October in Hua Hang

 

It has been awhile since I posted a right proper blog so there is a lot to recap in the past month.  I’ll start off by saying that everything is great... besides from my health.  I've seemed to have caught another cold.  But, no worries.  It's nothing major so I should be right as rain in no time.  I went to the local pharmacy and made gestures at the nurse until she gave me the right medicine.  I still took the names of the medicines home and checked each one online to make sure I wasn't taking anything I wasn't supposed to.  Ends up all she gave me was some minor pain killer and a couple herbal supplements.  It seems to have done the trick because I'm feeling much better.   

The Bad Class

They are keeping me busy with work and most all of my classes are well-behaved.  I have one class, however, that isn’t being very respectful of their teacher.  I’m not sure what’s wrong.  I’ve never seen a classroom this bad before.  They are rude, the talk over one another, they won’t listen to me, and they won’t even try any of the games or songs I bring to class.  I’ve tried positive reinforcement but that didn’t work.  I guess I have to start being a more disciplined teacher.  I hate being the mean teacher but I don’t know what else to do.  If anyone has any ideas for how I can regain control of my one class then leave a comment below.

The Good Class

But I only have one bad class.  The other five classes are great.  This past week being the week of Halloween meant that the students got an extra special treat of candy and games.  We sang songs, played games, and even had a scary story competition.  The students would compete to see which group could preform the best classroom drama.  It was a lot of fun and I love the stories the students came up with in class.  There was one story about a young schoolgirl who was walking home in a dark wood when she saw a man without a head.  She was so scared that she didn't move.  Finally the sun rose and the girl saw that the man wasn't really a man but the backside of donkey.   

Guitar Night

One of my favorite highlights from this month was that I was invited to join Hua Hang guitar club.  One of my student’s, Jay, invited me to join.  We held our first public gig about three weeks ago.  I and the other guys all got together to play guitar and sing for the student body.  It was a lot of fun.  We had about 200 students in attendance and there were eight of us preforming about fifteen songs.  I preformed “Down by the Water” by the Decemberists and an acoustic guitar version of “I Want It That Way” by the Backstreet Boys.  Everyone told me that the “Down by the Water” was the best.  It appears I have a knack for the rockabilly style of music!  (I like to sing songs for the classroom as it’s a great way to get their interest and help them with their pronunciation.)  I was the only one to do any English songs but it didn’t matter.  The other guys did great, as well.

Celebrations at Hua Hang

Two weeks ago there was an anniversary celebration at the school.  The English department held a large performance in the auditorium near my apartment.  I was invited to attend, but not to join.  The students were not happy that I wasn’t invited to play guitar.  It didn’t mind.  Teachers and students from the English department did both traditional and modern dances.  There were songs and even funny dramas.  Most of the dramas were in Chinese so I couldn’t understand what was being said.  However, in one drama (that I could understand) five actors came out on stage for a mock competition.  There was the announcer, the man holding the target, James Bond, Zorro, and a great martial arts master.  James Bond shot the target then came over to the microphone and said, “I’m Bond. James Bond.”  Then it was Zorro’s turn.  Zorro stabbed the target in the center then walked over to the microphone and said, “I’m Zorro.  El Zorro.”  Finally it was the marital masters turn and with his sword he did a great dance.  However, the dance ended poorly when instead of hitting the target the martial arts master sliced the man holding the target.  The martial arts master, realizing his mistake, then walked over to the microphone and said, “I’m sorry. So sorry.”  The audience laughed in response. 

Hot Pot with Old & New Friends

Now that the weather is getting cold I’m often invited to join my new friends for traditional Chinese Hot Pot (火锅 – Pinyin: Huǒguō).  Hot pot is essentially a big metal pot filled with a type of broth.   The pot is constantly kept boiling and is placed on a hotplate in the center of the dining table.  While the hot pot is simmering, ingredients are placed into the pot and are cooked at the table by the guests.  Typical foods that go into the hot pot include thinly sliced meat, vegetables, mushrooms, dumplings, and seafood.  The cooked food is then removed from the pot and placed in a dipping sauce called Mahjiang (麻酱 – Májiàng).  Mahjiang is made out of mashed sesame seeds but it tastes like really thin peanut butter.  It is quite delicious.

I’ve had the privilege this term of making a lot of new friends.  Some of my new friends are actually friends of old friends.  Near the beginning of October I was invited to join a birthday celebration for one of Apple’s friends, named Ai Fei.  We went out for hot pot and we had quite the spread.  We ended the evening with ice cream and birthday cake.   

This past weekend I got to have some delicious hot pot with my good friends Sonic and Figo.  These two young gentlemen have been really busy preparing for the finals so I haven’t seen them as much as I would like.  So it was good to meet with them.  Sonic said he wanted to have hot pot and I agreed.  We went to one of the nicer restaurants in Langfang. Sonic, Figo and I had a good time.

Q & A with the Post-Grades

This past week I was asked by the school to have a question and answer session with Hua Hang’s post-graduate students.  About forty students, my Canadian colleague “Ken,” and I gathered together for the better part of an hour.  We got to have a rather pleasant dialogue with the students.  The students wanted to know such things as: “What’s the major difference between our cultures?”  “Why did you come to China?” “What’s your favorite food?” and of course the question I always get asked, “Do you have a girlfriend?”  Apparently there are no social taboos on discussing marital status in China but the classroom always snickers like small school children whenever I get asked that last question.  Sometimes this question is followed up with an apology for prying into personal space.  But I don’t mind being asked or giving the answer.  However, I have learned to have a ready defense.  If you answer, as I do, in the negative then inevitably the next question will be, “What kind of girlfriend would you like?” and “Do you like Chinese girls?”  My students are hopeless romantics and any details into their teacher’s life are a much sought after commodity.  I like to use this moment to bring the subject back around to the idea of Love and Respect.  I believe that everyone moment can be a teaching moment and I’ll take this turn onto the roadway of the romantic to talk to the students about some very important ideas regarding relationships.  The thoughts I share really aren’t my own (being single I have no experience) but rather the thoughts I share come from a book titled, “Love and Respect: The Love She Most Desires; The Respect He Desperately Needs” by Emerson Eggerich.  It’s a great book on helping both single and married people alike delve into the psyche of the opposite gender.  I recommend a read.  Afterwards the students took me out for hot pot as a way to say thank you.  I made a bunch of new friends that day and most of them are relatively close to me in age (24-62).  We had a good talk over dinner and even a promised match of basketball once I get feeling better.