Cross Cultural Understandings

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Juliet: "What's in a name? That which we call a rose / By any other name would smell as sweet." Romeo and Juliet (II, ii, 1-2)



In Jinhua, the fruit we call a mandarin (the official language of the PRC) is an orange, the kiwi fruit is a monkey peach and the wok (funny foreign name!) in my kitchen is a frying pan, obviously!

Innovations in teaching come in many forms. When invited to read the dialogue to the beginners class, I led the teacher to the platform, grabbed 2 books of the correct colours to match the dialogue, and we role played it. The round of applause from the kids was worthy of a Bell Shakespeare performance, animated discussion in Tibetan followed the encore, and the ensuing pair practices were animated and complete with the passing of many coloured objects. The students went semi willingly to the teachers platform, passed the correct coloured books and were heartily applauded for their gala perfomances. The next day, the teacher begged sick, and asked that I not join her lesson.

Half of one reading room at the Zheijiang Normal University Library is dedicated to it's English collection, which consists of specialist text books with vocabulary and practice examples for every course and exam I had never considered might exist. The English entrance exam for the Police, Civil Service, Interpreters Profession, IELTS, Cambridge ad nauseum. There are also compendiums of extracts from songs, poems, short stories and novels. However, searching for entire texts was needle in haystackish. Wenyan, Dushen and I managed to locate one bilingual copy of "Wind in the Willows", and extremely well thumbed multiple copies of Jane Eyre, Tess of the D'Urbevilles and the Hounds of the Baskervillles. I brought home one of two copies of Book 5 of a bilingual Dream of Red Mansions. The first two chapters remind me so much of Tales of Genji, that I fear this will be my Chinese nemesis (Kasumi san / Naoko san, I still have not finished the Uji section!)

Respect For the Elderly Day saw me visiting the small village hometown of my Vice Principal. While lunch was being cooked, 14 y.o. Lingbo, Mr Tong and myself went for a walk through the rice and cotton fields surrounding the village. After a fantastic homecooked lunch, where I once again was complemented on my use of chopsticks, I was asked if I needed a short rest. The third mention of the topic was not a question, but a statement: we will all take an afternoon nap now. I was informed that I would be the first person to use the newly redecorated guest room in the villa. I was then shown to the double bed, by the 14 year old, who promptly curled up next to me and went to sleep for the two hours that the household had a Sunday afternoon nap. Fragrant Olive (flowers) filled dumplings were then served, and a tour of the old town rounded off a delightful day.

Watching new release spy thriller "The Expatriate" under the stars, with 3600 senior high students was very informative. The violence was mostly cheered by the boys, and cringed at by the girls. A vocal wave of horror from the entire audience came when the protagonist opened body bags in a morgue, looking for his murdered companions. The only kiss of the movie (and a tame one it was), was met by choruses of disbelief and disgust that I usually associate with 9 year old kids at home. A purring silver Porsche sportscar, and a lithe, athletic bellydancer in the French film that followed provoked the highest approval ratings. I spent some time sitting on the ground up the back, playing circle games alot like duck, duck goose with the Year 12's who preferred to be sociable, than watch movies. The really naughty boys had slipped away and were playing basketball at the unlit courts nearby.

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Photos

Mandarins
Or are they oranges?

English Text Books
From Zhejiang University Library

Cotton Fields
Mr Tong and Family with his hometown in the background

Buddhist Pagoda
Tucked away in the back streets of Huzhen

Moonlit Cinema
Disappointed mutterings greeted the Chinese overdubbed soundtrack, the kids think English with subtitles is better.

Comments

[Jen]

Sunday afternoons
loved the compulsory afternoon nap and the concept 'respect for the elderly day' - what do the locals define as 'elderly'?

[paid to travel]

Define Elderly
Well women must retire at 55 and men at 60, so I am guessing that we are getting close to elderly! Grey hair definitely is an indicator.

[Trees]

so similar to my indonesian cultural experiences
wow i thought i was back in singaraja bali for a few brief moments..... similarities include students embracing to a certain extent with roleplays 'out the front.... dissimilarity if there is such a word....some of the teachers loved the role playing and we had many laughs about the english books that we were having to work from!!! grammar that was built on the indonesian language model...fascinating....... look forward to an indepth conversation at some point. And the library?! the same.....Oh well its not soooo diff over here in the indonesian section.....great to read your blog......: ))) ps yes compulsory naps....so sensible really

[Vicki]

How's your Mandarin going?
Hi Jacinta, Thanks for another great post. I'm wondering how your Mandarin (language, not orange!) is progressing. Or are you talking to others mainly in English? Is Mandarin the main language of instruction, or a dialect? I'm assuming it's all English in your classes, but what about in your day-to-day interactions? When you go shopping for Mandarins for example?

[Margie [e-mail]]

Thanks
Enjoying your entries and admiring your courage to leave your comfort zone. Thanks for the education and entertainment. Cheers from Tonto Valley

[paid to travel]

5 Star Comfort
Hey Tonto Roaders, While you gals have a magnificent view of kangaroos and gum trees, I am enjoying Shanghai skyline from 5 Star Hotel. Not in the same league, I know, as any sane person would swap views. Much love to you both.