A Very Chinese Christmas

A Merry Christmas to everyone reading this!
How does one celebrate this holiday in China? If this question has been nagging you since the day you were born, never fear for I have the answer. You celebrate with other foreigners and your good Chinese friends.
My contact teacher, Turner, is fantastic. He organized a Christmas outing for the English teachers on Tuesday afternoon. We went bowling and ate Japanese food. If you forgot, I live in Xili, which is very close to the Baoan border. Baoan is one of the outer districts of Shenzhen, with factories and such. However, Xili is still being developed, so we went to Baoan.
This outing made the day special. Even though I was rusty at bowling, I had a lot of fun. The Japanese food was to die for. The waiters greeted us all in Japanese (with Chinese accents). Our tables were the traditional Japanese style where you take your shoes off and sit on pillows. Dinner was a combination of sushi, sashimi, tempura, and any other kind of Japanese food you can think of. All at the school's expense I might add. We even drank hot sake, which the Chinese teachers did not care much for. It does not taste like baijiu (a Chinese wine close to turpentine), but it is still strong alcohol. Ben and I were the only ones at dinner that celebrate Christmas, so we brought presents for the English teachers. I continued a family tradition of giving oranges. If I could not spend Christmas with family, I could at least do something to remind me of home.
That brings us to Wednesday, Christmas Eve. Some of my students gave me presents, which was totally unexpected. I thought my students did not like me enough to give me a gift. One class gave me a card that every students wrote in. How sweet! I taught in the morning, and in the afternoon our foreign teacher group held a Christmas party at a hotel resort. We got goody bags and Santa hats. It was great spending a Western holiday with Westerners who understand what Christmas is all about. I would have had more fun with family, but my friends made the holiday special. After dinner and the Christmas performance, we Xili folk took a cab back home. Instead of spending the night at the hotel like most of the other foriegn teachers, AnnaRae, Ashlee, Ben, Alaina, and I returned to Xili. Our Christmas involved spending time together like a family. Christmas morning, we ate homemade pancakes. The mix said panjacks, but they did not taste any different. They tasted wonderful. We do live in China, but we wanted an American breakfast. No offense to the family in "A Christmas Story" that eats Peiking duck. We also opened presents. I could not have asked for a better first Chinese Christmas. My parents also visit in a few days, which is a great present.

Shenzhen Safari Park

I went to the zoo (动物园) on Saturday.
There were a lot of animals and space. In one pen were about forty peacocks; most of them were male. In another pen, there were at least ten ostriches. I could not count the cranes and pheasants. The large number of cranes is not surprising in Asia. But it seemed that China really likes birds.
We saw several plump raccoons, which are exotic in China. They were pretty rotund and cute. I thought it interesting that our pest is an exotic display in Asia. I wonder what China would think of our squirrels.
Of course, a Chinese zoo would be incomplete without pandas. However, the zoo only had one giant panda (大熊猫) and one red panda (小熊猫). Only one panda? Isn't that a sin in China? How bad do your ties with the rest of China have to be to warrant a small panda display?
The zoo also had tigers, lygers, and tigons! We did not see any normal lions. I guess the zoo wanted to be exotic. I had never heard of tigons before. The zoo has a special breeding program for lygers and tigons. The cubs are adorable.
For anyone interested in sociology or animal behavior, I have an interesting story about a chimp. All of a sudden the chimp blew his nose like a common Chinese man! He put one finger on one nostril and blew his nose. He adopted Chinese behavior! I was amazed and shocked. Of all the manners the chimp had to learn, he picked the grossest.
There were some problems with the zoo that I must mention. One of the leopards was missing fur on his back so you could see pink skin. In an American zoo, I assume that something is being done or that the patch is natural. However, at a Chinese zoo, I assume neglect. My suspicion of neglect was confirmed with the boars' cage. Three wild boars were in a cage just big enough for one boar. Is there a Chinese humane society?
The behavior of Chinese visitors also shocked me. They threw food at the cages and animals to get them to move, for entertainment. The Chinese visitors also yelled at the animals. One woman yelled "perform" at one monkey. (Dance, monkey. Dance!)One man made a little babboon scream. That would never be tolerated in the States.

Buildup to Christmas

The Christmas spirit continues to elude China and its people. There is no warmth, no togetherness. Whatever special feelings I have on Christmastide, China are absent here. No houses covered in blinking lights or lawns full of inflatable snow globes. And no hot chocolate! Instead of curling up in a blanket in front of a fireplace with family for company, I curl up by myself with the occasional mosquito trying to infiltrate my room. I must insert a pet peeve I have recently discovered: mosquitoes in December are an abomination!
I know China is not a Christian country, but Christmas did enter China thanks to Europeans and Americans. The aspects of the holiday that China retained were Christmas trees (randomly put up with little care) and sales. The warmth of getting together with relatives is put on hold until Chinese New Year.
Since Hong Kong understands Christmas, I wish it would influence Mainland China. There are a lot of foreigners in China and some Chinese Christians. The lack of holiday cheer, aside from random Christmas songs at McDonald's and trees outside of stores wishing you a "Merry Christmas," makes me feel alienated. I feel out of place.

Sunshine Students

This past Monday, there was a special performance at my school. In English it is called, Sunshine Students. The purpose was to give some students from the Senior 1 classes an opportunity to perform in front of the school and to instill confidence. Twenty to thirty students from each class prepared a performance of modeling and dancing. There was a red carpet that acted as a catwalk for students to model normal clothes. Some students still wore their school uniforms, which I thought was unfortunate. But if the students were more comfortable in uniform, I should not complain. Some of the girls wore really short skirts, so of course the boys in the audience paid special attention. The dances were all student choreographed. I could easily tell which student choreographed the dance because everyone else kept messing up. Some of the students started breakdancing. One of my boy students was pretty good.
I really enjoyed myself. I took a lot of pictures of my classes. If I took photos of everyone, I would not be able to recognize who were my students. It was fun seeing my students not in class and enjoying themselves. I hardly recognized my students out of uniform. They looked normal!! However, I must critique what I saw. The students just went through the motions of performing. Their faces looked like they had recently received botox. I only saw one smile! ONE! How can I know that my students are happy when they do not smile?
There was one surprise for the students. The other foreign teacher was asked by one of his classes to dance with them. So he and that class' head teacher waltzed during that class' performance. The crowd went nuts, at least those of the female persuasion. I saw students scrambling for their cameras to get a photo. I tried not to laugh at the students' reactions. I should mention that I was not asked, so I enjoyed myself as an audience member, much more fun.

Shenzhen International Expo for Tea Trade & Culture

Instead of going to Chinese class on Friday, AnnaRae, Ashlee, Ben, and I went to the 2008 China (Shenzhen) International Expo for Tea Trade & Culture (2008中国深圳国际茶业茶文化贸易傅览会). Even though the expo is free, China still wants people to register to stuff. So we filled out a pointless piece of paper that asked for names, phone numbers, favorite teas, and purpose for attending the expo. For the purpose, we all ticked the box for "market and product information." This must have been the incorrect box to check. Instead of normal admission tickets, each one of us received badges that read "buyer." Maybe it was because we were foreigners or because we ticked a different box. Our white faces and badges did attract extra attention from the tea vendors. I don't know which made us more noticeable. We were the only foreigners present. Also, the photos of foreigners at some of the stalls were of vendors. Maybe Chinese people assume only foreigner buyers, not average foreigners, are interested in Chinese tea.
We sampled several types of tea: oolong(乌龙茶), puer(普洱茶), green(绿茶), jasmine(茉莉花茶), and chrysanthemum(菊花茶). I tend not to like puer, but it didn't taste horrible at the expo. Most of the time, puer tastes like dirt. However, this tea is similar to wine; the taste improves with age. At one stall we sampled two different puer vintages. The younger one did taste of dirt, but the older one was not as strong. At this stall, the female tea servers wore minority dress. I could not identify the minority group, but it definitely succeeded to capturing our foreigner eyes. There was one puer tea at another stall that had a sweet aftertaste. We all agreed that this tea was nice, and we bought a block of tea each. For those who do not know, puer tea is compressed into various-shaped cakes for sale. These cakes are pretty solid but do not weigh much. It might break if you hit someone on the head with it. This is mere speculation; I have not attacked anyone with a block of tea.
We did not sample every kind of tea because there were so many. I was happy just to taste some tea.
In the hall next to the tea expo was a "winter fashion" sale. I can understand why some of the clothes were so cheap. The clothes lacked the style that the West prefers. I know China has a different sense of fashion and style, but....

Originality in China

Once you cross through Chinese Immigration, the definition of "originality" changes. We Americans recognize and appreciate original flavor. I can easily find Double Bubble original flavor at CVS. I can eat original flavor Pringles. Somehow the Pacific Ocean modified the meaning.
Earlier this week I went food shopping at Ren Ren Le with a small craving for potato chips. There were several brands of potato chips in a can, including the American classic, Pringles. China has some interesting flavors: blueberry, cucumber, lime, barbeque, prawn, tomato. Everyone wants to be different in a land of conformity, even food. Yet the quest for original flavor was impossible. The closest flavor was potato flavor.
That was only one example of Chinese conformity vs. originality. Conformity is at its strongest in Chinese schools. I can't tell some of my students apart. I've been here 4 months and I still get confused! It definitely doesn’t help that they all wear uniforms. The only visual difference is that the boys wear blue shirts, while the girls wear white. A lot of the boys also have the Jay Chou haircut, the Chinese emo look. When classes start the students all stand up and sit down together. I try to notice little things about the students to help me distinguish them, like sunglasses. If the students are not borrowing their classmate’s glasses, the glasses are the same style and color. Moreover, a lot of them share the same last name. Argh! I wish some of my students would dye their hair, get a nose ring, or shave their eyebrows. Something that helps me identify more of my 800 students. My sophomores are lucky that I see them every week. I only see the juniors once every two weeks. Chinese schools should encourage individuality among their student population. It will help me remember who I’m teaching.

Guangzhou and Jackie Chan

I have to get something off my chest first. I SAW JACKIE CHAN!!!!! He was very small on a gigantic stage, but he was there and so was I. We were in the same zip code.
Now let me tell you how I gained this cool, Chinese experience. The Shenzhen Education Bureau offered us CTLC teachers a chance on Friday to attend a concert in Guangzhou, several hours drive from Shenzhen. I should add that this was totally and completely free. The Bureau paid for the round trip charter buses, the big dinner in Guangzhou, and the concert tickets. We didn't pay one cent. This was such a nice gesture of the Education Bureau. We were not the only people doing the trip from Shenzhen to Guangzhou; there were at least six other buses. I was amazed the restaurant we ate at could cope with several hundred foreigners and Chinese at once. We didn't have to wait long for our food to appear, and the food was pretty tasty.
The concert was the opening ceremony of the Guangdong International Tourism and Culture Festival, PPRD Tourism Promotion Convention (广东国际旅行文化节暨泛珠三角旅游推介大会). Before the concert, a small Chinese man stood on the stage and gave us cheering practice. Every audience member got a small bag of goodies on their seats. Inside were two items that Chinese people use to cheer performers: inflatable noisemakers and a light-up light saber. "Yi, er, san" and the crowd banged the noisemakers together. Next, we were taught to wave our light sabers in unison. You would never do that in the States. I guess individuality is not looked well upon, even at concerts. Or maybe we had to practice because Party officials were in the audience. It might be embarrassing to the Party if Chinese people were not in sync at a purely entertaining event.
The ceremony started with a bunch of local Party officials giving speeches about how great Guangdong is and how much the country has advanced since Deng Xiaoping's economic openness policy (改革开放). I had never heard such patriotic language before. It was quite different.
Then came the parade. Since it was a tourism festival, there was a float parade representing all of the major cities in Guangdong Province. I noticed that most of the floats showed aspects of Buddhism, like people standing on a lotus.
After the floats, the actual concert got underway. All of the singers were Chinese, and I didn't recognize any. Some were famous enough for the Chinese audience members to applause when they heard the names, but not famous enough for them to cheer during the song. I don’t know how great it is to be semi-famous in China. The stage was too big for just one singer, so there was a shit-load of backup dancers. Hundreds of people in costume attempting to dance in sync. And what would a Chinese concert be without fireworks? It would not be Chinese, I can tell you that. Almost every song was accompanied by some fireworks display. But fireworks can be overwhelming. The poor woman who sang the finale was drowned out. Now we’re at the moment of Jackie Chan. He had the weirdest backup dancers: hands. Some poor bastards danced around as smiley, gigantic hands with legs. Their arms were inside hands costume. What happens if they fall down? Does someone have give them a hand? (bad joke) He was the second-to-last performance, which was not the best decision. People left after he finished “We Are Ready.” This song was to mark one year before the Beijing Olympics. It is impossible to attend a concert in China without listening to some Olympic song. It’s a tad annoying hearing the same three songs over and over.
The concert ended and we took the bus back to Shenzhen.

My First Chinese Thanksgiving

This past Sunday we foreign English teachers celebrated the wonderful North American holiday that involves stuffing one's face with stuffing. One of our schools was kind enough to let us use their cafeteria, so we could all eat together. Each teacher had to bring something to be allowed to eat. While others brought roasted sweet potatoes and stuffing, I brought soda. I can cook Western food with a stove or oven, but using a wok is a different story. If I use a wok it is to cook Chinese food. That was the last thing I wanted to bring to Thanksgiving. I thought the other teachers would rise up and kill me, and it would be justifiable. We eat Chinese food every day; Western food marks a special occasion. I was also afraid that any American dish I attempted with a wok might end up making others sick.
It was fun celebrating an American holiday with native English speakers. I didn't have to explain the history behind Thanksgiving or the kinds of holiday food.
I did not stuff my face like back in the States, but I ate my fill. I truly was thankful that I was able to eat good food with friends. Isn't that what the holiday is about? Sometimes it takes a trip overseas to realize that simple things are very important.
However, we were not serious the whole time. We created a fun poster that made fun of our stay so far in China. We had two topics: "You know you've lived in China too long when..." and "But at least in China you can...". What follows is a list of what we wrote.
You Know You've Lived In China Too Long When...
- Cross-contamination ain't no thang
- You no longer pick up your tray at McDonald's
- You have difficulty eating with a fork
- Chicken bikes and naked hobos are common sights
- NOTHING phases you
- You can tell the difference between stinky tofu and urine
- You speak English and think no one can understand you
- You get used to the toilet paper roll that lives on every table
- You stare at foreign people, and they stare back, but you don't talk to each other
- You look at foreigners and think "Why are YOU here? You're not in THE PROGRAM?"
- You can't tell white people apart anymore
- You grunt for yes or no
- Your English grammar becomes Chinglish (and you talk to people back home in it)
- You squat, even when there are toilets
- You prefer hole-in-the-ground toilets to Western toilets, and get grossed out when you see Western toilets
- You fear the ai si bing (爱死疾)
- You add 'maybe' to the beginning of sentences
But At Least In China You Can...
- Wear split pants and have your kids poop and pee on the street or anywhere
- Get ten dumplings for 3 kuai (about 40 cents)
- See Chinese mullets
- Eat twenty cent pomegranates
- Exploring the world through the tongue! (A Chinese sign)
- Know how to use tudou and youku ... and even baidu
- Get perfect clothes made cheaply
- Toilet paper and soap in public bathrooms is a luxury
- Become bff with gangsters
- Scare little kids with your presence (By the way, I have done this.)
- Fit 30 people in an elevator or compact car (200 on a bus)
- Smoke everywhere, even when getting gas, or at the gym, or at the hospital
- Also want to eat a fruit together in the busy. (A Chinese sign)
Some of you may have stereotypes about China and Chinese people. I hope you found this list helpful in either destroying or strengthening your thoughts of China.

Hong Kong Time

Last Saturday I went to Hong Kong. Since I live in Xili, it was not a quick trip. I expected more from the actual entrance to Hong Kong, at least a sign that said, "Welcome to Hong Kong. We write colour." No sign, no notice, no nothing. The only signal was that the English spoken by one Chinese employee was with a British accent.
Albeit, it was nice to hear English spoken more properly than on the Mainland, I should let people know that there is one thing I don't like about Hong Kong: too many foreigners. In Mainland China, you can spend an entire day without seeing one fellow round-eye. This means we play games, like find the foreigner. We point out foreigners every time. Sometimes we point; other times we whisper or yell 外国人(foreigner). Such games cannot be played in Hong Kong because you see them every few minutes.
Hong Kong's metro is more advanced than Shenzhen's, but it is also more expensive despite the fact that the Hong Kong Dollar is cheaper than the RMB. The metro stations are full of propaganda and public service annoucements. The posters advise you not to turn a blind eye to corruption. (Insert whatever comment you want here. You know me well enough.) This metro reminds me of DC. The stations are given place names, not addresses, and the lines are shown with colors.
Unfortunately, due to my short stay in Hong Kong I did not do much touring. Ben and I walked around some malls (seemed to be everywhere) to compare prices. Hong Kong malls are FULL of foreign brands, which are already expensive because foriegn is exotic. Hong Kong just makes them more expensive. It made me miss Shenzhen, where I can purchase cheap goods.
The best part of the little touring I did was the Avenue of the Stars (星光大道), Hong Kong's version of the Hollywood stars. I was amazed by how many Chinese actors and directors I recognized: Jet Li, Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee, Anita Mui, Yuen Wu Ping, Stephen Chow. Most visitors were Chinese, whether from Hong Kong or the Mainland I could not tell.
After twenty-four hours in Hong Kong, we returned to our little Xili. Of course I didn't want to go teach. Why can't life be a vacation?

Happy Valley

Students had midterms this week, what they call mid-term examinations. So I only taught Monday and Tuesday. Those days were pretty easy because I showed them movies. I want them to enjoy what they can of their childhood, and they spend most of their time studying. The Chinese education system focuses on tests and school work. Vacations and relaxation are overlooked. The rest of the week was free, so a group of us foreign teachers went to an amusement park called Happy Valley.
Amusement parks for Chinese people are like Braille magic eye posters for a blind man. He can use them, but he won't get to enjoy them fully. Chinese people seem to be prone to motion sickness. I've seen people throw up riding the bus, but I can't blame them with some of the horrible rides I've been on. I don't know the process to be a bus driver, but I don't think good driving skills is a requirement.
AnnaRae, Ashlee, Alana, Danielle, Ben, and I met up Wednesday afternoon. It’s been a while since I was at an amusement park, and I acted like a little girl. We rode a lot of rides too. Yay! The first ride we did spun us around and upside down. But before we even got a chance to ride it, we had to wait for them to clean up vomit. Some poor Chinese person puked on the ride! Was this a cultural sign of China?
That was our only encounter with vomit, including the suspended roller coaster. That was an experience in itself. We waited in line outside; then we were taken into a room where a Chinese woman made us stretch. We had to stretch from our necks to our waists. I started giggling at this roller coaster preparation. When a Chinese guy REALLY let loose with his stretching exercises, I lost it. I couldn’t stop laughing. After this wonderfully Chinese approach to suspended roller coasters, we got on the actual ride. Finally! And the ride only lasted 30 seconds. I guess if it lasted any longer, Chinese people who puke and pass out. Who would want to see that?
We went on a lot of other rides, but there was one that gave another interesting China experience: the Sky Drop. The drop wasn’t that high, but people screamed. Chinese people also screamed at the 4-D movie we saw. We Americans watched quietly. The Chinese audience screamed when Frisbees flew out to our faces and water fell down as rain. They must have been into the movie. I was astounded by the horrible acting.
The amusement park also had a part called Shangri-La Woods. It was not an exact replica of Tibet, but you could dress like a Tibetan.

Chinese Parks and Censorship

Saturday was an interesting combination of the good and the bad of living in China. Let's start with the good.
Early Saturday morning (Ok, maybe not such a good way to start my weekend), Ben and I were kidnapped by some Chinese teachers to go to Mangrove Park (红树林). 'Kidnap' is what we use to describe when Chinese people take us foreigners places. Sometimes we get a warning. Other times, we just disappear with them. This happened to another teacher in Xili. Annie, Melissa, Shelley (another English teacher) took us. They invited us out and paid for everything. I mean everything! They brought snack food and water for everyone to eat; they paid the cab fare; they even paid for dinner that night. The polite American in me wanted to pay for something, but I wasn't allowed to. This kind of behavior is 'saving face,' and I didn't want to insult them. The park was beautiful, lots of greenery and not too many people. I had personal space in a Chinese park! We had a little snack picnic for several hours under a nice tree. Despite the protection of said tree and shade, I still managed to get burned. Stupid me didn't put on sunscreen, so my face, chest, and arms were the classic color, pink-going-on-burned-red. Let me add that the Chinese teachers we were with did not burn. It's just the pale, white people that burn in China. Does that make the Chinese sun racist?
On a strange side note, during a picnic some bitch walked over to us with her husband. She stopped within two feet of our picnic, stared at our group and said in Chinese, "Those are dark people (referring to our friends). They are white (referring to us)." Calling a Chinese person's skin dark is not nice at all. Chinese women spend money on products to whiten their skin. At first I thought I misheard this woman, but our Chinese friends suddenly got quiet. So I said, "Yes we are white" in English. It helped lighten the mood a bit. If I had thought about it more, I would have told her in Chinese not to be rude because that woman's skin was pretty dark.
After the park, we decided to go see a movie. Now onto the bad part of China: censorship. I can watch Chinese movies, but I always end up missing something in the translation. Ben's Chinese is almost non-existent, so we voted for a movie with either English words or subtitles. We ended up watching "Wanted." Ben already saw this movie in the States, so he pointed out where scenes were missing. There were quite a few, so the film felt a bit choppy. Poor Chinese audiences unaware that the government is censoring their American movies. The scenes they chose to omit were a bit strange. We never saw Angelina Jolie's naked backside, but we saw rats blown up. Almost all of the blood and gore was kept in, which leaves me to wonder what China has against butts. Pools of blood...Ok. Naked butt...Not ok. But you can't walk down a street here without seeing some baby's naked behind and genitalia. I guess I still have much to learn about modern Chinese culture and politics. Also, they kept in all of the foul language, although it was toned down a bit for the Chinese subtitles.

万圣节

That's the Chinese word for Halloween (wan4 sheng4 jie2).
My costume was that of a Chinese woman, really a modern Chinese woman's view of a Western woman. This fashion style is popular, but I must say they haven't got it just right yet. There are a lot of fashion examples that would never exist in the West. And for good reason sometimes, but that's my American opinion. For those American fashion-conscious people out there...manpris!
Chinese kids aren't really familiar with this American holiday. All they think of is 'trick or treat.' They don't really know what else happens. I taught some of my classes what the phrase really means. So now there are Chinese that know more than American students. Ha! I also taught a few of my classes why we wear costumes. The more they understand of American culture, the better, especially if they plan on studying in the States.
This year's Halloween night was a good example of a famous Chinese phenomenon, 'nowism.' We face nowism every day, and we must always be ready to adapt to changes. The original plan was to go to NYPD Pizza for a party (a pizza delivery service in Futian District, next to the district I live in). Ben and I went with some of our Chinese coworkers: Annie (librarian), Carol (English teacher), Melissa (English teacher), Daniel (simultaneous interpretation teacher), Deng (music teacher), and Jason (Geology teacher).
First case of nowism: the site of the party changed.
Second case of nowism: you had to pay to enter the party area even if you didn't want all the beer and pizza you could eat.
We foreign teachers earn a lot more than our Chinese counterparts, so the entrance fee was a bit steep. I listened to some of the music played, and then we went to eat Japanese.
Third case of nowism: some of our foreign friends wanted to hang out with us.
So we tried to find a karaoke bar to sing and hang out.
Fourth case of nowism: we couldn't find a place available, so we returned to another Ashlee and AnnaRae's apartment to drink, watch movies, and have fun. (We, meaning Ben, me, Jason, Melissa).
First cultural conflict: the Americans wanted a decision made then and there about what to do. the Chinese were more laissez faire.
Fifth case of nowism: somehow we lost the other Chinese teachers.
At the apartment, we played cards and had a fun drinking time. Then Ben and I walked back to school with our Chinese friends.
Here is when I am totally impressed with Jason and Melissa. They were tipsy, but they continued to communicate in English. I was so impressed that they could and wanted to speak English. I think it really helped their speaking skills. And they also learned a bit about young American culture.

Traditional cupping

Last Wednesday, I experienced traditional Chinese medicine, cupping. Cupping is when little glass cups are stuck to your back. There are different ways to attach said cups. For me, the cups were dipped in what smelled, or stunk, like bai jiu (白酒). Then the alcohol is lighted (or is it lit?), quickly put out, and quickly placed on your back. The flame sucks all the oxygen out of the cup, which causes the suction. Your skin is sucked into the cup, so your entire back skin is stretched. You lie there for a few minutes while the suction sucks out all of your bad toxins. I didn't feel any toxins being expunged, but my back did feel warm. After a few minutes of back skin stretching, the cups are taken off. One of the 'side effects' of cupping is the marking. The skin sucked into the cup turns red. Since I am very pale, these marks are more pronounced. But the marks don't hurt, at least in my case.
I thought it interesting to mention that the place I experienced this traditional Chinese treatment was in a very Western part of the city, Shekou. At Shekou, you see entire Western families walking about.

Hua Qiang Bei

In Chinese, 华强北. This past weekend Ben and I went shopping with some coworkers: Annie, Carol, and Melissa. Annie is the school librarian, and Carol and Melissa are English teachers. It was nice going shopping with Chinese women; they are familiar with good places to go, and as women they can give me advice about clothes. Secretly, I wanted them to help me find a Halloween costume. This year I'm going as a Chinese woman, but I wasn't going to tell them that. I ended up buying this pretty, dark purple dress. It's Chinese, but still fashionable. I have seen some strange patterns and designs for dresses here. I wanted to buy something Chinese that I would wear more than once. The Chinese teachers really liked shopping in the malls, while Ben and I were content to walk around the cheap market behind one of the malls. Some of the goods in this market were not knockoffs; they were clothes that fell off the back of a truck. Real Western name brands with Chinese prices! Fantastic. I bought a pair of Converse All Stars for less than $20. Converse is very popular here, so I may have a small collection before my teaching year is out. ^_^

深圳国际旅游文化节开幕式

This past Thursday I went to my first concert in China, the Shenzhen International Tourism Cultural Festival 2008 (深圳国际旅游文化节开幕式). It was at Window to the World, the Shenzhen version of EPCOT Center I wrote about before. It was weird being out on a school night, but it great to break routine. It was also fun just being around native English speakers. A small group of teachers from the CTLC program attended this concert. We were the only foreigners there, so we felt obligated to be loud and American, especially during the musical performances. One of the performances was a Russian dance troupe. I cheered even louder for them; we foreigners have to stick together. While we rocked out in our seats, the Chinese audience members just watched. One of the performances was a techno song, so some of us started dancing. Some Chinese people turned around to watch us! No one joined in on the musical fun, a shame. There was also a group of seven guys who breakdanced. We were cheering and reacting, unlike those around us. Another performance was a beat boxer, and he was really talented. I think the older Chinese generations in the audience didn't know what to make of this new-fangled youth music. From beat boxers to breakdancers, from traditional Russian dances to techno music, there was a huge variety of music. There were two opera singers as well. The man, , was really good; he sang one of Pavarotti's songs, which successfully I might add. His pronunciation was perfect, like his 'r's. And it would not have been a Chinese concert without a song from the Olympics. A group of kids, some in Chinese outfits, others in lederhossen, sang "You and Me."
A few days later, Ben got an email from one of his students, which said that he saw both of us on TV at the concert. I've been on Chinese television! Sweet!

Teacher Thoughts

I have regaled you all in some fun stories and events in my life in China. But I haven't written about my reaction to becoming a teacher. Over the past month and a half of teaching, one question kept popping up.
HOW DO I EARN THE RIGHT TO CALL MYSELF A TEACHER? Can I be a teacher just by having students? Or by conducting a class? Is a teacher defined by how much homework her students do? I teach 16 classes of fifty kids each. My focus is not homework, but spoken English. I want my students to feel comfortable talking in English.
I have thought about it a lot, and decided that the right is earned with time. It is not something you get all at once. On September 8, 2008 I started this earning process. I constantly learn from my students about how they learn and what they react to. Sometimes, I see their interest in the class, which makes it worth while. But there are some horrible times; one of my classes last week kept being disruptive. I was so upset and frustrated with them. My students are nervous about speaking English, but they want to speak it. Some come up to me between classes to chat with me.
The transition from student to teacher was not as difficult as I feared. I'm on the other side of the teacher's desk. It's cool. I don't feel like a ruler in class, more like a facilitator. I ask questions and make sure that the class stays in topic. If I gave out homework, I would feel more like the other teachers here. But I like this steady path to teaching. I teach a class and grade on performance and effort. Maybe in the future I will also grade homework, but that's one less thing to worry about now.

National Day

Here's a generalization of Chinese people I made to a friend here.
The dudes look like chicks.
The chicks look like dolls.
The kids look like vegetables, particularly radishes.
Let me explain: Many Chinese men get very feminine haircuts. Sometimes, I can't instantly figure out the gender of guys walking around. As for the women, I've seen a lot of them in little girl dresses; cute is in. Also, there is a hairstyle I have seen on some toddlers with three mini ponytails sticking out of their heads. It's better than the rattails I have seen here, but not by much.
A lot has happened during my National Day vacation, celebrating the foundation of the PRC. Lots of other foreign teachers went abroad (Vietnam, Philippines), but I decided to stay in Shenzhen. I needed to get used to the city, especially the bus routes. There are so many buses because the city is so big and still expanding. That doesn't mean I sat on my ass and watched tv. For instance, I explored the downtown area of Shenzhen, called Dongmen. A friend guided us to this secret door in a mall that led to a bootleg dvd store. We joked about being led into the Russian slave trade; it was that out of the way. The dvd quality and selection was excellent, better than Walmart! I bought all four seasons of 'Coupling' and five of 'NCIS.' They even had all of ‘Blackadder,’ which I didn’t buy.
On National Day, nine of us went to Macao, which is part of China and yet not part of China. That is a concept that I have yet to understand. I guess means I have not become Chinese yet.  Why do I need to go through Customs and Immigration within China? I'll run out of pages in my passport soon with all the stamps I get in one trip to Macao or Hong Kong. Anyway, the trip was amazing. We wandered around hotels exclusive and expensive enough for 5th Ave. and casinos fit for Vegas. I have never felt so poor in my entire life. It took me a trip across the world to visit my first casino and gamble. I lost. The good thing is I didn't even lose 1 USD. I also saw the last night of an international fireworks competition: Australia and China. (Australia's was better. China's was a slow-going story) The event was outside, and as part of the fun we all bought cotton candy. If you ever get the craving for cotton candy in humid China, think again. The water in the air actually dissolved the cotton candy! But it was still tasty.
The next day Ben and I went back to Shenzhen to be kidnapped by a Chinese coworker for the beach. She is the most cautious driver in all of China, and that scared me. I was expecting a fast-paced, aggressive style. She used her turn signals and kept at the speed limit. She only got her driver’s license three months ago! I did hear about the large number of new drivers in China, but this was my first shred of proof. The beach resembled ones back home, like the brownish water. But there was a lot of trash. It was nothing like needles, but the idea was still not good. If people want to keep their beaches, they should focus on cleaning them up. That night, Ben, our coworker, her husband, her friend, and I stayed up late playing cards and chatting. We talked about our dreams and the upcoming election. The three Chinese people were Obama supporters, support I welcomed. Basically, they liked him because of his appearance. Our coworker is a political science teacher, but we focused on American politics.
The rest of my vacation was slow. I hung out with the other teachers from my area of Nanshan, called Xili. Xili is the boonies, so we bond whenever we can. You know you’re deep in China when you walk passed a restaurant with a shaved, cut-in-half dog in the window display. Yum! Note: as of yet, I have not tasted dog. I’m not sure I want to.
That is a summary of the past week or so. I hope you all have enjoyed reading my mini-essay.

Random stuff

I can't figure out how to make my photos public, but I can give you my username. This way, you can see what I've been up to. Email me to ask for it, if you don't already have it.
My school has a website. http://www.sz2g.com/
Warning: it's in Chinese. Here is the school's picture page. http://www.sz2g.com/XXGK/phototype.asp?typeid=2
Isn't technology great?

Good Morning, Ms. Liz

Tada! The latest update of the Update.
Being a teacher in China has its ups and downs, from ill behaved students to interested students. Some of my students want to speak English in my class, while others don't give a rat's ass. It's discouraging when students don't seem interested in a lesson plan that you spent time to create. Those moments make me doubt my future as a good or great teacher. I want these kids to feel comfortable forming sentences in English. But if they do not want to try, what can I do?
But then there are moments that keep me going. This week, three students, all girls, came up to me and chatted. I only remember two names: Lilia and Sleepwalker. I'm starting a list of strange English names. They wanted to talk with me, and I didn't have to pull answers out of them. My favorite teaching moment this week was when Tony, a boy literally in the back row of the class, raised his hand and spoke for over 20 seconds. He spoke really well and loud enough so his classmates heard. He was really forthcoming with his opinion. I was blown away!
There is more to Chinese teaching life than school. Last Saturday I went to Window to the World (世界之窗). It was EPCOT Center on crack. I visited every continent except Antarctica. The organization was a bit off though. I got Easter Island, the Statue of Liberty, and the statue in Rio in the same photo. They even had DC :) (must represent the birthplace). There also were rides. We rode a log flume through the Grand Canyon. I must admit that the Colorado River was a bit big, and the American Indians nearby (statues) looked strangely Chinese. They must be from an unknown Chinese Indian tribe.

I'm Educating the Future

This week was the official start of my life as a teacher, and I could not have been more nervous. These are actual children and actual headmasters that I would deal with. My huge fear about teaching is making the students not enjoy English. I want them to enjoy class; I want them to grow confident in their oral English. I've told all of my classes that even native English speakers make mistakes, so I don't expect perfection from them. As long as they can speak well enough to get their point across clearly, I think they will grow stronger in their English ability. I hope.
Monday was the beginning of term and the celebration of Teacher's Day. We sat in the gym for about an hour listening to different school administrators giving encouragement. I couldn't understand most of it, but it was early in the morning. Then all of the teachers got lovely bouquets of flowers. I felt like a beauty queen, so special. What a fantastic way to start a possible teaching career.
Today (Wednesday) is actually Teacher's Day, and the student s all wish the teachers a happy day. Again what a great start!
My students are a combination of shy and slightly talkative. I’ve only taught the lowest classes so far, so they are not used to a native speaker at all. I teach high schoolers, Senior 1 and Senior 2 (these are the only classes), at Shenzhen Second Senior High (深圳第二高级中学) in Nanshan District (南山区)of Shenzhen. I did not expect to be placed at a key school with all of the dedicated students learn. It was quite daunting when I stepped into my first class. I think I did very well considering it was my first class ever. But I have noticed where I need improvement, so each class is better than the one before it. I can't wait until the year's end. I'll feel quite professional.
I should explain my living arrangements. The other foreign teacher, Ben, and I live in the dorms. The seventh floor is only for teachers, but most of them only stay there during the early afternoon siesta. A lot of them live elsewhere. We live at the end of the hallway, right next to the water heater/boiler. That water is scalding hot! All of the stuff in my room is new: sheets, pillow, mattress, tv, fridge. I even have broadband internet in my room, so I can chat with people off of work. The tv only has two English stations that I have found, both from Hong Kong. I don't want to listen to Cantonese ads, but at least I can watch "House"every Tuesday night. I also have a balcony where my washing machine, sink, and shower/toilet are. The shower and toilet are in the same smaller room, so the toilet gets wet every time I shower. Just a part of Chinese culture I have to get used it. I'm happy it's a Western toilet. All the toilets at school are squatty potties with no toilet paper.
I have yet to experience major culture shock, but this is my fourth time to China. I have encountered a bit of sexism though, which I should have anticipated. When Ben and I met our headmaster, he did not look at me. He only looked at Ben. I did not want to point it out, but I felt out of place, like I didn't belong in the men's conversation. Later on, however, when I met him in the hallway he looked at me in the eye and everything. One thing I was surprised by was how controlled the students' lives are. They have very little free time. Every morning they get up at 6:30AM for flag raising and breakfast. There's a speical flag raising ceremony every Monday. Then they have class; there is a morning break, which sometimes is the morning exercise. Then they return for more class before having lunch and a rest period, which last about 2 hours. The afternoon consists of several more academic classes and social (社团活动)and sports activities (健康活动). After the sports activities are done, it's dinnertime. Then they return to the classrooms for studying and homework, even eye exercise to keep them healthy. Lights out is around 10:40PM. One cool thing is bell for class. The school does not use bells like in American high schools. They play music; the signal for the start of class is a few meters from “Under the Sea” from The Little Mermaid. Of all the songs to choose from, I wonder why the school picked Disney. I've also heard Chopin and other classic European sounding tunes.
I've babbled on long enough. I just want to finish up with how nice my coworkers are. They try to speak English with me, and I try to speak Chinese. They are always offering to help me or take me shopping sometime. They may be just being polite, but I'd like to think they honestly want to be my friend.
And for those of you who are interested, I found out how to say Li-Li in Mandarin. It's pronouced li4 li4 (丽丽).

In Shenzhen!

I finally made it to Shenzhen. Sunday I move into my apartment and see my school for the first time. Yay! I'm teaching at a high school in Nanshan District (if that means anything to any of you).
Today we had our medical exams done. It was the first time I've ever had an ultrasound or an EKG. The 100 or so of us dominated the hospital. We took up about one floor so that we could get all the tests done. They took our blood and chest x-rays. Each test went by quickly; I was amazed at the efficiency.

In Zhuhai!

This new step in my life started off with a stumble. It seems I never can get to China without some sort of snag. This time there was a typhoon in Hong Kong, so I got stuck in San Francisco. Not the worst place to get stuck, but I really wanted to get to China.
The flight was really really really long. But after a long flight, a long wait for our luggage, a long wait to put the luggage in the bus (Chinese buses aren't big enough for American-size stuff), the border between HK and Shenzhen, a long wait to put the luggage on another bus again too small for our stuff, and a long bus ride to Zhuhai, we all got to the hotel. We're staying in Zhuhai for 10 days or so studying Chinese and practicing how to teach English. I'm glad they're teaching me that because I've never taught English in my life. I don't want to lose face in front of my principal.
I have to admit I miss everyone a lot. I'm so lucky to have so many friends and relatives that are encouraging me. I did know what I was getting into, but now that it's so real....

Wo Huan Ying Nimen!

Greetings to all of my friends and family who are wondering how I will cope in China. I haven't actually left yet, but this is one of the many things in preparation for my huge move. I wanted to have a blog set up before I leave, so all I need to worry about is what to write to everyone.
(As a side note, the reason this is called the "Little Li-Li Update" is because that is what I called my emails home during my Chinese study abroad. I haven't changed my name or anything.)