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Published: April 16th 2007
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I think I probably learned as much, if not more, than my students today.
I learned that there is no Western breakfast here and if you want to eat, you eat Chinese breakfast. For me today that included what looked like rolls of light-fried bread, fried egg, rice soup and what looked like a hash brown pancake. No coffee and no tea for breakfast. Only soup as a liquid. That was a little difficult for me, but not insurmountable. The cantine is huge with a stage at the front. There is a "restricted" teachers' area but at breakfast we ate in the student area. It's all open anyway . . . just a wider aisle separates the two areas.
We walked to school this morning from my apartment. David (Chinese name Shu Fong) is my "baby-sitter". He is a very young administrator in the school and, poor man, has been designated to be my translator, guide, native bearer, and anything else that's needed. I promise to take pictures and include in later blogs of both the surroundings and the people I write about.
It's cold here and I didn't dress for it. And the school is colder
than the outside. But, my trusty pashmina has kept me from freezing to death (just barely).
The lecture began at 8.30 . . . Marketing in the global marketplace. Interestingly enough, while I could pull up the YouTube videos here in my apartment that were part (a very important part) of my lecture, I could not get them in the school network. Kind of makes you wonder . . .
A translator had been arranged for the lecture. He was very, very good but, unfortunately, was suffering from a cold. I know it was difficult for him but from what I could tell (!) he translated very accurately.
The students were mostly attentive and at least appeared interested. . . no one fell asleep that I could tell, anyway. They were very interested in how and what students studied at InHolland. My lecture was from 8.30 until 11.30. After a lunch at the canteen with all sorts of yummy things (it's hard to describe things you don't know the name of) including pork in vegetables, peanuts served as a vegetable, noodles and something else including beef, we reconvened. The students were placed in groups and I asked
them a question. They would confer and come to agreement about the answer and then one student from the group would stand up and tell the answer and why they came to their conclusion in English and in Chinese.
After the two "discussion" question session, we adjourned at 16.40. But not before photos. They had to have photos and, in fact, a photographer had been taking pictures all during the lecture. The students loved the fact that I came to sit with them to have pictures taken and we all had a good laugh. A good start to my lecture series, which has now turned into four instead of three. After dinner tonight representatives of the Tourism school came to ask if I would give a lecture Wednesday afternoon and, of course, I said yes. Who cares if I haven't prepared -- they're really interested my my hospitality industry experience and advice anyway and I need little preparation to recount those tales. No one has ever accused me of not being able to stand up and talk!
Then several teachers wanted to chat, so we did with the help of trusty David. We then went out to a Sichuan restaurant as I had said I liked Sichuan food. It wasn't as fancy as the restaurant last night, because tonight it was just us "working people". . . no managers. Everybody had lots of fun and, once again, hosted me as if I were visiting royalty. Spicy fish dish, yummy green beans, beef, noodles, pork and potatoes that are very thinly sliced and cooked with spices so that they are just the tiniest bit crunchy. Really, really good. Only a couple of "bottums-up" tonight and for that I was glad.
At 19.30, the teachers from tourism came to ask me to lecture Wednesday afternoon. By this time, I had been going 12 hours straight and was beginning to fade. They must have noticed as they stayed only long enough to get my commitment to the lecture and then left, bidding me a good sleep.
It's up again tomorrow at 6.00 and another round. I'll definitely dress warmer tomorrow, though the weather is supposed to be a bit better. Isn't it just my luck that Amsterdam is experiencing the warmest weather in history for this time of year!
There are fireworks going off tonight. It's a beautiful view out of the bay window in my bathroom. The apartment houses sit on the top of a hill looking out over the campus and surrounding area. I'll try to remember to ask tomorrow about them. There was also a night market by our restaurant but I was longing for a warm bed. I'm heading there now.
Tot morgen.
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