Our Holiday Plans

We will be finishing up the term this week and will then enjoy a break until the middle of February. It's great teaching at a university! We had not intended to do anything exciting. The Spring Festival time is very very busy for traveling because that's the one time each year that everyone goes home. Spending Chinese New Year with one's family is very important. But imagine the whole country moving around at the same time! Last year, because of the storm, many people didn't make it home. It was big news around the world. I remember watching CNN in Mexico and heard the sad stories. One student recently told me that he hadn't seen his father for 2 years because of the storm:(

Well, I'm happy to say that we will be spending Chinese New Year with our family. Yup, thanks to Sam (our lifeline here in China), we got great deals so we will be heading home for just over 3 weeks in the middle of January. See you all soon! J xoxo

Sunday Morning Exam.

Think back to your university days, now imagine that your prof. tells you that the exam will be on the weekend. Now imagine that it will be on Sunday morning at 8:00 A.M. Let me paint the picture for you, the temperature was -4C with a windchill of minus -14C. As I walked to the classroom to give the exam I was surprised to see groups of students playing basketball at 7:30 on a Sunday morning in that cold. I was equally surprised to see a steady stream of students heading over to the library to get an early start on the days work. No resting on the seventh day here.

I brought my $0.22 Santa hat with the idea that I could use it to try and lighten the mood I didn't need it. The students were there normally great selves. I posed a few of them with my hat just so I could prove to everyone how great they are. As you can see QiQi, Wendy, Bill and Aileen were not in need of cheering up. In fact it was the opposite they were all worried about me there in the cold room, so many of them offered to go to the library to get some hot water for me to drink. I know what you are saying but if you sat in a very cold, slightly heated classroom for 5 hours you would be happy for something hot to drink.

By the way did we mention that we have agreed to stay another six months here in Jinan. If you wonder why we signed up for another term just look at the smiles on the kids and remember that it was Sunday morning at 8:00 A.M. and the windchill was -14C. I think enough said. Have a great day. I know that I will as I have only 12 more oral exams to give and I am finished. Merry Christmas.
Don

Christmas Chinese Style

These are some shots that I took with my phone in the RT-mart, a big Chinese version of Walmart. It seemed so surreal to see all of these Christmas decorations in a country which doesn't really celebrate Christmas. It was amazing to see both what the store had in terms of decorations and trees and what it didn't have: wrapping paper, ribbons, bows, or Christmas cards.

The top photo is June modeling her new winter coat. I never really thought that it would get that cold here but I was wrong. I hope my three season jacket with some extra fleece jackets will do.

Children's Christmas Party

We were invited to Charles' work, a friend who is an administrator at a language school, to attend a Christmas party with lots and lots and lots of kids. Ok, we didn’t know there would be so many of them when we agreed. It was a pleasant surprise, hee hee. Don was asked to be Santa while I gave them mini English tests. We had such a good time that we agreed to go back the next night and do it all again with another group of kids!

Don got right into his role and only made one little girl cry. Not bad since he probably talked to a few hundred of them. He was a big hit!

The little ones had to go to different rooms in the school to do different activities. In one room, they had to try to blow out candles (a room full of fire for little kids didn't sound like such a good idea at first) to practice their English sounds. In another room, they had to pick out balloons according to colour and in yet another one, they were shelling peanuts. Hum, what for you ask? We think they were practicing their numbers or someone was just hungry so built in some free labour.

For each accomplishment, they would get a stamp. My station was a little English challenge. I had flashcards of words they were studying so I asked them if they could tell me what they were. They were so adorable when they would shout out "apple" or "monkey" or "ball". I also asked simple questions like: What’s your name? How old are you? It was a great test of their listening and speaking. Almost all of the little ones would answer how old they were with their little fingers. Very cute!

My question of “How are you?” was a hard one for many. Even for the adults, this sometimes gives them pause because it’s not a typical question they ask each other. When Chinese people see each other, the first question is usually “Have you eaten?” They have been taught the stock answer of "Fine thank you, and you?" Very endearing when a 4 year old says that to you in a little voice.

I sat with my interpreter Charles in a room and waited for the kids to come. At one point, I was surrounded by little kids and their parents. I got a bit claustrophobic because I was sitting on a little stool and when I looked up there was just this wall of people. While I was asking one child questions, everyone else would crowd around to listen, to hear what I was asking so they could prepare their child for their turn. It was mayhem at times. The parents were pushing their kids ahead of the others. You would think that I’m used to this by now. I'm not.

Last night, there was a little dance performance in my room. The little girls warmed up (check out how flexible they are!) while I continued with my little interviews. In between groups, they came over and “chatted” with me. They wanted me to test them with the flashcards. They also started jabbering at me. When they asked about me, Charles told them my story about being born in Hong Kong and going to Canada when I was their age and that I couldn’t speak Mandarin with them. I heard them remark that I was Chinese, just like everybody else here. I followed more or less what he was saying but at one point, their eyes grew wide and they were acting very surprised. I asked Charles what he had told them and he said that he told them that Santa was my husband. Ha ha!!!

Don didn’t have to contend with the crowds but did have to do a little song and dance with his helper. I wish I could have seen it and have a video to show you all. Unfortunately, I missed it too. I do have some precious pictures of him with the kids though and memories of all the adorable little ones.

Blustery Day in Jinan

The wind is howling outside. Earlier there was a mini snowstorm with great big fluffy snowflakes. A brief reminder of a winter's day in Ottawa. No, it's not anything like what you guys are faced with these days. The snow has melted already and we don't have to worry about shoveling. Guess we won’t have a white Christmas though. Christmas is not a big holiday here yet so it won't be a big deal for us this year either. It's hard to believe that we were in Mexico this time last year.

I had to go outside in this weather because we don’t have much to eat in the apartment and I was starving. I’ve just come back from getting my breakfast from the street vendors and it is COLD! The forecast says that it is -14C with the windchill but I think that it’s got to be colder than that. Something else about Ottawa I don't miss, feeling like my face is freezing! Check out my pics below. Notice that there aren't many street carts. There was a serious lack of choices this morning :(

While I’m toasty warm now, Don is sitting in a freezing classroom doing oral exams. He’s had to schedule them for a Sunday because there just isn’t enough time to do everyone’s exams during class time. His poor students will be popsicles by the time they make their way from the dormitories to the teaching buildings. It’s only about a 10 minute walk for them but there isn’t much protection from the wind. To lighten up the mood, Don is wearing a Santa hat while he gives them their oral interview. Imagine it!

English Contest

As foreign teachers, we have had the honour of judging a few English contests here. They are very popular as a way to encourage students to challenge themselves and to give them a heck of a way to practice their English skills.

Each contestant has to spend 7 minutes on stage in front of a panel of judges and an entire audience of fellow English students. The judging panel consist of the three of us (Don, Rob and I) and a few Chinese English teachers. In the first part, they have 3 minutes max. to deliver a prepared speech. The next section is the impromptu speech. Shortly before the contest began this morning, they were given a few minutes to prepare to describe an image for 2 minutes when they arrive on stage later. The last part is the most challenging for them. It's the part when one of the three of us asks them a question or two on what they have talked about so far. We have 2 minutes for this short interview. It can be a very long 2 minutes if they have difficulties answering the question, excruciating for both of us!

Today was a bit more personal than the others have been because both of us knew students in the contest. In fact, Don had helped his students quite a lot in the last few weeks. Being English majors creates added pressure for these kids and they worked so hard to do well today. We held our breaths as they delivered their speeches and answered our questions. We didn't have to worry. They did such a fantastic job and expressed themselves so well. We were both quite proud of them all.

I have such respect for all of the students. They look at this experience as an opportunity to do something different and challenging and were willing to face their fears. Never mind the fear of public speaking (we all know how difficult that can be), they have the additional challenge of expressing themselves in a second language - on the spot.

I have had a challenging time myself so far in China. Many of my students have been less than enthusiastic about being in English class. Unfortunately, there can be a huge difference in English levels in a class so some of them really can't follow my lessons and so they lose interest (at least that's what I'm sticking with). Teaching unreceptive students has been discouraging at times. Thank goodness for these kinds of events! These English contests, the English Corners and talking with Don's students have helped balance this for me. When I meet students who are so enthusiastic about learning English, it refills my well and helps me to see that we have a place here, a purpose.

In Custody

Don and Rob are going to laugh at me for blogging about this but I thought this was hilarious. Let me try to paint a picture for you.

The three of us have been going to the other campus to practice English with students there. This campus is "out in the country" and is about an hour's drive away from here. All there seems to be out there is space, clean air and other newer campuses of other universities. There is little in the way of pedestrian traffic since only students and teachers seem to live out that way. And at the front gates of every university here, there are security guards. This is important for later.

Across the front gates of our campus, there is a nice lake. Since we had a bit of time after our English Corner the other day before we took the school bus back to this campus, we decided to check out the lake. We walked past the security guards on the way out. Remember that Don and Rob stand out here, a lot. Now we have a nice walk around the lake. Met a group of boys who asked to have their photo taken with Don and Rob, normal every day stuff. Then we made our way back to the campus so we could take the bus home.

As we walked towards the front gate, the security guards motioned us to stop. They approached me and of course said something I couldn't fathom. I am madly shaking my hand to tell them I don't understand while speaking to them in English. They continue to talk at me. Surely, they must have seen us leave for our walk. Now, we don't have any id's to show them that we work for the university. So we are standing there trying to figure out how to get back in. I understood enough to know they wanted us to go inside their guardhouse to wait. Wait for what? We weren't sure. Our friend, the Chinese teacher, who coordinates our visits was unreachable. So we called the only other person we knew on campus there, Trista, who is a friend of Rob's. Thankfully she answered her cellphone and quickly (really really quickly, she ran from her dormitory) came to our aid. She broke us out of "jail" and we had a great laugh.

You have to imagine the three of us standing there in the guardhouse thinking how in the heck do we convey to these guards that we could be trusted to enter. We are trying not to laugh too much in case it did not convey enough seriousness. We weren't really sure if we were in trouble. For my part, I am laughing because they're looking at me with a puzzled look on their faces. I am NOT a lot of help here :) Who would have thought that going for a walk was going to be such an adventure!

Something That Scares You

So you're supposed to do something that scares you every day. Well, Don and I did just that Friday evening. We performed in Mandarin in front of a packed house (a thousand students we guesstimate) along with Rob and Yoshi, a Japanese teacher. What? But I didn't think you guys spoke Mandarin, you say. We don't! We had no idea what we were saying. We were given the script for this short skit two weeks ago and the four of us practiced it a couple of times before that evening.

Yoshi had studied Mandarin in Japan so he memorized his lines. I tried but just don't have the required brain power to memorize. I'm not sure I ever did. I would be a very poor student in China because that's all they ever do. So I relied on a cheat sheet that was my attempt to approximate the Mandarin sounds with English. Our act, as you will see below, required us to play instruments too so Rob was able to tape his cheat sheet to his cymbals. Don memorized his lines easily and even managed to play the gong on cue.

We were very nervous but knew that the students would enjoy seeing their teachers make a fool of themselves. They did! Whatever we said was very amusing for them. Or maybe it was just our impeccable pronunciation or delightful stage presence. I'm happy they enjoyed it. We are always correcting them so it must have been nice to see us mangle their language and be able to judge us for a change. We have received a range of reviews. Some were brutally honest. Some, I think, were just being polite. Hope they hold on to their memories cause that was a one night only gig.

Enjoy our performance!

Technical Problems

hear that there are problems with the videos. I don't know what it might be since I can post videos but can't see them from China. So I'll just try reloading them again on the previous post.

Sunday Breakfast - Revised

At my brother's suggestion, we videotaped our trip out to get breakfast this morning. Many of our meals and some of our fruits and veggies come from the street vendors just outside of our apartment complex. I have not spent any time editing it into one piece so forgive the cuts and the unscripted and witty (??) dialogue you'll hear from us.



































The crepe costs about 30 cents each!

Symposium in Liaocheng

Our university nominated Don for an award from the Shandong Government. He was one of 24 foreign teachers who received a teaching excellence award during this symposium. There are over 1,600 of us (foreign teachers) in this province.

We traveled to Liaocheng with Sam, who also won an award for his academic paper. The symposium and awards ceremony were held at the Liaocheng University and we stayed at the hotel right on campus.

On the first day, there was the awards ceremony and then an afternoon of presentations from some of the prize winners who had submitted papers on various elements of teaching a foreign language here in China.

The next morning Don and Sam attended a discussion group where they exchanged ideas with fellow teachers. These groups gave foreign teachers and Chinese foreign language teachers a chance to talk about ways to improve the program in this province. After the sessions, they presented their findings to the whole symposium and representatives from the education department of the government.

In the afternoon, we were treated to a tour of the university and the city of Liaocheng.

For more pics, check out the album on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=47660&l=7d092&id=571108357

Your English is Good

Don and I just returned from a symposium where he received an award for teaching excellence. More about that in the next entry. We are busy sorting through all the pics now. The conference brought together foreign language teachers and Chinese teachers who teach foreign languages in this province. It was a great opportunity to meet and exchange ideas.

A funny thing happened to me. I was chatting with someone on break and another foreign teacher joined us. He asked where I was from. Since we had been used to answering where we were teaching, I answered that I was from Jinan, not thinking of the impression that gave. Then he asked if I had spent time in the US. Huh, why would he ask that? He went on to compliment me on my English. Why is he paying me a compliment? Then, it suddenly dawned on me that he thought I was a Chinese English teacher. Since many of them, despite their fluency, may still speak with an accent. I sounded quite different. Another foreign teacher had to repeat an earlier question he had asked. I gather that when I spoke earlier, he didn't quite hear me answer because he was having a hard time reconciling what I looked like with how I sounded.

At the same time though, I had Chinese teachers approaching me and start speaking Mandarin. I felt bad having to stop them quickly and clarify that I didn't understand.

These experiences have made me appreciate my adopted homeland even more. Growing up in Canada gave me the luxury of forgetting my visual identity for the most part. I don't think I fully grasped the significance of that advantage until I came to China. We are so used to seeing such a rainbow of faces in Canada, diversity is something I took for granted until we started living abroad.

In China, the vast majority of people can be described using fewer words. Our classes on adjectives to describe people are not as effective here. For example, most people have straight black hair. It's harder to introduce many of the other words that we might use to describe Canadians.

For my part, as long as I don't open my mouth, I look like everyone else. I blend. As soon as I speak though, I morph into this oddity. THEN they stare. They want to know how they can learn English as well as I did. They want to know MY secret. Well, first you have to move to Canada with your family when you are young so you can learn English without fear. Enjoy the undivided attention of an ESL teacher. Thanks to Ms. Wetmore, Glen and I speak good Canadian English like a native speaker. Then you get an education in English. Sadly, that is beyond the imagination for most of our students. Even those who hope to study abroad may never achieve the level of English they desire.

Oh btw, some of the foreign teachers came up with a great idea for a business for us. We could advertise a new teaching method that Don has perfected and I would be his star pupil. When I speak and show them what this method can do for them, we'll have them knocking down the doors. We could make a lot of money here! Ha ha!

One of Don's students just asked me whether I felt more Chinese then Canadian. I think the question is really whether I feel more Chinese then Foreigner here. While I get glimpses of my Chinese self, I would have to say that I feel more foreign here than I ever did. I have come up with a new identity for me here: the invisible foreigner.

My New Do

Getting my hair done in China has been great. For once, hair stylists are not afraid of my hair. Would you believe that it's actually difficult to cut oriental hair? Well, there's a country of experts here and I've taken advantage. Although I haven't tried to go by myself like I did in Mexico, I've been ok with asking for help. A few months ago, I had my first perm in many many years. Back in Canada, my hairdresser permed it once when I was still in university ... a long long time ago. He refused to do it again. Apparently, my hair had a mind of its own and was not very cooperative in staying in the curlers. The magician who's been doing my hair has a work around. Bless him!




Here are some pics from my second perm. We also changed my hair colour. I feel like a brand new person. It only (ha ha) took 5 hours! Thanks to Sunrise who was so patient and did such a great job being my interpreter and protector! BTW, your hair looks fabulous too! J

Happy Hallowe'en!

Red Leaf Valley Dos

Here is the link to my photos:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2009648&l=87cec&id=1013962974

Don

Red Leaf Valley with a Few of My Closest Friends

Some things make me miss Canada more than others. Take our outing this weekend for instance. We jumped at a chance to spend the day in the country at the scenically named “Red Leaf Valley”. We met one of Don’s classes early Sunday morning (real early, at 7:30) and took a bus there. It wasn’t too far so we reached this tourist destination in just over an hour, unfortunately it took us about an hour to get out of the city. As we turned off the highway, we immediately stopped. Apparently, we were not the only ones with this bright idea. We joined the traffic jam of cars, mini-buses and buses all headed up the hill towards the main entrance. As we inched along a narrow winding road, we were passed numerous times. This can’t be a good sign, I thought.



We finally got to the main entrance and I was astounded to see the number of vehicles already parked. The bus dropped us off near the entrance and we waited another hour or so before we were herded up the stairs and into the park. You would have thought we were at a concert. We finally made it inside the gate and found ourselves surrounded by more crowds. This was to be the norm for the rest of the day.





We wandered off along the trail that took us to different scenic spots. We “enjoyed” them with a few of our closest friends. There were photo ops at every turn. People took turns posing in front of the best spots. I am still amazed by how enamoured the Chinese are with getting their photos taken. Throw in the chance to get a foreigner in their photos and all hell breaks loose.



I now know what it might feel like to be in an entourage. The people’s reaction to Don was daunting. Not only did they stare (as usual), now they wanted pics with him. The most memorable photo op happened when we were sitting on a big rock waiting for Don’s students to return from a hike up yet another hill. Think Santa at Christmas time in the malls. He sits. People come to get their photos taken with him.


Here we were just sitting there minding our own business when someone appeared and asked to get their photo taken with him. They squeezed in between us and their friend took aim. I knew full well that it wasn’t important if I was in the pic so I got my camera and took a pic of them taking a pic with Don. It was all too hilarious.

No sooner did I sit down again when we realized a man had taken up position behind Don while his friend was off a ways framing the shot. We saw him inching towards Don, not an easy task since he was squatting! This was not the last time that someone, maybe too shy to ask to pose with him, sidled up inconspicuous to take up a spot closer to Don so their friend could snap the shot with him in it. Too funny!





All in all, it was a good day spent with the students but definitely NOT a relaxing day out communing with nature.

Here are a few more of my pics:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=44767&l=fc2dd&id=571108357

Experience a bit of the ambiance for yourself! J xoxo

Minority Village Day Trip

The population of China is made up of Han (92%) and 56 ethnic minority groups. We had hoped to travel to the province of Yunnan this summer to learn more about the ethnic people but were advised not to because of aftershocks in the area. This trip was the next best thing.

Sam, our main contact from the school, took the foreign teachers to a village in the countryside about an hour’s drive away to learn about many of the ethnic groups. We were happy just to get away from the city for a day. Lately, the weather forecast had been “Smoke” which is still an odd term to see where one expects “Sunny” or “Overcast”. We’re still not sure where the smoke comes from. We like to think of it more as “Haze”.

Along the way, we saw the suburbs of Jinan that were filled with tall apartment buildings, many of which were still under construction. It’s a sign of the growth that is happening in this city and elsewhere in China. For the first time, we saw modern style houses. I also got a glimpse of the countryside I had expected to see: old villages, farm houses, fields, livestock (chickens, pigs, cows, and other characters from the Old MacDonald song).

Here are some of the other things we saw at the village: a traditional wedding entourage, one of the Russian teachers Vera got a bouncy ride as the band played around her; a Chinese totem pole; a dance by the Wa people who reminded me of Polynesians and one of the Miao people climbing a pole using a ladder of swords.



I was particularly fascinated by the Miao, mainly because of their women’s traditional costume. Yes, probably because I love silver. This group values silver adornments and sees it as a symbol of wealth. The photo at the beginning of this entry was a photo op we discovered when we entered the village. Here, tourists can pay to dress in the costume and take lots of photos. Those little girls were adorable as they posed under some bamboo.



We capped off our day trip with lunch at a restaurant by a canal. This waterway is a popular weekend and holiday destination as evidenced by many cars that line the roadside. The restaurants are all found on the other side of the canal so there is bridge after bridge strung across the water. The bridges come in all shapes and sizes. For the adventurous, there are swinging ones and for the faint of heart, nice firm cement ones. We drove across ours. Sam ordered a feast of traditional food: dried shrimps wrapped in a millet wafer, celery, chicken, Yellow River carp, tempura vegetable, and deep fried pork, eggplant, and a spicy pork soup. He even got the teachers to try duck eggs. According to the reviews, it’s something of an acquired taste.

Besides the restaurants, the other draw are the water sports available. The canal is made up of steps of shallow water. There are paddle boats, inflatable boats, and plastic bubbles that you walk inside of to make it move on the water. Families were also having bbq’s and picnics on the side of the canal. We even saw people fishing and camping.

More pics:

June's
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=42623&l=62491&id=571108357

Don's
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2008825&l=11cee&id=1013962974

Something Different

We were invited to join some extra activities at a local language school during our holiday and spent a morning with some young and eager English students.

With no concept of what to expect, we showed up to discover that we had to learn a little dance to go with a song we were going to “teach”. I kept reminding the Chinese teachers that we were just there to help them teach so we’ll follow what they do.

It was quickly very clear to us that different skills were needed to teach children. First, we had to learn the words to the song. No problem – Princess, sheriff, ghost and clown. One, two, three, four, five, sit down. Princess, sheriff, ghost and clown. Five, six, seven, eight, sit down. But then there’s motions to go along with it. Each of the characters had a certain move. Then we had to wave BOTH of our hands counting with Chinese fingers. This means that we had to remember the gestures to count in the Chinese way. Let’s just say that we could have handled each thing but not all three and definitely can’t coordinate them all in a 5 minute lesson. Then we had to get out in front of these kids and do it to music! And luckily it was in an outdoor park so the spectators grew.

Despite our hesitations, we ended up having a great time. I played games with the younger kids. Basically, they were set ups so I could ask the little ones very basic questions like “What's your name?” or “How old are you?” while Don chatted with older kids during an election. He was entertained by songs, speeches, jokes and plays and fielded questions. The little kids were so adorable. Some easily understood the questions and answered while others had to be helped by their Chinese teachers. They never did quite get the idea that I couldn’t understand them though. It’s all a part of the “but she looks just like me” problem I constantly face here. While we were taking some group photos, one little boy kept saying “teacher, teacher” (which is one of the few words I’ve learned) and then continued to speak to me in Mandarin. I tried to tell him I didn’t understand but of course, he couldn’t understand me. They were fascinated by us though and wanted to take lots of photos with us. I’m sure we’ll be appearing in the school’s future marketing material.

National Day Golden Week

National Holiday

This 7 day holiday is one of two such Golden Weeks in China. The other is the Spring Festival holiday or what we know as Chinese New Year. These holidays encourage domestic tourism and gives people time to travel to visit distant hometowns. Since only 3 of the days are paid, we had to work on the Saturday and Sunday before the holiday to make up the full 7 days off.

True to the intent, lots of people take advantage of it to travel, see the family or go to tourist destinations. That’s precisely why we decided to stay put instead of fighting our way through the masses of people. I was watching the news last night and they were saying how the transportation systems were being taxed because of everyone trying to get home. They also showed the snake of people on the Great Wall and other sites around Beijing, especially the Bird’s Nest and the Water Cube, which were opened to the public for the first time this week.

59^th Anniversary of the PRC

Foreign teachers were invited to a banquet celebrating the 59^th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. It was held at the swanky Sofitel hotel downtown. The evening got started with a performance from the army band seen here. While we enjoyed a buffet of delicious Chinese and Western dishes, we were treated to a variety of folk music performances. We really enjoyed our roasted potatoes! We haven’t had much “western” food for a while now and didn’t quite appreciate how much we missed it. Funny what you miss.

Chinese Food

Here is a recent photo of our little fridge. Yes, we are bachelors! Oh, in case you can't make it out, this is beer.


This is the label of some tea that Jerry brought back from his summer vacation for us. We are not sure where this translation comes from. Nor are we sure we want to ingest "howling dust" but the tea was good.













Chips in China have the oddest flavours! Check it out for yourselves.

Finger Licking Braised Pork Flavor, Cool Cucumber Flavor, Blueberry Flavor. Some others are: Stewed Eggplant Flavor, Mexican Tomato Sauce Flavor, Lychee Flavor, Stewed Fish Flavor, BBQ Steak Flavor and Succulent Roast Pork Flavor.