10.12.2007
10.10.2007
Teaching
Finally I'm teaching. This is great. Really great.
I always forget how much teaching takes out of you and the first week is crushing me. My voice is almost gone.
But it is interesting and the students are AMAZING. I haven't confiscated a single cell phone...yet.
I found out that I have one 'class' of students for about 10 hours each week. This is very unusual (I have them for listening, phonetics and oral english), but I'm looking forward to knowing them well.
I took these photos with my computer, so I'm sorry if they are not clear!
Cheers,
Dustin
Teac
I always forget how much teaching takes out of you and the first week is crushing me. My voice is almost gone.
But it is interesting and the students are AMAZING. I haven't confiscated a single cell phone...yet.
I found out that I have one 'class' of students for about 10 hours each week. This is very unusual (I have them for listening, phonetics and oral english), but I'm looking forward to knowing them well.
I took these photos with my computer, so I'm sorry if they are not clear!
Cheers,
Dustin
Teac
10.08.2007
Shipping
Although this is rather presumptuous of me, I am going to include it anyway! People have asked what kinds of things would be nice to have and the big 3, due to scarcity and/or expense, are as follows:
Books
Peanut butter
Coffee
(oh yeah, and American Candy)
(and American Coins)
The basic shipping rates (I know it's expensive!)
1 lbs. $10
2 lbs. $16
3 lbs. $22
Anything over 4 lbs. goes priority at $37+
Cheers!
欧雷
Books
Peanut butter
Coffee
(oh yeah, and American Candy)
(and American Coins)
The basic shipping rates (I know it's expensive!)
1 lbs. $10
2 lbs. $16
3 lbs. $22
Anything over 4 lbs. goes priority at $37+
Cheers!
欧雷
10.04.2007
Liupanshui, Guiyang, Favorite restaurant
Last weekend I went to Liupanshui to visit another volunteer. On the way back, the train was so crowded that I had to stand for the 2.5 hour trip. I read a book, listened to music, and watched kung fu on the television (just like airplane televisions). About 30 minutes from my destination, Anshun, I made small talk with some of the people around me. They all started speaking to me in Chinese and they were very excited. Suddenly, I had 3 offers for seats and people were asking me where I came from, what I was doing in China, and how I like it here. Incredible. People are so friendly.
I am going to Guiyang this weekend to see all of the Guiyang volunteers (there are 9 in and around Guiyang). I have heard rumors that they have cheese and coffee.
Finally,
My favorite restaurant is near the college. I have been going there a few times each week since I got here. The owners are a man and his wife. I keep going to this restaurant because the owners are so nice to me. They speak a little mandarin and they always try to communicate with me. Often I will get extra dishes for no charge, or they will charge me less than the menu price. A few weeks ago they gave me a jar to make pickled green beans. When I returned from Liupanshui at 10 p.m. they stopped me, pulled me inside the restaurant, and gave me fruit. So we ate and talked about my trip.
The owner is on the left with 2 customers (I told them to make sure they sat from left to right).
This is the wife and her daughter.
I am going to Guiyang this weekend to see all of the Guiyang volunteers (there are 9 in and around Guiyang). I have heard rumors that they have cheese and coffee.
Finally,
My favorite restaurant is near the college. I have been going there a few times each week since I got here. The owners are a man and his wife. I keep going to this restaurant because the owners are so nice to me. They speak a little mandarin and they always try to communicate with me. Often I will get extra dishes for no charge, or they will charge me less than the menu price. A few weeks ago they gave me a jar to make pickled green beans. When I returned from Liupanshui at 10 p.m. they stopped me, pulled me inside the restaurant, and gave me fruit. So we ate and talked about my trip.
The owner is on the left with 2 customers (I told them to make sure they sat from left to right).
This is the wife and her daughter.
10.03.2007
Staring
Firstly let me apologize about the recent lack of posting; my computer has been acting a little strangely for the past week (last night I came home and it was watching TV with the telephone). I'm not sure what's wrong but it has caused the follwing problems: All of my pictures have been erased, all of my music has been erased, I cannot download anything, and the list goes on. I have wanted to include pictures for some time, but the software is not recognizing the files. This being said, I wanted to share some of my thinking about Staring in China. Ken Harvey recently brought this up during a conversation and it has been a topic of concern lately. I will even give it a nice little title...
Staring
One of the most interesting aspects of the Chinese Culture is the relentless staring. Each volunteer (or anyone who goes to China for an extended period) goes through stages related to staring. For me, this has progressed very typically. Before we got to our sites we were told about staring and people saying "hello." This may not seem very strange, but it becomes so when it is incessant. And I notice it more when I'm in a bad mood.
I can classify people who say hello in many ways, but generally there are a few:
Some people will say hello in a friendly manner (especially children).
Some (generally older men) will say hello as soon as they see me just because they see I am a foreigner.
Others will be walking toward me on the sidewalk and whisper something to their friend, who will then look at me. They will stare at me and continue to talk until they pass me. After walking past me one of them will shout "hello!" at the back of my head.
The first two are no big deal. The third becomes a little unnerving. I must say that this is by no means how typical Chinese behave, and it is considered rude to do this by Chinese standards.
Nearly everyone will stare at me if they see me, and many people will generally fall into one of the three categories for saying hello.
Getting back to my main point, the hellos and staring become different as one lives here longer and longer. I have only been here a little over 3 months, and already I have felt many different things.
At first the staring and hellos were a little strange. I chalked it up to a new culture. I didn't worry about it, but found it rather interesting. After awhile I began to love it. The people were giving me so much attention! And it was free, guaranteed attention! All I had to do was show up. At some point, however, it began to bother me. I think this really hit me last week. I have been in my community for a month and people were still staring, pointing and whispering. I felt like this place was becoming "mine" the more time I spent here. It bothered me so much, in fact, that I had to think about it - really think about it. This is because it was causing me to feel like being rude as a reaction to the unwanted attention.
I came to the conclusion that I was internalizing the staring in the wrong manner. By identifying the behavior as staring, I missed the point entirely. The Chinese have no social rules about staring; if they find something interesting they have the "social" right to "stare" as long as they would like. For me to identify this action as staring was unfair to everyone. I am the guest in this culture. Bringing my expectations of how I should be treated is a huge, haughty mistake. It's a bit like walking into someone's house with mud on my shoes because I do that at home. This is not to say that I am feeling much better about the staring, but I more deeply understand my own thinking.
I am interested to see how my feelings continue to change. For now I just smile and wave. Like a movie-star.
Staring
One of the most interesting aspects of the Chinese Culture is the relentless staring. Each volunteer (or anyone who goes to China for an extended period) goes through stages related to staring. For me, this has progressed very typically. Before we got to our sites we were told about staring and people saying "hello." This may not seem very strange, but it becomes so when it is incessant. And I notice it more when I'm in a bad mood.
I can classify people who say hello in many ways, but generally there are a few:
Some people will say hello in a friendly manner (especially children).
Some (generally older men) will say hello as soon as they see me just because they see I am a foreigner.
Others will be walking toward me on the sidewalk and whisper something to their friend, who will then look at me. They will stare at me and continue to talk until they pass me. After walking past me one of them will shout "hello!" at the back of my head.
The first two are no big deal. The third becomes a little unnerving. I must say that this is by no means how typical Chinese behave, and it is considered rude to do this by Chinese standards.
Nearly everyone will stare at me if they see me, and many people will generally fall into one of the three categories for saying hello.
Getting back to my main point, the hellos and staring become different as one lives here longer and longer. I have only been here a little over 3 months, and already I have felt many different things.
At first the staring and hellos were a little strange. I chalked it up to a new culture. I didn't worry about it, but found it rather interesting. After awhile I began to love it. The people were giving me so much attention! And it was free, guaranteed attention! All I had to do was show up. At some point, however, it began to bother me. I think this really hit me last week. I have been in my community for a month and people were still staring, pointing and whispering. I felt like this place was becoming "mine" the more time I spent here. It bothered me so much, in fact, that I had to think about it - really think about it. This is because it was causing me to feel like being rude as a reaction to the unwanted attention.
I came to the conclusion that I was internalizing the staring in the wrong manner. By identifying the behavior as staring, I missed the point entirely. The Chinese have no social rules about staring; if they find something interesting they have the "social" right to "stare" as long as they would like. For me to identify this action as staring was unfair to everyone. I am the guest in this culture. Bringing my expectations of how I should be treated is a huge, haughty mistake. It's a bit like walking into someone's house with mud on my shoes because I do that at home. This is not to say that I am feeling much better about the staring, but I more deeply understand my own thinking.
I am interested to see how my feelings continue to change. For now I just smile and wave. Like a movie-star.
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