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Published: March 23rd 2006
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Crossing the street, Chinese style
Right of way goes to the larger so it is buses, trucks, cars, motorcycles, bicycles, pedestrians in that order. I am on the white line with the scooter headed toward me, I cross one lane at a time Week five has rolled around and we continue to find ourselves amazed, bewildered, and captivated by our experiences. Our students are energetic and engaged, working hard to make themselves understood in English, a language that he been mostly textbooks and language tapes for them until now.
They are seriously motivated to gain greater mastery of English, as they see it an important key to the future. Some number of them will end up in jobs having nothing to do with social work; they are in the department because they were offered an opportunity. The decision about what students go to what schools is guided by the winner take all exam held each July. We have already heard of several undergraduate students who have been offered positions in sales once they graduate this summer.
Eli joined us last weekend and that has opened up some new possibilities. We learned, for example, that the restaurant that we had passed each day without a clue as to its provenance, turns out to be a “Northwestern” style cuisine, with some great choices for vegetarian options, thick cut noodles, a Ma Pa Dofu with a twist, and wonderful cold salads. He is doing very
Meat stand
Notice the little piggy! well and has offered us encouragement to our work and our connections with our students. He and Ellen are off to Shenzhen for two days, checking up on some of the contacts made there over the past two years among the migrant worker community. His friend Christian (Calais, VT) has been in Beijing for the past year or so and will be joining us this weekend; it will be good to get a dose of 24 year olds to re-focus our attention.
Our Chinese lessons continue and our progress is slow but steady. We now have tapes for one of the books we are using (Thanks to Roy, our intrepid teacher) and it allows for greater exposure to the intricacies of tones. Although we are not learning to read characters, I find myself attracted to them and trying to master one or two a day (with little success). One cannot help but wonder of the neurological consequences of a language that uses the type of visual representation that Chinese employs and what other affects a mastery of the system must bring about. I have read an account of a student of Chinese, good intermediate skills who talked of his
trouble reading a newspaper, needing to look up many characters each day. He had an experience of stopping in some foreign owned business and found a Spanish language newspaper there. Having never taken one day of Spanish lessons, this native English speaker was able to pick up the paper and get a good gist of what was being reported!
Our understanding of the Chinese political context deepens. The most progressive and democratically oriented statements have come out of the recently concluded National People’s Congress, rights for all, end of corruption, need to balance the earning of money with the protection of those less well off, etc. It is a bit of socialist realism, perhaps stating things as they would like them to be, setting some benchmark or standard for the future. No one actually believes that because there are laws offering all sorts of protection that it means anything to the citizenry. And yet, people do not seem cynical about it. Time after time, when we ask our students to offer solutions to social problems around them, they inevitably hold out hope that the government will take the lead.
We are reminded that much of what we see
Sleeping student
This was during the short break we give students during our class in Chinese social and political venues is a reflection of thousands of years of philosophy and ideology. The penchant for order, the desires for “knowing ones place” are direct descendants from Confucius and Taoist thought. What happened to Buddhism… we have been told, it’s mostly there as a ritual for some old folks to connect with practices of the ancestors.
Speaking of socialist realism… for the most part bathrooms are clean but offer little but cold water to wash your hands. From time to time, there will be a soap dispenser, but never any soap. Today, while out on a walk, I had the need for a WC. Looming on the horizon, like a beacon, was a Mickey D. I strode in purposefully, found the WC and found SOAP and DRYERS to tidy myself after the act. Leave it to McD to bring the socialist realism into the world of reality!!
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Jean Stacey
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Where can I find out more
My sister sent your blog to me -- I would love to read earlier versions (I am looking at May 23) but do not know how to find them. Also am interested in learning of ways to live in China and teach English while studying tai chi chuan. Do you have any ideas? Your page has the most interesting information and photos of any of those I've seen tonight! Thank you.