Jerod In China

My Internet conked out on me the other day.  Several days it seems I was unable to adequately use the Internet for routine functions like checking the mail and other things.  It is like a heart because it takes care of so much vital information flow in our daily lives, though I doubt you can get an Internet transplant.

I rely on the Internet for a lot of things.  Being abroad one has many people in which to communicate and the news is always best read as it becomes available.  Up to the minute news is great.

I don't take the Internet everywhere I go.  I have my limitations.   But when I'm hard wired to the Internet I expect this fictional work to be available.  Of course I have to pay my bills to keep the Internet going.  There is no contingency plan if the Internet goes down where I live.  There is only one Internet and one provider for most homes. 

There has been some pretty big days for news.  People are tuned into all that is bad in the community.  There are images of fires, murders, out of control athletes, collapsing bridges  What dawned on me is a fundamental question; Where does good news come from?

Good news comes from the people, it comes from God, it comes from any source that supports and sustains life in its entirety.  I find little of this on the internet from home, which means that it doesn't seem to be a part of the daily diet for most Americans. 

What I'd like to do is write a letter to the media outlets and let them know that life is an important gift.  It seems that the culture of media and reporting has moved away from the human interest story to the interesting human story; that is anything interesting or strange about human life is picked apart. 

Enough already!

Live a full life with the knowledge that you can bring good news to others.

The expression "Room To Grow" was used to help define what the German's did to Europe during World War II.  Liebensraum is the German word they used for "living space".  Not to be confused by poltical ideology, the American west had some of the same "Room To Grow" mentality in Manifest Destiny. We look at the United States and we can see the result of westward expansion.

The physical space we occupy make a difference in our quality of life.  China, with 1.3 billion people is experiencing continued physical growth.  The most important growth isn't physical growth, or the movement of people to new territories and the building of more roads and apartments , but individaul growth.  Part of my job as a teacher is to help the students grow as people or individuals.

Making teaching exciting requires a twist of words, a clever expression, a movie or an infinite number of combinations that gets students motivated to learn.  Being entertaining is what I was hired to do.  English is a subject that gets pigeonholed into a necessary nuissance because of all the scholastic testing in English that is required of the Chinese student.   They've had enough of the old horse and pony shows.

Teaching as entertainment makes sense in light of the fact that I work for a for profit school.  It makes sense to make learning as fun and as creative as possible.  Among my teachers I might be the most dry.  There are some who show episodes of Desperate Housewives or Friends, which are availabe on DVD here in China.  The Chinese particularly think that watching American TV programs and movies is a good way to learn English.  Maybe so, if entertaining is the name of the game.

I prefer an easy method of talking about real life issues.  Linking English learning with what is happening in the world as seen through Chinese eyes in their national English newspaper China Daily.  The journalism is quite good, and I find it challenges students to learn more words and gives them what I could call English relevance.  English is relevant to knowing what the article is about and since the article is real life it makes positive sense.

The Alan Parsons Project had a hit song called Games People Play.  The song starts with the lyrics, "Where do we go from here now that all of the children are grownin up?"  Like any question, where do we go from here is a legitmate one.  Often people just ask; What next?

Everyday that I don't blog runs into the next in a string of days that seems to stretch until forever.   It becomes a repeating day.  Writing about what is happening to me on a daily basis is a way to get through some of the questioning period. What next? Wait and see.

For me it is trying to simplify one day.  If I can make accomodation to have a day that is free from stress, and one where I feel that I rightly deserve a rest, then I feel that it is worth the time and energy to continue writing.

This helps me plan and answer these basic questions.

Cell phones, or mobile phones, as they are called in China are everywhere.  Most have at least one cell phone.  Because roaming is so expensive some in China own two phones.  One is for their hometown, when they go home to visit.  The other is where they work.  I just have the one.

The one I have does not have a lot of bells and whistles.  It doesn't have a camera and it can't play music.  I don't have enough money to pay for some of these extra gadgets.  What I have annoys me to no end and is only for sending text messages, receiving and making calls. 

What occurred to me as I was sitting in the Bank minding my own business.   The woman next to me was taking a picture of herself.  She could have easily taken a picture of me.  It is difficult just to be an annonymous foreigner in China.  I have to be aware of what I'm doing at all times.

Smile, you're on candid camera.  Maybe I should get a copy of these candid moments.  I'm glad that I got a hair cut.

People say that you can be judged by the company you keep.  It is difficult sometimes to get around some people who may have a bad habit or a bad inclination, especially if you work with them on an ongoing basis.   It is even more poignant when you live in a foreign country.

Sometimes the frustration I feel is trying to reconcile these two ideas.  the fact that friends are important and that you wouldn't normally want to be around some that disagree with your moral principles.  In China the issues are no different than in the US.  People are people no matter where you go.

The real challenge of any experience is being able to determine your outcome no matter what the situation.  At the end, where am I going to be or what kind of person am I going to be.  With God's help you will make decisions that improve who you are. It just makes it easier to be with people who support your same mission.

The 15th of every month is dedicated to giving support to foreign teachers.  Of course I'm referring to pay-day.  Pay day comes in many forms.  There is the simple form of collecting your money and double checking to make sure they counted the hours correctly.  But there is another aspect of pay day that kind of seems strange.

What is procedure here is to hold you hostage as the leaders make a few remarks on behalf of the school.  I'm told that if you don't attend the meeting then you can't get your pay.  These meetings are where they give you the opportunity to give your two cents about a company policy change in which  you really don't have any choice.  These policy changes are announced at the meetings.  I understand the last meeting was a man preaching about why as teachers in China we shouldn't be preaching.  Beliefs are a topic for another day.   Corporations are not democracies.

As an employee you always want a say in how the company should be managed.  You may want to improve the classroom enviroment by getting some of the dirt and graffitti off the wall.  The pay-day meeting is your opportunity to let your voice be heard.  I'm kind of cynical about this meeting.  I doubt anything serious is taken from the foreign teachers. 

More importantly the pay-day meeting happens on the ides of the month.  I may get in the habit of mumbling to myself "Beware of the Ides of ......." and then specify the month because of the meetings that are scheduled around pay day.  For every month it is the same thing.  Management and employees getting together to vent, bond and hope for a better month ahead.  We'll see what happens.    Depending on the company decisions about salary and benefits, I could be home sooner than I expected. 

Today, I ascended the stairs where I work  and something strange occured to me.  The building has no 4th floor.  I mean it does if you count first floor, second floor, etc.  But there is no floor demarked 4 in the stairwell or elevator.  I work on the 5th floor, which is technically the 4th floor.  Here in China the number 4 sounds similar to the number for death, so hence no number 4.

There is also a supersition about 13.  There isn't any hotel that is worth a darn where you can get rooms on the 13th floor.  This is what I've ben told.   The cool number is 8.  That is why the Olympics in 08 will start on 08/08/08 at 8:08 pm.  The time I'm not sure of, check your local listings.

Other than bounding stairs I'm doing okay. 

Oh.  The number 8 in Chinese is Ba, like the sound goats make.  Ba rhymns with Fa, which means prosperty or something. 

In The Perfect Storm, George Clooney's character asks his men if they want to stay out to sea and get a little pay dirt.  Pay Dirt.  It is the kind of thing you refer to in an American football game or some sporting event where you score.  Pay dirt is what I'm hoping to reach with a stretch and a smile.

The problem is that the apartment I'm living in is unsafe.  The landlord and a worker came in to figure out what had been neglected.  Had these problems been taken care of when they were supposed to, it wouldn't be such a burden.  But like a lot of things in China it gets put off until they absolutely have to do something about it.  In this case it coincides with my registration as a foreigner with the Chinese Authorities.  That in itself is a lot of paperwork.

So I wait as they certify that a foreigner can live here without being electrocuted.  I've lived with the problem for the past few weeks, 5 days more would not kill anyone.  However there is a deadline for my registration and getting a home inspector to certify again that it is safe. 

I guess you shouldn't skimp on safety.

No need to send money, just enjoying the struggles of being a grown man living in a foreign country. 

The Olympic Games in 2008 will be in Beijing.  They will arrive exactly in 365 days on August 8, 2008.  There might be great Chinese symbolism of opening the Olympic games on the 8th day of the 8th month of the 8th year of the Millenium.  There are clocks around Beijing heralding the arrival of the games.  There is excitement in every shop and little concern among the people of Beijing for the games.  They've had 5 or 6 years to plan for them.  It might just mean more people in the subway and at McDonald's.

Beijing has done a good job developing the feel of the games.  There are plans to cut down on the amount of air pollution through various means.  One of them is supplying the Olympic village with wind power.  They'll set up a wind farm north of the city to handle increased electrical demand. They have emergency translation stations to help with anyone who requires medical assistance already throughout the city.  I don't live too far from the Olympic Stadium and village so I've already seen signs for various Olympic events.

Mascots...
The mascots for the Beijing Olympics are Beibei, Jingjing, Huanhuan,  Yingying, Nini.   Their names are the  Chinese romanized letters for the translation of "Beijing welcomes you" or "Beijing Huanying Ni."  It is kind of clever.  In China the repetition of sounds is an affection used mostly with young children.  The mascots represent traditional animals and symbols within China. 

No secret, I love to read.  Story telling is the kind of art that really allows a picture into the past.  The way and words of a story teller bring you back to the flavor and images of the time.  So yesterday I set off for the Chinese National Library to read some English books.

To look at books, you go through a long process of surrendering your bookbag and then using  a library card to check out books.  I didn't know how to ask if I just wanted to look at books.  Maybe a library card is the same as an admission ticket.  To get one I had to go take a number and wait.  I decided that I didn't need a library card on Monday, so I went downtown to the Foreign Bookstore.

The Foreign Bookstore on Wangfujing Road is part of a street of shops all cordoned off for people to walk and shop.  In China they call them "walking streets".  Most contain restaurants, electronic, and clothing stores.  Along the way is the Foreign Bookstore. 

The bookstore is 4 floors of imported books and foreign materials printed in China.  There are a lot of books that are classics.  I sat for about 3 hours just reading some of the books.  It was a nice break, but I could have used a cup of coffee or tea. 

Besides reading there is a floor dedicated to movies and another to music.  A bookaholic could go bull crazy in the shop if he had a lot of money on him.  The books average about 2-3 US dollars for the classics and slightly higher for books that are modern, like Steven Ambrose's story on the Band of Brothers.  That can run you 20 USD or more. 

It was a slow day because they cancelled my Monday night class.  I'll try to make a habit of getting to the bookstore.  Didn't buy anything this round.  I think I'm in a recovery pattern.

It is kind of refreshing going to Mass and understanding about every 20 words or so.  The nice thing about being Catholic is that the Mass is celebrated the same throughout the world.  Here in China there is no distinction.  It might be just that what they say is not the same.

I went to Mass today at a very nice church called the Northern Church.  It has a long history and is the biggest in Beijing.  The interior has the signs of a building that has been used for worship for a long time.  However there was a period when it fell into disrepair and disuse.  It is also the seat for the Bishop of the Beijing Diocese.

The big discovery today was the English Mass at the South Church, where I went after Mass let out from the North Church at 9.  They have a 10:30 English mass.  The interesting thing is that this church is more convenient by subway and is asking for choir singers.  I went to the South Church to check it out,  but didn't stay for Mass.  I didn't feel like going to Mass twice on this Sunday. 

Again photos are coming when I sign my name on the dotted line and get paid.  The photos will include those of the two churches, my apartment and whatever I can remember.  Nothing fancy, just a little taste of your own personal tour of Beijing.

Slowly I'm adjusting.  I just don't know if I want to hear the Gospels in English. 

Cleaning is such a fundamental challenge when the air is dirty.  Today was one of those days. 

Saturday is my day off.  Today, I got up early and did more hours cleaning than I usually do teaching.  It is alright because it is 1:00 pm and I'm ready for a nap and then some more exploring of Beijing.  I'm slowly getting the hang of when to taxi, when to bus and when to take the subway.  Taxi is the best, but the most expensive.

The room needed some sweeping and mopping.  Some of the materials to do the cleaning were left by the guy who I shared the apartment with for the first week or so.  He was okay.  It was that he hadn't done a lot of cleaning while he had been here, though he had the supplies.  Thank goodness I found those Heinz Ketchup packets from McDonald's hiding in the drawer.  It could have been a disaster.

There is going to be more cleaning, but I'm already seven hours into moving, rearranging, moping and sweeping.  I've exhausted my supply of laundry soap and will have to go get some more next weekend, when the cleaning process rejuvenates itself.  At least I did the lionshare of the work these past two weekends. 

I hope to send some photos of the apartment.   Payday is August 15th, so we'll have to wait and see.

I feel better about myself when the apartment is clean and organized.  It feels more like a home.  It makes me feel more human.  I sleep better.

For the people in China the term "I know" is a quick way to get through a conversation.  When the conversation involves unimportant information like asking for a soda it doesn't matter if you say Coke or Pepsi.  It doesn't matter if you try to explain what the difference is in Chinese.  Regardless of the conversation,  when you hear "I know" and "No Problem", without proper confidence in the person you are speaking with, anything can happen.

The other day I was asking about mail delivery.  The Chinese employee in the office had to be told 3 to 4 different times about the procedure for getting the mail.  He meant well, had little vocabulary, said "Sorry" a few times and even asked me for my meaning.  Even Chinese was used. It is a standard language here.  Saving face is all about making it look like you know what you are talking about when in fact you have no idea.  It is sometimes a frustration that people enjoy giving as a gift to others.

Feelings and emotions are important forms of expression for many societies.  The coming together of feelings about something and the emotions that follow is the essence of art.  Human's elevate the feelings of love, happiness, etc. and share emotions of disppear, sadness and loss through the arts.  You get the general idea.  Art puts a face on love, happiness, etc. and shares this with others.  It can be submerged in a dark way as well.

But the issue is that humans fundamentally want goodness.  Those who do evil never look upon themselves as being the perpetrator of evil.  Their actions are evil, but to them other people are the evil ones.  The only way to really tell from where the source of a persons actions and emotions are is to figure out if someone is lying or not.  Lying is a hint at the truth, but misleads, confuses and distorts. 

Departing Disney thought..........

If Pinochio were a real boy and were in my shoes, he would have a lot of  temptations, a lot of money and the idea that he could enjoy still more pleasures of life.  In truth if he would do all these things he would eventually cease to be human and revert to being a wooden image of  some pretty ideal little boy.  You could also say that he would become a dummy.   Pun intended.

Since Pinochio cannot speak and express his feelings, beliefs, goals you don't know or understand anything new.  So sometimes it is better not to say anything from your perspective, because you may not have anything worthwhile to say and it may be perceived as lying.  Who wants to be seen as dark, evil and ugly when you are really just trying to understand and then ultimately be understood?  Being seen as a pushover would be worse. 

Yesterday was a day to exercise patience.  After finishing class in a community in the northwest of Beijing, I headed back to town on the subway.  In the meantime it had begun to rain and the wind began to blow.  The adventure ahead couldn't be seen.  I never figured I would come out of the rain.

The subway station I arrived at was flooded.  I mean they were beginning sandbagging operations.  It was ankle and knee deep depending how tall you were.  I didn't want to take my chance of taking off my shoes and wading through whatever garbage was left on the ground.  Waiting at the same subway station was a colleague of mine. 

We decided to go to the next station and fetch a taxi and take it home.  So we boarded the subway, arrived at our destination and watched taxi after taxi pick up all the other stranded passengers.  Finally with a little bus sense, some Chinese decifering and our two feet we began to walk back home.  Eventually the night ended with a cabride, a few wet toes and the strong desire to buy a better umbrella. 

Waiting-------
Waiting has its own questions.  Why wait?  Who are we waiting for?  These are just two examples.  Sometimes we wait because there is no accomodation for us.  There is great wisdom in this because I saw something that I wanted go to someone who held the taxicab driver hostage until his buddies could get in the back. 

It is impossible to tell sometimes if good things come to those who wait.  I would have prefered going to bed a little earlier last night, or the thought of a decent place to wait and feel as equally comfortable.  If China is an archetype of the world as we grow more urban and interdependant, there might be a need to have services that are different from the ones we have today.  Our needs have changed. 

Without the exercise of patience all is lost.  One thing I can salvage from this experience is the sustaining force of having a goal or dream.  I was determined to get home, but my colleague and I had to rest for a few moments.  She has MS.  That is just the way it is.  Full price. 

There is plenty of work available in this emerging service industry.

Peter Hessler, a writer at the New Yorker magazine stationed in Beijing, wrote a book Rivertown about his experience teaching English in Sichuan Province while a member of the Peace Corps.  Sichuan is sometimes spelled Szechuan, but that isn't what is important here.  The way Hessler describes what are affectionately called "stick-stick men" is done in such a way that you experience a little of the life in China.

"Stick-stick men" are migrant workers mostly.  In China they translate these migrant workers into peasants.  According to my western cultural barometer, peasants went out the door with feudal lords and serfs.  But "stick-stick men" describes the army of men who use sticks to balance baskets and buckets stretched out over their backs and shoulders.  Manual labor is an integral part of the life here in China and the "stick-stick men" carry rock, concrete, dirt, glass, bricks, etc. on their backs.  The sticks are usually 1/2 of the trunk of a bamboo tree with notches for the baskets and buckets.

While on the 15th floor, with some time to kill and Steve Miller's Abracadabra playing on my iPod, I looked out at the hazy sun and saw the balance of construction cranes dotting the landscape.  This reminded me of the "stick-stick men" that Peter Hessler described so well in his book.   I'm amazed how much weight is balanced up on a crane base the jets up into the sky with no bracing.  The science of construction and the world of things balanced on sticks represents a lesson in science and human ingenuity. 

Final Thoughts---------