Questions of a Generation

Last night I had my best class so far. It was held at the Beijing YMCA metro office. There were 11 people attending ranging from a senior in high school to a man who is fluent in reading and writing English and who translates books and texts from Chinese into English. Other students included several college students, a tour guide, a YMCA staff person and a couple of men who work in Beijing. Some of these people are self taught in English and others have had at least 6 years of English in high school and university. One is majoring in English. When I asked why she said it's because it is "easy." Overall, their main goal is to practice speaking English and increasing vocabulary. After introductions around the table, one of the students brought up the question of the Cultural Revolution. Wow! I'm no expert but thankfully I had recently read "Wild Swans" which gave me a thorough overview of the cultural revolution from one family's perspective. Guess what? I seem to be one of the most knowledgeble people about the cultural revolution in the group. By the way, "Wild Swans" is not published in China.

Most of the students are young, ranging in age from 17 to 25. A few are older than that. Philip told us he went to school during the cultural revolution (1966 - 1976) beginning from age 6 to age 16. Another young woman who raised questions about the event said that her parents won't talk about it and so she is curious as to what happened then.

The discussion shifted to the "Long March" which happened in 1936. The CCTV has been running specials on the "Long March" because this is its 70th anniversary. One of the students, Robert, said that it aroused in him very deep feelings of patriotism because of what the people had suffered on the Long March and because they served as an example for him (as heros of their nation). All I can say is that I saw parallels with this and our own feeling of patriotism regarding the American Revolution. The spin the news media in China seems to be putting on the Long March is that now they can build on it for the "Long March" into the economic future of China.

This is such a revelation for me as I try to overcome my negative feelings against communism in China in particular. I remember as a young child and a Catholic school student in the 1950s, the nuns talking about the persecution of the religious in communist China. Well, who knew anything about politics then? And what do I know now? All I know is the people I meet are wonderful, open and honest and looking forward to having a good future in China and in the world. Most of the students I meet are arranging to spend at least one year if not more studying in an English speaking country. Some are going to England, some to Australia and at least one mentioned she wants to go to Germany.

By the way, Germany seems to be building big partnerships in China. One of my Chinese friends told me that they can accept Germany because they admit to their past atrocities during World War II but they can't accept Japan because they don't admit to their atrocities toward the Chinese people. Interesting perspective. Of course, all of the television programs I see focus on economics and Germany is a major economic partner with China. One of the advantages to being here and having these discussions is that it opens my mind to these other viewpoints, viewpoints that we don't necessarily get exposed to in the U. S.

Dogs Yipping

I don't know if it has to do with China's one child policy, but there seem to be an excessive amount of small dogs in my apartment complex. And in the morning and evening you hear a preponderance of dogs yipping. Sometimes it's ferocious, especially in the morning. Two small dogs seem to have it out. Othertimes it's annoying, especially in the evening. Yip, Yip, Yip! So you can't have a kid, but you can have a dog to make up for it. Is there a connection here or is it just my imagination? One of my Chinese companions said it's a problem because many people do not have their dog's innoculated against distemper and rabies. Oh boy! Hopefully they're not ferocious enough to bite me. But I also say "BITE ME!"

The Rain in Spain - or teaching English in China

I've been here a little more than two weeks. The first week was spent getting to know the staff. The second week was interviewing students and determining their level of English so they could be put into the proper classes.

It turns out that I will be teaching English Corner (conversational English) to young teens (11 - 13 years) and to adults. In addition, I will be teaching several students one-on-one. My first student is named Eric. He is 7 years old and speaks and understands some English. However, his mother wants him to improve his English by speaking with a "foreigner". That's me. I also will probably teach another 7 year old and another adult or two one on one.

Speaking of foreigner, on Friday night when we held our first classes, we had divided the children into two groups. One was the teens who would be with me and the other were beginning English speakers who would be taught by a young woman of Asian descent who grew up in and is from British Columbia. She is bi-lingual and is studying for her masters in law at a Beijing university. Well, when the classes began, the parents were up in arms because they did not consider the teacher from BC a foreigner and therefore not qualified to teach their little children English. Afterwards, the staff was joking that maybe we should have put a blond wig on her and equipped her with blue contact lenses so that she could qualify as a foreigner.

We're all learning as we go along but all in all it has been a positive experience. Of course, the adults are a lot more flexible and easier to communicate with. I still have to figure out how to keep a couple of 7 year olds and about 12 teens interested enough to show up every week.

It's a challenge but it is quite an exhilirating experience.

All the News That's Fit to Print

CCTV (http://english.cctv.com/index.shtml) is the Chinese controlled television network available here and the only channel I get in English. The news is filtered and not in depth and is regulated by the government. There are occasions when a broadcast will be cut off in the middle. I understand that happened the other day when there was some kind of trouble with Tibet. The newspaper, too, is regulated. I had also read that it is unwise to bring up anything political unless the Chinese citizen approaches the topic first. The TV has very little news about Iraq, and about the American government. Mostly it focuses on economic news as it relates to China. And even there, a lot is reported on Chinese partners in certain countries of Africa and other allied countries. The news is not delivered in soundbites like in the US and is not polished in the American style either. Sometimes I find that refreshing and other times I find it, quite frankly, boring. On the one English language station I receive, there are programs that are essentially travelogues of places to visit in China, in addition to the news. The one person I approached on the subject of North Korea knew who Bush is but not Rice. China is the center of the universe here, not the United States, although they realize it is in their best interest to learn English, as the United States is the dominant force in the world economically. Almost everything reported is based on the U.S. dollar.

Yesterday, I went to a book club meeting at the Chinese Culture Club (http://www.chinesecultureclub.org/). I was especially interested because they were reviewing "Wild Swans", which I had just read. Attending were several wives of diplomats and business men stationed in Beijing. Also attending was a Chinese woman whose field of expertise is Chinese culture. One point she made was that there is a vast and growing disparity between the rich and the poor in China. She seemed to think that the Chinese government is trying to hide this disparity. I see some articles in the English language newspaper and on TV positioning the Chinese government as a champion of the poor. So we shall see how this plays out. This woman seemed to think that we only see what is in the cities, the prosperity, etc., but that is not what's happening in the country. I still can't wrap my mind around it. There are 1. 3 billion people in China. That's one billion more people than in America!

I try to keep up with the news on the internet but, I confess, I'm not as diligent as I would be at home where I read the paper every day.

I expect to get HBO and CNN hooked up to my TV soon. But to be honest, I don't much miss the "vast wasteland" that we call television in America.

The Air That We Breathe

Most people have heard of the horrendous air pollution in Beijing. For one thing, I've only seen a blue sky a few times in the last two weeks. There is a permanent haze which rarely dissipates. Coughing and spitting are common. New cars are being registered in Beijing at the rate of about 1,000 per day. Presently there are about 2.5 million cars in Beijing and it almost seems that all of them are on the streets at the same time. However, Beijing has an excellent public transportation system with a modern subway and numerous buses, although I'm told they are very crowded at cetain times of the day. Taxis abound. I think there are something like 67,000 taxis in the city. I'm trying my best to ride in every one of them! Transportation is so cheap compared to American rates. A taxi ride from the Y to my apartment is about $1.27 (10 yuan). However, that price is prohibitive to most natives and even I try to walk as much as possible.

Bicycles are used by many and you'd better watch out! There are bike lanes where people travel 3 or 4 abreast. I guess there's safety in numbers. No one gives way to a mere pedestrian. On many streets when traffic is stopped for a red light, cars making right turns breeze on through and watch out if you're in their path. Interestingly, most everyone signals when they turn or change lanes. I haven't yet seen anyone hit a bike rider or a person but, boy, do they come close! The only time I've seen so many bike riders in a city was when I was in Amsterdam. There are very few motorcyles or vespas. Quite the opposite of Italy where vespas were everywhere. No one wears helmets and most taxis do not have seat belts in the back seat.

The Great Wall at Mutianyu

Last week I expressed a desire to see the Great Wall of China. Immediately Mr. Song sprang into action and arranged a visit for Monday. A friend of Mr. Lu, our Manager, drove Shelley and me to the Great Wall. We went to Mutianyu which is supposed to be less crowded than Badaling. As we drove there, we passed through rain and fog but when we got to the Great Wall we were greated with sunshine. It turned out to be one of the best weather days I've had since I've been here. We decided to take the cable car up and walk down. There were few people and most of them were English speaking tourists. Not only is the Wall itself impressive, the views are breathtaking. We ambled along the Wall for about a mile or more and then cut off to a path through the woods. Along this path was a stone museum and a beautiful cave. All in all it was a great trip and, like remembering your first anything, one I will always remember. It also was fun to get out of the city and enjoy the countryside and fresh (read unpolluted) air.

"The Great Wall is a magnificent construction project in ancient China, one of the wonders in the history of human civilization. The construction of the Great Wall began in the 7th and 8th centuries B.C. During the period of over 2000 years, more than 20 dukes or princes and feudal dynasties contributed to the building of the Great Wall. It was listed as one of the world's cultural heritages by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in 1987." (taken from a description I read)

The Great Wall is estimated to be about 6,200 miles long. However, some efforts at calculating its length, and taking into account its numerous meanderings up and down, have estimated it to be as long as 31,000 miles.

The Foreigner

The dictionary defines foreigner as:

1. One who is from a foreign country or place.
2. One who is from outside a particular group or community, an outsider.

At first I was taken aback to be called a foreigner. I have always connected the word foreigner with the second definition and, in America, I consciously tried to avoid calling anyone a "foreigner" for fear of summoning up negative connotations. Not so in China. Here you are either Chinese or a foreigner and the Chinese seem to use the word positively, as in the first definition, and they use it respectfully. To be called a "foreigner" simply means that one is from another country or place. Although the Chinese may think we foreigners have some peculiar habits, the people I've met seem to regard that as part of being a "foreigner." For example, I won't eat heads, faces, internal organs or feet. Whereas, they say, the Chinese will eat all parts of the animal with relish, even the eyes. Yesterday we went to lunch at a farm restaurant. The fish was freshly caught from a pond outside and prepared grilled with herbs. It was delicious. Our driver ate raw fish and wanted to have a soup prepared with the head and who knows what else. My translater explained that "foreigners" don't eat heads. So that was that. No one was insulted. It was just chalked up to the peculiar habits of foreigners.

At the Nolita Branch YMCA of Beijing

This section of my blog may be of specific interest to YMCA people.

Day 1

My volunteer assignment is located at the Nolita YMCA a branch of the Beijing YMCA. I began my first day on Monday morning. The first order of business was to register with the local police department. When we got there, we were told the person in charge of registering foreigners would not be there until Wednesday. This seems to be pretty typical here. The police station was a dismal place, poorly lit and seemingly poorly equipped.

Finally, on to the YMCA. There I was introduced to the staff and given a tour of the facility. The staff had all assumed English names so that I would be able to remember them. This was a relief as I was anticipating having to learn and pronounce their Chinese names which I feared I would badly mangle. The facility is located within a gated community of new high-rise apartment buildings. It is about one year old and has a beautiful swimming pool, a small fitness facility, a couple of aerobics studios. I saw a class of women taking Chinese dance. Every time I visit a YMCA, whether a familiar one or a new one,I feel that I have "come home." There is something quite universal about the facilities no matter where they are in the world -- the smell of the pool, the sounds of the children, and the friendliness of the staff.

After the tour, I met Mr. Lu, the General Manager. Mr. Lu has limited English but with Mr. Song's help, we managed to communicate quite well. He seems like a typical young YMCA executive and Mr. Song is the typical program director, working long hours and always with enthusiasm. Well, after our meeting, we were off to lunch at a local restaurant. This also seems universal to the Y, at least for the professional staff. Meetings, then lunch, then more meetings. But hey, who am I to turn down a free lunch?

Back to the Y where we met with some program staff specifically about how to build the membership and program participants, how to get the word out to the community about the Y, and how to structure the English program. Since the Y is new to the community of Nolita and also new to mainland China, it is not recognizable to the general population the way it is in most countries around the world. While we could not solve these problems in one meeting, I at least got a fundamental idea of the challenges the Y faces. I also learned (surprise, surprise) that I would be overseeing 4 or 5 other teachers. These are part-time paid staff, one from Australia and three from Canada. We also think we will have two volunteers to help out.

About 4 pm (1600 hours), we began registration for the English classes. This registration period will go on for the rest of the week. I am interviewing every registrant to determine their level of English so that we can place them in the proper class. This is not as easy as it sounds, as the registrants range in age from 3 years old to 60 years old.

There is a lovely young woman named "Laura", who is helping me with the registrations. We took a break and went out to eat at a Korean barbecue restaurant. I finally left the Y at about 8:30 pm. Whew! It was a long day and, again, typical for the Y. You always stay and work longer than you think you will. Anyway, after this week things will settle down and I will have a regular schedule from Monday to Friday 4 or 5 pm to 8 or 9pm with weekends off.

Day 2

I received a call early in the morning that I would be picked up at 11 am and taken to lunch to meet Mr. Cai Kui, who is the General Secretary of the YMCA of Beijing. Attending were Mr. and Mrs. Fung, volunteers originally from Hong Kong, Mr. Song, Mr. Lu, Mr Cai, Zhu Qi, Executive Secretary and an excellent translator, and myself. We sat in a private room with a/c. In typical Chinese fashion, (after two days I'm learning what's typical) dish after dish of food was served, veggies, chicken, beef, fish and the main entree Beijing Duck. We talked of YMCA experiences. Some of the staff are going to Hong Kong this weekend for the 105th anniversary of the Hong Kong YMCA. That is a pretty big deal! Also, our General Manager, Mr. Lu, is going to the United States at the end of the month for 29 days to learn about American YMCAs and their programs. He is going to Chicago, Seattle, San Francisco and a few other places. It should be exciting for him and I hope he comes back with lots of new ideas for our Y.

Later in the day I was given a student to teach one-on-one for an hour every day for two weeks which be quite a challenge. His name is Eric and he is 7 years old. He speaks and understands English quite well but his mother wants him to have more practice. The people here place a high value on learning English and on education in general. Some of the children I have met attend an international school where they place a high emphasis on learning English and their English vocabulary and pronounciation are quite good. The children begin learning English in nursery school. I'm learning the children have very long days. They are also very scheduled with activities planned for most of their free time. No TV or video games to idle away their time here. Eric told me he gets up at 6 am and gets ready for school which starts at about 7 or 7:30 am. Normally he gets out of school at about 5 pm which I'm sure includes after school care. These two weeks he is getting out early which is why his mother placed him in the program. The other children registering for the program have similar school schedules and yet they will be coming to this program every evening. I hope to make it fun and stimulating for them.

I hope I didn't go on too long but I wanted people to get an idea of the daily life here.

Walking tour of Tiananmen Square

After getting a good rest on Friday, I decided to take a walk and explore some of the neighborhood. As I was summoning up my courage to go out alone, Rui Liang, a colleague of Bob's who works for Emulex, called me and invited me to go out with his wife and him. They picked me up at my apartment and brought a lovely box of moon cakes as a gift. Then we were off to lunch for some authentic "Beijing Duck". Rui ordered a feast -- soup, two kinds of shrimp, vegetables and the duck. He said this was one of the best restaurants in Beijing for duck and I had to agree. The presentation was beautiful and we certainly ate our fill.

We then set off for a walk towards Tiananmen Square. On the way, we strolled down a pedestrian street with lots of shops and lots of people. We finally reached the "Old Palace" as Rui called it but which we know as the Forbidden City. Our goal, however, was Tiananmen Square which we approached through the Gate of Heavenly Peace. With the occurences of June 1989 still quite vivid in my memory, I didn't know what to expect and what I would feel being there. The reality is that, although it is quite impressive, now it is a place for people to gather, to stroll around, to fly kites, to take pictures, etc. and it seems just like any major tourist attraction in the world. There are, however, a lot of security guards, police, and soldiers patrolling the place. Tiananmen Square is the size of 90 American football fields and can hold 300,000 people. It is the world's largest public square.

First Impressions

On Thursday night I arrived in Beijing at about 9 pm, right on schedule. I was met by Zhu Qi (pronounced = Choo Key), Exectutive Secretary and Mr. Song who apparently works on program development. I will know more next Monday when I get to meet the whole Y staff. They took me to my apartment and got me settled in for the night. They had, very thoughtfully, supplied me with eggs, milk, ham, cheese and bread. By the time they left and I unpacked some things, I didn't turn in until after midnight.

The apartment is on the fourth floor of an eight story building (walk up). The building is situated in a security gated complex and there are also security guards walking around so I feel quite safe here.

The apartment has two bedrooms, a living/dining area, a bathroom with a shower and a washing machine, two balconeys (which I gather are mainly for ventilation and to dry clothes), a small kitchen with a microwave and a two burner hot plate. The bedrooms each have an air conditioner, which since it was warm and humid that night, I used right away. The apartment is rather spartan by American standards. Plain white walls with no decor. I will try to get some posters or other wall hangings to warm it up. I just started reading "White Swans" by Jung Chang. It is a memoir about three generations of women who lived in China throughout the twentieth century. In the introduction, she tells about how during the Cultural Revolution even flowers and gardening were banned! Imagine life without flowers?

On Friday morning, Zhu Qi arrived to show me the neighborhood and take me shopping. Although there are several small markets, a dry cleaners and a hair salon within a block or so, she took me to the big supermarket several blocks away.

The supermarket was very interesting. For one thing it was very noisy. People shouting specials to the customers, customers jammed around fresh meat and fish, a real mad house. It reminded me a little of D'Agostinos. They have just about everything you can imagine, including an import section. Butter and cheese from France, jams from Finland, cookies from everywhere. I'm going to gradually start with the fresh vegetables hoping I don't pick up some intestinal thing. However, everything looks clean and fresh. I bought some Chinese wine but haven't sampled it yet. But there is also wine from France and Austratlia. I have a list of foods in English, Pinyan and Chinese characters, so if I can't find something, I can ask for help. And, yes, there is help everywhere. When we returned to my apartment, Jack, a young techie for the Y, came to hook up my computer which he did successfully, as you can see.

Yesterday, with the full moon, was the culmination of the Moon Festival. It is a week long holiday encompassing two weekends. Although I believe fireworks are banned in Beijing, there was a two hour fireworks and entertainment show broadcast from Shanghai. Earlier in the afternoon Jack had returned to my apartment. He brought me two moon cakes to celebrate the holiday. I thought it was so sweet of him to think of me.