What's in a name?

It’s a popular trend for the Chinese to adopt Western ‘names’.  All of our students and local staff have these; the majority were given to them by their parents, others have been plucked from obscurity/internet name lists.  Although some names may be weird and wonderful, I have to admit, it makes life a whole lot easier than struggling to pronounce Chinese names, and perfect the tones so you don’t unintentionally call someone something obscene.

I’ve categorised a selection below, so you can see just what we’re dealing with:

Cartoon characters – Dora, Jerry, Minnie.

Colours – Black, White.

Film stars – Angelina, Harrison.

Nonsense names – Cherney, Gogo, Kison, Ticko, Turing, Wydia, Yamor.

Random nouns – Apple, Cherry, Flower, Mountain, Queen, Spring, Tear, Tiger, Yoyo.

Stripper names– Angel, Candy, Cindy, Kitty.

Unusual/names with connotations – Ivan, Lucky, Malboro, Dick, Johnson.

A xx

Summer school… strikes again!

Yes, it’s that time of year again folks… summer school is upon us.  For the third summer running I’m spending my time educating teens who would like to be anywhere else but stuck in a classroom!  And I can’t blame them, Chinese kids never get a break in term time – the least their parents could do is cut them some slack during the summer holidays.  C'est la vie, at least in my classroom they're guaranteed to have some fun.

 

As with the summer school course I taught in Vietnam, I used a bit of nous and requested to teach an intense version of one of my regular courses, making life easier for myself, as I have soft copies of all my lessons plans and resources.  It’s a lively and interesting course, that I enjoy teaching the most, including lots of videos, audio and IWB games as well as my own competitive and creative elements thrown in for good measure and a few laughs.  It will be taught on top of my regular teaching schedule, meaning an extra 6 to 9 hours of teaching time per week over the next 2 months.

 

During teachers’ meetings and trainings over the past few months we’ve all been warned just how gruelling this period will be.  We'll be supplied with lunches, fruit, medication and throat lozenges to help along the way.  Honestly, I can’t see it being any more challenging than last year; rightly or wrongly I’m going in to this feeling it’s just a small 8 week hurdle before my well earned holiday.

A xx

Needle in a haystack

Whilst chatting with numerous friends, colleagues and acquaintances since my arrival in China something keeps cropping up in conversation - they note their surprise that people here look different from one another.  Some other teachers find it difficult to recognise and remember their students’ names, especially outside of the classroom.  A colleague was recently amazed by my ability to remember the majority of students by name in a class I had covered once for a 2 hour period.

For many it is their first visit to Asia, and to some degree I can relate to their views.  Last year, my first class in Vietnam saw me facing 18 near identical faces – needless to say, learning names took a while.  But after a week or so you see the differences and indeed appreciate people as individuals.  I now find myself recognising attractive Asian men, as I would if I were looking at western blokes.

So I can now appreciate and recognise the differences between individuals I encounter, and am able to detect Chinese people of Vietnamese/Filipino descent.  Can the same be said for Asian people who stare at us westerners, I wonder?  I have no doubt that locals here frequently think my work colleagues and visiting friends are actually relatives: anyone tall and slim with a mane of long, brown hair must be my sister, right?  Wrong!

A Chinese work colleague recently asked me how Western people get yellow (meaning blonde) hair.  My immediate reaction would normally be to say the majority of foreigners aren’t really ‘blonde blonde’, more of a mousy blonde covered with peroxide, but I knew she genuinely had no idea how people could be born with lighter hair types.  As a young, yet very well educated Chinese lady this phenomenon had until now remained an alien concept, which she hadn’t felt comfortable asking western friends about. Perhaps Asian people think Westerners consciously change the colour of their hair to make themselves appear more individual, after all to them we appear to look the same!

A xx

On your marks...

There’s a lot of talk at the moment about the London 2012 Olympics, I’m not a great fan of the whole shebang and never have been – with the exception of watching the footy, I’ve never been one for competitive sports. 

Last week in Shangers, however, we had something that I found far more enjoyable to both watch and participate in – the EF Super Race.  “What is this?” I hear you ask, part of our company’s summer shenanigans, and an excellent way to mark Children's Day on 1st June.  One team is made up of two students and two parents.  Each team must travel around the city by any means necessary to complete various challenges and collect company stamps upon completion.  I was stationed at Shanghai Indoor Stadium with a group of teachers from our region.  We were responsible for helping the participants shoot basketball hoops in the full size court nets: no mean feat if you are 4’ nothing and 6 years old.

Over 300 participants accepted the challenge, arriving in chauffeur driven cars, taxis or by metro to complete the challenge.  One team arrived with parents pedalling bikes, their children sitting patiently in small seats at the rear.  It was great, so much enthusiasm was shown by staff and participants alike, all using whatever English they had to talk to us, offer thanks and ask to try their hand at the baskets.  I won’t lie, I’d rather have been stationed at the Krispy Kreme shop, munching on EF doughnuts; but at least I got to enjoy the glorious weather with good company.

 EF Shanghai participants & staff

 Shanghai winning team

(Photos from EF Shanghai)

A xx

Easy Tiger!

As in Vietnam, pressure is piled upon the younger generations here to do well for themselves, study hard and achieve all they can to provide for their family, whilst being seen in a good light by nosey neighbours.  Pushy parents, mothers in particular, are prevalent here in China, even with children as young as three and four.  They’re known as Tiger mums and always strive to push their child that little bit further in order for them to get an advantage over their peers.  The mother of five year old Lyla greets me after class on a weekly basis, keen to know how many stars her daughter was awarded during my lesson; and more importantly, how many stars the other children in the class received.  It’s a big deal for student and parent alike – keeping up with the Jones’* you might say (*insert appropriate stereotypical/common Chinese surname here).

Working in my new Chinese school offers more opportunities to meet my students’ parents, compared to my time in Vietnam.  At the start of every new course we offer orientations, during which we introduce ourselves to students and parents, explain the syllabus and do our best to answer any queries and concerns.  Throughout the course we also have open door lessons where parents are invited to watch their child in class and a few weeks later they return for our parent teacher meetings.  It sounds quite nerve wracking but is actually a brilliant opportunity to show the parents what they are paying for and keep them in the loop.  Most parents speak English (to varying degrees) and those that don’t are generally happy if they witness you enthusiastically greeting their child in English.  So far I think I have them on side – and I wouldn’t want it any other way.  Seeing their child has a white Caucasian teacher is no doubt their biggest concern and as that isn’t about to change any time soon I feel confident that first impressions will always be that of someone who is qualified to teach their children English.  Sadly, that’s just how it is here.

It’s not only mothers here who strive for perfection.  Shanghainese women in general are well known for being quite ballsy and no-nonsense types: perhaps that’s why I fit in so well here!  They know what they want and how to get it and their partners often appear to be at their mercy.  I frequently see Chinese men carrying handbags for their other halves and responding quickly after being beckoned to sit next to their Juliet’s on the metro.  Western men advise my female Chinese co-workers to stick with Shanghainese guys as they’ll be treated like princesses.  Couples go to great lengths to show others they are in a relationship; matching t-shirts and shoes are often chosen (by the women no doubt) - true signs of unity and togetherness if ever there was one.

That’s all well and good if you want an obliging doormat for a partner; I however, like my men to be a little more independent, with a bit of bite – so I guess if I do ever get ‘yellow fever’ I won’t find a Shanghainese guy to suit my needs…

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

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