Blogs from Taizhou University, Taizhou, Jiangsu, China, Asia - page 4

The Campus of Taizhou Teachers College is once again busy with the hustle and bustle of academia and college life. Our upper-classmen have returned, each one year closer to their goal as future English-teachers in China, hoping to make the most of their remaining years, and salvage a satisfying career. (In China, teaching is not considered the most prestigious job by students or even society, and the enthusiam to become a teacher has serious limitations.) A thousand new Freshmen from all over the Eastern-Province of Jiangsu have also been registered at our small college. This new crop of anxious and timid first year college-students, whose first goal was not likely that of becoming an English teacher, have for the most part never had or seen a native English-teacher. Most probably they have never seen a Western ... read more

"Thank You" everyone for your kind response to the TravelBlog's technical difficulties. I am especially grateful to Jonathan Daniels, my former student at Coral Gables Sr. High School, who is completing his advanced studies at the University of Miami. He stayed up one night until 4 a.m. to recover all but two of the journal entries. Only entries #69 and #70 have not been found. Their photos are recovered, and I will add their text from my hard-copy. I can't thank Jonothan enough and I am envious of his computer skills. Jonothan, Thank You! for your assistance, and a Thank You for the positive suggestions from so many others. Reflecting on my stay in China for this past year has become easier, especially now that I am feeling better, recovering from a kidney infection. The many ... read more

China's feeds one-fifth of the world's population, daily. Much of the economy of China, in the cities and in the villages, conspicuously depends on the food industry, struggling to supply the variety of tastes for the exotic or the more mondane. China has suffered much during its well-documented famines. They are still in the memories of my students' parents. But the variety, quantity, and the quality of foods that are consumed by the people around me at the college, and what I see when I travel throughout China leaves little doubt, that those struggling times are fading into China's history. Sadly, many of the young of China show a lack of awareness and appreciation for the hard times and sacrifices their parents only recently endured. I see them in the restaurants surrounded by mountains of ... read more

Most of China's massive (1.4 billion) population live in rural areas, in the country-side, and in small villages, where most are still dreaming about the prosperity, that might reach them one day, perhaps sooner?; while China's mega-cities continue to flourish and expand in amazing speed. Nine months have passed since arriving in China, and on my return visits to various large and small cities, there appear constant transformations, most noticable in their sky-lines. (Remember that 5 million inhabitants qualifies a town in the P.R.China to be recognized as a "medium" city.) Their city-centers begin to display a bouquet of glass, steel, and concrete structures in all shapes and colors. Unfortunately, these are also being erected exactly on the locals, where China's old and traditional neighborhoods simply vanish, almost overnight. I believe, many people will one day ... read more

Please, permit me to dedicate this journal entry to my genteel, thoughtful, kindhearted, and courteous Chinese students of English, who have, each in their own way, contributed to making my stay here at Taizhou Teachers College a most rewarding experience. ::::::::::::: Few vocations in life are more edifying as that of a teacher, no matter the country. Though monetary and material benefits may be limited in the teaching profession, the joy and love which each day brings cannot be bought, even with gold and diamonds. This was true as a teacher in Revere/Boston, Mass. and Miami/Coral Gables, Fl. USA, and it has been no less a fact here in China, at Taizhou Teachers College in Jiangsu Province. My last six months, teaching at our small college-campus of 7,000 students, has rewarded me with a daily overdose ... read more