tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7680849787352333842024-02-20T18:55:44.353-08:00Musings in China and beyondOwain Lloyd-Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00269811345829494248noreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-768084978735233384.post-74407468626211217002012-12-09T21:43:00.004-08:002012-12-09T21:43:36.131-08:00What I'll Really Miss About Teaching English<br />
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It’s Friday night, and as I sit here in the silence of my
apartment accompanied by the warm hum of the refrigerator and the USB plug in
fan beneath my laptop, it’s time once again to brave the fearsome Beijing rush
hour and join yet another soon-to-depart expat friend for a farewell dinner.
Annoyingly, just as I was being a good housekeeper and washing the dishes
before doing the laundry, I got a sudden inspiration to write this piece. Much
like my previous mentioning of the gym and it’s wonderful ability to clear my
head and come up with genius blog posts, it seems consistent house work also
gets the creative juices flowing. I’m quite the catch it appears.</div>
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Anyway the point of this piece is very much related to the
title (look up). Like many of my expat friends have been doing with China, I’ll
be making my heartfelt farewell to the wonderful and wacky world of teaching
English as a foreign language. At least that’s the plan. Who knows, after
Christmas when I get back to Beijing and I’m sitting in my dressing gown at 4am
having rewritten my CV for the 56<sup>th</sup> time and am hopelessly writing
countless cover letters for media jobs, I may just fall back and do at least
what I guess I’m employable for. </div>
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It’s been a fun three and a bit years though, and I want to
draw the attention of this post solely to my teaching work in Beijing, as it
was here, and at my current and soon to be ex-private training centre, that I
came into my own as a teacher-entertainer extraordinaire and professional child
creeper-outer. The CV is looking promising already. Anyway, throughout the last
few years I’ve met some pretty awesome and interesting people who have taught
and lived in much stranger places than China. It was through meeting such
people that I was able to develop my skills as a teacher and learn countless
ways of injecting creativity into the classroom through use of various games,
activities and teaching methods, without which I would have been pretty hopeless
at the job. As a TEFL teacher, there’s always a good joke to be had about
something funny a student might have said or how terrible the execution of a
certain speaking activity was in front of a group of hopeful and highly
expectant parents. I sometimes wish that I had kept a log of some of the things
the kids came out with at times, and this wasn’t just through pronunciation
mistakes or bad grammar, many had wonderfully creative minds and knew exactly
how to play around with the limited English they had, and this for me is what
I’ll remember most from my time as a TEFL teacher. </div>
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There is a one particular child who personifies all this and
breaks down all the boundaries and stereotypes that the rote teaching based
Chinese education system often conjures. Her name, is Jenny 2. Not Jenny, as
there was already a Jenny in her class before she joined up, so she dubbed
herself “Jenny 2”. Jenny 2 has been a constant source of comedy and creativity
in this particular class ever since she joined, and she knows it. She knows
she’s special, but not in a “ooo look at me I’m a princess kind of way”. Her
mother calls her “crazy Jenny”, and shows signs of mild concern when I advise
her to encourage what to me is, yes, eccentric, but wonderfully creative
behaviour which I have never seen in an 8 year old student before. It would do
her poor justice to describe her personality, so I have decided simply to write
a list of some of the things she has said or done over the past, and let you
get some idea of her character.</div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]-->-<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Upon entering the school, I greet her with a “Hi
Jenny how are you”, she replies by walking up to ear and shouting “TENNIS
RACKET!! In an enthused manner.</div>
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</span><!--[endif]-->Upon teaching adverbs of frequency, she asks
quips: “How often do you drink volcanoes?”</div>
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</span><!--[endif]-->“I ate my grandfather’s legs and eyes” Upon
being asked what she did the previous day.</div>
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</span><!--[endif]-->“High Jenny!” I greet her upon entering the
classroom, which she responds by getting down on her knees and praying Muslim
style for a good few minutes (this admittedly was a little strange and awkward
though deserves a mention as to get a picture of her character).</div>
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</span><!--[endif]-->Draws a picture of a what appears to be a bridge
with a person underneath it. “Who’s that Jenny?” I ask, she replies “your
aunt”, and then looks in the teacher’s eyes with a devilish smile shouting
“BOOM!!!” as she screws up the paper and throws it away. (This was from a
friend who taught her one to one)</div>
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There were more and like I say I only wish that I’d written
them down. Anyway, as a teacher laughing at and encouraging such behaviour
could be viewed as supportive or immature, depending on your perspective. It
was, however the “Spirit of Jenny 2” shall we say and other instances of
similar obscure expression of English creativity in other similar students (and
there were many) that kept me going at the end and made the job a whole lot
more fun. That and the student pizza bar conveniently placed down the road from
my school that we frequented until the early hours of each Sunday night.</div>
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Owain Lloyd-Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00269811345829494248noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-768084978735233384.post-86568065455145065292012-11-28T00:40:00.001-08:002012-11-28T00:40:51.669-08:00Transition Time and the Gym<br />
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I’m currently at one of those awkward transition periods in
my life. Having handed in my notice at work a while ago and coming to the
decision to make my departure from the ever-fruitful profession of being paid
to be white whilst jumping around shouting at bemused kids, I’m looking forward
to coming back to Beijing after a (hopefully) happy Christmas back in England
and trying something new. I’ve also agreed recently to only work on a part time
basis which frees up the whole week for me to find some writing jobs and work
on my hotly-anticipated first major novel, which if all goes to plan will be
finished Spring and will be released directly into paperback format if my
printer can handle it.</div>
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Unfortunately, the result
has been an ongoing battle with my inner psyche to fight the temptations of procrastination,
thumb twiddling,, nagging my long-suffering girlfriend when she doesn’t put a
book back on the shelf at a perfect 180 degree angle, and continuing with my
newfound quest to transform Tottenham Hotspur into an all-conquering ruthless football
machine on my newly acquired game Pro Evolution Soccer 2013. I’ve been snapping
up all the talented German youngsters that have recently emerged on the world
football scene in a move that I’m sure would please the Yid army, regardless of
the irony.</div>
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Regarding the book, 3 months and 50,000 words down the line I
must say my procrastination is justified. It gets harder as it goes on,
particularly if you haven’t planned it. Not remembering your character names, what
the settings are or why they are having Yellow Submarine-inspired
hallucinations about previous lovers can prove to be a challenging task. I must
say I have great respect for authors who manage to plan out exactly what they
want to do and just get it on with it, perhaps making minor alterations along
the way. As my writing tends to be affected by my mood or what I experienced on
the day, I’m scared to re-read what is surely a messy collage of varying
emotions and plot changes that would give George R R Martin a run for his
money. I have toyed with the possibility of writing a novel about writing a
novel and getting rich and famous that way, though I’m sure it’s been done.</div>
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On the new job front, I’ve been told several times by
friends and colleagues that I should be getting my name out there by joining
writer’s groups and attending networking events. I’ll get round to doing that
soon, though the idea of showing up in beige khakis and pink shirt looking like
Alan Partridge and attempting to hand out as many name cards as possible amid a
large backdrop of rah rah rahing and penis measuring doesn’t sound too up my
street, though the possibility of my name card being the lucky one that instead
of being instantly tossed aside ends up as some journalist’s bookmark is
perhaps reason enough to go. All in due time. </div>
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Anyway, I’m a firm believer that, and this belief wasn’t taken
at all from Haruki Murakami’s biographical work <i>What I Think About When I Talk About Running</i>, that exercise clears
the head. Having recently moved into a new flat, I took it upon myself to
finally get off my arse and do some proper exercise by joining the local gym. I’d
do it outside, though Beijing’s 1 in 10 likelihood
of having a smog-free day makes that a potentially hazardous escapade. Having
just returned from a gym session whereby one guy spent half an hour attempting
to flip himself up from a lying position a-la WWE, only landing flat on his
back and looking around embarrassed to see if anyone was laughing at him (I
was), I feel completely refreshed and thus am writing this post. It seems that
expressions of male vanity, muscles and micro-penises serve as brilliant
creative inspiration for me. I’d like to thank Mr. Murakami and would love to
have him over for tea if he can get past all those passionate anti-Japan
bandwagon protestors with Nikon cameras and Honda cars. I’m sure if he gave out
free copies of Doreamon and One Piece manga he’d appease them adequately. So
here it is, for those that are interested, my current life in China. Not so
much the teacher anymore but more the wannabe writer who can’t wait for
Christmas to come and then get back and have a proper slog at it. </div>
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On another note, I’d like to satisfy the appetites of those
who are maybe wondering why I’m still here, given that fact that this post is
lightly peppered with mini pops at China. I can safely say that after four
years I’m comfortable with my surroundings and enjoy a little moan every now
and again. Of course I do, I’m human. No, scratch that. Of course I do, I’m
British. In truth though, all these things that can so easily frustrate people
are, on a good day, purely trivial to me, and if China has taught me one things
it’s certainly not to take myself and the actions of other silly people too
seriously. I’ve found that a fair few expats in China are depressingly bitter and
negative people who end up staying here because the beer is cheap, and some
types of girls come easy, though will never stop complaining nonetheless. It’s
a sad path where 10 years down the line you end up 20 stone and sitting on a
beach in a Hawaiian shirt in Cambodia wondering where it all went wrong. Maybe
that’s what happened to Gary Glitter. I’m hoping to get something more out my
experience here.</div>
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I’ll happily tell you that China in all its lasagne-layered
complications, contradictions and fascinations keep me constantly stimulated,
inspired and on my toes (literally, I dance with death on a daily basis whilst
crossing the road outside my flat). In simple terms, those are some of the reasons
why I’m still here, and maybe one day I’ll write a more detailed piece on what
keeps me in China. But anyway, I don’t have the right to question anyone on why
they’re where they are in life or nor should anyone else, and I certainly wouldn’t
go up to someone in Haywards Heath and ask them “why are living in a place like
this?” As I’ll probably get a smack in the face (if I haven’t already for being
ginger or reading books). Oh and if any of my friends from other countries are
reading are wondering what Haywards Heath is, stop wondering now. Actually,
start wondering again and go on this brilliant website – <a href="http://www.thisishaywardsheath.com/">www.thisishaywardsheath.com</a>. But
only if you’re curious about the place I grew up in and have better things to
do than create the Fourth Reich in a north London football team. In the
meantime, I’ll keep writing down my observations during my gym trips and
anything else that amuses or interests me.</div>
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Owain Lloyd-Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00269811345829494248noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-768084978735233384.post-66966562239447486352012-07-30T01:33:00.005-07:002012-07-30T01:33:53.602-07:00Beijing - Off the Beaten Track<br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Calibri'; font-size: 11.0000pt; mso-spacerun: 'yes';">Beijing – Famous across the globe for being the epicentre of Chinese culture, education, politics and history. Those who haven’t been there can easily list a few names of well-known places of the top of their heads – The Great Wall, The Summer Palace, The Temple of Heaven… the list goes on. Beijing is equally famous for its cuisine on countless museums exhibiting a whole range of aspects regarding anything Chinese, as well as its narrow “Hutong” streets where the Beijingers dwell amid rolling rickshaws and a mass concoction of various noises. </span><span style="font-family: 'Calibri'; font-size: 11.0000pt; mso-spacerun: 'yes';"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Calibri'; font-size: 11.0000pt; mso-spacerun: 'yes';">During the summer, the population of Beijing appears to double as it is swamped by tourists from other parts of China and abroad. Familiar sights of hat wearing tourist groups carrying flags whilst they hurriedly follow tour guides as they bark out historical information over a megaphone become unanimous, and packed subways, buses and heaving traffic become all too typical. Its during this time that I like to avoid the crowds and head down to parts of the city where special parts of Beijing can be found off the beaten tourist track. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Calibri'; font-size: 11.0000pt; mso-spacerun: 'yes';">798 Art District, located in the north east side of the city on the way to the airport is a giant open air art exhibition that has been built on the site of a disused factory complex. As it becomes more and more accessible to the world, China, in particular Beijing, is currently undergoing a revolution in its creative sector, and all kinds of art, be it abstract or traditional, can be viewed here. As you stroll through old factories that don’t look out of place in the Cold War, a real sense of China’s industrial culture can be breathed in, and as the place is littered with works of art depicting all manner of things, a surreal feeling of nostalgia and modernity can be experienced.</span><span style="font-family: 'Calibri'; font-size: 11.0000pt; mso-spacerun: 'yes';"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Calibri'; font-size: 11.0000pt; mso-spacerun: 'yes';">Continuing on with the theme of creativity, Beijing’s Gulou district offers real exposure to the capital’s booming underground music scene. Although perhaps not quite yet known on Western shores, many rock bands are being churned out all the time, and venue’s such as the Mao Live House and Yu Gong Yi Shan are the places to go to find out what all the fuss is about. A brief stroll around the Hutongs of Gulou will lead you past many cosy looking bars and cafes, and prior to heading up to a gig at these places you can sit back and watch the world go by with a bottle of Tsingtao beer. The main road in Gulou leading up to these musical venues are littered with guitar shops, where local artists active in the rock scene can be heard jamming away. </span><span style="font-family: 'Calibri'; font-size: 11.0000pt; mso-spacerun: 'yes';"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Calibri'; font-size: 11.0000pt; mso-spacerun: 'yes';">Historical sites aside, Beijing has an awful lot of special bits about that set it apart from many other Chinese cities, and as the contrast of old and new can be felt all over the city, it makes all the more an exciting place to be.</span><span style="font-family: 'Calibri'; font-size: 11.0000pt; mso-spacerun: 'yes';"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</div>Owain Lloyd-Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00269811345829494248noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-768084978735233384.post-29241217274444957822012-07-09T01:41:00.001-07:002012-07-09T08:10:28.776-07:00Expat Carousel<br />
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So I’m sitting here right now in this stifling midsummer
Beijing heat on my day off having done my chores of washing the dishes, sending
a few emails and playing a couple of well deserved games on Pro Evolution
Soccer. Monday afternoon is my peak chill out time after the intense working
weekend, and it’s not until around 6pm that my trough of laziness begins to
escape me and I start to want to do things. A person can only drink so much
green tea and aimlessly surf the net whilst basking in their own sweat for a certain
amount of time it seems. </div>
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It’s now officially the height of summer, and as a result
most of my weekend classes are slowly disappearing as the little buggers get
whisked away to various exotic locations or are sent to partake in intensive
English summer camps for their holidays. It’s nice, though my own school’s
summer courses are looming and having had a teacher leave last week leaving his
classes teacher-less, my schedule hasn’t seen much respite. Ah well. </div>
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Expat life can be funny. I’ve found that the westerners, or
westies, as a friend of mine affectionately calls them, are all by and large
subconscious of the fact that we’re all in the same boat living and pressing on
in a strange country, and are therefore pretty easy to strike a chord with and
become your friends. Of course there are many exceptions, with archetypes
ranging from the “I hate everything about China” moaners, to the “I’ve been
here 10 years and am better than you” wannabe princes and princesses. It’s relatively
easy to identify people like that and the majority the expat community here are
all like-minded and easy to get on with. Due to the similarities of your situation
and experiences, friendships with fellow expats are easy to forge and develop
pretty quickly, and there is even the notion that the group you hang around with
become your second family. This makes it weird when you are presented with
another typical aspect of expat life, whereby the carousel of people coming and
going constantly has people hopping on and off. It requires a lot of
flexibility from those who still remain, as they have to push themselves to
make new friendships whilst accepting the fact that a good mate who you go down
to the pub with every week after work could be packing up and leaving at the
drop of a hat. Some are better accustomed to it than others, and it certainly
takes a good few heartfelt goodbyes to become used to the pattern.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPxREvEwFJ2Cb9t_yIqZ2Ee2ua74mqLW-EHKY-YE8rd9xvWo2jp9XthE-r27EfP4xOedQCPKa783XLIoNhIEzOE7Qb7n-fCvWOcs63UPoX81GqSClWmwDGmsx3ViZnqZ_Po8QU-BZgrTEM/s1600/Carousel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPxREvEwFJ2Cb9t_yIqZ2Ee2ua74mqLW-EHKY-YE8rd9xvWo2jp9XthE-r27EfP4xOedQCPKa783XLIoNhIEzOE7Qb7n-fCvWOcs63UPoX81GqSClWmwDGmsx3ViZnqZ_Po8QU-BZgrTEM/s1600/Carousel.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's a fun ride y'all!!</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white;">After 3 years living abroad and dealing with the sporadic
departures of good friends over long periods of time, this summer sees a large
flux of those near and dear to me either heading home to study, work, or get married.
As someone who at 25 is considered relatively young when looking at the average
age of long term expats I guess it’s pretty normal for me to experience this.
Obviously, there’s the comforting thought of having decent friends from all the
corners of the globe, though I guess this ever changing environment is what I bargained
for when I chose to up sticks and find myself a home in a strange place. It’s
funny when a large make up of your apparently stable social life for the past 2
years disappears, but change is a key element to life, and I’ll keep trotting
on as long as theirs interesting people to meet - such as a music video maker
who has worked with Dr. Dre and 50 Cent at the bar last night. Apparently Dre
is a bit of a philosopher.</span></div>
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<br /></div>Owain Lloyd-Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00269811345829494248noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-768084978735233384.post-22230105171783579792012-06-19T06:02:00.002-07:002012-06-20T02:35:51.444-07:00Media Mogul<br />
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It seems it’s been a good few weeks since my last post
during May which what was for me a rather productive phase, perhaps the result
of hours of idleness in front of the laptop screen and a set of restless fingers. With the
Beijing summer in full swing and lovely clear skies coupled with a short-term
part time job as an editor for an online magazine, my creative efforts were either drawn to the
media industry or finding the nearest bar to grab a beer in the balmy weather.
Now, with the job having come to an end and a return to Beijing’s trademark
dreary skies (yet with added humidity), the urge to get back to blog writing
and reflecting rears its ugly head yet again for any unfortunate eyes that may
befall my facebook/blogger page.</div>
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So what of this magazine job? Well, Beijing sure can present
you with a flood of opportunities to find work in almost any field if you know
where to look. Luckily the Beijinger.com is the accessible platform for this,
and a sudden willingness to find a professional platform for my writing as well
as an encouraging girlfriend landed me with a decent opportunity soon enough. I
was employed as the editor for a creative arts magazine, which was aimed at a
niche audience of creative individuals and companies in the “high” arts spectrum
of Beijing. Artsy fartsy enough? Well not really, especially seeing as the
director of the magazine chose to listen to Katy Perry in the office as
motivation music. In my two weeks there I conducted phone interviews, one with
a guy from Kentucky who’d somehow imported gargantuan sized 19<sup>th</sup>
century printing machines to Beijing to set up a traditional printing business,
and attended a couple of networking events not knowing anything of what was to
be discussed until about thirty minutes before they started. It was pretty
frantic, and besides simply writing for the magazine I found I had to educate
myself on topics prior to interviews and attending events all in order to make
me sound as if I knew what I was talking about. Did you know that the printing
press was active in China way before Gutenberg introduced it to Europe in the
1400s? Despite getting my articles approved by the director of the magazine
(though they are yet to be published as the magazine altered its release date),
my proudest moment was name dropping Game of Thrones whilst asking a question
at a networking event in front of a host of smart phone savvies. <i>King of the North!<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNQEXsE2vx9BtM2XCSPkgNy97XifXbbuo60_hNZqPIq2Bd87dPHbvGSX_4ICEXUSCgegYDu_cvd7G1Eb_6qgTRR_SqZQ2dOO1WJ_GZznX4KxnF2N78qtdidVfYiJIwMH5BFlQHZbDQnrOj/s1600/Robb+Stark.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNQEXsE2vx9BtM2XCSPkgNy97XifXbbuo60_hNZqPIq2Bd87dPHbvGSX_4ICEXUSCgegYDu_cvd7G1Eb_6qgTRR_SqZQ2dOO1WJ_GZznX4KxnF2N78qtdidVfYiJIwMH5BFlQHZbDQnrOj/s1600/Robb+Stark.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Raaaaaarrrrr! Death to all blonde haired smart phone users!</td></tr>
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<i><br /></i></div>
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I was unable to stay any longer at the post as the company
couldn’t support me doing the editor’s job at only ten hours a week, though it
was a fun and educational experience. I’m currently back on the prowl for more
freelance jobs as they come, though with my free time rekindled on my days off,
I’m back to the usual pattern of reading, film watching and walks in the park
followed by a good few bevvies in the sun. The school will stop its normal
classes for the summer holidays in a few weeks which will be followed by the
onslaught of teaching every day for 2 weeks as the Chinese parents push their
kids for intense English cramming sessions, poor buggers. Looks like I’ll have
to get my Mr. Bean which I hope will ease their suffering, though a bawling
four year old as a result of me stretching my face into all manner of what I
thought were humorous positions may indicate otherwise.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8LplMJxkqDDXYgYlS64qIzCSsOIlMgJqQzRvG0vrzdOfyjy6UIa-yI5X8TbLp1UaKkib_qMhQ8qr8mfWJiHyvqD2ZV6mahn-BgHsOewmZ2xk_oQVCZ9mVObXEZdbVykeH3gksmBOHoug0/s1600/Mr.+Bean.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8LplMJxkqDDXYgYlS64qIzCSsOIlMgJqQzRvG0vrzdOfyjy6UIa-yI5X8TbLp1UaKkib_qMhQ8qr8mfWJiHyvqD2ZV6mahn-BgHsOewmZ2xk_oQVCZ9mVObXEZdbVykeH3gksmBOHoug0/s1600/Mr.+Bean.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Smile kids - English is fun!</td></tr>
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<br /></div>Owain Lloyd-Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00269811345829494248noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-768084978735233384.post-62966106348669364122012-05-14T19:38:00.002-07:002012-06-20T02:34:45.670-07:00China’s Megatrends and a Confused Sussex Boy amid the storm<br />
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<span style="line-height: 19px;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=768084978735233384" name="OLE_LINK2"></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">China is in the
media spotlight so much these days, and for someone with too much time on their
hands and regular tendencies to scroll through the internet in a brain dead
zombie-like fashion, it can’t be argued that most of the English language
coverage is pretty negative. Of course I’m no media analyst and my regular news
updates stem mainly from the BBC, though it would seem Auntie is no pioneer for
news reports that don’t hold unbiased “everyone who isn’t doing it like us is
bad” viewpoints on developing countries. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">For those of you
that are interested in China and its chaotic mosaic of a society, and wish to
pursue an understanding that doesn’t jump to conclusions but jumps away from
attitudes and expectations held by Western democracies, a book named <i>China’s Megatrends </i>by American
socio-economic expert couple Doris and John Naisbitt may be worth a read. I
picked the book up for 10 Yuan (about a quid) on one of Beijing’s many street
book vendors, selling pirated copies of novels old and new, as well as an
alarming amount of get rich fast/self help books. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I’ll start with what
I’ve gathered so far. The book is filled with various explanations and reasoning
behind the actions and schemes of the Chinese government, emphasising its rapid
development from a backward peasant society to the world’s second largest
economy in just 30 years, and how as a political machine it has been
brilliantly efficient in bringing China up to the standards of the developed
world. Sound a little too good to be true? Well just when I thought it was
refusing to tackle the BBC’s favourite issues of human rights and democracy,
the authors make the point that in terms of opportunities and standards of
living, the issues of human rights of China have improved dramatically due to
the economic advancement and modernisation of the country. Also, the events of
1989 are not attributed to the need for democracy and freedom of speech, but a
general dissolution felt towards the government regarding high inflation and
lack of produce at the time (though interestingly the book refers to it as the
Tiananmen Tragedy, not the typical “Tiananmen Massacre” used by other Western
sources). Perhaps most interestingly, regarding democracy the Naisbitts bring
forward the age old Confucian ideals of stability and harmony and their
importance to the Chinese idea of well-being, thus a Western style democracy
whereby parties compete against each other for power would throw the country
into disarray when what it cries out for is stability and the idea that the population
should all work towards a common goal. It also mentions that the current
Western model of democracy took hundreds of years to mature, and China, with its
current installation only really being 60 years old, has made massive leaps
from its autocratic closed off society under Mao. Unlike the West,
individuality is not seen by the Chinese as complete freedom, instead freedom
to them is achieved by families and citizens cooperating together and the whole
of society heading down a similar path. The book repeatedly quotes from leading
Chinese politicians and scholars mentioning plans to put more power into the
hands of ordinary more emancipate people’s minds, and take from other countries
various pieces of political, technological and sociological knowledge to add to
China’s already existing montage of very un-Chinese ingredients. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Although the ideas
put forward in the book are quite intriguing and do contradict many of the
claims of other media sources regarding political corruption and human rights,
it isn’t without its flaws. A peculiar aspect of the book is that it was
released in China in Chinese a while before it hit Western bookstores, despite
it being written by American authors. This did cause me to ponder whether this
book, with its strange reluctance to directly criticise the Chinese system, is
being used by China as a propaganda tool; a viewpoint shared (perhaps
predictably) by many English speaking media corporations who reviewed the book.
With suspicious mistakes in spelling and countless misprints coupled with questionable
grammar, I have even been pondering the legitimacy of this book. Alas, after
various internet searches it would appear that the book and its authors are
real.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj-Gigtlom8ygvhaqyVivw54bChGLx5J-o_Qu5dSzGn-P6fZvZhkg9Xcgi4Z0j3MfmOjYrsxyOFxWu1rTHo0L5gxqp0_IaRrbfXiXcIbH58N-NTKs6M5_uHFVRCsBcKRAmdhz-KMcElc8Z/s1600/John+and+Doris+Naisbitt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj-Gigtlom8ygvhaqyVivw54bChGLx5J-o_Qu5dSzGn-P6fZvZhkg9Xcgi4Z0j3MfmOjYrsxyOFxWu1rTHo0L5gxqp0_IaRrbfXiXcIbH58N-NTKs6M5_uHFVRCsBcKRAmdhz-KMcElc8Z/s1600/John+and+Doris+Naisbitt.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Naisbitts</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">With regard to human
rights, corruption and other nasty stuff we always hear about when hearing
about China, the book makes an effort to bring a new light on these matters and
the need for more understanding of China’s situation which I fully support,
though having lived here for 3 years I can say that a lot of things are without
total justification and, among many other things, are the result of a country
with a superfluous population all trying to make their way whilst sometimes
discarding law and morality. It would however take me an age to write about
this and some of the things I’ve witnessed and heard about during my time here.
I’ll save those stories for the pub.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The book, criticism
aside, does serve well as a vehicle bringing some much needed light and
explanation on the current China socio-economic situation, and does appear
relatively appeasing and understanding compared to much of the finger-pointing
armchair criticism style seen so often on the BBC. I haven’t read much work
written by Westerners who have lived in or have studied China’s trends, though
so far I’ve found the books of Joseph Hessler, an American teacher turned
journalist who has spent much of his working life in China to be the most
unbiased and informative view on Chinese happenings. It’s certainly interesting
hearing the story from the other side (free from the heavily censored Chinese
media), and in the meantime I’ll continue on my new found quest to find out
more in understanding China’s doings and directions. This has become more of a
book review than a blog, though the theme of the book is a topic that has
repeatedly been on my mind of late. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>Owain Lloyd-Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00269811345829494248noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-768084978735233384.post-91154880049591945802012-05-08T02:19:00.002-07:002012-06-20T02:36:07.961-07:00Dance Offs and DebaucheryAfter the intense working weekend of an English teacher in
Beijing, Sunday evening comes the time where I am eligible to paint the red
capital red. Though depending on how much watered down Tsingtao beer I consume
from a giant 40 Yuan keg, perhaps a yellowish brown hue should be the more
suitable choice of colour for painting the town, or at least a corner of my
bathroom. The current hotspot for me and my colleagues, who due to a strange
working schedule throws us together whether we like each other or not, is the
PBD pizza bar. Of course we love each other really, and the topics of
conversation, although rarely departing from frustrations in our attempts at
educating spoilt Chinese kids, are always fun and varied, at least until we all
stand up and dance in unison to “The Chicken Dance” song. This happens to be
one of the tracks on our kindergarten class CD, and as educators/entertainers,
we have mastered the technique of dancing perfectly in time to this kid’s party
classic whilst feeling no shame whatsoever.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg31CkamG3N2vAw7xR5fLNJ8Kovzj-GZnL8f6qPSvR8assgy1fs1Dxf8iq1l_MaLvabBtwNnFGUOHEkEpuxNC60RCl3aGwzLr5z_sZN3f9NLHgopgD3LJoCfo_r45fLaIiOfwbhRHEtZx5E/s1600/Chicken+Dance.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg31CkamG3N2vAw7xR5fLNJ8Kovzj-GZnL8f6qPSvR8assgy1fs1Dxf8iq1l_MaLvabBtwNnFGUOHEkEpuxNC60RCl3aGwzLr5z_sZN3f9NLHgopgD3LJoCfo_r45fLaIiOfwbhRHEtZx5E/s1600/Chicken+Dance.jpg" /></a></div>
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<br />
The bar itself is pretty nice and
relaxed, serving as a student hangout for both Chinese and foreign students
alike, offering cheap (but pretty yummy) pizza and other Western delicacies, as
well as dirt cheap alcohol, ranging from the mentioned Tsingtao keg (fiendishly
guised in a Hoegaarden glass), to mixers, shots, and all the quirkily translated
cocktails you could imagine. After the initial “phew, the weekend is finally
over” pint or five, the atmosphere starts to heat up around 10 as the bar staff
pump up the volume of the music, instantaneously attracting more students like
flies, and thus begin the many (attempted) dance offs. Since discovering the
bar (thanks Simone!) it came to our attention that although being pretty packed
most nights and playing loud (albeit generally dire) music, that nobody was
getting their boogie on. Although perhaps an ambitious claim, we’re pretty
proud that our Chicken Dance moves followed up nicely with Ricky Gervais style
flash dance mixed with MC hammer shit to Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep” caused a
dancing sensation that is now a regular feature on the PBD Sunday night roster.
As I mentioned earlier, the bar is pretty nice and friendly, and is full of
Chinese students from all corners of the country, all of whom are up for a bit
of dancing after a few drinks. We met these guys from Guizhou (a relatively
under-developed province in south west China) who were celebrating a friend’s birthday,
and after being showered generously with various liquors from these guys, we got
up and repaid the favour by being true ambassadors of the highest of Western
culture by dancing pristinely and elegantly to Usher’s “Yeah”. This in turn,
caught the eye of a nearby bloke wearing tight clothes, who was shaking his body
and was dancing in a highly suggestive manner that would most likely bring trouble
upon his head should he portray said dance style in a bar in my hometown. That was
our cue to decide to take a sudden interest and yearning to play table
football.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2O7RYEWf8EzogVhC6vVN8Y8_bsbpasDNqnXBelKFVOBcPSS3O5pTcZTgdI3gF9EVC87B4HsrnLIU2PbGvcvQXaAa0rOFwpWNBop0eecok04-J_BMnA-XdwPTQh8cC0lyczNhnaKEGt-VG/s1600/David+Brent+Dance.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2O7RYEWf8EzogVhC6vVN8Y8_bsbpasDNqnXBelKFVOBcPSS3O5pTcZTgdI3gF9EVC87B4HsrnLIU2PbGvcvQXaAa0rOFwpWNBop0eecok04-J_BMnA-XdwPTQh8cC0lyczNhnaKEGt-VG/s1600/David+Brent+Dance.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You got served bro!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
This Sunday I chose not to indulge in such shenanigans, and
headed down to the old part of Beijing for a gig at the Yu Gong Yi Shane
concert hall. It’s not a massive place, perhaps a little smaller than the
Brighton Corn Exchange or The Underworld in Camden, though it’s the spiritual
home of Beijing’s thriving music scene. It was only my third trip there,
previously seeing Danish outfit The Ravonettes and American indie pop group The
Pains of Being Pure at Heart (sounds like a band formed by a group of teenagers
who hang out shopping malls right?), and this time I went with my girlfriend to
see Australian indie pop duo/couple Agnes Kain. Although not particularly well
known across the world (I came to this conclusion due to their not having a
Wikipedia page), they were completing their China tour, and played a lovely set
of sweet guitar/keyboard driven tunes. The crowd wasn’t huge, though was pretty
responsive after each song and clapped along happily as the singer/keyboardist
became more and more perplexed by smoke emitting sporadically from the stage.
They tested out a couple of tracks from their upcoming third album, and their
charm and honesty was exposed after a mouth piano malfunction and a prompt
explanation about how they hadn’t rehearsed the new material a great deal.
Still, after getting my feet going almost as much as The Chicken Dance, as well
as hanging out at the bar and chatting after the show, the band are in my good
books.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWznAdv25giFviZoqsZTzez4Su6OGLDnaSo-38mQK56w6Ihz2lzq1c4HmE9MAPAppkhH9VPQwwlpaIN00BbCFm2zTt03jYKGMnjHRckJ-E_pTLAtyP-F7ViG-U1CQJ684FtboN86o9v9xn/s1600/Agnes+Kain.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWznAdv25giFviZoqsZTzez4Su6OGLDnaSo-38mQK56w6Ihz2lzq1c4HmE9MAPAppkhH9VPQwwlpaIN00BbCFm2zTt03jYKGMnjHRckJ-E_pTLAtyP-F7ViG-U1CQJ684FtboN86o9v9xn/s1600/Agnes+Kain.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Agnes Kain - awwww</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I’ll keep my eyes
peeled for any more gig news and will do my best to report any incidences from any
of Beijing’s wide array of bars. It seems something worth raising an eyebrow to
or writing about occurs in almost any given drinking hole on any given night
here, as people party like crazy and paint the red town yellowy brown. I’ll
keep you posted.</div>Owain Lloyd-Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00269811345829494248noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-768084978735233384.post-10683253150224770792012-05-05T05:34:00.002-07:002012-05-08T05:47:32.735-07:00Syringes and Strange Drivers<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
There are many ways in which as an expat you could be sceptical
towards the education system here in China. One being the sheer the difference
in the approach of learning in China, with it being more exam focused rather
than focusing on practical life skills. During my time here, I’ve seen a wide
range of different teaching styles, from ruthless, robotic rote teaching to the
more open “let’s try and educate our students to question things” approach.
Unfortunately the latter is harder to come by due to many reasons that I
presume mainly stem from politics or traditional Chinese hierarchal ways of
thinking, particularly in the north of the country.<br />
<br />
In spite of this, this
morning saw my first ever direct experience of the use of a syringe (minus the
needle) to maintain order and discipline in the classroom. I had been having
trouble with a class that features in my three time a week newly acquired
kindergarten gig, and asked one of the senior Chinese teachers for some advice
on discipline. This was mainly concerning one particularly disruptive kid with
the ability to cause domino effect patterns of chaos to what is normally a
reasonably well behaved class. I explained to the Chinese teacher that the kid
was causing problems in the class, and she responded by stating “he is really
naughty, but he’s afraid of injections”. She then proceeded to find a syringe,
(which I presume was not stored for medical purposes but for last gasp
disciplinary measures) then filled it up with water, and finally squirted the
naughty toddler with projectile aqua (which is French for water). After its
apparent effectiveness, she continued to be on syringe standby should he, or
any other daring preschooler dare to misbehave in any way deemed unfit for this
lady with an interesting passion for using primitive water fight techniques to
bring order to a class. If any of the must haves of the 90s was needed now,
it’s surely the Super Soaker 500. I don’t claim to be a child psychologist or
anything, though I can see how methods drawing on a kids fear of injections to
gain short term control of an unruly attitude could be detrimental to their
mental well being. Though I can say, as a novice in controlling mental kids
that frequently run recklessly into a particularly precious area, I’m still
open to suggestions. Anyone familiar with such experiences, suggestions are
welcome should you be reading this.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9TqElhhqeLSN5-bMw9ZB4_bnYv9d7m9_7e4jVDRGn0KBBOaLf1rAvuU3JmJFtWy_KcOs8Zpb4AgR3agKxFkQVR3269Z3TJL9f5ew4vMrogbK3IJ4ne1MOHP64WjyWdlyBUyGtlDMX7aI-/s1600/Teacher+With+Syringe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9TqElhhqeLSN5-bMw9ZB4_bnYv9d7m9_7e4jVDRGn0KBBOaLf1rAvuU3JmJFtWy_KcOs8Zpb4AgR3agKxFkQVR3269Z3TJL9f5ew4vMrogbK3IJ4ne1MOHP64WjyWdlyBUyGtlDMX7aI-/s200/Teacher+With+Syringe.jpg" width="132" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sit down or I'll vaccinate you</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
After the fun is over, I usually feel pretty fresh from my work out
of being paid to jump around with 4 year olds (yes Daily Mail, it’s what I do
and surprisingly I’m not a paedophile), and can enjoy the rest of the day off
in the lovely warm weather than Beijing is currently having. The driver who
drives me to and from the Kindergarten always holds interesting conversations
however, mostly maintaining an interest in Western practices and customs,
questions which I’ve answered countless times since being in China though he
can’t be blamed for his curiosity. We entered into controversial waters the other
day though, as he brought up the topic of the British Empire by stating that
British people look down upon other countries in an arrogant manner, and love
to bully weaker countries. Although I’m usually pretty switched off and looking
forward to getting home at this time, I was a bit shocked. I went to say that
although Britain had committed some pretty despicable acts during the days of
the Empire, some countries did benefit from the introduction of democracy,
economic development and social welfare. I pointed out Malaysia, Singapore and
Hong Kong as examples. He then retorted with “that’s your Imperialist education
teaching you those things, but all you did was bully weak countries!”<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
My
inclination was to go down the route of either saying “open your eyes” and look
at the above mentioned countries current situations, or responding with “what
about China bullying others with it’s claims over The
Philippines/Taiwan/Tibet?” I perhaps rather foolishly choose the latter, though
luckily my risk of offending him deeply was met with a simple “Eh?” as if such
to question such matters was a completely alien concept. I stopped there and
didn’t want to get into that can of worms, though it was certainly the first
time I’ve experienced this kind of opinion in such a direct manner, though I
was aware of its existence prior to this. Chinese people are generally pretty
humble, though there is a theory that a key element to some of the Chinese
people’s psyche is the idea of <span lang="ZH-CN" style="font-family: SimSun;">弱者心态</span>, which basically translates as inferiority
complex or small man syndrome. This attitude stems from centuries of China
being invaded, raped and pillaged by numerous other nations, though now, with
China finding its way in the world, many want to prove its not weak anymore and
will actively stand up against such foreign oppression, be it legit or not. After swallowing my pride and trying not to
get too offended by his claims, he went on a wild America bashing rant,
mentioning some recent football match between the US and China where an
American player refused to shake the hand of a Chinese player after being fouled.
All I had to do then was be the typical foreigner in China nod and smile as he
barked away, simultaneously meandering around the Beijing traffic as the cotton
seeds that dominate the Beijing skies at present floated romantically around
our surroundings, under a beautiful blue smog free spring sky.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIXT1d-7jNKCRaiqDw9fKW5Jrdd4uMOcY57QYJ2MaEWwa9v9YlO3U_JfF8LkIlCitf9qi0_4eyAryLqRVLBfqwifIewsQSRN_HKjSHpo1ivgOjgLyqXPHcG56-Ah7Bz6d68YUAzrQg_K46/s1600/Chinese+and+British+Flags.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIXT1d-7jNKCRaiqDw9fKW5Jrdd4uMOcY57QYJ2MaEWwa9v9YlO3U_JfF8LkIlCitf9qi0_4eyAryLqRVLBfqwifIewsQSRN_HKjSHpo1ivgOjgLyqXPHcG56-Ah7Bz6d68YUAzrQg_K46/s1600/Chinese+and+British+Flags.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Let's just all be friends shall we?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>Owain Lloyd-Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00269811345829494248noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-768084978735233384.post-59392308050078097152012-05-05T05:33:00.002-07:002012-05-08T05:47:42.475-07:00New Kindergarten Classes/Thoughtful Reading<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
With the recent addition of this three times a week early
morning kindergarten lessons, my teaching schedule has been somewhat packed of
late. Should I be complaining? Probably not as I am working a full time job
that requires me to teach a now whopping 26 hours a week, and although one could
argue that teaching hours require more mental and physical energy than office
hours (depending, of course on the job), it’s a different world compared to the
usual forty hour week. Anyway, this recent injection of pace into my
professional life has certainly made me treasure my days off and not mull
around on a supposed “working day” spending time rather unproductively waiting
for the time when I have to reluctantly venture out for my sole 90 minute
evening class. Teaching is also a job where you’re often required to take your
work home with you, and I’m one of those people who like to get all my planning
and marking done first so I can have stress free gratification of what is
essentially one single day off a week after all the paper work mentioned above
is taken care of. Suffer first and then be joyful afterwards, perhaps a
Buddhist approach that is also mentioned in “Roads Less Travelled”, not a poem
by Robert Frost, but a book on human fulfilment and spiritual development by
psychiatrist Scott Peck which I initially thought was one of those Bill
Bryson-esque quirky travel books, hence leading me to buy it. It wasn’t, though
it’s proving an interesting food-for-the-soul read anyway. These types of books
seem to be everywhere in China, both in English and Chinese, with authors like
Peck and Malcolm Gladwell appearing in almost every street seller of pirated
books, right next to those directly titled self-help books such as “How to Talk to Anyone” and “How to
Make Friends and Influence Others”.<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Anyway back to my point about my recent attempts to make use
of my spare time. I’ve just got back from Beijing’s expat exhibition, where
various companies and organisations set up stands and smother you generously
with brochures, key rings and pens as they try to pitch their product. It was
quite a pleasant experience though, not what you would normally imagine given
China being a place with quite a few people, and we were able to glide effortlessly
through the stands, with the main aim being the curry stall. My girlfriend was
there on professional duty doing research for her boss on various education
companies, though I just hung around chatting to various expat company
representatives whilst conspicuously eyeing their rubber bouncy balls imaging
the possibilities annoying my neighbours playing one man dodge ball by
rebounding the balls off the walls of my apartment. Apart from the cheap and
delicious curry, the highlight of the morning was chatting to a Beijinger who
was promoting wine by giving out free samples of Californian chardonnay and
biscuits. We switched between Chinese and English whilst chatting, though it
took me a while to pinpoint his English accent, though it turned out he studied
in New Zealand. I revelled by sipping on my wine whilst listening to his
mixture of northern Chinese English (which swings towards an American style)
and his Kiwi accent, which in terms of uniqueness and unpredictability, blows
South African English out of the water. Lovely guy though, and he’ll be
certainly getting visits by us in the future if we ever want 20% alcohol wine.
Yeah I was tipsy at 10am after sampling that stuff… living the dream.<br />
<br />
The
international atmosphere was pretty friendly, and I was surprised by
encountering a group that organises Celtic themed evenings, with Irish bands,
tug of wars and so on included in the festivities. The Welsh flag was featured
on the brochure, though as an ashamed half-Welshman who doesn’t really know
what we would do during such events, (insert sheep joke here?) I didn’t ask any
questions and signed up for notification about coming events. <br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaq9Ps4qkgXKGjIkuvG9tt231lA2h_XnWiDcHmjGBtkUaZxMkaPyHawphV00Z5nPztsYvPlnxKkXEHgfeGUOfAujpkb-SjZcaUZYUum7-9u298mxhGN2SYu4ZVLeQhMkWxUlMuJexK_DZw/s1600/Geraint+Bowen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaq9Ps4qkgXKGjIkuvG9tt231lA2h_XnWiDcHmjGBtkUaZxMkaPyHawphV00Z5nPztsYvPlnxKkXEHgfeGUOfAujpkb-SjZcaUZYUum7-9u298mxhGN2SYu4ZVLeQhMkWxUlMuJexK_DZw/s1600/Geraint+Bowen.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's not just about sheep...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It was nice finding out about these organisations that were
until this morning were unknown to me, goes to show how much Beijing has to
offer. After just missing the chance to appear on a bilingual radio station at
the exhibition, I did put my name down to appear as a guest host on their chat
show, and should it come to pass, I’m going to have to be on my best behaviour
to avoid being a Mandarin speaking Alan Partridge broadcasting to the ears of locals
and expats alike. Might go down well though, who knows- “<i>This evening’s hot topic is which is the best rice? Is it a) Chinese, b)
Thai, or c) Condoleeza?”</i> <i>We’ll be
taking your calls right after…Ruddy hell, it’s Soft Cell”.</i> Classic
Partridge.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihnCyigG94bgIDyHBO1NpSQRBDhVGMCDz6V_GQ1wBXBYB1TnukaNCTKtm_sbcJpVM46EfLNBfEo7F3a32CXMNGL5TI_3VBfmXxeGU5PaRIIbR21TY406H0tBlNUH9iXu_hASfxzDMPVz-8/s1600/Alan+Partridge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihnCyigG94bgIDyHBO1NpSQRBDhVGMCDz6V_GQ1wBXBYB1TnukaNCTKtm_sbcJpVM46EfLNBfEo7F3a32CXMNGL5TI_3VBfmXxeGU5PaRIIbR21TY406H0tBlNUH9iXu_hASfxzDMPVz-8/s1600/Alan+Partridge.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ahaaaaa!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<br /></div>Owain Lloyd-Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00269811345829494248noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-768084978735233384.post-36919625881613851802012-05-05T05:32:00.001-07:002012-05-08T15:48:09.151-07:0025 and feeling not any older<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Beijing has certainly been in my good books of late. In some
strange phenomenon that challenges the many opinions held by many Western
expats and news bodies across the world, we’ve seen nothing but blue skies and
clear, sunny days for near on three weeks now. The warm, pleasant weather has
certainly brought that usual summery lift to my mood, especially considering it
was cold and grey barely a month ago. My first day where the Beijing
thermometers hit the mid-twenties was spent with me being a little over excited,
forgetting that beer at 1pm coupled with sunshine equals lethargy, which left
me reluctant to move for the rest of the day. I’m continuing the fashion of not
learning from many of life’s mistakes by repeating this feat of sitting outside
a café in warm weather getting slowly drunk in the afternoon; which I must say
is certainly helping these words roll out from my often uninspired brain onto
the computer.<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Had a decent birthday last week, which began with my
official entry into the 21<sup>st</sup> century by getting a smart phone, HTC
of course, as I’m far too special for those common Iphones. It was a sweet
present which was made even sweeter by the way it given to me, as Simone
decided to kidnap by old beloved (yet dying) Motorola whilst I was deeply
focused on a Pro Evolution soccer game, changed the SIM card into the new
phone, and wrapped it up in a secret location in the flat. Having realised my
phone was missing, I entered a state of being somewhere between panic and
confusion, called my phone from Simone’s own, heard an unrecognisable ringtone,
and eventually located it hidden in a drawer. Great present! Though the touch
screen pad still confuses my fat fingers. The birth “day” quickly snowballed
into a birth “week” due to various work commitments, though I was able to
celebrate it properly with the usual Sunday night gathering after work with
several of my dearest in Beijing. Working as an English teacher does certainly
require you to take on a schedule which seems to prevent English teachers form
mingling with the rest of society as we often work on weekends, with the
conventional Friday night out of shenanigans and mischief occurring on a
Sunday. Sorry god. <br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1B3EU39fPF2lgsTtyACgUBYE7UomMoUNFLH6qzhyphenhyphen0HlHESVeO86M0i0uG56PGIQznM7aDOCM9c-u3zClTyru3RT4On8vmgIfIoEm25nobZiLuNcy2CgUFSFJbGeCNhcMiALOKfHpcZW8G/s1600/Monty+Python+God.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1B3EU39fPF2lgsTtyACgUBYE7UomMoUNFLH6qzhyphenhyphen0HlHESVeO86M0i0uG56PGIQznM7aDOCM9c-u3zClTyru3RT4On8vmgIfIoEm25nobZiLuNcy2CgUFSFJbGeCNhcMiALOKfHpcZW8G/s1600/Monty+Python+God.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thou shalt not get pissed on Sunday</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Up until recently I have had a pretty relaxed schedule,
working intensely on the weekends with a lesson here or there in the evenings
on weekdays. Now however, I have been required to teach a Kindergarten which
has recently signed a contract with my school, meaning I have to be up at 6.30
every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday to be picked up and taken to this school
for lessons starting at 8.30 and ending at 11.30. I say picked up, though the
first couple of days left me waiting for an hour while the driver navigated his
way around the terrors of the Beijing rush hour, and with me having to direct
him to his own school the first few times we went. As I mentioned, my work
schedule does, for better or for worse, allow to me live relatively outside the
normal 9-5 slog, though this new job at the Kindergarten has exposed to me to
the true nature of Beijing’s rush hour at full flow. The first days I saw
several incidents such a guy being knocked off his bike by a car followed by a
brief argument while the poor guy was still lying on the floor, and a car
driving in front tailgating another car which led to the inevitable bump as the
car in front stopped, and the two drivers simultaneously opening their doors
almost in sync as they got out to quarrel in the middle of the motorway. The
pick of the bunch however was seeing a bus, which had seemingly driven through
a barrier on an intersection on an elevated motorway, and had crashed down onto
the grass about twenty five feet below. Judging by the amount of debris and the
absence of the emergency services, we’d obviously missed this by a few minutes,
though it was pretty horrific driving past the wreck of the bus with all its
smashed windows and possibilities of people being trapped inside. Accidents
like this happen all the time in China, and go frequently go unreported save
for online social websites spreading the stories around the net. Still goes to
prove that even after three years there are some things here that don’t take
much to shock me, in both good and bad ways.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUvFkpCmvtyFfKHKT5aZJa2evCOU5ubT1e8DXxI3YGP4W02Dls-vptePpPDWGpypiO83utkvNcqjKK-IJ7xbF8M8Nho_5BzDIqyJKa6xWAgZqhbtPD2cR4yRWeaxjjRtbKNXb3tsryGYBZ/s1600/Speed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUvFkpCmvtyFfKHKT5aZJa2evCOU5ubT1e8DXxI3YGP4W02Dls-vptePpPDWGpypiO83utkvNcqjKK-IJ7xbF8M8Nho_5BzDIqyJKa6xWAgZqhbtPD2cR4yRWeaxjjRtbKNXb3tsryGYBZ/s1600/Speed.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fallen through a barrier? You ain't seen nothing till you've had a bomb on a bus</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Having these ongoing experiences
whilst in China, plus a discussion with a local Beijinger about China’s ups and
downs, has led me to start writing an article about things I love and loathe
about China, and maybe I’ll start posting it bit by bit on Facebook or similar
sites should anyone be interested to have a peek. I found that writing the bad
points took up much more word space that the good points, though I feel a lot
of the negative things here need explanation as there are often relatively
legit reasons behind them. Anyway writings like this can offer a different
perspective on China rather than those BBC articles which constantly highlight
it’s downfalls from the eye of a developed democratic nation; Beijing
correspondent Damian Grammaticas being a prime example of this, with article
headings such as:- <i><span style="background-color: white;">Are China's leaders worried?</span></i><i> <span style="background-color: white;">Welcome to the Beijing smog </span>,<span style="background-color: white;">China's pollution</span>, <span style="background-color: white;">Held 'hostage' by China</span>, <span style="background-color: white;">When
words are crimes in China</span>, <span style="background-color: white;">Confronting
the China challenge</span>, <span style="background-color: white;">China's critical
poor gather to watch premier</span>, <span style="background-color: white;">Damaging
coup rumours</span></i><span style="background-color: white;"> and so on.</span></div>Owain Lloyd-Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00269811345829494248noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-768084978735233384.post-52824262536036488492012-05-05T05:31:00.002-07:002012-05-08T06:05:12.146-07:00Chinese New Year 2012<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">It’s nearly
a month or so since my last blog entry so if there is anyone out there remotely
interested in my life in Beijing then I’m glad to ease your anticipation or any
curiosity you may have by keeping this thing up to date.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Chinese New
Year was spent down in Zhaoqing, Guangdong province which was certainly a nice
get away to warmer weather, cleaner skies and awesome food for a good couple of
weeks. I could tell I was in a small city in South China again not only by
being a giant ginger beacon among the clouds thus being subject to being stared
at, but also due to the various billboards of a model dressed as Princess Diana
wearing nothing but a bra and panties in a sneaky attempt promote women’s
lingerie for a local store. Bemusing, though above all tabloid dynamite for
those wonderful institutions The Sun and The Daily Mail wishing to pray on
people potentially disgusted by such blasphemy. Diana controversies aside, I
spent most of my time down there being fed like a spoilt kid by Simone’s
family, and feeling as if I had just arrived in a foreign country once again,
sitting down nodding and smiling like a good foreigner who has no clue as to
what is going on. This was largely due to there being both Cantonese and Hakka
(which, disappointingly is not a language derived from the New Zealand rugby
team’s pregame war chant) dialects drowning the Chino-airwaves around me, and
despite having a decent understanding of the former, my ability to express
myself has yet to reach any form of communication save for a few yeses and no’s
here and there. Cantonese is also one of those languages where if you make one
slight error in pronunciation you can either end up bemusing or offending
someone, which I discovered outside a dim sum restaurant in Guangzhou telling a
waitress to “die” after attempting to thank her. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMawUTBwJGHSLxy7A79SQHQnhF1RE4B809kB14zGD2qqiG3_F1Ry39Jn-SJcFgbfCRwYaFVrLEfQXSrgOASpXcZ5c4LzgNwySxCOOFBW-EWzKJ4YI8-KiJcIlD89W3VEAH1V72G2yDrjLg/s1600/DSC_0099.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMawUTBwJGHSLxy7A79SQHQnhF1RE4B809kB14zGD2qqiG3_F1Ry39Jn-SJcFgbfCRwYaFVrLEfQXSrgOASpXcZ5c4LzgNwySxCOOFBW-EWzKJ4YI8-KiJcIlD89W3VEAH1V72G2yDrjLg/s320/DSC_0099.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Diana in darker days</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="line-height: 19px;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Still it was
a good holiday, and apart from being generally lazy and soaking up the lovely
surrounding karst mountain landscape, it was great to meet up with old friends
Matt and Joe, and our reunion was celebrated none better than hitting the
city’s finest nightclub “The Cave”, in which we were reminded the wrong doings
of the fine art that is wooing scantily dressed dancers by some Indian and
Chinese clientele. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">After a
manic 2 weeks of working the typical English training centre winter course
slog, I’ve got back into the swing of things in Beijing which involves being
squashed on buses and subways, dodging multi-directional incoming phlegm
(human) tiptoeing my way around litter and fag-ends (human caused) and hop
scotching above and over scattered faeces (human?) decorating the pavement on
the walk home from the bus stop. It’s interesting how these things really don’t
bother me at all and seem only trivial in my life perspective here in Beijing.
I’m not sure if I should thank a more liberal and accepting attitude that has
come from travelling and living abroad, or being plain desensitised to all this
stuff which I’m sure would have had me ranting a couple of years ago. It still
does on occasion, however somewhere amid all this dirt and calamity I am still
enjoying myself in the red capital, and am furiously writing letters to Mr. Hu
requesting him to sort out the spitting in lieu of a possible parental visit in
the summer. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlYVPqlPp1X83xY-3R1EfNG2HTCID5jf_fiD3kb2tSlBDLI2ykYtHo6XYvt0W9686f4-0J9kSgrSERz2ga51_ubWEtyJsqmkTigqxtIg_OZejPuGhCfZy2oO2ijcWBhanIQRNGilZr7cGZ/s1600/Beijing+Pollution.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlYVPqlPp1X83xY-3R1EfNG2HTCID5jf_fiD3kb2tSlBDLI2ykYtHo6XYvt0W9686f4-0J9kSgrSERz2ga51_ubWEtyJsqmkTigqxtIg_OZejPuGhCfZy2oO2ijcWBhanIQRNGilZr7cGZ/s1600/Beijing+Pollution.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Welcome to the concrete jungle, we got smog and dust</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Anyway it’s a
short one this time, as I am clearly far more focused on the outcome of this
Mr. Xi and his visit to America in hope of achieving such deep relations
between the two countries so that they create a giant slide between America and
China for people to conveniently use to travel between the two countries.<o:p></o:p></span></div>Owain Lloyd-Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00269811345829494248noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-768084978735233384.post-34071271773657869252012-05-05T05:30:00.002-07:002012-05-08T06:05:58.084-07:00Christmas Aftermath<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=768084978735233384" name="OLE_LINK1">After having a pretty manic Christmas party
involving a visit from the police interrupting a mass chorus of Bon Jovi’s
“Living On a Prayer” (80s cheese metal hasn’t quite found it’s deserved
appreciation here yet), it was nice to have a practically work free week to
chill out and enjoy the holiday. An improvement on previous Christmases in
China indeed; the last 2 years have seen me dress up as Santa distributing/manically
lobbing candy across classrooms, and attending the ritual Christmas dinner in
Pizza Hut. It was nice this time to get a little tree, hang up some lights,
order a turkey and roast vegetables, and have some great company round to let
the chaos ensue. The following morning was spent feeling particularly fragile
though the consumption of various chocolates and left over apple pie coupled
with Lord of the Rings helped me get through the day.</a><br />
<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Since I have been living in China for a while, it can be said that
many of the obscurities and strange happenings don’t quite have the same effect
as they used to back in the early days, hence the rather large gap between my
blog writing. There are still little things that continue to amuse or amaze me
however, one being finding a call card for a prostitute inside the wrapper of a
kid’s lollipop the other day. I haven’t got a clue as to why or how it got in
there, and the thought that it may be intentional caused not only bedazzlement
but alarm, though my only sure assumption was that perhaps these agencies (or
whatever prostitution companies are called) may need to have a good think about
this new direction of their marketing. Anyway it certainly sparked the thought
that there are still ample opportunities for various things to keep my curious
brain occupied during my time in the Chinese capital. This was consolidated
further two nights ago when, after finishing some Greek food with some friends,
we stumbled upon a camera set up in the square of Sanlitun (one of the
bar/trendy areas of Beijing) which projected your image onto a big screen overlooking
the masses of coffee shops and trendy people wearing glasses with no lenses
(don’t get me started on this obscure fashion trend!). The screen also had
computer generated reindeers and a Santa which would do strange dances
alongside your image, which, after being met with the initial “look I’m on the
big screen!” reaction, was then followed by many people in the vicinity dancing
along with these computer generated characters. It was quite fun and
stimulating watching these people of all ages try to keep up with a dancing
snowman, though the icing on the cake was the guy who decided to take the
opportunity to action humping motions behind a CGI Santa. <br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It’s the end of 2011 now and I’m sure there will be many other
musings to be had upon the last year which has flown by for me; starting with
an initial plan to return to the UK and do a masters in the summer, followed by
a turn of events which involved me meeting my amazing girlfriend and staying in
Beijing and living a nice fulfilled life. Having had some doubts about where to
go next in life before, I chose to follow my feelings this time and aside from
missing an array of family and friends dearly in the UK, most of my desires led
me to stay in China and develop my skills as a teacher whilst polishing my
Mandarin ability and keeping my girlfriend happy. A busy life indeed! Though
2012 is looking like a promising year, and come next December I will be
clambering on the giant Chinese ship depicted in the film alongside John Cusack
saving me from world destruction. See you in the next life! (As sung by Suede…)</div>Owain Lloyd-Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00269811345829494248noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-768084978735233384.post-19083379452820359792012-05-05T05:30:00.000-07:002012-05-08T06:10:56.012-07:00Blog ResurrectionWelcome to the rejuvenation of my blog! Since I haven't posted anything on this site for almost three years, I'm not going to post every blog I've written since then as that may prove to be chronologically confusing. So from now on I'm going to post every blog I've written since 2012 and any that should come if something confuses/amuses me. Any die-hard followers (if you are, then you must have nothing much to do), please check my Facebook page to fill in any gaps. Enjoy!<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyO0ZhhKz19pEta4JY7b8lM2CcJEQHmqk5BWVHmBj21AB53ffdjQC7xzGJ4qjHv6nEuwa9tEc_J9PdEqtbWhRwpIu80tsJygSUshpczAjJtYe00t2IsPARYmb8Fkz-uPDTndMEZgHJMTTQ/s1600/Rising+From+The+Dead.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyO0ZhhKz19pEta4JY7b8lM2CcJEQHmqk5BWVHmBj21AB53ffdjQC7xzGJ4qjHv6nEuwa9tEc_J9PdEqtbWhRwpIu80tsJygSUshpczAjJtYe00t2IsPARYmb8Fkz-uPDTndMEZgHJMTTQ/s200/Rising+From+The+Dead.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's alive!!! </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">It’s
currently about 10.30pm on Monday the 12</span><sup style="line-height: 115%;">th</sup><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> December 2011. I have
just spent a very lazy day recovering from the hectic weekend schedule of a
training centre English teacher with Simone, which began with being up by the
ubiquitous sounds of construction that are inescapable anywhere in China. This time
it was someone drilling on the floor above which somehow entered into my dream
just prior to my awakening which created the strange sensation as if someone
was having a nice release just over my head after a massive curry the night
before. It sounded like that anyway. We got up, had breakfast, lounged around,
went to the shops to get some Christmas shopping done, and then came back home
after which I cooked up my staple fried tofu dish which readily satisfied the
taste buds of a certain Cantonese lady. All that was washed down with a
Japanese beer and the remainder of last night’s rose wine, which was followed
by more lounging around, watching a couple of episodes of Leverage, and a quick
blast on the guitar.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I’m
currently reading a book by Brazilian author Paulo Coelho which follows the
life of a famous author who aside from being pretty lovelorn, mentions some of
his thoughts about the processes of writing and using life experiences to
create stories, and writing things consciously that contains very unconscious
content and messages; using knowledge we have that comes out spontaneously
through our daily life actions, which in this guy’s case is writing novels.
Anyway its added to my recent thoughts about how I haven’t been doing any
writing of any sorts recently, and having looked back at my last blog which was
dated around February 2010, I realised that perhaps it’s time to get back on
it, and I hope I can still write something of mild interest. Before I started
writing this entry, I reread all of my previous China blogs and came to the
conclusion as to why I haven’t written any for so long – they all had the tone
of me expressing my amazement, confusion and excitement of being in China at
that time and wanting to share that with the folks and friends back home. This
starry eyed feeling, I have to admit, has dwindled to an extent since living in
China for almost 3 years and having a life here, compared to the feelings I had
a couple of years ago where I was purely here for the experience, travel and fun.
China being China however, I am still frequently
amazed/shocked/gobsmacked/impressed on a regular basis by things I see in my
daily life, so I hope to report on these things when I see them! <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Anyway I
hope this is the first of many “New Owain China” blogs. In summary, I’m
enjoying a pretty decent life in Beijing, spent cowering from the smog, dodging
the dodgy cooking oils and food additives, and generally continuing to behave
like the bumbling Englishman in the classroom, not yet quite managing to
realise there’s often a step between the blackboard and the rest of the class
which always results in laughs across the room when I trip upwards mid-lecture
mode. <o:p></o:p></span></div>Owain Lloyd-Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00269811345829494248noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-768084978735233384.post-38051593907089689312009-09-03T03:33:00.000-07:002009-09-03T04:17:21.041-07:00Back to BloggingOk so limited internet access has had a detrimental effect on my yearning to write something that may be of vague interest to people who are wondering what I get up to here. Despite still having Microsoft Word, a pen, a paper, a brain and two eyes and two ears it has been two months since I wrote something about my Chinese adventures. I just spent my time when I could be writing blogs reading Edgar Allan Poe.<br /><br />Speaking of the Poemeister himself, yesterday was the Chinese Halloween, one of the many random special days that just seems to pop up without notice (Children's Day, National Day, Golden Week, Tomb Sweeping Day- I'm talking to you whatever you may be!). It wasn't all trick or treating and vampire costumes, I took a walk down my street on the way to a bar (despite being warned about being attack by ghosts by some of my colleagues - and no, I don't think they were even joking) and saw several incense sticks and candles planted in the trees and soil beside the street, as well as the usual mass of people out eating and drinking - they didn't seem to be afraid. After arriving at the bar with some friends I noticed a mild effort to embrace the occasion with some of the bar staff wearing zombie masks, though the icing on the cake was watching two these two dancers perform some sort of strange voodoo dance ritual wearing Phantom of the Opea-esque masks, all to the thumpings tunes of Rammstein. That's something I've yet to get my head around here - almost every bar I've been to in Liuzhou will at some point unleash upon the tipsy crowd the pulsating rhythm of German industrial rock. Nice to know they've finally found an audience.<br /><br />Last time I write I believe I was up in Hangzhou.. since then I came back down to Liuzhou, went to Beihai, then to Kunming, Dali and Lijiang, and after returning to Liuzhou again took a trip to Guangzhou to see Joe. My travelling time was actually pretty short, perhaps two or two and a half weeks or so, though I managed to see a fair amount. I would like to share some of the memories and feelings of this time though I'm trouble remembering right now so just look at the photos I've put up on Facebook. A picture tells a thousand words! Lijiang was certainly the highlight of the bunch, a nighmare to get to unless you fly (12 hours from Nanning to Kunming ny train, 5 hours from Kunming by bus to Dali, and then 3 hours from Dali to Lijiang by bus again) as its nestled up in the mountains of Yunnan Province, but it was definately worth the arduous journey. My girlfriend and I stayed in the old town district, where many beautiful dogs run free amid the clatter of horse drawn carts, and where the rich heritages of Naxi and Tibetan culture are thrown in your face like some blind bat on speed (I was hoping to come up with a better simile there but my English has been decaying slowly since I've been here). A friend told me that Lijiang was just one big gift shop, that which is true, though the charming narrow winding streets and old Chinese architecture nestled amid the foothills of the Himalayas was too much for me to resist. My only regret was not venturing out to the Lu Gu Lake, a 7 hour bus journey north from Lijiang into the Sichuan province right on the Tibetan border. From some of the photos I saw this place looked awesome, and I can just spend ages staring at mountains and lakes. Maybe next year.<br /><br />I'm back at the school now for the new term, and its nice having some new students and some old, thankfully I've retained most of my good classes from last year, though I will miss my American High School style class, complete with all the well known archetypes like the bully, the it girl, the geek etc etc. They were pretty fun. This weekend some friends from Yangshuo will be coming down to Liuzhou, some of whom I havn't seen for a while, so I once again look forward to unleashing a group of English lads upon the streets of Southern China.<br /><br />PeaceOwain Lloyd-Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00269811345829494248noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-768084978735233384.post-25738493874116639302009-05-05T04:34:00.000-07:002009-05-05T05:59:05.964-07:00China Blog I've lost count alreadyYes folks it may be the intense heat and humidity that has caused me to forget which number blog this is, or maybe some strange mosquito contraction whereby one loses short term memory and their care for numeric order. Yes its very hot and my body is completely covered with mosquito bites-I have a net over my window that is meant to keep them away but somehow they still creep in... maybe through cracks in the wall or through the plumbing system; clever buggers. I feel like Ripley from Aliens: Living in a different world and having to shut every possible entry to my flat and wait with mosquito spray in hand only to be outsmarted by these infesting pests as they find ways in beyond my comprehension. Its not too bad though, I've been visited by some pretty cool moths and spiders of many different colours and sizes, of which I have never seen before.<br /><br />The China mayday holiday has just passed giving us a three day weekend, allowing a hard earned opportunity to visit family or friends, relax or play computer games for three days straight as many of my students claimed to have done. I initially wanted to visit my old friend Joe in Guangzhou, a fellow Haywards Heathian who had also made the cross continent jump to escape the woes of graduate life in a small Sussex town. My passport however is currently in Nanning (the capital city of Guangxi province) being scanned, stamped and god knows what else under the eyes of the Chinese immigration authorities. You can get to Guangzhou by train or bus, but your looking at a 10 hour plus journey in a cramped and sweaty atmosphere, so I thought it best to head to Guangzhou another time. I instead took the chance to return to Yangshuo (the town in which I lived in for two weeks when I first arrived) to see some fellow foreign friends and return to the culture of paying reasonable prices in restaurants, heavy drinking and archetypal camera-in-hand sight seeing. My girlfriend and I took the train from Liuzhou to Guilin, which theoretically should take about an hour to an hour and a half, as its only a distance of 100 miles or so, with no stops. This excitement of losing my Chinese train virginity was quickly marred by an unexpected four hour journey in which the train traveled at snail's pace, stopping every twenty minutes to allow an oncoming train to pass. This perhaps answers the musing of why buses are twice as expensive as trains in China! I guess on the positive side it gave me a chance to soak in some of the lovely Guangxi scenery on the way up. Immediately after arriving in Yangshuo and checking into a hotel, it was time to hit the bars and catch up with some of the people who I'd known upon my initial arrival in China. It was a great speaking English freely again, although there are some English speakers in Liuzhou you have dumb down or perhaps simplify your vocabulary pace of speech in order to convey your meaning. Its something I've gotten use to, being an English teacher, though it was nice to revel in British humour and idioms once again amid the haze of numerous folk sharing stories from across China and the globe. It didn't feel like I'd been away for long, though it had been about two months; perhaps a testament to the busy and fun filled nature of my time here. In my absence Yangshuo had acquired a McDonald's, a sign of esteem for any well doing settlement in China, and of course with it being a 24/7 restaurant in a town full of western tourists, proved itself a worthy investment. Pretty handy after a night on the town though, even if I can only eat fries and ice cream.<br /><br />I thought I'd take the time to talk about some of the great phrases and idioms that the students have come up with in class so far. I often try to employ exercises in class which requires the students to speak and make use of their English knowledge in a casual environment. Some tasks include "what five things would you take if you were lost on a desert island and why?" and "describe your dream country" etc. These often go down well, with the students relishing the chance to be creative and sometimes humorous. There have been some classics on the way though, with one student stating he'd take a nuclear bomb to a desert island so he could destroy himself-all said with a broad smile and with tongue firmly in cheek as to quash any worries of parental concern. This was the same kid who in a lesson about traveling asked a fellow student "can I get from north Poland to south east Columbia by panda bear?" answered with a perfectly logical "no, you can't". Many of the students also seem to have a mysteriously wide array of closing sentences, such as "that is all", "I have nothing else to say" and "thats what I think, how about you?". Earlier today I employed the dream country lesson with one of my better classes, and the result being one girl saying "In my dream country there will be many eggs, that is all". Each class has there own buzzword as well, often sending them into fits of laughter. Although to me they have little sense or meaning, they are good for maintaining rapport with the classes and getting their attention. For example one class love to here and say the phrase "horse drawn cart", another is fond of "GBA (Game Boy Advance) and "dinosaur", "UFO" and "lovely pig", and one popular term used across the school is the word "yellow", used in contexts such as "yellow movie" "yellow man" and "yellow television". I later discovered that the reason for the subsequent hysteria was that "yellow" in China has something to do with some Japanese adult website. Fair enough. One infamous phrase that perhaps many fellow foreign teachers encounter is the "NO WHY!" reply. If you ask a student "why do you like football" the reply will sometimes be "no why", and if you wish to assert your wish for them to elaborate and ask "why no why?" the response will be "because no why!". This has become a personal favorite of mine, and I sometimes just look past the aim for them to speak more and allow it to create comic relief in the lessons which is enjoyed mutually by teacher and student alike.Owain Lloyd-Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00269811345829494248noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-768084978735233384.post-69105873374306317572009-04-20T01:21:00.000-07:002009-04-20T02:29:48.926-07:00China Blog 4<br /><br /><br />Good afternoon! Well firstly the most significant factor of Liuzhou life right now is the weather... It's been around 26-30 degrees Celsius relentlessly and consistently for the last four or five days, with odd bursts of rain in between. It's nice weather to relax in a park or head out into town at nighttime, but it makes teaching pretty taxing, and it seems as if the students find it equally so. The classrooms seem to be practically devoid of air conditioning with only mild relief coming from opening windows, and bottles of water passed frantically around the class like gold dust. Its only mid-April, and one wonders if my pasty complexion and red hair will be able to withstand the full force of the South China summer, maybe I should buy a parasol and walk around with shades on like Michael Jackson... at least that'll justify the many stares I get whilst walking down the street. Due to the heat I've seen the emergence of various interesting bugs and spiders in my apartment, luckily they seem resigned to the toilet area so far, but the only mild discomfort is their inescapable presence on my bed at night. Many of them are very small, and just as you clamber onto the soft, cool sheets to retire from the labours of the day, there soon comes a faint tickling sensation on a leg or arm, followed by an instinctive slap or a swift spray of the bug repellent. <br /><br />Saturday was an interesting day. I went with my German friend Susan to the Liuzhou English Corner, where anyone from any background, age or position, can come and practice their spoken English in a relaxed environment. Located in the city centre by the riverside and some old Chinese architecture, it was a nice tranquil spot amid the usual bustle and excitement of the city on a Saturday night. It was my first time to this event, and as a new foreigner I was swiftly surrounded by many keen and willing English speakers, ranging from primary school students to doctors. I didn't mind answering their questions (about where I was from, how long I'd been here for etc.) as it was nice just chatting about home and using cross cultural comparisons to create talking points (made me realise I don't miss England too much!). But it was good to give these guys a chance to practice their English, as many of them said the lack of native speakers in Liuzhou made it difficult to sharpen and tone their spoken language skills, the result perhaps being the infamous "Chinglish".<br /><br />When I first came to the school I had little idea of the levels of English the students had, but I remember being approached by a student named Daniel in the school courtyard and being impressed by his willingness and confidence in English. Over the last few weeks or so, I've been giving him individual lessons and in return he teaches me some Chinese, maybe five sentences or five words a day. It's proven pretty useful for us both I feel, and over the past few days a few other curious students have joined the after school sessions. As is typical of the mind at that age though, he has expressed interest in being taught profanity. He is already aware of the "big three", but says he is interested in learning specific words from England. I personally have no problem with it, but I don't want to the one held responsible when a student bellows "cock" or "bollocks" in the middle of a maths exam having realised they forgot to carry the extra 2.<br /><br />Last Monday (13th) saw the passing of my birthday, went for a meal then KTV. (I'll put some pictures on facebook at some point). I remember seeing puppies being sold on the street somewhere, for food or for leisure, I am not sure.Owain Lloyd-Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00269811345829494248noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-768084978735233384.post-54791806980575692642009-04-08T07:07:00.000-07:002009-04-08T08:44:51.912-07:00China Blog 3Hmmmmm 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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.Owain Lloyd-Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00269811345829494248noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-768084978735233384.post-76619435390338595402009-03-27T23:55:00.000-07:002009-03-28T01:26:43.595-07:00China Blog 2My last piece was a brief overview of some of the stuff I've been up to in the past month and a half or so, yet I only wish I started writing earlier so that I could record each week as it had gone by and captured the feeling of the moment as it were. As this result this blog and the last, as well as ones forthcoming may not be in any specific chronological order, with little shards of thought resurfacing at sporadic intervals. But hey, its always good to mix things up.<br /><br />I guess I'll start by describing my typical day here in Liuzhou. As there are only three foreign teachers in the school (myself and a Ghanaian couple, Cosmos and Freda), the teaching schedule is pretty heavy. I was told in previous years that the school has had five or six foreign teachers at one time, which would have certainly spread the workload out, but I'm enjoying being busy, the nature of the work constantly pushes your creativity. Luckily I don't have too many early starts, the only killer being getting up at 7am on Friday for a 7.40 lesson. I am usually awoken at a random time by the thudding of what can only be described as early nineties rave music regurgitated and spat out under the shine of glossily produced modern Chinese techno (anyone familiar with J-pop or Canto-pop may know what I mean). I am yet to find the source of this disturbance, but it's certainly strange seeing as I live in a rather residential area with only a few local stalls and shops nearby. This sound is soon eclipsed however by the school's PA system echoing out classical music while a prerecorded voice counts to ten over the top, almost in a military like fashion. I discovered that this occurs three or four times a day between classes, and the students are made to relax and massage their facial muscles to the rhythm in order to maintain their focus and attention in school.<br /><br />My apartment is literally next door to the school which is pretty handy so I can usually get up not too long before my lessons start and stroll in under the aid of coffee and cake (yes they eat cake for breakfast!), enough to sustain a buzz which is often required for teaching. My lessons are forty minutes each which is a nice length of time, usually the first ten minutes is spent just chatting about a random topic just thrown up, then about twenty minutes "real" work, ending with a game to finish the lesson on a lighthearted note. As my Chinese is currently reasonably limited, I have to establish meaning via various gestures, drawing and other physical animations which the students often find amusing. I also take as much opportunity in the classes as I can to brush up on my Chinese, asking the students to translate English words and phrases for me which they seem more than happy to do; often staring wide-eyed in waiting for my attempts to speak their tongue. Their Chinglish is much better than my Engnese. After the day is done teaching I sometimes hang around the school for a bit, either soaking in the nice weather, grabbing some food at the cafeteria or finding some teachers or students to talk to. There's quite a few kids here who really have an impressive grasp of English, and aren't shy to speak it freely. Most people in China under the age of thirty have some knowledge of the language, with it being taught in schools in a similar way in which Spanish or French is taught in England. Unless they have aspirations to pursue their studies at a higher level, then most of what they learned in school is shelved or forgotten. However it seems now under that under the gigantic umbrella which is the ever progressive presence of China in the modern world, English is being attended to in a very assertive manner. The current generation of students are encouraged to speak and learn the language in their everyday lives, coupled with extra lessons, private tuition and increasing exposure to western media and ideology. With the rapid industrialization and modernity occurring in China now, these potentially bilingual kids will be thrown into an environment that will be very different to that of previous generations.<br /><br />The other night I met Jimmy and girlfriend Alex (many English speaking Chinese people have anglicized names, ranging from "John" and "Robert" to "GoGo" and "Lovely") for dinner, and he introduced me to some of his old schools friends who were visited the city, some of whom had made it big in Hong Kong and Guangzhou. After a civilized introduction and relaxed meal the evening took an interesting turn with the introduction of Chinese liquor and champagne. Many people say that Asians have little alcohol tolerance, I've found both truths and falsities in that since I've been here, but these guys were hardcore. Drinking games are often played here, one favorite being "guess the number" where two people hold up a random number of fingers each, and the person to guess the total amount of fingers held up wins, with the loser doing a shot. Its very fast, very loud, and from a distance looks like an anarchic take on rock paper scissors. Despite frequent offers from my new acquaintances to join the chaos, I insisted I wasn't a liquor type of guy and chose to sit back and enjoy the festivities. After a couple of hours, the crowd slowly began to disband and Jimmy, Alex and I were left with the duty of carrying one very drunk business executive to his plush apartment in the city, where we were invited in by a very dismayed looking wife to drink tea whilst keeping the bloke occupied.<br /><br />One thing thats astounded me here is the strong feeling of unity and brotherhood that these people have. From the people I've met so far, I've noticed a real sense of togetherness, of group significance. Jimmy told me that a frequent term of address to a friend is to call them brother or sister, which is meant as a true sign of respect and closeness. Also, whenever I've been out to dinner or out to a bar, theres a culture of the host or organizer paying for the whole group; I've often walked into a coffee house of bar to find pre-ordered food and drinks on the table. Whenever I've flashed my wallet and produced some money to pay what in England would be my fair share, I'm met with looks of genuine confusion and am told to put my money away. I have felt a little guilty in being catered for and spending next to nothing, but I guess thats the westerner in me; money doesn't talk it swears. I guess that now I am getting used to these customs of the people of the People's Republic of China, to which as a person I am becoming one of their peoples. I'd promised I'd take some friends out to pizza hut sometime anyway.Owain Lloyd-Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00269811345829494248noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-768084978735233384.post-33550736249607617972009-03-22T04:56:00.000-07:002009-03-26T02:44:28.480-07:00Thoughts on China so farIt recently came to my attention in the haze of a lazy Sunday that I hadn't really done much writing in regard to my time in China. Just several photos and some silly poems revolving around my western perception of the goings on here. I've been here for a month now and I guess I've just started to feel settled; got my own place and am getting to now Liuzhou more and more each day (albeit via my misguided orienteering expeditions). I'm also enjoying teaching and although its very draining there's a good sense of fulfillment and some of the kids are great; perhaps one of the few professional environments where the bumbling Englishman can exist without ridicule, the kids love it whenever I spill water on the floor, smash into doors etc etc.<br /><br />My first two weeks were spent in a small town called Yangshuo. Nestled amid rolling karst mountain scenery and with the Li River flowing through it, it was a gentle introduction into the lifestyle and culture here, being a hotspot for backpackers and fellow teachers, English was widely spoken and the place had many westerner owned bars, restaurants and coffee houses (though the Dutch one was a little disappointing). The place had a Chinese feel as well with the typical ancient pagodas, the ubiquity of Chairman Mao's face, and noodle stalls. In between a hectic schedule including teacher training, Chinese lessons, and various excursions to local beauty spots, I met many cool and interesting people there from all over the globe with stories to tell and wisdom to share. The usual gathering place was the Aussie run Buffalo bar where many bottles of Li Quan beer are downed amid a strange feeling of international harmony; the nail in the coffin being meeting a Frenchman who didn't wince when I said where I came from. Excuse the minor racial slur.<br /><br />After these two weeks of, well, fun! The time came to start teaching. There were positions available in the various bilingual schools in Yangshuo, offering accommodation and a decent local wage. I decided however that I didn't want to stay in Yangshuo, there wasn't really a true feeling of being in an uncomfortable yet rich and tempting environment, which is what I came to China for. Everything was at my feet and in easy reach: The English language, veggie food, and of course British humour. I was told by our lovely coordinator Isabella that there was a position in a school in Liuzhou, about three hours drive south of Yangshuo, so our wonderful guide Wen-Tao assisted me on the bus down there, to which I am very grateful to considering the amount of drink and dodgey late night barbecue consumed the night prior. On arrival, we were greeted by the school deputy head Mrs Zhou and an English teacher named Joanna, who speaks very good English and was always happy to help out with any queries regarding the city or the school. After being whisked round the downtown area and being given a tour of the school it was time to get the long bus home to Yangshuo.<br /><br />I've been in Liuzhou for just over three weeks now, and am gradually getting to grips with being stared at wherever I go - I'm guessing someone over six foot with curly ginger locks isn't too common here - I'm slowly learning Chinese and am meeting some wonderful people. One being the music teacher Jimmy, renowned for his antics and showing foreign teachers a good time. Last night Jimmy, myself, and a few of his friends went to the Asian phenomenon which is KTV karaoke, featuring many drinks and awful renditions of Blondie's "Picture This" by yours truly. One of the highlights of the evening was meeting a guy who seemingly in jest said he could arrange me a Chinese girlfriend. This apparent lightheartedness this was quashed later on when three girls came in through the door and he bellowed "YOU....CHOOSE....I PAY!". Assuming what stood before me was what I thought it was, I proceeded to say in a very English manner "thanks but no thanks".<br /><br />Theres plenty of other musings and stories to share, but I really need to get down to some lesson planning. In summary, the weather is very hot and humid. Till next time! xOwain Lloyd-Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00269811345829494248noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-768084978735233384.post-46860052928832478312009-03-02T19:55:00.000-08:002009-03-02T19:57:54.674-08:00....Blind Fox<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />The wrap of such a ghastly entail divides our senses<br />Every day the heat rises and courses through my aisle<br />The crystals and swords paint their glinting spheres in glee<br />Throwing their wild remoulds and jesting for a spree<br /><br />But to delve into this frozen delight cursed with longing<br />To grasp the bolted chain of dust so unbeknown<br />Darkens the rose upon the misty moor it has grown<br />Where the spirits waken behind the mirrors that show<br /><br />Windy roads and foreign eyes that once dressed this smile<br />Ghostly trials and ripping tides that fell like the evening sun<br />Rear their crimson faces like the dead reborn<br />Cowering these brown eyes once free from craving scorn<br /><br />So the blind fox feeds upon these trifling curds of old<br />Pressing his green plat paws on the brow locked in cold<br />The medicine seeps on wounds once dry and closed<br />For the pages have rose to reopen their gleaming show<br /><br />See this hungry life player sleep upon his rusty pose<br />Till the dormant fires rise and engrave the arm to stab<br />Each burnt out fuse lost amid the oceans of the had<br />Opening the crusts of dire plains and heavens once glad<br />Until the past shall cast the fox from its grove of drag<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />I Go Where the Flowers Grow<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />You know me friend, I go where the flowers grow<br />Where the light shines and prosper doesn’t hide<br />Where the colour is vast against the warmth of my glow<br />Where new tasks await; new highs and lows to contemplate<br /><br />I leave behind old flames and withered pasts<br />Friends, places and emotions not up to my task<br />I leave behind memories happy and sad<br />To dwell amongst the present is not to be had<br /><br />Towards the sun, the sky, and the desired gleam<br />Away from darkness, the freeze, and established dreams<br />Towards new hope, new horizon, new prayer<br />Away from the onset of dry, dusty dim wares<br /><br />So friend I leave you with little, save this final thought<br />Don’t hold me in angst, for I will soon return, well taught<br />With the circles of change firmly in place<br />Old flowers will bloom, and I’ll remember your face<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Poem 2<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Heads on rails<br />Moving like sails<br />Where my mind entails<br />In the fruit store of necessity<br />Dancing like soiled shadows<br />Steering with wheels that harrow<br />With legs in the hail<br />Moving like snails<br />Only the blind can cure the frail<br /><br />Oh and sing for songs of lost reveal<br />With twisting strain<br />In the grappling rain<br />Where I seek to abstain<br />Life in its fiery pain<br />Oh save the final breath<br />Your teeth scarred with stain<br />And laugh with looming death<br />With blue eyes that spin webs<br /><br />So swivel your head<br />Till you view love’s lead<br />In each stone washed thread<br />Where the spirits keep<br />Each merciful faith<br />Inside the stars that weep<br />Every tear of solemn grace<br />And all poets unsure to speak<br /><br /><br /><br />Spoken/Slurred<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Oh why upon this flowery pedestal do the wayfarers shout<br />The books of love and fields of clouds shatter high above<br />The black coated scribe barks and beckons through a wintry hive<br />Coiling each quill and dark mark with beauty, precision and pride<br /><br />Not a full age further do we spit upon the endless coloured sleeve<br />Swilling and sparking each hope with tongues of mud and bone<br />Sons of gods that nod and jest upon golden pages as if stone<br />I watch and wave and glance through haze, damning these words I own<br /><br />Crudeness and liquor spawn vital beats, dressing the lonely pawn<br />Till the hours have dropped from the antique clock<br />Disheartened leaves cloak the dust of dead smiles and eyes<br />While the wayfarers breathe their heavy sleaze, coarse, cold and dry<br /><br />And upon the mythic stone carved upon the wily old phase<br />We see feathers gust through ears that scar the golden tome<br />Slurring the whirl of words that creep asleep yet so well tuned<br />While the pained response cowers and shrinks under the burning moon <br /><br />Holy charts that once hung well in halls painted without cream<br />Now tatter with the sticks of revoke sharpened blue and imbued<br />Till the morning comes and sweeps the brush of slumbered minds<br />For the wayfarer’s mouth builds its violent cry, pitiful and sublimeOwain Lloyd-Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00269811345829494248noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-768084978735233384.post-80536276748503120252009-01-04T11:33:00.000-08:002009-01-04T11:50:35.101-08:00So seeing the greatest darkest knight there is on our majestic platinum screens and lucid dreams minimize the joker and all such bluff-strong games of chaos, pondered this restless idealist mind into plane scape desolation, with all switches moving up down in elation, only to gratify and play down such horrors and beauty. Boredom insulation of cross-eyed watchers latched always to colour and heaven/hell visions sleep easy after tonight, knowing their hollow and tree like incarnations are but another bruise or broken bone away from mirror stare bliss. Oh to be in love.<br /><br />And yet crinkled flakes of stout and girth, eclipsing all such mirth, wallow like summer snow above all such faith, believe, hope?! only to be escorted from our urban messes with the glow of unkept carcasses caressing their dresses leather and black, with the soldiers and their forward attacks.<br /><br />Take one more look at our friend dressed like the night, and his fingers bound on chiefs in walls uptight, you'll see the wasted blinks and hints. Two and a half hours is a long time for the shortest lesson there is.Owain Lloyd-Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00269811345829494248noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-768084978735233384.post-75245115985914266282008-12-28T08:40:00.000-08:002008-12-28T09:08:19.995-08:00Always The Same<br /><br /><br /><br />She laughs like some defaced mule caught in golden meshes that creep upon the green<br /><br />Creeping like wildflowers struck from a dream, the perfect picture of our king’s fantasy<br /><br />Yes the dream that carries clouds upon the wretched storms and shines bright through the heavy glaze of old<br /><br />Always the same, always the same; the naïve scene and their drama queens<br />The crippled jester and his underdog regime<br />The blind child and the horses of the sea<br /><br />She can’t break the walls nor rise upon her shrinking hall<br />Never to sip on these fine spoils of the mirrored war<br />Barely a pity can be cast on such a shallow door<br /><br />Always the same. Always the same.Owain Lloyd-Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00269811345829494248noreply@blogger.com0