Butt out

I’m loving my time in Shanghai, it’s so vastly different from Vietnam and is offering me the best of both worlds, Asian and Western lifestyles combined. There is, however, one thing that I find utterly unpleasant about life in China, the prevalence of cyanide sticks that everyone seem to inhale. Smoking is cheap and extremely common here, as in Vietnam and Cambodia. I have known colleagues to take up smoking during their time in Asia because of this. As such non-smokers may feel they are constantly surrounded by a smoke screen during their time here. People smoke everywhere, in lifts, public toilets, shopping centres, restaurants and bars; often whilst standing next to ‘no smoking’ signs. This is something I have really come to appreciate about the UK.

I remember during a trip to Dublin in the summer of 2004, some of my university friends felt very put out by having to stand outside bars and restaurants to inhale their coffin nails. At that time, the smoking ban had yet to be implemented in the UK and it was only after visiting Eire that we all realised just what a difference it made. Non-smokers in the UK and Ireland now take it for granted that such areas will be smoke free, and living in Asia makes you appreciate the clean air in such venues. I miss coming home from a night out with the sweet smell of my chosen perfume still permeating my nostrils. Here, it just doesn’t happen, no amount of pungent perfume can fend off or mask the stinking ciggie stench. Your hair and clothes require washing ASAP to rid yourself of that nasty, lingering nicotine nastiness.

Alas, I can’t see China implementing this anytime soon so I shall continue to suffer the stench.

A xx

One...

As an only child people will probably find it a little strange that I am writing this blog entry.  It must, however, be said that I do not fit the usual stereotype of a sibling-less one.  Thanks to a very well-rounded upbringing I definitely don’t come across as being an only child.  Enough trumpet blowing – back to the matter in hand.

In 1978 China introduced the one child policy.  Couples here may only have one child, in a bid to stem the ever growing population of this massive country.  As such, the vast majority of students in our school are only children, which can lead to a fair few problems.  With Mummy, Daddy and four doting grandparents showering their beloved little one with attention, money and gifts, they become accustomed to getting what they want and aren’t always the most considerate of individuals, often demanding their own way.  Sharing and working together can sometimes prove problematic, especially with the under 10’s, and with a 2 hour class once a week, I don’t feel that making an impact upon these children’s behaviour outside my classroom is a realistic expectation.

I say ‘the majority of students in our school are only children’ as there are some exceptions.  Parents are permitted to have a 2nd child if both parents are only children, the chances of which seem rare.  This is reasonable now, but what happens in 20 years from now when my current students want to start families?  The vast majority of them are only children, so surely the population will boom again, won’t it?  I’m sure the men in suits will think of a way of dealing with that, adapting the laws again to suit their needs.

And of course there are always the unexpected arrivals such as twins or triplets to add a bit of variety to the mix.  I was shocked to see identical twin girls in my colleagues' class a couple of weeks ago; as it turns out I was way off the mark, they were quadruplets, their two brothers sitting next to them!

I can only hope their parents get a grip of their little princes and princesses, or this generation of Chinese will be in for some large scale arguments in years to come…

A xx

Head & shoulders above

Never in my 27 years have I ever knowingly been described as ‘average’.  Particularly when referring to my height.  At 5’10” I stand out a little wherever I am in the world, but I find here in China I stand out considerably less so than I did in Vietnam.  Chinese people on the whole are taller than their southern neighbours and I have seen a surprising number of Chinese men and women who are taller than my good self.  As such, finding clothes that fit here is not a problem.  Larger shoe sizes and longer length trousers can all be found in high street stores, which is probably another reason I prefer it here to ‘Nam: you’ve got to love a spot of retail therapy on occasions!

I had to laugh when the first question a student asked me a few weeks ago was “Amy, how tall are you and how much do you weigh, because I think you’re very slim for a western person?!”  Spot on kid, how right you are!  So there you have it, Asia’s perception of the west, summed up by one twelve year old intermediate level Trailblazer.  Tall, slim people appear to be a novelty anywhere these days though, thanks to the McDonalds generation.

Being different here can have its advantages.  Every weekend we start work around 9:00am, however, the mall in which our school is situated only opens at 10:00am.  This means we can only gain entry via the security exits that open from 8:30am onwards.  Each is manned by two security guards who usually interrogate the local people wishing to enter.  I, however, have never heard a peep from them, why, because I’m a laowai (foreigner) – my face is my identity!  My Chinese colleagues do get slightly disgruntled by having to sign in and prove the purpose of their visit…

Being a laowai, even here in cosmopolitan Shanghai, leads to you receiving a vast amount of stares.  It’s nothing new; I had it all last year as well.  Most of the time I just ignore it and carry on regardless, sometimes I smile at them, sometimes they even smile back!  If I were an Asian person I’d stare at me, taller, slimmer and paler than the ‘average’ western person – I must be quite an assault on the eyes!

C’est la vie, I’d rather be this way than an Average Joe.

A xx

Back to school

Getting back to the real matter in hand here, work/school: call it what you will.  My first couple of months have been a delight, not like ‘work’ at all.  I was thrown in the deep end a little as my school was very short staffed upon my arrival, so I walked straight in to a full teaching schedule, but I’d like to think I’ve risen to the challenge, being keen to prove what I can do, in the knowledge my workload here could never be as gruelling as last year.  I’ve gotten my head around the different books, abilities, pronunciation challenges and paperwork and love having more of a structured working week.

 

I really like my classes, as with my classes last year in ‘Nam, they’re a good bunch.  We get on; they even understand my jokes and give back a bit of banter!  I’ve have set down my ground rules and introduced all manner of activities to spice up lesson time.  Building good rapport with my students has been effortless and I feel more relaxed than ever when in the classroom.  Come to think of it, I feel more relaxed in this school generally. 

Unlike last year, the majority of my learners are higher level teenagers, and it’s surprised me how much I’m enjoying working with them.  I have 3 classes of 3-6 year olds, who vary in ability and cheekiness, but they’re a good challenge and I’ve tamed them a lot in two months, they seem to respond well to my routines and appreciate me clowning around.  They’re a little more outgoing than I’m used to, which I like and it will certainly give me scope to do more creative, free thinking activities, which is something my learners struggled with last year.  It’s surprising really, I’ve come from one communist country to another, but here Shanghainese students appear more worldly wise.

Small Star 'graduation' ceremony

Happy days and more to come.

A xx

Errr... I don't mean to offend... honestly

From a young age Liverpool Football Club have been my team of choice, they are one of the big name Premier League football teams from my local area, my Great Grandfather played for them and we always had season tickets in the family.  As such, I’ve followed them over the years, where both results and controversy are concerned.  A few months ago a Liverpool player called Luis Suarez was given an eight match ban and fined £40,000 by the FA after apparently using a racist term whilst addressing an opposition player during a Premier League fixture.  The Uruguayan maintained his innocence, claiming that the word “negro” – which he admitted using once during the incident – does not necessarily have racist connotations in his homeland.

Why do I mention this I hear you ask?  Amy’s never deviated from TEFL travel chat for this long before.  All will become clear, I promise. 

During the first visit to my school here in Shanghai, I was given a heads-up from my boss “Oh, by the way, you’ll hear the word ‘nigger’ used here a lot, don’t worry it’s nothing bad”.  As it turns out he was right on both counts; ‘nigguh’ is used here as a filler, during moments of hesitation in conversations and is frequently used by people of all ages, in all social settings.  I suppose you could say it’s the equivalent of ‘errr’ or ‘umm’ in many English speaking countries.  And it takes a little getting used to, especially when you know to listen out for it.

My flatmate seemed quite shocked when I mentioned it to him during a conversation about a month after our arrival.  He hadn’t heard it at all… until he knew to listen for it, at which point it was everywhere!  When you’re surrounded by people speaking a foreign language you tend to zone out a bit, there’s no need for you to pay attention and it washes over you: ignorance is bliss you might say.  Having lived here for a little while you tend to pick up on key Chinese words that are frequently used, as well as basic things like greetings and numbers etc.  At the point of hearing those words you translate them in to your mother tongue and zone out again, as the rest is one big homogeneous blob of gobble-de-gook.  So the words you know tend to jump out at you in conversation, none more so than ‘nigguh’.

It’s surprisingly catchy; a colleague of mine has been learning Chinese for the past 18 months and uses this same ‘filler’ whilst speaking to local people.  My only fear is that when he returns to America in a few months time, he’ll forget where he is and be assaulted as a result of uttering it!  But this does make me wonder how my African American colleagues feel about hearing it used so flippantly, even if the connotations are dramatically different…

So spare a thought for Mr. Suarez, put on public trial by the media for reverting to his mother tongue in the heat of the moment…

A xx