The weather has been a bit confused to say the least. Since I've gotten back it has snowed twice; the second time was only two days after unseasonably warm weather. Only a week or so ago the temperatures were flirting with the mid to upper-60s and I wore shorts out for an afternoon...which drew many bewildered stares from the locals. Then the publicly provided heating turned off and the temperature dropped back down to 40s. Figures. I'm waiting for real, consistent warm weather. I know once it gets properly hot and nasty I'll be missing the cooler temperatures but right now I'm looking forward to not considering how many layers are needed to leave the house.
Classes started at the end of February. The variety of nationalities in my classes is at least as diverse as last semester if not more so. Japan, South Korea, North Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, Spain, Portugal, Kenya, Canada, and Mexico are all represented. Probably a few more that I'm forgetting.
This semester I'm taking the obligatory grammar and language course, listening and speaking, as well as two electives: conversation and newspaper. While the newspaper class is definitely the most challenging, it is also the most interesting. Our textbook has articles from the last five years or so and we also go through the daily paper each class. The articles are refreshingly objective (we read Beijing Youth Daily...People's Daily sometimes has a bit more of a spin to it) and don't seem to gloss over topics that might otherwise seem sensitive here in China; we've talked about Libya and the unrest in North Africa and the Middle East--I even presented an article on Tuesday about the airstrikes on Libyan military installations. We've also talked a lot about the situation in Japan following the earthquake and tsunami; thankfully the families of all of my Japanese classmates escaped the destruction. And, of course, these articles are a great source of new, useful vocabulary.
I also picked up a new teaching job this semester. Through Tsinghua University's continued education program, I'm teaching professionals with China Railway & Construction Company (CRCC). Ordinarily, I would just smile and nod at the mention of some Chinese company, but--much to the surprise of my new employer and my new students--I was familiar with CRCC; it is engaged in several of the African projects that I examined in my thesis. Many of my students (all of whom are older than me save for one peer) are bound for African or Middle Eastern countries. Some have already spent time in those regions.
My students are an inquisitive bunch. Coming from a company like CRCC and a country like China where train travel is a mainstay in mass transit, they have asked many questions about the US train network and when we are going to build a high speed train system. When I explained that the interstate highway system and air travel account for most of the long distance public transit in the US, they countered by saying that high speed train projects would generate jobs. Touché. But then they added this: would the US bring Chinese companies over to help build the high speed trains? Hang on, what happened to generating jobs in the US? It was suggested that the US thought about talking to China--more specifically CRCC--when it decides to build a high speed rail system. I'll be sure to drop that in the suggestion box.
During another class questions from the students led us to covering topics like why Texas isn't considered part of the South, the Alamo, Texas BBQ, the separation of church and state, how the US treated the Native Americans, and the Amish. I never know what they're going to ask about next, but I really enjoy it. Last week one student decided he wanted to hear about Iraq. That's fine, let's talk about Iraq. However, the questions soon turned into "Why did you go to Iraq?"; "But you didn't find WMDs, did you?"; "But then why did the US go there?" I'm sorry, I wasn't a fly on the wall in those meetings, much less a decision maker. I tried to explain that the administration presented a certain story and certain facts to the country based on the information that was at hand at the time. That didn't seem to satisfy this guy. Mercifully, somebody changed the subject.
The office complex where I teach has a bike/scooter parking garage. The first night I taught the man who keeps an eye on it struck up a conversation with me about this and that. Where I was from, America? (thumbs up), what I do, the usual interview. It's gotten to be part of the routine as I leave class that I chat with him for a few minutes. The other night, we chatted for closer to half an hour. He came up to me and started by saying how in Chinese a name is usually only two or three characters long--your family name first, followed by your given name. So...how long are names in English? And what is yours? I explained that English names could vary from a few to several letters in length. Then I tried to explain that my name was Adam--like that guy in the Bible. Suddenly a light went off in his head and ran back to his stand and grabbed a book. "The Bible!" he said excitedly as he pointed at the book. Sure enough, he was holding a translated version of the Bible. Turns out he's been a Christian for over 20 years. He asked if I was Christian or Catholic, so I explained that I was Jewish. Another excited look. More thumbs up. We started talking about the Old vs. New Testament, though at that point I was more just saying "the older section versus the newer section"...I don't have a fantastic religious vocabulary yet. More thumbs up were exchanged and I said my goodbyes for the evening.
Speaking of bicycle parking garages, I finally learned how to play Chinese chess. There are some similarities to Western chess and some rules/concepts that took a bit to wrap my head around. But this meant that I was finally able to play with my friend who supervises the garage at my apartment. He said he wasn't very good. Needless to say I suffered a devastating loss. Twice.
I've also put a bunch of photos up on flickr, so give them a look.
I've got some adventures coming up soon, so stay tuned.
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| Safety in the Workplace |
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| Chinese Chess |
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| Practice |
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| Bamboozled |
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| Purple Bamboo Park |
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