Month 1 in Shantou (version 5.0)

I've been having a little trouble getting a proxy to connect me over here since I got back from Macau, hence the lapse in my shiny new resolution to actually blog this year.
We did do our professional development in Macau and it DID involve plenty of bus time. Got to spend an evening in Zhuhai and got some Thai food (craving #1 satisfied), bought and applied the third iTouch cover I've gotten in a month (#1 sucked, #2 I managed to put the wrong way out- I'm Skilled!), went to a casino for a drink and saw some very scantily clad ladies, stayed in some pretty awesome hotels I couldn't afford for myself, wandered around in Macau rain at night and in daylight, finally purchased a Starbucks tumbler (been coveting people's for a while and this one is Macau so extra awesome), got a massage from a woman whose primary job was clearly not to actually give people a legitimate massage, got rained on some more, went to a farm/tiny village/ tourist trap... oh yeah, and had some professional development!
The professional part was in Macau and was both lecture- and discussion- style. The discussion I joined was about motivation and motivating students. It wasn't nearly as good as the lecture about the same topic and mostly got me thinking "Oh just wait until you meet and work with These Students" when I heard the new teachers give their opinions... I pretty much believe that some students are not motivate-able at all, especially after last semester when I had the most difficult student I've had so far I think- knock on wood That doesn't happen again!

When we came back, we had to perform for freshmen, so I've now danced on stage Bollywood-style for Freshmen Orientation as we have new Indian teachers who helped us put together that particular "dog and pony show". It was really fun and I could definitely do it again! Apparently we didn't look TOO stupid, so hey, it's a victory of some sort... no Yellow Submarine for us this year!

The usual proctoring and grading of freshmen placements came and went without too many horrible moments and one or two highlights, most notably the student who wrote he/she would "get hard for English" because of his/her enthusiasm... as a friend noted "I'm all for enthusiasm, but that's pushing it!"

Our "Activities Night" when we present our clubs was also pretty commonplace- I presented my shiny new Women's Issues Group and was apparently quite vague about it. A few girls came to talk to me about it after and seemed really interested, including one who was really intense about "what will happen if too many people come?!" I reassured her that I didn't anticipate that being any kind of a problem (I'm supported in this by the fact that I have received emails from exactly ZERO people so far), but she was really worried. A few others seemed intrigued and one who I know from EC suggested that some good topics would be relationships (including physical distances and dating practices) and sex. Even that would be a good start, I think.

Had a meeting with Felix, Marjorie and Feng Yuan the head of Women's Studies Department to discuss some Women's Issues issues and we will be having a Women's Issues Festival at the end of the semester between Nov 25th (Elimination of Domestic Violence) and Dec 10th (Human Rights). I should probably get started on actually having people working with me if I'm not going to be totally useless for this. Why do I already feel like I'm in over my head?! So far, I've made a blurb for the ELC website and designed a logo... I am not good at this!

Other than that, time at home has been mostly unproductive, other than today's construction of a shelf, which I'm way too proud of- I have been needing a place for teaching materials and this was a good project. I've done a lot of reorganizing of my piles of stuff (no other way to put it really!), but mostly that was to avoid actually doing any real work. Ordered books on Amazon and got them in record time- depressing lit, here I come!

Been getting to the pool about 4 days a week for 2 weeks and pilates also. I'm hoping to keep this up until the pool here closes end of October. I arranged my office hours so that I can make it at least Wednesday, Friday and Saturday and maybe Thursday if it's not too crowded at 5pm. Sunday and Tuesday are yogalates so that would just leave Monday, and that's ok with me. I'm still aiming to get a bike but haven't gotten around to that yet. Even just for around campus it would be convenient... for me. I got a few clothes this summer and just ordered a dress from the tailor (yesterday was quite the productive day with a trip to the fabric district and a big order to the tailor- bought some black fabric with a white swirly embroidered pattern on the bottom for the dress) and it would be mighty nice if those still fit well, even a little less snugly in a few months!

Today started painfully with a headache due to the really fun atmospheric pressure change we're experiencing due to the typhoon heading towards Taiwan but the massage this afternoon and pizza and drinks evening helped to remedy that! Tomorrow I have a lunch with a friend who will hopefully also be helping me with Women's Issues, and EF meeting and some lesson prepping to do. And picking up my books from the office!
Bring on the semester!

Back in China

While I put off typing up what I wrote while in Tibet, I'll attempt to put something up here, just so you know I haven't disappeared and that despite the censorship issues, I'll be aiming to keep up with posting this year... which is what I say Every Year.
For now, I'm back in my apartment in Shantou, dealing with year-start stuff- such fascinating activities as faculty meetings, professional development trips to Macau (would be good if the whole trip was actually IN Macau, but it's a lot of bus time and little visit time), freshman orientation (no Yellow Submarine this year, please), and placement tests, grading... the list just goes on.
New teachers seem to be settling in fine. I think this is a shock to a few, but hopefully they'll be ok in a couple of weeks!
I'm hoping to find some fun extra-curricular activity to do as I will not be doing my usual EF/ Coordinator combination. So far the only suggestion I've made that has been retained is a new ELC video. Could be fun, could be hellish... thoughts? It that or admin-y stuff, I think. I was trying to come up with ideas for a "women's issues group", but I worry that it wouldn't be nearly as intelligent and academic and generally awesome as it should be. Aiya, already too much angst and I've been here 48 hours!
Back to a little TV and procrastination of cleaning before faculty meeting.

Heard on the bus- paraphrased

"Donc tu vas a la chasse au faucon? Comment ca se chasse, un faucon?"
"So, you're going falcon hunting? How do you hunt falcons?"

This is just the gem in a conversation full of them... poor woman

USA tour

Admittedly calling my visit to Boston and New York a "tour" is stretching the meaning of that word a little far! After my previously recounted slightly nightmarish flight to Boston, I managed to get almost all I wanted from that city- delicious food, time to hang out with my sister and SNOW! It wasn't the huge storm that has been forcasted, it wasn't even a reason for the local schools to close (which they did anyway), but it was snow. Pretty flakes wandering their way down to the ground and not even sticking until the late afternoon. I suggested a walk and an excursion to find me some shoes that were not so Chinese (read: marginally practical and sequin-free) so my sister and I armed ourselves with warm clothing and rode the T down to Downtown Crossing, an area I fondly remember from many previous visits. We stopped into almost every other store, as much to shop as to stay slightly dry. We walked for a long time and eventually the snow did start coming down a little faster and actually staying on the ground so that by the time we made it across the Commons it actually did look like winter. I'm pretty sure I embarrassed my sister by randomly raising my arms and exclaiming "Snow!" every so often, but, why not, eh?
The snow basically just made me want to stay here. I imagine myself in a small apartment, somewhere in New England, toasty warm, sipping some warm beverage (my sister's friend's suggestion of hot chocolate with peppermint schnapps possibly) and watching the snow fall. Quite the departure from my recent praises of the life I lead in Shantou, no? But somehow this image is much more pleasant than "sitting on the last cool tile in the apartment trying to find a way not to sweat to death, occasionally dragging myself to the water cooler, but not wanting to stray too far from the fan/ A/C combo".
I had originally worried that the impending snowstorm would delay my departure for NYC, but when I saw that lack of blizzard, I went ahead with my original plan. The bus ride was smooth and short (you know you've been in China too long when 4.5 hours on a bus counts as a short trip!) and while I immediately found "The City" to be giant and a little overwhelming, I dragged myself and my suitcase to my cousins' place without any problems. I had been a little apprehensive about staying with said cousins as I don't actually know them very well, they have a 10-month old and I never know how to deal with small children. Turns out, as usual, I needn't have worried. My cousin's wife was very welcoming and easy-going, we picked up their offspring and he kept us entertained until dinner and bedtime. I have to admit to jetlag making it very difficult for me to stay up past 9pm but somehow that worked out fine too.
After much more chatting the next day, I discovered that pre-school teachers love to make their charges decorate things with colorful handprints when we picked up Mathias and he made a Valentine's card for his parents by sticking 2 very pink handprints onto a construction paper heart. This is apparently destined to go with the handprint turkey from Thanksgiving, the handprint reindeer from Xmas, the handprint mess from some other holiday and the footprint circle, possibly from Labour Day... pre-school teacher is a career I can cross off my list!
That is, in fact, the only one I have crossed off, by the way. I just took a typing break to re-read a past post and am pretty sure that I change my mind about next year approximately every time I blog. In November I was "definitely leaving", a couple of weeks ago I was "pretty much staying put" and now I'm "What am I doing with my life?! I have no idea what to do next year!!" This brand new change of tune comes from a discussion with my cousin about change and new opportunities. Her husband, who works for the UN, has been offered a chance to move to Geneva. She was telling me about the different aspects of the move she was looking forward to and also about the activities she hopes to engage in there. I'm not saying I'd live in Geneva (although, why not?) but the realisation struck me that they have "a life". In NYC, she gets to take yoga and samba classes, meet up with friends, have a routine and, if she wants to go and do something cultural, she's only a subway ride away. Maybe most importantly though, she is "home". It's not that I don't feel at home in Shantou, I do; it's that I'm perpetually in the situation of having to make decisions about what I want to have with me and what I can "live without". I accumulate a lot, but there are plenty of things I don't get or have that I could do with, because I know that eventually I will have to find a way to take everything with me. It takes time to dismantle 4 years of a life and it's going to take a lot of boxes to ship the results of said time. Yesterday I was trying to figure out how I'd get all my stuff back to wherever I end up next and what I'd leave behind. I'm a self-avowed packrat so I know that whenever I head out of Shantou, there will be several boxes following me by slow-boat. My current flight out of Chinaland gives me a luggage allowance of 20kg... I'm pretty sure that I could use triple that and still need to ship quite a lot. If I decide to leave, I may have to see if I can change flights or if buying a whole new ticket with a more reasonable airline ends up being cheaper and more convenient than boxing things up and trusting the postal service. And, anyway, where do I ship things? Just one more thing to consider... If I spent as much time working as I do angsting, my plans for the semester would already be done!
On a last note before I try to pack up all I've acquired on this trip into the bag I arrived with, the rest of the weekend didn't do too much to encourage me to remain in China for too much longer, if only because of the many pounds of brownies, the other delicious foods, the amateur opera singer in the subway serenading passengers with Ave Maria and Panis Angelicus (my two favourite pieces- coincidence?) and, of course, the snow! Getting covered in snow and possibly getting sick can't dampen (pun intended) my enthusiasm for cold flakes of water... masochist?

Smooth flying?

Advice to travelers: when you are informed that a flight will be delayed, but not by how long or why exactly the delay occurred and you have a connection to make, don't check in anyway assuming that the check-in desk clerk knows what he's doing. If you do, you may find yourself sitting in the terminal, waiting by the gate, checking the little all-knowing screen to find out that the flight status is "flight delayed" and the only consolation is the offer of complimentary snacks and drinks... for an unspecified amount of time.
The problem with yesterday's situation wasn't that I don't know that if I have an hour and ten minutes to catch a connecting flight and that my first one is delayed by more than an hour and a half a miracle would have to occur for me to make it to the appropriate gate in time. The problem was that I trusted the little man behind the desk when he told me that I'd just be moved onto a later flight without any problems. I was calm, I figured that since I was traveling for fun I wouldn't make his life a living hell or complain unnecessarily. I went through customs, got my bag searched and sat down to wait. Then I waited until I called my mother and after some search discovered that the only later flight I could connect to in Reykjavik (could have been an exciting stop) was 5 minutes after the one I was scheduled to be on. After that, it would be an overnight wait until at least 10 a.m. Fanta-freakin'-tastic... Feeling a little sheepish for having to get travel advice from my mom when I consider myself fairly well-versed in the ways of airlines, I took her advice to go to the check-in desk and ask to be rebooked onto another airline to get me to the US sometime in the next 12 hours, possibly under the guise of having a job interview or some such.
I ran back and forth and calmly explained that I did not want to sleep in Reykjavik to which the lady behind the counter very accommodatingly replied that I could be transferred without any problems, that the people at the desks didn't always know what they were doing and that I never should have been checked-in anyway... Thanks for telling me something I already knew. I grabbed my flight coupons and marched upstairs to the arrivals gate and over to yet another counter to retrieve my luggage which she had erroneously told me would be done in 15 minutes... The guys there disagreed, guessed at 1 hour and sent me off to the terminal at the other end of the airport to check in for my shiny new American Airlines flight to New York... only to be sent right back to get my luggage since I couldn't check my body in without doing the same for my bag (at this point, please note that I had ridden the little train across the airport 4 times already).
I did eventually get the bag and myself all checked-in through to New York and found out that my Boston connection was full already and I would possibly not be able to get to said city the same night. They did make sure that they asked as many dumb questions about my bags as possible in the process however and I now know all the announcements on the airport shuttle by heart.
The flight itself was very empty, to the point where basically every passenger had 3 seats and we were all able to lie down to ignore the very dumb movies being forced on us. In NYC, the lines for the border were tiny and I got checked in through to Boston without any (more) hiccups. The flight to Boston (after much time spent wandering around the airport with my new friend Joowon- who had had the same nightmarish experience as me after also checking-in for the Icelandair flight) occurred in what I'd like to refer to as a toy plane- 13 rows, 3 seats per row and so little head-room that even I banged mine on the overhead bins... can 45 minutes in the air in a tin can really be called a flight? We wobbled our way over the perfectly crossing streetlights of New York- amazing how beautiful night-time planned cities look from the air. We kept wavering all the way until we got over the Cape and my "other hometown". The landing was smoother than our turbulent flight had announced and I was soon experiencing the coldest weather I've been in since my last winter in college. Quite a shock to the system, but sisterly hugs and a warm shower made up for it admirably.
Today, I'm in sunny Boston, awaiting a snow storm and making theoretical plans as to how I can make this home.
Too bad I'll have to attempt to fly Icelandair in 10 days! Either I'll finally get to see the Reykjavik airport or I'll have more travel rambles to post here!
Sorry for the long post, you know how it is!

Cold and happy about it because there's food!

Currently on my Spring Festival break from STU and spending it quite happily wandering around the streets of Paris, occasionally not feeling my nose or toes (and accidentally rhyming), but making up for it by eating everything that I can't get in China. I imported a friend from Shantou as I don't have any here and it's a little weird that she's done more touristy things here than I have. She took me to the Eiffel Tower and we climbed it (on foot, up to the second floor where we found traces of snow, no less) and this week sometime we intend to go to Versailles (she's kind of appalled I haven't been there yet). We're both enjoying the cold weather and aside from the constant worry of being able to layer up enough not to lose appendages, the cold is a wonderful predictable break from Shantou's crazy one-day-sweating-one-day-freezing weather. Right now, I know that even if the sun is peeking out past the clouds, it's going to be a "two pairs of pants" kind of day for my little temperature-challenged self.

Our culinary tour of Paris has thus far featured such delicacies as crepes and cider, which I really could live on. Food is a big thing with me since the options in Shantou are so limited, so forgive me for giving it such a major place in my ranting about life and travels. The street of Paris really just make me want to eat... well, not the actual streets themselves, since they are not so delicious-looking, but there is so much variety in food options that it's a little overwhelming.

Quick pause to mention that as I write it just started to snow and it's very exciting- last time I saw snow, it was 4 years ago.

Back to my food thoughts, it's amazing to me that you can walk down a small unassuming street and get Lebanese, Italian, Greek, Mexican and French food as well as pub stand-bys, sandwiches, crepes and pastries. Why do I remain in China, land of chaofan and jiaozi? Don't get me wrong, I like noodles, dumplings and all the rest as much as the next expat, but it doesn't quite compare, does it? (or "it doesn't quite compare, can they?" as students would say) I am constantly wondering what to eat next and how to prioritize my cravings. I'm pretty sure there's a very fat person inside me trying to break out and just eat everything in sight.

So, as it turns out, what will eventually drive me from China won't be the language or my inability to fit in; it won't be teaching or family; it will be food. I feel like I'm finally acultured to life in Shantou and deal better and better with my isolation from the Western world. I'm finally actually serious about studying Chinese (got a tutor and everything), I don't need to import quite so much foreign food every time I hop the border to HK and the bad traffic is just something to deal with rather than a permanent drain on my life. But when I come back here, when I smell the croissants or the pizza, when I get dizzy from looking at the dessert options at the patisseries, when I get overwhelmed by the supermarket aisles and just want to sit down on the floor and rock back and forth, I know that it's just a matter of time before the "West" wins out and I leave China. I'm considering staying one more year (ain't that always the way?) but know that, happy as I am there (and I'm actually happy), it's not permanent. Whenever the time comes that I pack up my apartment and move on from STU, I'll just have to put "variety of foods" at the top of my must-have list for a new home. I think only that will make up for what I'll leave behind.

Until I decide to leave Shantou, though, I'm going to allow myself to take food-centric vacations. I won't feel guilty about eating my way through the cities I visit. I'll happily order crepes and cider for one meal then indulge in pizza and rose for the next one. I can worry about being healthy later, when I'm back to jiaozi and milk tea and the occasional trip to sushi and Il Santo. Right now, I have 3 weeks left before I return to the Middle Kingdom... what cuisines will I fill them with? That's my only worry!