The title has little relevance to anything, but it's true nonetheless. Cheese is basically nonexistent in China, despite dairy products not being uncommon (yogurt is actually easier to find than normal milk, but both are plenty easy to find). Food with good cheese is even more rare. Next person to visit me from the US, bring me some Annie's Mac n Cheese and I'll love you forever.
I had some bacon and cheese smothered french fries today. They were ok. Nothing with melted cheese and bacon should be just 'ok.'
...ahem.
More and more of my classes, or more accurately the classes I'm covering for teachers on holiday leave, are becoming 'mine,' in that I am teaching them without anyone else in the room. I have a really good rapport with two of them, somewhat higher-level students with whom I can have some fairly advanced interactions. In one of these classes, we read the story of Paul Bunyan. As an in-class activity to practice fluency, I had us do a pass-it-around story about a new unusual character. I started it out by providing a name, Ben.
Me: "Ben was as small as a..."
Class: "Rabbit!"
The first student took the story immediately in a dark direction wherein Ben was stepped on. I started it over, asking them through some laughter to be nice to Ben. The second student said Ben was eaten by a cat or something.
"Ok, listen. Be nice to Ben, or we're having a spelling test."
The loud chorus of "Nooooooo!" assured me that Ben would be ok. So we started again. The details are fuzzy, since this was over a week ago now, but here's the basics. Keep in mind, each sentence was provided by a different student, and all in their second language.
Ben was as small as a rabbit. One day he ate some germs. So he went to the hospital. But he was ok, because he works at the hospital. Then, he drank some beer and grew as tall as Teacher. Then, he didn't drink and became as small as an ant. Then, he drank again and grew as big as a shopping center. A star fell and he caught it and threw it back into space. He was a hero. But the star hurt his hands, so he went back to the hospital. He got as small as an ant, and he ate the world. It took many days.
This quickly became my favorite class. When I taught them again the other day, they begged me to let them make another story. I may have some trouble getting them under control now and then, but I've already seen that knowing I can have fun and knowing we can all laugh together means they're almost always paying attention, and as long as I can balance my activities well, classes are going to go great.
...for the three or so weeks that I still teach them before their normal teacher returns. I have a feeling they're going to miss me, and I'm sure I'll hear about it.
My other classes aren't nearly as interesting, don't make as good of stories, but it's all part of a larger whole that has so far left me with no regrets whatsoever. I don't think teaching is my calling, or something I plan to do for many years to come, but if the past couple weeks are any indication, I should do just fine for a while.
A note, dear readers, before the requisite random photo dump. My posts here have not been as deep or detailed as I had wished when this all began, largely because I've been rather drained from everything I have going on with classes and training and learning to live in another country. That said, I know I have many people following this blog; people who care about me personally and professionally, and people who are just interested in reading about someone's experience. If there's anything you want to know, anything you want me to talk about more, or anything you'd rather I keep to myself, let me know. I want this to be informative and interesting, and to provide insight to what my readers want to see.
With that out of the way:
It's fairly well known that the rapid industrialization of China, along with a long stint in a lower economic rung, have led to a country with a serious pollution problem. On some days, it looks a bit like this. You can compare this to my earlier photo (assuming I posted it in this blog, it's been a while since I arrived); while it's not the same place, it's the same city. The pollution is bad enough that filter masks are fairly standard-issue. I have one in my coat pocket at all times, and while I don't often use it, having it handy should the air quality dip like that is certainly wise.
Perhaps not as well known as the pollution problem China has, is its fascination with Christmas. Maybe it's the shared coloration (red and gold being iconic to both China and Christmas), or maybe the commodification of Western culture that's fairly common in the East. Whatever the case, it's no small event. Christmas music began two or three days before Thanksgiving in the shopping mall nearby; around the same time, this...interesting installation was erected. I kinda dig it, really; I've always been intrigued by art that uses familiar things in unfamiliar ways, always coveted the creativity that requires. Just never quite my strong suit.
And of course, no casual post in this blog would feel complete without a questionable translation result to show that cutting corners on your language interpreting doesn't end well.
Zaijian,
-L
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