tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-65617639416688923192024-03-19T20:47:54.488+08:00Adventures Of A China Teaching NewbieJeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08083831588031821388noreply@blogger.comBlogger25125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561763941668892319.post-11754585735393216512020-08-23T22:33:00.000+08:002020-08-23T22:33:25.634+08:00"Are You Ready For The Summer?"<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP87TE0cGKmLkoRBYB6kr3_i5ulIYZS_QGd1U_eJygtlsv4WGHkVie60o24MvBhmWWsbLQ9OMO9chd7mWedz43v1cUEbXx8kM0e8pRXZV8IkvYWOjEaV9dNNMdhILgK8RVTIat6mF14AGt/s2048/IMG_20200803_093538.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="307" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP87TE0cGKmLkoRBYB6kr3_i5ulIYZS_QGd1U_eJygtlsv4WGHkVie60o24MvBhmWWsbLQ9OMO9chd7mWedz43v1cUEbXx8kM0e8pRXZV8IkvYWOjEaV9dNNMdhILgK8RVTIat6mF14AGt/w410-h307/IMG_20200803_093538.jpg" width="410" /></a></div><br />So this summer camp wasn't exactly "Meatballs."<p></p><p>Instead of cabins, we had classrooms. Instead of lakes, we had lessons.</p><p>And there was no Bill Murray, aside from the bit of him I always carry in spirit.</p><p>But we still had plenty of fun!</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBP0lOqd18hMEsdKcGUN1Tz2JUnTrHFQqkUtPrSPVQKjfGEEF6VVwYNX-8rYInautkcFX946vqU4C_k9dZjTXFYAX_Qxfh1QIj02x8tjXx_YjtCJTZMzdVGdEBIuxcw9WXotGTHPj5rpQZ/s2048/IMG_20200803_090744.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="307" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBP0lOqd18hMEsdKcGUN1Tz2JUnTrHFQqkUtPrSPVQKjfGEEF6VVwYNX-8rYInautkcFX946vqU4C_k9dZjTXFYAX_Qxfh1QIj02x8tjXx_YjtCJTZMzdVGdEBIuxcw9WXotGTHPj5rpQZ/w410-h307/IMG_20200803_090744.jpg" width="410" /></a></div>Let's back up for a moment. <p></p><p>Usually, I would be spending late July and early August visiting family and friends in America. This year, of course, is different because of COVID-19. If I were to leave China on my U.S. Passport -- even though I own a home and have a valid residence permit in China -- I would face the same fate as one of my co-workers, who's been stuck in the Philippines since January.</p><p>So, toward the end of the regular school year, our company floated the idea by us: How would we like to spend a couple of weeks teaching at the local educational summer camp they run?</p><p>After I went to an early meeting and showed interest, my picture made it into some early marketing that went out to students and their parents. How did I know? My friend Julia texted me to say her son Leo had seen my picture, and now he wanted to go to the camp!</p><p>At that point, I pretty much had to commit.</p><p>The camp itself was 10 full-time days over two weeks, but it really turned out to be three weeks of work. Before camp started, meticulous lesson plans had to be submitted covering each of the 33 class periods I'd be teaching, and then I had to prepare for those classes.</p><p>Most of my classes would be specifically for my "homeroom" group of kids, but I was also assigned a Culture class that I'd teach four additional classes. How could I represent American culture in a way that would be both appealing and accessible to 9- and 10-year-old children? I struggled with that for a while, until the thought hit me -- kids love cartoons! And while animation is entertaining, it is often designed with lessons in mind, whether it's exposing viewers to new facts on a show like "Dora the Explorer" or the moral to the story of a Disney movie.</p><p>If I was going to talk about animation, I knew I had to get them hooked quickly -- and the way I did that was by producing two videos: a six-minute "history of animation" video and a shorter one in which some of my American friends' kids talked about the current cartoon characters they like the most.</p><p>(I am sharing the "history of animation" video with you here, but I promised my friends I'd keep their kids' appearances in the classroom only... no Internet. Sorry!)</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XXfvyp_XV3U" width="320" youtube-src-id="XXfvyp_XV3U"></iframe></div><p></p><p>There was also a short book I'd be teaching in a Reading class, and the "reading video" provided was woefully poor, so I created a new version of that, too.</p><p>So, even before camp began, I'd spent a full week getting things ready to go.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgYgx7ZzG06OImkQk8JhvVccDYyrOGMFCUMKrr10K_7UQH4EtFYpjdzYwjkCuIszwFuXeZkS0BnSOautH2gJ-U6DMaqRO0dQWna2moAh6hOiSYNab_MU_YJR-v9eLizKATJ-kmU2VUWTt3/s2048/IMG_20200803_093527.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="307" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgYgx7ZzG06OImkQk8JhvVccDYyrOGMFCUMKrr10K_7UQH4EtFYpjdzYwjkCuIszwFuXeZkS0BnSOautH2gJ-U6DMaqRO0dQWna2moAh6hOiSYNab_MU_YJR-v9eLizKATJ-kmU2VUWTt3/w410-h307/IMG_20200803_093527.jpg" width="410" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This was my classroom. All of the rooms were named after prominent U.S. universities -- Princeton, Yale, Harvard, etc.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Mine was the only one with the requisite Chinglish misspelling: Standford. 🤣🤣🤣<br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKgKDBmngVYxMXZTy7ivnky96hJEt3gU1Bk3bTp-4hp75pjpKAD9WNjhWObEZUTVIXtwbOC_FgRupR8d4Cnvl4RjhXQI-f-ZZrLpmdO2OGIADNAZigPcHF5Xbbo1opl-E8cRnYAjGiitNC/s2048/IMG_20200803_162235.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="307" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKgKDBmngVYxMXZTy7ivnky96hJEt3gU1Bk3bTp-4hp75pjpKAD9WNjhWObEZUTVIXtwbOC_FgRupR8d4Cnvl4RjhXQI-f-ZZrLpmdO2OGIADNAZigPcHF5Xbbo1opl-E8cRnYAjGiitNC/w410-h307/IMG_20200803_162235.jpg" width="410" /></a></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_QVs6YbDhaXiLO6Kc_kb2DBiKeNhBBzMIEMPCgqu1VvSEm8ATeIxXLLgwucR8kxAvb5i3zJZedvA7cWUXw3AFvtyyqaxDRlkfZcCEUfC7um0stXBUkxehym3fLOfs7NdmxcClleT6zT9H/s2048/IMG_4219.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="307" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_QVs6YbDhaXiLO6Kc_kb2DBiKeNhBBzMIEMPCgqu1VvSEm8ATeIxXLLgwucR8kxAvb5i3zJZedvA7cWUXw3AFvtyyqaxDRlkfZcCEUfC7um0stXBUkxehym3fLOfs7NdmxcClleT6zT9H/w410-h307/IMG_4219.JPG" width="410" /></a></div></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">My classes were broken up into six different subjects: Culture, Reading, Oral Practice, Listening, Drama, and Dubbing. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Dubbing can be a lot like karaoke. In fact, sometimes it can be karaoke: In two of my Dubbing classes, I had them learn and sing songs from Disney movies, since lyric videos and videos with instrumental versions were easy to find. "Let It Go," "I Just Can't Wait To Be King," and "I'll Make a Man Out of You" were all big hits. However, they surprisingly hated "A Whole New World." Some of the kids even said it would make them run to the toilet and vomit if they had to sing it. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In the other Dubbing class, they learned a classic Spongebob Squarepants scene about chocolate. They LOVED that one -- especially getting to shriek "Chocolate! Chocolate!" at the top of their lungs.<br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUdEpqvAo-ORgdDRl7zJOdTJNiSZHweZ_P55czi8q1GBfF7dEzifObRwoQdHO_uKmQ3uL9gimUI-ComRmwSuZGxIHmH6_BPNJiDX5sqt6HItChM7x8x_AfBG_e9TnN1eaIX1UFH8PvuPpq/s2048/IMG_20200803_135234.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="307" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUdEpqvAo-ORgdDRl7zJOdTJNiSZHweZ_P55czi8q1GBfF7dEzifObRwoQdHO_uKmQ3uL9gimUI-ComRmwSuZGxIHmH6_BPNJiDX5sqt6HItChM7x8x_AfBG_e9TnN1eaIX1UFH8PvuPpq/w410-h307/IMG_20200803_135234.jpg" width="410" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Six of the girls in class singing "Let It Go."</i></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>Culture, as I mentioned earlier, revolved around animation. After showing them the videos and talking a little bit about why animation is such a special artform, I let them loose with their imaginations, challenging them to come up with their own animated characters, then coming to the front of class to talk about their creations. There were definitely some pretty cool ones!<br /></p><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVImVfHa-m5Z_LfXWzW-gyo5GUaaYG0rXd9UyjHT1wGjVM_Z4xUAV9BkDJ5pWSn33yTzorMuAPNW67a9uW2uHWaeGhiz260zb4nVUi8T5g36h4uY6sWfgKDDiCP-TeXZ_xVfwskNE2OJnS/s2048/IMG_20200804_091609.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="328" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVImVfHa-m5Z_LfXWzW-gyo5GUaaYG0rXd9UyjHT1wGjVM_Z4xUAV9BkDJ5pWSn33yTzorMuAPNW67a9uW2uHWaeGhiz260zb4nVUi8T5g36h4uY6sWfgKDDiCP-TeXZ_xVfwskNE2OJnS/w246-h328/IMG_20200804_091609.jpg" width="246" /> </a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuV0lscBWXVnszoYv-R-8l26QpMTwtW6UY_EhZIbnKLkbWXzOZZlpUtwYBJkk1Wy-3mmDHiMEZBVeDfgMK167s1WW-u1nBTdUHxlR_GJLqqFbFFPyTOlvVRYHXJoDQxj0aci4Vc6pGs95p/s2048/IMG_20200804_091521.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="328" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuV0lscBWXVnszoYv-R-8l26QpMTwtW6UY_EhZIbnKLkbWXzOZZlpUtwYBJkk1Wy-3mmDHiMEZBVeDfgMK167s1WW-u1nBTdUHxlR_GJLqqFbFFPyTOlvVRYHXJoDQxj0aci4Vc6pGs95p/w246-h328/IMG_20200804_091521.jpg" width="246" /></a></div></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifVV6SfUJGG9JRhewSE9RbjJdTzkDsiq33_Z4ONAkwGbuHkQpfCdAXJayOVkwcHiDRoe5TOTh9Ula-fzm-U6G7ObKccqGHIMBOv0WC7qvznC6hYFfhWiBiY8ShykwI6stk81-wuCVIDwLf/s2048/IMG_20200804_091830.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="328" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifVV6SfUJGG9JRhewSE9RbjJdTzkDsiq33_Z4ONAkwGbuHkQpfCdAXJayOVkwcHiDRoe5TOTh9Ula-fzm-U6G7ObKccqGHIMBOv0WC7qvznC6hYFfhWiBiY8ShykwI6stk81-wuCVIDwLf/w246-h328/IMG_20200804_091830.jpg" width="246" /></a></div><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1DAIWdUUkuZAj8KnhI4payRlZ_5ywsdKV99dBVZpp0262gl2ddztOC-N4mdGs-2vp-3zhIDJKzxzzV7Udo6hvCWN6NBQ3pPBjCFvReS90Lij2jtKNEre90qP-ftKNKbJvjB1JzMI7oFmh/s2048/IMG_20200804_092210.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1DAIWdUUkuZAj8KnhI4payRlZ_5ywsdKV99dBVZpp0262gl2ddztOC-N4mdGs-2vp-3zhIDJKzxzzV7Udo6hvCWN6NBQ3pPBjCFvReS90Lij2jtKNEre90qP-ftKNKbJvjB1JzMI7oFmh/w328-h246/IMG_20200804_092210.jpg" width="328" /></a></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3rliqFrg5GkliKb7A6LVy6S7ywarb3Uo1KpL3bAY0XIvZRd5FuuH4Z4wDTtLSPKkXoFYPHDgMVu5kU0frAIKBEv82HW9DqIpjiWgyBU3KzFuZU3pMT7dYaH-A6w5as_WAXQJOGx8XPN2T/s2048/IMG_20200813_141540.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="328" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3rliqFrg5GkliKb7A6LVy6S7ywarb3Uo1KpL3bAY0XIvZRd5FuuH4Z4wDTtLSPKkXoFYPHDgMVu5kU0frAIKBEv82HW9DqIpjiWgyBU3KzFuZU3pMT7dYaH-A6w5as_WAXQJOGx8XPN2T/w246-h328/IMG_20200813_141540.jpg" width="246" /></a></div><p>Oral Practice and Listening kind of blended together. Some of the classes were based on a text, with chapters on weather, best friends, work, and free time. But other classes were activities I had to devise on my own. I won't go into all of the lessons, but I'll hit a few of the high notes.</p><p>When we did the "Work" chapter, I had them do an exercise called "Draw Your Dream," where they envisioned themselves in the careers they hoped to have as adults. Again, got some really nice work from the students on that.<br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0m45S7qBAPqkYHCbc4JcDwBvAqs8hpd_4FvFNHPzBUMvZ8uyGNC1mgv4bz4YsqH12fCHL2sjqlGmgpKY_-2ajtraAUWZhkJxkAvkD0GWnMUZPb_cU0si2AY3nlSJ5NlEMol1jrCl6vYM6/s2048/IMG_20200812_092729.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0m45S7qBAPqkYHCbc4JcDwBvAqs8hpd_4FvFNHPzBUMvZ8uyGNC1mgv4bz4YsqH12fCHL2sjqlGmgpKY_-2ajtraAUWZhkJxkAvkD0GWnMUZPb_cU0si2AY3nlSJ5NlEMol1jrCl6vYM6/s2048/IMG_20200812_092729.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0m45S7qBAPqkYHCbc4JcDwBvAqs8hpd_4FvFNHPzBUMvZ8uyGNC1mgv4bz4YsqH12fCHL2sjqlGmgpKY_-2ajtraAUWZhkJxkAvkD0GWnMUZPb_cU0si2AY3nlSJ5NlEMol1jrCl6vYM6/w328-h246/IMG_20200812_092729.jpg" width="328" /></a></div><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixp-rGI4yYutqnsQqt5pfJJstyHaZnnbpx44NXLOoTCL6jflv7c-QNSTSvgEkTHSlYl4p1lErSdeDIyl2D-rRfLt9C1nEYB1mDG57bylt_LE65fSXFfzYjWWPQsC6HDE_LG7S9a4KAuodj/s2048/IMG_20200812_092900.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixp-rGI4yYutqnsQqt5pfJJstyHaZnnbpx44NXLOoTCL6jflv7c-QNSTSvgEkTHSlYl4p1lErSdeDIyl2D-rRfLt9C1nEYB1mDG57bylt_LE65fSXFfzYjWWPQsC6HDE_LG7S9a4KAuodj/w328-h246/IMG_20200812_092900.jpg" width="328" /></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP37bkgD_cARa-6FJA8r0psrN2uoB_PDyPdIjhMbnWjcXpoN3DVDGemcFo8glb_GBEdSrwIg-fNxJru22O56eeP1kdIU5wBocI8k8Ux0RGQ438puPq-T_udSvfBYUZqSFgVEqvvkCgjufZ/s2048/IMG_20200812_092915.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP37bkgD_cARa-6FJA8r0psrN2uoB_PDyPdIjhMbnWjcXpoN3DVDGemcFo8glb_GBEdSrwIg-fNxJru22O56eeP1kdIU5wBocI8k8Ux0RGQ438puPq-T_udSvfBYUZqSFgVEqvvkCgjufZ/s2048/IMG_20200812_092915.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="328" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP37bkgD_cARa-6FJA8r0psrN2uoB_PDyPdIjhMbnWjcXpoN3DVDGemcFo8glb_GBEdSrwIg-fNxJru22O56eeP1kdIU5wBocI8k8Ux0RGQ438puPq-T_udSvfBYUZqSFgVEqvvkCgjufZ/w246-h328/IMG_20200812_092915.jpg" width="246" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirSwSiUHtXoEdc0udGpQZ_UPtxe5ZL1OQXH_E5D8m47NaGuyHcG3V_gr0AA7Kvy33AzC50L3NHG8aHXjID4wkY7wjF_XpzVLMdhIfjnGzljqRUkIrbJ7FYu_rDDzF7-R4e7PW2s-YM1Y_N/s2048/IMG_20200812_092956.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirSwSiUHtXoEdc0udGpQZ_UPtxe5ZL1OQXH_E5D8m47NaGuyHcG3V_gr0AA7Kvy33AzC50L3NHG8aHXjID4wkY7wjF_XpzVLMdhIfjnGzljqRUkIrbJ7FYu_rDDzF7-R4e7PW2s-YM1Y_N/w328-h246/IMG_20200812_092956.jpg" width="328" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;">For a listening exercise, I went into the activity room during lunchtime and laid out a couple of courses in tape. Students paired up in groups of two. One would wear a blindfold, the other would be the guide. And using only words, the guide would lead the blindfolded partner through the course as quickly as they could, with time penalties for stepping on or over the lines marking the courses. They loved this! They even wanted to do it a second time, but another teacher had commandeered the activity room during that period.<br /></div></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN5-o2FPapkZameY6TU4lxoaghtWa4BomuP4eDN0rwlq44cEU4GK8SD6bkkQdjXSnH3JYZ3uBUgbhWU1Kub4jNA_QMkmXIjP0Lr2FL7DQTSf1ps2LqR8Sy7QOKed72rQ7qSerPgBQpxt0-/s2048/IMG_20200812_124727.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="307" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN5-o2FPapkZameY6TU4lxoaghtWa4BomuP4eDN0rwlq44cEU4GK8SD6bkkQdjXSnH3JYZ3uBUgbhWU1Kub4jNA_QMkmXIjP0Lr2FL7DQTSf1ps2LqR8Sy7QOKed72rQ7qSerPgBQpxt0-/w410-h307/IMG_20200812_124727.jpg" width="410" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1lRZN7CgUvJmPXVLffnbUTFX9HPJCnddKDlvlXiYiZmO91t5NdEOrWnaF9WDto2P0sgidK0dqxBacZ7VgUg-qbALZVZEcpfXqJ5M-gp7p3R3nm7IIGGYHg0DbkEVFODeXkwS3X_RICKvw/s2048/IMG_20200812_124746.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="307" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1lRZN7CgUvJmPXVLffnbUTFX9HPJCnddKDlvlXiYiZmO91t5NdEOrWnaF9WDto2P0sgidK0dqxBacZ7VgUg-qbALZVZEcpfXqJ5M-gp7p3R3nm7IIGGYHg0DbkEVFODeXkwS3X_RICKvw/w410-h307/IMG_20200812_124746.jpg" width="410" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlVYWOft2Essc-ElODXmQZtEoVozdOlLvt67ynomEVvdIr8K65fuk2GCy_-DQmQ8WWPIPiRh2HfzpEjeT-Rw4MtVTAu2w9YqcVME_e1A4ozEnhPerZrtJTzNK0PvxhNqc2OgM6Gf0Z7jWU/s2048/IMG_20200812_124850.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="307" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlVYWOft2Essc-ElODXmQZtEoVozdOlLvt67ynomEVvdIr8K65fuk2GCy_-DQmQ8WWPIPiRh2HfzpEjeT-Rw4MtVTAu2w9YqcVME_e1A4ozEnhPerZrtJTzNK0PvxhNqc2OgM6Gf0Z7jWU/w410-h307/IMG_20200812_124850.jpg" width="410" /></a></div><p></p><p>When we did a class about deductive logic, they loved playing a "20 Questions"-style game and didn't want to stop. We kept it going through their snack time as they ate! We did an "echo" game, where students worked in pairs and had to mimic each other, adding a new word or gesture to the sequence each time. </p><p>But the text also opened up the opportunity for some more profound discussions, too. During the "best friends" unit, we were asked to predict which people might be best friends, based solely on their pictures. When the book revealed the answers, they weren't at all what we might have expected, which brought us a great opportunity to talk about the phrase "you can't judge a book by its cover," how it's not the things we see that draw people together as best friends, but the things we feel. </p><p>The Reading class text was a picture book called "Be Polite and Kind," which is kind of self-explanatory -- good manners vs. bad manners. Of course, they loved when I acted out the "bad manners" part of it, especially "grumpy grumbly man."</p><p>The Drama class was aimed at putting together a presentation that would be part of the camp's closing ceremonies. Since I had to come up with the activity well before camp started, I had no idea what the students' English levels would be, so I decided to do something on the easier side, but with a twist: I wanted them to not only read "One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish," but also re-imagine the book as the illustrators of their own lines. </p><p>It turned into another great arts & crafts project, with some great creativity from the students.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdOo6xX87ItY33GNYch7HmtAptnZFV8d3ZxRTSDUslYGQtTtK5KSDtLQOVQ5BIumofAPIpAJzIVmWudkDx3jciLnxwpuc7O3ETQFkmkllyMllnvymIe3SWzRzHSovb67xxV8usIhQxS4s5/s2048/IMG_4603.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="328" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdOo6xX87ItY33GNYch7HmtAptnZFV8d3ZxRTSDUslYGQtTtK5KSDtLQOVQ5BIumofAPIpAJzIVmWudkDx3jciLnxwpuc7O3ETQFkmkllyMllnvymIe3SWzRzHSovb67xxV8usIhQxS4s5/w246-h328/IMG_4603.JPG" width="246" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb7i_TxbpAMcm3L-IQO2PhpYO2mdqb4Mi4R1E-ly_W-FW2P0O6bPBxFNhrmC5B9wdediRiFcCJLcA2wE3N3tWX885AnVb7RYRZIuVpOB64gO79-WYCRhYsW97hqNZNCeXJLnxHlCi7nbNj/s2048/IMG_4605.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb7i_TxbpAMcm3L-IQO2PhpYO2mdqb4Mi4R1E-ly_W-FW2P0O6bPBxFNhrmC5B9wdediRiFcCJLcA2wE3N3tWX885AnVb7RYRZIuVpOB64gO79-WYCRhYsW97hqNZNCeXJLnxHlCi7nbNj/w240-h320/IMG_4605.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioA3Hrs-RtoAfbq6enN-l_Myira6FNdMycabh_Bwqzv0zBH3BgBtZMpLrJ4cyx38J7j9Vh6QGvwvDU7nqMvLJFVl4xp5L5xP0HhxKMWHm6Yf0UlYiCuLMuVhuwAeRuqrUSFjTJprROuB_l/s2048/IMG_4607.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="328" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioA3Hrs-RtoAfbq6enN-l_Myira6FNdMycabh_Bwqzv0zBH3BgBtZMpLrJ4cyx38J7j9Vh6QGvwvDU7nqMvLJFVl4xp5L5xP0HhxKMWHm6Yf0UlYiCuLMuVhuwAeRuqrUSFjTJprROuB_l/w246-h328/IMG_4607.JPG" width="246" /></a></div><p></p><p>Then we rehearsed our lines and choreography prior to the big closing ceremony!<br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhww10neTjyN08-W6lX4H2t7JNjX2X6MV8H5PQ5UIOs1oUSoZdhWw476utjtPgp__SVVu7T4TxJmX_oOdYogSnLQG2CrFZGi6qwGHarhR96TNIrIQ7iTGdVBbSBlTJXGyFU3O_zJg0xX5gP/s2048/IMG_4682.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhww10neTjyN08-W6lX4H2t7JNjX2X6MV8H5PQ5UIOs1oUSoZdhWw476utjtPgp__SVVu7T4TxJmX_oOdYogSnLQG2CrFZGi6qwGHarhR96TNIrIQ7iTGdVBbSBlTJXGyFU3O_zJg0xX5gP/w410-h308/IMG_4682.JPG" width="410" /></a></div><p></p><p>After the closing ceremony, we went back to the classroom, handed out completion certificated, and took pictures. It was a nice, relaxing way to end things. (We even got one last snack.)<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG0KZSQd3laJ_RXISMcKwUVCcc61qH27-xjLxlt0HrxKVyghBqadztpu7fK5NrmWiMwx7S_hWwyA4Q7oex4JGcIxc6rOp9Tk78a95XYnggO4tMy_loovhA0WkL6FXxKYZHDZrNCFEY-lYN/s2048/IMG_4705.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="307" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG0KZSQd3laJ_RXISMcKwUVCcc61qH27-xjLxlt0HrxKVyghBqadztpu7fK5NrmWiMwx7S_hWwyA4Q7oex4JGcIxc6rOp9Tk78a95XYnggO4tMy_loovhA0WkL6FXxKYZHDZrNCFEY-lYN/w410-h307/IMG_4705.JPG" width="410" /></a></div><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhugyWzMEpbolsRBSz2J4KZ6UOXG3p5bqykThukVfx16e_td-uLm_sKxAPxgvfKhisXnwAB9rVuEHugwHIibt6jICvBw0AiK-ZN-xEzPVjR3sVSFsjnxDVXtwc2USasD0UgmBKKj5GUY1ZL/s2048/IMG_4723.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="273" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhugyWzMEpbolsRBSz2J4KZ6UOXG3p5bqykThukVfx16e_td-uLm_sKxAPxgvfKhisXnwAB9rVuEHugwHIibt6jICvBw0AiK-ZN-xEzPVjR3sVSFsjnxDVXtwc2USasD0UgmBKKj5GUY1ZL/w410-h273/IMG_4723.JPG" width="410" /></a></div><p></p><p>While I missed getting to see my family and friends in America this summer, this certainly filled the time that would have been vacation in a fun way.</p><p>Since I usually work with high school students midway through their teens, I get to see a lot of the angst that accompanies those years in class. But that's not the case with 3rd graders. So much fun, so little drama! Granted, they can be a handful, and they can be loud at times, but you also get to see a lot of that youthful exuberance. And, of course, it helped that we all hit it off really well.</p><p>I'll miss this group of kids. Though I wonder if I might wind up seeing some of them again in several years...<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcVD79HDWx2Sjq6NU7TS35jzOj_W6K2jhP4PmCkKnahkE91yjYP3FjYX5prX0gSY-KfOs7M7PoloCCL4dYgZbRS5_5H6mSadVQxf96MDRVmFx6ErBk9WbrMIgoCRaYRbDaYaiogWw7nt5r/s2048/IMG_20200814_132603.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="307" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcVD79HDWx2Sjq6NU7TS35jzOj_W6K2jhP4PmCkKnahkE91yjYP3FjYX5prX0gSY-KfOs7M7PoloCCL4dYgZbRS5_5H6mSadVQxf96MDRVmFx6ErBk9WbrMIgoCRaYRbDaYaiogWw7nt5r/w410-h307/IMG_20200814_132603.jpg" width="410" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCaDV83P20oqiIHQAxq-reW2TqTKLlSIhytjNUE3V-WefZuhh_Akq8ygl0qTXRMDRWKoAdL-0I0hY6ryIQygllLDUaYw0dFIiZqRX4KjoHJmRDi-7sohwWURoJD8j8Y_FkWVa1SUqeW8v9/s2048/IMG_20200810_162218.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCaDV83P20oqiIHQAxq-reW2TqTKLlSIhytjNUE3V-WefZuhh_Akq8ygl0qTXRMDRWKoAdL-0I0hY6ryIQygllLDUaYw0dFIiZqRX4KjoHJmRDi-7sohwWURoJD8j8Y_FkWVa1SUqeW8v9/w328-h246/IMG_20200810_162218.jpg" width="328" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilr36Ekpl6q3z6K2P1u0m252W4NYU-kWDI8GdbG4ErZ_Ydi0D-18Hi1mtQ_au-2hGoxThAUoQWRp0GOMkehZhckG2dUoKrbEhRNElBWs_4KJr7OyctFWFYGyz1RdAQPzOQpem5xKu4XCbe/s2048/IMG_4318.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilr36Ekpl6q3z6K2P1u0m252W4NYU-kWDI8GdbG4ErZ_Ydi0D-18Hi1mtQ_au-2hGoxThAUoQWRp0GOMkehZhckG2dUoKrbEhRNElBWs_4KJr7OyctFWFYGyz1RdAQPzOQpem5xKu4XCbe/w307-h410/IMG_4318.JPG" width="307" /></a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9I4MT1rNsYtU-NyhGGGP4CUN-l2AIC6FDM48_wU6JVvvRmm_BydzgfCoXIfEBpxlZV6jA0OVl_t5bwaZ8Zhn679ryiOatHwkVTXnnRR5eEKZinvbiKRoi_AzCz1MWlWpCEW63a4oGe2KG/s2048/IMG_4554.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="307" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9I4MT1rNsYtU-NyhGGGP4CUN-l2AIC6FDM48_wU6JVvvRmm_BydzgfCoXIfEBpxlZV6jA0OVl_t5bwaZ8Zhn679ryiOatHwkVTXnnRR5eEKZinvbiKRoi_AzCz1MWlWpCEW63a4oGe2KG/w410-h307/IMG_4554.JPG" width="410" /></a></div><p><br /></p>Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08083831588031821388noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561763941668892319.post-75582426935389918672020-08-20T12:34:00.000+08:002020-08-20T12:34:15.844+08:00Some Special Words For My First Students<p>Last month, my first group of students -- my 2018 Zhangjiagang Senior High School sophomores -- graduated from school.</p><p>I'd really hoped to be there when they did and had talked to the school about speaking at their graduation, but as with so many plans that had been made in this strange year of 2020, these plans fell through. Due to the virus, it became a small, private ceremony with no outside visitors. </p><p>Because I never got to say these words, I wrote them out, then sent it to a colleague there to have it distributed to all of the graduating seniors. </p><p>They were my first students. They will always be special to me. So I wanted to say something special to them, and I'm sharing those words with you now.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg87oOZGFr6mHZGPJWZYD_h_XHfU0q0ULxwPqL6hQm8Wz-4eW8nP1IfJHGYAi9rgjXd-8k2ye4R7hBtLijerCbYTNF_fPbtU-GmFFuGeBBdauk0p1ZMEWh2ng_4hrpGwLd-n9T0k_9yZdhO/s1094/ZGZ+Class+of+2020.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="842" data-original-width="1094" height="368" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg87oOZGFr6mHZGPJWZYD_h_XHfU0q0ULxwPqL6hQm8Wz-4eW8nP1IfJHGYAi9rgjXd-8k2ye4R7hBtLijerCbYTNF_fPbtU-GmFFuGeBBdauk0p1ZMEWh2ng_4hrpGwLd-n9T0k_9yZdhO/s640/ZGZ+Class+of+2020.png" width="478" /></a></div><p>If the photo text is too small for you to read, well, here's what it says:</p><p>
</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 8pt; text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #274e13;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">Do you remember the class in which
I told you that we are all storytellers?</span></span></span></i></p><p style="text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #274e13;">
</span></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 8pt; text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #274e13;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">Well, you’ve just reached the end
of a chapter. Why do books have chapters? Because they give us places where we
can look back at what we’ve just learned … and look forward to what comes next.</span></span></span></i></p><p style="text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #274e13;">
</span></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 8pt; text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #274e13;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">At the end of a chapter, you’re
able to see things in a different light. You can see how much the characters
have grown and changed. They interact with each other differently. Those
teachers you thought were so cruel because they gave you so much homework? Now
you can see how much they cared for you. Now, you might even consider them to
be friends.</span></span></span></i></p><p style="text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #274e13;">
</span></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 8pt; text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #274e13;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">I wish I could have seen you at
your graduation ceremony. I was looking forward to seeing all of the faces that
would have been so familiar, yet so different.<span>
</span>You have grown and changed. Your stories have gotten so much more
interesting in the two years since I met you. And they’re about to get even
more interesting.</span></span></span></i></p><p style="text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #274e13;">
</span></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 8pt; text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #274e13;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">At the end of this chapter, you
can look ahead in awe and wonder at what lies ahead. For many of you, the next
chapter will be university. What new stories await you there? What great
adventures will you have as you gain more independence, as you start to picture
your futures with more clarity and determination? What unexpected plot twists
might take your lives in new directions? And what will happen in the chapters
after that?</span></span></span></i></p><p style="text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #274e13;">
</span></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 8pt; text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #274e13;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">At the end of this chapter, I hope
you can look back with satisfaction. You may not be able to rewrite the last
three years, but you will be re-reading them for the rest of your lives. I hope
they bring you happy memories. I hope they bring you memories of friendship,
memories of self-discovery, memories of new things learned, and memories of so
many people – teachers and administrators – who worked so hard to provide you
with a better future. We’re all looking forward to reading your stories as you
continue to write them outside the halls of this school.</span></span></span></i></p><p style="text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #274e13;">
</span></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 8pt; text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #274e13;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">Congratulations on your graduation
from Zhangjiagang Senior High School. I’m so proud of you all. Now get out
there and write some amazing stories!</span></span></span></i></p><span style="color: #274e13;">
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mso-para-margin-left:0in;
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<![endif]--></p>Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08083831588031821388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561763941668892319.post-2294303134230887372020-08-18T23:14:00.000+08:002020-08-18T23:14:26.011+08:00On Being An American Abroad (Long Time, No See: Part 2)<p>There's a guy I've known since the mid-'80s. We lived in the same apartment building in Hollywood, and because we were both into collecting music -- especially these shiny new things called CDs -- we hit it off really well. He had a bass, I had a guitar, so sometimes we'd try to play along with songs from our growing CD collections. ("Synchronicity II" was a particular favorite of ours, though I'm sure we would have made Sting and Andy cringe.) </p><p>Anyway, we'd been great friends, tried to keep in touch after he moved out of state, but in the pre-social media days, it wasn't easy. So I was happy when we'd reconnected on Facebook. But a few months ago, something strange began to happen. He started attacking me for expressing my political views on Facebook. (Those of you who know me know my affiliations, but I'm not going to open that can of worms here.) </p><p>His attack, while politically motivated, wasn't about my politics, per se. Instead, he challenged my right to speak out on American affairs while living outside the country. And while I knew his claim was 100% ridiculous, it did get me thinking about my situation as someone who is straddling countries and cultures.</p><p>I am an American. Nothing can change that. It's my birthright. It's where I was born and raised, where I went to school, had a long career, and spent the first 51 years of my life.</p><p>But now, I'm living in China. I sold my home in America and bought one here. I'm living here full-time. In fact, because of the COVID-19 travel restrictions, I've now been in China for over a year without venturing outside the country. Though I still have to file American tax forms with the IRS, my taxes are paid in China.</p><p>So... who am I?</p><p>On the streets of Zhangjiagang, I am a minority. I'm one of maybe a couple hundred foreigners in a town of nearly a million and a half people. I'm a stranger in a strange land. It can be disconcerting at times. Yes, sometimes I will get funny looks. Yes, sometimes I will get stares. Usually, a smile and a friendly "Ni hao" will bring a smile to their faces, but not always. </p><p>Although I'm trying to learn the language, it's not an easy one, and my progress has been slow. Sometimes, I'm the stupid foreigner who has to rely on translation apps to talk to others or figure things out. (Fortunately, I've made many local friends who have been very patient with me, and that makes me feel better. A lot of them are also trying to learn English, so we may fumble around in each other's languages as we speak.)</p><p>At the same time, though, I am appreciated as a foreigner and an American.</p><p>People know why I'm here. Many of them have kids in school, and they appreciate the work we do as foreign teachers in their classrooms.</p><p>Just as importantly, I am an ambassador. The Chinese have access to Americans and Western culture through news programs, some TV shows, some movies, and some music. But, for many of the locals I've met, I'm one of the first "real live Americans" they've ever gotten to meet and know.</p><p>In that way, I am more than just an American. It is my responsibility to be a model American. To share my culture while respecting theirs. To show them a sort of real-world, person-to-person kindness they may not see on the news or in a Marvel movie. To be a good neighbor and not an "ugly American."</p><p>So, while my old friend may question my "American-ness" because I'm living in a foreign country, the truth is that I'm more of an American than he'll ever be. </p><p>I am representing America on a foreign stage, displaying and conveying the kind of one-to-one American humanity and kindness the Chinese natives will never see from America's leaders on TV. When the news they watch is equating "American" with "trade war," their interactions with me remind them that the real America is made up of honest, friendly people who, political and cultural differences aside, are very much like themselves.<br /></p><p>I am not just an American abroad. I am representing America abroad. I am doing my part to improve foreign relations, one person at a time. Admittedly, it's a small part, but it's still something. </p><p>And it's something to be proud of.</p><p>So while my now estranged friend may have challenged my standing as an American, I now have an even better understanding of how thoroughly baseless a claim that was. </p><p>Yes, I am an American, wherever I may be living. And regardless of what the political situation may be back in the States, I will always try my hardest to represent America in the best light that I can.<br /></p>Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08083831588031821388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561763941668892319.post-3557710166221544352020-07-26T01:51:00.002+08:002020-07-26T01:51:58.385+08:0024 Hours As A Buddhist At Faluo Temple
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha_Hd0KKLfNJYskVUfHI3TFecQRSqhii7CKIenVRa9RxrQA97THM3Ap-YVjt7eDAa9BoF-AMA0XtOk0c1WQRDJ71O57Nz6IgkYlIy0fjsU9eFASq6ZF5qrHMXhswmBup4o2qxSAEov3AGr/s1600/IMG_20200718_182848.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha_Hd0KKLfNJYskVUfHI3TFecQRSqhii7CKIenVRa9RxrQA97THM3Ap-YVjt7eDAa9BoF-AMA0XtOk0c1WQRDJ71O57Nz6IgkYlIy0fjsU9eFASq6ZF5qrHMXhswmBup4o2qxSAEov3AGr/s400/IMG_20200718_182848.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The one-lane
road extending west from Guanyinshan Lu may be unmarked and nondescript, but
that doesn’t mean it’s not capable of taking you on a great journey.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I ventured
down that road on Saturday afternoon not knowing what to expect. I’ve visited
several beautiful Buddhist temples throughout China, but I’d never had the
chance to experience one from the perspective of a participant, rather than a
mere tourist.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Arriving at
Faluo Temple in the afternoon after a longer-than-expected trip from
Zhangjiagang, I joined three of our fellow participants in a reception area
that was more tea house than temple. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The serenity
of the setting – ceiling-length windows looking out over the mountain greenery,
the pillow chairs, the monk playing a Chinese flute – melted away the stress of
my trip. This was my first outing with Album of Suzhou since the pandemic
began, so it was nice to catch up with Helena and Polina, who I hadn’t seen
since last year, and meet Rafa, a 2020 newcomer to the group. Patrick, Isabella
(with three kids in tow), Bernd, and Bonny arrived, and our group was complete.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">After our
first meal (vegetarian, of course), we ventured out past the end of the temple
road, down a path slickened by recent rains. We were surrounded by calm. The
water trickling from the pond over the rocks and into the stream below. The
gentle rustling of foliage in the breeze. The fluttering of moths across the
path from one tree to another. It was a great way of communing with nature,
decluttering our urban minds and preparing us for the evening ahead.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">As we made
our way back toward the temple, the golden walls stood in stark contrast to the
overcast sky, extensions of the Earth reaching toward the heavens.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Returning to
the reception room after our walk, we were given our robes. If we were to
become one with the monks that night, we were going to dress the part. In the
robes, it didn’t matter whether we were wearing jeans, skirts, shorts, or
dresses underneath. We let go of our trappings of individuality to become a
collective. I didn’t give much thought to that simple act until after we’d done
our meditation, when I realized that letting go of our individual appearances had
also made it easier to let go of our thoughts as we entered a meditative state.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Although I
have practiced a lot of yoga, I have usually found it difficult to enter a
meditative state for a prolonged period of time. But somehow, it seemed easier
that night. Maybe it was the atmosphere. Maybe the fact that I don’t understand
the language very well kept my thoughts from dwelling on anything that had been
said. As I focused on breathing rather than thinking, I was able to find and
maintain that meditative bliss for the duration of our 10-minute session. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">After
emerging from the meditative state and bringing our thoughts back into the
room, the monk who led us in the meditation opened up the floor to our
questions about what we were experiencing. Amid the talk of reincarnated forms and
Zen practices, I was most drawn to the explanation of kindness as a crucial
tenet in the practice of Buddhism. Although I am human and fallible, I always
strive to place an emphasis on kindness in my life and in my teaching. The idea
that kindness is part of Buddhism’s foundation was one I found to be very
appealing.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">After our
questions had been answered, we went on to the second phase of the evening’s
meditation, as a special guest brought out his collection of “sleep bowls.” The
bowls, it is said, resonate at frequencies that specifically target different
parts of our bodies. Used in concert, his bowls brought on a feeling of deep
relaxation. Although I remained seated upright the entire time, I’m pretty sure
I drifted out of consciousness for a while as he performed. It was a pretty
surreal experience.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">At the end
of the program, it was time to call it a night, as we trekked to the temple’s
guest rooms. I must have carried the singing bowls’ deep sleep with me back to
bed – I woke up at about 3:30am convinced I’d had a full night’s sleep before
coaxing myself back to sleep.</span></div>
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<i><u><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Sunday,
July 19, 4:36am</span></u></i></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">KNOCK KNOCK!
KNOCK KNOCK! KNOCK KNOCK! KNOCK KNOCK!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">As he walked
the hallway outside our doors, the monk played his wood block in a rhythmic
pattern. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">We woke up,
got ready, donned our robes once more, and headed for the temple courtyard.</span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The morning
sky was not yet fully brightened when we began the day’s services. First, there
was some kind of invocation before this wooden statue of a thousand hands. At
least I’m guessing it was an invocation; it’s difficult to know when you don’t
fully understand the language! </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Then, we
walked in a line to the main temple hall.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi93BjTEs8PIUuwHceuhSlorlk7EqAx-gDWbM5vJ_Ab_EiLswxqKuIHAEtekt6tJwzJCKhstV6OHeWJ96nI1UuXj3HmiygD9MKjz6U25a3lZ1R4d0UwIf9LxJ9BKayTpUE4oLEuTnOOShqA/s1600/IMG_20200719_052157.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi93BjTEs8PIUuwHceuhSlorlk7EqAx-gDWbM5vJ_Ab_EiLswxqKuIHAEtekt6tJwzJCKhstV6OHeWJ96nI1UuXj3HmiygD9MKjz6U25a3lZ1R4d0UwIf9LxJ9BKayTpUE4oLEuTnOOShqA/s400/IMG_20200719_052157.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-no-proof: yes;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">At this
point, it’s worth bringing up that I do not consider myself to be a religious
person. I was raised with religion, but left it to chart my own path when I was
a teen. (That’s a discussion for another time, preferably over a few rounds of
drinks!) </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I do,
however, consider myself to be spiritual. That being the case, I think it
worked to my advantage that I don’t understand the language well. As with the
meditation, I was able to push thoughts aside and focus on the beauty of the
ceremony itself – the tones, the atmosphere, the emotional presence. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I had no
idea what it meant, but the polyphonic chanting of the three singing monks was
entrancing as they weaved their way through intriguing harmonies, accompanied
by the punctuations of percussion. Without context, I was able to imagine that
the monks were summoning energy from the universe and directing their flow via
their melodies, bringing it inside the temple so that it could surround and
infuse our bodies. (I may have been completely wrong, but that seemed like a
suitably Buddhist mindset to me.)</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgvO1UWvCxIo7qpvqAB-fvbwjlsULKRiTz55kF4hnYFkBQyeMdOomCd-d60GfNmDIIiYdoBew0OINb8INHTmOZgg-e_7lVrP_H7lLv7bCqyluj-54kWf9kOELSgezj-72JYdM6FXzc512S/s1600/IMG_20200719_092121.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgvO1UWvCxIo7qpvqAB-fvbwjlsULKRiTz55kF4hnYFkBQyeMdOomCd-d60GfNmDIIiYdoBew0OINb8INHTmOZgg-e_7lVrP_H7lLv7bCqyluj-54kWf9kOELSgezj-72JYdM6FXzc512S/s400/IMG_20200719_092121.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-no-proof: yes;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">After
breakfast, we were treated to a program about the temple’s long history,
including the time it was owned by royalty in the 1600s, and then we took a
walking tour around the grounds, getting to see things like the vegetable
garden where much of our meals had been grown, the rock carvings, and the
statue that overlooks the entire compound from its perch up the side of the
mountain.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span><span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqnW3TYAtDNDSodHcXtOnCxo5R8yzr29j5Kc0DEsIfjHB5KmbYK6B2CptZ_FYKqULvLP8_JxjU21SnawOoImoehuPFADlQeLLpalwuX28Aq7hBjniVNHLhy_uDvOvWf7PB0jaPDc_8pISB/s1600/IMG_20200719_092659.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnnsxA2cL4XtpUC57UpMMzOzcEN8a4X6f9n_1xPfzrOwcJDtfWDSa8vShvHV0io-OnRRPLKKtaaBO_FAMzAT2LsBiq4230exAzXYhJRhY2MQQwcFBZ4p_PovdDeo1kYia_2s_CmNIYVByw/s1600/IMG_20200719_100825.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnnsxA2cL4XtpUC57UpMMzOzcEN8a4X6f9n_1xPfzrOwcJDtfWDSa8vShvHV0io-OnRRPLKKtaaBO_FAMzAT2LsBiq4230exAzXYhJRhY2MQQwcFBZ4p_PovdDeo1kYia_2s_CmNIYVByw/s320/IMG_20200719_100825.jpg" width="240" /></a><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqnW3TYAtDNDSodHcXtOnCxo5R8yzr29j5Kc0DEsIfjHB5KmbYK6B2CptZ_FYKqULvLP8_JxjU21SnawOoImoehuPFADlQeLLpalwuX28Aq7hBjniVNHLhy_uDvOvWf7PB0jaPDc_8pISB/s320/IMG_20200719_092659.jpg" width="240" /></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">After a rest
and lunch, it was time for our final activity. We headed for one of the
temple’s classrooms, where AoS friend Mr. Gu demonstrated the art of fan
painting and calligraphy. It was amazing to see this work of art come together
before our very eyes!</span>
</div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhobtaG5n495rhaEsksNfmU-uZEjCdg6MityYVVqfvSgRjMggGYNBQs5PUhyphenhyphenVs8r7jrw5HWEI7IoB9LS9IIlDRjRzz6amv7lmj6LPlvEMSK_f2XBSGNlqa66BNmHDLzOx-S0ClZhZLFkbps/s1600/IMG_20200719_132007.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjghHqn_m7Q0oFjy3G2ZWGJR66DC89EXirPqZ40Fy6gVIHtmiaM7Jzpbpy4KVjEncs_ZSrzzV9RCX8OHESGTLtoaJ8EYGVRt5IDz5z14wgaA-fdpTlk39Nzibx8-0C-kxcFG3dAniDE7cQQ/s1600/IMG_20200719_132446.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjghHqn_m7Q0oFjy3G2ZWGJR66DC89EXirPqZ40Fy6gVIHtmiaM7Jzpbpy4KVjEncs_ZSrzzV9RCX8OHESGTLtoaJ8EYGVRt5IDz5z14wgaA-fdpTlk39Nzibx8-0C-kxcFG3dAniDE7cQQ/s200/IMG_20200719_132446.jpg" width="200" /></a><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhobtaG5n495rhaEsksNfmU-uZEjCdg6MityYVVqfvSgRjMggGYNBQs5PUhyphenhyphenVs8r7jrw5HWEI7IoB9LS9IIlDRjRzz6amv7lmj6LPlvEMSK_f2XBSGNlqa66BNmHDLzOx-S0ClZhZLFkbps/s200/IMG_20200719_132007.jpg" width="200" /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikYKKyMW-mmDMMnnSNXstPD6Q6_jpVJIFYuYcu9q1bZz5r8wjz_uh3YJd7A0olEygKoYzDt2HVrgku63l5s_V6lZg0tvYQT4E2yBHj25_BN4e1i7OdC5LWGUzjul3Ee_mF5b4WAFEqMZFY/s1600/IMG_20200719_132703.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikYKKyMW-mmDMMnnSNXstPD6Q6_jpVJIFYuYcu9q1bZz5r8wjz_uh3YJd7A0olEygKoYzDt2HVrgku63l5s_V6lZg0tvYQT4E2yBHj25_BN4e1i7OdC5LWGUzjul3Ee_mF5b4WAFEqMZFY/s200/IMG_20200719_132703.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2CaG0ju2ccS2OUAdkXM_XSMOtOIa84gjrDuOOsgjztuKk2njNBd9BGvwBSSGt83hYMdQ2IhbRlXjIq0fEkUKLklT58dlNQcK6OM2us1IZuZrcba-Ozi4dTNXsz3iyrUtNuT5cmGJzCvau/s1600/IMG_20200719_135307.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2CaG0ju2ccS2OUAdkXM_XSMOtOIa84gjrDuOOsgjztuKk2njNBd9BGvwBSSGt83hYMdQ2IhbRlXjIq0fEkUKLklT58dlNQcK6OM2us1IZuZrcba-Ozi4dTNXsz3iyrUtNuT5cmGJzCvau/s400/IMG_20200719_135307.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-no-proof: yes;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Then it was
my turn to wield a brush. No, I wasn’t going to pretend I could mimic Mr. Gu’s
work, but I did get an opportunity to try my hand at Chinese calligraphy. I’m
just a beginner, but with the help of Tina, who joined us for the second day, I
was able to start creating some drawings that could possibly have resembled
actual Chinese characters!</span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8yYVqt3ccslGdQ1bihpitoYB1YQcQC7qAhlFtv6fVds81ERw-u4e-Dxp-ybKjnejZWFLcHcmjfALUftZkNdNAe-j4NryTFuQy863GpVIPO6Ua3GPsZvS1w0UYPmvCk91i0VlRmpLe6x61/s1600/IMG_20200719_143301.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8yYVqt3ccslGdQ1bihpitoYB1YQcQC7qAhlFtv6fVds81ERw-u4e-Dxp-ybKjnejZWFLcHcmjfALUftZkNdNAe-j4NryTFuQy863GpVIPO6Ua3GPsZvS1w0UYPmvCk91i0VlRmpLe6x61/s320/IMG_20200719_143301.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-no-proof: yes;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">And then, we
were finished … time to gather our overnight packs and get ready for the trip
home.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">When we take
part in Album of Suzhou events, we always leave with something. Maybe it’s a
deeper appreciation of Suzhou’s history, architecture, folklore, or culture.
But this one felt different. We meditated with the monks. We ate with the
monks. We woke with the monks. We prayed with the monks. For a day, we actually
got to sample and appreciate a completely different lifestyle, one very
different from our own. It may not have made a vegetarian or an early riser out
of me – at least, not yet – but I could feel a much greater connection to their
sense of devotion, their mission of kindness and faith. We were leaving with
the some of that flowing energy still reverberating through our bodies,
reminders of the peace and tranquility we’d experienced during our stay. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Of all the Album
of Suzhou events I’ve experienced, this was certainly the most intimate and
meaningful. Thanks, as always, to Patrick for arranging it. Thanks to our hosts
at the Faluo Temple, and thank you to my fellow AoS “Buddhists for the Day” for
helping make the event so enjoyable and special.</span></div>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Bullet"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Bullet 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Bullet 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Bullet 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Bullet 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Number 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Closing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Signature"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="List Continue 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Message Header"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Salutation"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Date"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text First Indent"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text First Indent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Block Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Hyperlink"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="FollowedHyperlink"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Document Map"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Plain Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="E-mail Signature"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Top of Form"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Bottom of Form"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Normal (Web)"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Acronym"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Address"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Cite"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Code"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Definition"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Keyboard"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Preformatted"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Sample"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Typewriter"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Variable"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Normal Table"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="annotation subject"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="No List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Contemporary"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Elegant"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Professional"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Subtle 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Subtle 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Balloon Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Theme"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" QFormat="true"
Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" QFormat="true"
Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" QFormat="true"
Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="41" Name="Plain Table 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="42" Name="Plain Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="43" Name="Plain Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="44" Name="Plain Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="45" Name="Plain Table 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="40" Name="Grid Table Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46" Name="Grid Table 1 Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51" Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52" Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46" Name="List Table 1 Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51" Name="List Table 6 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52" Name="List Table 7 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 1"/>
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<![endif]-->Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08083831588031821388noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561763941668892319.post-65683039398490156882020-06-06T23:05:00.000+08:002020-06-06T23:05:58.169+08:00Long Time, No See! (Part 1)Ni hao!<br />
<br />
So, apparently it's been almost exactly two years since I've posted. Sorry about that. Many things have been happening, for the most part, all good.<br />
<br />
I finished my first contract as a teacher here and, when it came time to renew, I told my boss that if they were willing to commit to a longer-term contract, so was I. Fact is, I love this place. I love what I'm doing. Love working with these students, even if some of them can cause the occasional headache. Love the people I'm working with.<br />
<br />
Once I committed to a longer-term contract, I committed to something else: making this my home.<br />
<br />
After my first term in Zhangjiagang, I had already figured out that, even if I returned to America, I didn't want to return to the home I owned there. Didn't like the politics of the homeowner's association. Didn't like the proximity to the freeway, with its noise and pollution. So, during my first summer break back in America, I set about putting my house on the market. It sold almost immediately to a couple who saw it on the realtor preview day, and within $10,000 of the initial asking price. (Many kudos and thanks to my old friend and realtor Maty Novia, whose drive and vision were exceptional and invaluable in getting the house sold.)<br />
<br />
Fast-forward half a year -- with my new contract signed, I started to entertain the idea of renting or buying a place off-campus, someplace that would give me more room than the school-provided housing. If I was going to stick around for a while, I wanted to live comfortably! After checking out more than a dozen places that met my price, space, and proximity to work requirements, I came across one that was perfect. (Maybe I'll talk about the process in another post. It really was a fascinating experience.)<br />
<br />
So, two years later, I am now a full-fledged resident of Zhangjiagang and enjoying life here immensely.<br />
<br />
I wish all of my friends were as happy for me as I am for myself, but that's a different story ... the story I want to address in Part 2.<br />
<br />
Stay tuned.<br />
<br />
<br />Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08083831588031821388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561763941668892319.post-54433019480931444582018-06-05T02:40:00.000+08:002018-06-05T02:40:07.684+08:00Handshakes & Hugs: My Last Week At ZJGSHS<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It all went by so quickly. But time flies when you're having fun.<br />
<br />
And it was a lot of fun.<br />
<br />
But June's arrival meant that final exams were on their way for the students at Zhangjiagang Senior High School. It also meant the end of Oral English classes... and a week of emotional goodbyes.<br />
<br />
I only saw the 10th graders in class once a week; the 11th graders, every other week. With 1200 different students passing through my classroom, I couldn't even begin to know all their names. Still, knowing it would be our last class together was really difficult.<br />
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This has been a life-changing experience, and these students have been a huge part of it. Every time I've looked at a student in class and I've seen that look in their eyes -- the one that says I'm reaching them. Every wave in the hallway, every little giggle, every "Hello teacher!" They all contributed to me feeling right at home there.<br />
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As the week went along, some of the students left little gifts. One gave me a beautiful little handmade turtle!<br />
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I wanted to leave them with something, too. Throughout the term, I've tried to work little life lessons into the classes, so I had a sheet containing several of my philosophies -- "Mr. Ax's Guide to Life" -- printed up for each of them.<br />
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I spent the first five minutes of each class telling them how much they'd meant to me and thanking them for helping turn this leap of faith into such an incredible life decision, and my plan to keep the dialogue between us going by setting up "English Corner" here in Zhangjiagang. It happens in other cities -- events where students get to mingle and talk with native English speakers to practice their conversational skills -- but it apparently hasn't been done in Zhangjiagang yet, and I want to change that. <br />
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(Yes, I was so touched by the gift that the turtle attended all of my final-week classes!)<br />
<br />
I did have one final lesson for them, about music and how it can be used to practice their language skills. It had a fun starting point -- I asked them questions about the English alphabet (for example, "Which letter comes before R?") -- and I waited as they struggled to come up with the answers. Then I asked them to sing the "A-B-C" song, which they could do instantly. Amazing how all of the answers were there all along, locked in their musical memory, right? It was a great jumping-off point.<br />
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The grand finale was a lot of fun, too: They learned to sing The Beatles' "Can't Buy Me Love." It was a trip to hear all of these Chinese teenagers singing a Beatles tune. I loved it.<br />
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After having them pose for class pictures -- that's my final class above -- I gave them an encore.<br />
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During the very first class, the "ask me anything" class, every group asked me if I would sing. So I brought my ukulele to class, and the very last thing I did with them was play and sing "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz. Some of the students knew it, and I heard them singing along.<br />
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I'm sure it didn't sound too great -- honestly, with all the emotion I was feeling, it was hard to keep my voice from cracking -- but it was heartfelt. Everybody either loved it or was very kind, because all of the classes applauded.<br />
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Class was over... I thanked them again, then sent them off with a "see you soon" rather than a "goodbye," because I hope it won't be the end. Between English Corner and WeChat, I hope the conversation will continue, because this group is very special to me. After all, they were my first students!<br />
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On their way out of the classroom, some of the students handed me little gifts, snacks, and notes. One class gave handshakes on the way out. Most of the Class 9 students wanted a hug. It was an awesome, emotional end to our classroom experience.<br />
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It felt a little strange leaving the classroom, knowing the term was over. I erased the heart, club, diamond, and spade from the chalkboard (that's how I would randomly choose students to speak in class, using a deck of playing cards).<br />
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I replaced them with a simple message.<br />
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Will any students look into the classroom and see the message this week as they pass by? I don't know. But I hope they do.</div>
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That last look at the classroom was a melancholy one. Every other time it had been empty, it would soon fill up again. But not this time...<br />
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I headed back to my office, got changed, and headed to the gym to play volleyball with the other teachers. But there was still one unexpected student interaction waiting for me.<br />
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Near the gym, there were four boys throwing shoes up into a tree. I asked what they were doing, and they showed me another shoe that had gotten stuck up on a branch. (No, I didn't ask how, haha!) They weren't having any luck knocking it down with their shoes, so I told them to get a basketball. One of them got a ball and threw it up into the tree -- no luck.<br />
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The rebound came to me. I flung the ball into the tree... and when it came down, so did the shoe.<br />
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One last act of kindness for the students... a fitting end to my time with them. (At least for this term.)<br />
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I don't know whether I'll have the opportunity to teach at ZJGSHS again. I'm assuming they'll want me at Liangfeng in the fall. But I have pitched out the idea of an elective Advanced English Writing class for a limited number of students at ZJGSHS. If they're interested, and my bosses give me the go-ahead, I might be back there (in a limited capacity) this fall. I hope it happens. They made my first term something special, and I would love to continue the relationship with the school and these awesome students.<br />
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<br />Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08083831588031821388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561763941668892319.post-73558564500551455072018-04-20T00:05:00.000+08:002018-04-20T00:05:14.118+08:00Two Months In China: Random Reflections<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It's the evening of April 19th here in Zhangjiagang, which means it's been exactly two months since I arrived here. And it's certainly been an eventful couple of months. (Obviously... you've been reading about a lot of it.)<br />
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Starting a new career in a new country is like mental yoga, stretching your brain in ways you didn't even know it could be stretched. And, though it might take a little getting used to, you quickly discover how good it is for you.<br />
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In many ways, life here is exactly like it is back in the United States. You work, you eat, you sleep, you find interesting things to do in your spare time.<br />
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Need stuff? There are plenty of grocery stores, and you can find convenience stores on virtually every block. There are shopping malls and retail streets. Hungry? There are plenty of restaurants... though the vast majority are Chinese food. Oh, and bakeries. There are bakeries galore here.<br />
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But it's the differences, of course, that make it fascinating.<br />
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If you don't like music, you won't like it here. Expect to hear plenty of it. Schools play music on their loudspeakers in between periods. In the early evening, there's music everywhere, as women set up "dance corners" in virtually every open public area. (There's an intersection a block from my apartment where three of the four corners are dance corners.) Even the street sweepers play music as they make their rounds around town.<br />
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Everybody goes outside. The city's sidewalks come alive at night, filled with people. Maybe they're walking to a restaurant. Maybe they're walking the dog. Maybe they're out for a stroll with the family. Maybe they're on their way to a park or a dance corner. But there are people walking everywhere -- many more walkers than drivers, which is a good thing.<br />
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I don't miss having a car. The drivers are unpredictable and crazy here. Even though it's a small town, and you'd think that everyone would know their way around, you still find people who suddenly remember (or discover) they need to turn left -- while they're in the right lane. That doesn't stop them, of course. I've seen plenty of them make that left turn from the right lane. They'll just stop in the right lane (in traffic) if they need to look up directions, pick someone up, or drop someone off... often with no warning. And way too many drivers make turns without surveying their surroundings. So, as a bicyclist or pedestrian, you need to be vigilantly observant at every intersection.<br />
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Speaking of bikes, since I put the computer on mine, I've racked up 394 miles. Not bad for two months. Of course, that did include one accident, but again, live and learn. But it's seriously the best way to get around town, and I feel like I'm seeing so much more of the city on a bike than I would in a car, or by taking the same bus line day in and day out.<br />
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So many of the people here are fantastic. It doesn't take much to get a wonderful smile from them. As a foreigner, I can usually do it with a simple "ni hao!" Being acknowledged by a foreigner is apparently a joyful thing here.<br />
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On a related note, I find that, living in a slower-paced town, it's easier to be kind to all sorts of creatures, human and otherwise. It took a while, but little by little, I gained the trust of the little stray dog who hangs out on the Zhangjiagang Senior High School campus. Now, not only does she let me pet her... if she sees me from a distance, she'll run to me! That, apparently, is not a common thing among dogs here in China. And a couple of the campus cats will now let me pet them, as well.<br />
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The clothes here are an endless source of entertainment. You're much more likely to see clothes with English words on them than Chinese words. The entertaining part, of course, is that so many of the words are misspelled, and/or the phrases are either grammatically horrible or completely nonsensical. And people here will wear music-oriented T-shirts without having a clue who the artists are -- that's about the only way I can explain the woman in the teachers' dining room today wearing a Ted Nugent T-shirt. I'm guessing she's never heard a song of his, and she certainly isn't aware of his atrocious politics. She probably just liked the way it looked.<br />
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Springtime is very beautiful here... very colorful. After my first month here was a brutally cold final month of winter, it's been great to see this color emerge.<br />
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On a personal level...<br />
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I was warned before I left to take some Western medicine with me -- specifically, Benadryl and Immodium. "It'll take a while for your system to adjust," I heard. In two months, I've needed neither. And the Chinese medicine I took for my aching throat last week, an herbal remedy, did a pretty good job.<br />
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The language factor can be difficult, but not insurmountable. Sometimes it almost becomes a game of charades. But usually, we get it figured out. Of course, it helps to have a smartphone, and to be able to show someone a word in a translating dictionary, if need be. Still, I want to learn the language. I need to make time for that.<br />
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I'm finding I'm not the least bit homesick. For now, at least, this is home. I miss people back in the States, but I often get to chat with them. (How awesome to be doing this in a time when the Internet, WeChat, and Facebook exist.) As far as Los Angeles and the U.S.A., I really can't say I miss them at this point. Even though I'm in a small apartment, I really don't miss my house, either. Maybe once I've been gone longer... but maybe not. Only time will tell. But even with the major language adjustment and the minor cultural adjustments, Zhangjiagang is already starting to feel like home.<br />
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Sure, life in a foreign country has its challenges, but life anywhere has its challenges. And having made it through the first two months, I feel like those challenges are becoming less and less difficult.<br />
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After two months, I'm happy to report that life is good here, and I certainly feel like I made a great life choice by coming here. <br />
Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08083831588031821388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561763941668892319.post-38114017103246918692018-04-18T15:30:00.000+08:002018-04-18T15:30:17.320+08:00Just Another Suzhou Sunday (That's A Fun Day)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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In the Chinese geographical hierarchy, Zhangjiagang is a county-level city belonging to its prefecture-level city, Suzhou. So, technically, I've been in Suzhou this whole time.<br />
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On Sunday, though, I made my first trip down to the city of Suzhou since I moved here. It's a gorgeous city, commonly called "the Venice of China" because of its vast network of canals<br />
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I had a brief experience -- a day excursion -- in Suzhou while on the cruise vacation last year, and it whetted my appetite for more. So when I was presented with the opportunity to join a group, Album Of Suzhou, that does cultural walks around the city, I couldn't pass it up!<br />
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"Walk Through Renmin Road" was the theme of the walk, the road itself being one of the city's most historic, offering plenty of sights and cultural landmarks.<br />
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First up was the Confucian Temple, a complex that's about a thousand years old.<br />
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The bottom photo is taken inside the temple's Dacheng Hall. As it was explained to us, the building is supported with 50 great pillars made from a type of wood that, at the time, was only made available to royalty. That's how highly regarded Confucius was here in Suzhou.<br />
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The painting of Confucius, as you can see, is enormous -- the largest in existence. As it towers above you, it's a magnificent sight.<br />
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To the left and right are the musical instruments of the day, and there are a few assorted artifacts on display, but the temple's largest collection, by far, is of stone tablets. They've got hundreds, if not thousands of them, on display throughout the entire complex. Many are right there in Dancheng Hall.<br />
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But the four most famous ones get a building all to themselves.<br />
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From top to bottom, they're known as Tianwen Tu, Dili Tu, Pingjiang Tu, and Diwangshaoyun Tu, representing ground, city, sky, and people.<br />
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These stones are seen as having great cultural significance to China; they were among the first batch of relics to be designated as National Key Cultural Relics in 1961. They're very large, and they're very impressive.</div>
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Since Confucius was a big fan of meditation, the temple is still seen by some as a sacred place to practice meditation, and we happened upon a few of those people in one of the courtyard areas.<br />
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Then, we were off to the library.<br />
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Hidden away behind the very modern facade of the Suzhou Library is a wonderfully scenic garden area, and we got a chance to take in the garden's tranquility, both visually and aurally. (It's part of a library, right? Of course it's going to be quiet!)<br />
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Then, after we made a quick stop at a small museum specializing in Chinese calligraphy, we took a short subway ride to our final destination: the Suzhou North Temple Pagoda.<br />
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After getting a look inside the pagoda, we made our way around the grounds, ending up at its Plum Garden.<br />
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All in all, it was a wonderful way to spend an afternoon, with beautiful scenery and a group of very nice people.<br />
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Here I am, with the organizer of the walk, Patrick:<br />
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This time, I was fortunate enough to get a ride down to Suzhou with Patrick's friend, Eric. But, in researching the walk, I've also discovered that Suzhou is also a relatively short intercity bus ride away.<br />
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Now that I know about Album Of Suzhou's walks and know some really nice people down in Suzhou, I can foresee taking more trips down there in the not-too-distant future. 😀<br />
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<br />Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08083831588031821388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561763941668892319.post-69925690847343145832018-04-15T09:30:00.000+08:002018-04-15T09:30:01.027+08:00A Day Of Getting To Know Zhangjiagang<br />
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It was a long week, as I struggled mightily to get through the school week with only half a voice (more about that in another post). But it led up to an adventurous weekend, which is only half over!<br />
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On Saturday, the city of Zhangjiagang launched a new initiative to show itself to the world -- through the eyes of those who have come here from other parts of the world. With high-speed rail soon coming to Zhangjiagang, it appears the local government wants to start marketing itself as a viable tourist destination. And, of course, they're always looking for investment from foreign companies looking to build businesses here.<br />
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So, yesterday was the first of a six-part series -- two a year for the next three years -- of events designed to entertain and inform Zhangjiagang's expats. They want to show us its history, its beauty, its hospitality, and its activities. They're off to a good start.<br />
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The opening speeches were clearly written without regard to the weather forecast -- there were many mentions of the beautiful springtime and the warm breezes on a cool and occasionally drizzly day -- but the sentiment was there. The city's Vice Mayor welcomed us. A businessman who had migrated from Brazil to run an automotive plant here in Zhangjiagang talked about his experience, as did one of my fellow expat teachers.<br />
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All around, the message was clear, that Zhangjiagang is a clean, safe, friendly, welcoming city. (And in my first eight weeks here, I would certainly echo that sentiment.)<br />
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After the opening ceremony, our first stop was a cultural one -- the Zhangjiagang Museum.<br />
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Because we were on a tight schedule, we didn't get to see the entire museum, so we focused on a few main areas, showing the history of Zhangjiagang, the local ruins, and the Yangtze River's part in China's history.<br />
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Through photographs, we saw the transformation of Zhangjiagang from local farming village to modern city. And through exhibits like these, we got a glimpse into what everyday life was like for those earlier residents:<br />
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Then we took a look at some of the antiquities unearthed in the local Dongshan ruins:<br />
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After exploring the museum, it was time for lunch. To expose us to as many local delicacies as possible, they took us to the buffet at the Shazhou Hotel.<br />
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After we were welcomed -- they're big on welcoming you to places here! -- they invited us up to the front of the room for a lesson on how to prepare and fold dumplings. Our amateur offerings were cooked and served later. Even if they weren't quite as beautiful as the professionally folded dumplings, they were still delicious.<br />
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Then, we feasted!<br />
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There was roast duck, carved and prepared before our eyes. And there were three tables' worth of entrees available to us. Pretty much every kind of local food imaginable was represented -- rice, noodles, beef, pork, chicken, fish, squid, vegetable. Though I had to draw the line at trying the turtle dish they offered. (Turtles are my favorite animals. I could never eat one.)<br />
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At the teachers' table, there were a lot of happy, stuffed faces. And a few less ducks in the world. 😋 <br />
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After lunch, we were off to Xiangshan Park, a beautiful area about seven miles west of the downtown area. If you look on the Zhangjiagang area on Google Maps, you'll probably see the park shown as Fragrant Mountain Scenic Area; it got its name because of the aromatic tea plants that grow there. (As a bonus, those tea plants were also said to have health-restoring powers.)<br />
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The centerpiece of the park is its tall temple, which towers over the land from its perch atop the highest point in Zhangjiagang. We'd be going up there soon, but first... a little Tai Chi!<br />
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We watched this group practice for a few minutes, then were invited to join in. I'd done some every morning on the cruise last summer, so I enjoyed getting the chance to do it again, if only for a few minutes. Though it was certainly more difficult to do it in jeans and a bulky hoodie. (Did I mention it was cool and drizzly?)<br />
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After getting a tour of the park's museum, with exhibits explained by some of the young students who'd been recruited as ambassadors for the program, we headed up to the temple.<br />
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After getting to see the temple, we headed down to the lake area for a little bit of fun and games. Well, actually, it turned out to be a competition -- a mini-Olympics of Zhangjiagang -- though they weren't exactly Olympic sports. There was caterpillar racing (teams of four, bouncing along on huge inflatable caterpillars), carrying ping pong balls with chopsticks, and trying to write (in Chinese) with a large pen worked by groups of eight.<br />
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Everyone had a good time, since there were a lot of laughs to be had as we tried each of the tasks, and prizes were awarded at the end.<br />
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To my surprise, I was named one of the third-place finishers, and I won a beautiful little tea set!<br />
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It was a great way to spend a Saturday, and I can't wait for the next one this autumn!<br />
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Now, time to get ready... I'm off to Suzhou for a walking tour this afternoon!<br />
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<br />Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08083831588031821388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561763941668892319.post-88451246214439549852018-04-08T13:07:00.000+08:002018-04-08T13:07:10.993+08:00East Meets West, Vol. 2: KFC<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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With more than 5,000 locations here, it's safe to say KFC is the most ubiquitous American brand in China. (Or, since it's chicken, dare I say... u-beak-uitous? 😉 )<br />
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You can pretty much find them everywhere (I've seen at least five here in Zhangjiagang), and even in unexpected forms -- there's a KFC-branded <u>ice cream stand</u> inside Zhangjiagang Shopping Park.<br />
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There's a reason why there are so many: They're quite popular!<br />
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So, I've visited a couple of them to compare them to their cousins back home.<br />
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The restaurants themselves look pretty comparable to the ones back in the USA... standard fast-food decor. You've got the usual bolted-in tables, a few booths, and some larger, raised tables that can seat about 10-12 people.<br />
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Visually, it's nothing spectacular, but it's kept very clean and bright.<br />
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One thing you'll notice by looking at the menu is that it's heavy on sandwiches (which are all referred to here as "burgers," even though there's no beef to be found).<br />
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The Zinger, which they have back in the States, is their most popular sandwich, so I gave that a try as part of their combo meal.<br />
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The sandwich itself tastes just like its American counterpart -- no discernible difference whatsoever. </div>
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The combo meal is a little bit different, though. Instead of getting the usual choice of two sides, you get a pair of spicy wings and a custard tart dessert. They're also very serious about their Pepsi. I've been soda-free since 1989, and it took me a lot of wrangling -- including talking to a manager -- to get an alternative drink with the combo meal. </div>
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Iced tea isn't allowed as an alternative option, because tea is considered to be a specialty drink here. China likes fancy teas, and you'd be hard-pressed to find an "ordinary" iced tea in a restaurant. And the fancier teas are more expensive, so I was eventually offered a choice of either hot milk or coffee instead.<br />
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The nuggets didn't come with the meal -- I was hungry that night and added them on. They don't have the same sauce options as the American restaurants. There's a vinegar BBQ sauce and a sweet & sour sauce. I liked both, though I didn't think the vinegar BBQ sauce was as good as its American cousin.<br />
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On another visit, I wanted to try a different sandwich, the "New Orleans" burger.<br />
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There was also a "New Orleans" pizza at Pizza Hut, so New Orleans apparently carries a strong culinary identity here in China. And that identity is "tomato-based spicy." But while they might be shooting for a jambalaya-style kind of authentic New Orleans flavor, it kind of misses the mark. (And I've been to NOLA enough times to know!) Its hot sauce actually tasted more like Sriracha than Tabasco, probably a concession to local tastes, and the spices only offer a small hint of Cajun flavor.<br />
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The sandwich was an interesting alternative to the Zinger, but between the two, I think I liked the Zinger better. Not that the New Orleans burger was bad, but if you're going to name something after the Big Easy, it better have big taste, and this didn't quite measure up to expectations. I'd eat it again, but it wouldn't be my first choice.<br />
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Finally, I decided I couldn't truly evaluate KFC based on sandwiches alone, so I went back for a bucket.<br />
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I got the 10-piece combo bucket, which came with three different styles of chicken: hot, hotter, and hottest.<br />
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Apparently the Chinese don't believe in "original recipe," because their basic style of fried chicken here would be considered a "crispy hot wing" back in the USA. All of the chicken is spicy in one way or another. The bucket came with six of the basic fried hot wings, along with two varieties of roasted wings -- one with the red "New Orleans" sauce; the other with more of a yellowish glaze. I'm not sure exactly what kind of sauce it was, but it was actually my favorite of the three.<br />
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As with a lot of the food here, the prices are a little more reasonable than what you would find in the States. But, because it's a foreign brand, it's still more expensive than most of the homegrown food you'll find here in China.<br />
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The value meals and the bucket were about $6 each, with the nuggets and the unseen (and very small) side of mashed potatoes each costing less than a dollar.<br />
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So, if I'm looking for some real American-style comfort food, I know I can definitely turn to KFC... but it's a good thing I prefer their hot & spicy crispy chicken over original recipe.<br />
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Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08083831588031821388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561763941668892319.post-21583593139175873362018-04-03T20:42:00.000+08:002018-04-03T20:42:26.296+08:00Even In China, You Can Have 'One Of Those Days'<br />
I woke up this morning with what felt like a hangover, except I didn't have a drop of alcohol last night.<br />
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That was my first indication it was going to be one of those days.<br />
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Traffic in the bike lanes was particularly frustrating; I was cut off twice by e-bikes and once by a car. Strike two.<br />
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And then fourth period rolled around.<br />
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Fourth period is one of my new "Grade 2" classes (junior year), a class I was seeing for just the second time.<br />
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Maybe the students are anticipating the Tomb Sweeping Festival long weekend, which starts after school tomorrow. Maybe it's the rising heat in the classroom (I believe it reached the 80s today). Or maybe it's just a class filled with troublemakers.<br />
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But today, they just became unbearable.<br />
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The same kids repeatedly disrupted class with their side conversations. Two of them, I had to call out several times. I had to break up a group at the back of the class, bringing one of them up to an empty seat at the front of the class. (When his neighbor moved into the student's old seat to be next to another talker, I sent him back to where he was.)<br />
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When two boys in the corner started laughing about something, I asked them to repeat the joke out loud in class. (That's the only time they chose to remain quiet.)<br />
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I even spotted two boys slapping each other's faces during class. <br />
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I repeatedly asked them to be quiet and behave. I warned them that the school has asked me to report any classes that misbehave. But when the chatter was so loud that I couldn't hear the last student I'd called on in the period, enough was enough.<br />
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Fortunately, although there are school bells, class isn't over until the teacher says it is. And I wasn't about to let them go.<br />
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Sure, as a teacher, I want to be liked. But not at the expense of letting them walk all over me.<br />
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I laid into them with a five-minute tirade about having respect -- respect for their classmates, respect for the classroom, respect for their teacher, and respect for the educational process.<br />
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I'm a patient man. I never fly into a rage. But this was, by far, the highest level of controlled anger I've had to express with any of my students.<br />
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Did I get through to them? I hope so, but I don't know.<br />
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I guess I'll find out in two weeks.<br />
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Of course, it didn't help that my fifth period class was almost as unruly. Or that my knee -- the one that took a hit in my bike crash -- started bothering me during volleyball. (I'm icing it now.)<br />
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It truly was one of those days.<br />
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The good news is that, even on one of those days, you can find the cloud's silver lining.<br />
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After my last class, one of my more conscientious students stayed behind to talk. In some cities here in China, there's an activity called "English Corner," where a group of English-speaking teachers gets together and hangs out with any Chinese students who feel like getting a little additional practice speaking English. I haven't heard of any here in Zhangjiagang, but this student told me he and some classmates were interested in getting together, maybe catching an English-language movie, and then hanging out to chat... a modified "English Corner," as it were.<br />
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Even though this isn't a graded course, it's nice to know that there are students who appreciate what I'm trying to do for them, are buying into it, and are even willing to go the extra mile to learn from me.<br />
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And it made "one of those days" a lot more tolerable. Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08083831588031821388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561763941668892319.post-51316961329816708632018-04-01T14:08:00.001+08:002018-04-01T14:08:40.521+08:00I'm Not Just Teaching. I'm Learning, Too.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJoVaXbQGLCmY1mCbKneFKxLXDvd999xNpnMm9JmeneYvJZEwq2Itsc9mvBMyu6gEgOjoLU5r4DuVpwL8lh8C0uf9CL3Iqd9eKIgoufrlf6eUOy7Ans4sut-maKHh_bsB4DgTwU2Zs8arm/s1600/20180331_175636%257E2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="542" data-original-width="1600" height="135" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJoVaXbQGLCmY1mCbKneFKxLXDvd999xNpnMm9JmeneYvJZEwq2Itsc9mvBMyu6gEgOjoLU5r4DuVpwL8lh8C0uf9CL3Iqd9eKIgoufrlf6eUOy7Ans4sut-maKHh_bsB4DgTwU2Zs8arm/s400/20180331_175636%257E2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
Prior to the start of this journey, the only experience I ever had with teaching came on the receiving end, as a student. I knew that getting up in front of classes -- period after period, day after day, week after week -- would be something completely different for me. That's part of the challenge I have embraced in becoming a China teaching newbie.<br />
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Now, five weeks into that adventure, I'm finding that learning is just as much a part of this profession as teaching is.<br />
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After my first "introductory" classes with these students, I've had some pretty ambitious goals. With each class since, I've tried ramping up the complexity of the lesson, hoping they would be able to keep up.<br />
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This week's lesson built on the previous week's lesson about storytelling.<br />
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At one point last week, I recited, from a first-person point of view, a story about the average day in the life of a student:<br />
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<i>I woke up. I ate breakfast. I walked to class. I went to another class. I went to another class. I ate lunch. I took a nap. I went to another class. And another class. And another class. I ate dinner. I did my homework. I went to bed.</i></blockquote>
When I asked the students if I'd told the story correctly, they told me I had. But we all agreed that it was a really boring story!<br />
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How do you make a story less boring? By adding details and using interesting language. By adding colorful words to the black-and-white outline.<br />
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So this week's lesson was about "communicating in color," using adjectives, adverbs, synonyms, similes, and metaphors.<br />
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And it might have been a little too much for some of the students.<br />
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I could tell I was losing some of them as I explained each of the different concepts. While a few were watching and listening intently, I could hear the volume rise in the room. Rather than paying attention, some of the students were chatting away with their friends. I had to stop class on multiple occasions to chastise them for talking, and it grew frustrating.</div>
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It was infuriating because I've seen the way these kids act in their other classes. Through windows, I've seen them sitting quietly and watching intently.</div>
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(Of course they are -- they're being graded in those classes, and a blemish on their GPAs would be devastating when it comes to college admissions.)</div>
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But my class isn't graded. Without the pressure of maintaining a grade, some of these kids are only willing to put minimal effort into it. And when things got a little more challenging, they tuned out. </div>
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It was aggravating because I didn't want class disrupted for those who appreciated the lesson, but also because I realized I'd gone too far. I'd pushed the limits on what these kids were willing to learn. </div>
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By the time we got to the in-class activity, where I asked the students to give me words and phrases that could be used to describe pictures, then building a "colorful" sentence with them, I discovered that some had not been paying attention at all.<br />
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I chose students randomly, with my oh-so-useful deck of playing cards (thanks again, Liz!). When asked to participate, too many just stood there like slack-jawed statues, unable to comprehend what was going on... even though I'd just spent 20 minutes telling them exactly what was going on. Even when they'd been told at the beginning of class that some would be chosen to participate... even when they'd been told how embarrassing it was for other students, some just wouldn't pay attention.<br />
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It certainly wasn't my intent to embarrass anybody, and even though I'd given them fair warning, I still felt sorry for them when it did. <br />
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So I think I've got to dial it back a bit in future weeks and be a little less ambitious and more fun with the lessons.<br />
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It's too bad, though. The students who understood what I was trying to accomplish were really into it.<br />
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One stayed after class to talk for a few minutes. He told me how much he appreciated the lessons, because parents and other teachers always seem to be geared toward the numbers -- test scores and GPAs -- while I'm trying to teach them how to stand out in a crowd of high GPAs.<br />
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He totally got it.<br />
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When everyone is pushing for perfection, numbers can only show so much. When there are so many 4.0 GPAs, how do you separate the truly exceptional from the pack? By being able to communicate in color -- in application essays and interviews, using language tools to become more interesting than your competition.<br />
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It's a skill they will be able to use for the rest of their lives, and mastering it would be sure to bring them success. If only they'd been paying attention.<br />
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This past week, I also saw two of the ways students at the school get their exercise. Every day, unless the weather is inclement, there is a 15-minute physical education break between periods 2 and 3. Some classes do laps around the track, while some do push-ups and calisthenics.<br />
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Then, after period 5, there's a different kind of phys ed activity -- the mad dash to the lunchroom! With nearly 2000 students at the school all getting their lunch breaks at the same time, the lines at the cafeteria can be very, very long. So, when 5th period lets out, many of the students break into a mad dash for the door and sprint all the way to the cafeteria! I took in the spectacle after I finished eating (the cafeteria opens early for teachers who have 5th period open), and it was highly amusing to watch... especially since I knew I would have been one of those running kids.<br />
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(It brought back memories of 6th grade, when I had a crush on a classmate who was sometimes a crossing guard at Apple Tree and Bayberry. I would race there to be first, so that I'd have a few private moments with her before the other students started to arrive.)<br />
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Also, after 5 weeks, I've earned the trust of the stray dog that hangs out near the cafeteria. After allowing me to get closer and closer over time, this week, she finally let me pet her... and then, she didn't want me to leave! So cute. 😊🐕<br />
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Finally, spring is in full bloom here in Zhangjiagang, so I want to share a few pictures of the beautiful trees and foliage we've got right now. <br />
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<br />Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08083831588031821388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561763941668892319.post-496275740235546252018-04-01T01:30:00.000+08:002018-04-01T01:30:00.172+08:00Ain't No Party Like A (Zhangjiagang) House Party<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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"Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name, and they're always glad you came..."<br />
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If you go off to teach in a foreign land, sooner or later (usually sooner), you'll find out about the local expat bars. In Zhangjiagang, everybody's favorite seems to be the House Bar.<br />
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In my first month here, I've been there three times. It's a nice, comfortable hang and a pretty cozy atmosphere. From the dozen or so foreign flags hanging on the wall, it's easy to figure out the clientele they're trying to attract... and it works!</div>
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The crowd tends to filter in a little late, but once people get there, it's like the United Nations. For a city as small as ours, I was surprised to see the diversity of expats in town. A lot of Brits there, which -- being the Anglophile I am -- I enjoy. (They usually get my "Inbetweeners" or "The IT Crowd" references.) Plenty of other Europeans, too... Irish, Scottish, German. One of the first people I met there, Blu, is from South Africa. </div>
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The two ladies in the photos below are from (if I'm remembering correctly after a few drinks) Tunisia and Russia.</div>
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And there are some Americans, too. First night there, I even ran into a couple of Cubs fans! (I guess we should check and see if they've got the MLB TV package there, then meet up for some games, right?)<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">That's the co-owner, Icha, in the middle.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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They like to keep it fun with theme nights... so far, I've been there on a beer pong tournament night, a pub quiz night (my team won!), and their first anniversary party.<br />
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And yes, it's nice to go to a place where they know your name. From the very first time I went in there, the owners (Icha and Fefe) were calling me by name.<br />
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When you're 6000 miles away from "home," it's always nice to find a place where you'll always get a friendly greeting. Cheers! 😉<br />
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<br />Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08083831588031821388noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561763941668892319.post-89777098263686953402018-03-31T12:34:00.001+08:002018-03-31T12:34:17.578+08:00The Week Where I Could Have Killed Myself<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizvVIWsqkxvvSPmyqmd3ekOrygvRFPW2MrhW9qV4oMUIayzkM9PmzBhFTHIVL3fSt4OnmJepWfvikTnZtBBrn7paIM9q22VpdRWtCkYAJQL4glt14Kkun15XRGdjozs2RLi4uqOCvuqgqj/s1600/20180328_113827.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizvVIWsqkxvvSPmyqmd3ekOrygvRFPW2MrhW9qV4oMUIayzkM9PmzBhFTHIVL3fSt4OnmJepWfvikTnZtBBrn7paIM9q22VpdRWtCkYAJQL4glt14Kkun15XRGdjozs2RLi4uqOCvuqgqj/s400/20180328_113827.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's finally springtime at ZSHS... beautiful blossoms!</td></tr>
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Greetings From Zhangjiagang.<br />
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Yes, it's been a quiet week and a half on the blog. Physically, I've just been exhausted. That lingering illness certainly didn't help -- even after nearly three weeks, I don't think my throat is back to 100%.<br />
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But before things could get better, they took a sharp turn for the worse.<br />
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Tired after a long Thursday of teaching, I wanted nothing more than to pick up some dinner and get home. The pedestrians along Shazhou Road were particularly infuriating that evening, making bicyclists weave around them like some kind of demented video game. It was dark already, which didn't help matters.<br />
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After passing Huayangbang Road, the crowd thinned out a little bit, and I was able to pick up a little speed. But there were still plenty of people around, so I had to keep my right thumb on my bike's bell, ready to signal at any time.<br />
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That's when the sidewalk literally fell out from beneath me.<br />
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It wasn't my usual route home, and it was my first time at night. I completely forgot about the alley approach where the sidewalk dips down about a foot at approximately a 40-degree angle.<br />
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I was going just fast enough that my front wheel left the ground. And with my right hand in bell-ringing mode, it didn't have a firm enough grip on the handlebars. So, when my tire hit the ground, the jolt took the handlebars out of my hand.<br />
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The bike and I went flying out of control. <br />
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Next thing I knew, I was sprawled out on the sidewalk.<br />
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I was hurt, but how badly? I flashed back to my 1995 motorbike accident, when I felt alright... until I tried putting weight on my badly broken leg.<br />
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Tentatively, I started moving my limbs to see if they were fully functional. So far, so good. There was a little bit of blood on the inside of my right knee, and it was sore. I'd come down on my left side; my left hip, knee, and elbow were all in a lot of pain.<br />
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I gingerly picked myself up off the ground. Thankfully, there were no surprises. I could stand. I was stable. Nothing appeared to be broken.<br />
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Well, that's not entirely true. My second jade bracelet broke. My bead bracelet from the yoga resort in Costa Rica (a wonderful reminder of a wonderful trip) broke. My iPod's earbuds broke. And the plastic exterior of my tea infuser was cracked.<br />
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But I appeared to be OK.<br />
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I picked up the bike, got back on, and tried to ride away, but the chain had slipped off the gears. I fixed that, but the pedal mechanism was damaged. I managed to get home, but it would have to be repaired. (When I took it in, it turned out the pedal crank had been bent and needed to be replaced -- total cost to have the shop replace the crank and pedal: 95 RMB... about $15!)<br />
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Nine days later, my left hip still carries a deep black-and-blue bruise. There's still a quarter-sized scab near my left elbow where some skin had been torn away. And there's still enough soreness that I've been going through plenty of my ibuprofen supply. But otherwise, I'm fine.<br />
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And I know it could have been much worse.<br />
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So, having to fight through pain just to make it through each day, I haven't had the stamina to do a lot of blogging. And I've had so much to talk about... <br />
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For that week's lesson, as you can see, I decided to focus on storytelling.<br />
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"How many of you are storytellers?"<br />
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A lot of students shook their heads. Some said "no." Not a single person said "yes."<br />
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"Well, then each and every one of you is wrong!"<br />
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Most of the students at my school live on campus during the week, then spend weekends with their parents. (That appears to be the norm in this part of China.) So, when their parents pick them up from school, what's the normal first topic of conversation? "How was your week? Tell me about it." (Parents are so predictable.)<br />
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Of course, they would tell their parents about their week. And that makes them all storytellers, whether they realized it or not.<br />
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We talked about different kinds of storytelling -- written, spoken, and visual -- with examples of each. They really reacted when I showed them a screen shot from a video game. "Whaaaa!"<br />
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I explained to them the different kinds of stories -- fiction, nonfiction, different genres -- and the different ways of telling stories.<br />
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I gave them an example of storytelling that will become very important to them in the next couple of years -- the university application essay -- and told them why it's so vital that they become good storytellers.<br />
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And then I had a simple question for them:<br />
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There is no homework in my class, but that didn't stop me from issuing them an invitation;</div>
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If any of them felt like writing a story for me -- a story about themselves, a made-up story, whatever -- during the school term, I would happily read it, then give them advice and suggestions about how they could be better storytellers.</div>
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If every single kid takes me up on that, I realize I'll have more than a thousand stories to read and evaluate. And I'd be OK with that. But, in reality, I know I'll be lucky to get 20 or 30. Those will be the students, I believe, who are destined for very good things in life.</div>
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That, of course, is why I'm here. And, thankfully, still alive. 😊</div>
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<br />Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08083831588031821388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561763941668892319.post-55669974744792590422018-03-20T14:20:00.002+08:002018-03-21T15:23:23.377+08:00Teaching Week 3: Cool Places<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGg7DzMhJa8k9KDbIp3L-yKSjAGk-huG0ExlnIypW_obr_QapadP3bT43LIuY-kf2xzvnZM3Vz7ngvM0PLi-7WQTpen-LV8tiqu_JBfn7MNRdkd6jz10Z1bcJJ8FP5apM-69L6h1byDLFZ/s1600/20180312_153456_crop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="843" data-original-width="1600" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGg7DzMhJa8k9KDbIp3L-yKSjAGk-huG0ExlnIypW_obr_QapadP3bT43LIuY-kf2xzvnZM3Vz7ngvM0PLi-7WQTpen-LV8tiqu_JBfn7MNRdkd6jz10Z1bcJJ8FP5apM-69L6h1byDLFZ/s400/20180312_153456_crop.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Newbie... E-Newb... yep, some things are said backward in China!</td></tr>
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I got a little behind on my blogging this past week, because I managed to get myself sick for the first time here. Don't know if I had a fever or not, because I don't have a thermometer here, but I had a pretty bad sore throat. Sick days at many Chinese schools are not to be taken lightly, so I soldiered on.<br />
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I wanted to find a way to get all of the kids in class to speak. Unfortunately, that's not an easy task when you've got 50 kids to a class. But I was determined!<br />
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Everyone dreams of going to certain places in the world, right? So I decided to make that the hook to get everyone involved.<br />
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Since I'm trying to toss in some life lessons along the way, I also introduced them to a cool person -- my friend Jan. (Those of you who know about the <a href="http://alltimetopten.podomatic.com/" target="_blank">All Time Top Ten podcast</a> might recall the <a href="https://www.mixcloud.com/beneisen/episode-294-top-ten-electric-light-orchestra-songs-wjeff-axelrod-jan-berkeley/" target="_blank">ELO episode we did a few months ago</a>.) She's got one of the coolest jobs of all the people I know, working at JPL in Pasadena, so she taped a little video greeting for my students. (When she said, "Bye!" it was fun to see how many of my kids said "bye" back!)<br />
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I told them about the mission she'd worked on, the Cassini mission to Saturn, and how important it was that every single calculation was correct before it was sent to the spacecraft, since it takes the signal nearly an hour and a half to reach it. Once you realize something's gone wrong, you're looking at 83-minute-old data and another 83 minutes until a correction will reach it... and who knows what bad things can happen in almost three hours? I might have exaggerated a little bit by making the spaceship explode in my PowerPoint (maybe not?), but it was definitely a cool visual that got the kids' attention as I talked about the importance of good planning and preparation.<br />
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Then, it was on to cool places! To inspire them, I put together a slide show of cool places I'd been, set to -- what else? -- <a href="https://youtu.be/WNKIba_yZJo" target="_blank">"Cool Places" by Sparks f/Jane Wiedlin</a>.<br />
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It was interesting to see which pictures drew the biggest reactions. The White House was a big one. A photo of the Golden Gate Bridge, taken from San Francisco Bay, got the boys' attention, since they knew the "view" from the Golden State Warriors' logo. They "ooooh"-ed the Hollywood sign and the Washington Monument, and there were a few gasps when they saw the live bear I encountered at Grand Teton National Park.<br />
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Then, after explaining that they could talk about a place they had either been to or would like to visit -- and talking about the tense and types of words they would use to describe each -- I went around the room to get their responses.<br />
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They were pretty fascinating. Going to high school in Deerfield, Illinois, I was always amazed that I had classmates who had never been to Chicago. Similarly, there were a number of kids in my classes who were looking forward to going to Shanghai, even though it's less than two hours away from here.<br />
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A lot of the responses were places in China, but some dreamed bigger. France was a popular destination (and "romantic" was the word most often used to describe it -- these Chinese are lovers!). Australia was mentioned a lot because of its beautiful scenery and animals. Japan was a big one -- students here are really into Japanese animation, Japanese food, and want to visit Mt. Fuji. Various places in the USA got mentions, like Hollywood, Washington D.C., and a couple of students who chose Chicago because it's where I'm from. And other European countries (England, Italy, Switzerland) got some mentions, too.<br />
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And there were even a few who said they'd like to go to other planets, which I thought was an awesome answer. <br />
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(Of course, there were also the kids who said they were most interested in going home, because they were tired and needed to sleep.)<br />
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Overall, I was pleased with the answers I was getting. A lot of them were quite thoughtful, though some of the shy kids stuck to very basic responses.<br />
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The biggest problem I'm facing, though, is the class size. In a class of 50, it's difficult to keep them all engaged simultaneously. As much as I implore them to respect their classmates and be good listeners when others are speaking, there are always going to be kids who will talk to their neighbors in class. (I should know -- in some of my classes, I was one of those kids. Sorry, Mr. Elliot... I get it now, haha!)<br />
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So this week's lesson will include the "Shhhh" scene from "Austin Powers," along with an explanation that "shhhh" has become my least favorite word, so don't make me use it!<br />
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Outside the classroom... as today marks my 30th day here in China, my contract school has made an appointment for me to go apply for my Resident ID card. I've been waiting for this. I can't get a Chinese bank account without my ID number. Without the bank account, I can't get a Chinese mobile phone, and I can't use any of the pay apps (WeChat Pay or AliPay), so all of my transactions have been in cash, since none of my USA credit cards is accepted at stores here. (USA card acceptance is generally confined to tourist-heavy areas, and Zhangjiagang is definitely not one of those.)<br />
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Apparently, I can't even get mail or packages from the USA until I have my Resident ID number, so I've been looking forward to getting this done. Hopefully it won't take long to get it, after this afternoon's appointment.<br />
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Anyway, I'm heading to the bureau now. Wish me luck! Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08083831588031821388noreply@blogger.com1Zhangjiagang, Suzhou, Jiangsu, China31.875572 120.5560050000000331.444118 119.91055800000002 32.307026 121.20145200000003tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561763941668892319.post-60910838646576806502018-03-17T08:00:00.001+08:002018-03-17T08:00:28.873+08:00An Open Note To Cheryl (And Any Other Woman Thinking About China)I just saw a comment on an earlier post from a new reader named Cheryl. (First of all, thanks for finding the blog and reading!) I thought about responding directly to the comment, but since it was an old post, the information probably wouldn't have been seen by most, and it's worthwhile information.<br />
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Cheryl mentioned that she'd been a little apprehensive about coming to China as a woman on her own. To put it simply, Cheryl, you have nothing to worry about.<br />
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When she was showing me around town, my colleague Roni mentioned that, as a woman, she feels much, much safer walking the streets of Zhangjiagang than she does in America. She said that, if you feel like going jogging at night, you can do it without fear. She even took it to the extreme, saying you could walk down any alley here late at night without feeling threatened.<br />
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Crime is virtually nonexistent here. People are respectful of others and their property. As a foreigner, you may get some odd looks (we're definitely a novelty here, and the natives do enjoy looking at us, particularly when we look confused in stores or restaurants!), but you are also "protected." China is very concerned about its image in the international travel community, since there is so much tourism now, and crimes against foreigners are prosecuted much more harshly as a deterrent. So take that virtually nonexistent crime and break it down into a small fraction... that's your chance of becoming a crime victim in China. That's pretty amazing.<br />
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Unlike the United States, the Chinese government also takes the security of its schoolchildren very, very seriously. Every school here in town is gated, with limited, guard-protected access. So, as a teacher, you will also feel secure. (Especially if you're living on a school campus, as I am.)<br />
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If you're worried about feeling alone as a foreigner in China, you shouldn't be too concerned. Just like any other workplace, there are co-workers who will become friends. At the school where I'm living, I'm housed with a great group of English-speaking teachers. And at the school where I'm teaching, I've been playing volleyball with other faculty three or four times a week, and I've been made to feel very welcome.<br />
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Also, thanks to WeChat, most expats get connected through groups.<br />
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Even in Zhangjiagang, which is a smaller Chinese city, there are more than 150 expats, and most (if not all) of us are in a WeChat group. People ask each other for advice, plan get-togethers, and as I will soon be posting, meet up atrestaurants and bars around town that embrace and cater to the expat community. So there's no need to be concerned about social activities -- you will not be forced into a hermit's life!<br />
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Thanks for the comment, Cheryl... and maybe I'll see you here in China someday soon. 😊Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08083831588031821388noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561763941668892319.post-56258553671841465112018-03-11T11:54:00.002+08:002018-03-11T11:54:43.773+08:00Teaching Week #2: "'Cause You're Too Shy, Shy..."<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy80YRO3IJXzGfuipNFiVLf3ByfaK7n8QHnPLLlwORx73FTWCBwU77kwDgiK9fAiU2NFQ9YLaZRdFbEuQ8fM_9XEXk_1SclBL-nu3I-QBNZ3pJXNohyI_gWPZ48E_FSfSZc2pK7nNjkS8b/s1600/lucky.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="426" data-original-width="800" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy80YRO3IJXzGfuipNFiVLf3ByfaK7n8QHnPLLlwORx73FTWCBwU77kwDgiK9fAiU2NFQ9YLaZRdFbEuQ8fM_9XEXk_1SclBL-nu3I-QBNZ3pJXNohyI_gWPZ48E_FSfSZc2pK7nNjkS8b/s400/lucky.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
My second week of teaching was a lot different than my first week of teaching.<br />
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How could it not be?<br />
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The first week, I was told to do a class that introduced myself to the students. This week, I had some actual teaching to do.<br />
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Since I don't have any kind of syllabus to work with, I've got the ability to choose my own topics and the way I'd like to present them. And one of the things I'm intent on doing is teaching not just English, but also life lessons. Because my class is so different than their others -- the novelty of a foreign teacher, no exams, no homework -- I figure I have a pretty good chance of reaching them in ways their other teachers can't.<br />
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So, I called upon Lucky The Lobster for a little help.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBPmMD93H43LV3ffHdSqu7TxQrOtx56rz9q8pFr0ic9N0dLnk0m6gET-cYbuXS7Usb-1j_hXo2uR0pOv89NiARFosDwEd07yfu_kkG-CBH0sCRHnwd-ZsNF2_6vwE8fKnG6rc4Qy77-G8R/s1600/20180305_134136.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBPmMD93H43LV3ffHdSqu7TxQrOtx56rz9q8pFr0ic9N0dLnk0m6gET-cYbuXS7Usb-1j_hXo2uR0pOv89NiARFosDwEd07yfu_kkG-CBH0sCRHnwd-ZsNF2_6vwE8fKnG6rc4Qy77-G8R/s320/20180305_134136.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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"Lucky The Lobster" was a story I wrote for a reading comprehension exercise while I was getting certified as a foreign teacher at the <a href="http://www.internationalteflacademy.com/" target="_blank">International TEFL Academy</a>. We didn't have to write our own stories, but this one popped into my head, so I did. It was surprisingly moving to me -- when I got to a pivotal part of the story, I even began sobbing.<br />
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It's the story of a scrawny little lobster who, confined to his little glass house, does not see the big picture. He sees friendly-looking creatures choosing his bigger lobster friends, "adopting" them into what Lucky thinks will surely be exciting new lives. Even though he's always surrounded by new lobsters, he's lonely and insecure, wondering why he's never good enough to be chosen.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguUSxD5hiNFRGb11MFvNI3GvDJiEChBZ_-Pmh12sFg6uDLap-enwCffwCHe0VS7-iFMLhxWr_9tTjZETZJSfVL9HJoU_4C8TFdWyWuNxkc2Xpom5ux39xtGaWlGD0UePKGBOlOjXSsdDD2/s1600/20180305_162923.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguUSxD5hiNFRGb11MFvNI3GvDJiEChBZ_-Pmh12sFg6uDLap-enwCffwCHe0VS7-iFMLhxWr_9tTjZETZJSfVL9HJoU_4C8TFdWyWuNxkc2Xpom5ux39xtGaWlGD0UePKGBOlOjXSsdDD2/s320/20180305_162923.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Of course, he's living in a restaurant's lobster tank. At the end of the story, when the restaurant owner has grown too old to run the restaurant and is closing it down, he explains to Lucky that being smaller than the other lobsters made him special. After a while, when his customers didn't choose Lucky, he grew attached to him. He decided he could never let anybody eat Lucky.<br />
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At the end of the story, Lucky is in a new glass house -- an aquarium -- where he has all kinds of friends and a lot of visitors who come to say hello to "the lobster that lived." He finally realizes that he is, indeed, Lucky because he's alive and he's loved.<br />
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I think the story really speaks to the teenage experience. With all of the pressure and hard work that comes with being a high school student -- especially here in China, where the expectations on these kids are immense -- it's difficult for them to see the big picture. It's very easy for them to feel insecure and not very special.<br />
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It's certainly a feeling I understood, since my scrawny high school self was always one of the last two or three picked whenever we did sports in gym class, and when so many of my classmates were dating, it seemed like none of the girls was very interested in me.<br />
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And with social media now the norm, people of all ages are being bombarded with all of the happy, perfect images of the lives their friends and connections choose to present online. When everybody else's life seems 100% sunny, but you've got clouds and rain in your sky, it's easy to feel like your life doesn't measure up.<br />
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Of course, you're only seeing a small part of the picture, and the grass always seems greener on the other side of the fence. If you saw the whole picture, you'd understand that everybody else has clouds and rain in their lives, too.<br />
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Since it's an Oral English class, the idea is to get these kids speaking, so they all got copies of the story, and we read passages out loud in class. Of course, I was hoping for volunteers -- one of the class rules is "we are not shy" -- but everyone was too shy. So, for most of my classes, I had to bring out my deck of Fox playing cards (thanks, Liz Lopez... you have no idea how useful your gift has become!!!) and choose our readers that way.<br />
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The reactions are so interesting when the kids are randomly chosen. Every once in a while, you get one who looks happy to have been chosen -- somebody who probably wanted to read but was too embarrassed to raise a hand when nobody else was. But most of the time, they have the "why me?" look. And sometimes, the other students nervously chuckle, glad they weren't the one picked.<br />
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Some of the readers were great. (One of my Friday students read a passage with such panache, I'm convinced he's going to get into acting.) Others were very timid. Some were so quiet that I could barely hear them from five feet away. But that's what the class is about: getting that speaking experience so that they gain confidence over time.<br />
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And then there was my Thursday afternoon class. They were amazing! Once the "volunteering ice" had been broken by one student 🙋, there were volunteers for every single passage. (Even though they don't know the meaning of "peer pressure" -- it's a term I brought up in discussion about the hardships of being a teen, and they hadn't heard it -- I'm convinced it's very strong here.) The volunteers all read loudly and confidently, and they really looked like they were enjoying themselves.<br />
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I'm sure most teachers with multiple classes have one that is their most special, and Thursday afternoon's class is mine. Last week, when they had the opportunity to ask me anything, they asked one of the "standard" questions -- whether I liked Chinese food -- but followed up by asking if I liked a particular kind of snack. When I said I wasn't familiar with it, this is what happened:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrRB124UregAGau4JOkUxZVt3LwTmDlBP9GyXYXC0cIvpEdOiUosW6iKinmQrAXxfsAQ3KfXxSjzg2MXKWInK2Ao85BaMkOyYbgZIof9sBgtuh-otwlqfqs71PyJxuf8dRV6kHyR6wMieX/s1600/20180308_163000.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrRB124UregAGau4JOkUxZVt3LwTmDlBP9GyXYXC0cIvpEdOiUosW6iKinmQrAXxfsAQ3KfXxSjzg2MXKWInK2Ao85BaMkOyYbgZIof9sBgtuh-otwlqfqs71PyJxuf8dRV6kHyR6wMieX/s320/20180308_163000.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Three different students brought me a gift, so that I could try this snack I'd never heard of.<br />
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Of course, they wanted me to try one right then and there. The chili pepper on the front had me a little nervous about what I'd gotten myself into, but I had nothing to worry about. These things are actually pretty great! They've got the flavor of a hot 'n' spicy BBQ flavor potato chip, but with a chewy texture.<br />
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But I've digressed. Anyway...<br />
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After reading "Lucky The Lobster," we had a few comprehension questions, and then we talked.<br />
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I let them know that, no matter what it might feel like right now, they are all special. I let them know that this is the time in their lives when they're most likely to discover their true talents, and that they should embrace them, nurture them, and grow them, because those talents are what make them special... and when they show these gifts to the world, they will be loved for that.<br />
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There were a lot of smiling, nodding heads in the class when I related Lucky's life to theirs, and especially when I implored them to find and feed those things that make them special and unique.<br />
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I've had quite a few students who have reached out to me on WeChat, too, and they were all very thankful for the positive message and encouragement. It's clear that this isn't the kind of thing they're used to hearing in school, and they were all so appreciative.<br />
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And getting to observe and read those reactions, like last week's smiling girl, was another example of how fulfilling this profession and this experience can be.<br />
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One final note (literally): </div>
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Another teacher shared this with me... his students write diary entries for class, and one of his students apparently wrote one about me. After lunch, I will often exit to the east side of the cafeteria, where the campus cats hang out and, <a href="http://adventures.chinateachingnewbie.com/2018/03/fast-times-at-zhangjiagang-high.html" target="_blank">as I mentioned last week, there's one cat that lets me pet it</a>. According to the teacher, the student spotted me as I was doing this and said I look young like a college student.</div>
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As a 51-year-old grandfather, I will gladly take that compliment. 😊</div>
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Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08083831588031821388noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561763941668892319.post-494524523008209572018-03-06T14:00:00.001+08:002018-03-06T14:00:59.850+08:00East Meets West, Vol. 1: Pizza Hut<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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When I'm traveling abroad, I have a strict "No US Brands" policy when it comes to eating in restaurants. But I'm no longer a tourist -- I'm living here now! So I've decided to occasionally try the Chinese versions of our American brands, compare and contrast the Eastern and Western versions, and share them with you.<br />
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With that in mind, I had my first Chinese Pizza Hut experience last night, at the restaurant in Zhangjiagang Shopping Park.<br />
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When I walked in, I expected to see the "to go" counter I've found at most U.S. Pizza Huts, but there was none. This Pizza Hut is strictly sit-down, and the decor is certainly a cut above most of the American ones I've seen. (The old location at Sepulveda and National was downright grungy!)<br />
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It's very clean and modern-looking. Inexplicably, though, it still had all kinds of Valentine's Day decorations scattered about. We did just have "Women's Day" here in China, so maybe that's some kind of cultural equivalent?<br />
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The menus -- and there were three of them: Regular, Afternoon Tea, and Specialty Combos -- all had a TGIFridays feel to them, with a lot of color and a lot of pictures.<br />
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At U.S. Pizza Huts, the drink selection is pretty limited. You've got the standard assortment of soft drinks, along with iced tea (sometimes flavored) and bottled water. Here, the beverage section of the menu was two pages. They had a huge assortment of cold drinks, hot drinks, hot and iced teas, and even alcohol (including the inevitable Tsingtao beer and an interesting looking blue margarita in a martini glass).<br />
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This is what I ordered:<br />
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It's a fruit tea loaded up with real fruit. There was a lot of watermelon, some orange slices, apple slices, several small limes, cherry tomatoes (!), and a lot of crunchy seeds (pomegranate?) to add some texture. It was a great blend of flavors... very, very tasty. And they give you a fork with it, so you can enjoy the fresh fruit cocktail that's left when the tea's all gone.<br />
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As for the food... well, obviously, they've got pizza. Most of the pizza varieties, though, appeared to be preset -- none of the "build-your-own" pizzas, where you choose the ingredients. (Granted, maybe I'm just not skilled enough at reading the Chinese menus. They do have a few English words here and there as dish titles, but almost everything is in Chinese.) And they don't have the "lovers line" of pizzas (meat lovers, cheese lovers, pepperoni lovers, etc.) we've got in the states, either. But there are some unusual options, like a "New Orleans" pizza. <br />
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They've got a much more extensive line of pastas than their American counterparts, and many more appetizer options -- two pages' worth.<br />
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Of course, I had to go for the pizza, since that's the obvious jumping-off point for a Pizza Hut comparison. 😃<br />
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Since they didn't have my go-to, sausage and pepperoni (I'm such a Chicagoan!), I decided to go all-out and get the most "East Meets West"-style pizza they had: Peking Duck Pizza.<br />
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The Chinese crust bore little resemblance to Pizza Hut's American crust, which has that kind of buttery-sweet taste to it. The Chinese dough was, for lack of a better word, neutral -- your standard pizza dough, without any kind of modifiers. Not bad, but not anything special. The rest of the pizza, though, was fantastic.<br />
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Obviously, there is the duck. (Hence the name, duh.) There were pieces of cucumber, green onions, and some peppers, including that very, very hot red pepper. Had I known it was so hot, I probably wouldn't have taken such a big bite of it! And, instead of a tomato-based sauce, it was served with a thick hoisin-style sauce.<br />
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This was my first time having duck on a pizza, so it tasted a little unusual initially, but it was very good, and I liked the sauce a lot.<br />
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Even without an appetizer, I found I could only eat half of the pizza, so I took home the rest in a box that reminds me of the ill-fated "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" movie, which took place in, of course, Pepperland. Ahhh, sweet Pepperland...</div>
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The total bill for the pizza and drink was 120rmb, approximately $18. So it's a bit on the expensive side, especially for China, where you can get a lot of great full-size dishes at restaurants for 15-20rmb. There's something about American brands, though, that commands a premium over here. (I walked through a department store yesterday and tried on a pair of Levi's that -- on sale -- were going for 999rmb, about $150! On Amazon, you can get the same pair for no more than $70.)</div>
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Overall, I was satisfied with the experience. The restaurant itself was much nicer, the drinks beat the American assortment by a mile, and the pizza quality was comparable -- what the crust lacked in personality, the toppings easily made up for.</div>
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However, I've been told this is about the best of a pretty lackluster bunch of pizza joints around town, so I'm really, really going to miss my Lou Malnati's pizzas. </div>
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<br />Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08083831588031821388noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561763941668892319.post-5308929769760456532018-03-04T09:57:00.000+08:002018-03-04T09:57:04.196+08:00Zhangjiagang At Night, Vol. 1Since I joined the teachers' volleyball group, I've been riding home after dark. The other night, I stopped a few times along the way to take some pictures...<br />
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Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08083831588031821388noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561763941668892319.post-57080782070057775052018-03-02T14:53:00.001+08:002018-03-02T14:53:45.776+08:00Fast Times At Zhangjiagang High<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It's hard to believe my first week at Zhangjiagang Senior HS is almost over. Just one class to go. It's gone so quickly!<br />
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Since I showed you the Liangfeng campus, I should probably give you the tour of where I'm actually teaching.<br />
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It's a very beautiful campus, with all kinds of cool landscaping. This is the area between the main classroom building and the cafeteria. It's fun to watch the kids dash over that bridge when lunch period starts. None of them wants to get caught up in a long lunch line!<br />
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There are resident animals on campus! There's a fenced-in bunny patch, ducks that hang out by the pond, a scruffy little dog that always camps out near the cafeteria, looking for scraps, and a bunch of small cats. They're all pretty shy... the one you see here is the only one who's been daring enough to let me pet her.<br />
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This is the dining hall... and yes, it's so strange to get to eat in the teachers' dining room! When I was in school, it was that secret, off-limits room where the teachers probably talked about us students behind our backs. That might be happening here, too. But if they are, I can't understand it. Every other teacher is speaking Chinese.<br />
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I have been able to eat with a few teachers who speak some English, which has been nice. I became WeChat friends with one of them, and through that, I was invited to become part of the regular teachers' volleyball game. A large group of them get together every afternoon in the gym to play for a few hours. It's more friendly than competitive, and it's a lot of fun. Of course, it's also a great way to meet people here, too. The players have their own WeChat group (and WeChat translates English to Chinese and vice versa), so along with the games, we get some fun conversations going.<br />
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It was interesting, too, because for a while, we actually had an audience of students watching us! Maybe because Chinese teachers are seen as being fairly strict, the students enjoy seeing them let loose and be "real people" for a bit.<br />
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Like Liangfeng, this is a residential campus, with a number of students living here full-time. Some even live in the Hilton! (Have to admit, I laughed out loud when I saw that. But maybe the hotel company made a donation to the school to build the dorm.)<br />
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The academic buildings are joined together by walkways, though only the third-floor walkway is covered. it doesn't provide any protection from the cold, though. None of the classrooms do, actually. Apparently they don't believe in heating classrooms, so every single student is bundled up in parkas and other winter coats. And I've been asked many times, "Are you cold?" because I'm not wearing a coat. As it turns out, I still have plenty of Chicago blood left in me, even after three decades in L.A.<br />
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The kids find it amusing, though.<br />
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There is heat, however, in my office. Yes, the school is taking great care of me -- I have my very own private corner office, with a sofa (in case I want to indulge in the daily Chinese lunchtime nap ritual), desk, computer, kettle, and a fantastic view.<br />
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And I can't say enough about the reception I've gotten from the kids. They've been wonderful. Sure, it probably helps that mine is their easiest class, with no tests and no homework. And yes, as an American teaching in their school, I'm certainly a bit of a curiosity. But they've been awesome and receptive, and very welcoming. One of the classes' head teachers even told me over lunch that her students had been talking about how much they liked me, and that I was "very humorous."<br />
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I even got a paper heart from one of the students at the end of the period.<br />
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So far, the experience has been genuinely heartwarming and uplifting. This is already feeling like a great decision.<br />
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One more class to go, and then comes the weekend... along with some intense lesson planning for next week. Now that my introductory week is almost over, I have to come up with something compelling for next week's classes! <br />
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<br />Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08083831588031821388noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561763941668892319.post-89724311669609139592018-02-28T13:19:00.001+08:002018-02-28T13:55:27.958+08:00"Which Girl In Class Is Most Beautiful?"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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After showing you around the Liangfeng campus on Monday, I began teaching my classes at Zhangjiagang Senior High School.<br />
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I'm now five classes in, and what a great experience so far!<br />
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The picture at the top is of my very first class. Well, three-quarters of it -- the classes are big, with about 50 kids in each, and the two rows of desks at the far right just didn't fit into the picture.<br />
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Of course, starting both a new job and a new career at the same time, I had a few opening day jitters. It's only natural, right?<br />
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But once class started, and I settled in a bit, it felt really good.<br />
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This first week is an "easy" week. Because I'm a brand-new teacher, they asked me to do a class introducing myself. Since so much of my past work involved interviewing people -- whether for radio shows, videos, or at R&R -- I decided to make that the focus of my introduction. After I showed them a couple videos of me talking to stars (including the Chipmunks, which they all got a kick out of), I turned the tables, handed them the microphone, and asked them to interview me.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A little bit of my past followed me to China!</td></tr>
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It was fascinating to see what the classes would ask me. There are some of the basics that, through the first five classes, have been repeated over and over again:<br />
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"Do you like Chinese food?"<br />
"Do you like China?"<br />
"Are you single?"<br />
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There have been a few questions about my favorite things, a few questions about my hometown and family, and most of the classes have asked why I chose to come teach in China. A couple of the classes have asked me about American politics, which has been interesting. I noticed several students solemnly nodding their heads when I said our current president has made America a more dangerous place, especially for foreigners and immigrants. (Even though they're young and in a faraway land, they're aware of what's going on, and America's reputation is taking a beating.) When I saw that, I reinforced that Americans -- or any other nationality, for that matter -- should not be judged by their leaders. They seemed relieved when I told them that.<br />
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And then, there was the question that's become the title of this post:<br />
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"Which girl in class is most beautiful?"<br />
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I wasn't expecting that one. Though maybe I should have. Some of my colleagues at Liangfeng have talked about a few of the girls in their classes who are particularly vain.<br />
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Still, it threw me for a loop. It's one of those situations where you feel damned if you do, damned if you don't.<br />
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So I said, "It's not fair to ask me that question, because I don't know you yet. And beauty isn't just on the outside, it's also what's up here (pointing at my head) and in here (pointing at my heart) that make you beautiful."<br />
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As I said that, I noticed one girl in particular, off to my left, who broke into a wonderful smile.<br />
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Hopefully, I was able to turn a tricky question into a teachable moment, one that -- with any luck -- made some of the girls in class feel better about themselves.<br />
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Like the girl with the smile.<br />
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And, in that moment, I got my first real taste of how rewarding teaching can be.<br />
<br />Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08083831588031821388noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561763941668892319.post-16296612065530600532018-02-26T12:51:00.000+08:002018-02-26T12:51:21.533+08:00A Look Around My Campus*<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Ni hao from Zhangjiagang!<br />
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It's Monday afternoon here, which means I've been in China for almost exactly a week.<br />
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So far, so good! It's not like there haven't been any problems. I bought a bike last Thursday, only to get my first flat on Friday. I put the wrong key on my keychain and found myself locked out of my own room last night, having to pull a tricky little Spider-Man-like maneuver to get back in. One of my Chinese Jade bracelets slipped as I was taking it off, and it shattered on the hard floor. (Where am I going to find another Chinese Jade bracelet???)<br />
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Aside from minor issues like those, it's been great. A week away from my old life in America really does have me feeling revitalized. I'm finally starting to catch up on some of the sleep I'd been losing, and with a lot of bike riding built in to this new lifestyle, it seems like I'm feeling better every day. <br />
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Right now, I've got a little down time before I teach my first class, so I figured I'd show you where I live.<br />
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Liangfeng "Senior Middle School" has been around, as you can see, for a long, long time. It's regarded as the best school in town, and one of the best in the entire Jiangsu province. The campus is beautiful, filled with plenty of artwork and open areas. The building at the top of today's blog is where the International Program is housed. The administration and most of the classrooms are up on the fourth floor. I haven't been up to the fifth floor yet, but that's where the program has its Drama Club and Music Club. As things progress here, I can see myself getting involved with at least one, if not both, of those.<br />
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It all looks very empty in these photos, but that's not how it looks now. The students started to arrive back on campus over the weekend. A trickle on Saturday, a flood on Sunday. Coming back from dinner last night, we could see some of the kids playing flashlight games in their residences. It'll be fun to see what campus is like when it's at full speed, teeming with young energy.<br />
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These are a couple of the kids' residence halls. I was told that about a third of the school's overall students live on campus, while many of the locals live at home and commute (like "normal" high school kids in America). It looks like the school does a good job of catering to the boarders. In addition to a huge dining hall serving lunch and dinner, there's even a convenience store on campus.<br />
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As with any American high school, athletics has a pretty big footprint on campus. The athletic building is huge! As you can see, the track/soccer field has a nice permanent stadium area.<br />
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And this building is what I now call home. It's three stories, but there are only residences on the second and third floors. There are twelve units, and I believe they're all home to people from the International Program, including all of the teachers and at least one administrator. It's hard to get a handle on it all, because until Saturday, there were only three of us in the whole place -- me, Bill, and Roni.<br />
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Over the weekend, though, everyone started to trickle in. Eric arrived from his holiday break back home in Cincinnati. Sophie got back from many adventures in and around Southeast Asia. I finally got to meet Ken, who was my liaison through the hiring process, after he came back from the Phillipines yesterday. And I briefly saw Elly as she was arriving back on campus. Frank is one of the administrators, and he lives next door to me. I have to siphon off his Wi-Fi for now, because the previous tenant of my room left without giving us the password. (That's OK, it's not like I'm going to look at anything yellow and get Frank into trouble!)<br />
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Now that you've seen the Liangfeng campus, I should probably explain the asterisk in the title.<br />
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I'm writing this from my office at Zhangjiagang High School. As it turns out, once all the scheduling was figured out, there wasn't an available class for me at Liangfeng this semester. So I'm teaching at a high school across town.<br />
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It's a different kind of a program, and instead of working with the same kids, day in and day out, I'll be seeing each group of kids just once a week. My fellow teachers say it's actually a pretty sweet gig, because I get to do one lesson plan a week instead of lesson plans for every single class. And, with each lesson plan I do, I get to hone and refine it over the course of each week, so I'll get a good sense of what works and what doesn't.<br />
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Although I was originally disappointed that I wouldn't be teaching on the Liangfeng campus, the more my fellow teachers told me about what I'd be doing here, the better it sounded. For a teaching newbie such as myself, I get to take baby steps into the world of education. I'll be hanging out in the shallow end for a bit, getting my sea legs under me before I venture out into the deep end next term.<br />
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It's one hour until my first class. Wish me luck!<br />
Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08083831588031821388noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561763941668892319.post-89716333676251939412018-02-22T02:03:00.001+08:002018-02-22T02:03:39.856+08:00A Cold Reception From Zhangjiagang<br />
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No, I'm not talking about the people I've met, because they've been great.<br />
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It's the weather. The last time I experienced this kind of cold was probably in London over New Year's 2011. Highs in the low 40s. Lows in the 30s. Some rain, some drizzle. And I haven't seen the sun since I arrived. Still, it's all good. I'm finally here in China!<br />
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Let's backtrack a bit, shall we? After all, it's been a while since I've written. My attempted January departure date didn't work out. Even after scrambling to get all of the paperwork done on my side -- including a heroic effort by my father in Chicago to get my TEFL documents authenticated (thanks, Dad!) -- things stalled a bit on the China side. It became obvious we weren't going to get the work permit (and work visa) done before my flight date, so I pushed it back one more time, to February 18.<br />
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Fortunately, the third time was the charm, but not without a dramatic race to the finish. My school received the work permit from the Bureau of Education the night of Monday 2/12 (L.A. time), so I stayed up very late to work with my HR liaison, Sylvia, on preparing the visa application properly. Just a few hours after that, I was on my way to the Chinese consulate, because I knew I'd need to get it submitted ASAP. When I told them I needed rush service, I was very pleasantly surprised to find out they'd have it ready for me the next day, Wednesday 2/14.<br />
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When I went to pick up my visa, I discovered the reason why it was processed overnight: The consulate would be closed for the Chinese Lunar New Year on Thursday and Friday.<br />
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So I literally <i>just</i> beat the clock. Had the work permit been issued a day later, everything could have fallen through. Again.<br />
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Fortunately, that wasn't the case. And after a few days of frantically trying to pack up the house and getting it into storage -- a task which did not go as well as hoped (and was fraught with plenty of its own drama) -- as well as packing my bags, I was finally on a plane to China.<br />
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When we arrived in Shanghai, I must have looked like I was auditioning for a role on "The Walking Dead." Sleep had been hard to come by as my departure date approached. Good sleep had been even more of a rarity. And I wasn't able to rest much on the plane, because we hit quite a bit of turbulence on the way. So, as I passed through immigration and customs, I think I was running purely on adrenaline. (I don't <i>ever</i> want to see the picture the immigration officer took upon my entry.)<br />
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It's a good thing the school had sent a car and a fellow teacher, Bill, to pick me up at the airport. Between my utter exhaustion, the rain, and a heavy load of baggage, making my own way to Zhangjiagang would have been a nightmare.<br />
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Fortunately, the rain stopped, and traffic was mercifully light, so we made it to Zhangjiagang with no problems. Bill helped me get my luggage up to my temporary room (I have to wait for a departing teacher to vacate before I move in to my own, probably on Saturday), and we had some dinner.<br />
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Given my lack of sleep, coupled with the relief of finally getting here, I figured my first sleep in China would be a good one. Why did I think that? Of course it wouldn't be!<br />
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The New Year holiday celebrations continued on Tuesday with an event known as "dumpling and fireworks day." The Chinese eat dumplings and, yes, shoot off fireworks. All. Day. Long. I think it must have started sometime around 4am, and it just didn't stop. So I didn't sleep.<br />
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Of course, being "dumpling and fireworks day," we had to find dumplings, so Bill introduced me to one of the local malls -- very bright, very modern-looking, but (because of the holiday) not too busy. Over the New Year holiday, the Chinese traditionally travel back to their hometowns to be with their family. Since Zhangjiagang was a tiny little town that's been built up over the past 30 years, it isn't the hometown to all that many people. So, over the holiday, the majority of the people here are back home.<br />
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I went on a walking tour of the city with another teacher, Roni, and this is the "Walking Street" pedestrian mall in downtown Zhangjiagang. It's pretty much a ghost town right now, but as people trickle back into town over the next few days, it'll start bustling again.<br />
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Exploring downtown Zhangjiagang was great -- and highly amusing. There are plenty of businesses with oddly translated English names. I'm not sure how the beer's been naughty, Steven Tyler could probably explain the "Gentleman lady," and either Emmett Brown or The Doctor has set up shop here. "Cat & Coffee," interestingly, is just that... a coffee shop where cats roam freely, and you can pet them or play with them as you drink and socialize.<br />
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There's a lot of water in Zhangjiagang. There are a few large lakes and lagoons in the recreational areas, and several canals running through the town.<br />
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Roni and I also passed a temple along the way, and we were drawn in by the sound of people chanting in the parking lot. We weren't sure what kind of service they were having, or why it was in the parking lot instead of the temple itself, but it was interesting nonetheless.<br />
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Since we were already there, might as well get a look around the place, right?<br />
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And, of course, I have to include the obligatory "Chinese food in China" shot. This was today's lunch: A Shanxi-style pork "burger" and a spicy noodle dish. Both were very tasty... and filling enough that I never got hungry enough for dinner!<br />
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Tomorrow, I'm off to buy a bicycle, so I have some transportation around town. For now, I'll just go with a regular bike, though "e-bikes" (a.k.a. scooters) tend to dominate the bike lanes here. But I have my issues with those things. So we'll see if I ever make that transition...<br />
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Classes start on Monday, but I haven't been told my schedule (or what I'll be teaching) yet. I'm told I should find out on Friday. With precious little prep time, this really will be an adventure! Hopefully I will have made a dent in my sleep deficit by then, because I have a feeling I'll need my brain functioning at its peak level.<br />
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Wish me and my brain luck!<br />
<br />Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08083831588031821388noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561763941668892319.post-49775873415437482572017-12-31T16:14:00.000+08:002017-12-31T16:14:52.907+08:00Oh, The Waiting Is The Hardest PartIt was during my TEFL training that I got the news about Tom Petty's death, which just adds more poignancy to that song as it's been playing repeatedly in my head these past few weeks.<br />
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Life is short, and when something you want is right in front of you, coming your way, but still just out of reach... yes, the waiting is the hardest part.<br />
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I thought I'd be celebrating the arrival of 2018 in China. <br />
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But you know what they say about the best-laid plans of mice and men. So yesterday, when I thought I'd be eating lunch in my new China town, I was eating lunch in L.A.'s Chinatown instead. (Dim Sum at Tian's... good stuff.)<br />
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Unfortunately, too many people have scammed the Chinese government by using teaching as a pretense to get a work visa, entering the country, then doing something else. So China has taken measures to stop the scammers by being a lot stricter in its application process. I don't blame them for doing it -- it's an appropriate response to a serious problem -- but it does make things a lot more difficult for those of us with pure intentions.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3I7rbDRnLcGdrWZIEZ-OrHSa_x9Pun7S4mA96uYNRLe6f7y27fdxHRAkh59MMke4eP7cycvUTy7dM9fkoK-RqArd0OFTfVoRRdCHfPMmfGYS0IR7Ck_NH5-bBPOlAOO0FSZIRLcYL-QUZ/s1600/hpqscan0001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="556" data-original-width="449" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3I7rbDRnLcGdrWZIEZ-OrHSa_x9Pun7S4mA96uYNRLe6f7y27fdxHRAkh59MMke4eP7cycvUTy7dM9fkoK-RqArd0OFTfVoRRdCHfPMmfGYS0IR7Ck_NH5-bBPOlAOO0FSZIRLcYL-QUZ/s200/hpqscan0001.jpg" title="One Bad Apple Don't Spoil The Whole Bunch, Girl" width="161" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">One bad apple may not </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">spoil the whole bunch, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">but a lot of bad apples </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">have made it </span><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">a lot more </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">difficult to work in China!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">So, despite Donny's best </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">wishes, </span><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">I'm not there yet.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
That's why I'm still here in Los Angeles. What I'd hoped would be a smooth process has been filled with stops and starts. Sometimes, I've had to retrace my steps and redo things that needed to be fixed. Crazy little things that shouldn't have gone wrong, did. (Like the Department of Justice sending me a letter that was missing the required signature. Or USC mistakenly giving me a copy of somebody else's notary-stamped transcript instead of mine.) <br />
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And the waiting has been hard. Very hard. Consuming my thoughts and paralyzing my motivation to get anything other than my visa completed. That, of course, has made the task of packing up my house more difficult, which only adds to the stress and frustration.<br />
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But there appears to be a light at the end of the tunnel.<br />
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My flight out to China has been rescheduled for January 18, and if all goes well -- knock on wood -- I'll be "all systems go" with (hopefully) a week to spare.<br />
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Please keep your fingers crossed for me. Because this waiting... well, it's hard!<br />
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Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08083831588031821388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6561763941668892319.post-91509706401546279712017-12-04T14:59:00.000+08:002017-12-04T14:59:54.179+08:00Ni hao!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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There's a question I've gotten a lot in these last 33 years: "Do you plan to stay in L.A. the rest of your life?" Every time, I've answered, "It would take something extraordinary to make me leave." <br />
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Well, something extraordinary has happened. And I'm leaving.<br />
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I've seen a lot of America, and there was no other American city that could have lured me away. But I've had a deep-seated desire to live abroad if the situation was right. In fact, during my first trip to London, I applied for a radio programming job at the BBC!<br />
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While I was in China with my father this summer, the perfect opportunity presented itself. <br />
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During our first full day on the ground in China, tour guide Terry told us that Chinese schools have been hiring Americans as English teachers like crazy, since English is pretty much the official language of business worldwide, and China is striving to overcome those language barriers. <br />
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Over the next two weeks, I spoke with a lot of natives, and they all told me the same thing: Today's young Chinese people all want to learn how to speak better English. And they all thought I'd make a great English teacher. Hmmmm... could they be right? It was a tantalizing thought.<br />
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After I got home, I took some time to ponder the idea, then enrolled at the International TEFL Academy in Chicago. Two weeks after graduation, I had a contract in hand from Liangfeng High School in Zhangjiagang, Jiangsu, China.<br />
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As I've told many people in the last several weeks, I've reached the point in my life and career where I don't want to be a replaceable cog in somebody else's money-making machine. I want to be able to do some good in the world, and if I can become one of those teachers who inspires students to go on to do great things, I will have done some good. <br />
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So, the adventure begins. I fly out on December 26. Ironically enough, four months to the day from that Facebook post. Exactly 33-1/3 years in Los Angeles will come to an end that day. Yes, a record. Now, we'll see if I can make it to 45 in China!Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08083831588031821388noreply@blogger.com0