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Published: August 14th 2007
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One of my students, Calvin, and me
The last day of his contract. He is headed to the U.S. to earn his master's degree. The past week has been wrought with technological problems. After a whirlwind month, I sat down at my computer to crank out another humorous, yet clever, yet meaningful blog when I discovered that the TravelBlog website was down. Uncertain as to the cause, and knowing that anything is possible in China, I sent an email home to inquire if the blog could be viewed from the States. As it couldn't, I knew the blog wasn't blocked (my initial concern). Fast forward to several days later, and I'm informed by the administrator of the site that the database had crashed, due to (insert a long, technical explanation that I didn't understand here). The worst part about it was that the past 3 months of blogs, for everyone who writes on the site, had been lost and were considered unrecoverable. Gasp! Talk about major drama, tears, yelling and cursing (I knew those words I learned from the streets of Beijing would come in handy someday). The wonderful thing about friends and family is that they always come through for you when you need them the most, and so I've recovered all but one of my blogs. Additionally, I've learned the hard way that
I should always back up my work. Ai ya.
After my parents and brother returned to the Beautiful Country, I settled back into my normal routine more quickly than I expected. Though I felt a bit homesick and missed my family and friends in the U.S., life continued here as usual. The fiery flavors of the Sichuanese restaurants continued to burn my mouth and set my tongue on fire, the pollution of Beijing continued to sear my eyeballs and invade every available airway and throngs of students continued to stream into the school, each certain that their grammatically-incorrect, unintelligible utterances were better than the next student's.
This past month has seen an increase in the number of students who are convinced that their English language capabilities are better than they really are. Though they submit to a placement test upon signing a contract with the school, it is often not a fair assessment. In China, learning English is compulsory from middle to high school. Unfortunately, the vast majority of the English teachers at these schools are themselves Chinese citizens. Ergo, the students begin learning English with a Chinese accent, as they have no access to native English speakers.
798 Art District in Beijing
Outdoor sculpture
How'd you like this for the yard, Mom? By the time they arrive at our school as young to middle-aged adults, they are quite accomplished readers and writers, but can't string together a sentence to save their lives. Their listening comprehension is usually equally as poor. Imagine learning a language with incorrect pronunciation for 30-odd years, then attempting to correct this. Add to this conundrum a busy schedule, children and a spouse, and the result is usually to give up. In the past year, I've become close to several of my students, and so it's always distressing to see some of them give up their studies or elect not to renew their contract once it has concluded.
In addition to the influx of students, we have become short-staffed at work as teachers' contracts end and they return to their native countries. When I began my year in Beijing in October 2006, there were 27 teachers on staff. Now, only 12 remain. Although we are busier than ever, and have begun combining different levels together for elective classes (something the students aren't terribly thrilled about, but have no choice), the chaos and busyness makes the day fly by. I really can't believe that it's already August 13, 2007.
My contract concludes in 2 months, at which point I have had to make a decision: stay in China or return home. After weeks rumination and sleepless nights spent pacing, I have finally arrived at a decision: to do neither of the above. On October 15, 2007 I will fly home to the United States. After 4 months at home, I plan to return to Beijing to begin a year of studying Chinese at a Chinese university. At the time of this writing, I have not applied to nor been accepted to said university; however, I plan to attend Peking University, known here as Bei Da. I visited the campus last weekend; it was gorgeous! It is my hope that the change of scenery from the business district to the university district, coupled with the beautiful campus and immersion, will significantly improve my Chinese skills. People often ask me if I'm fluent in Chinese yet. My answer is that I'm "fluid" but not yet fluent. I have no problem holding a conversation on sensitive matters such as politics or the one-child policy, but I still have a lot of vocabulary to learn. And I still can't understand the Beijing taxi
Revolutionary Art
The Statue of Liberty with a People's Liberation Army Soldier drivers (I doubt I ever will!).
The October holiday is fast approaching. October 1, National Day, was the date in 1949 that the People's Republic of China was officially founded under the leadership of Chairman Mao Zedong. As such, we get 3 government-sanctioned days of vacation. I've elected to add to those the 7 remaining days of my original 15 vacation days I was allotted for the year, which means that I will finish teaching September 27, though my contract does not officially end until October 12. What do I plan to do with those free days, you ask? I am planning to do something so mind-boggling, so stupendous, so exciting, that it may literally blow your socks off (although, this is summer and you are not likely wearing socks). I am planning to ride the new Beijing-Lhasa train to TIBET!! We will spend 50 glorious hours on the train, in which the public toilets will no doubt become dirtier and smellier, the meager selection of vegetarian food will repel the senses and the sense of claustrophobia will begin to creep up onto us hour by hour. It. Is. Going. To. Be. Awesome. Aside from the small annoyances we
The "Beijing Bikini"
How the men in our fair city stay cool in the summer will likely endure, I can't imagine anything more gorgeous than watching what will literally be the landscape of the whole of China through the window. On the way to Tibet, we will stop at 9 viewing platforms to gaze over the landscape of frozen tundra, look up into the faces of mountains, and become acclimatized to the high altitudes. The train is equipped with oxygen masks in the event that the air becomes too thin for passengers to bear. In fact, on the first run in 2006, pens exploded, laptops stopped working, and shampoo containers burst open, due to the increasing altitude. I must admit, I'm a little nervous, but there is a special recommended medicine that most people take the week prior to leaving for Tibet which should combat the decreasing oxygen supply as the train climbs higher.
Once we've acclimatized to the altitude in Lhasa, we plan to take a side excursion to Mount Everest Base Camp. This journey will take us about 8 hours from Lhasa, with numerous stops along the way to become acclimatized to the altitude. The sky is going to be so clear and the air so fresh; such a respite from the
smog and pollution of Beijing. We'll spend the night at the foot of Mount Everest. Imagine waking up in a tent at the base of the highest mountain in the world, gazing up in wonder at what is known as the top of the world...it is going to be something I remember for the rest of my life.
It's hard to believe that I only have 2 months left in China before I come home. It's not such a daunting fact to face, as I know that I'll be returning in a few months' time. I'm looking forward to seeing family and friends, eating familiar foods and desserts that are actually sweet, watching TV and understanding every word, and all of the comforts of home. It really is true what they say: "There's no place like home".
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Thai
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That picture of you trying to "look like art" is HILARIOUS! Cracks me up...and you make that train trip sound oh so glamorous...bottles and pens bursting, people passing out...wooonderful