China Blog

Singing English

2011-07-08T08:45:00.000-04:00

Opening ceremonies for the university English festival took place on our final evening in Weihai. The festival offers opportunities to be creative with English; otherwise, it’s apt to be treated as a dry academic subject. I was asked to make some opening remarks, but Joe was the one who brought down the house with his rendition of “Home on the Range.” While quintessentially American, it is not nationalistic, nor religious.

Another high point was a hula dance by a student group in black shorts and silver tinsel. I believe their enthusiastic performance was supposed to represent the culture of New Zealand and Australia.

A Curious Skill

2011-07-08T08:18:00.004-04:00

Our last full day in Weihai, my Chinese “granddaughter” participated in a performance to commemorate the 90^th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party. Whether they like the Party or not, parents enjoy seeing their kids perform, and a couple of hundred kids were involved. Their proud parents and grandparents took photos.

I took photos as well, but I had another project that morning, for I’d just been told I’d be speaking at the opening ceremony of the university English festival, and a formal speech was expected. I usually carry a notebook, and I started jotting things down. A twelve year old Chinese girl whose group performed was sitting beside me. She was fascinated by the way I wrote English in cursive and asked me how it worked. English is taught in the schools here, but the kids always keyboard or print.

Soon, a bunch of kids had surrounded me, and I’d written the cursive alphabet several times. People
of my generation can usually write a pretty clear cursive. It’s how we were trained. I find it faster
than printing, though the keyboard is faster still. It’s a dying art, though, similar to writing Chinese

with ink pot and brush. The college students I teach prefer printing unless they're using their laptops or monkeying around with their cell phones.

Is This What They Call a Vacation?

2011-07-08T05:06:00.000-04:00

From time to time, my friends suggest that Joe and I try an actual vacation instead of visiting a military dictatorship every chance we get. Our trips to China allow us time for walks on the beach, visits to places of interest and conversations with friends, but there’s always work to be done and the continual struggle with an unfamiliar language and culture.

Here in Hong Kong, we know no one, and we aren’t working. For two and a half days, we’ve been tourists. We went on a tour of the city where we visited a Buddhist temple took a cog railroad up Victoria Peak, took a brief ride on sampan, shopped for souvenirs at an open air market, hopped on a ferry, viewed a light show and traditional Chinese dances.

We ended the evening with dinner at a sports bar restaurant dedicated to the Manchester United Football Club. Joe tells me the men’s room features a trough style urinal with an embedded flat screen TV.

All of our needs were seen to by Anna, our tour guide and the driver she worked with. No need to struggle making ourselves understood in Chinese. She even hailed us a taxi when the evening was over. No anxiety; no struggle; no adventure.

Today, I spent shopping and swimming laps in the open air pool at the sumptuous Gold Coast Hotel I booked via hotwire.com. Soon we’ll go off to dinner, and afterwards we’ll likely take a walk on the beach.

Do I enjoy this? Yes, in a way. But it’s much more rewarding to be with the friends we have made here, to work with the students, and make progress in using Chinese.

What, pray tell, is a special administrative region?

2011-07-08T01:38:00.002-04:00

We are spending the final days of our trip in Hong Kong, which occupies a series of islands in South China. The Chinese government calls it a “special administrative region.” To me it seems like a different country, cleaner and more modern than other places in China. It is a beautiful region, and its citizens seem much less afraid of the government.

Hong Kong was ruled by the British for 156 years and was returned to the Chinese government 15 years ago. Perhaps because it is prosperous, Hong Kong was allowed to retain its democratic form of government and to keep its own currency.

Its citizens hold special passports and criticize the government more freely than do the Mainland Chinese. Information control is not as extreme here as on the mainland, though it is not absent.

Merit pay for Teachers: A Chinese Student’s perspective

2011-07-02T21:39:00.000-04:00

This essay was written by 地藏王菩萨, one of the students in the English Cultural Studies Class I taught here in Weihai. As America considers how to evaluate and reward its teacher, we would do well to pay attention to this student’s perspective, which grows out of a culture that expects more of its students and offers its teachers much more respect than do we.

A school often gives its students the deepest impression in their life because not only did it broaden students’ sights by education, but teachers’ influences on students as well. Nowadays some individuals hold the idea that teachers should be paid according to how much their students learn. Frankly speaking, I consider this kind of behavior not a well informed decision.

Salaries that people earn are decided by people’s performances. Teachers are no exception. How much money teachers can get should equal how much efforts teachers make. In this case, by evaluating the amount of knowledge that students get to decide salaries of teachers sounds reasonable; however, there are some problems if this plan is carried out.

First and foremost, it is not fair for teachers if they are only judged by students. Everyone’s energy is not infinite, which means after a period of time of studying, students are likely to be lethargic and tiredness so that they do not want to study anymore even if they know the importance of studying. In this case, although teachers have tried their best to teach students knowledge as much as they can, some students cannot learn more. Thus, students might get lower marks. Marks is an crucial part deciding how much students learn and how much money teachers can get. It’s obviously not teachers’ responsibilities that students cannot get high marks because teachers have already devoted themselves to their career.

Also, how much students learn cannot be truly evaluated. Is the school’s performance the only way to decide a student’s knowledge? We cannot simply give children a test to discover how much they have learned in a class. Tests rarely measure one’s social skills, one’s ability to communicate, or one’s ability to integrate successfully into the world. Thus, it is not a wise idea to think that teachers should be paid according to the amount of knowledge students learn.

To sum up, because of unfairness of teachers and not being able to measure how much students learn, the fact that teachers’ salaries are depend on the amount of knowledge students learn is not advisable.

Below: The students I taught this summer in Weihai

Female Obsession

2011-07-02T16:18:00.003-04:00

She calls me “grandmother.” The daughter of Chinese friends, she spent a year in the United States, and her English is excellent. She’s a top notch student. At age eleven, she’s begun filling out, and she told me she hopes to lose weight. We drove along a beautiful stretch of coast the other day. Here is a picture:

Cultures teach women to be ashamed of their bodies, and it starts very early. Weight isn’t purely an American female obsession. Chinese women are also concerned about weight, mostly for no discernable reason. My Chinese “granddaughter” is entering puberty and has started developing curves. She attends a very tough school and now has less time for exercise and play. Kids that age, like the rest of us, need to be active. Weight, I believe, takes care of itself when we get enough exercise.

I’m at my normal weight now, though no one would ever describe me as willowy.

My weight is the same as it was during high school. At the time, I believed I was very fat, and even my family ragged me about my weight.

Was it the Cow’s Stomach?

2011-07-01T16:03:00.000-04:00

After an excursion along a beautiful stretch of Weihai’s coastline, we met up with my Chinese “granchild’s” parents for a lunch at a local hot pot restaurant where meat is cut into very fine slices, placed in seasoned hot water, and cooked at individual tables.

As some of you know, I sample any food offered, and cow stomach was on the menu.

Part way through the meal, I exited from the table having been overcome with a malady I shall tactfully call the Traveler’s Trots. Unfortunately, this restaurant did not have a Western toilet, so I had to use the Chinese version of the commode, which is nothing more than a porcelain hole in the floor. I made quite a mess.

I experienced multiple calls of nature all last night and into the morning. Armed with my Lonely Planet phrase book, I visited a Chinese pharmacy.

Personnel understood me. But there was the matter of reading directions. Fortunately, a Chinese student with excellent English was able to translate. The medicine, which is quite effective tastes like lotus root. I have never heard of anyone’s using it for this affliction, but of course this is China.

"Great Firewall of China"

2011-06-30T21:52:00.000-04:00

The Chinese government keeps tight control of information on the web. Many sights are blocked. When I am working online and say anything remotely controversial, the screen freezes. Someone is watching. Sometimes, it’s comical, as when I couldn’t get access to the image of a question mark for one of my power points.

Information control is an industry here employing thousands of people. Now that the Olympics are over, it’s tighter. When I send my blog posts to Dennis Cope in America, I use Freegate bypass software which uses proxy servers.

I often feel I’m playing a cat and mouse game with Chinese information control. But I doubt I’m in danger. Things have gone too far. There are too many foreigners here making similar observations. At worst, they deport us, and even that is unlikely to happen. When I teach, I do not directly criticize the government, and at the university, people know how I think. However, I’m able to say things a Chinese professor could not. Year after year, I’m invited back.

Ninety Years ago Today..

2011-06-30T21:44:00.001-04:00

Today is the 90^th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist party, and the governmentality operated television is filled with images of happy workers singing patriotic songs. The attitude here toward such celebration contrasts sharply with what I remember of the American bicentennial in 1976. For the Chinese regime does not enjoy the support of its people.

My students keep asking me questions about the availability of guns in America. I believe that if guns were available to the Chinese populace, the regime would have been overthrown.

Many of you know that my family of origin was Leftist, and that several of my relatives belonged to the American Communist Party in its heyday. I have never been as categorically dismissive of Marxist thought as the American Right Wing. Nevertheless, one cannot keep from noting that every country that attempts to develop a Communist system rapidly turns into a military dictatorship. People who live under Communism loathe it, except for a small elite.

The essential texts of Marxism such as Capital and The Communist Manifesto are hard to obtain here, probably because of their radicalism and emphasis and human rights. My university students have not read them. This would be like restricting our students’ access to the American Constitution and the Federalist papers.

Forward March

2011-06-29T19:07:00.001-04:00

Chinese classrooms are not air conditioned, so the windows are open. During class last night, my students and I were serenaded by hundreds of Chinese youth singing patriotic songs.
Military training is mandatory for all Chinese students. It is given for several weeks during high school and again during the Freshman year of university. Students march around in the heat and listen to lectures about their duty. The students detest it.
The practice, which began in 1990 in the wake of the Tiananmen Square massacre, is supposed to develop self-discipline and loyalty to China. Actually, it fosters resentment.
Military training used to be conducted during the first few weeks of university, but now they do it in summer school, at the END of the Freshman year. It’s the very worst time, because it’s hotter now than in the Fall, and the kids have been on this campus for nearly a year and feel the campus is theirs. The soldiers that come in to train them are thus viewed as outsiders. There are over three thousand Freshmen here, and they are all participating. It’s a reminder that China is still a military dictatorship.

Diving for Pearls in a Chinese Department Store

2011-06-27T19:34:00.000-04:00

Weihai is a coastal community and therefore an excellent place to buy pearls. But obtaining the genuine article can be a bit tricky, as Weihai also abounds in fakes. A Chinese colleague who goes by the English name Zoe guided us to a reputable department store that features excellent pearls but which also permits a person to bargain.

After we bought the pearls, we looked around the department store. The cabbage pictured below is made of the finest green jade. When the cabbage is filled with gold coins and water, it’s supposed to bring a person luck and prosperity.

Note that the cabbage is green, like the US dollar, which is viewed as the world’s most valuable currency. Chinese bills come in red, brown, blue and purple; only the fifties are green.

Return of the Renegade Suitcase

2011-06-26T15:25:00.005-04:00

Weihai occupies a peninsula on the Northern edge of Shandong Province just across from Korea. A typhoon which has been meandering up China’s East coast now hovers in the Yellow Sea between the two countries. Currently, this is producing some very wet weather and nasty winds. The water is rough, the waves high, and the beach outside our hotel is deserted.

When we hailed a taxi for church, we were drenched to the bone, but we enjoyed the service where we saw many people we know from previous visits.

Afterwards, we had to get to the airport to retrieve Joe’s missing suitcase. The weather had worsened. A woman from church grew alarmed that Joe and I, like everyone else leaving church, were getting wet. She didn’t speak English and couldn’t have been much younger than I, but the Chinese can’t really tell how old we are. In this culture that venerates age, I suppose she felt she should err on the side of caution. Tackling me, she attempted to shield me from the driving rain with her body; then she pulled a towel out of her purse and tried to dry off my back, but the towel became soaking wet. I’m not keen on physical contact from people I’ve never met, but I tried to behave as if I viewed her attentions as normal, which they may have been for this culture.

We were shoved into a dilapidated car which belonged to the woman’s husband. Her son, who spoke excellent English, was commissioned to stand in the rain and hail us a taxi. Obtaining a taxi in the driving rain wasn’t easy as many people were scrambling for them. The family used the words “Ye Ye” and “Nai Nai” (Grandpa and Grandma) as they discussed what to do with us. At length, a driver agreed to transport us, and we escaped from these kindly people.

At the airport, I found a sign which said “Delayed Baggage” in Chinese and English. I pointed to it and produced the relevant documents. I wish Joe’s suitcase could tell us what it has been through. I’ve never seen so many tags, notes, seals, routing slips, and certificates of inspection on one piece of luggage.

Hazards of Culture Shock

2011-06-25T22:08:00.000-04:00

As often as I've been to China, I am not immune to culture shock, which is defined as "the feeling of disorientation experienced by someone who is suddenly subjected to an unfamiliar culture (dictionary.com). In this state, we're apt to feel helpless and not solve ordinary problems like tracking down luggage efficiently. This is because our normal problem solving skills are all directed toward navigating the host culture.

It was not until this morning that I realized I could speak to a United Airlines representative about Joe's lost bag. I'd been talking to my daughter and family via SKYPE. It was lovely to hear their voices. Suddenly, I remembered SKYPE could be used to contact any phone number in the world. Turns out United's lost baggage department runs out of India! (no comment). The official I spoke to told us Joe's luggage arrived at the Weihai airport yesterday. Someone might have called. We are going over to claim it this morning after the service at Weihai's one church. Let's hope it's actually there.

Purchases

2011-06-24T21:23:00.004-04:00

Joe had to have an emergency wardrobe, so we visited the Lichuan Market a couple of blocks from the campus. They have excellent merchandise, but no one there knows much English. This was an excellent chance to use my Chinese. People understood when I said "男衬衫在哪里？” This is "nan chen shan zai na li?" in Roman letters and means "Where are the men's shirts?"

Finding wrapping paper was another matter. We are going to a party where we will inevitably be given presents, and we want to reciprocate. Fortunately, the presents we bought in America were in my luggage, not Joe's, but they were unwrapped. On overseas trips, it is pointless to wrap presents in advance, since Homeland Security unwraps them when they do baggage checks. The compound word 'wrapping paper was not covered in my Chinese lessons nor in the Rosetta Stone software. I tried pantomime. The store clerk brought me carbon paper. Fortunately, Joe is good at finding things, he finally located some on a shelf.

Joe in his new shirt.

Tags from the new shirt rest on a sheet of polka dot carbon paper.

Good Morning China

2011-06-24T19:15:00.000-04:00

Chinese parks are extremely safe. In the mornings, old people congregate in public parks and exercise. Some do Tai Chi; others work out on the free standing sports equipment. I join them, for I am extremely jet lagged and cannot sleep late.

Afterwards, I walk on the beach. I take pictures of people who photograph me in return. I gather I'm something of a curiosity.

Moving On

2011-06-24T19:09:00.000-04:00

No luck with retrieving Joe's luggage. Airport personnel are sympathetic and give us copies of the reports they write in barely legible English. They promise we'll receive phone calls, but we don't. I'm not sure all the officials we speak to understand us completely. It helps that my Chinese is improving, but I'm far from fluent. Maybe Joe's suitcase is back in Chicago. We have to get on with the trip.

At the Hong Kong airport, we meet a bevy of travelers returning home to Taiwan after visiting the PRC. Direct flights from China to Taiwan are available now. They seem to be having a wonderful time. They practice their English on us, and I do the same with my Chinese. We laugh. The women share snacks from plastic bags-- a cereal like wheat puffs and some dried fruit flavored with cinnamon. It has a rubbery texture.

Don't move when scanned

2011-06-22T20:31:00.002-04:00

When our flight to Chicago was cancelled, United Airlines tried to reroute us via Knoxville, which is less than a two hour drive from our home. The desk clerk assured us we'd make the alternate flight, though the timing was tight. Predictably nervous, I flinched while having a body scan, and the Homeland Security officer summoned a female officer to give me a pat down. That's what they call it, but the procedure was more like a gynecological exam with my clothes on. The officer was a humorless African American female. Over a head taller than I, she wore hair extensions and bright blue gloves. She offered to do the pat down in private, but I told her to just get it over with. Refusing to rush, she explained what would happen in excruciating detail. "I will run my hand down your back and then check your buttocks. I will move my hand down your legs, and then check your breasts and your crotch." The degree of detail made me anticipate everything happening and increased my discomfort.

When I tried to joke about the procedure, she advised me I shouldn't be talking. Never before have I been on such intimate terms with law enforcement. In medical settings, you are told what's going to happen, but if you prefer get on with things, it's respected. Here, there was no repect. After the body search, the officer placed her blue gloves under a scanner to check for explosives. When none were found, she said I was free to go.

Grinning, I thanked her for protecting our country and told her I'd blog about the experience. She didn't smile. "Tell 'em not to move when they go through the scanner."

We missed our flight.

Are we having fun yet?

2011-06-22T09:19:00.001-04:00

We're finally in Hong Kong, and the Citygate Hotel, though expensive, is beautiful and close to the airport . We rebooked our flights to Weihai for a price, and tomorrow we head out for Weihai. If things go smoothly, I'll have a full day of rest beforemy first lecture.

But things have not been going smoothly this trip. The discounted Chinese airtickets and budget hotel I so cleverly booked online were non-refundable, and we may have to eat the cost. And in addition to screwing up our flights, United Airlines lost Joe's luggage. They think it may have been left in Chicago. They're checking, they say. And since United does not go to Weihai, there will probably be some delays in shipment once they find it.

Along the way, we've talked to some interesting people, including a Carmelite ex-nun, and a Butler University student on his way to an overseas service learning project.

Hope the weather holds. There's a typhoon warning out.

Best Laid Plans

2011-06-21T09:01:00.000-04:00

We should be in Hong Kong. We have made it as far as Chicago. Apparently, a massive computer crash at United Airlines has caused cancellation of many flights. We were in a hotel overnight at United Airlines expense. They gave us brown paper bags filled with tooth paste, lotion and soap, but wouldn't give back our luggage. They swear up and down that they'll get us on a flight to Hong Kong later this morning. I have a hotel reserved in Hong Kong, and I'm working on rescheduling the Chinese flights we will miss. Joe and I are exhausted.

That's the short version. The longer version is a blur of airports, long lines, and other exhausted people. I'll tell you more when I have energy.

Off to Weihai by way of Hong Kong

2011-06-19T23:36:00.001-04:00

11:22 PM Sunday June 19th. Just over 4 hours from now at 3:30 AM tomorrow morning, Griffin is picking us up and transporting us to Tri-Cities airport. The plane leaves at 5:25 AM.

We have a connecting flight to Charlotte, after which we go to Chicago and on to Hong Kong. We will arrive Tuesday evening, but the whole thing will feel like one enormously long day. I've done this before, and I know the drill.

Today was Father's Day. Joe took a rain check on dinner at Sahib's, but with any luck, he'll let me take him someplace nice in Hong Kong. We make an overnight stop in Hong Kong; then the next day, we fly to Shanghai where we pick up a turboprop for Weihai. We'll land in Weihai Wednesday evening.

It's a tiring business, especially since the airlines, ever mindful of profits, pack people closely together in a manner reminiscent of the old slave ships.

Possibly, I'll be able to post from Hong Kong; otherwise, expect to hear from me again sometime midweek.

To blog or not to blog... And what about Facebook?

2011-06-19T13:38:00.001-04:00

A good friend suggested that instead of doing a blog about China, I post to Facebook. "I think you'll get more readers that way." He may have been right, but I did not find the prospect appealing and ultimately rejected it.

I don't Facebook much, though I look at the pictures of grandkids my daughter posts on the network, and I respond when I'm "friended." My vision issues make using Facebook uncomfortable, and in my opinion, the word limit placed upon entries forces oversimplification and superficiality. I don't like texting for much the for the same reason, though I do it at times. Call me a dinosaur.

But past a certain point, we cannot swim against the tide of our culture, and for better or worse, social networking sites are part of the way we do things. So I did consider doing a Facebook page instead of a blog. The word limit on Facebook was the deciding factor. I prefer writing essays to captions. Facebook and blogspot are linked, so my Facebook friends can follow this blog if they want to.

Our plane departs at 5:30 tomorrow morning. In all likelihood, I will be unable to view either Facebook or this blog when I'm over in China. Dennis Cope will posting my entries.

House sitter

2011-06-18T12:28:00.000-04:00

Butter, our fifteen year old tabby, knows something is up when the suitcases come out, and he isn't happy. While we're away, he's in charge of household security, assisted by my neighbor Charlotte Pubal, our friends Dennis and Marie Cope. Amy Ramsey and her girls will be in every day to feed and pet Butter. Sometimes when we return, he declines to speak to us for a couple of weeks.

Paper weight

2011-06-18T12:20:00.000-04:00

I am making an academic trip, so I need to have books on hand. Most things, I put on computer or Kindle, but I can't do that with the TOEFL and GRE prep books, nor the set of Narnia books I'm bringing for the daughter of a colleague, nor the dozen ETSU planners I'm taking along as gifts. Paper drives suitcase weight up in a hurry, and the airlines charge extra for baggage these days even when it's not overweight. We're trying to spread the books, brochures and business cards out over several suitcases and carry ons. One more thing to consider as we pack.

Foot Power

2011-06-18T11:53:00.000-04:00

The Chinese tend to be thin. Some people attribute this to heredity and a diet low in sugar and fat, but I suspect it has more to do with lifestyle. They walk more than Americans. And even now, most Chinese use bicycles for everyday transportation.

The semester I taught in Weihai, I walked three quarters of a mile four times a day getting to and from classes; I usually walked another mile and a half each evening to a restaurant or grocery store. Sometimes, I rode my friend's bike. I lost 15 pounds that winter, though I gained a lot of it back when I returned to the States and reverted to the American practice of using a car.

I was never a very good driver due to poor peripheral vision, and when last August I came close to killing a bicyclist, I decided I ought to quit, though no one was hurt. Since then, I've been walking close to five miles a day and now weigh less than I did in my twenties. Culturally, we're obsessed with reducing diets. My experience is that with healthy eating and walking, weight takes care of itself.

Unfortunately, the Chinese have been copying our bad habits. Middle class people in China are now buying cars in record numbers. In Beijing along, thousands of cars are purchased each month. This results in mammoth traffic jams, and since car ownership is possible for only ten per cent of the Chinese population, life is harder for the walkers and cyclists.

In addition, the Chinese have developed a taste for our high fat foods, though they don't eat as many sweeets. KFC is a favorite treat for the youngsters and college students. Predictably, some Chinese are putting on weight.

Common Decency: It's the Law.

2011-06-10T10:06:00.001-04:00

Because I've been to China several times, Asian students on campus often find their way to my office to talk over problems. In the fall of 2009, a young Asian graduate student arrived my door in tears. In one of her first classes, a professor remarked that Americans needed to work harder so that the world economy wouldn't be taken over by "little yellow people." Maybe this was an awkward attempt to motivate his class. I doubt he realized his comments were racist.

I told the student that racial slurs by any member of faculty are illegal in the US, and we have procedures to deal with such problems. Fearful the professor might retaliate, the student pleaded with me not to tell anyone. I agreed, but I encouraged her to report the incident when she graduated. To his credit, the professor was impartial in grading, and the student did well in the course.

But it's important not to let such incidents go. Not that we want anyone punished; but such problems continue unless they're addressed. There are those who still think our "Basic Student" is an able-bodied Heterosexual, Christian Caucasian who was born in the US and will graduate at age 22. Older students, students of color, disabled students, students with varying religions and lifestyles, along with international students are somehow an afterthought. It's obvious that we need more faculty education.

I kept track of the sudent, and she graduated a few weeks ago. Yesterday we went to see Ms. Mary Jordan, ETSU's Special Assistant to the President for Cultural Diversity and Equal Opportunity. With meticulous care and the supreme tact that comes of long experience, Ms. Jordan inquired into the situation and promised to follow up. Then, she apologized to the student on behalf of ETSU.

There were tears in the student's eyes as we left Dossett Hall. She was stunned by how careful Americans are to correct such problems, and because Ms. Jordan's office is close to President's Stanton's, she felt the apology had come from someone important. In her home country, those in a lower status have little opportunity for redress of grievances.

At times, I've complained about mandated Diversity and Anti-Harrassment training. But there's a reason for it. Respect for all persons is embedded in American law. It makes me proud.

Below: Dossett Hall, ETSU.
Second Below: Mary Jordan, Special Assistant to the President for Cultural Diversity and Equal Opportunity

Appalachian Trail

2011-06-08T19:29:00.001-04:00

Though I've lived here nearly nine years, I'd never been on the Appalachian trail, so I was very pleased when my friend and graduate assistant, Scott Mcilqhuan, organized a mini-expedition for the benefit of the Zhou family who return to Jinan shortly. Scott, who is Canadian, has traveled very extensively and has a knack for sniffing out interesting spots.

The excursion gave me an opportunity to practice my Chinese, at which I make plodding progress. I have progressed from making courtesy phrases such as "Hello" and "Thank you" to making such profound statements as "Here is a green tree" and "My backpack is in your car."

Above: The Zhou family in a self-developed hiking uniform.

Below: Scott and Professor Zhou study a map

Going back

2011-06-08T19:10:00.001-04:00

At first, Joe and I didn't think we were returning to China this summer. One of the universities I've worked for had administrative changes, and I was not invited this year. But later on, the University of Shandong at Weihai made a very generous offer, so we're going after all.

This time, we fly from Chicago directly to Hong Kong where we make an overnight stop. In the past, we've flown from Detroit to Tokyo, but following the Fukishima meltdown we decided to avoid Japan altogether. Tokyo is 148 miles from Fukishima, and elevated levels of radiation have been reported there. We make

I went to the bank today and ordered some Chinese yuan (above) and Hong Kong dollars (below). While technically part of the People's Republic, Hong Kong has its own currency. I like to exchange money through a bank. The centers at airports charge higher fees.

What you bring back

2010-07-15T09:29:00.006-04:00

Well, we're back.

I brought home scarves, pearls, key chain bottle openers, ideas for articles, memories of good times with friends, several nasty computer viruses and various species of spyware. I've been running multiple scans, and while my netbook was unaffected, there were over 4,000 corrupted files on my portable hard drive, and over 6,000 on my flash draft. I'd been connecting these to a university computer on which I had Internet access, and it was apparently infected.

All my data was very well backed before I left the US; otherwise I'd have lost years of work. Dennis Cope is helping me salvage my pictures. Maddeningly, I may have erased some pictures myself as I was reconstracting my data. Moral: Back your data! Work slowly! Quit when you're tired.

Money Changers

2010-07-15T08:52:00.009-04:00

To change our yuan back to dollars, we had to visit the Bank of China. Taxi drivers refused to take us because we weren't specifying which branch. Joe remembered that the bank we had gone to was across the street from a duck restaurant we'd visited, and they'd given us their card(above). The man saves everything! Sometimes, this is a very useful trait. We showed the card to a driver and were delivered to the bank right away.

It was not difficult to exchange our Chinese yuan for dollars. Rates are uniform, and the fees are low-- much lower than in the US. We did not have as good an experience redeeming the unused portion of the Visa Travel Debit Card we had purchased through the automobile club. Such cards offer ATM access in the currency of any country to which one travels using the going exchange rate. We've used these cards every time we've gone to China, and there's been no problem cashing in the balance until now. This time, we'd found that the rules had changed, and all kinds of fees and penalties were imposed for withdrawal.

Our credit union helped us through the process. The bank officer informed us that any bank or credit union can set up an international debit card, thus avoiding VISA's unreasonable surcharges. Contact me if you want more information.

Below: The Duck Restaurant and The Bank

2010-07-09T09:37:00.000-04:00

Floating lanterns

On our final evening in Weihai, I took a long walk on the beech. The weather was was clear but somewhat breezy, so the conditions were perfect for launching floating lanterns. The lanterns are made from oiled rice paper and work the same way as hot air balloons. A small candle is inserted into the lantern, after which it is launched on a current of air. Like flying a kite, this process involves considerable skill.

Beaches are perfect for launching floating lanterns because there's considerable space and good wind. Last night, there were several groups of young men working with these bright missiles. The lanterns can travel pretty high, and may appear as small yellow dots against the sky.

2010-07-09T09:09:00.003-04:00

It's Different This Year

Traditionally, Chinese education has been a solemn, structured affair. Respect for teachers is high; student autonomy is low; and there's a big focus on memorization. Teachers lecture, and the students regurgitate what we say. But the kids are different now, and the system is changing.

Four years ago, I taught at the University of Shandong at Weihai. Apart from a few new buildings, the place looks the same. But there's a different feel to the place. The students are much more willing to question, to speak up. And they're being encouraged to be creative.

This was particularly apparent at the recent American and European Cultural festival where students were asked to create posters and skits representing Western Culture.

Above: Poster from the exhibition; Joe and I receive a present from Santa Claus.
Below: Students dressed as Napoleon and Josephine; Young men in cowboy hats dancing while singing "Yankee Doodle."

2010-07-07T11:05:00.000-04:00

Your Ancestry's Showing

Weihai, where I am teaching now, is located on a penisula in North China, across the Yellow Sea from Korea. It's got a nice beach, and a lot of Russians vacation here, which accounts for the bilingual signs (above).

Russians assume I am one of them, not American, and start speaking to me in their language. And actually, it isn't surprising-- all four of my grandparents were from Eastern Europe.

2010-07-07T11:01:00.001-04:00

Ties that bind

We are now at the University of Shandong at Weihai. Teaching conditions are less favorable here than they are in Beijing, but relationships draw us. Likely, we'll spend more time here next summer than the single week we have this year.

We are particularly fond of the workers at the Weihai Church (see above), and Joe would like more time with them so he could help with their work. Their theology is far more rigid than mine, but these are very good people, folks who've let goods and kindred go so they could share their faith.

2010-07-04T14:45:00.002-04:00

Retirement: The Calendar Decides

I am often asked why I'm still working, with the implication that I'm too old.Chinese men must retire at 60. For women, the age is 55. A person's last day of work is his or her birthday.

Manual laborers may be grateful to stop work and collect their government pensions. But for academics and other professionals, this isn't always the case.

A woman we know, a university librarian lapsed into deep depression after her forced retirement and had to be hospitalized. The pheonmenon, which is common here, is called Post-Retirement Syndrome, a term less often used in the U.S. where people have more control over when they retire.

China is over-populated; unemployment is high; and university graduates have trouble finding good jobs. Forcing the old to move on is an obvious, if brutal solution. It parallels the one child per couple policy and is just as detested..

In this society, one often sees senior citizens doing Tai Chi, playing Mah Jong in the parks, or dancing traditional dances. People may care for the grand kids while the adult children go off to work. But there is no well established structure for volunteering or otherwise sharing one's long experience with others, and people may feel redundant and become depressed.

On this Independence Day weekend, we may consider that the right to work as long as we wish is an aspect of Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.

2010-07-01T12:08:00.004-04:00

Prayer requests

The Buddhist temple we visited yesterday with Professor Ma and his wife Xiao is a functioning worship community, not a museum. Such temples are for veneration of the Buddha; but in addition to shrines, there are gardens and walkways, so the area is more like a park than a house of worship.

Worshippers make prayer requests by wrapping red ribbons around a particular tree as this woman is doing (see below).

2010-07-01T12:02:00.002-04:00

Water Sports

My current rock climbing skills in no way equal those of young Andy Ma, who served as our tour guide in Bai Springs Park in Jinan (above).
However, I was able to climb near enough the springs to immerse my hands in their waters, which are supposed to possess special powers.
At least the water was cool-- it was a very hot day.. Joe and I engaged (rather indecorously) in a brief water fight.

2010-07-01T11:55:00.001-04:00

Chance Companions

The group that was marooned at the zebra and Christmas restaurant became really tight over the hours we were consigned there. None of them spoke English, so it was an occasion to practice my minimal Chinese. Despite the language barrier, we found it possible to communicate. We had such a good time together, that after supper, we all exchanged contact information.either by offering our business cards or by inserting phone numbers in our cell phones.

2010-06-28T10:30:00.003-04:00

Passage of Time

We have a group of friends here in China whom we see only once a year but frequently instant message or email..When we get together, it makes me very aware of the passage of time.

In 2006, when I first arrived in Nanjing, Carl and Jenny's daughter Doreen had not been born (seen above with Carl); Bonnie's daughter Miranda was just finishing elementary school. Now, she has several years of high school under her belt and tells me she wants to study at ETSU. (Miranda is seen with her mother below). Sandy (pictured with me below) was not yet married in 2006. She too has a child now.

Yesterday, our group had a reunion.at Carl Mather's favorite Pujabi restaurant on Lion Bridge Road in Nanjing. In 2006, we put together a teacher training program for the Nanjing Department of Education. It was very successful, and our group has remained close.

Lion Bridge Road is a "walking street" i.e., no cars are allowed. Joe and I have had very good times here, strolling around and poking into the shops. There are often interesting commercial displays, such as the one of the lion below, pictured with Joe.

2010-06-28T10:23:00.001-04:00

Marooned among the plastic zebra.

Our 1:30 flight for Jinan was cancelled, and the one they rebooked us on doesn't take off 'til 11:00 this evening. Rather than make us wait at the airport, Shandong Airlines bussed us to an out of the way hotel where could lunch on beef bones with rice and tomatoes, pork nuggets, and egg drop soup. All this is free of charge and way more than American airlines do for their stranded passengers.

The place is clean, well-equipped, and weird. The lobby (pictured above) is done up with Christmas trees, red lanterns, and plastic elephants, There's a huge lily pond in the courtyard, stocked with obese gold fish and fake water fowl. (below) The crepe myrtle trees are well-tended, but the nearby pavillions are rusting out, though the plastic zebras it shelters do not appear to have suffered any ill effects.

2010-06-28T10:20:00.001-04:00

Any Relation?

The Gann family, into which I am married, has organized an historical society celebrating the roots of people named Gann. They publish a quarterly newsletter and hold annual reunions. Hundreds of years ago, the family migrated from the Franco-German Palitinate. Most Ganns live in the American South and Southwest, and supposedly, we're all related to each other by blood or marriage. Some Ganns are obsessed with working out geneologies and will lend a hand to Ganns with similar interests. There's even a Gann family cook book.

Yesterday, we visited the Nanjing Museum of Folklore housed in an ancient mansion which, until modern times, belonged to a family named 甘, which in Chinese is pronounce Gan. Do you suppose...? Maybe some of these Gans would like to attend a reunion, or help revise the cook book which is heavy on fried chicken, cream pies and grits.

Photos taken at the Gan family mansion, AKA The Nanjing Museum of Folklore

2010-06-26T21:22:00.001-04:00

Balanced bilingual

People acquire their native language without any problem. Additional languages involve effort, lots of it.. Unless, of course one is lucky like three year old Doreen Mather, AKA Ru Yi. Her Australian father speaks to her in English; her mother speaks to her in Chinese, and she is acquiring both. Didn't take her long to figure out that Joe and I were English speakers.

Carl actually speaks some Chinese, but he and Jenny mostly use English at home. Doreen is otherwise surrounded by Chinese. What an advantage to be a native speaker of two world languages!

2010-06-24T16:41:00.001-04:00

Vegetarian Bear

I've spent a lot of my time in Beijing grading papers, but now and then we take time to do something fun. Yesterday, we went to the Beijing Zoo.

They're shifting from using cages to exhibiting animals in settings resembling their natural habitats. Of course we spent time in the panda exhibit. These beautiful black and white animals, native to Southwest China, are now an endangered species because their food supply is being destroyed as China develops. Pandas eat massive amounts of bamboo, and the forests are being cut down.

While pandas look much like bears, Chinese naturalists do not consider them as such, for they are completely vegetarian.

2010-06-24T16:36:00.001-04:00

Close Quarters

On Sunday, our colleague Weifanchang and her husband Zhang invited us to their home for dinner. Joe was the guest of honor because it was Father's Day. The couple are newlyweds-- they waited to marry until Zhang had finished his Ph.D. in aerospace engineering. He works for a government institute. Weifanchang (AKA Wendy) teaches English at NCUT.

The couple live on campus as do most university faculty. There is little privacy, which is a way of life here. I don't mind living on campus a few weeks every summer when I come here. But as a steady diet, I'd detest it. Like most Americans, I am something of a privacy freak. I even disliked parsonage living, where there was much more privacy than is afforded faculty here.

Though they are highly qualified, are Wendy and Zhang are junior faculty and don't get much space. Their apartment is about eight feet by ten feet, with a tiny bathroom and kitchen in addition. The double bed takes up most of the space. There was hardly room on the fold away table for what Wendy had cooked. They must be in love-- otherwise they'd have killed each other by now.

Photos: Wendy and Zhang; a gracious feast on a tiny table

2010-06-20T12:17:00.001-04:00

Slow Food

I'm sure you've encountered fast food. But this restaurant claims to serve slow food. Does this refer to leisurely dining or to the cuisine? Judging from the sign, snails figure prominently on the menu..

2010-06-20T12:11:00.002-04:00

Practice and Competition

The Chinese organize many competitions. There are English competitions, math competitions, science competitions, teaching competitions, music competitions. I sometimes think they'd hold a sneezing competition if they could. A colleague told me this is a fairly new phenomenen, and it seems connected with the government's wish to foster constructive competition.

A number of teachers at NCUT like to perform Peking opera. We were invited to a rehearsal last week, and today was the competition between amateur music makers, opera singers and dancers who teach at various universities in Beijing. They were pretty good. As in the US, there are lots of people with moderate talent, few of whom make a living in the performing arts.

Peking opera uses the Asian music scale in which the fourth tone is raised a half step, so the music sounds odd, almost off key and it's rather screechy sounding, anyway. The female vocalist's offering was especially so. She reminded me of the emaciated off key soprano my grandmother hired to sing at my brother Kenny's Bar Mitzvah.

But the sets were beautiful, and the dancing was glorious. It's fun to watch people doing something for which they have passion.

Above: Rehearsal. Some of you will remember Mr. Guo, an NCUT English teacher, who attended the ETSU summer institute in 2007. Seated second from left, he plays a two string traditional instrument, the erhu.

Below: The performance

2010-06-19T21:30:00.002-04:00

Bad influence

China's cell phone culture involves much more texting than that of the US. People seldom make phone calls-- they're much more expensive. This means that I'm in charge of communication, because I can text (sort of) on the old fashioned phone we have loaned. It's tricky-- it doesn't have a qwerty keyboard like my new one.

Joe got defensive about his non-texting this morning. "Dennis doesn't text!" he said, referring to Dennis Cope, the friend who is posting this blog. Gads! this man influences people. No wonder he was chosen to be a prefect in his London secondary school.

I tried to find a picture of the Chinese cell phone online, but those sites are blocked today. The gremlins are active.

Photo: Dennis Cope center. Joe is in the foreground, and Marie Dennis'
wife is in the far left.

2010-06-18T12:59:00.002-04:00

Remembrance of things past

This is the sixth visit we've made to China, so at this point, we have something of a shared history with those we visit. Many have been to our home when they've come to the States.

Today, Professor Liu, presented me with a flash drive containing many pictures from last year's Summer Institute on English Pedagogy at ETSU. I had no official connection with that program last year, but the participants came to our home one evening, where we served them Joe's famous chili with cornbread. After dinner, we fixed popcorn and ice cream sundaes and in honor of Joe's home state, we watched "Oklahoma" on the plasma TV. Joe wore pointy-toed boots and a bull rider's hat for the occasion. Our guests were so taken with Joe's Southwestern get-up that they asked to take pictures wearing the bull rider's hat.

I'd almost forgotten what a special gathering it was. I'd taken no pictures that night-- keeping everything organized took lots of effort.

Above: Institute Participants, 2009 gather around our table.

Below: Himself in the bull rider's hat; One of our many beautiful Chinese guests borrows it; not to be outdone, yours truly models it.

2010-06-18T12:55:00.001-04:00

Hail, hail, the gang's all here!

Dr. Rhona Hurwitz has arrived along with the rest of Dr. Chen's and Dr. Anciewicz' group. A few nights ago, we went out to eat with Rhona and two graduates of our Masters program-- Li Songshu and Tang Yingjuan. The waitress obligingly took a picture for us, but it came out a bit out of focus.

2010-06-18T12:48:00.003-04:00

Dangerous Reading Material

Joe and I attend Cherokee United Methodist Church, a growing congregation on the South edge of Johnson City. It's a great congregation, one that really tries to live out the United Methodist dictum "open doors, open hearts, open minds." Amy Ramsey's been emailing us our church's bulletin, "The Compass" each week, but when we tried to open it today, we got the message "This page cannot be displayed" in Chinese. Now, if you get a message like this in the States, you check your computer or figure the website address has been changed. But when you're in China and you see that particular screen, you know that it's being blocked by the government. Information control, i.e. censorship, is an industry here.

They can't block everything and maintain the illusion of a quasi-open, benevolent society, so they never block everything. I couldn't find a picture of Cherokee Church online-- all the sites where I'd find it are currently blocked. Therefore, I post our symbol and slogan, along with a picture of our pastor, The Reverend Ms. Michelle Buckles.

2010-06-17T13:32:00.002-04:00

Good for laughs

When a people acquire a different language, they will inappropriately transfer features of their native tongue. Linguists call the phenomean interlanguage. The result can be pretty funny. Consider these texts of Chinese signs:

If you are stolen, call the police at once.

or

Please omnivorously put the waste in garbage can.

I challenge any English speaker who calls these examples "Chinglish" to learn Chinese. The natives find my attempted Chinese quite entertaining. Though I am understood in the dining hall, personnel find my communication hysterically funny. The food servers like me for the comic relief I provide.

On Dragon Boat Day, the cafeteria help did not allow Joe or me to pay for our food, gave us much larger portions than we had asked for, and then brought us more. We had to ask for a plastic bag to take the extra food home, and they didn't charge us 3 mao for the bag, which is the usual practice.

Photos: Student cafeteria and generous amounts of jaozi, a favorite holiday food.

2010-06-15T10:54:00.002-04:00

Library Visit

The Chinese don't take as much time to plan things as we do. We're going to be in Jinan in a couple of weeks, a trip which was planned several months ago. But not until yesterday did a friend from Shandong Normal University invite me to give a lecture on second language acquisition.

Of course, I wanted to say yes. Even though it's a subject I know, but I couldn't prepare an academic talk off the top of my head. I need sources, references. This campus has a library, but for obvious reasons, most of the holdings are in Chinese. Sherrod Library on the ETSU campus was approximately 12,000 miles away. What's an academic to do?

Visit the library virtually, of course. The site was not blocked, thank God. I located dozens of full text articles I could use. Didn't even need to enter my password.

Such availability of information continues to astound me. When I was in college, card catalogues had cards; notes were taken in pen and ink; and the copy machine was an innovation.

Above: Books in a Chinese library
Below: Sherrod Library at ETSU

2010-06-15T10:49:00.000-04:00

Very touching

Yesterday, we went to Beijing's rainbow market, which is a good place to shop for silk, jade, pearls, and designer purse knock-offs-- the kind of things tourists like. My Chinese tutor tells me the natives seldom shop there.

When a Westerner walks by a stand, one or more sales people, actually grab the potential shopper by the hand. "Come sir, come Madam... excellent price." Joe kind of liked being grabbed by pretty Chinese girls. I, on the other hand, felt I was being assaulted. Maybe this stimulated my aggression-- I did some excellent bargaining yesterday.

The merchants were more restrained on the uppermost floor where pearls and high quality jade are sold.

Above: women stringing pearl necklaces to order.

2010-06-15T10:41:00.002-04:00

Call it progress

I work on Chinese every day for at least an hour and a half. My tutor, a young man named Chen, is a recent graduate of this university whose job with a video game company does not begin until July 1. We work on various things-- pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, the writing system. The language continues to be challenging.

Today, Joe needed a card for his camera, so we visited a department store where, according to Chen, the electronics is of good quality. In the popular markets, electronic merchandise is often defective. We worked on the vocabulary I'd need for the transaction. He wrote everything out in pinyin, the Romanized system, and also in characters. I asked Chen to browse unobtrusively when we got to the store, and store personnel understood what I wanted. There are no breakthroughs with this language, but with effort, one learns.

In China, there are fewer open shelves in department stores than the US. After we'd selected the card from behind a glass case, an important looking supervisor with at least a dozen keys had to be summoned. I had to pay at a different counter, and the clerk validated my receipt with a big red stamp like the one above.

Photo: After our excursion, Chen and Joe have lunch at a Japanese restaurant in the department store food court.

2010-06-13T20:41:00.004-04:00

Three Day Holiday, Chinese Style

The Dragon Boat Holiday or duan wu jie is upon us. This holiday commemorates the politically based suicide of the Chines poet, Qu Yuan and is celebrated by dragon boat races. This year, the holiday falls on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Because we get three days off for the holiday, students and faculty were required to make up all missed classes this weekend. I taught four hours Sunday; some of my colleagues taught eight.

People kept giving us enormous bags filled with Zonzi and hard-boiled duck eggs. Zonzi are balls of sticky rice wrapped up in bamboo or willow leaves, the traditional festival foods. I'm told they are steamed-- I haven't fixed ours yet. According to legend, Zonzi were thrown in the lake Qu Yuan drowned himself in to distract hungry fish from eating the body.

Zonzi appears to be one of those festival foods which some people like and others could do without-- rather like matzoh, fruitcake, and black eye peas. The university has already given us a couple of bags of the stuff, and other faculty keep trying to unload theirs on us.

Photos:Dragon boat races; Zonzi and hard-boiled duck eggs

2010-06-13T20:15:00.002-04:00

A characteristic of the breed

Semester exams have begun here, but the special class in English composition continues 'til Thursday. My students write essays which I send back to them with comments for revision. I do this all on computer and stay up to date on my grading. I've never thought of myself as obsessive, but Joe assures me I am, at least about this.

Well, despite their celebrated industriousness, my Chinese students maintained that I was not returning their work, and therefore they could not revise it. Reminded me of ETSU students who claim our computerized D2L grading system was "losing" their work. Sort of an e-version of "The dog ate my homework." Apparently, such claims are universal among students-- a characteristic of the st breed.

I long ago learned to back data. Not only is the corrected work on my flash drive, but my course partner, Professor Guo Tao gets a copy.

Above: A student leader making announcements in class.

2010-06-12T13:16:00.002-04:00

Language to make you dizzy

When I was a child, I thought America was on top of the globe and imagined the people of China had to walk around on their heads. Since I've been studying Chinese, I've started to wonder if I was right. These languages are extremely different. Any English speaker who studies Chinese will have a healthy respect for Chinese users of English. It's amazing our people understand each other at all.

Not only is Chinese a tonal language; its writing is not alphabetic, and its patterns of ordering words into sentences are mind boggling. I am increasingly able to make myself understood in restaurants and markets. My attempts make the locals giggle, just as so-called "Chinglish" amuses us (see examples. When I use my Chinese in public, colleagues here are embarrassed for me, and reflexively begin to translate. I cannot have them around when I want to practice.

The Chinese begin to learn English almost in infancy. Software displayed at the Beijing Sam's club features the ABC song. It is quite expensive in Chinese terms -- about 600 yuan, or nearly a hundred US dollars. Parents who probably cannot afford to buy it stand their children's strollers in front of a monitor as this familiar tune plays.

2010-06-12T13:08:00.002-04:00

The right stuff

It happens on every trip. Two weeks into our stay here, I've contracted a malady I shall describe as Travelers' Trots. Joe, lucky guy, never gets it. The US Center for Disease Control estimates this condition affects anywhere from 25 to 50 per cent of all travelers. Travelers to Asia are particularly prone to the problem.
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/diseaseinfo/travelersdiarrhea_g.htm

I'm hoping to address the situation discretely. I don't want to tell our Chinese hosts-- they would blame themselves. Besides, they think I am terribly old to be making a trip of this kind, and they'd get very worried. The CDC website attributes the condition to contaminated food or drinking water. But since Chinese visitors to America become similarly ill, and our food and water supply are quite safe, I wonder if Traveler's Trots could result from unfamiliar diet.

I'm going to try the tea and rice cure, and if that doesn't work, I'll try out my emergent Chinese at one of the pharmacies nearby. I've been looking around on the Internet. The medicine in the green bottle is likely the right stuff...

2010-06-11T12:01:00.002-04:00

Bargaining Culture

Bargaining is embedded in Chinese culture. Posted prices are not final except in the largest stores. To avoid being cheated, one must bargain. This is especially true if one is a foreigner, since they ask higher prices from us.

The bargaining culture influences the workplace. It is fairly common for Western teachers to be engaged at one price only to find their compensation reduced when they're paid. Such problems can be taken before a magistrate, but I'm told such matters are universally decided in the employer's favor. Disputes over pay are best resolved via bargaining.

To the Western mind, it appears dishonest not to have a fixed price for a product or service, but the Chinese don't view it this way. The sense of appropiateness is different here, more nuanced and situation specific.

Bottom line: If you're here any length of time, learn how to bargain!

Photographs: Chinese merchants selling their wares. In these venues, bargaining is expected.

2010-06-08T20:52:00.003-04:00

High stakes

As in many countries, China has a special exam to determine which kids are headed for university. The kids are about fifteen and in the first year of high school when they go through the grueling two days of testing which largely determine their future. The exam and attendant procedures are standardized nation wide. I'm told it's a difficult test The sixty per cent who pass pursue a pre-university curriculum; the rest leave school and go to the work force, where they perform such exciting jobs as sweeping the streets with bamboo brooms, or working in factories and restaurants, twelve hours a day, seven days a week the rest of their working lives. A few who fail are sent to technical school.

In the event of failure, there's second a chance to retake the exam the following year, but if the young person fails again, that's it. In this competitive atmosphere, many people try to cheat, so the kids are wanded and frisked before entering the test site. There is special equipment to detect cell phone signals sent into exam rooms, in the event that students have managed to bring in their cell phones and are using them to cheat. This is a nation of one child families, and the pressure is particularly acute. When children fail the exam, families who can afford it sometimes bribe the officials to place kids in the university track.

Above: students line up to take the Guo Kao or university exam.
Below: other scenes from the examination. Note that even in an atheist
nation, there is such a thing as School Prayer.

2010-06-06T12:24:00.002-04:00

All aboard!

With increasing numbers of cars, Beijing is very congested. Taxis are cheap, and buses cost next to nothing, but for longer distances, the subway is quicker. The system is less extensive than London's or New York's, so sometimes you have to use a combination of subway and bus or taxi to get to a destination. Our bags were scanned before we boarded, as they are on an airline. The cars were comfortable, but rather noisy.

Photos: scenes from the Beijing subway and a subway map

2010-06-06T12:20:00.001-04:00

What's in a name?

I haven't the faintest idea why a five inch sausage is called a "hot dog" and a fried cornmeal ball is known as a "hush puppy" since neither has anything to do with dogs. So I shouldn't have been surprised when our friend Chen couldn't tell us why the item above is termed "Blueberry mountain medicine." The lattice is constructed from raw Chinese cucumber and topped with blueberry sauce.

2010-06-06T12:11:00.003-04:00

A crowd pleaser

In Beijing today, the Chinese government is reasonably tolerant of church attendance, though this is not so in all parts of China. However, all Chinese land is owned by the government, and restrictions are placed on how many churches can be built. There are only seven churches in all of Beijing, and it has a population of 17.4 million.

People stand in line to get into church, and the one we attended, like all Beijing churches, was packed. This was Communion Sunday, and the service was extremely moving, with familiar hymns such as "What a friend we have in Jesus" sung in Chinese. Worship services are very predictable, so I understood most of the service even without the translation headset an usher brought to our pew.

Photographs: Church in Beijing

2010-06-04T22:33:00.002-04:00

Background checks

Yesterday, we were taken to a local police station to register with the authorities. This is now required of any foreign national residing on a university campus, even if their visit is short. In the past, the university just took copies of our passports. The involvement of the "People's Police" in academic visits is one of many signs that security has tightened in the aftermath of the Olympics.

The experience was routine but unnerving. Yingjuan Tang, who escorted us to the station interpreted for us. She said it was best if I did not let on that I knew some Chinese. The officer who interviewed us, a woman, was very polite but the atmosphere was intimidating. The questions were simple: they wanted to know how long we'd be in China, where we would go, why we were here. She scanned our passports and searched interminably on a bunch of computer screens. She seemed to be doing some type of background check. Afterwards, she printed out forms which she asked us to sign, and stamped them with a big red star representing the People's Republic. I don't think our interviews took more than an hour, but it felt way longer.

I don't think we're in Kansas anymore, or Johnson City for that matter.

Pictures: The ubiquitous People's Police

2010-06-03T22:29:00.003-04:00

Is teaching a competitive sport?

Weifancheng or Wendy (pictured above) is an English teacher here at NCUT. She was in my class last summer and also participated in the English pedagogy seminar at ETSU. Recently, she was selected to participate in China's National English Teaching Competition.

She described the process to me, and I relate it as accurately as I can. NCUT selected her and one other teacher to take part in the national competition. There were five levels or rounds. The judges were college professors. For round 1, the local level, she was videotaped teaching her class. She passed to round 2 where she submitted lessons plans, and curricular material. I believe she was also interviewed by a panel of judges. She passed to the provincial level, or round 3. Here, she was assigned to a group of students she did not know previously, given material to teach, and was videotaped on short lesson. She was evaluated on poise, rapport, knowledge, efficient presentation, diction, and professional appearance. She came in fifteenth, out of all the English teachers in Beijing which was impressive, but not high enough to qualify for the national
competition.

So is teaching as a competitive sport? Are you kidding? It's an art, an idiosyncratic process, which cannot be scored like basketball or even synchronized swimming. At its core, teaching is about passion for one's subject and clearing away confusion that prevents a person from learning it. It's an intuitive human process, not a series of skills.

American educators have a lot to learn from the Chinese. But I hope to heaven that competitive teaching is not a practice we copy.

2010-06-03T19:26:00.003-04:00

Eating an omelet with chopsticks

Once a week, we eat in a restaurant called Beasleys with a group of our friends. The menu offers traditional Southern breakfasts. Its pancakes and omelets are especially good. Perhaps Joe was missing Beasley's when he ordered a combination omelet and crepe in a campus cafeteria. Prepared on an open griddle, the dish combines eggs, scallions, chili peppers, brownish sauce and a Chinese type cracker I could not identify. It was rather large, and hard to handle with chopsticks, though Joe seemed to manage.

I think Beasley's should start featuring it? Of course, they'd have to
get chopsticks.

2010-06-01T20:08:00.003-04:00

Take me home, please!

In some parts of China, big dogs are raised as livestock and eaten. Miniature dogs are popular pets, though, especially since families became smaller with the one child policy. The government forbids people to keep big pets in the cites. This is understandable, given how close together people live. The dog in the picture above was allowed to enter the campus super market, and people started petting it.

Cats are less often kept as pets in this country. They typically live outside and are used to suppress the rat population. College students sometimes feed the cats on this campus, and the cats seek human attention.

This cat (below) was nuzzling the young lady pictured below, but the girl explained in forceful Chinese this cat was not hers. The cat became interested in me, but I told it I live in America and have cats already. Knowing how our older cat Butter reacted when the younger Jasmine arrived, I can only imagine how our two cats would react if a Chinese cat arrived in their household. Besides, I'm not sure the US government would allow us to bring a pet back with us.

Amy Ramsey, who is looking after our cats, tells us Butter and Jasmine are doing well.

2010-06-01T20:04:00.001-04:00

What do they want us to do with the bottles?

My Chinese study is paying off, though I am far from fluent. I can
understand what merchants and waiters say to me some of the time; taxi
drivers understand me. This morning, I got a student to tell me where
to find the recycling bin by waving an empty bottle at the trash can
and saying "Where are the plastic bottles?". My vocabulary is
definitely limited.

Pictures: The dining hall

2010-05-30T19:10:00.000-04:00

Information control

I write this blog from Beijing, but the actual posting is done by our
good friend Dennis Cope in America.

North China University of Technology, where I am working is
well-equipped and has a lovely a lovely campus (see photos). Students
walk about smiling and play ball. To look at this place, you would not
know how tightly information is controlled. It is, I think tighter
than in previous years.

In my current location, I cannot use Dropbox, the system I would
normal use to share files with Dennis . Nor can I access any type of
information bypass software. I cannot see Facebook, blogspot, or
Youtube, all of which were available the summer of the Olympics.
Obviously, I cannot view this blog, but I will read your comments when
I return to the States.

We've had a good sleep and are reconnecting with friends. As always,
excursions to China are an adventures.

2010-05-30T13:23:00.001-04:00

A world of paper

Museums have taken to developing exhibits for passengers in transit. I greatly appreciate this. The exhibit by the International Origami Museum in the Tokyo Airport is particularly good. These artists recreate the world in folded paper. Brings to mind the jokes about Sunday school classes replicating the universe from colored macaroni and my children’s jibes about the way we used to sculpt animals and trees from bread dough.

But origami is an art, not just a children’s pass time, and the scenes of pagodas, musicians, and flowers these artists create are truly impressive.

2010-05-30T13:17:00.001-04:00

A Culture of Gift Giving

We arrived in Beijing late last night, and at Noon there’s a to do at the university. I’ve wrapped a bunch of gifts for our Chinese hosts (above). It’s best to leave them unwrapped ‘til you get here, because Homeland Security unwraps them if they go through your suitcase when they’re looking for bombs.

The Chinese are always giving gifts to their families, their colleagues, their guests and their friends, and it’s only polite to reciprocate. In international friendships, items representing American culture are especially appreciated, so I crammed my suitcase with knickknacks, stuffed animals, ETSU paraphernalia, and miscellaneous dust catchers. As a result my suitcase was very heavy, and Homeland Security inspected it. However, the airline did not consider it overweight, which was fortunate— they now charge a hundred fifty bucks for an overweight suitcase. It made a big difference that I had all of my books on the Kindle.

Finding gifts items that weren’t made in China was a challenge, and some of the stuff I bought was actually manufactured in here. I’m told the Chinese understand if some of the stuff representing America was actually made in China. A sign of the times.

Below: The gifts I brought. Maybe I won’t run out this time.

A number of things

2010-05-19T18:30:00.004-04:00

The school year is busy, and in the summers we travel. Often I fail to make time to see the sights around here. Yesterday, I went to the Biltmore Estates in Asheville for the first time. Still owned by the Vanderbilt family, the estate is now operated as a non-profit corporation. The 250 room mansion is filled with Asian and European art and picturesquely situated on 125,000 acres of North Carolina real estate. The palaces of Chinese emperors were modest by comparison. Despite what I think of the way George Vanderbilt and other Golden Age robber barrons treated their workers, I was impressed.

The gardens are particularly enchanting. The excursion put me in mind of these lines fro A Child's Garden of Verses:

The world is so full of a number of things

I'm sure we should all be as happy as kings.

-- Robert Louis Stevenson

Above: Flowers at Biltmore Estates

A library in my shoulder bag

2010-05-17T10:35:00.008-04:00

Whenever I go to China, I miss my personal library. I can find English books in China, but they aren't always my favorites. In the evenings, I like reading novels from Oprah's book club, or browsing the dictionary, or reading Bertrand Russell, or the English romantic poets. I stuff my suitcase with as many books as I can, and I always get inspected by Homeland Security because books, like bombs, are heavy. When I come home, I leave dictionaries and other books behind as gifts for my Chinese friends.

Usually, I take no more than ten books overseas, and even that often renders my suitcase overweight. But this time, I'm taking forty-five. I now have a Kindle, a lightweight electronic reader that holds up to three thousand books. There are several competing devices of this type on the market. The IPad is probably the glitziest, but at the moment anyway, the Kindle has the clearest print. In fact, the print is generally clearer than hard copy, and it can be enlarged to a comfortable size.

Do I miss the feel of the pages? Not really. This is much more convenient. I imagine that when humans invented scrolls, some people thought of rocks with nostalgia. But scrolls were easier to carry around, and so they won out. This innovation may be similar.

Above: The Kindle

Below: Modes of writing the paper book has replaced

YES WE CAN... learn languages

2010-05-17T09:39:00.006-04:00

None of my grandparents spoke English natively, but all of them learned. They came from four different countries: Austria, Latvia, Romania, Poland. Yet all of them spoke at least two languages in addition to English-- Yiddish and one or two of these others: German, Lettish, Russian, Polish, Romanian. My grandparents were not particularly well educated-- except for my father's father, none of them finished high school. You don't have to be hypereducated to acquire a foreign language.

Despite my training in applied linguistics, I often despaired of learning to speak foreign languages. It's not that I didn't try. As a child, I took Hebrew in an after school pogram. I made good grades in high school and college French and could even read Camus and Moliere at one time. I can read New Testament Greek, to some extent. But I could never communicate in any language I tried to learn, until now.

Slowly, painfully, I am learning to speak 汉语 (Chinese). For a speaker of English, it is extremely difficult. The language is tonal; this means that the relative pitch of pronunciation alters meaning. Chinese has no alphabet, but has thousands of interrelated symbols like this one （pronounced "ni hao") which means "hello": 你好。Its grammatical and idiomatic structure are very different from ours. But with persistence, one learns.

Languages are learned best through exposure and practical use. When I enrolled in a Chinese class based on rote memorization, my brain rebelled. I have been more successful working with software and weekly lessons with a Chinese graduate student. Ever so slowly, I am learning Chinese.

Joe does better with Chinese writing system than I, though I can discriminate some character's It's a question of learning style. We leave for 北京 (Beijing) on May 28, a week from Friday.

Below, my favorite software packages: Rosetta Stone and Communicate in Chinese by 大山 (Da Shan).

Go Greyhound!

2010-01-02T11:58:00.005-05:00

I have grown impatient with airline travel because of the increasing costs, the delays, the extra fees for baggage, the cancelled flights and endless searches. I'm not all that fond of long distance auto trips, either, so on a recent trip back home from New York, I opted for Greyhound.

This year, we celebrated Christmas at my daughter's home in Cincinnati. Joe was planning to drive home afterwards, and I arranged to visit my Great Aunt Hilda, who lives in the New York area, on my own. I purchased a Greyhound ticket.

My children, who have grown very protective of late, were not too on keen this choice. In what can best be described as an intervention, Ben, Mike, Emily, and Steve predicted my death by specially trained marauders who execute senior citizens foolish enough to travel by Greyhound. So concerned was my son Michael that he drove me as far as Philadelphia where he lives and personally placed me on a train to New York. Always glad of additional time with my Michael, I agreed to this.

For the return trip, I did take the Greyhound and have lived to tell the tale. The buses are clean, and the drivers keep things orderly. There is twice as much leg room as one has on an airplane; things ran on time; and the mountain scenery was gorgeous. I got to nap now and then. But the trip was eighteen hours long. By car, it might have taken 10 1/2 hours; a little longer with rest stops. With security checks, the plane might have taken almost as long, because there is no direct flight from New York to our regional airport.

Buses make rest stops every few hours. The rest rooms are clean, but terminals are poorly lit in places, and in the largest cities like Washington D.C., a bit scary. The problem isn't the passengers. Bus terminals, especially in winter, serve to shelter the homeless. Panhandling is not permited, but one must vigilantly guard belongings, as one would on the New York Subway.

I wanted to take pictures, but did not want to call attention to myself. All sorts of people ride on the Greyhound-- senior citizens like me, college students, military people, people down on their luck. One seldom sees business travelers-- most people seemed to be visiting friends and family or returning home. People pull out their laptops, but this is more of a rarity than on planes. While one must attend to security, it is actually far more comfortable than air travel, though longer. Obviously, I cannot ride the Greyhound to China next summer, but for domestic travel, I will use it again.

Property Rights

2009-12-11T20:23:00.003-05:00

Cultures have differing notions of personal boundaries and property. Western ideas about plagiarism can be difficult for Chinese students to deal with. Memorization figures so prominently in their education system that they sometimes reproduce other people's work from memory, believing they're doing their own. Outright copying is not allowed in China, anymore than it is in ours, but in practice it is not sanctioned as severely. The notion of words and ideas as personal property is less well established there.

Learning cultural attitudes and practices is part of learning a language, so I spend a lot of time on plagiarism rules when I'm teaching in China. To a Western academic, the notion of ideas as property seems perfectly natural; but it's odd, when you think of it. Ideas are mobile. They morph, collide, and mutate, so it's hard to say where they came from or who they belong to.

I started to say that ideas move about like wind, but realized the statement has other connotations. Then again, if you attend the same type of meetings I do, comparing ideas with wind will not seem farfetched.

On Plagiarizing Well

2009-12-10T11:14:00.009-05:00

Plagiarism is the academic equivalent of theft, and in institutions of higher learning, it is deal with severely. Service in the plagiarism police is nothing I relish. Had I wanted to be in law enforcement, I would have a degree in criminal justice. But, I do my best to ferret out academic dishonesty and am suitably merciless with those who attempt it. Colleges of Education cannot tolerate plagiarism among their candidates anymore than a police academy could wink at shoplifting among theirs.

This morning at the American Reading Forum, the keynote speaker pointed out that effective plagiarism suggests a certain academic competence. To plagiarize, a student must do some research and isolate significant information.

Minor problems in citation of sources are technically plagiarism. These, I just call to students' attention, and they correct them But I recently "busted" a student for handing in a paper purchased online. Until I reviewed the submission and tracked down its source, I had never seen the relevant websites. Obviously, the student knew how to reference sources of information.

As one who loves writing and doing research, I used to feel sorry for students who plagiarized. I reasoned such students just needed help. As time goes on, I become less tolerant. Dishonesty, after all, is a choice.

Age grading the blogosphere

2009-12-08T19:50:00.004-05:00

In class the other day, I assured a group of students that I don't just grade their papers-- that I actually write. I mentioned that like most professors, I write grants and journal articles. Then I added, "I also blog." They roared with laughter, and I wanted to know what was so funny.

One of the less inhibited undergraduates explained that blogging is not something they associate with people as ancient as I. "How old should a blogger be?" I inquired.

Another young lady spoke up. "Blogging is for people older than us, but not as old as you. You know, like maybe in their thirties." She added quickly, "I'm sorry, Dr. Gann. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. You can blog if you want to." Glad she gave me permission.

Apparently, these undergraduates don't blog themselves; they prefer to use Facebook, a picture-intensive social networking site which I regard as superficial and inane, though I actually belong to it so I can view the pictures my daughter posts of my grandchild.

The students did not wish to hurt my feelings, but it was clear they had trouble imagining that antediluvian persons like me would have things to blog about, any more than they could imagine their parents engaging in sex. It's hard for people of different generations to understand each other. In a certain sense, young people inhabit a different culture. Teaching undergraduates at ETSU may not be that different from teaching in China.

A rather large village

2009-12-06T19:53:00.008-05:00

Daniel Zhang is a Professor of English at the University of Shandong at Weihai. He did some graduate work at our university last spring and needed to document it after his return to China. He requested a transcript from ETSU, but after nearly two months, it had not come. I was not surprised when he told me this in an email. Ordinary mail goes to China by ship and can take several months. The winter I spent in Weihai, I requseted an absentee ballot for the fall 2006 Congressional elections, but it did not arrive until April 2007, months after I had returned to the US.

I learned from the registrar's office that Daniel's transcript had gone out a few days after his request. Obviously, the transcript was lost-- or moving very slowly. The registrar's office released another to me after Daniel faxed his permission, I sent it out via priority mail. FED EX is faster, but it would have cost over a hundred bucks.

Just now, Daniel notified me that he'd finally received the transcript. It took three weeks by US priority mail. Daniel writes:

When we email to each other, I feel as though we were in a village, but this transcript experience brought me back to the reality that we live on two continents.

This is the paradox of international friendships. The global village is rather large.

Above: Post offices on opposite sides of the world.

Below: Pictures taken on an auto trip last March with Daniel Zhang and his family.

Disease Control

2009-06-28T09:31:00.004-04:00

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

2009-06-28T08:50:00.004-04:00

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.

2009-06-20T14:03:00.002-04:00

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.

2009-06-18T16:07:00.003-04:00

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.

2009-06-18T16:03:00.001-04:00

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

2009-06-17T12:12:00.002-04:00

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.

2009-06-17T12:09:00.002-04:00

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.

2009-06-16T22:17:00.000-04:00

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

2009-06-16T21:56:00.001-04:00

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.

2009-06-15T10:31:00.000-04:00

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.

2009-06-15T10:25:00.004-04:00

Climbing the walls

Katie Litz is a student in ETSU's English as a Second Language endorsement program. A principal and veteran of 40 years in public education, she has come to Nanjing to do her internship in second language teaching. We planned to have her teach in a combination of public and private language program.

Right now, she can only teach in the private ones, for to some officials here, any newly arrived American is a potential source of deadly flu germs. The situation is workable -- Katie can do her required hours in the private academy, but I had hoped she would have a more varied experience. There were no private classes to be taught today, so after a discussion of lesson plans, we headed for the old city wall with Carmen, our tour guide (above).

Maybe in the next few days, the powers that be will become more flexible.

Below: Katie and husband Jack concentrate on eating a meal with chopsticks.

2009-06-13T14:16:00.001-04:00

Family

Felix came to ETSU last August. For his first several days, he stayed with our friends, the Copes. Joe and I also helped him get settled. Now, he is home in Hangzhou for the summer. Felix enjoys the US, but he says there are times when he wishes he did not have to return to our campus. I know what he means. Even if you know the language, there is something inherently uncomfortable about a foreign culture.

We were warmly received by Felix' family (see above).

2009-06-13T14:13:00.001-04:00

Fruit of the lotus

Having read Homer's Odyssey, I was shocked that the Chinese eat it and was wary of eating it myself. The Greek hero, Odysseus suggests that lotus is very addictive:

Those who ate the honey-sweet lotus fruit no longer wished to bring back word to us, or sail for home. They wanted to stay with the Lotus-eaters, eating the lotus, forgetting all thoughts of return.

The lotus fruit eaten here is sweet and crunchy, but it is no more addictive than the apple. Personally, I prefer watermelon.

Above: a blooming lotus.

Below: A slice of lotus stem, ready to eat.

2009-06-13T14:07:00.000-04:00

Chinese medicine

Felix tells us that most Chinese use a combination of Western medical care and traditional Chinese medicine. The system relies on herbal remedies and extracts of animal parts. The training for traditional doctors is long and rigorous, as it is for Western doctors.

Felix tell us he had hepatitis A at the age of 2. His parents selected traditional medicine believing it had fewer side effects.

Above and below: scenes from a Chinese clinic.

2009-06-13T13:56:00.004-04:00

Magical Thinking

To my way of thinking, the Chinese government's swine flu policies combine medical science and magical thinking in about equal parts. A teacher who just arrived from the States in perfect health will not be allowed to teach for a week until the government decides she is virus free. However, she will be free to move about China, where she could potentially infect lots of people were she to carry the virus.

This logic reminds me of the legend of Liuhe Ta Pagoda (above). Hongzhou's Qian Tang River is tidal, and at some times of year, huge "tidal bores" flood the surrounding area. In 970 AD, King Qian (2nd above) developed an interesting way of taming the river-- he assembled a party of 10,000 men and had them shoot arrows into the river. Once he decided the river demons were dead, he ordered the men to build dikes.

2009-06-12T12:08:00.001-04:00

Porcine politics

How a country handles a pandemic apparently depends more on history, politics, and assumptions about life than on the physical properties of viruses. Thousands of Chinese died during the SARS epidemic of 2003, and this is fresh in everyone's mind. More importantly, the Chinese concepts of personal freedom and the legitimate role of the state are different from ours..

The United States never attempted to close its border with Mexico, even though it was clear that it was the source of swine flu. By contrast, China scans international passengers for fever at airports.
When an elevated temperature is detected, the person is quarantined, along with all passengers in adjacent rows. This happened to the mayor of New Orleans and his wife on a recent visit to China. Even Chinese epidemiologists say the gesture is futile, for people are contagious several days before symptoms appear and would thus slip through the border control.

With the formal announcement by WHO that H1N1 is actually a pandemic, the controls both sensible and senseless will increase. This will affect international travel here and exchanges of all sorts.

2009-06-12T12:03:00.001-04:00

Haggling

All over China, even in very large cities like Hangzhou (population: 7 million), you see open air markets. It is essential to bargain in these places. Fengyi, or Felix (above) as he calls himself in America, was concerned that I would not know how.

I'm not entirely sure where I learned this fine art. I think from my Austrian Jewish grandmother. Her apartment was near Sutter Avenue in Brooklyn, where there were many peddlers and pushcarts years ago, and I vaguely remember her haggling.

In the market, I saw some wooden beads bound with the great knot of China. The proprietor of the stand wanted 120 yuen, or about $17.50. It was worth less than half that, I thought. We argued awhile, the proprietor in his minimal English, I in my minimal Chinese; and we kept track using a calculator. Finally, we settled on a price of 20 yuen.

Below: Trinkets in a market stand.

It's a game, sort of. Felix says I'm as good at it as the Chinese.
Maybe it's genetic.

2009-06-10T19:01:00.002-04:00

Confucian tradition

It's probably the influence of Confucius. The Chinese view the contributions of teachers very differently from the way we do. We are revered, and it is assumed our tie to the student will be lifelong in some cases. I taught English to the young man in this picture during the Fall semester of 2006. He now has an excellent job at an international company. He goes by the English name "Max'" a name he selected, he says because it has only three letters and is therefore easy to spell.

Max had us visit his company and introduced us to his manager, who told me what an excellent employee Max is and thanked me for teaching him. Then, he arranged lunch for us at a very nice seafood restaurant.

Above: Max, who is newly married with Wendy, his wife.

Below: At the restaurant Max selects foods from the plates and fish tanks.

2009-06-09T22:25:00.002-04:00

Perspectives of travel

Normally, I have no great fondness for spiders, and I get away from them as quickly as possible. But travel makes us newly open to the weirdness and wonder around us. So when Joe noticed this enormous spider while we were walking through a grove of pine trees yesterday evening, I stopped for photographs.

2009-06-09T08:37:00.001-04:00

Banquets

The Chinese love to hold social events which they call "banquets" and
which we might call restaurant dinner parties. Guests sit around a
rotating circular table on which is placed a huge assortment of foods,
which one grasps with chopsticks. It's a lot of eating. I continue
to wonder why the Chinese are so thin and why I always lose weight
when I'm here.

Above: Joe, me and some old friends from Weihai at a recent banquet.
Below: A dish I incorrectly identified as French fried onions.
Actually, it was fried, breaded octupus tentacles.

2009-06-05T21:11:00.002-04:00

Guanxi
To understand China, one must understand the notion of "guanxi" (pronounced GWAN-SHEE). Roughly translated, it means connection or relationship. It connotes respect, familiarity, and often friendship. It is analogous to collegiality in American universities, but Guanxi cuts deeper, implying long-standingl ties. To get anything done in China, one must have guanxi. I think It was because of guanxi that Professor Li, Vice President of NCUT asked us to visit his home last evening after the ceremony, rather than to a restaurant as would have been customary . Professor Li's daughter, Sonshu, just completed her Masters degree at our university. When she arrived at ETSU in 2007, the dorms were not ready-- it is hard to arrange flights from China that mesh with everyone's schedule. Joe and I often host overseas students until they get settled; so we suggested Songshu stay with us. Her parents have always been grateful. It must be a difficult thing to send one's only child to the other side of the world.

Professor Li, who is an excellent cook, personally prepared zhaodzi. This is China's signature festival dish, and the process is labor intensive. His niece, who will study business at ETSU this fall, entertained us with a piano selection, "Wonderful Chairman Mao."

Above: The Vice President as chef.

Below: A patriotic performance

2009-06-05T15:34:00.002-04:00

Appreciation

American teachers grow accustomed to criticism. The shortcomings of the education system are laid at our feet. If we only taught better, so the myth goes, parents would support us; standards would rise; students would do their work joyfully; and the achievement gap between "haves" and "have nots" would spontaneously close.

In higher education, we are told that students are "customers" whose needs we must satisfy. We are also told we must keep standards high. I work hard. I prepare carefully and spend lots of time reviewing student work. Students don't always like me. Many complain I give too much work.

At NCUT, I did what I always do-- nothing more. I gave lectures, prepared assignments, and conferred with students. And I was showered with appreciation. Go figure. Today, at a special ceremony, I was awarded honorary professorship here.

Above: I am handed my "certificate of appointment" in a red velvet folder.

Below: My certificate, complete with the university's red star seal.