Zhongguo Shisan (China 13)

We begin with Monday, November 27 and a discussion about the weather. For most of our time here, we have come to understand what living in a tropical area is like. It has been incredibly hot and humid by Minnesota standards, and, at times, almost unbearable. I can remember days in which the low temperature was 80 degrees Fahrenheit, and you spent the day with a film of sweat over your body. Recently, it has been more tolerable, but, at about 15 degrees north latitude (Tropic of Cancer), the sun still beats down hard on you. That all changed Sunday night and Monday morning.  It was cool at English Corner on Sunday evening, and the wind was blowing hard. I should have known then what we might be in for. Monday morning was COLD by Zhaoqing standards! I woke up, and it was 50 degrees outside, and since the buildings here are not insulated and the windows and doors do not fit tight, it was about the same temperature inside! Brrrrr!

Showering is not fun under these conditions, and shaving is even worse. For us men, our showers are in the toilet room (the women have apartments with tubs in an enclosed area, but they are not insulated well either). It is a shower head on a hose. You turn on the gas (the water heater is a small propane unit), get yourself wet, turn the water off, and lather up with shampoo and soap, and then rinse yourself off. Oh what fun! Shaving is even worse. My sink and mirror are on the back balcony (completely open to the elements), and trying to hold a razor in a steady hand when you are damp and it is 50 degrees out is nearly impossible. I tell this to you so that you know that, if I slit my throat, it is not a suicide.  It is hard to complain though when you hear from students that when they shower, they often run out of hot water and that not only do they shower when it is this cold, but they shower with cold water! Yikes!

Well, I have made it all week without a cut, and Monday was another excellent adventure. As you recall from China 12, on Monday, November 20 we had a tour of the Pabst Brewery. They had called the school and invited me to come and talk to their English Club after work on Monday, November 27. So, they sent a car to come and get me at about 3 PM, and we headed over to the brewery. There were forty people there who stayed to listen to a real native of spoken English. They all have studied English at some point in their lives, and they have formed this club to keep in practice, but it is hard when there is no one there to help them improve. They were excited!

I began by saying a few short words, "I am really happy to be here today for three very important reasons. First, I love China. Secondly, I love teaching. And, finally, I love beer!" Oh, they got a hoot out of that, and that also told me what level of English they were at, if they can understand jokes! I was there for over two hours talking and answering so many questions. But, what fun we had! At 6:00 they had to go (the company bus was going to take them home), but the big shots invited me out for dinner and beer. I felt so bad I had to decline. I had made an earlier commitment to a teacher at Xi Jiang University to meet her during their English Corner that same night, to discuss the American educational system. I had to be at Xi Jiangs at 6:30, so could the driver drop me off there instead of taking me all the way back to ZIE? "But when will you eat?" came the retort. "Later," I said, but that did not satisfy them. "You must eat!" "I will," said I, "But, later." "It is not good to eat so late!" they scolded me, "Eating is important." Finally, I pointed to my belly and assured them that I was not going to starve to death, and that if eating was my foremost consideration for what I was going to do, I would have had to decline their invitation to visit their English Club as I had made my commitment to Xi Jiang first. This convinced them that I would be okay, but I have never felt so bad about declining a dinner invitation in my life.

Food is such an essential part of the Chinese life. While China is the third largest country in area in the world, only 15% of its land is arable. And, of course, China has over a billion mouths to feed. They know famine. Food is so important that it is an essential part of any business or social intercourse. These people were so grateful that I had come, and we had bonded so well in just a short time, that they did not just want to pay me back for coming, but they were genuinely concerned about my welfare. I almost, jokingly, said, "Just send a truckload of beer over to the school for me." But, I didn't, for fear that they would do it! I told them I would come back in two weeks, and would be happy to join them for dinner. Oh, they were excited!

They dropped me off at Xi Jiang University. We had English Corner, and then I met Mrs. Hua. She is a new teacher at Xi Jiangs, although she is not new at teaching. She had taught eight years up in Hubei Province (the Province that surrounds Beijing). We compared and contrasted the educational systems in America and China. She was particularly interested in College Entrance and Scholarship requirements. Like the US, China has a College Entrance Exam. Unlike the US, the exam is the sole requirement for either admittance into a college or for financial aid. I explained to her that our colleges also use the exam, but also evaluate other things such as essays, letters of recommendation, and participation in activities outside the classroom. She explained that China was trying to revamp their admittance and scholarship requirements, but they aren't quite sure what direction to go. She was leery of our process, because corruption and politics can skew who gets in or who gets the money. I admitted that this was true, and that our system was not perfect. I told her a story of a conversation I had with Professor Joe Uemera my senior year of college at Hamline. Our football team was 10-0-1 that year led by an All-American Division III quarterback. Professor Uemera told me that Division III schools did not have athletic scholarships, but rather scholarships were awarded on a basis of "need." "And we NEED him!" Professor Uemera said, referring to the quarterback. So, perhaps no system is perfect. It appears that China is recognizing that their system needs some adjustment, and that efforts are being made to make entrance into schools and scholarships awarded to students as fair as possible.

Tuesday (November 30) was another great day in China. In the evening I went over to Xi Jiang University to have dinner with Cathy and Jackie. They both graduated from college last spring. Jackie graduated from Notre Dame, and Cathy from our own St. Bens! They are here as part of the Mary Knoll Missionary of the Catholic Church. There is also a priest (Larry) at Xi Jiangs who coordinates the program there. I met Larry and Cathy the first Sunday we were in Zhaoqing, and I've seen them at Xi Jiang's English Corners, but I have not had a chance to visit with them and share experiences. Jackie is Chinese (born in Hong Kong), and has lived in many places throughout the world. Cathy is from rural Minnesota and grew up not very far from St. Bens.  As part of their missionary work, they are not allowed to preach Christianity -- they can only teach English. In fact, they have to sign a contract with the Chinese agreeing to all the that kind of legal stuff. I remember Larry pointing out though that this is missionary enough, and that the church would rather have this little bit of contact with them rather than no contact at all.Dinner was wonderful. The food was good (as always), and the conversation was even better. Here were two young women trying to figure out what they wanted in their lives by doing service work in China. They are not getting rich with money, but what a wonderful experience they are having! They are having a ball! It made me think of my own experiences, and how hard it was to make the decision to leave the comforts of home to come a half a world away. We are all building experiences that we will remember the rest of our lives, the difference being, that they will have longer to remember it.

We visited a trade school on Wednesday (December 1). It is a school that Mrs. Guo teaches at part-time, and she made the arrangements and took us there. They were having an English competition that afternoon that we were invited to attend. The van dropped us off at the school gate, and we had to walk across the playground and past the dormitories to get to the classroom building where the competition was going to be held. As we started across, all activity on campus stopped! The students quickly lined the balconies of all the buildings (some six floors high), to watch us and call out, "Hello!" They waved, and we waved and returned the salutations.

As we entered the classroom building, all the English Department students (ages 16-18) were lined up in the hallway waiting to enter the auditorium where the competition was to be held. You could feel the excitement and tension in the air. Not only did these students have to deal with the nervousness of the competition, but I'm sure we added to their anxiety -- how many of them had never seen a foreigner?! We entered the auditorium and were seated at a table just inside the door. Next, the students entered and were seated in their respective sections of the auditorium. Each class came up in their turn to the front and read a story in English. There were about a dozen classes competing. After the competition each of us were invited to speak and say a few words to the students. You could feel them clinging to every word. Certificates were then awarded, and the students were dismissed. They swarmed our table like it was a stage of a rock concert!

Mrs. Guo and I were standing at the edge of the table (by the door), and we were literally swept out of the room as if a dam had broken and a wall of water had hit us. We were inundated with requests for signatures! They gave us everything to sign. We signed books, the back of their ID cards, lunch cards, the back of pictures, the certificates that had been awarded, etc. The only thing we didn't sign were bodies! Since Mrs. Guo and I were outside, she grabbed me and pulled me away from the mob. She wanted to give me a quick tour of the campus. She showed me both a girl's and a boy's dormitory. In both cases the rooms were incredibly neat (a place for everything, and everything in its place). When there are eight in a room, there is no room for clutter. The buildings are newer than the dorms at our campus, so the rooms are slightly larger. There are four bunks on each side of the room, with shoes lined up neatly in a row underneath the bottom bunk. The bathrooms are in the back of the room, and in the front each student has a small locker. Everything they have is either a shoe, or in that locker! Never in America!

We returned to rescue the ARCC students. They had managed to make it outside, but each was still being swarmed by the trade school students. We needed to get back to our school. I quickly learned what the job of a bodyguard to a rock star is like. I plunged into the swarm, pulling at each of my student, yelling to the Chinese that we had to go, "No more, we have to go." As I would break one of the ARCC students free, I would head off in search of another. But, of course, as soon as I left the one, they would be swarmed again by students. Somehow we managed to make it across the playground and back to the school van. Wow, what an experience!

Thursday and Friday were filled with classroom adventures. I spent most of Thursday in classes starting at 7:40 in the morning and ending at 9:00 PM. Throw in breakfast, lunch, dinner and a nap, and that was my day! Friday evening was another story.

Benny (Meng Jian Feng) wanted to take us out to a restaurant. He, along with Penny (Chen Xiao Chan), Shirley (Xu Wei), and Lyn (Wu Rui Lian) gathered us up (Rachel, Jen, Pam, Robert, and myself, along with the two Japanese teachers), and we headed downtown. We ended up at a restaurant right on Lotus Lake. This was a new experience. Each of the tables was equipped with a propane tank (kind of scary when you watch and see how much the Chinese smoke in restaurants), a burner, and a pot full of boiling water. The restaurant is run buffet style, so you go up to the buffet table, gather up your food, and throw it in the pot to cook. There were a few things pre-cooked like rice, sweet and sour pork, and some beef and potatoes, but everything else including noodles, fish mushrooms, vegetables, and other meats you cooked yourself. It was kind of fun, the eleven of us sitting around the table, eating, telling stories, and laughing. After most of us were full the owner came to our table with a bucket full of live shrimp. He grabbed several handfuls, and threw them in the pots. I was full, but this was the freshest shrimp I have ever eaten.

After the shrimp had been eaten, he came back with pieces of cut up snake! Hmmm! He threw that into the pot, and I waited for a reaction from my students. I had eaten snake on a previous occasion at a dinner with Mrs. Hou. Matt and Scott are the daring ones when it comes to food, but they weren't with us. Would these four eat snake? Robert took the lead! Pamala gave it a try! And, with a little coaxing, even Rachel and Jen each ate a piece! Wow, I was surprised and proud. Okay, surely we have to be done now. No, Benny informed us, there was one more dish. This came precooked -- it was bugs! They looked like giant beetles. Benny showed us how you eat them -- twist the head and pull, and all the guts come out with the head. Robert downed one (I had actually paused on this one). "What the hell," I thought, "What kind of a story would I have to write about if I don't eat it." I popped mine in my mouth. Rachel went next, followed by Pam. Now, we were just waiting for Jen. "Jen, Jen, Jen, Jen," the chanting started. After a few moments of hesitation, she did it! Oh what fun we had!

Saturday, December 4 was a cold and rainy day here in Zhaoqing. It was also quiet, so it afforded me some time to get caught up on a lot of my work and to reflect on what is to come. Only 3 weeks until Christmas, and, even more frightening is the fact that we leave in about two weeks! So many things to do, and so little time left.   Saturday evening one of the students, Vicky (Wu Wei Xia) was going to take me out to dinner, and then we were going to do some shopping. Wu Wei Xia is a very serious student and has been a tremendous help during our stay here.

Last summer, during the Teacher's Program when five teachers from our area came to teach English here to the primary school teachers, Wu Wei Xia was given the paid job of being their assistant (quite the honor for a Chinese student). From all the accounts I have heard, she was a tremendous help to them all. Since our arrival here, she has also felt obligated to assume the same responsibilities for us (even though she is not being paid). There have been numerous occasions when she has given her time to help us with various difficulties (usually when we have needed a translator). She is one of the few Chinese students that one might consider a "loner" -- most of the others are always traveling in packs, so, perhaps it makes it easier for her to dart in to check on us. Her home town is two hours away by train, and she now has a part-time job tutoring a 12-year old in English on the weekend, so she rarely goes home, which means she is always around on the weekends, and, so she has even been available, and willing, to help even then.

This last week, as our time here comes to a close, she came to me feeling bad that I had never had a chance to visit her home town. She wanted to make it up to me by taking me out to dinner. I agreed, knowing that then was not the time to argue about who owed who dinner, and thought I'd fight that battle at the restaurant. So, when she finished her tutoring on Saturday, she popped into my apartment, and off we went to catch the bus for downtown. She asked me where I wanted to eat, and my response was, that since she was the host, she should decide. She decided on the Dynasty Hotel (one of the nicest places in Zhaoqing). This is where our college president (Pat Johns) stayed when he came to visit last year, and she had eaten there once before (although I'm sure she didn't have a clue as to what the prices were like).

When we arrived, she asked if I wanted Chinese or Western food. I told her that, again, it was up to her, as I was very comfortable with either (I ate a bug the night before, I can eat anything). She decided on Western. (I know she likes McDonalds, and my instinct told me that she thinks all western food is similar to that.) When we got into the restaurant and looked at the menus, I thought her eyes were going to bug out! She had just gotten paid that day for tutoring, and, if she was going to treat, it was going to cost her every Yuan she had earned for the last month (not that that is a lot of money). I told her meiwanti (no problem), it was my treat, and Wu Wei Xia had her very first steak dinner. Finally, the stakes were turned! The whole time we have been here, we have had to follow the lead of the Chinese. The waitress brought out Wu's steak first saying "Ladies first." In Chinese, but she couldn't eat. She didn't know how to eat this big hunk of meat (the Chinese always cut their meat into bite size pieces and then they cook it). She had to wait for me. Mine came, and we had a good laugh throughout dinner, as the serrated steak knives were as sharp as baseballs. It made eating, even for me, an adventure, let alone for someone just learning how to navigate with a steak.

When we finished dinner, we headed off shopping, and I decided that the price of the dinner was the best business investment I had ever made. On my very first purchase (I cannot share with you what that is, lest my wife read this and find out what she is getting for Christmas) I had negotiated with the seller from their asking price down to what I thought was a fair price. Wu said, "tai guile," (too expensive) and would not let me buy it, as she pulled me away (but, darn it, I want it). "Okay, okay, how much?" came the reply from the shopkeeper. To make a long story short, Wu negotiated the price down an additional amount that exceeded the price of dinner! Wow! We were off and running! I was frantically buying souvenirs (only two weeks left). I felt like the frantic Christmas shopper out on Christmas eve willing to pay anything for the right thing (the school is also frantic about our departure, and they are trying to squeeze in as many activities as possible before we leave, so I know that this may have been my last time shopping). But, Wu continued to negotiate hard. The shopkeeper would offer something for 80 Yuan, I would say to Wu, "should I offer 50?" Wu would say, "Why not 20?" and I would end up paying 30 Yuan, and the shopkeeper would mutter in Chinese as we walked away, "It's getting harder to make a living."

Wu Wei Xia was also in a buying mood. She had just gotten paid, but she was not buying things for herself, she was shopping for Christmas presents! Again, I was able to help. "Is this an appropriate present?" she would ask, and I would help by pointing out the concept of fairness, and the notion that equal friends deserve equal presents, so one needs to budget their money (I know that doesn't happen in America, but I thought, why not get China started on the right track). Oh, what fun we had! At about 9:00 PM we decided to hop on the bus, and head for home.

And, thus ends another week of exciting adventures in China!

Zaijian,
Gordy