Miscellaneous (4-19)

The big news last week was that my large—50 student—writing class was split into two classes and became Oral English instead of English Writing. This happened after I reported to Peggie that no one had come to the interns’ class for two weeks. So they cancelled that class and split the other so I would have the same number of teaching hours. I was also told that the students have another writing class with a Chinese teacher and that they wanted oral English. Easier for both them and me, as they won’t have to write papers and I won’t have to read them. When I was given the news, I controlled myself from sounding too enthusiastic. As I thought about it, I realized that, even though I don’t really like reading all the papers, mostly because it takes a lot of time and is really wearing, the students really get more feedback on their written papers because I correct their errors and make suggestions as to what they need to do to improve the written assignment. And I make them rewrite the paper with the corrections so they have to practice writing correctly. Thus they have a better opportunity to improve their English. With spoken English, I can’t correct every mistake they make; so they keep making them. I really like the smaller classes, as it was not productive to teach so many at one time. When I asked the classes if they like oral English, they said, “Yes,” but I got a loud “No” when I asked if they like writing. So, they are happy with the change. I think the reduction of homework is also a factor.

Last week I had my first Chinese hair cut. I had Diao Min go with me after our lesson to tell the woman how I wanted it cut. That worked, and the hairdresser did a nice job. As in Thailand and Vietnam, the hair cut starts with washing and a head massage. Cost: 12 yuan ($2).

I also had my first dental appointment last week. It was time for my six-month cleaning. I had asked the PC medical officer if they could recommend a place, and they did. The assistant even made the appointment for me. The clinic is a short taxi ride from the bus station. Since it was so close and traffic into the city was light, I arrived almost two hours early. So I walked around the neighborhood a bit. Near the clinic there is a grocery store which I walked into. I was excited to find “colored” rice. I bought some red rice, a mixture of different rices, and one that is between white and brown rice. I also bought a grain that is like amaranth. Since I find the Chinese white rice to be bland and tasteless, I’m now happily enjoying having rice that’s not white at home.

After shopping, I went to the clinic to read while I waited for my appointment time. Since they weren’t busy, they woman took me an hour early, which was nice. She did the cleaning and polishing well. Cost: 180 yuan ($30). When the PC woman told me the cost, I was surprised because, although it is considerably less than it would be in the U.S., it is three times the $10 I paid in Thailand. China is more expensive in general.

On the way to the bus station, I stopped at Qingyang Gong Daoist Temple, the oldest Taoist temple in the city. 

It is surprisingly large with a lot of buildings and beautifully landscaped grounds. 

When I was walking out, there was a woman with a stringed instrument. I thought she was going to play, but it turned out that she was only posing for photos.

Next to the temple there is a free park. Outside one gate there is a sign saying “Free Park” and “Free Park for the Old.” I’m not sure why the second statement needed to be made in addition to the first. The park has a few paths through the beautiful grounds. 

An interesting part is a small cemetery in which all the people died in 1949.

My lecture last week was probably the best and most popular one I’ll have. The topic was weddings in America. In addition to general information, I used photos from Christina and Jason’s wedding to depict the ceremony. The girls and even some of the boys were hanging on every slide and often oohed and aahed.

My Chinese continues to improve a bit. This week I read through the lists of pinyin words with Diao Min fairly smoothly. It didn’t take as much effort as it has in the past. And I’m remembering more and can even make a few sentences. I don’t have much opportunity to use it, but that will come.

Friday night some of the English Corner students invited us to a karaoke party. Meghan and I joined the ten students. (Megan and Katy were ill.) This was my first time to do this. There are places that have small rooms a group can rent for a private karaoke party. The rooms have comfortable benches along two walls and a table for snacks and drinks. Bottles of beer were on the table to be purchased. After a while, a couple students took some out and returned with soft drinks and tea. They also went out and purchased additional snacks. A new one that I’ll buy for myself was dried sweet potato strips. The karaoke screen is a large screen TV. It is controlled by a touch screen on another wall. Sound was quite good, and the songs had videos. It is much more sophisticated than the karaoke machines I encountered in Thailand. Songs played and sung were almost all English songs. Meghan quite likes singing karaoke and sang a number of times. 

I joined in along with the students when I knew the song and later did my own featured song, which made the students happy. I enjoyed hanging out with the students for about two hours. Not being a party person, that’s about my limit. When Megan told the students that we had to leave after three hours, they were disappointed. One girl told me it wasn’t time to leave yet. I realized as we chatted that they had reserved the room for four hours. They understood my leaving because it’s a young people’s activity and they know I like quiet time. I’m not sure how they know this, but I’ve been told by a few students that they think I like to be quiet. Several of the students walked us back to the front gate.  One of the boys held my umbrella for me, partly to be polite and helpful and partly because he’s a little taller than I. Although the attention and care-taking can be overwhelming at times, it is nice of them. Roger asked if I have grandchildren. I told him I don’t and that he and his friend can be my Chinese grandsons. They were quite pleased.