Observations

I have been in China for 4 months now, and I realized today how many things I no longer notice as being different from things in America. Before I become any more desensitized to these differences, I want to record them.

Afternoon card games: The older men and ladies especially sit outside in the afternoons and play card games. I am not always sure what they are playing, but usually it involves 3 or 4 players and a special deck of cards. Some of them also play mahjong, a Chinese game that involves special Chinese dominoes.

Neighborhood: In general, a lot of the older people and their grandchildren hang around outside during the day. I think it is because it is much warmer in the sun that it is in their apartments. They will sit around with their grandchild and knit, talk to the other grandparents, peel vegetables, play games, or push their grandchild in a stroller. They are all very kind and will greet us in simple Chinese. About 80% of these older people are women and only about 20% are men.

Cheap, delicious fruit: The fruit here is really cheap and so delicious. I can buy about 6 large oranges for the equivalent of 20 cents. It’s wonderful, and so sweet. Also, there is a large variety of fruit here—fruit that I never even knew existed in the states such as bite sized oranges that you do not need to peel or big, yellow grapefruits that are sweeter than pink grapefruits.

Out to Dry: Because there are no dryers and few washing machines, most people wash their clothes by hand and hang them outside or on their porch to dry. It reminds me of summer time as a child when mom would hang our laundry on the clothesline.
Noises: There are a lot more noises here in our city than anywhere I’ve lived in America. People will set off firecrackers at all times of the day to celebrate something or to remember someone has just passed away. Also, the vehicles honk their horns A LOT. I think it has to do with the traffic rules being more like suggestions. He who honks the loudest has the right of way in China. Other noises include stores that play their music loudly into the street with big speakers. Finally, right beside our apartment is a technical college that plays all varieties of music early in the morning and around meal times. I don’t even need my alarm clock.

Six Hour Hair

I am not sure how my hair-do took 6 hours, but in fact it did. It started with a wash. After they washed it and blow-dried it, they put chemical all over the hair on just the top middle pieces of the hair. Next, they put on ionic perm—this sat on my hair for almost an hour. Next, they washed out the chemical and then dried my hair, and pulled each individual strand straight with a straightener—this took over an hour. Next, they put in kinky coils (which looked like wire cleaners) in several small sections of my hair. I knew this was not a good idea (getting wire cleaners twisted in our hair after it had just been made straight) but the lady I was with assured me that it would be okay because they had just finished doing this process in her hair. Yes, it was okay--if you like the crimped look—it’s great!! Even this lady was quite surprised by the end result of the pipe cleaners in our hair. Basically, our hair is stick straight except for about one inch of our hair right below the top layer where there is a kinky, mini perm. It’s a unique style, and it’s very original.

Pronunciation Fatigue

It is quite interesting teaching pronunciation classes since I never learned to speak using this method. When I learned my sounds back when I was two, I obviously did not use the phonetic alphabet. In fact, most native speakers don’t even really know what the phonetic alphabet is. Before this semester, I was one of those who had little respect for the phonetic alphabet, but let me tell you that after teaching the sounds to a group of ambitious freshman students, I realize the value it plays in helping students pronounce their sounds. Teaching these pronunciation classes is some intense teaching. The students are constantly (in a good way) asking how their pronunciation is with this sound and how they can better make the distinction between the “e” and the “a.” During group work, they have me listen to their pronunciation or better yet have me listen to their partner’s pronunciation who they often say is pronouncing the sound wrong. One student asked me why the way I pronounced the sound was different than the way her Chinese teacher pronounced the sound. Actually I had no idea how to respond to that question wihtout causing either her teacher or myself to lose face, but I think I said something about different accents. In the States during group work, I would walk leisurely around the classroom, ask a few students who looked confused some questions to make sure they understood and then just relax a little. Not here—these students make me work for every minute of teaching. At the end of the periods, I am exhausted, and it’s all I can do to make it out the door and pop in a piece of sweet, sugary candy to coat my tired little throat.

Not a Poet, and I Know It

My eyes quickly scan the box of treasures from a foreign land.
Inside, I find comforts of home
pure chocolate, cards with English, shampoo for Caucasians
all safe within plastic sacks as they wait for their unveiling
On the packing, I can faintly smell you.
I hoped to find you within.
But some things are not so easily sent.

at the Hospital

Yesterday was my first experience at a Chinese hospital. It went like this: After not being able to keep food down yesterday, spanning into this morning, I decided it was time to visit the hospital.
Our school contact walked with me and our team leader over to the hospital. The 10 minute walk had never seemed so long in my life. People were clearly looking at us and probably wondering what was going on with the foreigner. Our school contact told me quite simply that the problem was the changing weather and the fact that I was not wearing enough clothes—the apparent cause for most illnesses in China.
Finally, we made it to our campus’ hospital. The “hospital” consists of about 5 rooms in the lower level in one of the dormitories.
We walked into a small room, and there behind the desk was the doctor—no preliminaries here. He asked me what was hurting, had me take my temperature, and then asked what kind of medicine I wanted. Um, I really did not know what kind of medicine I want—whatever will do the trick.
After a few minutes of discussion between the doctor and our school contact, it was decided that I should have an IV with saline and then take a rest.
Apparently, an IV is the preferred treatment for most illnesses. So, I went to another room with about 4 beds, each 2 feet apart. There were about 3 other people in this room who were receiving similar “treatments” as I was about to get.
The nurse did her best to find my vein, but I was pretty dehydrated, so it was not a very smooth stick. She had to call for reinforcements. I almost puked and fainted at the same time, but luckily I was able to hold it all together. The doctor came in several times at the beginning to check on me. He was smoking.

Just to Clarify

The dog picture was taken outside the front of the restaurant. I have not eaten or served any dog yet—and I will do my best to refrain—it should be easy.

Also, the word that the student asked about—I have no idea how to even reproduce it here—it might have been a proper noun—it started with an “M. . and had some combination of the following letters. . a. q.. u. . I . . p. . . It might have been a small town in Europe, and no it was not the word for “masquerade” as one of my team-mates suggested. Any ideas?

My friend (also teaching with the same organization) has a cool sight with great pictures.
She teaches in the North of China.
Check it out:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chinalove/

English Corner

This evening, our school held its first official English corner for this semester. English corner is an event where students gather with the purpose of practicing their English speaking skills. For me, it was a kind of slow torture. I had been dreading the evening the entire week-end. Luckily, I came prepared with a list of questions that I could ask students if their questions started to become rehearsed: “Can you use chopsticks? Where have you traveled in China? Can you speak Chinese? How can I improve my oral English? etc.” But the problem was this—the groups were randomized, and every 10 minutes a new freshman would pop into our group, ask my name in the middle of a conversation, and then give some canned compliment like, “You look so beautiful tonight.” I think I saw the sophomore students roll their eyes a couple of times in response to the freshman.

So, after I would ask a question to steer the conversation, two of the more outgoing students would answer, and then someone would ask me what I thought about the question, and after I gave my opinion, the conversation would die or a new freshman would suddenly pop into the group.
Perhaps the most stressful moment, was when a student who was not even in the conversation, jumped in our group and asked me how to pronounce a word that I have never seen before. A huge loss of face on my part when I told her I could not pronounce it. A few minutes later, a freshman student told me that I looked very “charming and childish.” Great—not exactly the image I am going for. I want to be a wise sage, not a pre-schooler who can’t even pronounce words in her native language.

Dumpling Delight

Earlier this Fall, my friend taught me how to make dumplings... from scratch.

Meat Pocket Lady

This is one of our favorite street vendors. Her and her husband sell delicious little pockets filled with meat and pickled spices. The price is right too--a small pocket for 1 yuan and a large pocket for 1.5 yuan (7.5 yuan = $1).

Dog on Table

Dog Days of Winter?

With the coming Winter comes some seasonal dishes here in Hengyang such as dog. That's right-the restaurant at the back gate is now serving fresh dog. I had my suspicious last week when I walked by and saw a caged dog across from the restaurant. I looked over at the restaurant and saw a man sitting beside what looked like a roasted pig--only it was smaller--and there was no apple in its mouth. And upon a second glance, it looked an awful lot like a dog. It seemed as though thte man sitting beside the roasted dog had a smirk on his face. The next morning when I was walking by the restaurant, my suspicious were confirmed when a lady was skinning a dead dog in a tub of water. Stay tuned for a picture of the roasted dog (not for the dog lovers or faint-hearted).