Blogs from Jining, Shandong, China, Asia

When last you heard from me, I was holed up in a hotel and in a state of total outrage. The school had 24 hours to solve my water crisis. And, actually, they did, at least by about 90%. I moved into a new apartment which is about the size of our house in Cincinnati. Hardwood floors, a living room with two couches, a kitchen sink with warm water, etc. The internet works faster than my other apartment. Nice place except for the lack of a functioning fridge. If I had known that throwing a big stink would get me these sort of arrangements, I would have done it a lot sooner. The thing is, though... The thing is. I hadn't been here for three days, when I received a knock on the door. Some people ... read more

I is an English teacher now. Today will be my third day of teaching, and I am starting to get the hang of it. (OK, not really.) Putting the kids at ease, making them laugh and helping them with their pronunciation is not a problem; I seem to have natural teaching ability. After all, I was severely reprimanded in the fifth grade for being the "class buffoon". There are, of course, obstacles that are a challenge. For example, cultural habits that inhibit individuality and independent thought are one of the roadblocks for the Western teachers here. These kids have always learned by rote; they have always recited as a group. In Berkeley "schools", it was the exact opposite. I am drawing a lot from my history as a bored pupil, my general distrust of teachers and ... read more

YES!! I have the POWER! I have finally obtained a set of wheels with which I may navigate the illustrious city of Jining! You can see the picture of it over there, faithfully docked in the walkway. It's not mine. Actually, it used to belong to a coworker, but he took off after summer term and left the bike sitting in the back room at school. I was awarded my Octoberly mooncakes and a 5kg tankard of cooking oil, and having no other way to get them home, I simply put them in the bike's basket, took the keys, and sailed on home. You don't really forget how to ride a bike, but when you haven't ridden in five years and have 11 pounds of oil klonking around in the basket beneath your handlebars, steering becomes ... read more

Finally...FINALLY...after living in Jining for upwards of six months, and never once bothering to explore the city...I finally explored the city. Seeing my impending status as a quitter of Jining, and having a fellow couchsurfer come down to the city, I knew the opportunity to explore was ripe. I might have learned the city earlier, Dubai-style, by taking buses to the back of beyond and then returning...but when the city's main attraction points are the ferris wheel and the coal-fired power plant...when just walking around outside is an excruciating rendez-vous with public embarrassment...and when you can't really defend yourself with language...well, I didn't really have any incentives to do it earlier. But I did yesterday! I showed my guest around town, and in the process learned a few things about my city. For instance, we discovered ... read more

Morning is an important time of day, because how you spend your morning can often tell you what kind of day you are going to have. For instance if you wake up to the sound of twittering birds, and find yourself in an enormous canopy bed, with a butler standing next to you holding a breakfast of freshly made muffins and hand-squeezed orange juice on a silver tray, you will know that your day will be a splendid one. If you wake up to the sound of church bells, and find yourself in a fairly big regular bed, with a butler standing next to you holding a breakfast of hot tea and toast on a plate, you will know that your day will be O.K. And if you wake up to the sound of somebody banging ... read more