Jenna came by during the last 10 minutes of class and we co-"taught". Much more fun when she's there. I seem to be able to talk to people one-on-one, but when it comes to communicating with a room full of teenagers unwilling to talk, I don't have much to say. Let me know if you have any ideas. Really. Whatever. No one ever does. Thanks guys. Note sarcasm. Also, still waiting for website title suggestions. Anyway, Jenna and I were much fun. We accuse each other of having hundreds of boyfriends. People here think all Americans have tons of boy/girlfriends, so when I tell the little kids that Jenna has 100 boyfriends, they look all shocked, but they believe me. Jenna said that she had stolen all her boyfriends from me. Hussy. We voted to see who the kids thought was her hottest guy friend. The guys voted, too. I guess no one told them that if you notice that some guys are better/worse looking than others, it means you're gay. We didn't let on. We also taught them some useful phrases like, "damn fine" and "a body that won't quit." Tomorrow will be, "All that and a bag of chips." Jenna also detailed why Chinese guys aren't the most appealing. I looked at Greg when she talked about guys expecting girls to cook and clean. Funny that he's like that, when my friend from college (who is 1/2 the kid's namesake) is the least sexist guy I know.
I guess they find us tolerable, b/c they invited us to a picnic the day after tomorrow at a lake outside of town. We're going to have to reschedule, b/c we don't have class that day, but I'm looking forward to it.
Tomorrow is Bastille Day! Be sure to celebrate! I will be giving my students tootsie roll pops (thanks NPS)!
Oh, and boys, send pictures so I can have my girls vote on who is the best looking. You might be photographed on a yaht or holding large bundles of cash to improve your chances. I'll post the results. I am also available for arranging marriages. Girls if you do the same, I'll have the boys vote, though I refuse to arrange marriages to Chinese men on the grounds that I like you all.
The family took me on a little driving-tour of Zunyi. They have a car. And their apartment has screens, and air conditioning, and a large television with a speaker system. Fat stacks of cash. They also took lots of pictures with a nice manual/automatic Nikon the dad bought in the US. And videos with their video camera. It got kind of annoying.
Huge thanks to National Park Service coworkers. I finally got my package today. Fabulous and fun. So, it takes about three weeks for a package to get here. I hope you will laugh at any postal worker who tells you otherwise. No, really. Perhaps Beijing or Shanghai is 8 to 10 days, but China is not America. We have chickens' feet on sticks! And the mail is slow.
I was teaching the teens today and after going over our pretend vacations and writing postcards and teaching them the meaning of "insult" ("You don't know what insult means? You're stupid. And fat. And ugly." it never gets old), we went on to discuss eco-tourism. And the impace of tourism on historic sites. This was apparently "boring." So we turned to a discussion of the Hollywood superhunks. Which didn't turn out to be as interesting as one might think. The main problem is they have different names for actors here. Nicole Kidman is "Lekle Gidman." What the hell? That said, Jet Li's real name is... okay, I don't remember, but it's something Chinese. I think part of the problem is, these kids just finished high school and just took their huge exams and the last thing they want to do is to think. Any suggestions of brainless topics are welcome. I know, you wouldn't think I would need help with that one.
One of my students, formerly Linus, now Hunter (it's okay dad, there's a Tony) was the one who kindly told me that they were bored. Sure, sounds obnoxious, but considering how little these kids normally communicate, I'm grateful. At least it means that there is hope that they might talk of they are interested in a topic. Part of the problem is they now speak well enough to be embarrassed by what they don't know. Also, my accent is better than theirs. I know, who would have guessed? Though sometimes I can't understand what they are saying and it is kind of embarrassing for them. Or I tell them that "lifeless" is not a word that can be applied to the word "word". When in doubt, go with "boring." Here's the e-mail Hunter sent me.
==========================
Hi teacher,I am Liu Chinglin.Sorry, I forgot my english name again.I konw you must be very tired.It is a hard work to teach us,hehe.
As I konw,someone's english is so bad,even you cannot imagine@#.Especially,Mikle and his friend.
I tell you why we all laugh when you say the girl Juilyye.Juilyye is a name of a song which sang by the sing star Wang Lihong.Maybe you don't konw who is he.But it's famous in China.
I will say sorry again,I tell a lie to you.I have the bad habit of smoking.Zunyi is not as good as you say,the city is dirty,the people lack education and not polite.I really want to leave this city!!But as you say,the food here is really delicious.it has many kinds of delicious local food.If you want to taste them,tell me I will introduce someone of them for you.
Is the information on the paper parared by yourself??I must say that it isn't interesting at all!!We are most interested in the movie stars of the Holly Wood,and I think if you say some of the movie star's name,for example Tom Clus,Tom hanks,Lekle Gidman,all of us can understand what you say and must be very excited.Don't ask me what's the weather like in somewhere or what I want to be in the future.I really hate them!!Because many people had asked me the same questions before you.
Thoug some of your word we can't understand.But you should believe that all of us like you.You are beautiful:) , confident and very sunshine!! I admire you so much,I am lack of them!!
Maybe you can't completely understand.But I have do my best~~
I hope to receive your e-mail as soon as possible.Don't worry about if I could understand.I have the tool.which could me translate English into Chiese!!
Good luck!
=================================
I think someone deserves a slight dressing down. Despite the grammar problems, it is quite understandable. I was wondering about the smoking thing. We came back to class after a break and I asked if they had been smoking. They all said "no." I said that I already knew the girls hadn't been smoking. Hussies smoke. Perhaps he is embarrassed by his classmates' lack of English ability and that's why he mentioned that. At any rate, it doesn't concern him.
Oh, and I am very sunshine!
Update on the soap opera situation: Jenna wrote a letter to HM, saying that she was sorry for the language that she used, but was still angry that she had been called a liar and if they can't understand us, they need to find someone who can. Or find a way to differentiate between us. Jenna said that she also doesn't appreciate them thinking that she is responsible for the breaking of every appliance and that appliances made in China are *really* crappy. You know how in the US, things made in China aren't necessarily held in the best regard? Well, that's the good stuff. It's export quality. Well made. HM seems to be happy for the apology. It's kind of like the suit coat thing. Apology? Check.
Now for some excerpts from "The Guide for Foreign Experts Living in China". It's the book that all foreigners are supposed to get, but very few do. I happened upon it while TMIMW was torturing me. Oh, and I'm an "expert." Some quotes:
"The People's Republic of China is a socialist state under the people's democratic dictatorship, let by the working class and based on an alliance of workers and peasants."
"In rural areas the effective system which contracts collectively-owned farmland to each household has been continued and perfected. In urban areas, new reform measures... while strengthening the public-owned economy, the development of self-employed, private, and foreign funded, sectors are encouraged."
"Personnel China is interested in: ... Language teachers who specialize in English, Japanese, German, Russian, French, Spanish, and Arabian are also needed in large quantities."
"In 1921 the Communist Party of China was established. Led by this party, the Chinese finally overthrew the rule by imperialists, feudalists, and bureaucratic capitalists in 1949 and established the People's Republic of China- a new type of country. A people's democratic dictatorship under the leadership of the working class."
That's all of that for today. More later.
I was just looking at the Washington Post online and Fritz had a list of upcoming events. I want to go to Bastille Day at Bistrot du Coin! I get the feeling there won't be any raging parties here. Not that Jenna and I aren't a party in a box, it's just that the boxes here kind of suck. (that was quite witty if you speak french - "box") We will probably end up going down to the river and getting a couple of beers. And picking up guys. Ha! I was saying to Jenna that actually, the guys at the school downstairs are some of the only eligible men in town. Wouldn't the school love it if we started dating them?!
I think I mentioned that the food situation is looking up. Now, it's no longer like eating in someone's humble house, where the cooking is sometimes okay, sometimes not okay. Now it's like we go out to a pretty good restaurant at every meal. I've started coming for dinner again. Also in food news (I may have mentioned this before) they basically have Concord grapes here. They're green, but they're the same shape and taste the same. It's fabulous. And it's good that they're green, b/c now they don't stain my teeth. Yay!
More drama at school. On Monday, HM told me that my class of 12 year olds that started today (Thursday) had been cancelled for lack of interest. Instead I would be teaching an 18 y.o. class that started on Wednesday. Fine. It meant a bit more work, but it was okay. Jenna had been told that her children's class started on Wednesday, but then when she went into school on Tuesday night to ask about her classes, they told her that they didn't have them, b/c her class didn't start until Thursday. News to her. She asked about my classes, too, since they're so bad at communicating, and was told that my classes also started on Thursday. I didn't finish my planning that night and when I went in for lunch yesterday, I said to HM, "So, no teaching today?" And she was like, Yes, teaching today. I said that Jenna had said we weren't teaching until Thursday, but HM said that I was teaching that afternoon. I went back and got Jenna, so we could figure this out and it ended with a loud argument between Jenna, HM, and a TA, who had been helping to translate the night before. HM came back a few minutes later and said (kind of yelled), "I never said that Jenny wasn't teaching today!" And Jenna said, Bullshit, and HM was a liar. Except she said "bullshit" in Chinese in front of one of my students. I told her not to talk that way in front of my students, but she said that she was so angry, she didn't care. I told her she should.