我爱中国

The reason I never blog anymore is because I don’t feel like a lot happens that is blog-worthy.

And also, I’m pretty lazy. In July I was working 6-7 days a week, so I just didn’t have the energy. Then I was down to 4 days a week for most of August, so I really had no excuse. But to be fair, I’ve actually tried writing this thing a few time, but each time I leave it to finish later, and by the time I get back to it so much time has changed I must change all the tenses and add more. But here it is- my long overdue blog.

So I guess the biggest news to address is that the end of July marked my 1 year anniversary in China. I got the spend the actual anniversary with all my closest friends in China, and I can’t think of better ways to end what has been, by far, the most exciting year of my life. I can’t believe it’s been a year since I’ve seen some of you, but rest assured, I miss you all terribly. And despite my mother’s concerns, I won’t be here forever.

And this year will bring some big changes as well. Last week I signed a new contract with my school. Rather than being a salaried employee, I will now be hourly, and I’ll only be obligated to work two days a week- Saturday and Sunday. This is exactly what I wanted, because it will allow me to do two very important things: travel and study Chinese. I’m currently looking into different Chinese schools and tutors to find the best way for me to pursue Chinese in a more intensive way. I’ve really enjoyed studying by myself and with the help of friends, but if I actually want to reach my goal of being fluent, I need to buckle down and get going. I’m not sure what I’ll be able to do in the future speaking Chinese, but I do know that China has had such a big impact on my life, I can’t imagine doing anything in the future that keeps me completely disconnected from it. So learning the language seems like the first step to getting a job back in the US with links to China. I’ll see where I am in a year and evaluate.

Life has been good- albeit, hot. After such a miserably cold winter I forgot about the humid, blazing Suzhou summer, and more importantly, how wonderful the dirty canals smell this time of year. There is a new high speed train that just began running, and it cuts about 30-40 minutes off of any given journey (while doubling the ticket cost). A few weeks I went to Nanjing for the day with my friend Amanda, just to get out of Suzhou. We went to a museum about the “Rape of Nanjing”, when the Japanese invaded China. The museum is actually built on top of a mass grave of civilians that was discovered, and their bones are still in the ground to look out. The museum was beautifully done and very haunting. We also did a bit of shopping, which is what Nanjing is known for. Mazes of underground shops, just one stall of jewelry, bags, shoes, etc., one after another. Overwhelming.

This month I did summer classes for Sunflower, which isn’t too bad. Normal full days on Saturday and Sunday, plus two 2-hour classes on Tuesday and Thursday. I have a long break in between but it’s close enough to come home, so it was fine. The kids in summer classes are in English school 5 days a week, from 9-4. I had the students Tuesday and Thursday, and Peter had them Monday, Wednesday and Friday. In the morning I had the younger students, who I actually really enjoyed. 2 hours is a long time to teach them only 6 news words and a sentence or two, but it allowed for a lot of games, and I was pleased with the results- it’s further proof to me that the best way to learn a language is just complete immersion. My afternoon class was not such a pleasure- 10 year olds, whose favorite activities include throwing their shoes, hiding my teaching materials and slapping me on the butt. Plus, they had to learn the dumbest word. Cotton candy, Brazil, wombat. I don't even know what a wombat is.

July was a bit different. I was teaching 4 mornings a week at a kindergarten across town that I originally just taught at once a week. Aside from the distance from my home, I really liked teaching at that school- the kids were clever and well-behaved, and I have a lot of support from their teachers, which is rare at a private nursery. I wasn’t thrilled about going that far every day, especially during rainy season, and I really didn’t like the 4 hour breaks I had twice a week. But it wasn’t horrible.

So I walk into that school one Friday, and the first thing I hear is Chinese kids singing “Hey Jude”. Seriously, they were perfect, from the lyrics to the “na-na-na-naaa”. But that wasn’t my class, so I peeked in and moved upstairs to my classroom.

Where I found my student dressed to the nines. The little girls had on fluffy pink dresses that can best be described as “Barbie goes to the prom, 1987”. The boys had on preppy navy blue shorts, white short-sleeve button downs and green ribbon bow-ties. All the kids had silver garland wrapped around their wrists. Their teacher tells me it is a dress rehearsal for a show they are putting on for their parents the next week. I went downstairs to their multi-purpose room, and watched them do what I can only describe as a chair dance, complete with singing. I was really impressed. I hear kids shouting my name, and I turn around to see children from another class that I visit there 3 times a week have come downstairs for their turn, dressed in fuzzy animal costumes about 3 sizes too small. More classes came down, and each costume was crazier than the last- traditional Chinese pajamas, followed by girls in red pleather halter tops and booty shorts, with big teased up hair and makeup. And remember, none of these kids is older than 8.

So I left the school trying hard to contain my laughter, thinking, “this is by far the highlight of my day”. Oh boy, was I wrong.

This kindergarten has two schools, down the street from one another. On Friday mornings, I’d go to both, twice. So after leaving the Barbies and baby hookers, I went down to the smaller school, which has the younger children. I could see that all of these children were having a dress rehearsal as well. I walk into my classroom, and I swear to god, I nearly choked.

They are wearing fuchsia leotards with little skirts. All of them. Boys included. Plus, they had silver garland wrapped around their ankles and wrists. Their teacher asked me if I’d prefer to teach the lesson or to watch the dance- DANCE, of course! Which I then watched 4 times. It was great, and the outfits made it just about the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. I stayed about 20 minutes past the end of class just to watch again.

They told me I could have the day off on Monday because of the show, but I decided I’d give up a morning of sleeping in to go see this live. So Peter, who teaches at the same school in the afternoons, joined me, and we headed out to their show. And it lived up to my expectations. Peter took photos, which are at the end of the blog, and I took video, which I’m trying to figure out how to upload. But the kids and parents were happy to have us there- treated us like VIP, putting us in the front row, center. At the end, they asked up to come up and present the kids who are graduating to primary school with diplomas. As much as I needed a day to sleep in, it was worth giving up to see the show.

But now, I’ve officially began working only 2 days a week. Because of my mom’s visit in mid-September, I won’t officially begin Chinese lessons until the end of next month. So how am I spending my time now? Relaxing. I’ve been going to the gym every day, studying Chinese and cleaning my messy room. But a friend also stumbled upon a hidden gem- a beautiful outdoor pool not far from my home, where we lie our way in every afternoon. But in the next few weeks I plan to do a few more day trips around the province and enjoy my time before I buckle down and study.

Other random things:

• My roommate Mike and I rode our ebikes to Mudu, a township about an hour or so from our house, and rode around for ages. We happened upon a cemetery on a mountain side. The Chinese don’t bury their dead in the city because they think it is bad luck to live amongst the dead, so they bury them on mountains in the countryside. This place was beautiful. A clean-water river, beautiful trees and stone pathways. Because it’s kind of in the middle of nowhere, there is only one bus that goes out there. The route number? 666. You can’t make this stuff up.
• I taught at Green Garden, the school mentioned above, 4 mornings a week, plus 2 afternoons a week. So I’m there a lot. And since its summer, we were just reviewing the material they’ve already learned, so they know it well. Makes the class kind of boring. So I played games and sang a lot of songs. The teacher liked me teaching songs because it’s something they can show off to their parents. I have dozens and dozens in my head- all with hand motions I’ve either stolen or made up myself. The Ants Go Marching, If You’re Happy and You Know It, Hokey Pokey, Are You Sleeping, the list goes on and on. And the thing about Green Garden is that the kids are very clever, so they learn the songs super quickly, so I always need new ones. Strapped for ideas one week I picked the first song that came to my head: I Love You, You Love Me. Yes- the theme song from Barney. And let me tell you, they couldn’t get enough of this song. When we sang the line “with a great big hug…” I’d chase them around and try to hug them. It’s the most fun I’ve had teaching in a long time, and we usually sing it no less than 15 times a class.
• The other day I set my 25 year old student Leo up with my new friend Grace. This is my first attempt at Chinese match-making. And I followed the culture criteria. Leo is rich and from a good family, Grace is beautiful. Aside from thinking they are both very nice, I didn’t have much to go on. But my other student told me that if the match results in marriage, I will be given 8 “porks”. Whether that means 8 pieces of pork, or 8 pigs, I don’t know. Recently I had dinner with Grace, Leo, and his identical twin brother. Unfortunately, it seems Grace got on better with the twin, who goes to school in Australia. Oh well, no pork for me. (Update…I just heard from both of them, and while they like each other, the fact that Grace is 9 months older than Leo made the whole thing a no-go. Oh well, next time!)
• In the past few weeks, the weather has turned super, duper hot. Recently I went to the Starbucks by my house for iced coffee. All three times I went they said they were out. I’m not sure which they were out of, the coffee or the ice, but both seem to be pretty important for a Starbucks to stock.
• There is a man in his 50s who goes to the same gym as me everyday. Around 11:30 he comes in in his sandals, gets onto one of the ab-crunch benches, puts his feet up, and goes to sleep. Every single day. Xiong tells me that he does eventually get up and walk on the treadmill, but all I can tell is that he pays a lot of money for a very expensive nap. But I guess that's China- on a hot day, you can't walk under any bridge, hallway or tunnel without seeing dozens of Chinese men and women sleeping on bamboo mats, sleeping off the hottest part of the day.

So that’s about it for me. I’ll use the post as one more advertisement to please vote today for Johnny (a.k.a. Prince Poppycock) on America’s Got Talent. Even I’ve managed to vote at least 10 times, and I’m on the other side of the world. He’s also gaining quite a fan-base over here. The Chinese can’t access Youtube, but some devoted fans have posted his videos on Youku, the Chinese copycat sight. He’s getting great comments on it, and I’ve spread the video around to all my friends here. One Chinese friend told me she emailed the video to her entire office, and that he has a whole building of fans anxiously waiting the next performance.

In fact, I’ve only been motivated to write this post because I need to do something while my proxy server takes ages to load his most recent performance on Youtube…

Pictures:

Summer in China

XOXO,

RDG