Blogs from Weishan, Shandong, China, Asia

One might think that Shandong would be the perfect place to eat Chinese food for breakfast, lunch and dinner. And it would be, I suppose, if I could read or speak some Chinese, but I cannot. Here, the menus are written in Chinese, not in English. Printed menus are often not available and even when they are, the Chinese text isn't accompanied by any helpful, color photographs showing a serving suggestion. This sure ain't P.F. Changs. I am clearly inept in ordering food here. Before I came to China, I predicted all sorts of culture shock, but never this. I have traveled far and wide and never run into a food-ordering problem before. In the past though, I was usually on some sort of hippie backpacker tourist trail in countries where English is the del facto ... read more

When walking to the school, I pass by oodles of small shops that are in the business of selling women's clothing. Most of these stores sell clothes for women in their 30's and 40's. I think I may have discovered their business model: Convince the customers that they've eliminated the effects of normal, age-related sagging and even their closest friends will be fooled, if only this stuff is purchased first. And everywhere I go, I see women wearing long, padded coats (with fur collars) and tall, leather boots with spiky heels. Personally, I think that this sort of attire changes an otherwise normal-looking women into one that looks like an active employee of a companion rental service with low hourly rates. Whether these products are actually fashionable is not for me to judge since women dress ... read more

In addition to regular classes, we offer an "English Club" for our students. English Club is held at the school on Friday nights for the Primary students and again on Saturday nights for the Middle school students. Attendance by the kids is purely voluntary; it is sort of a "value added" bonus that the students receive. It is designed to be fun. The kids get a seasonal-appropriate activity, tomfoolery and (thanks to me) a chance to watch vintage cartoons from the 1940's and 50's. In an effort to add a little bit of legitimacy, we ask the students to learn a handful of English words while they're there. I do not decide what the theme will be, that is entirely up to the Impossibly Adorable Roommates (IARs). Around Halloween, we carved Jack-o-Lanterns, learned how to extort ... read more

The weather has turned butt-cold at night. I am but a tender Californian and not used to temperatures below 68 degrees Fahrenheit. I wear my down jacket and fleece hat while gallivanting around town now, whereas before I would just wear my fleece jacket (and pants; I always wear pants). Despite bundling up, I have come down with a head cold once a week for the last few weeks. I finished my precious bottle of Nyquil and now just spend my days marveling at the endless supply of mucus. Of course, this is the infamous "cold and flu season", and I blame my illness on my students: those cute little rodents have turned out to be shameless germ carriers. "Infect the Foreign Teacher" is a game that we play during class and I always lose. What ... read more

Even out here in the hinterlands, American celebrations are lauded. To be certain, China has its share of holidays, but none of them involve candy or squash carving. Halloween is quite well-known here. How it became to be well-known exactly, I am not sure. The Impossibly Adorable Roommates (IARs) had already planned the Halloween celebration, and it was to occur in conjunction with our regular Friday night "English Club" gathering. Our students and their parents would be in attendance. All the preparation had been done; all I had to do was show up and represent large, English-speaking Americans. Have you ever translated something through Babelfish and tried to make sense of what came out the other end? That was what our Halloween party was like. The general idea was right, it's just that it just wasn't ... read more