, and that is all that really matters. I discovered the International Business School students have opened a coffee bar on my campus. Now I realize that sounds pretty mundane, considering nearly all college campuses in the U.S. have a place for students to stay continually caffeinated, but in China, it is certainly an exceptional circumstance. Most Chinese don’t really drink coffee, preferring to drink tea throughout the day. This is what makes a coffee bar a rare situation.

I should mention that I am one of the lucky volunteers to be in a city that actually has several Starbucks I could go to, but it would involve a 30 – 45 minute bus ride in the chaos known as Chongqing traffic, not to mention a latte costs around 30 RMB, which is essentially my living allowance per day.

Coffee within walking distance is much more appealing, and the students decided part of their business plan would be to offer their drinks at ½ price for the first couple months. So I paid 9 RMB for a mocha! That is quite a deal! The café has a great atmosphere too. I actually felt really focused and made some progress studying Chinese. I will definitely be going back soon! Although getting there does involve a bit of hike as my school is literally built into the side of mountain, it is worth it.

I love coffee. Wo ai kafei. 我爱咖啡

Autumn Days

Nin men hao!

I realize it has been a while since my last post (I can’t believe October is almost over!) and I am sorry that I haven’t been more attentive. Things have been quite busy here at CTBU (Chongqing Technology and Business University) also known as Gong Shang Daxue. It is all ready time for mid-terms, and a big part of me feels like we just started the semester!

My classes are all going really well – I teach 7 different sections of Spoken English, and although the topics we discuss are essentially the same in all the classes, the speaking level of the students varies greatly, so I usually end up varying the content throughout the week. I have 3 classes with Freshman, and they are extremely friendly and motivated. They are ready to do anything I ask them to do! After my experiences as a substitute teacher in the States, the attitudes of the Freshman is a refreshing (and welcomed) change! I also teach 3 sections of Junior students who are Economy and Trade majors, and their English is at a pretty high level, so class is usually very entertaining!

Other than classes, I have been busy studying Chinese. After PST I was a little burned out on studying Hanyu (Han = Chinese, yu = language) so I did very little during September. But I decided that I should probably have something to show for myself considering the length of time I am going to spend here, so I found a tutor who I study with for 3 hours each week and I also attend a 2 hour class that my university offers to Foreign teachers. I am starting to learn to read and write characters, which combined with my speaking sessions, is helping me figure out the system behind the language. I found the language classes during my training to be rather difficult because it was essentially strict memorization. So after a month of my renewed efforts, I feel like I am on a decent path to some sort of language efficiency.

And in addition to all that, I have been spending what is left of my free time either cooking (which is always an adventure!!) or meeting with students. Students who are not actually my students, but students at CTBU who have somehow figured out my phone number, email, and where I live. Last week, a young man I had never seen before in my life knocked on my door at 9 am asking if he could come in and get my help (he wanted me to edit a practice composition he’d written for the GRE.) I was a little creeped out, and asked him if we could arrange a meeting for another time.

So, here I am, with a different date each night of the week. Some just want to talk and practice their spoken English, others are more serious and ask endless questions about English grammar, which usually leads us to a very confusing conversation about the nonsense of it all.

But it is nice to be able to help, and I am learning a lot about what life is like for a typical Chinese students. Not to mention they each offer a splendor of knowledge of the city, food, language, and culture. One student (in exchange for regular meetings to edit her essays) is going to teach me to play the gu zheng, a traditional Chinese instrument pictured above. She actually brought her instrument to store in my apartment, so I can play it anytime I feel like it!

Life is good. I hope everyone is well, healthy, and happy.

FOOD!

I have been thinking about posting something about food since I arrived, and now I am finally getting around to it. As most of you probably know, my travels and experiences are usually heavily defined by the food I eat. I think of the friends I traveled Europe with and remember with great fondness the wonderful food we found and a few extreme situations where it consumed our daily purpose (eating gelato in Rome until we made ourselves sick, going into every bakery I passed along the streets of Paris…). And here I am in China, finding myself with essentially the same attitude, but a perhaps a little more careful about my consumption. That being said, and as I mentioned in my previous blog post, I realize that I have become incredibly accustomed to Chinese cuisine, and look back on the past 3 months with many a food story to share.

Chongqing (my current city) and Chengdu (where I was living during training/where PC headquarters is located) are both very famous for a specialty known as “ Huo Guo” or “hot pot.” It is pretty similar to fondue. You are seated at a table with a huge pot of oil in the middle of the table. Each table has a burner underneath and once you sit, the servers ignite the flame and soon you are ready to get the party started. The oil comes in two versions – spicy and really spicy. It is like cooking oil and pepper oil mixed together with tons of spicy and numbing peppers in the mix. You order raw meats and veggies to dip into the oil and cook. Once the food is cooked, you put it in your individual bowl and add more oil (!) to it so it cools off and you can eat it. I prefer the veggies to the meat (mainly because the meats that come out are highly unidentifiable), and they also serve a great flat/sweet bread with the meal. I’ve only done this a couple times, mainly because if you start adding up all the oil consumption, things get a little slick for your digestive track, if you know what I mean. All the same, it is a critical experience for tasting the Chongqing cai (food), so if any of you ever show up in the city, you can bet I will take you out.

I really prefer other types of Sichuan food, mainly the restaurants where you can order several different kinds of dishes and share with the entire table. The possibilities at what we refer to as “dishes” restaurants are really endless, and we usually order some standards (gongbao jiding – kung pao chicken, and yuxiang qiezi – sweet and sour eggplant). While we want to try new dishes, it is sometimes difficult because we’ve yet to learn how to read “Hanzi” or Chinese characters. We can try to say a lot of different foods, but the capacity to be understood and converse with the native speaker waitress is another issue entirely. Sometimes we leave it up to fate, and simply point to some characters and just wait to see what comes to the table. As you might imagine, this is extremely risky business. Yesterday, in fact, I tried it for myself, and was a little disappointed. There are several small shops/stands that sell tea drinks and blended fruit drinks, and they look very appealing. If there are pictures, I usually just point and ask for “this” or “that.” But yesterday I went to a place with no pictures, so I just pointed to some Hanzi . My drink came, and I let my friend try it first. His only response was, “Well. You’re going to find that….interesting.” It was strange. It was some sort of citrus fruit, but had an intensely sour and tangy aftertaste. I only ended up drinking about 1/3 of it. Next time I think I’ll point to the next line down – I find something I like eventually, right?

And then there is an entirely different dimension of food in china – my attempts at cooking. I have tried doing some “Chinese-inspired” dishes with my wok, but it is proving to be a bit of challenge. Not knowing what things are because you can’t read the labels makes it difficult to know what to do. However, I have tried a few “western” dishes, several of which turned out to be quite good. I’m not sure if they are really actually good, or if they just taste really good to me because I haven’t had a lot Western food in awhile. I bought an eggplant last week and two nights ago I was inspired to make a modified version of “eggplant Parmesan.” Of course, there is no Parmesan to be had here, so I used a little mozzarella for some cheese flavor. It was fabulous! I bought a baguette from the shop by my apartment, and had quite the dinner!

I realize now that I have a lot to say on the subject of food in China, but should probably save some other stories for later posts. I hope you are healthy and well, and think of me at your next meal!

tastes and smells

After two of perhaps the most humid days I’ve experienced, I just remind myself it is actually probably really healthy, right? I am sweating all the toxins out of my system. I sweat, so much in fact, that I don’t think my sweat stinks anymore. Is this content inappropriate? Should I not talk about sweating and stinking? Regardless, I think my sweat probably does still stink – it is more likely that I am just used to smelling my sweat, so I don’t notice it anymore.
Any comments or questions about sweat? I’d love to hear ‘em.

So. I am slowly getting to know the city of Chongqing. It really is big. I know I have written that like a million times, but it is a really, really big city. There are districts and business areas and buses and monorails and taxis and bridges and tunnels and mountains and rivers and skyscrapers and underpasses and overpasses and people and people and more people. So many people. An unbelievable amount of people. Friday night, my friend Jason and I decided we would try to make brownies. Jason inherited very nice sized toaster oven (really it is more like a convection oven, and I think you could probably fit a turkey in it if you wanted to) and you all know I would hardly pass up an opportunity to bake. So we needed butter for the brownies, which is not an easy thing to come by in China. We decided to check the regular “Chinese” supermarket and if they didn’t have it, we would walk to the Metro stop and shop. Who knew that Friday nights around 8 are a time when what I believe to be every other person in Chongqing goes to the supermarket. The only comparison I could come up with is the time I worked at Dunn Bros. the night of Thanksgiving midnight madness. Some of you may know what I am referring to – going to the supermarket revived symptoms of the post-traumatic stress disorder I developed as a result of that fateful night. Anyone who was out that night in Albertville might understand what living in China is like.

Tonight I attended a dinner with 3 other PCVs serving in Chongqing and a group of about 30 Americans who are in China for a trip with the National Geographic Expedition. We were invited to have dinner with group by their leader, Bill, who was the Country Director for Peace Corps China from 1993 (the program’s first year) to 1999. I was pretty excited because it was a free meal for us and bound to be some great banquet-style Chinese food. The four us amongst the group and chatted with the travelers, who are here for a 3 week whirlwind tour of China. It was a wonderful evening. I enjoyed talking with Americans – although I see other PCVs on a regular basis, it was great to have some new perspectives not affiliated with the PC.

More significantly, I realized as we ate and talked that I have learned A LOT in the last 3 months. Table manners, types of food, language, and just everyday life were all things we talked about, all things they had questions about. As I ate I realized I have picked up so many Chinese habits (eating out of my bowl instead of off my plate, eating w/chopsticks right from all the dishes, spitting out the bones on the plate [I know that sounds disgusting, sorry]) and I was doing it all absentmindedly. It wasn’t until the travelers asked why I was doing what I was doing that I realized it. Maybe that seems insignificant, but it was really crazy to me. Creepy and exciting at the same time. In the end, I am extremely happy that I went to the dinner. It has given me an entirely new perspective of my experiences so far. Now that I think about it, I guess you could qualify it as a mild form of reverse culture shock. Weird.

Again, I hope you are all doing well. Enjoy the wonderful fall weather of Minnesota/Wisconsin or wherever you are. And just think of me, the sweat-hog of Chongqing.