Class is Out

Today, I taught my last class for the semester. It was one of my best days teaching, not becuase it was my last, but because of my students. There is something amazing about the brains of children. The capacity that they have for learning is truly astounding. I have only had these students for about four weeks, but in that time I have seen their confindence in the use of English grow. When I first began teaching them, they knew a few of English words but they seldom used them due to being somewhat shy around a foreigner. Today, however, they seemed to come out of their shell. I broke the class up into groups of four, put a picture on the board, and gave the groups ten minutes to write down ways to describe the picture and what they saw. After the time was up, one member of each group had to stand in front of the class, and talk about what they saw. We all know the old saying that a picture says 1000 words. Well, my students impressed me with their vocabulary and descriptive thinking. For example, the picture was of a man sleeping in a bed. One of the students said about the picture "I think he is having a good dream". I asked why he said that, and he told me "because the man is smiling". Another said that the man had a cheap bed. In explanation he said "it was because the bed was bowed". I was very impressed. In the span of a few weeks, they have began to take the vocabulary that they knew, added it to the new vocabulary that I taught them, combined that with the grammar patterns that they were taught, and then use it in abstract thinking. I am looking forward to the fall semester. Working with them and seeing their progress encourages me in my efforts to learn their language. - Frank

Should I Get In the Hot Tub?

Last week we were invited to join some friends as they visited the nearby hot springs. I was sick all week so I really didn't feel up to going but then I realized that we will soon be leaving China and I had better seize the opportunity while I have the chance. Going to a hot spring, spa, and resort is definitely not something we can afford in the US. Also, if I didn't go I would be passing on the opportunity to relive a classic SNL (Saturday Night Live) skit; James Brown's Celebrity Hot Tub. (If you have never seen this skit, check it out at this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jdjv5ZwQcdQ) So on an overcast, cool morning we made the hour long trip to the spa. Once we arrived, it didn't take long for me to realize that I had made the right decision. The resort had over twenty pools, filled with different types of water. There was a coconut milk pool, a green apple pool, and a pool with rose petals. One pool had tiny fish in it to eat the dead skin off your body. Basically, the fish serve as a glorified loofah. In Japan, this is a very popular and very expensive treatment, but we got to experience it with the price of admission (which was less than $20 US). One of my favorite pools was filled with red Kool Aid. Don't worry, I know it looks like I tasted it but that was all staged for the picture. As I settled into the water, however, I did say the obligatory "Oh Yeah"! We finished our visit to the spa with a dip in a traditional hot tub. One of our friends said it looked like I was in the pot of some hostile natives, slowly cooking. Thankfully though, the natives were friendly and the only thing they were cooking was good Chinese food for a good price. Five of us ate for around $15. All in all, I am very glad that I listened to my friends and accompanied them. We now know of a nice place to visit this winter, when it is cold what can be better than being in a hot tub. - Frank

Exam Angst

This week we will finish our second Chinese textbook. We have been studying a book called Hanyu Jiao Cheng 1 Xia. We will move into HJC 2 Shang next week. Before that, though, we have to take an exam. Just the thought of it fills me with much angst. The last time we took a test, I failed miserable. It left me on the floor, in the fetal position, rocking back and forth asking over and over again "为什么,为什么 wèishénme,wèishénme" (why,why)? OK, so that is a little bit of an exaggeration, but not much. I was really upset that I did so poorly. Amanda was not much help either. She passed with a grade in the high eighties and afterward kept saying how disappointed she was. Which only made me feel worse as I sat there with a grade that was closer to my age than it was to 100. Aiya!! This time I am determined to do a much better job (can't do much worse). One of my students has actually been helping me with my homework, so I am hoping that that will give me the push that I need. He is a young, teenage guy who recently told me that he thinks I have a gift for languages. Did I also mention that he is delusional? Well, soon we will know what I am made of; the exam is coming. I will keep you posted if I am not catatonic. - 付伟国

You Can Never Go Home Again or Can You?

Although we have been back in China for less than a month, we also have less than a month in China before we return to the US . After that we are planning to return to China for another year at the end of August. Thinking about all that there is to do in the next few weeks to get ready to go home, reminded me of the saying "You can never go home again". What does that really mean? Most of us think, "of course you can go home again", but can one really? Obviously, one can go back to the house of their parents, and in a sense, that is going home. However, what makes a house a home is not the collections of bricks, sticks, mortar, and tile. It is the people and the memories. Memories are in the past, and people are transient, both physically and emotionally. Therefore, the idealistic memories that we have can never be recaptured, and we ourselves and the people we remember have all changed. The home of our mind is gone forever. I know that that is a rather bleak assessment of things, but it does not have to be. Let me give you an example. Have you ever watched an episode of one of your favorite TV shows from years ago? How often does the show in actuality live up to the memory? Often time distorts the true nature of things. It causes us to forget about the bad acting, weak script, or lame special effect i.e. "The Greatest American Hero". Now, that show will always hold a special place in my heart, but I would not want modern shows to look just like it. Instead, I can appreciate it for what it was, and yet still recognize the merit of some of my new favorite shows. Time can also have a different effect though. It helps one to see things from a different perspective. The fact that we are transient can be beneficial. As we grow older, we are constantly adjusting to the circumstances of life. Everyday, all of us are refined, shapened, and molded little by little. I remember when Star Trek the Next Generation premiered, many didn't like it because it was not the Original series. Becuase of advances in special effects and more sophisticated writing, the franchise was helped. In fact, I think it was improved. Kirk and the Crew were great, but the Next Gen was more polished. The effects of time are not always bad. So it is with us, just because we can't return to the home of our mind, doesn't mean we can't return to a home. When I think of how supportive our friends and families have been, always with kind words of encouragement, always anticipating our return, I think that although the home we left no longer exist, the one to which we return to will be even more special. It will be new, better, and even more polished than it was before. So in a since we will not be going home again, we will be going home for the first time. Again. - Frank

Human beings are the only creatures that allow their children to come back home - Bill Cosby

卷轴- juànzhóu Scroll

One of the things that is distinctly Chinese is the writing, and for a millennium they transcribed their official proclamations on scrolls. Today, the advent of electronic media has largely done away with the need for the use of scrolls for communication but they are still used for their aesthetic value. We happened upon a shop that specializes in painting beautiful scenes on scrolls and then inscribing them with whatever you want to proclaim as you wait. These scrolls are very popular with tourist and expats as gifts for family and friends or to decorate homes. In fact, we have one on the wall in our apartment. One of the things that I am impressed with is the respect that they still have today for the calligraphist. It is thought of as an art. In Hong Kong's art museum they even have a wing dedicated to Chinese calligraphy. As one attempting to learn to read and write Chinese, I definitely can understand why they admire those who can write this language well. It is definitely not an easy task. The other day I wrote a couple words of Chinese on the whiteboard as I was teaching my students and they all spontaneously burst into applause. They had genuinely appreciated that their 外国人 wàiguórén (foreign) teacher could actually write their language. Well, to keep my head from getting too big, one of my older students tells me the next day how bad my hand writing is. Well, the Chinese have a phrase for the type of progress I am making. 慢慢来(mànmànlái) which means literally slow, slow come. They often say it to me when I express frustration at the slow progress that I am making. It means keep at it and progress will come. So I just keep telling myself 慢慢来 mànmànlái, I am making progress. Although I will probably never be an artist doing calligraphy on a 卷轴 juànzhóu (scroll), I can now write a few words in Chinese. Baby steps are still steps. - 付伟国

He's Dead, Jim!

For those of you who are not big fans of Star Trek, the original in particular, those are the famous words of Dr. McCoy. He would usually say them after of one the "unknown" crewman wearing red was sent off alone to investigate some weird sound. This dire pronouncement was made following a quick examination by the good doctor. Well, I have been experiencing some serious computer problems over the past two weeks. To make a along story short, there was a conflict between all of my hardware and the software that was supposed to operate them. How this came about, I don't know? I contacted Acer technical support, and gave them all of the details. I expected to hear a variation of that ominous diagnosis. They contacted me a few days later and there reply was reminiscent of a quote from a different "doctor" (Miracle Max) from a different movie (The Princess Bride). It seems that my poor laptop was only "mostly dead". They informed me that all I had to do was reset my laptop to the original factory settings. The good news is that fixed the problems. The bad news is it also wiped my C drive. The good news is I bought a 250 GB hard beforehand to back up the C drive. The bad news is I didn't do as good a job backing everything up as I thought. This good news, bad news routine is something that we learned in our TESOL class. It is supposed to be a fun way to teach language. I have found out, though, that when you have lost almost all of the pictures that you have taken over eight months abroad, pictures that are irreplaceable of the wonderful places that you have visited and may never get back to, that routine just isn't as funny to you. The worst part about it is that it did not have to turn out this way. A few week ago Amanda saw that I was transferring everything from my cameras memory card to my computer and told me "You should always have your pictures saved to at least two places". That was good advice but there is a genetic trait that males have, it causes us to sometimes ignore good advice. Just think of the aforementioned unknown crewman. How many times back on the Enterprise did he and the guys talk about all the other security detail members that didn't make it back. I am sure he was told "No matter what they say, don't go off alone"! But once he was in the situation, he just could not control himself. Well, as if drawn by some siren call to stupidity, I thought at the time, "That takes up too much space, what can go wrong"? Well, I had to ask didn't I? So now I am paying for it the hard way. At least, Amanda has been gracious enough not to say "I told you so". She has even felt genuinely sorry for me. - Unknown Crewman

McCoy:
I'm a doctor, not a bricklayer. Devil in the Dark I'm a doctor, not a psychiatrist. City on the Edge of Forever I'm a doctor, not a mechanic. Doomsday Machine I'm a doctor, not an escalator. Friday's Child I'm a doctor, not an engineer. (Scotty: Now you're an engineer.) Mirror, Mirror I'm a doctor, not a coal miner. The Empath I'm a surgeon, not a moon shuttle conductor. Corbomite Maneuver I'm not a magician, just an old country doctor. Deadly Years He's dead, Jim. The Enemy Within, The Man Trap, Wolf in the Fold, The Changeling She's dead, Jim. Wolf in the Fold (twice) He's dead, Captain. And the Children Shall Lead He's dead. Amok Time, I, Mudd, For the World is Hollow... She's dead. The Deadly Years Dead. The Apple This man is dead. Catspaw That man's dead back there. A Piece of the Action Very dead, Mr. Spock. Spectre of the Gun
The captain's dead. Enterprise Incident

Kids On the Road

Just a quick post about some friends, the Kidsons, who are about to move to Thailand. It was a little over a year ago, when we were in a TESOL class together (The Canadian Institute of English by Harry Cotton), learning the basic principles of teaching English to those whose mother tongue is something different. It was there that the seeds were sown for so many of us to explore this vast world of ours. As I read their blog, I can't help but think of the others who have left the comfort and security of the familiar, to give life in a strange new land a try. There are Brandon, Disney, and Grace from our class, who now live abroad (if I have left someone from class out I am sorry). Then there are our other friends; Luc and Luch, Amy, Alan, Eric, Jeff and Meli, and Cory and Susuan who have also immersed themselves in different cultures and lands. Everyone will probably agree that things have not always been easy. In fact for some, things have been down right difficult. But those that I have talked to, or whose blogs I have read, are grateful for the experience. Soon, Joel and Kelly will say their goodbyes, and board a plane into the unknown. They are probably going through what so many before them already have; trying to stay sane while juggling all the loose ends and last minute details that need to be taken care of. Well, don't blink guys because on May 24th, in just three short week, Joel and Kelly will join the other the kids on the road, and the adventure will begin. - Frank

All my bags are packed, I ready to go. The taxis waiting, blowing its horn...I am leaving on a jet plane...John Denver

没办法méibànfǎ – No Solution

When you move to a different country, not only do you come in contact with people who speak a different language, they also think differently. This is apparent in so many ways. We had a reminder of this when the light in our bathroom went out. I thought, “没问题 méiwèntí” (no problem), I will just take the old one down, and take it to the store to buy another. Usually, this type of thing is a piece of cake, even here in China. Not this time, however. I got quite a surprise when I took the globe off of the light. It seems that the electrician who wired the apartment was afraid that the bulb would fall out. His solution was to splice the wires around the bulb so that if it fell out, it would not hit the ground. The bonus to this is that it also gives him a little job security. When the light eventually burns out, the 房东 fángdōng (landlord) will have to give him a call and have him replace the bulb. Sure, I know what you are thinking. Why don’t I get some electrical tape and remove the light myself? I refrain from doing this for a couple reasons. 1) All electrical outlets and lights here are 220 volt, single phase. So if I accidentally touch the wires while working on it, a world full of hurt would ensue. 2) I have no electrical tape, and the only type that I have seen is not too good. It is so thin, I don’t think it will provide enough insulation for the amount of power that the lights carry. All I need is for the building to burn down because I tried to be a do-it-yourselfer. I am sure they have some that works fine, but I have not been able to find it. So tomorrow I will call the 房东 fángdōng, and have her send the repairman over. It will probably take a couple hours to get it fixed because she will first have to come to the apartment to see the problem for herself. She will then call the repairman, who will also have to come to inspect it and remove the bulb. He will then have to go buy a replacement. Finally, when he returns, he will be able to replace the bulb. It is really 麻犯 máfàn (tiresome, bothersome), but what can you do? Sometimes the “when in Rome” rule applies in China too. Different people just think differently. 没办法 méibànfǎ. There is no solution, just go with it. - Frank

“Wisdom is like electricity. There is no permanently wise man, but men capable of wisdom, who, being put into certain company, or other favorable conditions, become wise for a short time, as glasses rubbed acquire electric power for a while.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson quotes (American Poet, Lecturer and Essayist, 1803-1882)