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Published: December 3rd 2009
Hope all is well in your present world. I have recently gotten back into the habit of checking up on world affairs and I must say my optimism is once again depleting. However, I'm still in CHINA! so all the unfortunate mishaps befalling our world around us is the only reminder I need to actually count my blessings, and with that said, I'll continue my seemingly pretentious but unassuming role as a travel blogger.
The last two weeks have been fairly busy. But only busy because I'm getting into another one of my old habits of procrastination. I gave my students mid-term exams 2 weeks ago. When I originally made up the test, I was a little oblivious with what exactly I was getting myself into. I designed a 25 question test and in addition an essay for them to write about 1 of 3 questions.
First off, they would not stop cheating! and when I say cheating, I don't mean a few because it's safe to say a good 90% of them attempted to blatantly cheat. I had anticipated that would happen (from hearing other people talk about the notorious cheating in Chinese classrooms) so I devised 2 separate tests so the people sitting next to each other would not have the same test. My efforts were in vain, because even with my constant hawking and scolding, they still tried to do so!
My last Thursday class was the worst. I see this boy just stand up and start looking at other peoples papers around him. At this point, I couldn't even be angry because his audacity was just too darn funny to me. But after the hoopla with the cheating, the merciless process of grading began (keep in mind I have about 200 students). It was an absolute nightmare grading and I did in fact have nightmares about grading when I wasn't grading (but should have been). That insanity lasted a week, with grading and recording and giving make-up exams and the worst part was, my decision to devise 2 separate test ended up making my life hell during the grading process. And partly due to my inability to handle tasks in a timely manner, I squandered my time at KTV and doing other miscellaneous things in order to keep myself from thinking about the mountain of papers I had to grade until the last moment. But thank goodness I'm done with all of that as of today! I have decided NOT to give a test like that anymore. Since I am a writing teacher, I will just have to give them only essays for their final which won't be as time consuming but will probably prove to be deathly boring! as lack of creativity in writing is at times a serious problem here.
Other than that, I spent my first Thanksgiving away from family and friends. In a way, it wasn't that big of a deal because first of all, I didn't even know it was Thanksgiving until my students kept sending me repeated 'Happy Thanksgiving day' messages. and secondly, for my own moral convinctions, back in the states, where I have the constant reminder of how f'ed up 'the system' is, I usually prefer not to celebrate Thanksgiving due to the blantant and insulting historical inaccuracies (sp.). But I'm in China!(and am taking a break from American hypocrisy) and had to seize the opportunity to have a turkey dinner with my new friend Rene (African American from NYC) and her friends at another university across town. Rene cooked the mess out of that turkey and the meal was absolutely delicious! Never had turkey chainsawed and fried in a wok, but its a tradition worth repeating in China for sure! Got to meet some more English speakers and had fun comparing and contrasting experiences, and in typical Chinese fashion, Karoke just had to be involved! One of the best nights I've had in Nanchang thus far and at least for one night, I got to eat some meat that was identifiable and not cut into atomic parts.
I'm still enjoying my time here and trying and seeing new things. I'm itching to travel again and I do in fact have a trip planned to Henan province in a few weeks for a wedding with Rene and that should be interesting and more than likely an eye-opening experience.
China is still funny though, not a day goes by where I don't see something that makes me look twice before laughing, so the humor factor is at an all time high and makes the distinction between an experience that is tolerable and one that is enjoyable.
It's December now, and its in the low 60's, so I cannot complain about the weather too much and thanks to Moms I finally have some hair products so I'm stoked about that because my head was starting to look like a bush so thanks Mommy!
Well, I'm off to bed but still have a load of homework papers to grade, so that task is looming in my mind now. I wonder how much time I can waste tomorrow to avoid being productive? hmmm....
Zaijian
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sue
non-member comment
great to hear from you
Hi Latifa, As always your blogs capture the culture and life so well. I love reading them. Speaking of our world and yours, our Canadian prime minister Steven Harper is in China, his first visit there ever, even though he's been PM for a few years. Take care. Sounds like work and play are both great! Look forward to seeing you whenever you come thru our way. love sue