Settling In (3-17)

­­Last week was a relatively quiet one. Classes went well again. Fifteen interns showed up, a marked increase from four the first week. Since we had only ten teaching hours and Peace Corps wants us to have fourteen, Katy had suggested dividing her writing class with 100 students into three classes—two for her and one for me, which would give us each an additional class. They agreed to do that, and we even got our new schedules on Thursday. The new class will give me a writing class with 50 students and one with 26, and it give Katy two with 30. So I lost in that exchange. The irony is that she loves teaching writing and I don’t. It’s my least favorite, but it’ll be OK. The first class is good even with the large number of students. I’ll see the new class this week for the first time. Katy said they’re pretty weak.

English Corner was less popular but more manageable. About 50 students came; so we had smaller groups to chat with. We all agreed that 90 minutes is too long, and the person supervising agreed. It’s hard to keep discussion going and to stand in one place that long. So we’ll do it for an hour in the future, which will be better. Many students left after 45 minutes, and I felt like some of the ones I had left wanted to leave but had to stay so I wouldn’t be without students.

After going to Chengdu on Saturday two weeks in a row, I was ready for a quiet weekend at home. The weather was great—warm and pleasant. Both days I went to the river where there is a “health trail” labeled in English. 

There are paths lined with trees on both sides of the river—one beside the river and up a bit that goes among the trees. There are benches where people sit to relax. 

Lots of people of all ages are in the park sitting and walking. Some play cards. 

A group of men hang their bird cages in trees to give them some air. 

People walk their children. One woman chatted with me even after I told her I don’t understand Chinese, which I had just learned to say, and it was obvious that I didn’t understand.

Sunday I had my first Mandarin lesson with Diao Min, who was Katy’s teacher. We met on Friday. She had come for help writing a resume and cover letter; so I helped along with Katy. She just turned 20, and her English is excellent. In true Chinese style, she went through the letter/sounds chart in order having me repeat each sound after her and then say them alone in order. I had a few phrases I need to learn: I don’t understand Chinese and I don’t speak Chinese. So I’ll be working on them. I was pleased remember and be able to tell a few women that I don’t understand when one continued to chat to me. Her friend understood me repeated it to the woman, but she continued to chat. Then she leaned in to my ear and whispered like she was telling me a secret.

At the local ponds, children and a few adults have been collecting lots of tadpoles. The frog population is being seriously decimated. Some of them have twenty or more in their jars—big black masses not just a few. There were so many that I wondered if they eat them, remembering my meal in Thailand that included “son of frog.” When I asked Yang if they eat them, she was shocked. It’s not done here. The people are collecting the tadpoles to watch them grow into frogs. In my opinion, they only need a small number to do that. The rest will just die.

At English Corner, a student asked what changes I’ve noticed between my visit twenty-six years ago and now. It’s interesting to think about. We were pretty limited in what we could do and had to be with our tour group and guide. Now people can travel around freely and independently. They were just starting to gear up for tourism in many of the places we visited. People did not speak English. The market economy was just starting and there weren’t a lot of big stores. Now Chengdu—and I’m sure other cities—is full of large department stores. There were two types of money—one for tourists and I think government workers and one for local people. People wanted the tourist money so they could have friends shop in the special stores that only that currency could be used in and that they couldn’t shop in. Now it’s all the same. When I asked what differences he sees from when he was a child, he quickly mentioned the quantity of toys children have now. He and his friend had no toys.

I have a cleaning woman, something I’ve not had before. This is provided by the university. She comes once a week and dusts and mops the floor. When she left, she mopped her trail behind her so there were no footprints on the wet floor.