The Chinese Box and Going Outside of It

The Chinese education system does not emphasize creativity.  Maybe it's the collective nature of the culture or the post-revolution ideology, but thinking outside of the box is something that is simply not expected.  Students simply sit and listen (or don't) while the professor lectures.  The chief means employed to measure their understand are exams.  At the beginning of the semester I explained how how I expected them to debate and discuss ideas--a lecture class with a mix of the Socratic seminar.  Oh how young and foolish I was then!

This doesn't mean my students aren't creative.  Far from it in fact.  They're just not used to a teacher caring so much about what they think.  In fact, they've come up with some pretty radical, and in some instances, highly-unorthodox ideas.  For instance, I recently had them play a game in which they transformed five random objects (a coat hanger, a book, a watch, a remote control, and a spare table leg that just happened to be in my room) into some new product with a completely different function.  Some responses were typical; The coat hanger became a bow/arrow, the remote was reprogrammed to control human action, and the watch hypnotized people.  But some were also pretty inspired: Not only was my watch a necklace, but it was a necklace that helped you lose weight! (The group did not, however, give an adequate explanation of the science behind it)  And it was quite amusing to see Thomas Hardy's Return of the Native become an instrument to fix a shaky desk (and a brick for hitting muggers with).

This however does not, does not even compare to one other moment of possible brilliance.  Our final "unit" has been "acting" or the closest possible equivalent and in one scene I had bargaining for various objects in a shop.  My student "Motumbo" (don't ask), either not content with the naturalism of the previous performances or just trying to get out of a speaking role, decided to portray a singing tree.  Whatever the motive it was a refreshing bit of creativity. Knowing that these kids are radical enough to personify vegetation is a great comfort.

Leb Wohl

Die Great Firewall, Die

Take that Great Firewall! I just pwned you! That is what it feels like to be served up a can of you-know-what. God bless the proxy servers and their freedom-promoting ways! I cannot tell you how upset I was when China started blocking BLOGS of all things. And seriously, who cares what some nut says on their blog? What's next, Twitter? (Oh please, please block Twitter!)

Great Firewall, you lose. That's all I have to say tonight.

Oh and Leb Wohl.

Near-Death by Hong Kong

This last weekend I went to Hong Kong with my traveling buddies, Amy and Adrienne.  On this trip I suffered: exhaustion, sunburn (and probably sun poisoning), intoxication, foot cramps, and an empty wallet.  Oh, and I lost my Wake hat.  

The verdict: Totally worth it.

Then again, I'm such a nerd, just seeing the IFC buildings from The Dark Knight made it worthwhile (see picture; FYI, Batman jumped and glided from the taller building to the smaller one.)  That's not to mention the wonderful view from Victoria peak and refreshingly laid-back social scene.  Just the outstanding bars in Soho and Lan Kwai Fong alone make it an expat's paradise.

Of course Hong Kong is a very western city and not really part of China proper.  And because of the huge number of Europeans and Americans I dwindled back to "slightly less than average" height.  Still it was nice not to be stared at for an entire weekend.

Leb Wohl

Jiaxing--Don't Drink the Water

I'm a bad journalist. 8th post in 3 months? Yeah, I suck. Anyway, I gave my students their midterms last week. They did debates on environmentalism vs. economic progress. Yes, a loaded issue I know, but it gave me an excuse to show them WALL-E (which half of them had already seen). Man, I love that movie. Well, I loved that movie, but after having seen it 8 times broken into 45 minute installments, it begins to lose its luster.

But like I said they had debates. Some were good, some were "meh." They were more speeches than debates, but what can you do? Also, the arguments tended to repeat. For the pro-environment side it was always "the environment is the basis of everything" and for the opposition it was "how can you protect the environment without money?" Both positions tended to lead into the inevitable circular "chicken-and-egg" debates about "how can you have progress without the environmental resources?" and vice-versa. I did my best to keep things moving.

Still, some we're pretty energetic and every now and then, improvisation occurred! My favorite was when somehow the topic of dinosaurs came up--the quote was "how can you talk about economic progress with the dinosaurs?" I'm still not sure which side brought it up. I love some of these kids. Another good speech came from one student on the pro-environment side. He brought up how bad pollution was in China, especially here in the JX. It killed when he talked about how prettier the people would be with less pollution. He's got his priorities straight.

Leb Wohl

Church in China

Today I got to go to church for the first time in about three months.  I didn't think there would be one in a smaller city like Jiaxing (aside from the vacant, dilapidated French Cathedral), but apparently there are at least three "underground" churches.  One of my fellow teachers got me in touch with a girl named Jessie, who took me downtown to her parrish.  I felt slightly rebellious; It's ironic that a southern-boy would feel that way going to church.  Religion's making its way back to China I think, but it's still not exactly encouraged.  I remember reading somewhere that missionaries who went to China were not allowed to proselytize or "evangelize."  Then again, in a world with Pat Robertson that's pretty sensible.  And besides, the last time I proselytized anything it wasn't religion, but the shot-glasses my Frat made all the pledges sell that Fall.  All I really wanted to do was experience a Chinese church and maybe, just maybe, get an extra boost of that vague, esoteric spiritualism which I need now and then.

I honestly first thought that I had walked into a book club.  There were Christian books on three cases, and the top shelf of one was dedicated to a hero of mine: Dietrich Bonhoeffer--obviously the "theologian-of-the-month."  What I thought was the actual church actually turned out to just be the reception/reading area (hereafter to be called the "narthex").  After a few hellos we went up the narrow staircase to the "sanctuary," were there were many more people. We sat down in school desks piled with liturgical and hymnic texts of some vague, Protestant nature which were of course in Mandarin.  Fortunately Jessie had an English-Chinese Bible on hand.  Gradually the sanctuary filled up with about 25 or so people.

The service was over an hour long, and involved a lot of singing.  Though I had heard some of the music before, I didn't recognize any of the hymns and couldn't really sing along (though I could have sworn I heard my university's alma mater in there somewhere).  Fortunately the Chinese for "Jesus" was easy to pick out because it is almost phonetically identical to the English pronuciation.  Also I could pick out a "we" here and there as well as the omnipotent "He," "His," and "Him."

There were two preachers (lay I believe) who delivered the liturgy and the sermon, and except for the Apostles Creed, most everything was unintelligible.  However, most of the sermon was spent referencing various NT verses (and a few OT messianic references) which I could simultaneously read in translation.  Despite this I couldn't figure out what the overarching theme connecting them was.  Suffering maybe.

The service ended with a long, but impassioned prayer from an older women, who unexpectedly became incredibly emotional toward the end.  In fact despite the language barrier, I could feel a great deal of spiritualism coming from the entire congregation--a spiritualism which has had very little chance for expression.  

At the end, sipping on hot water in the narthex, I met a few more of the churchgoers.  The usual questions abounded ("From where?" "Teach where?" etc.) and I was invited to come back and teach the children a Bible lesson in English.  I'm probably the wrong person to turn to for a Bible lesson, and the Church itself is probably on some watch list, but I'd be glad to come back.  After all, it's not "evangelizing" if they're already Christian, right?  Right?  

Leb wohl.

I Get Asked About the Dollar Bill

I was minding my own business today, coming through main campus gate after having picked up my brunch, when the most random thing (so far) happened.  One of the security guards called me over to the booth.  I was shown a $1 bill, one of many that were sitting in front of the two busy officers.  He kindly asked me (as kind as naturally-brusque Mandarin can sound) who it was on the banknote.  I explained that it was George Washington, and not Abraham Lincoln--who one of them had obviously thought it was.  I then pointed to their collection of fives and told them that was old honest Abe.

Having cleared that up I left.  For some reason it never occurred to me to ask them why they had the money in the first place.  Probably best left a mystery.

The Road to Lake Tai

It's week 8, which means the semester is almost halfway over.  Now there is a scary thought.  I finish up my eight-week class tomorrow with an oral exam.  They're "interviewing" each other for one of six different jobs.  It could be an epic failure, but it should be at least amusing. On a side note, somehow half of my Thursday @ 3:30 class managed to forget their textbooks last week (on one of the few days we were actually using them)--either more evidence of the "collective" culture of China or just my students screwing with me.

This past weekend I visited Suzhou with my usual cohorts, Adrienne and Amy.  Since it was the Qingming holidays, it was a 3-day weekend and we made full use of it.  Saturday was gray and rainy, so we stuck to downtown area, checking out the various gardens for which the city is famous.  We also got to hear some lovely, if unintelligible, operatic storytelling in a cozy little music hall amongst the city's most prominent septagenarians.  The evening was capped-off with several margheritas in what could only have been the former cocktail bar of the Queen Elizabeth II. 

The real highlight of our trip was the day-long journey to Lake Tai.  It turns out that Suzhou is not the city most people go to in order to visit this pond (see "Wuxi") and it was actually quite an effort to get there.  After spending 2 hours trying to get on the right bus line, we found ourselves in the scenic town of Wudu, where I decided to pull out the map that by some miracle I had managed not to forget.  After finding the proper bus route, and tracing it with my fingers to make sure it did indeed go to das Meer, we set out to find and get on the previously-elusive "502" line.

However, when we did find the stop, it was not the proper 502 that we boarded, but a much smaller jalopy unaffiliated with Suzhou transportation or any of the other "regulatory commissions" which at least guarantee you are not being extorted by the Triad.  The shuttle was commanded by a peremptory little woman who barked out our destination ("Dongshan") to everyone at every bus stop we passed.  Needless to say it took a while to get there.

After about an hour we arrived at the Dongshan city center, still out of sight of the cool, blue waters we had traveled 3 hours to see.  We were immediately assaulted by the local tourist hustlers, whom normally we would awkwardly ignore, but because we were so desperate to see the damned lake, we gave in to one.  And that's how we came to be riding in an upscale golf cart around the tip of the peninsula.

Our chauffeur, whom I endearingly named "Chuck," wanted 100 yuan for his services, and to be frank, I think he was worth every jiao.  Our first stop was an ancient little village where residents had opened up their centuries-old homes as museums.  It was by far the most authenticity I had seen since coming to China.  And by "authenticity" I mean not rebuilt two dozen times.  As we traveled the narrow streets Chuck followed us around, usually taking a nap at the entrances of each "exhibit."  Even if he disappeared he somehow always found us again. Then again, we are white.

After getting our money's worth, we hopped back in the buggy and proceeded to the Zijin Nunnery, a Buddhist temple famous for something or another.  It proved a bit anticlimactic after "Museumville."  After whacking the temple's bell several times for our own amusement (and profile pictures), we rejoined Chuck.

After a series of heated miscommunications regarding the local tea leaf and purchase thereof, we finally made it back to where we started.  Chuck almost left us with one of the menacing black unlicensed cabs, but we avoided a possible scam and got to the bus stop.  After saying goodbye to our friendly guide, we hopped on a bus that could have been worse and were on our way back to Suzhou.

And then we did other touristy things that I'm too tired to talk about.  Leb Wohl!