Saturday, July 31, 2010

Some Observations on Language and Culture

Now that I’ve finally started blogging, there’re a few topics I want to hit before they become less timely. In other words, there might be several posts over the next couple days while I talk about my first two weeks here, but generally entries will probably be more spread out. Right now, I want to write the first of what will doubtless become countless entries concerning language and culture. Oh, before I get started, I just uploaded my first batch of photos! Check ‘em out: http://anamericaninheqing.shutterfly.com/

During the course of the Summer Training Program, the fellows are all living in dorms, with three fellows sharing each room. Maybe CEI put some thought into who was going to room with whom, or maybe it was just luck, but I could not be happier with my roommates. I live with Kristin, who grew up outside Seattle and graduated from Middlebury, and Chen Yanmei (Amber), who grew up in Guangdong province. As some of you folks might remember, I lived with a Chinese roommate when I studied abroad. I learned so much from her, and I know that without her my Beijing experience wouldn’t have been half as fulfilling. At the same time, we were (and probably still are) very different people.

Yanmei, on the other hand, is somebody I started to connect with almost instantly; she, Kristin, and I share significant values and are going through similar transitions. Even though Yanmei’s far less out of her comfort zone than Kristin and I are, having come from the States, CEI isn’t easy for her either. The three of us have formed a great support network for one another, celebrating good days and offering comfort when things go south. Yanmei’s also been so helpful in terms of my Chinese. Basically, most of the time I speak Chinese to her and she speaks English to me.

Kristin’s Chinese is a bit better than mine, and Yanmei’s English is better than Kristin’s Chinese, but it’s pretty amazing how much more comfortable with my Chinese I’ve gotten since arriving here. Don’t get me wrong—I’m still floundering a lot—but at least I’m not nearly as nervous to start talking these days. It helps that the American fellows have two hours of Chinese class every weekday afternoon and will presumably until we move to our schools.

I’d forgotten how much I love being able to move casually between English and Chinese, to switch languages mid-sentence and still be pretty darn sure that everyone around understands. Chinglish is the language of choice in Lincang, with fellows (both Chinese and American) switching all the time. I think as the STP continues and both nationalities start to feel more settled into using the other language, this phenomenon will only get more intense. Maybe we’ll create our own pidgin dialect?

Also, I will certainly write about Lincang Number One Middle School at some point, but I would just like to say that ninth graders should not under any circumstances be in school from 7:30 AM- 11:30 PM, and they shouldn’t have class on Saturday. I especially believe this because when the kids have class campus-wide bells start ringing at 6:40 AM. On Saturdays. Like I said, more on this topic later.

This morning a bunch of us went hiking, which in China does not necessarily mean dirt paths snaking gradually up a mountain. No, no. Instead, we had stairs going basically straight up a mountain. Lots of huffing and puffing, but we got to the top eventually and saw some beautiful views along the way. At the summit we celebrated with a picnic of junk food acquired from the on-campus shop. It was pretty funny. Tonight is dedicated to karaoke, which should be fun. I haven’t done that since the choir went to Japan.

Well, that’s all for now. Expect more soon, like I said.

Friday, July 30, 2010

Welcome to Yunnan

It’s Friday morning here in Lincang City, Yunnan, China, and the only reason I can type this right now is that I’m on my laptop. Yesterday, we got an email saying that from 7:30 AM- 6 PM today there would be no electricity. No reason was given, but then, I’m learning not to expect such things here.

I arrived in Yunnan two weeks ago and spent the first half of that time in Kunming, the province capital. My days were filled with a teaching crash course, courtesy of Teach for All. At some point I will write a blog post detailing exactly how I feel about this organization and its methods; for now, suffice it to say that, while I appreciate being exposed to different sorts of pedagogy, after a full year filled with classroom observations I do not appreciate being informed that one particular pedagogy is better than all others. Just sayin’. My evenings were booked by social events of various sorts. It’s been fantastic getting to know the 29 other American and 27 Chinese fellows, as well as the very young and incredibly motivated staff. While some of the full-time staff members are probably around thirty, and the summer training staff range from late twenties to retirees, our CEO is 24 and clearly a genius of some sort. He started this organization four years ago and has the best Chinese I’ve ever heard from a non-native Mandarin speaker. Ever. Pretty inspiring.

But really, nearly everybody involved with this organization is inspiring in some way. All of the fellows graduated within the last three years and are putting a whole lot of faith into an ideal—the thought that, by spending two years in some of China’s neediest schools, by committing to cross-cultural teams, by leaving behind the comforts of American and Chinese middle class life, we can affect truly positive change within the educational system here.

A week ago, the fellows and I spent our last night in Kunming and celebrated our departure with a “Last Western Supper” at Salvador’s CafĂ©, an expat-run restaurant (Thanks, Steph!). Then it was off to Lincang city, the capital of a prefecture in the extreme southwest of the province, not far from the Myanmar border. Lincang is beautiful, a city graced by mountains on all sides. Clouds gather on the peaks overnight and rise in the mornings. It rains and shines in unpredictable intervals, and I’ve found myself carrying my raincoat everywhere. Although a relatively poor place, there’s very little pollution here compared to the larger Chinese cities I’ve spent time in. I have a lot of pictures and will try to upload some soon.

For the next month (three weeks, now), we’ll live on the campus of Lincang’s top middle school, continuing our training and teaching at an English summer camp organized specifically to give us practical experience. After a year of working in a Minneapolis Title I school, I know my way around a classroom, but working with these children is, unsurprisingly, quite different from my time with urban American kids. I’m quickly learning to deal with an almost entirely new set of behavior issues, classroom expectations, and languages. From 7:30 AM-10 PM daily I’ve been occupied with teaching, observing, lesson planning, attending training sessions, and studying Chinese. My Ma, ndarin is still a lot less handy than I’d like it to be, but I know that will change quickly. Even in two weeks I’ve started to feel more comfortable with my abilities.

After the conclusion of the Summer Training Program, I’ll be moving to Pengtun Middle School, along with one American and two Chinese fellows. It’s about 6-7 hours north of here, and I don’t know exactly what to expect, but I’m so excited to see it.

Anyway, I’m sure now that I’ve started this blog I’ll update fairly frequently. There’s so much about my first two weeks here that I haven’t even started to get into. I’ve actually written as much in journal since my arrival here as I wrote in my last seven months stateside. For now, happy Friday, and enjoy the weekend. I know I will.