2004-11-26 - 7:13 p.m.
So my daughters birthday was on `11/21. And we just had thanksgiving.
Rae's birthday was a smash success. According to her, it was "my bestestest birthday ever, daddy!!" We had 6 other children here (2 from the flat, and 4 foreign chinese children we are getting to know) and about 40 adults ranging in age from 19 to 70. Rae made out like a bandit.
She had a huge pink heart shaped cake, no ice cream and about 70 presents. So we ate cake, we played games including bowling and twister, and rae opened presents. She said thank you to each person, and really loved all the presents. The ending was being allowed to play the game Spyro for the xbox in the conference room. The conference room has an overhead projector that will project digital images to the wall. So she got to play spyro on the wall and spyro was 3' tall. The kids and adults had fun.
Thanksgiving was fun, but different than usual. I taught my class that thursday morning. Not that I wanted to, but because if I cancelled it I would ahve to schedule a make up on the weekend. ick ack barf. So I went ot class. We had brunch, and then played some touch football. In 5 degree C. Lots of cold fingers, but all around fun. WE even had the chinese students on the track as cheer leaders. Then time for dinner. boy do the chinese love their speaches. We get to the resturant, and the chinese delegation talks for 30 minutes before we can get our food. Oh well.
anyways, gotta run. Love to all.
Will
Friday, November 26, 2004
Thursday, November 25, 2004
Voice of Will: Normal day 6000 miles away
2004-11-25 - 8:20 a.m.
So several of my friends have been asking for me to tell them about a "normal" day. First thing to remember, "normal" back 6200 miles in the US is different than "normal" here.
We we usually get up at about 6:30 am our time. WE get to find out if we have any hot water, by turning it on, and counting to 10 then jumping into the shower (not really, we do feel it, but most days the temperature is very variable.) So we take our morning shower. During this eventful time, the temperature changes at least 6 times. I don't mean it changes from hot to warm and stays there. No the temperature actually swings 6 times. So we get in, and the temperature is just right. Then it increases in temperature to almost boiling/scalding water (usually you have to yelp, and jump out of the way) Then after about a minute, the temperature swings the other way. So scalding becames, hot and nice, then becomes warm, then lukewarm, (jump out of the water) becomes chilly, cold, and ice cold. Then it swings back to scalding again. I call this the CHINA SHOWER SHUFFLE. You have to time it just right, and it would make a great dance step in a club.
Because each time you are jumping out of the water you are still scrubbing yourself clean. So the drill usually goes. turn on shower. get wet, feel the water moving to scalding, step out grab the shampoo and put into your hair, feel the water going back down from scalding, hop back in, and rinse off the shampoo (do it fast though, or you get shampoo suds in your eyes while the water swings through cold), jump out as the chilly water hits, and grab the soap. soap up, feel the water, if it is hot again hop back in it. Rinse and repeat.
We can remove this obstacle most days, we got a removable shower head on a hose, and a small (3' around bucket, about 10 inches deep) so we just hold the shower to the wall when it is cold, and sit in the bucket. That is the kids bath, they think it is fun, I keep thinking oh great, a kiddy pool for a bath!
Next it is breakfast time. SIAS provides all the meals in our cafeteria. So this isn't too bad. Hey, I don't have to cook, or do the dishes so I won't complain. Breakfast is the only meal that does not change. It is buffet style, eggs over easy, scrambled, omlette, fried potatoes, french toast, pancakes, sausages, and bacon, and boiled eggs. We can also get oatmeal, or toast and coffee. Simple, and constant, so not too bad.
Then we go off to class (or stay home with the kids) We we go off to class, it isn't too far. About 500 meters at the furthest walk. Takes about 5 to 7 minutes to walk to class. It is very noticable. You cause a ripple in the students who are all walking to class. You are usually taller than the students, and when you see the other foreign teachers you realize how different we are from the students. I don't know how to describe it to a white caucasian person, other than to say go live on the reservations for a year, or go live in downtown detroit or washington dc and that comes close. Now make it an entirely different language, and culture.
Classes are pretty standard. Each class lasts 2 hours a day, and they appear to be randomly placed each day. There is no rthyme or reason for the classes. So my schedule for example. I meet one class on Monday at 4pm 6pm, and I meet them again on Friday at 10 am to noon. I meet my other cinema class on tuesday at 10 am, and then thursday at 4 pm. So instead of following the types of schedules we are current with (ie mon wed fri, or tues thurs at the SAME TIME, they actually just schedule them whenever they can fit them in.) The school actually schedules 10000 student scheduleds by hand, and pen and paper instead of using a computer system!!! Go figure.
In our classes we have a major problem with cheating, and plagerism. According to my students, it is the chinese way. Yes you read that correctly. Their professors don't care about plagerism, only directly cheating on an exam. And then they don't look too hard. So I've had to give zero's for plagerism on 3 occassions. The rules for the english classes through Fort Hayes Kansas are that if a student is caught cheating or plagerising 3x in their academic career they are expelled from school. (but it doesn't seem to work that way)
Students can and do badger teachers about grades, they can and do make friends in the administration who will change their grades, and lets not forget most of these students have parents who have lots of money. Parents can and do pressure the college to change grades.
Oh I left out how our students get here. SIAS is the first privately owned college by an american citizen. Being privately owned, students come here because they scored LOW on their college entrance exams. See if they scored high, they would go to a state school, but since they scored LOW, this is their only real chance to go to college. So we get the students who would not make it in the state schools, but who hvae LOTS OF MONEY!
SIAS offers 2 types of degrees, the chinese one and one that is a Bachelors of Liberal Studies from Fort Hayes Kansas.(virtual school). and the fort Hayes classes cost 10x what the sias classes cost. So you do the math, we have lots of rich students who don't care. But to be fair, we also have lots of students who realize they screwed up earlier, and are WORKING REALLY HARD! so it kind of makes up for it.
(more later, have to deal with the kids)
Will
So several of my friends have been asking for me to tell them about a "normal" day. First thing to remember, "normal" back 6200 miles in the US is different than "normal" here.
We we usually get up at about 6:30 am our time. WE get to find out if we have any hot water, by turning it on, and counting to 10 then jumping into the shower (not really, we do feel it, but most days the temperature is very variable.) So we take our morning shower. During this eventful time, the temperature changes at least 6 times. I don't mean it changes from hot to warm and stays there. No the temperature actually swings 6 times. So we get in, and the temperature is just right. Then it increases in temperature to almost boiling/scalding water (usually you have to yelp, and jump out of the way) Then after about a minute, the temperature swings the other way. So scalding becames, hot and nice, then becomes warm, then lukewarm, (jump out of the water) becomes chilly, cold, and ice cold. Then it swings back to scalding again. I call this the CHINA SHOWER SHUFFLE. You have to time it just right, and it would make a great dance step in a club.
Because each time you are jumping out of the water you are still scrubbing yourself clean. So the drill usually goes. turn on shower. get wet, feel the water moving to scalding, step out grab the shampoo and put into your hair, feel the water going back down from scalding, hop back in, and rinse off the shampoo (do it fast though, or you get shampoo suds in your eyes while the water swings through cold), jump out as the chilly water hits, and grab the soap. soap up, feel the water, if it is hot again hop back in it. Rinse and repeat.
We can remove this obstacle most days, we got a removable shower head on a hose, and a small (3' around bucket, about 10 inches deep) so we just hold the shower to the wall when it is cold, and sit in the bucket. That is the kids bath, they think it is fun, I keep thinking oh great, a kiddy pool for a bath!
Next it is breakfast time. SIAS provides all the meals in our cafeteria. So this isn't too bad. Hey, I don't have to cook, or do the dishes so I won't complain. Breakfast is the only meal that does not change. It is buffet style, eggs over easy, scrambled, omlette, fried potatoes, french toast, pancakes, sausages, and bacon, and boiled eggs. We can also get oatmeal, or toast and coffee. Simple, and constant, so not too bad.
Then we go off to class (or stay home with the kids) We we go off to class, it isn't too far. About 500 meters at the furthest walk. Takes about 5 to 7 minutes to walk to class. It is very noticable. You cause a ripple in the students who are all walking to class. You are usually taller than the students, and when you see the other foreign teachers you realize how different we are from the students. I don't know how to describe it to a white caucasian person, other than to say go live on the reservations for a year, or go live in downtown detroit or washington dc and that comes close. Now make it an entirely different language, and culture.
Classes are pretty standard. Each class lasts 2 hours a day, and they appear to be randomly placed each day. There is no rthyme or reason for the classes. So my schedule for example. I meet one class on Monday at 4pm 6pm, and I meet them again on Friday at 10 am to noon. I meet my other cinema class on tuesday at 10 am, and then thursday at 4 pm. So instead of following the types of schedules we are current with (ie mon wed fri, or tues thurs at the SAME TIME, they actually just schedule them whenever they can fit them in.) The school actually schedules 10000 student scheduleds by hand, and pen and paper instead of using a computer system!!! Go figure.
In our classes we have a major problem with cheating, and plagerism. According to my students, it is the chinese way. Yes you read that correctly. Their professors don't care about plagerism, only directly cheating on an exam. And then they don't look too hard. So I've had to give zero's for plagerism on 3 occassions. The rules for the english classes through Fort Hayes Kansas are that if a student is caught cheating or plagerising 3x in their academic career they are expelled from school. (but it doesn't seem to work that way)
Students can and do badger teachers about grades, they can and do make friends in the administration who will change their grades, and lets not forget most of these students have parents who have lots of money. Parents can and do pressure the college to change grades.
Oh I left out how our students get here. SIAS is the first privately owned college by an american citizen. Being privately owned, students come here because they scored LOW on their college entrance exams. See if they scored high, they would go to a state school, but since they scored LOW, this is their only real chance to go to college. So we get the students who would not make it in the state schools, but who hvae LOTS OF MONEY!
SIAS offers 2 types of degrees, the chinese one and one that is a Bachelors of Liberal Studies from Fort Hayes Kansas.(virtual school). and the fort Hayes classes cost 10x what the sias classes cost. So you do the math, we have lots of rich students who don't care. But to be fair, we also have lots of students who realize they screwed up earlier, and are WORKING REALLY HARD! so it kind of makes up for it.
(more later, have to deal with the kids)
Will
Saturday, November 6, 2004
Voice of Will: Kaifung Trip 2
2004-11-06 - 12:50 p.m.
Ah china, either you are bored out of your skull, or you are so busy you can't even think straight. It has been one of those kinds of weeks. (I'll update it later) back to the Kaifung trip.
So we went and checked in to our hotel. Called the Hotel Ritz. (You notice things in english all over the place, but usually the english is so bad it actually hurts you to read it. There was a sign for handisapped individuals to use the elevator, and it actually said in english, "no two bad individual dress can here stay") Well we checked into our rooms. I had a room on the 4th floor, and it was easier and probably safer to use the stairs then to use the elevator. The room smelled like cigarette smoke even though there was a large sign saying no smoking. Ok. So the guy I bunked with (his name is Alan, really nice guy) and I opened up the windows to air it out, and we found the AC and turned it on. Only one problem. The AC made the smoke smell worse. So Alan is using the bathroom, adn I decide the filter must be full of cigarette smoke, so that is why the room is fillign up with the smell.
I reached up to the filter, raised the panel and just removed the filter. Within in 10 minutes the room smelled so much better. ah... I love being just forceful, and deciseful.
So I sit on the bed. It was as hard as a rock. I actually then laid on the floor, and discoverd the carpeting was softer. If every chinese bed is that hard (the ones we have at the foreign teachers flat are almost that hard) then no wonder I always see frowning, unhappy looking chinese people.
We decied to go out and try the "famous" kaifung night market. So to get the picture. Think of the biggest swap meet you have ever been to. This makes that look tiny. It covered about 1 mile in each diretion on the roads. it was packed with people, and lining the roads were food vendors of every sort and type. I mean everything, chicken, rabbit, squid, fish, goat, lamb, beef, and even cicada's. (yes you read that right, june bugs, deep fried served on a stick).
So I'm walking with 2 delightful young female foregin teachers. One is from France, and the other is from Kansas. We are having a good converstation, and the teacher from france asks if I'm willing to try the cicada's. Sure. I'm up for anything once!! So she buys a stick o bugs. There are 4 cicada's on the stick. They are deep fried in front of us, and if you pop them into your mouth without thinking about it too much it is just like popcorn! Crunchy. We all shared that one stick of bugs, and I decided to get another stick. Crunchy, not gooey.
So we manage to find some other foods, mainly meat on a stick (not sure what it was, but it was tasty), some flat bread, and some beer. We try to get a seat, but each set of tables is for a particular stall. So we give up on that, and go to KFC (yes kentucky fried chicken) and walk in and take one of their booths!
After a delightful converstaion, some beer, and being able to sit down, we decide to join another group from SIAS who is going to a local tea house. So we tromp up the stairs to the third floor, and sit down. We are served some boiling hot, weak tea, and given three plates of different seeds. Then the entertainment starts. Imagine keroke, now imagine each person singing off key and shrieking for a reason. That is Peking Opera. it feels like someone is driving an ice pick into your ears. That was our entertainment.
So we started a collection thinking that if we paid them enough they would shut the hell up. No luck. we couldn't bribe them. so we did the next best thing. We took our napkins, rolled them into balls, and shoved them into our ears. (imagine the scene, about a dozen foreingers, with paper napkins sticking out of their ears. Add in the beer and we had a party.
Some food for thought.
1. I ate bugs
2. I was taken advantage of (the tea house charged each of us 20 RMB for the piss poor tea, 3 plates of seeds, and the "entertainment")
3. My sense of hearing was assaulted by this entertainment.
4. I smelled badly
5. I had to sleep on a very uncomfortable bed
Prisoners of war are actually treated better than this, and I had the honor of paying for it myself!! ;)
Will
Ah china, either you are bored out of your skull, or you are so busy you can't even think straight. It has been one of those kinds of weeks. (I'll update it later) back to the Kaifung trip.
So we went and checked in to our hotel. Called the Hotel Ritz. (You notice things in english all over the place, but usually the english is so bad it actually hurts you to read it. There was a sign for handisapped individuals to use the elevator, and it actually said in english, "no two bad individual dress can here stay") Well we checked into our rooms. I had a room on the 4th floor, and it was easier and probably safer to use the stairs then to use the elevator. The room smelled like cigarette smoke even though there was a large sign saying no smoking. Ok. So the guy I bunked with (his name is Alan, really nice guy) and I opened up the windows to air it out, and we found the AC and turned it on. Only one problem. The AC made the smoke smell worse. So Alan is using the bathroom, adn I decide the filter must be full of cigarette smoke, so that is why the room is fillign up with the smell.
I reached up to the filter, raised the panel and just removed the filter. Within in 10 minutes the room smelled so much better. ah... I love being just forceful, and deciseful.
So I sit on the bed. It was as hard as a rock. I actually then laid on the floor, and discoverd the carpeting was softer. If every chinese bed is that hard (the ones we have at the foreign teachers flat are almost that hard) then no wonder I always see frowning, unhappy looking chinese people.
We decied to go out and try the "famous" kaifung night market. So to get the picture. Think of the biggest swap meet you have ever been to. This makes that look tiny. It covered about 1 mile in each diretion on the roads. it was packed with people, and lining the roads were food vendors of every sort and type. I mean everything, chicken, rabbit, squid, fish, goat, lamb, beef, and even cicada's. (yes you read that right, june bugs, deep fried served on a stick).
So I'm walking with 2 delightful young female foregin teachers. One is from France, and the other is from Kansas. We are having a good converstation, and the teacher from france asks if I'm willing to try the cicada's. Sure. I'm up for anything once!! So she buys a stick o bugs. There are 4 cicada's on the stick. They are deep fried in front of us, and if you pop them into your mouth without thinking about it too much it is just like popcorn! Crunchy. We all shared that one stick of bugs, and I decided to get another stick. Crunchy, not gooey.
So we manage to find some other foods, mainly meat on a stick (not sure what it was, but it was tasty), some flat bread, and some beer. We try to get a seat, but each set of tables is for a particular stall. So we give up on that, and go to KFC (yes kentucky fried chicken) and walk in and take one of their booths!
After a delightful converstaion, some beer, and being able to sit down, we decide to join another group from SIAS who is going to a local tea house. So we tromp up the stairs to the third floor, and sit down. We are served some boiling hot, weak tea, and given three plates of different seeds. Then the entertainment starts. Imagine keroke, now imagine each person singing off key and shrieking for a reason. That is Peking Opera. it feels like someone is driving an ice pick into your ears. That was our entertainment.
So we started a collection thinking that if we paid them enough they would shut the hell up. No luck. we couldn't bribe them. so we did the next best thing. We took our napkins, rolled them into balls, and shoved them into our ears. (imagine the scene, about a dozen foreingers, with paper napkins sticking out of their ears. Add in the beer and we had a party.
Some food for thought.
1. I ate bugs
2. I was taken advantage of (the tea house charged each of us 20 RMB for the piss poor tea, 3 plates of seeds, and the "entertainment")
3. My sense of hearing was assaulted by this entertainment.
4. I smelled badly
5. I had to sleep on a very uncomfortable bed
Prisoners of war are actually treated better than this, and I had the honor of paying for it myself!! ;)
Will
Voice of Will: Halloween in China
2004-11-06 - 8:07 p.m.
Ah... it is so interesting and different here.
So last week was Halloween. We have 3 kids. I'm used to dressing up in costume, having Criss and the kids dress up, going trick or treating, putting the kids to bed, and then staying up with my wife.
In china, they don't understand trick or treat. So we could not go to the neighborhood for trick or treating. But we did go through the Foreign Teachers Flat. 5 stories and 87 different teachers. Well, we actually only did about 35 teachers.
Why? Well there are many very zealous missionaries here who believe that halloween is ... ... ... heathen(?), or pagan, and are firmly against it (good example of the ferocity, to tell other children they would go to hell if they werent baptized (that was last year from an older couple.))
Ok. So to avoid any issues, I made an announcement that we would be going trick or treating at this time, and we would stop by only if the front windows curtains were open, and the light on. This was to avoid any "showdown" with the highly religious zealots. It worked. The kids had a blast, and most of the people who allowed us to trick or treat SPOILED the kids terribly.
Rae was a "twinkle twinkle star" and then Tinkerbell. Zeb was Peter Pan, and William was a Boy Scout.
The kids made a killing (they should have, they were the only ones trick or treating. Ah the wonderful adoptive 'aunties and uncles' who sugar up my kids and send them back to me...
The other reason I have not written is because of Culture Week. During Culture Week, SIAS celebrates each area's/countries culture. So we had a China day, a south east asia day, a Canada day a Europe Day, and an American Day. Each day was filled with information booths, lectures, food, and displays. it has been very hectic, and long week.
anyways, I have to go, I'll tell more later.
Will
Ah... it is so interesting and different here.
So last week was Halloween. We have 3 kids. I'm used to dressing up in costume, having Criss and the kids dress up, going trick or treating, putting the kids to bed, and then staying up with my wife.
In china, they don't understand trick or treat. So we could not go to the neighborhood for trick or treating. But we did go through the Foreign Teachers Flat. 5 stories and 87 different teachers. Well, we actually only did about 35 teachers.
Why? Well there are many very zealous missionaries here who believe that halloween is ... ... ... heathen(?), or pagan, and are firmly against it (good example of the ferocity, to tell other children they would go to hell if they werent baptized (that was last year from an older couple.))
Ok. So to avoid any issues, I made an announcement that we would be going trick or treating at this time, and we would stop by only if the front windows curtains were open, and the light on. This was to avoid any "showdown" with the highly religious zealots. It worked. The kids had a blast, and most of the people who allowed us to trick or treat SPOILED the kids terribly.
Rae was a "twinkle twinkle star" and then Tinkerbell. Zeb was Peter Pan, and William was a Boy Scout.
The kids made a killing (they should have, they were the only ones trick or treating. Ah the wonderful adoptive 'aunties and uncles' who sugar up my kids and send them back to me...
The other reason I have not written is because of Culture Week. During Culture Week, SIAS celebrates each area's/countries culture. So we had a China day, a south east asia day, a Canada day a Europe Day, and an American Day. Each day was filled with information booths, lectures, food, and displays. it has been very hectic, and long week.
anyways, I have to go, I'll tell more later.
Will
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