Most Saturdays, we play Frsibee with students. Different ones come each week, but there are a few we've seen repeatedly. One of them, a boy yesterday referred to as 'active/ good kid in white' is Philippe's student and not shy about getting very close to his opponents (sometimes uncomfortably close, in fact) or saying what he thinks. After Philippe slipped and landed on his butt trying to catch our flying plate and was picked up by another student (crazily playing in jeans and a button-down shirt), he turned to me and asked if he'd torn his clothes.
"No, but your butt is..." I started.
"Nice," added 'kid in white'.
I was going for "dusty", but whatever... Would it have been weirder coming from a female student? I can't tell.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Bollywood!
I am a movie star.
Well, maybe not quite. More accurately, last Friday, I was an extra in a ridiculous, low-budget Bollywood movie. Philippe had met a guy recruiting the day before, so we found ourselves, up, breakfasted and rounded up with 25 or so other goreh youths in front of the local McD's at 8 a.m. then herded onto a bus, and driven out of town towards "Filmcity". Sound glamorous?
When we got to our movie's set, we were led to a room and given our costumes- black, white, grey or a combination of those- in my case, a white skirt (thankfully longer than I originally guessed), 2 stripe-y tank tops (black and white) and a really short white shirt (puffy sleeves, collar, strange mid-belly length... unflattering!); in Philippe's case, shiny black pants (think "fake leather") and a black shirt with white "washer" pattern (think "70s"). In both cases, our shoes didn't fit and it was like foot torture... for 11 hours. My hair was pulled back and curled, then sprayed into place. It was a little scary. All the other girls looked more classy, sadly, but some of the other guys rivalled Philippe for ridiculous outfits (see-through shiny white shirt, anyone?)
We then sat. Had a tiny cucumber and tomato sandwich. Sat more. Wandered around and found a mirror to see how ridiculous we looked. Saw some guys in obvious wigs (reddish and fluffy). Sat around.
Finally, around noon, we went on set and discovered quite how weird the day would be. The scene was set in a club called the Blue Elephant (with shiny giant blue elephant head cutout and hung front the ceiling). There were 2 stages (one with poles, one with a band), a raised bar and some raised areas, balcony-style, parts of which were covered in what looked like thick chicken-wire. We went up there. These balcony sections were surrounded by what looked like banisters, but was in fact plastic piping and not sturdy, as we were reminded by a loud voice answering to the name of Sweety, in the same breath as we were told to stand as close to the edge as possible, dance and wave our arms about. Philippe was somewhere under those platforms, standing around a table with some other guys, I was at the top with a bunch of girls. We basically danced over and over again to the same 15-second part of a song, occasionally being shifted from one platform to another.
There was a long lunch break. Then more dancing on platforms, this time while pole dancers did their thing on their own stage.
Then a random long-ass break. Then more dancing.
The whole "we'll get you back to Colaba by 9 p.m." was looking increasingly unlikely when Philippe started regularly going to argue with the agent-guy who had brought us over and eventually, we started walking off to change. They brought us back and shot their last scene as fast as possible. We still didn't get back to Colaba until a little before 11 p.m., half an hour after a girl's hostel closed and an hour before our night train to Jalgaon for the next step of the adventure.
Death-trap of the day: unstable platforms with fake railings.
Well, maybe not quite. More accurately, last Friday, I was an extra in a ridiculous, low-budget Bollywood movie. Philippe had met a guy recruiting the day before, so we found ourselves, up, breakfasted and rounded up with 25 or so other goreh youths in front of the local McD's at 8 a.m. then herded onto a bus, and driven out of town towards "Filmcity". Sound glamorous?
When we got to our movie's set, we were led to a room and given our costumes- black, white, grey or a combination of those- in my case, a white skirt (thankfully longer than I originally guessed), 2 stripe-y tank tops (black and white) and a really short white shirt (puffy sleeves, collar, strange mid-belly length... unflattering!); in Philippe's case, shiny black pants (think "fake leather") and a black shirt with white "washer" pattern (think "70s"). In both cases, our shoes didn't fit and it was like foot torture... for 11 hours. My hair was pulled back and curled, then sprayed into place. It was a little scary. All the other girls looked more classy, sadly, but some of the other guys rivalled Philippe for ridiculous outfits (see-through shiny white shirt, anyone?)
We then sat. Had a tiny cucumber and tomato sandwich. Sat more. Wandered around and found a mirror to see how ridiculous we looked. Saw some guys in obvious wigs (reddish and fluffy). Sat around.
Finally, around noon, we went on set and discovered quite how weird the day would be. The scene was set in a club called the Blue Elephant (with shiny giant blue elephant head cutout and hung front the ceiling). There were 2 stages (one with poles, one with a band), a raised bar and some raised areas, balcony-style, parts of which were covered in what looked like thick chicken-wire. We went up there. These balcony sections were surrounded by what looked like banisters, but was in fact plastic piping and not sturdy, as we were reminded by a loud voice answering to the name of Sweety, in the same breath as we were told to stand as close to the edge as possible, dance and wave our arms about. Philippe was somewhere under those platforms, standing around a table with some other guys, I was at the top with a bunch of girls. We basically danced over and over again to the same 15-second part of a song, occasionally being shifted from one platform to another.
There was a long lunch break. Then more dancing on platforms, this time while pole dancers did their thing on their own stage.
Then a random long-ass break. Then more dancing.
The whole "we'll get you back to Colaba by 9 p.m." was looking increasingly unlikely when Philippe started regularly going to argue with the agent-guy who had brought us over and eventually, we started walking off to change. They brought us back and shot their last scene as fast as possible. We still didn't get back to Colaba until a little before 11 p.m., half an hour after a girl's hostel closed and an hour before our night train to Jalgaon for the next step of the adventure.
Death-trap of the day: unstable platforms with fake railings.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
"I am sooo not getting on that death-trap"
This is a theme, so far this trip. There are many different exciting ways of getting around the country and half of them look like they were never designed to hold nearly as many people as they are doing.
Our second day in Mumbai, stopped by a pastry shop for breakfast (recommended in the LP and making Philippe salivate in front of the glass cases of chocolate and fruit concoctions), moved our stuff to the Salvation Army's hostel and we internetted. Then we headed over to the Haji Ali Mosque in northern Mumbai. To reach it, you take a really long bus ride through "real Mumbai" (not the touristy area around Colaba) then you walk out into the sea (Arabian Sea?) passing vendors and beggars aplenty. The mosque itself is a place of pilgrimage so it's a really interesting atmosphere. I was crazily on the lookout for what to do, this being my first mosque-experience, and me being really afraid of making a faux-pas and offending someone. I followed the women into the female entrance while Philippe got to go through the main entrance, all unshod and head-covered. It was really a great and interesting experience.
We also saw the laundry facilities for Mumbai's hotels, restaurants and general populace. This is an intricate network of washing tubs, rinsing areas, hanging posts, swinging lines and sorting people, all looking like it's been around for quite a while. We saw laundry being swung around, stomped on, hit against the stone tubs and twisted into the lines to hang without pins. Impressive.
Our day ended with a swing by Chowpatty beach where there were hundreds of people flying kites. The colors of the sarees and kites were amazing, and the gelato we treated ourselves to after a long day of walking wasn't bad either. The best, though, was wandering around the snack stands by the side of the beach. We tried panipuri (crunchy little puff with lentils and tamarind sauce inside), bhaji sandwiches (deep fried veggies in bread roll) and chai. We also got a weird thing in a leaf that tasted like rosewater, coconut and other things that I found horrible, but Philippe downed because it was served directly into your mouth by a man with a crazy moustache. The "death trap" part was the crazy ferris wheels that were made to spin by guys jumping up onto it and then swinging themselves off and pulling it down with their bodyweight... does that make sense? It was so strange to watch and, combined with the fact that it looked ready to fall apart, did not encourage me to try it, no matter how much Philippe made puppy eyes at me for great pictures.
The next day, after a slow start to the day and a chance meeting with a Bollywood guy looking for extras for a movie, we headed to Elephanta Island, to gaze at temples carved into rocks. The boat ride over was quite long, made more so by the cramped quarters and the slightly sketchy guy who was trying to get a picture of himself sitting next to me. Also, the random throwing of trash into the ocean was a delight... not. The site on the island is a group of about 4 main caves up a hill, with some monkeys. It was good to visit, being a completely different sight from what we'd seen so far. I realise that it's an impressive feat- carving huge temple caves from a rock, sculpting rocks into huge statues etc- but I felt bad being left nonplussed by the visit. The threat of monkey bites did little to add to it! There was a thoroughly impressive sculpture of three--headed Shiva.
After our boat excursion, we decided to delve into the mysterious world of train-ticket buying in India. Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (Victoria Terminus or CST) is a beautiful building which combines all sorts of architectural styles on the outside. Inside, it's amazing how many people it can hold without seeming all that crowded. After asking several people, filling in some paperwork, getting a guy to leave us a lone and purchasing a book of all Indian trains for all the days of the week until June, we got our stamp, went to the reservation room and found that our train was fully booked and we'd have to be waitlisted. Too bad, we thought, but whatever, we didn't want to waste more time standing in the reservation room listening to a guy trying to sell chai by rattling some plastic cups at us. Then, we spotted the "Foreign Tourist" window. Surrounded by "Foreign Tourist Only" benches, it became our haven for over an hour while we deciphered train time tables, bothered the nice lady behind the window repeatedly and finally settled on one night train towards Ajanta and Ellora and a waitlist spot on another night train to Ahmedabad. Tickets in hand we avoided bus touts, traffic and wrong turns to return to Chowpatty and sample bhelpuri (crunchy, crispy, spicy and delicious), pav bhaji (lentils with onion, tomato and peppers eaten with grilled bread) and get a picture of P eating the yucky leaf combo from the guy with the moustache. I had to fight valiantly but managed to get away with some slightly less weird stuff and an odd-tasting glace cherry... I think this will be the worst thing I eat in the country, but everything else so far has been amazing.
Death trap of the day: tourist train on Elephanta!
Our second day in Mumbai, stopped by a pastry shop for breakfast (recommended in the LP and making Philippe salivate in front of the glass cases of chocolate and fruit concoctions), moved our stuff to the Salvation Army's hostel and we internetted. Then we headed over to the Haji Ali Mosque in northern Mumbai. To reach it, you take a really long bus ride through "real Mumbai" (not the touristy area around Colaba) then you walk out into the sea (Arabian Sea?) passing vendors and beggars aplenty. The mosque itself is a place of pilgrimage so it's a really interesting atmosphere. I was crazily on the lookout for what to do, this being my first mosque-experience, and me being really afraid of making a faux-pas and offending someone. I followed the women into the female entrance while Philippe got to go through the main entrance, all unshod and head-covered. It was really a great and interesting experience.
We also saw the laundry facilities for Mumbai's hotels, restaurants and general populace. This is an intricate network of washing tubs, rinsing areas, hanging posts, swinging lines and sorting people, all looking like it's been around for quite a while. We saw laundry being swung around, stomped on, hit against the stone tubs and twisted into the lines to hang without pins. Impressive.
Our day ended with a swing by Chowpatty beach where there were hundreds of people flying kites. The colors of the sarees and kites were amazing, and the gelato we treated ourselves to after a long day of walking wasn't bad either. The best, though, was wandering around the snack stands by the side of the beach. We tried panipuri (crunchy little puff with lentils and tamarind sauce inside), bhaji sandwiches (deep fried veggies in bread roll) and chai. We also got a weird thing in a leaf that tasted like rosewater, coconut and other things that I found horrible, but Philippe downed because it was served directly into your mouth by a man with a crazy moustache. The "death trap" part was the crazy ferris wheels that were made to spin by guys jumping up onto it and then swinging themselves off and pulling it down with their bodyweight... does that make sense? It was so strange to watch and, combined with the fact that it looked ready to fall apart, did not encourage me to try it, no matter how much Philippe made puppy eyes at me for great pictures.
The next day, after a slow start to the day and a chance meeting with a Bollywood guy looking for extras for a movie, we headed to Elephanta Island, to gaze at temples carved into rocks. The boat ride over was quite long, made more so by the cramped quarters and the slightly sketchy guy who was trying to get a picture of himself sitting next to me. Also, the random throwing of trash into the ocean was a delight... not. The site on the island is a group of about 4 main caves up a hill, with some monkeys. It was good to visit, being a completely different sight from what we'd seen so far. I realise that it's an impressive feat- carving huge temple caves from a rock, sculpting rocks into huge statues etc- but I felt bad being left nonplussed by the visit. The threat of monkey bites did little to add to it! There was a thoroughly impressive sculpture of three--headed Shiva.
After our boat excursion, we decided to delve into the mysterious world of train-ticket buying in India. Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (Victoria Terminus or CST) is a beautiful building which combines all sorts of architectural styles on the outside. Inside, it's amazing how many people it can hold without seeming all that crowded. After asking several people, filling in some paperwork, getting a guy to leave us a lone and purchasing a book of all Indian trains for all the days of the week until June, we got our stamp, went to the reservation room and found that our train was fully booked and we'd have to be waitlisted. Too bad, we thought, but whatever, we didn't want to waste more time standing in the reservation room listening to a guy trying to sell chai by rattling some plastic cups at us. Then, we spotted the "Foreign Tourist" window. Surrounded by "Foreign Tourist Only" benches, it became our haven for over an hour while we deciphered train time tables, bothered the nice lady behind the window repeatedly and finally settled on one night train towards Ajanta and Ellora and a waitlist spot on another night train to Ahmedabad. Tickets in hand we avoided bus touts, traffic and wrong turns to return to Chowpatty and sample bhelpuri (crunchy, crispy, spicy and delicious), pav bhaji (lentils with onion, tomato and peppers eaten with grilled bread) and get a picture of P eating the yucky leaf combo from the guy with the moustache. I had to fight valiantly but managed to get away with some slightly less weird stuff and an odd-tasting glace cherry... I think this will be the worst thing I eat in the country, but everything else so far has been amazing.
Death trap of the day: tourist train on Elephanta!
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Mishandled
"Your luggage has been mishandled."
"Alright, what does that mean? Where is it"
"We're not sure. Maybe still in Hong Kong, maybe in Delhi, maybe here in Mumbai... maybe elsewhere"
"SO basically, you have no idea..."
"It has been mishandled."
Not sure exactly how the conversation really went, but it seems to have been somewhere along those lines. When we got into Mumbai, after what felt like a ridiculously long flight (China and India are close together on the map, as Philippe reasoned) we got to the baggage pick-up area to find out that both our bags, as well as those of about 10 other people had been mysteriously mishandled and were plainly not there. They couldn't tell us where, or when or how, just point out that the bags were not there and they would look for them and let us know what happened. Since it was around 12:30 a.m. and the whole process lasted a good 2 hours, we decided to skip the whole "sleeping thing" in favor of sitting around then heading over to Sassoon Dock to see fisher-people unload the night's catch, as recommended by the Lonely Planet as a good activity for night owls. We took a pre-paid taxi from the airport to the Gateway of India (cool 1950s style black car with yellow roof and nifty old-fashioned "for hire sign") then wandered over to the docks, inadvertently walking through a section of slums which was a sudden awakening to the poverty that 55% of people in the country live in.
The unloading was cool, with people throwing up baskets of fish from their boats to the dock and people packing them up to sent to restaurants and markets. Would have been even better if we could have bought some! We then found a hostel (hard to do at 7am, pre-opening and checkout time) and slept through half the day.
Feeling rejuvenated, we had our first India meal (delicious dhal!!) which I was unable to eat in a convincing Indian style... finger-eating does not come naturally. We walked quite a few miles around the city, seeing a museum, a synagogue, a church (oldest Mumbai building), the University, the High Court, some cricketers, a train station and a market where we had to buy a few things to replace our grubby travel clothes, since jeans and hiking boots are great, but in this heat, with no change of clothes... ick.
In the evening (after more deliciousness), we made do with tiny black shampoo bought at a street stall (the shampoo itself really was black) and dried ourselves with our t-shirts before collapsing into sleep. We were rudely awakened an hour later by the arrival of our bags, mysteriously found in HK and shipped over on the only flight of the day... phew!
"Alright, what does that mean? Where is it"
"We're not sure. Maybe still in Hong Kong, maybe in Delhi, maybe here in Mumbai... maybe elsewhere"
"SO basically, you have no idea..."
"It has been mishandled."
Not sure exactly how the conversation really went, but it seems to have been somewhere along those lines. When we got into Mumbai, after what felt like a ridiculously long flight (China and India are close together on the map, as Philippe reasoned) we got to the baggage pick-up area to find out that both our bags, as well as those of about 10 other people had been mysteriously mishandled and were plainly not there. They couldn't tell us where, or when or how, just point out that the bags were not there and they would look for them and let us know what happened. Since it was around 12:30 a.m. and the whole process lasted a good 2 hours, we decided to skip the whole "sleeping thing" in favor of sitting around then heading over to Sassoon Dock to see fisher-people unload the night's catch, as recommended by the Lonely Planet as a good activity for night owls. We took a pre-paid taxi from the airport to the Gateway of India (cool 1950s style black car with yellow roof and nifty old-fashioned "for hire sign") then wandered over to the docks, inadvertently walking through a section of slums which was a sudden awakening to the poverty that 55% of people in the country live in.
The unloading was cool, with people throwing up baskets of fish from their boats to the dock and people packing them up to sent to restaurants and markets. Would have been even better if we could have bought some! We then found a hostel (hard to do at 7am, pre-opening and checkout time) and slept through half the day.
Feeling rejuvenated, we had our first India meal (delicious dhal!!) which I was unable to eat in a convincing Indian style... finger-eating does not come naturally. We walked quite a few miles around the city, seeing a museum, a synagogue, a church (oldest Mumbai building), the University, the High Court, some cricketers, a train station and a market where we had to buy a few things to replace our grubby travel clothes, since jeans and hiking boots are great, but in this heat, with no change of clothes... ick.
In the evening (after more deliciousness), we made do with tiny black shampoo bought at a street stall (the shampoo itself really was black) and dried ourselves with our t-shirts before collapsing into sleep. We were rudely awakened an hour later by the arrival of our bags, mysteriously found in HK and shipped over on the only flight of the day... phew!
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Awkwertaining
There have been a few awkward moments in the last couple days of teaching as we tackle the thorny subject of censorship. For some of these kids, it's obvious that government censorship of all types of media is good. For others, it's clear that the system has problems and that the truth isn't being altogether being reported. Either way, standing in front of a class of 35 Chinese students and asking them "what kind of censorship have you come across in your life?" and "what are some reasons to censor material?" sort of seems like asking to get into trouble. I feel like I have to tell them that I'm not encouraging them to seek out "bad material" but in a way, I guess I am.
We discussed censorship in general and whether total free speech was a good idea. There seemed to be pretty general consensus that a society without any form of censorship would quickly descend into anarchy and 'social instability', would be confusing and full of truths and fake truths, but in the end, it would be quite creative.
My favorite comments though, were along these lines:
"It is a good idea to ban certain books in small towns and villages, because the people there are simple minded and cannot think well about all the ideas. They cannot understand what they should follow and they will be confused. They will believe everything in the books including some lies."
"Sometimes, censorship is necessary. For example, there is a religion that is evil. Information about the evil religion is censored otherwise, people want to follow it. The government protects the citizens from the evil religion." (we all know what she's talking about but no one is saying the words, though one student named the "evil religion" and everyone was shocked that she had said the F-G words.)
"The government censors some information because it is not good for the citizens to know everything. If they know everything, maybe they will not trust the government and there will be a unstable society... [pause for thought] I think this is not good."
"A society with no censorship is bad. One example is Germany... If before the Second World War there had been no censorship, we could have avoided the war." (as a colleague responded today when I related this, "I'm pretty sure there was censorship of things like "I like Jews"- by shooting you in the street". Another colleague who also has classes at my level said his students had also referenced WWII, but said that if there had been more censorship of books, like Mein Kampf, we could have avoided the war. What have they been taught?!)
There was also a reference to a period of Chinese history of about 10 years that was not taught or included in many books (at least not accurately) because it did not reflect well on the government and China in general, and talk about more abstract ideas like censorship in news being bad as we cannot get the whole truth if we only read government-approved stories, censorship of movies and books to protect kids and the like.
We then had a discussion about specific aspects of censorship that were mentioned in our book:
- Should publishing a book that some consider disrespectful to a certain religion be allowed?
- Should burning the national flag to protest government policies you don't agree with be allowed?
-Should distributing pornography be allowed?
-Should people be allowed to encourage young men to refuse military service because they disagree with a certain war or war in general?
-Should making fun of the U.S. president and making rude or disrespectful comments about him in the press be allowed?
-Should selling rap music with obscene lyrics or lyrics that encourage anti-police sentiment be allowed?
Some of these ideas were obviously easier to discuss and more relevant to the students than others, but mostly, they believed that publishing the book, selling porn to adults, making fun of the U.S. president and selling rap with such lyrics should be allowed. Selling porn to kids, burning the national flag and encouraging refusal of military service did not get so many supporting votes, though we did get a little debating going at least about flag burning. The idea that it was dangerous was shot down but a student saying "it is a powerful way to show that I disagree and it doesn't hurt anyone" got a few more responses from both sides. There seemed to be disagreement about what a flag stands for; if it was the country itself, then burning it to protest government decisions would be wrong, but if we hold it as a symbol of the government, then it might be more ok. Selling porn to children would be a good idea only in so far as it might encourage parents to explain things to them at an earlier age, but mostly, we unanimously voted for keeping kids' illusions about the birds and the bees. A student last year who was voting against distribution of pornography quickly changed his mind when another classmate pointed out that his vote would mean that he would not able to view it... there might have been a similar sentiment among my male students this time!
The military service question was a little harder to tackle with such platitudes as "it is our duty to defend the country" being thrown out but, for me, the best answer came from some who quite articulately pointed out that maybe the situation of war would make a different. She explained that, in her point of view, if the country is invading another one, refusing military service and encouraging same would be okay since it is not harming our own country. However, if our country was being invaded, it was our duty to protect it and therefore, refusing military service would be wrong, and encouraging others to follow us would be really bad. I really enjoy students thinking a little further and am very impressed when they can put such thoughts into coherent English words.
I managed to shock a few students by starting this discussion class with pictures and asking them whether they thought censoring them was a good idea by forming a line of opinion.
We definitely got some good conversations going about what it's reasonable and advisable to hide and what is unnecessary, among all the giggles those pics generated. I might be going for shock value, but I don't know.... I think they're old enough, no?
We discussed censorship in general and whether total free speech was a good idea. There seemed to be pretty general consensus that a society without any form of censorship would quickly descend into anarchy and 'social instability', would be confusing and full of truths and fake truths, but in the end, it would be quite creative.
My favorite comments though, were along these lines:
"It is a good idea to ban certain books in small towns and villages, because the people there are simple minded and cannot think well about all the ideas. They cannot understand what they should follow and they will be confused. They will believe everything in the books including some lies."
"Sometimes, censorship is necessary. For example, there is a religion that is evil. Information about the evil religion is censored otherwise, people want to follow it. The government protects the citizens from the evil religion." (we all know what she's talking about but no one is saying the words, though one student named the "evil religion" and everyone was shocked that she had said the F-G words.)
"The government censors some information because it is not good for the citizens to know everything. If they know everything, maybe they will not trust the government and there will be a unstable society... [pause for thought] I think this is not good."
"A society with no censorship is bad. One example is Germany... If before the Second World War there had been no censorship, we could have avoided the war." (as a colleague responded today when I related this, "I'm pretty sure there was censorship of things like "I like Jews"- by shooting you in the street". Another colleague who also has classes at my level said his students had also referenced WWII, but said that if there had been more censorship of books, like Mein Kampf, we could have avoided the war. What have they been taught?!)
There was also a reference to a period of Chinese history of about 10 years that was not taught or included in many books (at least not accurately) because it did not reflect well on the government and China in general, and talk about more abstract ideas like censorship in news being bad as we cannot get the whole truth if we only read government-approved stories, censorship of movies and books to protect kids and the like.
We then had a discussion about specific aspects of censorship that were mentioned in our book:
- Should publishing a book that some consider disrespectful to a certain religion be allowed?
- Should burning the national flag to protest government policies you don't agree with be allowed?
-Should distributing pornography be allowed?
-Should people be allowed to encourage young men to refuse military service because they disagree with a certain war or war in general?
-Should making fun of the U.S. president and making rude or disrespectful comments about him in the press be allowed?
-Should selling rap music with obscene lyrics or lyrics that encourage anti-police sentiment be allowed?
Some of these ideas were obviously easier to discuss and more relevant to the students than others, but mostly, they believed that publishing the book, selling porn to adults, making fun of the U.S. president and selling rap with such lyrics should be allowed. Selling porn to kids, burning the national flag and encouraging refusal of military service did not get so many supporting votes, though we did get a little debating going at least about flag burning. The idea that it was dangerous was shot down but a student saying "it is a powerful way to show that I disagree and it doesn't hurt anyone" got a few more responses from both sides. There seemed to be disagreement about what a flag stands for; if it was the country itself, then burning it to protest government decisions would be wrong, but if we hold it as a symbol of the government, then it might be more ok. Selling porn to children would be a good idea only in so far as it might encourage parents to explain things to them at an earlier age, but mostly, we unanimously voted for keeping kids' illusions about the birds and the bees. A student last year who was voting against distribution of pornography quickly changed his mind when another classmate pointed out that his vote would mean that he would not able to view it... there might have been a similar sentiment among my male students this time!
The military service question was a little harder to tackle with such platitudes as "it is our duty to defend the country" being thrown out but, for me, the best answer came from some who quite articulately pointed out that maybe the situation of war would make a different. She explained that, in her point of view, if the country is invading another one, refusing military service and encouraging same would be okay since it is not harming our own country. However, if our country was being invaded, it was our duty to protect it and therefore, refusing military service would be wrong, and encouraging others to follow us would be really bad. I really enjoy students thinking a little further and am very impressed when they can put such thoughts into coherent English words.
I managed to shock a few students by starting this discussion class with pictures and asking them whether they thought censoring them was a good idea by forming a line of opinion.
We definitely got some good conversations going about what it's reasonable and advisable to hide and what is unnecessary, among all the giggles those pics generated. I might be going for shock value, but I don't know.... I think they're old enough, no?
Monday, November 17, 2008
Not the right arena...
Some students believe that grammar exercises are the correct place to make political statements, as in the following examples:
Despite the fact that Japanese have killed thousands of Chinese people, they ignored it and told a lie to the public.
Although Taiwan is still free in the world, it will come back to china in the future.
In these two years, RMB is revaluing stably, whereas US is devaluing sustainedly.
And also, worryingly:
I eat vegetables in every meal although I worry about the insect in them! eww!!!!
Despite the fact that Japanese have killed thousands of Chinese people, they ignored it and told a lie to the public.
Although Taiwan is still free in the world, it will come back to china in the future.
In these two years, RMB is revaluing stably, whereas US is devaluing sustainedly.
And also, worryingly:
I eat vegetables in every meal although I worry about the insect in them! eww!!!!
Student businesses- class 3
Right after my second class left, we started round 3. It was quite awesome also, though I took fewer notes! Here is what I have and remember:
One group was selling clothes to give you superpowers. Their magic clothes (pictured worn by characters from The Incredibles) can give you the power of flight or fish-like swimming, among others. They were planning to get Phelps to advertise since he's basically awesome and already swims like a fish. Their choice of Phelps images though included one from SI which made him look like he was naked, wearing nothing but his Olympic medals and another that they had stretched sideways- he looked way more appealing that way, let me tell you! They then talked about guanxi and how "if you have a big relationship net, you can do anything"... well, maybe in China!
Another group offered to make your feelings known if you were too shy to do so. "Your feelings, we tell them" they declared! You could choose 3 different packages to tell people you loved them: one included a heart made of candles, another a hot air balloon ride floating over the city to a billboard announcing your feelings to the object of your affection, and the third was your very own set of fireworks, that might or might not have spelled out your thoughts word for word (sounds just ridiculous enough that they might have said it). Their flow chart of company employee policy went from recruitment through training to evaluation which would result in, appropriately, either praise or punishment. No word on what that might have entailed.
One quite creative and freaky group sold a product called "painted skin". Their product was simple: you have problems with your appearance- we give you a new face without the need for expensive and painful cosmetic surgery. The commercial was a tad un-PC with a kid not getting a job ("I failed in my interview for my face so I want to change it") but after his new painted skin makeover, he gets the job. Their claim? We will give you a new face, then we will give you a successful life!" Not sure how many would take them up on it as the price tag for this service was 1,000,000RMB (that's so little money)!
An ad for an Ebay-style service involved too sad kids whining about one getting another mp3 player from her boyfriend instead of the cellphone she asked for (boo hoo now I have 2 mp3 players) and one having received his second cellphone (aww, poor baby has 2 phones). Conveniently, the website helps them match and switch uneccessary technology... the wonders of modernity!
The last group made quite an impression with their $1 bodyguard. The repeated chorus of "one dollar" throughout the introductory section of their presentation made quite an impression. "Bodyguard of 1Dollar" doesn't actually fight for you, but you can call him and he will shine a flashlight at you and dial the local police number to get you some help. That's why he's so cheap. The advertising did have a guy assaulting another guy (pretending to be a helpless girl) with the words "your money, your body!" Even funnier if you know this mild-mannered student! They also aimed to "service the whole country" at some point in the future (cringe!) and claimed that I was so confident in their venture that I, myself, had invested 100 million RMB starting capital! They concluded with "don't you think it's significant to give money to charity? Then contact us and get a bodyguard!" Not sure about that!
Quite the marathon post and in fact, the marathon day of grading, but I am so proud of the students for being so creative. I suspect some ideas were not orginal, but the presentations were put together so quickly that they really impressed me! I'd even consider using some of those products!
One thing I both love and hate about oral presentation day, though, is discovering how good the quiet students are. In some cases, it might actually be better for my sanity not to have to struggle to decipher what they say on a regular basis, but it would definitely not hurt them to speak. In others, the pronunciation, grammar and fluency are so good that I wonder what keeps them silent- is it shyness? laziness? boredom? I'd be happy to get suggestions!
One group was selling clothes to give you superpowers. Their magic clothes (pictured worn by characters from The Incredibles) can give you the power of flight or fish-like swimming, among others. They were planning to get Phelps to advertise since he's basically awesome and already swims like a fish. Their choice of Phelps images though included one from SI which made him look like he was naked, wearing nothing but his Olympic medals and another that they had stretched sideways- he looked way more appealing that way, let me tell you! They then talked about guanxi and how "if you have a big relationship net, you can do anything"... well, maybe in China!
Another group offered to make your feelings known if you were too shy to do so. "Your feelings, we tell them" they declared! You could choose 3 different packages to tell people you loved them: one included a heart made of candles, another a hot air balloon ride floating over the city to a billboard announcing your feelings to the object of your affection, and the third was your very own set of fireworks, that might or might not have spelled out your thoughts word for word (sounds just ridiculous enough that they might have said it). Their flow chart of company employee policy went from recruitment through training to evaluation which would result in, appropriately, either praise or punishment. No word on what that might have entailed.
One quite creative and freaky group sold a product called "painted skin". Their product was simple: you have problems with your appearance- we give you a new face without the need for expensive and painful cosmetic surgery. The commercial was a tad un-PC with a kid not getting a job ("I failed in my interview for my face so I want to change it") but after his new painted skin makeover, he gets the job. Their claim? We will give you a new face, then we will give you a successful life!" Not sure how many would take them up on it as the price tag for this service was 1,000,000RMB (that's so little money)!
An ad for an Ebay-style service involved too sad kids whining about one getting another mp3 player from her boyfriend instead of the cellphone she asked for (boo hoo now I have 2 mp3 players) and one having received his second cellphone (aww, poor baby has 2 phones). Conveniently, the website helps them match and switch uneccessary technology... the wonders of modernity!
The last group made quite an impression with their $1 bodyguard. The repeated chorus of "one dollar" throughout the introductory section of their presentation made quite an impression. "Bodyguard of 1Dollar" doesn't actually fight for you, but you can call him and he will shine a flashlight at you and dial the local police number to get you some help. That's why he's so cheap. The advertising did have a guy assaulting another guy (pretending to be a helpless girl) with the words "your money, your body!" Even funnier if you know this mild-mannered student! They also aimed to "service the whole country" at some point in the future (cringe!) and claimed that I was so confident in their venture that I, myself, had invested 100 million RMB starting capital! They concluded with "don't you think it's significant to give money to charity? Then contact us and get a bodyguard!" Not sure about that!
Quite the marathon post and in fact, the marathon day of grading, but I am so proud of the students for being so creative. I suspect some ideas were not orginal, but the presentations were put together so quickly that they really impressed me! I'd even consider using some of those products!
One thing I both love and hate about oral presentation day, though, is discovering how good the quiet students are. In some cases, it might actually be better for my sanity not to have to struggle to decipher what they say on a regular basis, but it would definitely not hurt them to speak. In others, the pronunciation, grammar and fluency are so good that I wonder what keeps them silent- is it shyness? laziness? boredom? I'd be happy to get suggestions!
Student businesses- class 2
In the afternoon, I returned for the following entertaining startups:
This class opened with "Damnbowl guys" who help you break up with your girlfriend for a low low price. Apparently, "danbo" in Chinese means something like that. I didn't get the joke, but they did. Their phone number, 666, might be too hard to remember for some people, but a student's suggestion that they just remember "sexy, sexy, sexy" (written across some rather bootylicious female outlines) probably helped. The advertising was sightly disturbing and possibly a tad homophobic and gratuitous with a guy calling for help to break up with his girlfriend. The plan gets approved and when the lady in question arrives to meet with her future ex-boyfriend he is distracted by two girls walking by, giggling and holding hands. The girls then proceed to pet each other on the head and arms and hug in ways that made me feel uncomfortable! The girlfriend accuses her guy of checking them out and tells him that they are "homosexuals!" in a disgusted tone. She then rants about how her parents don't approve of homosexuality and how she finds it immoral. He breaks up with her by simply saying "oh! I need to tell you, I'm a homosexual too!" then walks off and hugs another guy. Priceless and ever-so-slightly offensive and inappropriate.
The other groups were less ridiculous, but still had their "did they really say that?!" moments. Par exemple: the next group's product "Cleaning Panacea: the only cleaning machine you'll need" is so awesome that a famous dancer/ singer person has a speech bubble sayig "Using cleaning panacea makes me want to dance while I am cleaning" and another girl begs her boyfriend to get her one too- "it's a great gift for your girlfriend!" "Why not your boyfriend?!" I ask.
A group of Doraemon fans were selling magical items from the show/ cartoon/ whatever, including a door to get anywhere (I am here, then once I step through it and "oh my god!" I am at home) and memorizing bread with stuff written on it that you instantly remember after you eat the bread.
One group was having some communication problems when they couldn't recognize their own names when called by another student. After they got over this fairly major hurdle, they introduced their product "Heal Can" from "King Air". These are cans of air from all over the world (high mountain air, ocean breezes etc) mixed with chemicals to help you enhance your looks (no need for makeup) or to make you fitter (you no longer need that gym membership). A handy robot (aptly played by a student) can help you by dispensing a can or refilling one you already have and teaching you how to use the cans themselves. The advertisement also included one of my students walking us through the steps of air collection with the words "go to the cliff! go to the cliff! don't fall off!!" and another pretending to climb the air conditioning unit.
The next project was for a home exchange website, a la The Holiday. Their slogan? "Exchange your home, exchange your life". The girl who was explaining the process had the word life accidentally projected onto her decolletage the whole time she was talking, which I found both artistic and awkward. This group also declared that "if you want your company to do well, you should spend money" and their service was "quite expensive... oh it's quite cheap" by turns.
3GB (3 girls + 1 boy) offered "perfect services, serve perfectness" with their Shopping guys' checkroom. Thir slogan was short and to the point: "Waiting? Enjoying!" This service was described as a room where girls can check their men, like they'd check a coat or bag, so that they can shop without their boyfriends or husbands complaining about the waste of time and money. However, as the man's job is to carry things, the service also provides a handsome escort to carry heavy things and protect the money. Also, a good way to have walking advertising, as they pointed out. The men would have access to drinks, sports on TV, movies, internet games etc... all the stereotypical male entertainments. At the opening of the service, it was promised that they would recruit more staff so that "our staff can have intercourse with the customers"... sketchy? They meant interaction/ provide more personalized service but... yeah, lost in translation. I ran this idea by Philippe who was less than excited about the handsome male escort, but other than that, quite willing to patronize this kind of establishment.
The 7th group offered the services of Pet Pet Love, which might have been copied from a real service- I choose to remain ignorant. Their group ran a pet hotel/ cafeteria/ salon and spa for animals of busy people, vacationers etc. They ahd some pretty amusing pictures of celebrities with their animals and one photoshopped to show Putin shaking hands with a student in the group. One hilarious option was the swimming pool/ diving area for hamsters... not sure how that would work out.
The closing performance was about an "idea sharing" business. For example, you need to get your girlfriend a gift. "here, dear, have my credit card, buy what you want"- "Oh! It's so boring!"
Therefore, you invest in this company that says "we need people, we need their brains". Sounds like it's a zombie powered firm, but at least, their ideas are better than yours!
This class opened with "Damnbowl guys" who help you break up with your girlfriend for a low low price. Apparently, "danbo" in Chinese means something like that. I didn't get the joke, but they did. Their phone number, 666, might be too hard to remember for some people, but a student's suggestion that they just remember "sexy, sexy, sexy" (written across some rather bootylicious female outlines) probably helped. The advertising was sightly disturbing and possibly a tad homophobic and gratuitous with a guy calling for help to break up with his girlfriend. The plan gets approved and when the lady in question arrives to meet with her future ex-boyfriend he is distracted by two girls walking by, giggling and holding hands. The girls then proceed to pet each other on the head and arms and hug in ways that made me feel uncomfortable! The girlfriend accuses her guy of checking them out and tells him that they are "homosexuals!" in a disgusted tone. She then rants about how her parents don't approve of homosexuality and how she finds it immoral. He breaks up with her by simply saying "oh! I need to tell you, I'm a homosexual too!" then walks off and hugs another guy. Priceless and ever-so-slightly offensive and inappropriate.
The other groups were less ridiculous, but still had their "did they really say that?!" moments. Par exemple: the next group's product "Cleaning Panacea: the only cleaning machine you'll need" is so awesome that a famous dancer/ singer person has a speech bubble sayig "Using cleaning panacea makes me want to dance while I am cleaning" and another girl begs her boyfriend to get her one too- "it's a great gift for your girlfriend!" "Why not your boyfriend?!" I ask.
A group of Doraemon fans were selling magical items from the show/ cartoon/ whatever, including a door to get anywhere (I am here, then once I step through it and "oh my god!" I am at home) and memorizing bread with stuff written on it that you instantly remember after you eat the bread.
One group was having some communication problems when they couldn't recognize their own names when called by another student. After they got over this fairly major hurdle, they introduced their product "Heal Can" from "King Air". These are cans of air from all over the world (high mountain air, ocean breezes etc) mixed with chemicals to help you enhance your looks (no need for makeup) or to make you fitter (you no longer need that gym membership). A handy robot (aptly played by a student) can help you by dispensing a can or refilling one you already have and teaching you how to use the cans themselves. The advertisement also included one of my students walking us through the steps of air collection with the words "go to the cliff! go to the cliff! don't fall off!!" and another pretending to climb the air conditioning unit.
The next project was for a home exchange website, a la The Holiday. Their slogan? "Exchange your home, exchange your life". The girl who was explaining the process had the word life accidentally projected onto her decolletage the whole time she was talking, which I found both artistic and awkward. This group also declared that "if you want your company to do well, you should spend money" and their service was "quite expensive... oh it's quite cheap" by turns.
3GB (3 girls + 1 boy) offered "perfect services, serve perfectness" with their Shopping guys' checkroom. Thir slogan was short and to the point: "Waiting? Enjoying!" This service was described as a room where girls can check their men, like they'd check a coat or bag, so that they can shop without their boyfriends or husbands complaining about the waste of time and money. However, as the man's job is to carry things, the service also provides a handsome escort to carry heavy things and protect the money. Also, a good way to have walking advertising, as they pointed out. The men would have access to drinks, sports on TV, movies, internet games etc... all the stereotypical male entertainments. At the opening of the service, it was promised that they would recruit more staff so that "our staff can have intercourse with the customers"... sketchy? They meant interaction/ provide more personalized service but... yeah, lost in translation. I ran this idea by Philippe who was less than excited about the handsome male escort, but other than that, quite willing to patronize this kind of establishment.
The 7th group offered the services of Pet Pet Love, which might have been copied from a real service- I choose to remain ignorant. Their group ran a pet hotel/ cafeteria/ salon and spa for animals of busy people, vacationers etc. They ahd some pretty amusing pictures of celebrities with their animals and one photoshopped to show Putin shaking hands with a student in the group. One hilarious option was the swimming pool/ diving area for hamsters... not sure how that would work out.
The closing performance was about an "idea sharing" business. For example, you need to get your girlfriend a gift. "here, dear, have my credit card, buy what you want"- "Oh! It's so boring!"
Therefore, you invest in this company that says "we need people, we need their brains". Sounds like it's a zombie powered firm, but at least, their ideas are better than yours!
Student businesses- class 1
Turns out I can access the homepage and post blog entries, I just can't read Blogspot... curiouser and curiouser.
At last though, here are the comments and notes from my presentations. I tend to write random notes about funny things they say (on purpose and accidentally) while they talk and I grade so some things might not make sense. I'll post this in 3 more manageable sections:
Class 1:
R-Zone: a bus that has a massage/ relaxing treatments room in back
One group offered to sell a robot superboyfriend: "if you have no boyfriend, he will be there for you. if you have a boyfriend already, he will be stronger than him". One of the students was the robot in the commercial they wrote, then was also the CFO. In his words "I am the financial manager. Also, the product!"
The next group sold materials and offered counseling for people with insomnia because "if you don't sleep well, your money will fly away or you will fall in the river unfortunately and forget how to swim"... wouldn't want that happening! To solve the problems, they have emplyed some "scientologists" who have some knowledge and technical skills... I worry! It is also good to get advice and more sleep because that way, you can (hallelujah!) avoid awkward conversations such as:
"-I have found my true love!
-I know! It's me!
-No it's not! because of your panda eyes!"
After this, I discovered, that there is a way to go back in time with a new time machine. The advertising for this went like so: "Do you miss your ancestors? I'm sure you so, so you can travel back in time to chat with them. Or do you like to go back to the Jurassic? You can go back and enjoy the deep forests and the dinosaurs"... I'm pretty sure that Spielberg already showed us just how bad an idea that is!
My next group of businessmen wanted to market paintbrushes made of baby hair to help you keep memories of your child's first few days. But if you want uch memories and the idea of such a thing makes you uncomfortable (as it did me!) you can opt for wax molds of their little hands and feet, which, though I know it's a real business creeps me out somewhat.
This same group uttered the line "advertising for a company is like a face for human beings; without a face, how can you be known?" before they teased us about the location of their business: "do you know why we choose Hangzhou? I don't want to tell you, because it is a secret!" Their phone number 13411988888, I believe, has a special meaning too.
The second to last group started their presentation with an imagined scene from Heroes where Peter Petrelli who can absorb powers meets with a friend who is powerless. They eat their dinner and Peter falls dead while his powerless friend survives... why?! because of a tiny smart chip in the other guy's watch! This chip can not only help you keep a balanced diet by analyzing your nutrition and make suggestions, but also reverse harmful chemical processes in your stomach and counter poison. Pretty amazing, huh? The students' company was called HK (do you know what it stands for? Hong Kong? No, you are smart, but I am smarter!) and they included a fashion show to showcase how the chip could be incorporated into a student's, a fashionista's or a worker's outfit.
I had a straggler group the week after whose product was "magic seeds to grow all kinds of food". They marketed them under the name McDonDon, a very obvious rip-off of McDonald's complete with yellow arches. An awesome idea though, with such things are icre-cream seeds, hamburger seeds, spaghetti seeds and the like. Just add water and you get the real thing. Perfect!
At last though, here are the comments and notes from my presentations. I tend to write random notes about funny things they say (on purpose and accidentally) while they talk and I grade so some things might not make sense. I'll post this in 3 more manageable sections:
Class 1:
R-Zone: a bus that has a massage/ relaxing treatments room in back
One group offered to sell a robot superboyfriend: "if you have no boyfriend, he will be there for you. if you have a boyfriend already, he will be stronger than him". One of the students was the robot in the commercial they wrote, then was also the CFO. In his words "I am the financial manager. Also, the product!"
The next group sold materials and offered counseling for people with insomnia because "if you don't sleep well, your money will fly away or you will fall in the river unfortunately and forget how to swim"... wouldn't want that happening! To solve the problems, they have emplyed some "scientologists" who have some knowledge and technical skills... I worry! It is also good to get advice and more sleep because that way, you can (hallelujah!) avoid awkward conversations such as:
"-I have found my true love!
-I know! It's me!
-No it's not! because of your panda eyes!"
After this, I discovered, that there is a way to go back in time with a new time machine. The advertising for this went like so: "Do you miss your ancestors? I'm sure you so, so you can travel back in time to chat with them. Or do you like to go back to the Jurassic? You can go back and enjoy the deep forests and the dinosaurs"... I'm pretty sure that Spielberg already showed us just how bad an idea that is!
My next group of businessmen wanted to market paintbrushes made of baby hair to help you keep memories of your child's first few days. But if you want uch memories and the idea of such a thing makes you uncomfortable (as it did me!) you can opt for wax molds of their little hands and feet, which, though I know it's a real business creeps me out somewhat.
This same group uttered the line "advertising for a company is like a face for human beings; without a face, how can you be known?" before they teased us about the location of their business: "do you know why we choose Hangzhou? I don't want to tell you, because it is a secret!" Their phone number 13411988888, I believe, has a special meaning too.
The second to last group started their presentation with an imagined scene from Heroes where Peter Petrelli who can absorb powers meets with a friend who is powerless. They eat their dinner and Peter falls dead while his powerless friend survives... why?! because of a tiny smart chip in the other guy's watch! This chip can not only help you keep a balanced diet by analyzing your nutrition and make suggestions, but also reverse harmful chemical processes in your stomach and counter poison. Pretty amazing, huh? The students' company was called HK (do you know what it stands for? Hong Kong? No, you are smart, but I am smarter!) and they included a fashion show to showcase how the chip could be incorporated into a student's, a fashionista's or a worker's outfit.
I had a straggler group the week after whose product was "magic seeds to grow all kinds of food". They marketed them under the name McDonDon, a very obvious rip-off of McDonald's complete with yellow arches. An awesome idea though, with such things are icre-cream seeds, hamburger seeds, spaghetti seeds and the like. Just add water and you get the real thing. Perfect!
Playing catchup... again
I know I'd promised myself to be good and blog regularly but it just didn't happen. Also, Blogspot just got blocked in China which isn't going to encourage me to post. If anyone is reading, just remind me you care or ask questions, then I'll feel useful and get my act together!
Anyway, right after my last post we had the English Festival semi-finals. Rehearsal all afternoon Saturday which was very frustrating as nothing was going according to plan: singers were late, dancers were AWOL, a band took 45 minutes to set up, then didn't practice, speakers were really loud or really quiet, the music sometimes had too many backup singers, the powerpoints weren't 100% official-looking, the MCs' clothing had some issues... it was a neverending list of worries. Then, the speech contest went passably well, with the student/ friend I had been coaching making it to the finals along with 2 of my former students, a student of HP's and one of M's. Sadly my current students who were involved didn't make it, but they did pretty well anyway. The only disappointment was the abysmal performance of the purported star of the show, a senior law student who forgot his speech several times.
During Singing Contest, my favourite act (a current student and her partner who I had in my class my first semester) did really well as did most of the other singers. The songs were, sadly, all slow and love-y (apart from the last Avril Lavigne entry) but the entertaining clothes and mostly good singing helped make the evening less tedious than I'd anticipated. For the most part, the contestants did way better than they had during any of the workshops and rehearsals and I was really impressed by a few. The ones who were chosen for the final were basically the ones I expected and I hope they do as well in front of a bigger audience and can give our guests a run for their money (might secretly be hoping that pair I mentioned is so awesome they win)!
After the semifinals, I had the joy of grading quizzes and written assignments. The quizzes went fast, as they usually do, and were graded and ready to be returned by the end of the day I got them. Not so for the papers! As a level, we decided (more or less enthusiastically) to assign both a resume and a cover letter. As most of the students have never written either one in Chinese, let alone English, it was quite a challenge for them. And a challenge to grade. There were some stellar ones that might have gotten interviews and some that were so mediocre I wondered if the students had been in class when I assigned the topic. There were also the exciting and entertaining quotes, such as "the snakes called "JKAOMT AMERICAN FIRES". It is very crisp and delicious", "You can touch me by my telephone number" and "I have been responsible for surprising the accounting and billing department". One student claimed he worked for a long "pyramid of time" and another had the award of "Sock dolager of military training"... nope, I didn't get it either!
In the end the scores were less delicious than the AMERICAN FIRES and the students seemed to realize that. Now, a couple of weeks after a quiz, an oral and a paper, I'm asking them to start on the next written assignment, a compare and contrast essay about culture. It promises to be interesting.
Other than work, I haven't done much! I went to a J-School party last week, where they celebrated the 5th anniversary of the school, and I got to see the dance team which features a number of current, former and known students perform a nifty show where the umbrella-carrying statues of the public art by the reservoir came to life during a rainstorm. I was whelmed. :) That night I also went clubbing/ bar-ing with a colleague and it was quite fun! I got to meet some of the downtown laowai who were quite the step up from the last batch I knew! I went back downtown for a drink and a dance this Friday night, with almost all my foreign colleagues to support another colleague who was making his DJing debut. Sadly he only got to play 3 or 4 songs, but his selection did get us moving more than the 'professionals' who are actually regularly employed there.
That's about all until I get my act together and summarize those oral presentations I've babbled about several times! Next week we do feng shui and design a house with good feng shui!
Anyway, right after my last post we had the English Festival semi-finals. Rehearsal all afternoon Saturday which was very frustrating as nothing was going according to plan: singers were late, dancers were AWOL, a band took 45 minutes to set up, then didn't practice, speakers were really loud or really quiet, the music sometimes had too many backup singers, the powerpoints weren't 100% official-looking, the MCs' clothing had some issues... it was a neverending list of worries. Then, the speech contest went passably well, with the student/ friend I had been coaching making it to the finals along with 2 of my former students, a student of HP's and one of M's. Sadly my current students who were involved didn't make it, but they did pretty well anyway. The only disappointment was the abysmal performance of the purported star of the show, a senior law student who forgot his speech several times.
During Singing Contest, my favourite act (a current student and her partner who I had in my class my first semester) did really well as did most of the other singers. The songs were, sadly, all slow and love-y (apart from the last Avril Lavigne entry) but the entertaining clothes and mostly good singing helped make the evening less tedious than I'd anticipated. For the most part, the contestants did way better than they had during any of the workshops and rehearsals and I was really impressed by a few. The ones who were chosen for the final were basically the ones I expected and I hope they do as well in front of a bigger audience and can give our guests a run for their money (might secretly be hoping that pair I mentioned is so awesome they win)!
After the semifinals, I had the joy of grading quizzes and written assignments. The quizzes went fast, as they usually do, and were graded and ready to be returned by the end of the day I got them. Not so for the papers! As a level, we decided (more or less enthusiastically) to assign both a resume and a cover letter. As most of the students have never written either one in Chinese, let alone English, it was quite a challenge for them. And a challenge to grade. There were some stellar ones that might have gotten interviews and some that were so mediocre I wondered if the students had been in class when I assigned the topic. There were also the exciting and entertaining quotes, such as "the snakes called "JKAOMT AMERICAN FIRES". It is very crisp and delicious", "You can touch me by my telephone number" and "I have been responsible for surprising the accounting and billing department". One student claimed he worked for a long "pyramid of time" and another had the award of "Sock dolager of military training"... nope, I didn't get it either!
In the end the scores were less delicious than the AMERICAN FIRES and the students seemed to realize that. Now, a couple of weeks after a quiz, an oral and a paper, I'm asking them to start on the next written assignment, a compare and contrast essay about culture. It promises to be interesting.
Other than work, I haven't done much! I went to a J-School party last week, where they celebrated the 5th anniversary of the school, and I got to see the dance team which features a number of current, former and known students perform a nifty show where the umbrella-carrying statues of the public art by the reservoir came to life during a rainstorm. I was whelmed. :) That night I also went clubbing/ bar-ing with a colleague and it was quite fun! I got to meet some of the downtown laowai who were quite the step up from the last batch I knew! I went back downtown for a drink and a dance this Friday night, with almost all my foreign colleagues to support another colleague who was making his DJing debut. Sadly he only got to play 3 or 4 songs, but his selection did get us moving more than the 'professionals' who are actually regularly employed there.
That's about all until I get my act together and summarize those oral presentations I've babbled about several times! Next week we do feng shui and design a house with good feng shui!
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