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Published: September 2nd 2009
Well I'm moved in. The city of Shenzhen is divided into seven districts; my district is Bao An. It's outside the special economic zone, so it is less metropolitan. Bao An contains a number of smaller cities. I live in Guan Lan: a city of about 40,000. I'm teaching at Guan Lan Middle School. My friend Adam teaches at Guan Lan Second Middle School. So far (two weeks), no other non-Chinese have been discovered within a thirty minute bus ride.
My apartment is actually pretty big. I think it is usually shared by two Chinese teachers, but my contract specifies that I can only live with foreigners. They were nice enough to cement a western toilet over the squat one. Just dump a bucket of water down the tank and you get a great flush.
I am teaching the Chinese equivalent of 6th graders and freshmen (junior 1 and senior 1). I don't know how the school came to that decision, but i suspect it has something to do with the fact that they are the only two levels whose class total equals fifteen, which is the maximum amount of classes I can teach. So far I've taught three junior classes and three seniors. Every class has over sixty kids. They have never had a foreign teacher. You can tell by the way the all say "whoa" in chorus when you walk into the classroom.
It's easy. seriously. Adam (at Guan Lan Second Middle) told me his kids were hellions. He had a junior 1 kid yell Chinese in his face. He made students come to the front of class and face the blackboard. My students sometimes talk too loudly. I tell them to quiet down. Or, what's even more effective, just stare at them. I know I can't be this lucky, so its enjoyable, but there's something very ominous about it.
Okay, answers to questions. Mostly submitted by Steve Bryztwa.
1. Starfish tastes like fish.
2. I'm near a McDonald's and a KFC. The McDonald's kind of sucks, but KFC is really good (better than the states). I have also eaten at a "western" fast food restaurant which featured a value meal that pictured a coke, some fries, and a duck (yes, the whole duck ).
3. I throw the toilet paper in my special toilet paper trash can. Then I lug it across campus to throw it in the dumpster.
4. I have been shown the two English language channels about a dozen times. They are broadcasted from Hong Kong. The Chinese channels are more entertaining.
5. I don't remember how long the flight was. 16-20 hours. I slept a lot. One of my favorite experiences was the 26 hour train ride from Beijing to Shenzhen. I got to see a lot of Chinese countryside.
6. I don't use flashcards. I use really bad grammar. To ask a random Chinese lady what kind of sauce is good for frozen dumplings, I said "shen1me chi1 hao3" and waved my dumplings at the food aisle. I later realized that this translates to "what eats good?", not "what is good to eat?". Still got good sauce.
7. My croquet trophy was left in the care of Dad so that it can be competed for this year. I am looking forward to making a triumphant return next year or the year after or whenever I'm in the states around Christmas.
8. I am not getting a bike since there is nowhere to go within bike riding distance. It's a bus or nothing. If I did get a bike I would probably not get one of the ones that are powered by the propane tank strapped to the side. (A real propane tank, exactly like the one on your grill.)
9. I went to the great wall. It was surreal.
10. Yes, I do have more than one kid named Michael Jackson in my classes. I also have a Vince, a Carter, a Bryant, an Allen Iverson, and a Lebron James Huang. Three kids sitting next to each other chose Five, Six and Seven. I have a Big Bear and a Table (direct translation of his Chinese name). The girls seem to prefer really cutesy names like Yoyo, Cherry, and Hucky or names that I cannot figure out where they came from but are definitely not English, like Perche or Vvrina.
You may have noticed I uploaded some really bad pictures of me at the Great Wall (hey, I didn't take them) and a picture of my Beijing Training Class in which I look much smaller than Chinese children for some reason.
Okay, more on the city next time.
John-Seth
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Deborah
non-member comment
Yay!
"Mostly submitted by Steve Bryztwa." BWAH! That made me laugh and laugh and laugh. Steve and Jalaine had their baby yesterday. That's all I know so far. Thanks for the updated blog and the pictures. I really enjoyed reading your little anecdotes about life in China. You must keep updating us and giving us a little peek into your adventures. You should also start taking pictures of fun things like the duck value menu to share with those of us in the boring old U.S.A. Stay safe!