Forgive me readers, for I have sinned.
It has been over six weeks since my last confession.
No, actually, I have not had anything to confess because I have been a good boy... all year... honestly, Santa.
Well, with one week to go until Christmas, the Chinese are in full festive spirit. Everywhere you go there are decorations and images of good ol' St Nick plastered on all the doors and windows of the shops and restaurants. Our ex-DoS (Director of Studies) decorated one of the restaurants in traditional red, green and yellow (I always thought it was meant to be red, green and white) which provoked a line of enquiry from one of the Chinese girls as to the origin of the colour scheme. And this, I have to say, left me more than a little bit red-faced, as I did not know.
Fortunately, I was able to stall her long enough to run a quick Google on the BlackBerry and I uncovered an answer: the red represents the blood of Christ; the green represents everlasting life (hence the planting of evergreens in Churchyards); and the white represents light (either candle light or the star that led the three wise men).
At least, this was the best answer that I could find in a short space of time on my trusty mobile. Anyone who can shed further light on the subject please step forward, mouse in hand, and head for the comments link at the end of this post. Who knows? I may have inadvertently altered the future of all Chinese Christmas decoration. I mean, I would hate for them to mistell the story about how "there once lived a great, great man who walked upon this earth, who did many amazing things, who spaketh that all decoration should be in red, green and white... and they called him Benny."
Seriously, though, if anyone can confirm the validity, or otherwise, of my Googled knowledge I would be interested to hear from them.
Staying on a Christmas theme, I am pleased to say that the overdue blog update is due, in part, to the fact that I have no classes today and, hence, a little time on my hands. I am somewhat less pleased that I will be donning a Santa costume for the next two nights to entertain, what always seems like several million, Chinese ankle-biters at their Christmas parties. Somehow, during the "planning phase" of these parties, I drew the Santa straw. I'm not 100% clear as to whether this happened after the sixth or seventh pint of the planning phase but I do recall agreeing to do it and I'm sure that I will enjoy it once I'm there.
And that's about it. There's not much else to report, to be honest. The weather is officially cold now, school carries on regardless of Christmas (we get one day off on 25th), the West continues to get poorer whilst the East gets richer and the sun always shines in Rizhao.
Merry Christmas !!
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Sunday, November 2, 2008
The dreaded lurgi
Clearly the natural guilt reflex kicks in after about four weeks as the feeling of compulsion to update my blog has been occurring, almost religiously, at four-week intervals.
It has been an interesting month. I have been horribly under the weather. I very rarely succumb to disease of any sort as I find the time spent being ill is utterly fruitless and dull. On this occasion, however, I managed to pick up something that no amount of brandy would shift and hence I was introduced to the wonderful world of Chinese hospitals.
I had been ill for a while and carried on regardless but, after a couple of weeks, a colleague got fed up with my insistence that "it would pass" and, given that the sight of the 'laoshi' coughing up lumps of lung butter in the classroom isn't really what the parents are paying for their children to come and see, I decided that I would take their advice and seek some assistance.
And so it came to pass that I found myself in a hospital in Rizhao, with a thermometer stuck, rather unceremoniously, under my armpit, surrounded by a small crowd of inquisitive medical staff holding a staring contest with yours truly as the focal point.
After about the fourth of fifth attempt I managed to convince them that I wasn't lying when I said that I knew only a little Mandarin and one of the happy (irritatingly so when you are feeling really ill), smiling doctors examined me.
I was wondering at this point if hacking up a green ball of sputum would assist the doctor with her diagnosis but, before I could decide and probably for the best, she reached a conclusion almost instantly.
Doctor (at least I'm guessing this is what she said): "OK, I think I know what's wrong."
Patient (I know this bit because this is what I was thinking): "And so now I get a prescription, go to a chemist and get a course of antibiotics... right?"
Doctor (I don't need to guess this bit because this is what happened): "Erm, nope. You come and lie down on this bed and we hook you up to a drip."
And there it is. The Chinese doctors seem to have a drip for everything. They just lie you down, plug you in and away you go. I was in a room with several other patients all wired up to different bottles and figured that I had no choice but to lie there and wait until I had been dosed-up.
The bottle did not take too long to filter down into my vein. I stopped the episode of Top Gear that I was watching on my iPod and indicated to the nurse that I was all done and could she please unplug me. She did so without futher ado, removing the bottle that had been hanging there for 20 minutes or so, smiling at me all the while, as she replaced it with a second one. I turned Top Gear on again and lay back down.
After a third bottle of who knows what and an iPod nearing the end of its battery life I was finally unplugged and sent on my way with half a pharmacy's worth of pills and potions which I was to take over the course of the next eight days. And I now understand why one of the patients had three drips going at once when I went in. He was in a hurry. If there is ever cause for a return visit I will remember that trick.
Anyway, I am happy to report that the assorted medicines, whatever they were, seem to have done the trick, although I do not know if it was the tablets, the drips or the illness that was responsible for my feeling a lot worse for the next few days before I felt better.
So, apart from furthering my knowledge of the local hospitals, what else has been happening this month? If the truth be told, not a great deal.
School is much the same and still no indication as to when I will get my first round of training through the parent company. Teachers working at English First franchises are supposed to receive training at certain times during the year but, after four months, I have not heard of anything in the pipeline and will not be surprised if the next two-thirds of my contract pass without any such obligation being fulfilled. I do not mind there being no training as, whilst it is always beneficial to share ideas on teaching methods, I am learning rapidly on my own, through colleagues, the Internet and, mostly, from the children. But what I was looking forward to was the opportunity to see some other places in China, as the training camps are held in bigger cities such as Shanghai or Beijing, when the travelling costs are being paid for by the school. Still, I will just have to pencil in some travel time when I take my holiday.
Any other news?
I don't think so, other than to report that it is still beautiful and sunny most days, albeit getting slightly chillier. I am beginning to wonder if there is sun all year round in Rizhao, because of its location on the east coast of China, and that the weather just gets hotter and colder depending on the time of year. It certainly doesn't seem to be showing any signs of disappearing at the moment and I suppose that I should really go and make the most of it whilst it's here instead of updating this blog.
So that's exactly what I am going to go and do...
Zai jian !!
It has been an interesting month. I have been horribly under the weather. I very rarely succumb to disease of any sort as I find the time spent being ill is utterly fruitless and dull. On this occasion, however, I managed to pick up something that no amount of brandy would shift and hence I was introduced to the wonderful world of Chinese hospitals.
I had been ill for a while and carried on regardless but, after a couple of weeks, a colleague got fed up with my insistence that "it would pass" and, given that the sight of the 'laoshi' coughing up lumps of lung butter in the classroom isn't really what the parents are paying for their children to come and see, I decided that I would take their advice and seek some assistance.
And so it came to pass that I found myself in a hospital in Rizhao, with a thermometer stuck, rather unceremoniously, under my armpit, surrounded by a small crowd of inquisitive medical staff holding a staring contest with yours truly as the focal point.
After about the fourth of fifth attempt I managed to convince them that I wasn't lying when I said that I knew only a little Mandarin and one of the happy (irritatingly so when you are feeling really ill), smiling doctors examined me.
I was wondering at this point if hacking up a green ball of sputum would assist the doctor with her diagnosis but, before I could decide and probably for the best, she reached a conclusion almost instantly.
Doctor (at least I'm guessing this is what she said): "OK, I think I know what's wrong."
Patient (I know this bit because this is what I was thinking): "And so now I get a prescription, go to a chemist and get a course of antibiotics... right?"
Doctor (I don't need to guess this bit because this is what happened): "Erm, nope. You come and lie down on this bed and we hook you up to a drip."
And there it is. The Chinese doctors seem to have a drip for everything. They just lie you down, plug you in and away you go. I was in a room with several other patients all wired up to different bottles and figured that I had no choice but to lie there and wait until I had been dosed-up.
The bottle did not take too long to filter down into my vein. I stopped the episode of Top Gear that I was watching on my iPod and indicated to the nurse that I was all done and could she please unplug me. She did so without futher ado, removing the bottle that had been hanging there for 20 minutes or so, smiling at me all the while, as she replaced it with a second one. I turned Top Gear on again and lay back down.
After a third bottle of who knows what and an iPod nearing the end of its battery life I was finally unplugged and sent on my way with half a pharmacy's worth of pills and potions which I was to take over the course of the next eight days. And I now understand why one of the patients had three drips going at once when I went in. He was in a hurry. If there is ever cause for a return visit I will remember that trick.
Anyway, I am happy to report that the assorted medicines, whatever they were, seem to have done the trick, although I do not know if it was the tablets, the drips or the illness that was responsible for my feeling a lot worse for the next few days before I felt better.
So, apart from furthering my knowledge of the local hospitals, what else has been happening this month? If the truth be told, not a great deal.
School is much the same and still no indication as to when I will get my first round of training through the parent company. Teachers working at English First franchises are supposed to receive training at certain times during the year but, after four months, I have not heard of anything in the pipeline and will not be surprised if the next two-thirds of my contract pass without any such obligation being fulfilled. I do not mind there being no training as, whilst it is always beneficial to share ideas on teaching methods, I am learning rapidly on my own, through colleagues, the Internet and, mostly, from the children. But what I was looking forward to was the opportunity to see some other places in China, as the training camps are held in bigger cities such as Shanghai or Beijing, when the travelling costs are being paid for by the school. Still, I will just have to pencil in some travel time when I take my holiday.
Any other news?
I don't think so, other than to report that it is still beautiful and sunny most days, albeit getting slightly chillier. I am beginning to wonder if there is sun all year round in Rizhao, because of its location on the east coast of China, and that the weather just gets hotter and colder depending on the time of year. It certainly doesn't seem to be showing any signs of disappearing at the moment and I suppose that I should really go and make the most of it whilst it's here instead of updating this blog.
So that's exactly what I am going to go and do...
Zai jian !!
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Gam Bei !!
It's been nearly a month since the last update (again) and things here are still pretty rosy:
Most people get a longer break than three days but our employer likes to get his pound of flesh. After all, it's not like any of us have given anything up to come to China and teach in the school. Native English-speaking teachers grow on trees over here, thus we are easily replaceable, so why treat your staff to any more days off than is absolutely necessary?
If all of the students are on holiday with their parents because of National Day, make the teachers come in to work anyway and find pointless, time-consuming things to occupy them. This will make the teachers feel valued and respected and it definitely won't send them trawling through the Cathay Teacher website for new jobs at the next given opportunity.
Fortunately for the school though there are very few places crying out for for native English-speaking teachers in China. Hardly any jobs to be found. So we'll just count our blessings.
What makes it all the more astounding is that in the last six months or so, the school has lost three teachers, with a fourth on the way out in just under a week. This has cut the number of available, remaining, foreign teachers to just five. And the school currently has its highest ever levels of in-house students, which means that the available human resources for the far-more-lucrative, external business and university classes has been drastically reduced.
So why haven't the rest of us headed for the hills? Well... the remainder of us all get on very well, we all take our teaching very seriously (there are no holidaying, gap-year students here, just old men!), there's a fantastic beach which is great in the summer and sometimes... it's just better the devil you know. I read far too many scare stories about schools in China before I settled upon this one and, to be fair, if that's my only gripe then I'm just whingeing like a teacher.
Once we've started the Chinese branch of the the overseas teachers' union things will be different. Just you wait and see what happens after the revolution...
So, what else has happened this month?
We were invited as guests of honour to the 20th anniversary celebrations at Rizhao Polytechnic a week or so back. The show was truly amazing, with huge dancing dragons, performers, acrobats and martial arts displays. And the speeches, too, were... well, actually I'm not sure because, in all honesty, I dozed off. Sat outside, in the sunshine, listening to tens of dozens of speeches, in a language of which I know only a few words, I succumbed to my body's overriding desire for rest.
It was a wonderful morning though and we were the centre of attention for the 20,000 students. People wanted to take our photos, we received a round of applause when we turned up from a stand with, at least, a few thousand of the student population, we were ushered to the front half-way through the proceedings, there were official photographs taken and then after the whole thing finished we were taken to a different part of the university and presented with beautiful gifts to thank us for coming. And what's more, I don't even teach there!
I start business classes this week. It's about an hour's drive from the school to get to the company where I will be teaching but these are the classes where I will get to use the knowledge gained from working with large corporates in London that the school is able to charge a premium for. I'm looking forward to dusting off those sections of my brain that have been harbouring all of the Siebel training for so many years.
Although the colder weather cannot be too far away now, it's going to be another beautiful day here by the looks of it. It's 9.20 am and the sun is already streaming through the curtains. What makes that so much the better is that today is my day off, so I think that I will pop down to the beach for a swim.
I hope that the weather in England is also great... *snigger*
Benny Laoshi
- the weather's on the turn but we're still getting the odd scorcher;
- my classes are progressing well through their respective programs;
- I'm seeing some variation in the classes that I am getting to teach;
- I'm finding my feet now with the local area;
- the Chinese language skills are developing (slowly);
- I've managed to get my ex-Vodafone BlackBerry unlocked and it's almost back to full functionality (still haven't cracked the data services on China Mobile yet); and
- we've just had a three day holiday in honour of my sister's birthday.
Most people get a longer break than three days but our employer likes to get his pound of flesh. After all, it's not like any of us have given anything up to come to China and teach in the school. Native English-speaking teachers grow on trees over here, thus we are easily replaceable, so why treat your staff to any more days off than is absolutely necessary?
If all of the students are on holiday with their parents because of National Day, make the teachers come in to work anyway and find pointless, time-consuming things to occupy them. This will make the teachers feel valued and respected and it definitely won't send them trawling through the Cathay Teacher website for new jobs at the next given opportunity.
Fortunately for the school though there are very few places crying out for for native English-speaking teachers in China. Hardly any jobs to be found. So we'll just count our blessings.
What makes it all the more astounding is that in the last six months or so, the school has lost three teachers, with a fourth on the way out in just under a week. This has cut the number of available, remaining, foreign teachers to just five. And the school currently has its highest ever levels of in-house students, which means that the available human resources for the far-more-lucrative, external business and university classes has been drastically reduced.
So why haven't the rest of us headed for the hills? Well... the remainder of us all get on very well, we all take our teaching very seriously (there are no holidaying, gap-year students here, just old men!), there's a fantastic beach which is great in the summer and sometimes... it's just better the devil you know. I read far too many scare stories about schools in China before I settled upon this one and, to be fair, if that's my only gripe then I'm just whingeing like a teacher.
Once we've started the Chinese branch of the the overseas teachers' union things will be different. Just you wait and see what happens after the revolution...
So, what else has happened this month?
We were invited as guests of honour to the 20th anniversary celebrations at Rizhao Polytechnic a week or so back. The show was truly amazing, with huge dancing dragons, performers, acrobats and martial arts displays. And the speeches, too, were... well, actually I'm not sure because, in all honesty, I dozed off. Sat outside, in the sunshine, listening to tens of dozens of speeches, in a language of which I know only a few words, I succumbed to my body's overriding desire for rest.
It was a wonderful morning though and we were the centre of attention for the 20,000 students. People wanted to take our photos, we received a round of applause when we turned up from a stand with, at least, a few thousand of the student population, we were ushered to the front half-way through the proceedings, there were official photographs taken and then after the whole thing finished we were taken to a different part of the university and presented with beautiful gifts to thank us for coming. And what's more, I don't even teach there!
I start business classes this week. It's about an hour's drive from the school to get to the company where I will be teaching but these are the classes where I will get to use the knowledge gained from working with large corporates in London that the school is able to charge a premium for. I'm looking forward to dusting off those sections of my brain that have been harbouring all of the Siebel training for so many years.
Although the colder weather cannot be too far away now, it's going to be another beautiful day here by the looks of it. It's 9.20 am and the sun is already streaming through the curtains. What makes that so much the better is that today is my day off, so I think that I will pop down to the beach for a swim.
I hope that the weather in England is also great... *snigger*
Benny Laoshi
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Has it really been a month?
Judging by the date of my last post, it has been a month now since my last update. I apologise to those of you who have noticed their absence but I am sure that you are in the minority.
So, what has happened since the summer teaching season came to a close? Well, we now have two, yes two, days off per week and the teaching hours have dropped back to normal levels. The resultant effect is that, as I am not starting at nine o'clock every morning, I am spending more on food and beer. This is good news for the local supermarkets and restaurants but bad news for my pocket.
I hate to have to mention it again, as I know that the weather in England has been awful, but the weather here continues to be fantastic and the rainy season appears to have come to an end, although it is a little cooler now in the evenings - I had to wear a jumper with my t-shirt and shorts on Tuesday - and there is never really a 'dry' season, so there is still occasional rain.
Managing to get to grips with the money is difficult here. We earn a reasonable wage for the area in which we are based but you really need to be fluent in Chinese in order to take advantage of the cheaper options which are available. This means that most of my shopping is done at the larger stores, which are not far off western pricing. As my Chinese improves, however, I am sure that life will become cheaper. I have already found one restaurant, near to the apartment, where I can manage to order a couple of dishes I like, that is not expensive.
Anyway, duty calls, I have lesson plans to finish before the weekend madness begins, so my best wishes to all at home and I will try not to leave it so long until the next post.
So, what has happened since the summer teaching season came to a close? Well, we now have two, yes two, days off per week and the teaching hours have dropped back to normal levels. The resultant effect is that, as I am not starting at nine o'clock every morning, I am spending more on food and beer. This is good news for the local supermarkets and restaurants but bad news for my pocket.
I hate to have to mention it again, as I know that the weather in England has been awful, but the weather here continues to be fantastic and the rainy season appears to have come to an end, although it is a little cooler now in the evenings - I had to wear a jumper with my t-shirt and shorts on Tuesday - and there is never really a 'dry' season, so there is still occasional rain.
Managing to get to grips with the money is difficult here. We earn a reasonable wage for the area in which we are based but you really need to be fluent in Chinese in order to take advantage of the cheaper options which are available. This means that most of my shopping is done at the larger stores, which are not far off western pricing. As my Chinese improves, however, I am sure that life will become cheaper. I have already found one restaurant, near to the apartment, where I can manage to order a couple of dishes I like, that is not expensive.
Anyway, duty calls, I have lesson plans to finish before the weekend madness begins, so my best wishes to all at home and I will try not to leave it so long until the next post.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Sun, sea, sand and ... school
It has been a woeful two weeks since the last update and my sincerest apologies to those of you who have e-mailed me and not had a response. It all boils down to the simple fact that, much as I love you all dearly, the weather has been awesome here recently (30 degrees+ most days) and I have a beach within walking distance. Well, that and the fact that I have had a lot of reports to do as the summer season has come to a close. If that sound like a feeble excuse it is because it is just that: a feeble excuse.
So, what's been happening here in Rizhao?
To tell the truth, not a lot outside of my being very busy and spending all my free time having fun whilst trying to get to grips with my Chinese lessons.
The Olympics continue to play a major part of everyday goings on, despite there being no Olympic activity in the tiny little city where I am based. China is soundly dominating the medal table and looks set to continue towards a record total. It's a joy to be here to witness the pride with which the Chinese people view their country and its achievements across the spectrum of international Olympic sports. It is, however, a little tiresome pointing out on a regular basis that the tiny little island that I used to call home does not, and never will, have such a wealth of talent to choose from, hence our standing in the medal table.
I went to a local bamboo theme park with the students yesterday and spent more than I had intended on hand-carved (by monks) items for the apartment. An apartment which, as I am sitting writing this, has three Chinese girls running about the place tidying and doing the laundry. They do a fantastic job and are very tolerant of my linguistic ignorance.
Some of the things that they had on sale at the bamboo park would fetch a fortune if they were being sold in an upmarket boutique in London. It seems a shame that there is no real, established trade route for the poor monks to take their products to an international market. Perhaps I will have to investigate putting one in place - purely for the benefit of the monks, you understand.
Anyway, I trust that life in the UK is as mundane as ever and I can hardly contain my indifference about ever returning "home".
Time for another Tsingtao...
So, what's been happening here in Rizhao?
To tell the truth, not a lot outside of my being very busy and spending all my free time having fun whilst trying to get to grips with my Chinese lessons.
The Olympics continue to play a major part of everyday goings on, despite there being no Olympic activity in the tiny little city where I am based. China is soundly dominating the medal table and looks set to continue towards a record total. It's a joy to be here to witness the pride with which the Chinese people view their country and its achievements across the spectrum of international Olympic sports. It is, however, a little tiresome pointing out on a regular basis that the tiny little island that I used to call home does not, and never will, have such a wealth of talent to choose from, hence our standing in the medal table.
I went to a local bamboo theme park with the students yesterday and spent more than I had intended on hand-carved (by monks) items for the apartment. An apartment which, as I am sitting writing this, has three Chinese girls running about the place tidying and doing the laundry. They do a fantastic job and are very tolerant of my linguistic ignorance.
Some of the things that they had on sale at the bamboo park would fetch a fortune if they were being sold in an upmarket boutique in London. It seems a shame that there is no real, established trade route for the poor monks to take their products to an international market. Perhaps I will have to investigate putting one in place - purely for the benefit of the monks, you understand.
Anyway, I trust that life in the UK is as mundane as ever and I can hardly contain my indifference about ever returning "home".
Time for another Tsingtao...
Friday, July 25, 2008
Time flies...
I cannot believe that it has been more than two weeks since my last post. The time has been flying by here and I am slowly beginning to find my feet. The rain has been relentless since my arrival and apparently it hasn't rained in such a fashion for as long as anyone can remember. So, you can guess who is being blamed for bringing the British weather with him!
It's not too bad though as it's nice, warm rain and today was actually a scorcher. The weather here is actually quite tropical and I guess that the monsoon season has just decided to leave a little more than a calling card this year.
We went to the zoo this morning which was a bit of a joke. The poor animals have no artificial habitats in which to while away their isolated, caged lives. The monkeys had a reasonably-sized rock to crawl on but the solitary lion was in what can be best described as a circus-like transportation cage. Poor little bugger. And apart from a selection of common-or-garden farm animals, that was about the limit of the viewing pleasure. But the kids seemed to enjoy it and it gave me a chance to get some pictures.
Everything here is going very well. I am beginning to get to grips with the resources in the staff office and I think that my lessons are taking shape a bit better than they were for the first week or so. There's a long way to go before I will be even half-way happy though, as my lack of experience and knowledge of teaching methods and games will take years, not weeks, to build upon. Everyone has to start somewhere though.
Actually, sorry, did I say "everything" is going well? I meant "almost everything". The apartment that the school has provided has a resident nutter who keeps on turning off our electricity at night. She is able to do this because the master switch is conveniently located in the stairwell so any old Tom, Dick or Harry can gain access.
Her reason for doing this?
She claims that the air conditioning makes a noise that keeps her awake. So she expects us to frazzle in heat of the apartment at night and turn it off... sorry, no dice. And when she decides to kill the noise by turning it off at the mains it also turns off the mosquito repellent devices that we have plugged in at the apartment to keep the little so-and-so's away.
The result?
We are getting feasted on.
The solution?
Fit a cover over the box in the stairwell so that she cannot access the switch? Fix the noisy air conditioning unit so that she no longer kicks up a fuss? Buy the loony some ear plugs?
Nope.
Make me up sticks and move to a different apartment just one month after I have landed?
Yep.
Pure genius!
It's not too bad though as it's nice, warm rain and today was actually a scorcher. The weather here is actually quite tropical and I guess that the monsoon season has just decided to leave a little more than a calling card this year.
We went to the zoo this morning which was a bit of a joke. The poor animals have no artificial habitats in which to while away their isolated, caged lives. The monkeys had a reasonably-sized rock to crawl on but the solitary lion was in what can be best described as a circus-like transportation cage. Poor little bugger. And apart from a selection of common-or-garden farm animals, that was about the limit of the viewing pleasure. But the kids seemed to enjoy it and it gave me a chance to get some pictures.
Everything here is going very well. I am beginning to get to grips with the resources in the staff office and I think that my lessons are taking shape a bit better than they were for the first week or so. There's a long way to go before I will be even half-way happy though, as my lack of experience and knowledge of teaching methods and games will take years, not weeks, to build upon. Everyone has to start somewhere though.
Actually, sorry, did I say "everything" is going well? I meant "almost everything". The apartment that the school has provided has a resident nutter who keeps on turning off our electricity at night. She is able to do this because the master switch is conveniently located in the stairwell so any old Tom, Dick or Harry can gain access.
Her reason for doing this?
She claims that the air conditioning makes a noise that keeps her awake. So she expects us to frazzle in heat of the apartment at night and turn it off... sorry, no dice. And when she decides to kill the noise by turning it off at the mains it also turns off the mosquito repellent devices that we have plugged in at the apartment to keep the little so-and-so's away.
The result?
We are getting feasted on.
The solution?
Fit a cover over the box in the stairwell so that she cannot access the switch? Fix the noisy air conditioning unit so that she no longer kicks up a fuss? Buy the loony some ear plugs?
Nope.
Make me up sticks and move to a different apartment just one month after I have landed?
Yep.
Pure genius!
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Settling in...
A week has passed since my last update and my broadband at home is now up and running. I am trying to take everything in as best I can but there is so much to learn. I am sitting writing this on my laptop in the apartment, drinking a nice bottle of Vieux Pape, which is actually quite hard to come by in China as it is out of most people's price range and only sold as a luxury item. I have just purchased a scanner and a webcam/microphone for the computer in the hope that I will soon have some photos to upload – we have a zoo trip with the students on Friday – and if any friends or family are set up on MSN, Yahoo Messenger, Skype, ICQ, etc. or even good old-fashioned web conferencing, they can see how much the mosquitoes love me on camera and laugh at me for free.
Most of my students are great, there are a couple who are going to need a slightly firmer hand but they'll soon learn who's boss, or, at least, that's the plan. Next week I start on full schedule: 26 teaching hours and a 40-hour week, in total. The only problem is that my lesson plans are still taking me longer at the moment than the other teachers, so I am in for a bit of a shock. Fortunately we have another teacher arriving next week which will water down everyone's workload a little – the senior teacher is already having to work overtime and will, I'm sure, be glad of the extra pair of hands.
So, if anyone is reading this and fancies a year or two in China teaching, get your applications in quick – you won't be disappointed.
Most of my students are great, there are a couple who are going to need a slightly firmer hand but they'll soon learn who's boss, or, at least, that's the plan. Next week I start on full schedule: 26 teaching hours and a 40-hour week, in total. The only problem is that my lesson plans are still taking me longer at the moment than the other teachers, so I am in for a bit of a shock. Fortunately we have another teacher arriving next week which will water down everyone's workload a little – the senior teacher is already having to work overtime and will, I'm sure, be glad of the extra pair of hands.
So, if anyone is reading this and fancies a year or two in China teaching, get your applications in quick – you won't be disappointed.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
In at the deep end...
Having been told that I would have a couple of weeks to settle in before the term starts, imagine my delight at having my first classes on Thursday. Yes, you read that right: classes, plural.
So, on my first day I started my induction, today I will continue my induction and tomorrow I am teaching. Somewhere I need to find time to do two lesson plans but, as yet, I have not even been given the class files, otherwise I would not be updating my blog, I would be doing those instead!
But I've got to start somewhere and the sooner I start the sooner I will learn. The same applies to my Chinese. I am desperate to get started on Mandarin lessons but the summer term is so busy that I cannot start until mid August. So I will just have to pick up what words I can here and there and be patient.
The rest of the team here are great. They all work hard but also play hard and my biggest fear – that there would be lots of spotty, teenage students on gap year placements who don't treat the position as a job, preferring instead to treat it as a year-long vacation – was completely unfounded. There is only one teacher younger than I am, and even he is 30.
Anyway, as long as the computers in the school decide to work I will try and keep the updates regular. I also have broadband at my appartment and hopefully Jack, the logistics department, accounts department, general handyman and all round nice chap, will be able to set it up properly for me at some point, although he doesn't have any English and cannot understand the instructions on the setup wizards and needs a translator (who doesn't know anything about computers!).
Welcome to China !!
So, on my first day I started my induction, today I will continue my induction and tomorrow I am teaching. Somewhere I need to find time to do two lesson plans but, as yet, I have not even been given the class files, otherwise I would not be updating my blog, I would be doing those instead!
But I've got to start somewhere and the sooner I start the sooner I will learn. The same applies to my Chinese. I am desperate to get started on Mandarin lessons but the summer term is so busy that I cannot start until mid August. So I will just have to pick up what words I can here and there and be patient.
The rest of the team here are great. They all work hard but also play hard and my biggest fear – that there would be lots of spotty, teenage students on gap year placements who don't treat the position as a job, preferring instead to treat it as a year-long vacation – was completely unfounded. There is only one teacher younger than I am, and even he is 30.
Anyway, as long as the computers in the school decide to work I will try and keep the updates regular. I also have broadband at my appartment and hopefully Jack, the logistics department, accounts department, general handyman and all round nice chap, will be able to set it up properly for me at some point, although he doesn't have any English and cannot understand the instructions on the setup wizards and needs a translator (who doesn't know anything about computers!).
Welcome to China !!
Friday, June 20, 2008
Eight days and counting ...
A fair bit has happened since my first post back in March. My original schedule was to be in China around late August, but the lovely Ianthe, my director of studies, expressed a desire to have me out there before July "as they could really use me". And, as I'm never one to turn down an opportunity of being used, I had to move things forward a little... well, a lot actually - two months to be precise - and I fly out on 28 June.
The visa process was interesting - three days' worth of interesting as it turned out. I travelled up to London on Monday 2 June to have my visa processed by the Chinese Embassy, allowing plenty of time before the 4.00pm closing time for processing. Unfortunately, the 4.00pm closing time, as stated on the website, is actually 12.00pm. This was inconvenient, as it was now 1.00pm. But not as inconvenient as it must have been for the fellow who had spoken to the policeman on the door a little earlier who, the officer informed me, had journeyed all the way down from Newcastle under the same impression from the information on the Internet. He went on to advise me that, realistically, to have a chance of having a visa processed the same day, you needed to be at the office for about 8.00am.
Fortunately, I have several good friends in the capital and I was able to stay with one of them overnight. As a married man with three daughters and two dogs, both bitches, the canines I mean, not the daughters and the ... oh, never mind ... anyway, I think that Cliff was pleased to have some male company. I'm not sure that the obligatory morning-after hangover was quite as welcome but you have to do these things when men get together.
And so there I was again, outside the Chinese Embassy, at 8.15am, queueing in the rain to get my visa processed. The story doesn't really change that much through 9.15am, 10.15am and 11.15am although I am of the opinion that the couriers working for the "same-day, guaranteed-processing" companies definitely know something (or someone) that the general public doesn't, as they appeared to be coming and going with bag-loads of passports, whilst the rest of us stood around getting wet. Needless to say that I have kept the leaflets that were being handed out by the aforementioned companies, to the bedraggled masses in the queue, for any future applications.
As the doors close at 12.00pm, the remaining number are allowed in and the queue is "snaked" around ropes until the room is full. I do not know if any were turned away but the numbers behind me in the queue were quite substantial and I daresay that they would have had to return the next day if they weren't inside the door. So, I suppose I should be grateful that I had been advised to get there early by the officer on the Embassy door the previous day but, somehow, after nearly four hours in the rain, I was wishing that he had advised me to pay the fee for one of the "same-day, guaranteed-processing" companies.
Anyway, I got processed at 12.15pm and was informed that you cannot have same-day service after 11.00am and so I had the choice of picking up my passport the following day, on Wednesday, or waiting until Friday. Obviously, I wanted it as quickly as possible and paid for the "express" processing.
I am indebted to Clifford (and his liver) as he offered me a bed for the second night of my "day-trip" to London and I was able to collect my visa the next day with relative ease. The queue for collections moves very swiftly but, take note, if you are ever planning on getting a visa to China from the UK, you can only pay in cash which, in this modern age of plastic and electronic transactions, seems rather archaic. So, it was quite a long, expensive, drawn-out process, but I have my visa and I fly in just over one week.
The visa process was interesting - three days' worth of interesting as it turned out. I travelled up to London on Monday 2 June to have my visa processed by the Chinese Embassy, allowing plenty of time before the 4.00pm closing time for processing. Unfortunately, the 4.00pm closing time, as stated on the website, is actually 12.00pm. This was inconvenient, as it was now 1.00pm. But not as inconvenient as it must have been for the fellow who had spoken to the policeman on the door a little earlier who, the officer informed me, had journeyed all the way down from Newcastle under the same impression from the information on the Internet. He went on to advise me that, realistically, to have a chance of having a visa processed the same day, you needed to be at the office for about 8.00am.
Fortunately, I have several good friends in the capital and I was able to stay with one of them overnight. As a married man with three daughters and two dogs, both bitches, the canines I mean, not the daughters and the ... oh, never mind ... anyway, I think that Cliff was pleased to have some male company. I'm not sure that the obligatory morning-after hangover was quite as welcome but you have to do these things when men get together.
And so there I was again, outside the Chinese Embassy, at 8.15am, queueing in the rain to get my visa processed. The story doesn't really change that much through 9.15am, 10.15am and 11.15am although I am of the opinion that the couriers working for the "same-day, guaranteed-processing" companies definitely know something (or someone) that the general public doesn't, as they appeared to be coming and going with bag-loads of passports, whilst the rest of us stood around getting wet. Needless to say that I have kept the leaflets that were being handed out by the aforementioned companies, to the bedraggled masses in the queue, for any future applications.
As the doors close at 12.00pm, the remaining number are allowed in and the queue is "snaked" around ropes until the room is full. I do not know if any were turned away but the numbers behind me in the queue were quite substantial and I daresay that they would have had to return the next day if they weren't inside the door. So, I suppose I should be grateful that I had been advised to get there early by the officer on the Embassy door the previous day but, somehow, after nearly four hours in the rain, I was wishing that he had advised me to pay the fee for one of the "same-day, guaranteed-processing" companies.
Anyway, I got processed at 12.15pm and was informed that you cannot have same-day service after 11.00am and so I had the choice of picking up my passport the following day, on Wednesday, or waiting until Friday. Obviously, I wanted it as quickly as possible and paid for the "express" processing.
I am indebted to Clifford (and his liver) as he offered me a bed for the second night of my "day-trip" to London and I was able to collect my visa the next day with relative ease. The queue for collections moves very swiftly but, take note, if you are ever planning on getting a visa to China from the UK, you can only pay in cash which, in this modern age of plastic and electronic transactions, seems rather archaic. So, it was quite a long, expensive, drawn-out process, but I have my visa and I fly in just over one week.
Friday, March 7, 2008
Go east, my son …
Whilst all around me were out partying and seeing in the New Year, I was curled up in the lounge with a miserable chest infection on 31 December 2007. I do not know if it was the fact that I was ill or simply that I could not bear the prospect of spending another year doing the same job, listening to the same childish whining, putting up with the same finger-pointing blame culture, the same gossip mongering and the same uneducated, ill-informed criticism that I have had to tolerate for the last five years, but, whatever the reason, I decided that enough was enough. I made a promise to myself that the next New Year's Eve my life would be very different…
I have always wanted to travel. In my younger years it was the adventure and the opportunity to escape from an area that offered me no career options that led me to quit my job in Somerset to take up a position in Australia. Before I could emigrate I needed to sell my house to raise the necessary cash to get out there. It was keenly priced to sell, the housing market was on the up in 2000, and so it did not take me too long to get an offer on my house. Everything was looking rosy and on schedule for the required start date until, at the last minute, my buyer pulled out. I had previously refused a higher offer, because I do not agree with the practice of gazumping, but look where my principles had got me. The house did not sell in time, the position in Australia went to someone else and I ended up going to work in London instead.
Contrary to the phrase, it's funny how time flies when you're not having much fun. Because that was eight years ago and I can count just one holiday in all that time. Quite why I have been wasting my life as a wage slave for so long escapes me but the one thing that those eight years have provided me with is plenty of opportunity to reflect upon the state of the complex world that we live in. And let's be honest, it's in a bit of a mess.
So, I want to do my little bit to make the world a better place. I've never been much of a tree hugger, I don't think that I can do a great deal about world poverty, or sort out the troubles in the Middle East, but I can do something that will make a difference to at least some people's lives. And that something is teaching.
Now, I've never really had a great deal of respect for teachers as a breed, in general, nor do I expect that many of those who encountered me during my latter school years would have had the word respect at the forefront of their minds when it came to my end of year reports, but some teachers shone so brilliantly and had such an effect during my formative years that they have instilled in me this desire to put something back. That's why I hope to see in the next New Year in a place called Rizhao, in Shandong province, in the People's Republic of China.
I have always wanted to travel. In my younger years it was the adventure and the opportunity to escape from an area that offered me no career options that led me to quit my job in Somerset to take up a position in Australia. Before I could emigrate I needed to sell my house to raise the necessary cash to get out there. It was keenly priced to sell, the housing market was on the up in 2000, and so it did not take me too long to get an offer on my house. Everything was looking rosy and on schedule for the required start date until, at the last minute, my buyer pulled out. I had previously refused a higher offer, because I do not agree with the practice of gazumping, but look where my principles had got me. The house did not sell in time, the position in Australia went to someone else and I ended up going to work in London instead.
Contrary to the phrase, it's funny how time flies when you're not having much fun. Because that was eight years ago and I can count just one holiday in all that time. Quite why I have been wasting my life as a wage slave for so long escapes me but the one thing that those eight years have provided me with is plenty of opportunity to reflect upon the state of the complex world that we live in. And let's be honest, it's in a bit of a mess.
So, I want to do my little bit to make the world a better place. I've never been much of a tree hugger, I don't think that I can do a great deal about world poverty, or sort out the troubles in the Middle East, but I can do something that will make a difference to at least some people's lives. And that something is teaching.
Now, I've never really had a great deal of respect for teachers as a breed, in general, nor do I expect that many of those who encountered me during my latter school years would have had the word respect at the forefront of their minds when it came to my end of year reports, but some teachers shone so brilliantly and had such an effect during my formative years that they have instilled in me this desire to put something back. That's why I hope to see in the next New Year in a place called Rizhao, in Shandong province, in the People's Republic of China.
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