http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Jiangxi/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Asia , China , Jiangxi en-us Sat, 26 Jul 2008 21:03:49 BST Sat, 26 Jul 2008 21:03:49 BST Well there we have it the end of another term and with a bit of luck I just might be off to Nanjing to take part in a further teachertraining programme to hone and improve my own teaching skills. In fact I was asked in an interview today for Nanchang TV 1 and Nanchang Evening News what improvements I would like to see in Nanchangrsquos education system. One improvement I would like to see i http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Jiangxi/Nanchang/Xin-Jian/blog-289586.html Britainrsquos education system was still suffering from chaos in the early 1970s with local authorities with the help of successive governments striving to abandon the postwar Tripartite system. The rejection of the concept and implementation of the tripartite education system started from as early as the late 1950s and has left a bitter legacy in Britain. Comprehensive education though po http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Jiangxi/Nanchang/Xin-Jian/blog-285733.html Irsquove just had my world rocked today if what a young Indian man told me is correct. Apparently drugs including heroin cocaine Ecstasy and many others are freely available in Nanchangrsquos somewhat seedy and sometimes respectable nightlife venues should you wish to purchase them. I am particularly shocked that heroin is available and that there are enough people with money to buy co http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Jiangxi/Nanchang/Xin-Jian/blog-283288.html I was actually hoping to have a rest from writing on my blog for a while but I had a short but intense conversation with a student today whom set me thinking. The student surprised me because she was taking an oral English exam and was performing well enough but just before the end of the exam she launched into what can only be described as party propaganda and any sense she had previously sh http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Jiangxi/Nanchang/Xin-Jian/blog-281120.html Please access the link to view the carrying of the torch. Alternatively you can click on the video icon below.The Olympic Torch in Nanchang John Nanchang China number 185 http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Jiangxi/Nanchang/Xin-Jian/blog-277092.html Nanchang hosts a number of hospitals in close proximity with each other in the centre of town. Hospitals have names but tend to have names like Peoplersquos Hospital Number 1 or Peoplersquos Hospital Number 3 for example. Some hospitals are better than others in terms of quality and health care but in China you get what you pay for or what is available when you are ill. There are also some s http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Jiangxi/Nanchang/Xin-Jian/blog-274688.html Jiangxi is in the process of implementing a new retirement policy for foreign English teachers which is a little puzzling as to the intended improvement of Jiangxirsquos education system though this change has already happened in other provinces. It is being suggested that foreign teachers should retire at the age of 60 although a Chinese interlocutor might interject here to suggest that a http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Jiangxi/Nanchang/Xin-Jian/blog-270856.html Like George Bowlingrsquos delusions about his own worth in Orwellrsquos Coming Up For Air I though my university degree would propel me higher in society. George Bowling fought in the First World War as an ordinary soldier but because of the warrsquos high death rate he was promptly promoted to officer rank a position hitherto unthought of. The totality of the war smashed through most o http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Jiangxi/Nanchang/Xin-Jian/blog-269224.html Teaching oral English to Chinese students in Nanchang Jiangxi is a strange beast to tame. I am left with a nebulous perplexity at the perception of foreign teachers by Chinese students who at best have suggested that foreign teachers can help them with the pronunciation of English words not least provide them with a definition of a difficult word on demand as carrying a dictionary around i http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Jiangxi/Nanchang/Xin-Jian/blog-268640.html Ok folks back again with a little update on the goingson here in China.I donrsquot even really know how to express it but everyday I am pretty much awed at the incredibly deep network of cosmicmetaphysicalotherworldy concepts that Chinese people can hook into at any moment.For example when I asked my class of hip hop tshirt wearing MP3 player listening students whether or not they believ http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Jiangxi/Ganzhou/blog-268313.html I had an interesting chat with some students today in a quiet place on campus. We chatted generally on the subject of ldquoemotionsrdquo but soon ended up talking about girlfriends and boyfriends. Interestingly students often talk about their ldquoloverrdquo or the lover they are hoping to find though this notion is translated directly from Chinese by all accounts lover in Chinese http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Jiangxi/Nanchang/Xin-Jian/blog-267330.html The car came to a halt outside at what was to be my digs for the following two years just as darkness had successfully took charge of the evening leaving an oppressive motionless heat. I looked eagerly out of the car window and my eyes fell upon a shadowy featureless square block of a building which had an authentic Russian 1950s look about it though I knew the USSR had played a large pa http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Jiangxi/Nanchang/Xin-Jian/blog-264654.html Ask what Chinese students want to do with their life these days and yoursquoll elicit one sure answer they want to be rich. Several times I have tried to generate a sensible discussion or a reasonable outlook from students on things such as job satisfaction making the most of what theyrsquore good at and what should one do with onersquos life but each time the conversation has very q http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Jiangxi/Nanchang/Xin-Jian/blog-262829.html Despite many protests from disgruntled apprehensive parents and concerned social commentators the changes that were introduced in Britainrsquos education system in the 60s and 70s were for the most part I think a success. Though the spirit of the Enlightenment has always pulled the British education system in a forwardthinking direction which is why I shudder when lsquothe business wor http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Jiangxi/Nanchang/Xin-Jian/blog-261193.html Like other English children I attended fulltime education from the tender age of four although I went to a local nursery school before this. Nursery schools were set up during the Second World War to allow parents to contribute to an allimportant war economy and in the early sixties some nurseries were still knocking around. They were free of charge to attend and had an educational basis t http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Jiangxi/Nanchang/Xin-Jian/blog-259439.html Pictures of Ganzhou. I know the apartment pictures aren't very exciting but I wanted to put them up to help entice the handful of you who are thinking about visiting...20 things to do in Ganzhou1. Ride bumper cars and go on the highfly rat roller coaster.2.Go tea tasting.3.See live music and dancing at the champs elysees club.4.Have snakewine and endangered Tibetan antelope ribs.5.Get a tsh http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Jiangxi/Ganzhou/blog-259142.html At the age of eighteen I had a stroke of luck by spotting something that I came to enjoy. My sister used to be a leader at the local church brigade which was a kind of club that organised different kinds of activities for children of all ages supported by the church. Church brigades and similar organisations such as the Scouts Brownies Sea Cadets Army Cadets and R.A.F. Cadets provide oppo http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Jiangxi/Nanchang/Xin-Jian/blog-257349.html I am a tidy person who likes everything in its place if truth were told although some people with a penchant for psychoanalysis might accuse me of being a tad analretentive at times. I mention this because I teach writing to two classes of secondyear students but there is one aspect to this that irritates the life out of me. Namely the confusion or the misunderstanding of how a letter shou http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Jiangxi/Nanchang/Xin-Jian/blog-256941.html The West these days is often accused of perpetuating excessive individualism fuelled not least with the onslaught of credit consumerism which is a recent phenomenon but is that a fair accusation Well there may be some truth in that but Western individualism is often contrasted with the political and social systems that are purported to take place in socialist countries. A recently employe http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Jiangxi/Nanchang/Xin-Jian/blog-255314.html It has been a very busy week this week although I think I am just about getting into my stride now and looking forward to a productive term. Even though I have been busy I have still managed to find time to ponder for a while on the nature of teaching styles partly due to reminiscing on a distant if not vague memory from a novel I read a long time ago. The novel was entitled Deal Souls writt http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Jiangxi/Nanchang/Xin-Jian/blog-253927.html As foreign teachers we are never invited to be part of the input for the planning of lessons. We simply receive our timetables usually within a day or two of the first day of term and instructed to get on with it. Making sense of the first week of teaching is an acquired skill born of experience. Though to be fair here at my college many foreign teachers are simply passing through on their http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Jiangxi/Nanchang/blog-249477.html My wifersquos parentrsquos son has found himself a wife and they have a beautiful daughter and seem to be very happy together which for me as a westerner just being happy with your spouse is the most important thing. Though very typically in China his parents originally tried to introduce a girl whom they thought was very suitable for him which is a very normal activity in China. I might http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Jiangxi/Nanchang/Wan-An/blog-248090.html The relatively short journey to my wifersquos hometown by bus was made worse this year with the atrocious weather China has experienced this winter. This winter has been the worst in China for the past fifty years. My wife and I booked the tickets a few days in advance but our first attempt at travelling was after the worse night of snow and ice. Trees electric pylons and their cables were http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Jiangxi/Nanchang/Wan-An/blog-247383.html I finally watched the film lsquoLost in Translationrsquo yesterday which I thought was quite a remarkable film despite most of my friends telling me that it was boring. Though yesterday I was suffering from a cold when I watched it wrapped up in my sleeping bag on my sofa nursing a headache while protecting myself from the freezing temperatures outside. I was a captive audience.There http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Jiangxi/Nanchang/Xin-Jian/blog-247055.html As soon as my wife and I arrived at her family home situated in a small town not far from the city we were met by most of her family who were eager to see if our little niece would begin to cry when she saw me again. Q. didnrsquotrsquo disappoint and after staring for a moment or two at my foreign face burst into tears and cried for her mother while the family laughed and encouraged her no http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Jiangxi/Nanchang/Xin-Jian/blog-246469.html First daySpring festival time is usually a time of rest and enjoyment but increasingly various schools colleges and institutions are running winter English camps mainly for college students to improve their English usually their speaking and practical skills. Some camps are better than others and some are simply exercises to extract as much money from students as possible while offering poor http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Jiangxi/Nanchang/Xin-Jian/blog-237842.html China is experiencing many changes not least with the way pay and promotion and generally how business is improved. Chinese people are keen to learn new things in this area and can often see merit in western examples which can be interpreted as more dynamic. A class of car workers on an English Summer Camp I taught on gave a presentation to me on how they would set up their own business it w http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Jiangxi/Nanchang/Xin-Jian/blog-236347.html Not much happening presently in my life to blog about to be honest. Irsquove finished teaching but my wife has had to continue to go to work because her university is also seeking to upgrade its status so many preparations have to be put in place so I've kind of been stuck at home. Itrsquos not raining at the moment but itrsquos been threatening to rain for a day or two and there is ev http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Jiangxi/Nanchang/Xin-Jian/blog-235117.html Irsquom actually on holiday presently as my teaching term has finished although as my wifersquos university is soon to be having an official government inspection for possible upgrading shersquos is working above and beyond what is normally expected for this time of year. Indeed she may have only seven days holiday if the leaders deem more effort and preparation necessary. Of course http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Jiangxi/Nanchang/Xin-Jian/blog-232783.html