James' Chinese Odyssey

Photos: Beijing Nights!

jrbacon — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 03:18:00 GMT

Photos: James and Ye's Beijing Reunion

jrbacon — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 03:20:00 GMT

Photos: Chinese New Year Banquet

jrbacon — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 21:02:00 GMT

Photos: Mahjong Night!

jrbacon — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 23:43:00 GMT

KTV and Mahjong - Entertainment in China

jrbacon — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 23:20:00 GMT

So on Wednesday I had my first experience of KTV. KTV - or Karaoke TV, is a very popular passtime in China, especially amongst the women. Unlike Karaoke in the West where it is held in a bar or pub with the audience being anyone in attendance, KTV is done amongst friends in private rooms. The rooms have a large screen and a touch screen terminal, two microphones and hand percussion instruments (such as tamborines). There is waiter service where a large selection of food and drink is served, although many people choose to bring their own (and this is not frowned upon). It was myself, Stella (a fellow English teacher, native of Aberystwyth), Winnie, Coral, Cathy (Local Chinese English teachers), Ella and Tina (Teaching assistants). As much as I love Karaoke this was definitely a uniquely fun experience. It was like Singstar or Lips on the X-Box or something. The booths had mood lighting, a strobe, mini-lasers... pretty much a home disco!! I could see this concept either being extremely popular or a total flop in the West.. Although Tian (my good friend from University) informs me there are two Chinese restaurants in Luton that have KTV (although he didn't say which ones!) But I shall add it to the list of businesses I would like to - but probably never will - run. I did my usual Karaoke fayre - A bit of Celine Dion and Barbara Streisand, Westlife - You Raise Me Up and I had a crack at Time to Say Goodbye... which all went down pretty well.

Last night I went with Suki and Chloe (two more Teaching Assistants from the school) to a restaurant which also had mahjong (or ma jiang 麻將 in Mandarin). Each room had a table with sofas for eating, and then the mahjong table itself. Mahjong, if you're not familiar with it (and not the Windows version) is a game played by four players. It is effectively like gin rummy but played with tiles. You have three suits (tong, tiao and wan - dots, lines and numbers) numbered 1 to 9 (yi to jiu), the four winds (north south east and west - bei, nan, dong and shi), flowers and seasons, and the 3 cardinal virtues (Hong Zhong, Fa Cai and Bai Ban - which represent benevolence, sincerity and piety). Each player takes a turn to take and discard one tile in an attempt to make melds, three of a kind (pong) four of a kind (kong) or a run of three (chow). However unlike rummy, you cannot make your meld by drawing your own tile, you have to wait for someone to discard the tile you need. It is all very complex, and I wasn't very good - but luckily we weren't playing for money!

Wednesday night is the staff Chinese New Year Banquet, so I shall let you all know how I am before I head to Beijing.

Best wishes

James.

New Bike, Medical Exam, First Lessons.

jrbacon — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 11:29:00 GMT

Well the last few days have been quite eventful. Last Thursday I picked up my bike and have been whizzing around town on it. On my first day I almost had 3 head on collisions. The Chinese seem to enjoy the game of Chicken... It's very much a case of head down, throttle up and don't pussy out. Old people tend to be the worst.... but it think that is born out of the "respect your elders" mentality many people have here. However it is very fun to ride flat out on an empty street.

If I rotate home, I'm definitely getting a motorbike of some description. It's so much easier than a car... Yeah it's higher risk but running costs are cheaper. Also an interesting point about China which makes it seemingly safer for foreigners; if you get into a car accident and you're on a bike, the driver must pay your medical bills for life - and because you're a foreigner they don't really want you dying on Chinese soil as it looks very bad for diplomatic relations. I think Britain could learn something from this.. I'm sure there would be less collisions with motorbikes in that case (not so much paying medical bills, but definitely some form of lifetime stipend).

On Friday I had my medical exam... and they were very thorough. It was at the China Inspection and Quarantine Service where I had a chest x-ray, ultrasound, ECG, sight and dental exam, blood and urine taken. Everything is normal except a fatty liver and midly swollen spleen; this is basically a result of my years of unbridaled alcohol abuse. So time to clean my act up? Possibly.

On Sunday I taught my first lesson. It was only 1 hour, however it was probably the most daunting experience of my life. I was prepared, my lesson plan seemed flawless - my powerpoint was shiny, I had activities planned, everything. By the 30th minute I had used all my good material and was starting my back-up exercises. The kids were around 9-10, and there was 10 in the class. I was teaching adverbs using -ly on adjectives to form them... quite an easy concept which they had managed to grasp within the first 10 minutes. When I ran out of all my material, I had a "deer in headlights" moment, and images of all the teachers I've had previously flashed in front of my eyes. But it wasn't too bad; my observer, Adam, had a backup plan so it was all good.

On the Monday I taught my first set of Kindergarten kids. That was a pretty fun experience. We sang songs, played with puppets, ran around and whatnot. It's amazing how easily entertained kids are - even though their command of English isn't fantastic, they seem to pick up what you want them to do quite quickly. It is also a good experience in social skills for them; the Chinese educational system doesn't do much to foster this - it is all rote learning and individual performance.

The interactive whiteboard is probably the best teaching tool ever invented. It's so easy to show kids videos, play games, draw pictures, go through worksheets... everything! Gone are the days of having to write excessively from teacher dictation or copying things down; which allows for more proper teaching time and demonstration.

Well none of it has put me off so far... Just have to take it all one day at a time. However today is my day off, so I will be going to the KTV Karaoke bar with the girls from work... in the afternoon!

Best wishes

James

First Trip to the Supermarket

jrbacon — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 15:41:00 GMT

So my first week in China has almost come to a close. So far, so good. A lot of it has consisted of sleeping. Who'dve thought jetlag could be so severe :-\

Yesterday was my first trip to the supermarket - Auchan. Although it makes ASDA look small in comparison. Imagine Costco, but bigger. I mean, there is literally everything you could imagine to buy all under one roof. So much so in fact, I didn't know what to buy!! I ended up getting some basic household items, coat hangers, a pair of gloves (it's bloody freezing at the moment!) etc. all came to total 180 kuai which is about £18.

But the things I saw in the shop was unbelieveable.They had live fish ready for eating. Talk about fresh! The crabs were practically climbing out of the tank. The dried duck was laid out in rows on a counter just as you walked in... I honestly thought they were plastic. They had 2.5L bottles of baiju, a 50% rice spirit, drunk on special occasions, in a plastic bottle. I swear it could have been meths. Also, it only cost 26 kuai (£2.60) which is cheap as chips for even the most hardened alcoholic to sustain their addiction.

Cigarettes are also dirt cheap. 8 kuai for a packet of mid-range branded ones. Cigarettes are seen as a social status indicator in China, with certain (more expensive) brands being seen as a status symbol. Also a 6-pack of Tsingtao beer (China's national brew made from rice) being only 20 kuai. Alcohol is consumed in China not for the taste as it is in most western cultures (even Britain to an extent), but for the sheer purpose of getting drunk. Also it is very rare to see girls in the bars, as it is a social stigma.

In the sweet section, they had "beef sweets" which are effectively sweetened bits of beef jerky, marinated chicken's feet freeze dried, tofu sweets.. One of the girls in the office had beef sweets the other day, and they're actually not that bad, as strange as the concept sounds.

There are definitely things I want to try when I get a chance to go there again, but I was on the back of Beth's E-Bike (electric scooter), but today I will be picking up my from Katy who is selling hers. 500 kuai used, when they normally go for 2000 - bargain. They have every type of meat and every cut you can imaging, and they sell offal too - pigs intestines, lovely stuff :-\

Tomorrow I have the fun of having my medical examination at a Chinese hospital. Apparently they don't know how to take blood properly, so I'm bracing myself and my brachial arteries. I also get to have a chest x-ray, So I'll be able to know if I've given myself lung cancer through years of abuse.

Wish me luck

Regards

James

Photos: Random walkings in Zhangjiagang

jrbacon — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 12:23:00 GMT

Photos: Arrival

jrbacon — Sun, 6 Jan 2013 23:24:00 GMT

Arrival

jrbacon — Sun, 6 Jan 2013 23:10:00 GMT

So I have arrived and spent my first few nights in Zhangjiagang, Jiangsu Province of China.

Zhangjiagang is a small city (approx. 1 Million inhabitants) but my first impression is that it is a very lively and bustling place to live!

On my road there is practically a resturant every 10 yards, with shops, supermarkets, barbers, pharmacists, bakeries... you name it on the way. It's about a 30 minute walk to the school I am working in.

I live in the Mingdou Huayuan appartments which are the very definition of "don't judge a book by its cover". On the outside they seem to be the typical communist style accomodation blocks (not to different from the ones in Poland), but on the inside, my appartment is very spacious and comes with all mod-cons. It is incredibly cold during the winter, but electricity is very cheap (~100RMB per month, which is about £10) so I can afford to turn the A/C heating up to 30 degrees :)

I share the flat with a Canadian guy named Jason, he is very friendly and helpful and has shown me around a lot. He has been here 4 months and already he knows a lot of chinese and is able to communicate quite well.

The last few days have been like a blur of information; inductions to the school and meeting new people. Getting my bearings of where things are has been relatively easy, as Zhangjiagang is effectively a grid of intersecting main roads, and as I have said, it's not too hard to find what you're looking for.

I have observed several lessons of the "Small Stars" classes; the classes given to children aged between 3-7 years old. The children are typical youngsters - hyperactive and with the attention span of small flies. Each class has a bilingual TA to aid in the lessons; but they mainly consist of games with flashcards, singing songs and colouring in.

Everyone at the school is very friendly and helpful, as we've all started in the same situation. There are a few teachers who have been here for years, and seem to have adapted quite well, and most of them seem to prefer it here than to the UK.

My exploring has been hampered by a very bad feeling of jetlag... today was a day off for me, but I slept the whole day. I feel a bit guilty as I really want to go out and explore, but I am just so tired. But hopefully the feeling will pass once I am in a regular routine at work :)

I have a lot going on at the end of the month. On the 23rd it is the staff party for Chinese Spring Festival, and on the 24th I will be going to Beijing to start my course. This should be good fun, and I won't be alone as my friend from University (Ye Zhang) will be there, so she said she would show me around. The course is only 9-5 for 7 days, so that gives me a chance to explore the city at night :) When I return, I'll only be at work for a few more days, and then can take Spring Festival as a public holiday for the 9th-11th. Let the good times roll :)

well I hope that is a decent update, feel free to send me a comment or two.

Best wishes

James