Blogs from Jining, Shandong, China, Asia - page 2

I once wrote the following: ...I'm still going to China. Everyone's been telling me, Just go to China. I have thus decided that--since I spent $329 on a Chinese visa--I will still head to Jining. I probably won't stay for a year, though--I'm thinking till September. Just long enough to avoid Cambodia's hot season, rainy season, and dengue fever. I'll reassess China (my city, my school, my personal growth, my linguistic capabilities), and if I like it, I will stay. If I'd rather hang out with the awesome folks in Indochina, then I'll come back down here to Cambodia (which seems to happen with LanguageCorps students more often than you might expect). That's a plan, right??? I passionately, fanatically want to go back to Cambodia now. But first I will present my reassessment. You might find ... read more

The message you are about to read is top secret. Do not share this with the general public. Do not let anyone see you reading this. Do not share this file with the FBI. Do not pass go. Do not collect two hundred dollars. You are holding in your hands a secret. A terrible secret. A secret so grim, so warped in its bearing, that I can scarcely bring myself to tell you of its existence. It's a secret I have stumbled across, quite by accident, quite to my own detriment. In short, I have discovered the world's conspiracy to destroy Leeza. Over the last two weeks, I have survived near amputation of my foot, a second bout of food poisoning, rejection by all my peers, and this morning, AN ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT. The first one you ... read more

I mostly teach small children, ages 5 to 10 I would estimate. These are generally lower-level/higher-energy classes and really aren't that much fun if you are as non-energetic and overly-verbose as I am. I am privileged, however, to have one upper-intermediate class, for whom I live and breathe. This is my last class of the week, by which time I am literally too exhausted to teach adequately anymore. And this is not a problem, because the class should be doing most of the talking at this point! And do we have our laughs together! One time, we improv'd a series of interactions in a store. One of the students played a "rude customer" facing a "bored employee" and a "shy manager". I am in hysterics right now remembering this as I write. You are not, because ... read more

So when I was a kid, I celebrated Mothers' Day with great zeal. (I've forgotten about it of late. I didn't even know it was Mothers' Day this year. Until after Mothers' Day.) I would buy a gift and chocolates and sometimes serve my mom breakfast in bed. Fathers' Day I celebrated somewhat less--I would generally give my stepfather a card, and maybe call my real father in Britain. But upon reflection, it begged the question: Why is there no Children's Day? After all, kids are routinely bossed around, aren't told critical bits of information about life, are barred from doing any number of things, are forced into state-mandated institutions eight hours a day, relegated to parental property under Federal law, and certainly not accorded the constitutional rights my country holds so dear. You'd think they ... read more

I finish some of my lesson plans and put on clothes, make up and shoes. I head out the door to work (note, not to classes but to work). On my way down to the English school, I am approached by a woman on a bicycle. She jumps off and starts slow-walking next to me, the whole time carrying on a rapid conversation in Chinese. Woman: "Do you ?" Self: "No speaky." Woman: "Blah blah blah. Do you ?" Self: *shrugs noncomittally. Grins at woman noncomittally.* Woman: "You ." Smiles up at Self. Self: *shrugs* : "I dunno." Woman: : "You know China?" Self: "No." Woman: "Ah...Do you . *Repeat entire conversation for two excruciating blocks.* Finally, I make it to the school. I have a demo tonight, which basically is a sample of the things ... read more