China Blog 3

Hmmmmm well nothing really springs to mind right now so I guess I'll just write and see what happens. Its just after 11pm on Wednesday the eighth of April and I've just eaten dinner comprised off noodles, boiled vegetables and lovely fried potatoes, tomatoes and an egg (don't worry mother, as you can see I'm eating in a perfectly wholesome manner). Saying that, as food seems to be such a centralised part of the culture here, I'd say I've been eating a little too well... If you walk down the street in a Chinese city you'll notice that every other house is either a shop, a bakery, a disguised brothel or a "hole in the wall" eating place (basically someone who has decided to double up their kitchen into a restaurant). One thing I've noticed about the food here it has this mystifying charm where no matter how much you eat, or if that you've believed you've eaten sufficiently, theres always a feeling of the need to keep on eating. A typical restaurant scene would be a group of friends sat around a circular table, wherein many dishes (some of which I am yet to identify) are rotated round the table so anyone can access their desired food with ease. Such are the size of the portions, that I am yet to witness a completely dissipated dinner table; if one dish appears to be on its ends, then it is the duty of the host to replenish the food in order to keep his guests happy. Coupled with the Chinese custom to always leave a small amount of food on the table (to indicate you have been adequately fed), there are enough leftovers to happily nourish a house of students for days, or make people like Bob Geldof righteously angry at all the apparent waste of produce. It's great though, people really know how to take care of you here! Though for me the notion of not feeling 100% full may have something to do with the significance of meat in the Chinese cuisine, though I had some lovely vegetarian dumplings the other day which really filled me up. I'll stick to those as much as I can.

Generally things have been going well, I've been at the school long enough to feel settled, and although I am still getting to know the students and the surroundings, I am finding the whole teaching malarkey pretty fulfilling. Its great fun when the students willingly engage and participate in the lesson, and you get a real buzz and feeling of satisfaction when you successfully teach words like "danger"; which after several failed attempts of explanation via gestures forced me to climb up a desk which then snapped under my weight causing me to fall next to a concerned looking young girl. Judging by her and the rest of the class' faces, I think they got the meaning. Experimental teaching for dummies. Its not always roses and smiles though, I've been mixing up my methods in recent weeks to try and discover how to alert and maintain the student's interest and response, after noticing that some kids seemed a little bored, disengaged or disillusioned. Prior to arriving in Liuzhou, I and some of the other foreign teachers in Yangshuo had a meeting with Frank, who had been teacher at one of the schools for several years. The piece of advice he gave that has stuck with me was to ensure that you draw out an individual response and allow the students to show their colours. From what I have observed in the schools here so far is that the lessons consist of the teacher giving instructions or uttering sentences or questions, while the students reciprocate in the form of workbooks or collective repetition. This method of "drilling" works perfectly well if you're trying to instill mathematical understanding and gear the students for exams, but it seems to allow little creativity and freedom in regard to utilizing their English in "real life" situations. As a result, it seems that many of the students have a lot of knowledge of English and how it works, but often struggle to reach past the "hello, how are you?" stage when in free conversation. I guess thats the nature of learning a second language though, but going back to the point that Frank made, I guess its my job as a native speaker to get them to start using English in a relaxed manner..... easier said than done I think! Though after teaching weather conditions in an Arnold Schwarzenegger accent the other day, I am pretty sure they will have the confidence to speak English freely in no time.

If I have no plans in the evening, I often take a stroll around the city and soak in the many pretty lights and wondrous noises. I can walk to the city centre in around thirty minutes, and am now used to the locals casting their gaze my way with the odd mutter of "laowai" or "gweilo" (both meaning "foreigner", I think the latter being the more impolite) being heard amid the rush of traffic and blended city sounds. I've made friends with some of the guys down the local supermarket who seem to find my attempts at Chinese both charming and amusing, and one of the workers, Sam, has expressed his desire to learn English and asked if I could give him some lessons. Since I've been here I have been approached by many people in the street, in restaurants or in bars who have requested my services as a speaker of English. Its a little surreal, as I'd thought I'd be the one looking for Chinese teachers, though it seems that some would prefer me to speak English for them to learn rather than me to speak Chinese. As a result communication often arrives at this Chinglish/Engnese plateau whereby you often have to have to resort to body language to get your meaning across, which can be interesting.