You are Enough, Just as You Are - May 9, 2009

Today we had our first (1 of 3) training session for teaching in China. Thirty-five or so teachers showed up. Some will go in the July group, others in September. Several people who have taught in China in the past gave presentations and answered questions. One odd little bit of information: No backless shoes are permitted in the classroom (on teachers or students). Now I'm a girl who has always loved backless shoes. When I got home, I look in my closet: 15 pairs of backless shoes; three pairs with backs, including one pair of walking shoes, one pair golf shoes, and one pair general shoes. 

I don't really know anyone in the teaching group. Many are going with a spouse, others with a friend. What most have in common is a good education and extensive teaching and travel experience. One fellow is a full professor in physics at the U of A; one gal is a chemistry professor, one the lead reading teacher for English as a Second Language in the Pima Community College District. Five or six have taught in China one or more times. One person uses technology extensively in teaching (software, videos, graphics, music). I felt like I did the first time I took a golf lesson. 

On the drive home after the training, I sat in my car thinking, "Am I really going to be able to do this." But as the day passed, I felt better. I found myself thinking: I'm not competing with anyone. I don't need to teach the way others do. If singing or deep breathing aren't activities I'm comfortable with, I don't need to do them. 

There was a time in my life when I had a small note taped to my bathroom mirror for several years. The note said: "You are enough. Just as you are."

Learning Chinese

I must have been crazy to sign up for 5 Chinese language lessons prior to leaving for China. What was I thinking? For a Westerner, literacy in Chinese means about five years of intense scholarship. Five weeks -- probably not. 

What is so complicated about Chinese? Well, several hundred thousand things. For example, Chinese is one of the rare non-alphabetic languages. Think about that: no alphabet, hence, no alphabetizing of things like telephone books. The Chinese language has many thousands of individual characters that represent thousands of sounds. Chinese is a monosyllabic language. To organize all these sounds, Chinese has a concept called "radicals" which are fixed components of characters and the number of strokes added to give them meaning. 

Add to this, the concept of tones. There are four tones in Chinese speech. A tone has to do with whether the sound is spoken "flat," or goes up or down or both up and down. The same word spoken in a different "tone" often has a completely different meaning, so it is possible for a foreigner to say some very amusing things inadvertently.

The upside of Chinese is that it lacks the complications of grammar that afflict English. In addition, Chinese is not troubled by:

•  Verb tense or number (Chinese has neither) Verb variations like I run, I ran, I have run, for example, are not used in Chinese.
• Word endings like plurals (book, books) 
• Pronouns that indicate gender (you'd be surprised how often sex matters in conversation). Chinese has only one syllable ("ta") for all gender pronouns. You determine whether it's "he" or "she" from the context.
  

I took the first Chinese lesson last week in the back room of the Old Peking restaurant. Peking is the former name of the city of Beijing. Beijing is one of the few words I learned to pronounce that evening. The next time you see me, I'll say Beijing for you. It is not "bay-zhing." As for the rest of the Chinese lesson, it was a real eye-opener for me. 

The teacher, Jennifer Johnston, is excellent. She lived in Taiwan for 12 years and is happily married to a Chinese American. She took him to China for the first time. The problem isn't Jennifer, it's me. Unless she is looking right at me and I can see how she is forming the words with her tongue and lips, I'm hopeless at imitating what she is saying. And the tones that characterize Chinese are hard to replicate.

Nonetheless, I'm enjoying Jennifer's very practical commentary on life in China and how it compares (very favorably) to life in America. The most useful part of this class was the reminder it gave me of how Chinese students will feel when I do vocal drills with them in July. You feel like a simpleton when you can't make even basic remarks like, "Good morning. How are you?" And, you hope the teacher won't call on you to recite individually. This brief Chinese lesson was primarily successful in the humility department. I am told that my Chinese students will be very reluctant to speak individually initially, and I'm going to be very careful to keep it simple and non-threatening.

The only Chinese that I'm dead set on learning is, "Where is the ladies' room?" (which by the way is likely to have only a Chinese character on the door).

Greetings to Friends and Family: May 9, 2009

I've mentioned to some of you that I am going to China for 6 weeks this summer. My primary mission is to teach conversational English and American culture at a Science/Technology university in Wuhan. I am also going to see some of China before the teaching assignment begins. My only previous exposure to China was a brief visit to Hong Kong en route to India several years ago. Britain peacefully handed over the British-leased territory of Hong Kong to China in 1997; Hong Kong is, nonetheless, not at all representative of mainland China where I'll be going this time.

In short, I'll be a rookie in China, and a rookie teaching English as a second language.  I've just realized this week the challenges that are ahead, and I'm beginning to do a little worrying.

Things I am worrying about (both imagined and real):

• Being assigned a "middle" seat in coach class on a 14-hour flight from L.A. to Shanghai.
• Getting quarantined in a Beijing  or Shanghai hotel because I come from a state with some documented swine flu cases. China had a serious SARS scare  about 7 years ago, and they are taking no chances this time (including thermal detection in the major airports to spot people with fevers).  This past Friday the entire Metropark Hotel in Hong Kong (about 300 guests/staff) were quarantined for a week.
• Getting "Chinese bronchitis." I'm one of those people who can get a 3-month respiratory infection here in the U.S. by just walking through Safeway. In China I can add a few hundred coal power plants and some amazing sandstorms blowing in from the Gobi desert. Bill Holm, a college friend of mine, wrote a book about his experience teaching in China in the late 1980's. He commented: "The whole crowd is phlegming, rasping and spitting...I thought of giving up smoking in China, but decided against it. It's better for you than breathing."
• Eating all foods as provided without complaint. I appear to be the only person in this teaching group who doesn't routinely use chopsticks (I discovered this in their company at a Chinese restaurant last week). As compulsive as I am, I immediately went to the Dragon Palace this week, bought a take-out Chinese lunch, and requested chopsticks. I practiced at home and am improving. Although not generally a picky eater, I have my problems with eating unusual foods. For example, I had some trouble in Peru eating roasted guinea pig (quite a holiday delicacy there) after I had seen the little rodents rolling around together inside Andean homes. I keep reading about Chinese foods like eels with chilies, peppered pig ears, fungus soup, pickled lotus root, hundred year old eggs, or duck livers.  Yak, dog, and cat are also featured in some provinces. In some social settings in China, it would be very rude not to "eat it all." In other situations, it would be rude to "eat it all" because that would imply that not enough food was provided.
• Getting impatient. I'm the original can-do girl. If there's a problem, I think I can solve it. A few phone calls, letters, calling in favors, begging mercy, or paying a little more. In the end, it's fixed. In China, impatience, open-faced anger, or insistence is viewed as a character flaw. Get in line, take your turn, accept inefficiency, and learn the meaning of "mei you" (not have). I am told the Chinese are exceptionally polite and expect foreigners to be the same (a good idea in any case).
• Not succeeding in the classroom. This is my most significant worry. I haven't taught anything in about 12 years. I hope I haven't lost my touch. I taught freshman English at A.S.U. in 1964-1966 and American Literature at the University of Maine in 1967. In 1985 my friend Janet and I started a computer training company that trained thousands of people. But almost all of those students spoke English as their first language. I'm concerned that I won't be understood by Chinese students, or worse yet, that I won't be able to understand them. I don't want to disappoint Teach for Friendship, the organization that is sponsoring me for this assignment.

But, the better part of me says that all will be well. I won't get sick. I'll be sturdy, cheerful, and willing. My old talent for teaching will resurface, and my Chinese students will speak more fluent English because of my efforts. Everyone tells me that the Chinese are polite, warm, kind, helpful, hospitable, and very charming. I hope I can imitate that model.

"The lesson to be learned from these [culture] shocks is to cultivate modesty and curiosity and to eschew evangelism and certainty."

-- Bill Holm in Coming Home Crazy