the source

I think I might've found the source of my problems for the term. As you know, I haven't been to happy with my job so far, and this is my second year at the same school.
Tuesday night was when I made the discovery. Most of the foreign staff works late afternoon to early evening. I work mornings. Well, they got off early at 6pm. We went to the See You Tomorrow restaurant. I had a great time with my fellow teachers and forgot any problems I had--I don't think I even mentioned anything about my job this year.
That's what's been bothering me. I haven't had the opportunity to socialize with my colleagues and blow off steam every now and then. This has led me to blow off steam in the classroom and office and forced me to agitate my Chinese co-workers. Last year I was able to have dinner with the other teachers about twice a week. There was even the opportunity for lunches. But no more of that.
I suppose now with the oral English classes I'll have enough time to vent through writing that the problem might get solved in a new fashion. Here's hoping.

slight return

It was a strange feeling heading back to the old department office on Tuesday. I was uncertain how I would be received should I run into any colleagues or students. I decided to head over at the tail end of the lunch break to grab my belongings that were no longer necessary from my desk.

My colleagues, the two who were in the office at the time, wanted to know how I was doing with the oral English classes. I told them I was bored. They'd missed me the last day and a half in the department. I promised that they could still call me and we could have dinner sometime. I even committed to playing basketball on Fridays with the Chinese staff.

It was then that two of my students came in. One wanted to return the books I had loaned to her. I asked if she had finished Michael Ondaatje, and she replied. "No." I told her to keep it and pass it along to another foriegn teacher when she finished.

The two seemed disappointed that I had left them. I assured them that it was not my decision to leave the section. I would much rather teach their classes. They sort of understood and expressed their distaste for the school administration (things I had heard quite a few times from different students). Even the girl who resisted my lessons on numerous ocassions seemed disappointed about my departure. I guess she must've learned something from me (probably that you can't always get your way with a teacher).

It seemed I had left an impression of sorts on a few students. It did make me feel that my job there wasn’t in vain. But then I thought that unless my replacement continued some of my lessons, it would be useless.

I suppose I should take solace in that some of the tough students who resist my model of education can come away with something.

Agony

Yeah, that's the word I'm looking for. That's what it's like to be a Jets fan. Just when the team was looking good on the field and approaching a playoff spot, they blew it. Well, there are a few more weeks before I can officially say they blew it, but this is pretty close. Hell, the New England cheaters got shut out by the Fish sticks. And the Jets couldn't capitalize on that! They've been playing well for the past few weeks and they blew it against Buffalo?? Someone needs to give the team a swift kick in the ass.

Careful what you wish for

Yup, sure learned my lesson this week.
Two weeks ago I was reprimanded for a laundry list of complaints stemming from my dissatisfaction with administration and the ways in which they handle matters of education. I mentioned at the end of my probationary evaluation that I would be happier back teaching similar classes as last year. I was told this would probably not be possible. So, I went back to my teaching ways and was doing a bit better with my classes and avoiding administrative confrontations.
Friday rolled around and I had another meeting that was scheduled less than a day in advance. I was told that no, it was not possible to switch me back to my previous duties. But instead I would be placed in the oral English section for the rest of the term. "But I don't want that. I'd be happier where I am," was my response. Sorry, too late. Well, now I have fewer classes and I'm finished at noon everyday. As much as I don't want to teach oral English classes everyday, I think it may provide me with more time to write. And my lack of serious writing since September had been my sore spot and reason for lack of enthusiasm and happiness. I suppose if this new situation works out and write more, I may be persuaded into finishing my contract through July.
On another note to the situation, I was again the last to hear about this. My Chinese co-workers all knew about this at least five hours prior to my notice. Communication between Chinese employers and foreign staff is usually pretty bad all around (not just at my job). But for some reason I have always been the last to know, even out of the foreign teachers.

I'm a giant

I had the adventure of finding a new cool weather jacket for the mild Shenzhen winter. Last May holiday I forgot my fleece on the bus home. So, I went to downtown Bao'an for a look. We first stopped at the Rainbow department store across from Commie-Mart. They have a huge floor of men's clothes and a half-decent selection. The only problem is, nothing fits. I'm not a big guy... 5'9" and certainly not fat. Back home I usually bought medium-sized clothes. Yesterday was a different story. I had to try on jackets that were size XXXL. AND THEY DIDN'T FIT!
By some miracle, I found exactly what I was looking for (a new fleece) in Commie-Mart for about US$8. I was quite happy. To top it off, as we were walking through the store, a kid who was about 10 years old looked up at me and turned to his parents and said something in Chinese. I found out that he apparently said, "Hey, that guy is from Thailand." I really think the kid needs glasses.

I shouldn't be surprised

Check out this blog for some great information on how the Chinese are learning English. If I can find a set of these children's blocks, I will buy a set (maybe multiple sets). Even with some of the bad Chinglish here, I think some of my students could learn something... maybe they'd at least be able to recognize a couple words here and there.
http://peer-see.com/blog/chumble-spuzz/2006/07/09/

My spirits were lifted a little this morning. I received an e-mail accepting some poetry for publication. It doesn't pay, but it's still a credit to my work. So, look out for Ink Collective issue #4 sometime in mid-December. I can honestly say that it's not one of my favorite poems, but at least I know that someone likes it.
As for yesterday, I sort of went on a hike with the Professor and my girlfriend and her mom. We kept walking around, looking for Nanhua Shan (North Flower Mountain). It's a nice place, but we got there too late in the day and it was far too humid. We made it halfway up before turning back down the steep steps. We were tired from walking around for more than a half-hour before finding the trail. We found a nice development in Shekou that was surrounded by forest. We tried hiking through that as we thought it was the mountain. The first set of stairs led us to a locked gate. The second led us to a notice to beware of vipers.
Friday was a fun time in Guangzhou. I went to the Guangdong Tourism Festival opening ceremony for the second year in a row. Jackie Chan sang again this year. The show wasn't as good as last year (not as many dragons and crazy acrobats this year). On the way to Guangzhou, we had to leave the school after third period classes to catch the van for the stadium to take the bus. We got there an hour before we were supposed to. Then the bus sat around for another hour or so before getting on the road. On the ride back, we sat in the bus too long again late at night. We asked to be dropped off in Bao'an to save us two hours travel time (one hour to Futian and another back). So, they dropped us off on the highway. We had to walk through the toll gate to meet the school van to drive us home at about 1:30 am. But at least I got out of Shenzhen for a few hours of enjoyment.

another year

Another birthday has passed...
Saturday I celebrated early. We went out to Shekou for lunch at Amigos tex-mex restaurant. It was really good, but a bit pricey even for Shekou. We walked around for a little while and I broke down and bought cheese at the American store because commie-mart no longer carries blocks of cheese for some reason. That night, a group of us went to Face Alive down Qianjin Lu. It's still a nice place to go. We were treated to the surprise appearance of the big Jamaican guy and his band (and they opened with La Bamba). I was thoroughly amused and quite drunk. For some strange reason we ordered three buckets of 12 beers and there were only three of us drinking beer. I left sometime after 2:30. As far as I know, I didn't make a complete ass of myself. There were some great stories afterward about my friends who left later to go for massages (I won't retell it because it's not my story).
The highlight of the night was watching the videos on the projection TV. The DJ was playing completely different music than what was being shown. But the videos were the funniest things I've ever seen. The best was the one with the hot girl singing in sexy underwear while laying on her back. There were also parachuting babies dropping down on her. One of the babys' eyes turn into milk bottles as he looks at the hot girl. I wish I knew what song it was so that I could direct everyone to go see this video. I will forever be on a quest to find it.
On another note, work still sucks and I want a new job. Anyone want to offer me something related to writing and editing? I just don't want to teach anymore because the system here is broken. We had a meeting about it. One of the teachers was pretty quiet. Afterward we went to dinner and he said he couldn't say anything specific because everything was wrong and he knew nothing would be done to change it.

I have a lot to write about lately.
First, I spent the weekend in Hong Kong with my uncle. It was a nice, relaxing time for me to get out of Shenzhen and stay in luxury for a couple days. For some reason, there were more tourists than usual in Hong Kong--the Star Ferry was packed Saturday. We could barely get a seat on the ferry on the way to Central. And these tourists must have been some country hicks or something. They were taking the dumbest photos I've ever seen.
"Hey, take a picture of me standing in front of this English advertisement that I don't understand." "Oh, I want one with the 'No Smoking' sign."
It really was that stupid. I almost shoved a few out of the way so that I could move. Note to tourists: please refrain from taking photos in overly crowded areas that people need to use. If you must do so, please hurry the hell up!
I also finished my book "Anil's Ghost" by Michael Ondaatje on the ride home. It is a terrific book about civil war in Sri Lanka. It follows the lives of a few characters who are loosely connected and are brought together by their jobs associated with the conflict. It depicts the atrocities that were committed (and what is probably happening again now). I was thinking of writing more, but I'm not that ambitious today. My recommendation is: READ IT!

I should've stayed in HK

I took a short trip this weekend to Hong Kong. It was a fun time and it's always nice to get out of Bao'an district. But I shoudn't have come back. This is getting ridiculous. I really do hate my job. Where the hell is the communication that is supposed to happen in Tsinghua Experimental School in Shenzhen?

I'm talking about why they haven't informed me of anything. Last month we had a week of vacation. They neglected to inform me that I should be back in the office on Sunday following the vacation for classes. I was informed by another foreign teacher after the vacation had started. That was strike one.

Today, I was informed at 10 am (the time I arrive for my first class on Mondays) that I should put together an exam for my grade 10/11 class for either today or tomorrow. Well, considering their class was in an hour, I said I'd do it tomorrow. Then at lunch, I received a phone call explaining that I should create another listening/oral exam for my years 5/6, 7/8, and 9 by the end of today to be included in their midterm exams for later in the week. These exams that I should create should be worth 30% of the grade and take about 30 minutes. How the hell am I supposed to put together three more exams by 3:20 this afternoon (when I have my last few classes of the day)?

Why do I tolerate this? I insist on being told important information at least a week in advance. Is that asking too much?

Today at the tail-end of lunch, a group of Chinese women knocked at my door. I could easily guess what they wanted. They wanted to see my apartment. They always do. This is the 5th time this term that they have stopped by. The problem is, they're not allowed in the building. Of course, the security gates are all broken and have been broken since the summer. These damn people never bother the Chinese and they know exactly where the foreigners live.
I finally got fed up with this group. I told them they aren't allowed in the building and I asked one if she understood and she nodded. But she also started giggling about the situation. I told her this was no joke and I'd call the police next time. Then I told them, "Get the fuck out of my building!" and slammed the door in their faces.
Something better get done about the gates or these idiot realtors. This is amounting to harassment and I'm really sick of it. To top it off, it is the school's responsibility to ensure the teachers' safety in the building. And I'm still not sold on the security. The most they've ever done is stop a kiwi on his way to Hong Kong with his posessions.

The censors are after me...

Well not really. It seems China decided to block access to blogger again. I can still post, I just can't view. I hope this is only temporary. I can't post photos with my ramblings if I can't view the layout.
On another note...
It's a damn big beer. The other night, on my way home I spotted a big inflatable Kingway bottle (weighted so it never falls over). I inquired if I could purchase said beer. The answer was, it's free. But I have to now eat and drink at the restaurant every now and then. I just had lunch there yesterday and it's quite good. Plus I don't mind spending a little time there since the nice Kingway girl who helped me with my Chinese studies works there now.
Here's to gigantic beers I can't drink. Ganbei!

Postal Frustration

I decided to take a trip to a different China Post office today during lunch. I had to mail a card for my grandmother's 92nd birthday and thought it was a good excuse to get motivated and write a few other postcards for friends and family.
I arrived at the post office and there were only a couple customers. They all stared at the foreigner as usual. The guy behind the counter looked at me and took my postcards. He stared awkwardly at them; attempting to read them. "Meiguo," I said and pointed to the cards. He nodded and kept looking at the cards to figure out what they said. After a couple minutes he finally took out some stamps. He stuck 6-jiao stamps on each and asked for pay. I was a little surprised. I've sent many a postcard in China and they always cost 4.5 kuai, not an 1/8 the price as he was charging me. I looked at him and repeated, "Meiguo," and added, "feiji." (Translation: America, airplane.) I thought that would get the point across. He picked up the postcards and tried to read them again. He handed them to a girl standing nearby and she tried to read them as well. He showed me one of them and pointed to "USA" in my handwriting. I slowly and deliberately repeated, "Meiguo." He still didn't understand. He just went looking through a book for prices of some sort. I sent a message to my girlfriend and asked her for the words for air mail. It was then that the man found a bunch of 2 kuai stamps to add to the 6 jiao that was already there. He couldn't figure out what to do with the new stamps now that he used up some of the space with worthless, oversized stamps. I sent another message stating that this guy was an idiot. I received a reply of some Chinese characters followed by "show this to the idiot."
It was too late, he stuck all the stamps on the cards and asked for money. After paying him, he continued to try to read.
Next time, I'm using an envelope and writing instructions for the idiots behind the counter.

Just to add to depression...
I was walking home tonight after having a few beers and studying Chinese. I ran into the old Kingway girl and had a half-assed conversation in Chinglish. But it was nice. As I entered the complex of Tao Yuan Ju I realized that six months ago I could see the stars in the sky. Due to construction, this is no longer possible until probably 3 or 4 am.
There are a great many things wrong around here. This is a minute detail.

Bad Wine

They were selling wine in Tao Yuan Ju today. I stopped by on the way back from buying some fruit. I thought it was Great Wall wine, but it was just an imitation with labels that resembled it. The girls offered me a taste. I made a disgusting face and said, "Bu xihuan." They were impressed that I knew Chinese. They started asking me questions and all I caught was "Why don't you like it." I didn't know how to explain it to them. It was a dry red wine that was absolutely tasteless. It was like drinking red yeast. I was just terrible. I wouldn't even use that crap for cooking.
As a side note: the wine is Eastern Pearl. I'm guessing it probably uses water from the Pearl River (one of the most polluted in the world). I'll probably die in the next 48 hours from some sort of poisoning.

Homer Simpson voice: mmm...beer.
Yes, I found something different for once. I'm really getting sick of Chinese beer. My choices are Tsingtao and Kingway. Or if I want even lower quality, Snow. Or if I want to spend twice as much and travel 20 minutes on the bus, Xin Jiang Black Beer. But yesterday I took a trip to commie-mart. I guess they're emptying the stock, because it was cheaper than Pabst. Grolsch for 3.80 kuai. I don't even really like Grolsch, but it tastes different. For some reason that was the price for a 12 oz bottle while the big bottles were 14 kuai. I'll never understand the pricing here. But I do believe that when something goes on sale, it means they will never sell it again. If I'm lucky, they'll keep a few bottles of this on the shelves until I make it back to bring home a case.

We were walking through Commie Wal-Mart the other day and saw an unlikely sight. Through the book section we perused, even though we can't read much Chinese. We came across copies of Nabakov's Lolita on the shelves. Not only is it a shock to see this book is not banned in China, it is also not banned in Wal-mart. There is no way in hell that Lolita would ever grace the shelves of an American Wal-mart store.
I was tempted to buy a copy in Chinese in the hopes that one day I could read it and discover if it's censored. My friends and I were tempted to stand by it and tell the Chinese customers, "Ni yao zhe ge shu."

I was walking to school today along the same route as always. I was just in time to see the primary school students performing their poorly-choreographed morning exercises that resembled emotionless automatons dancing in a marching style. Usually I find this quite dull. However, today I was listening to my mp3 player just as James Brown came on...I think the song was Good Foot. It was amusing to see the children exercising in time with the Godfather of Soul.

That was not exactly the response I was expecting.
I have a class of non-Chinese students (a mix of various Asians but mostly Koreans). I decided that I would teach a little current events after reading the news about DPRK's nuclear testing. I was quite surprised to find that, for once, my students knew what had happened before I even told them. Even more surprising was one of my students' reactions. I had put up a big photo of Kim Jung Il on the TV screen (and it's a huge TV). This girl came in and flipped him off. Not only that, she actually said, "Fuck you!" I've never heard her curse... or even speak so much during one class. All four of my Korean students had comments about situation and not a single one of them liked Mr. Pompador.

On another note, I just happened to glance at a little brochure from the famous Beijing Roast Duck Restaurant. The last photo on the back is that of the funny little man preparing to choose his duck for dinner.
I should note that the other three photos are of Henry Kissinger, George HW Bush, and Toshiki Kaifu (former PM of Japan).

Zhaoqing & Moon Festival

The vacation is too short. Of course, I had to work last Saturday before the start of the week vacation. Then it wasn't until after the start of the break that I was informed I must work the Sunday on the tail end. So nice of management to care enough to inform me. Perhaps I should've taken the extra day and come back with the complaint that I was not explicitely informed of the vacation days. Anyway, that's the gripe for the school at this time.
I did manage to get away for a few days in Zhaoqing, not far from Guangzhou. It's a nice little city with some scenery to admire. Of course, after seeing so much of China already, it was not impressive. Still, it's always good to get out of Shenzhen for sanity's sake.
If nothing else, it was interesting to see a different city. There are things in Zhaoqing that I haven't seen before--like motorcycle riders wearing helmets (except for children). I also had the experience of being lost in Chinese. I can do that on my own, but my girlfriend had difficulties. She kept claiming that the residents' Putonghua was terrible and she couldn't understand Cantonese. There were a few times I heard her ask the same question five or six times before someone else would come along and translate. I guess this is what I have to look forward to when I take her to Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos (maybe not all of them, but at least Thailand).
As the final note, Happy Moon Festival to all. I returned just too late to witness the performances in the neighborhood. But I did enjoy the dinner, moon cake, mahjong, and beer.