Disease Control

Our parish nurse, Marie Cope has been on a campaign to get ministers to use hand sanitizer before handling communion elements. I think she's the one responsible for there being a bottle of the stuff on the communion table at Cherokee Church, and I guess it's a good idea.

Marie thinks the Chinese government's attempts to control the spread of swine flu make a lot more sense than the laissez-faire attitude in the US.

Above: Marie with her Gordon Center, who recently became a certified therapy dog.

Reentry

Heraclitus said we can never step into the same river twice, for new waters are always flowing toward us. Travel changes us and meanwhile during our absence our home is changing.

We returned a week ago. Our house and lawn have been well looked after friends; though many branches had fallen during a recent storm. Our cats were healthy and happy to see us. At Warf-Pickel Hall, home of the College of Education, people were boxing things up and moving out of their offices in preparation for asbestos abatement. A phone message from an old friend informed me that Horatio Wood, an elder member of Community Friends Meeting in Cincinnati had passed away. Years ago, I stayed with his family.

This was our fifth trip to China, and we leave behind many friends. The sightseeing is always fun, but far beyond that is the joy of international teaching and friendship. Part of our life is on the other side of the world. We plan to return to China next year; two universities have already invited us.

The other day, I greeted some colleague by saying "Ni hao!" in the Warf-Pickel elevator, an indication that I I'm not psychically home yet. I continue to study Chinese using the Rosetta Stone program-- it's a kind of link with what I've been doing. Next week, I'll get to resumbit my article on Chinese reading pedagogy-- one journal recently rejected it.

Rice wine and chrysanthemum tea

Back in Beijing, we prepare for our return to the States. Leave taking is always difficult. We have so many friends here. We plan to return next summer. Time seems to speed up as we age. Next summer does not seem far off at all.

Today, we went to the bank and closed out our account. Afterwards, a friend drove us to the Chinese Sam's club, where Joe purchased rice wine for our friend, Dennis Cope. I seldom drink, but I once took a sip of this peculiar beverage, and have no desire to repeat the experience. The connoisseurs assure us this brand is excellent,
however. The bottle is pretty, at least.















In the evening, another friend met us for tea and noodles; another visited briefly and dropped off chrysanthemum tea.

Now we go home. Reentry always takes time. Don't know how much I'll blog once I'm back-- my State side life is interesting, but I cannot write about it as freely. Ironically, I feel freer to write in this totalitarian country.

Finally!

Today, it was announced on the news that Nanjing has its first documented case of swine flu. So we weren't sure Katie Litz would be allowed to teach at the Kongzi Elementary School, since it is public. Logically, there shouldn't have been a problem-- she's been here a full week, and she shows no signs of illness, but policy isn't always determined by logic.

I'm glad to say the authorities decided that Katie could teach at the school, and everyone was appreciative.





























Above: some scenes from Katie's day at Kongzi.

Young Musicians

The Kongzi Elementary School where Katie taught today has an excellent music program where the kids learn to play traditional Chinese instruments. The kids do very well, their enthusiasm making up for anything they lack in technique.

Chinese music utilizes a five tone scale in contrast with the seven tone scale we use in the West. This means the holes on their flutes are calibrated differently. But flutes are flutes-- essentially they are tubes for conducting vibrating air, though the Chinese variety lacks the gizmos I'm used to on Western flutes.















Above: Young Musicians at the Kongzi Academy
Below: I borrow a bamboo flute

Keeping Things Simple Is Very Complex

Barry Jowett's intern hopes to become an airline hostess. She has been guiding us around Nanjing. Her concern for us is genuine, and she treats us like breakable porcelain. She means well, but it drives me up the wall. Katie is more accepting.

At a restaurant, we told the intern we would be at a banquet that evening and to order a simple lunch, but she must have been concerned about our nutrition. She ordered three dishes of meat, three dishes of vegetables, a bowl of rice for each of us, two kinds of soup, tea, cola, and watermelon. Glowering at her, I told her we ought to make her eat all the leftovers. She looked at me with her big brown doe eyes, and I felt like a monster. The Chinese always over-order in
restaurants.

"We've just got to do the ordering ourselves," said Katie. Easier said than done when you're traveling in China, but it provided me with the necessary motivation to use my Chinese, such as it is. The next day, at a moderately priced restaurant, I asked for tea, eggplant and cabbage, and a bowl of rice for each of us. The waitress tried to persuade me to order additional dishes, but I resisted. They actually brough what I asked. I must be learning Chinese.

Accommodation

















We match language to that of the people around us. The process is partly unconscious. It's an example of what people do when they communicate.

In China, I talk to many non-native speakers, and to my consternation, I've started sounding something like them. At times, I drop plural endings and leave off markers of tense. Sometimes I even say 'he' when I really mean 'she.' These are all common errors for Chinese users of English, reflecting their language's grammar. I find examples rereading this blog, and it does not please me. The pull toward accommodation is strong. As one who is here to teach Standard English, I just have to fight it.

Putting a Face on It

It is one thing to make a policy stating that teachers newly arrived from America may not set foot in your school, because they could carry flu germs. It is very different to say this once you meet and talk with this teacher, and share a meal.

Once officials from Nanjing's Department of Education actually met Katie Litz and we all shared a meal together, everyone relaxed. Katie is a principal in addition to being a teacher, and those present hung on her words. No longer do they worry she will infect their schools with American viruses.

I think fear of foreigners had confounded with anxiety about germs. Quarantine can be appropriate strategy for containing spread of a virus. But when it comes to dispelling fear of those different, there is nothing like contact.





























Above: Scenes from the banquet welcoming Katie

Customs and Precautions

People here are panicky about the swine flu. But not so panicky as to alter their dining practices. The Chinese frown on eating alone, and they like to share food. At dinners and family meals, they eat from common bowls into which they insert their chopsticks.

Sometimes at banquets, the host will use a special set of chopsticks to serve people, but this practice is ceremonial, for once things get underway, guests dips their chopsticks into the common dishes and proceed to eat.

The practice of serving meals on individual plates would be unthinkable here-- to the Chinese, it seems very cold. The Chinese would rather restrict the movements of people unlikely to carry swine flu than alter their dining customs.















Above: guests at a banquet.

Brain Food

This is exam week all over China. Children and parents are tense, for a child's performance reflects on the family. In preparation for the day's demands, this child was taken to eat at the Chinese KFC, after her grandmother carefully arranged her pigtails.