Moonlighting in the Middle Kingdom

For the first time, I'll admit on my blog that I have a second job in Changzhou. I was reluctant to write about this, given that I'm technically not supposed to have another job according to my contract with the University. But the longer I'm here, the more I'm realizing it's not a big deal. For one thing, Teddy now knows about it and is cool with it. For another, most of the foreign English teachers have second jobs. The University only gave us 12 teaching hours a week. Even with lesson planning that barely adds up to one part-time job.

Since early March I've been teaching at Web International English, an English-language training centre. From what I gather, Web is a franchise operation. They are independently-run businesses throughout China - or at least throughout Jiangsu Province. There are two Webs in Changzhou. I teach at the one in Nan Da Jie in the city centre. There's another in the northern part of the city.

Reception Desk at Web International English

I found out about Web from another foreign teacher who had worked there. He introduced me to the manager and I had an interview on the spot (when does that ever happen at home for a professional position??). I told them at the outset that I wasn't in China only to work - I'm here to see the country and experience the culture too. I told them I could work weekends and Monday nights when I wasn't travelling.

So that's been my routine. When I'm in Changzhou, I typically work at Web on Sunday afternoons from 1 to 5 pm and Monday nights from 6 to 9 pm. That might not sound like a lot, but it's intensive, especially the four back-to-back Sunday classes. Teaching English here, in general, is exhausting work. You always have to be "on". You can't get lazy with your language and start resorting to idiomatic expressions. The longer I'm here, the easier it gets, but it can still be draining.

Teaching at Web is different from teaching at the University, though I enjoy both. Web has exposed me to a wider range of English learners. At the University about 95% of my students are female, while at Web the numbers are much more balanced. Also, most Web students are working professionals, though there are some school-age students. With an average tuition of 10,000 RMB per year, you have to be making a good salary to study at Web.... or have well-to-do parents and/or parents who are very committed to their kids learning English. In general, I find Web's students to be much more motivated. If I was paying that much for Chinese lessons, I'd be motivated too! Class sizes are kept small: Private classes will have 1 to 4 students, while salon classes have no more than 10. Compared to my culture classes of 40 at the University, this obviously helps with learning. Incidentally, the pay is better at Web too - though I'm hardly in China for the money! I would have stayed home if I was just interested in saving as much as possible before my MBA.

On Monday nights, I usually do English Corner at Web. Web's English Corner is quite different from the one at the University. The University's is very informal - we show up and talk to the students in English. For my first English Corner at Web, I did what you should never do in China and that's make an assumption. I assumed it would work like the University's English Corner. I showed up just expecting to have an informal chat with a few students.

Not so! There was certainly a "deer caught in headlights" moment when I walked in the room and saw about 50 people sitting there, all looking at me expectantly. I say "expectantly" because it turns out that the English teacher is expected to deliver a presentation at English Corner! If it's a PowerPoint presentation, then all the better. Well - thank God for Facebook (and thank God for Toastmasters, which has improved my ability to think quickly on my feet in a public speaking situation). I'd prepared nothing, but managed to navigate my way around Facebook in Chinese to find my photos. It was my first English Corner with them, so it was the ideal time to introduce myself, talk about my background and show them photos of family and friends. They loved it.

Since that first English Corner, Monday nights have truly become a highlight in my week. I love the crowd at Web English Corner. Some of them crack me up, they're such characters. They ask great questions. They are infinitely curious. A few speak fantastic English and continually amaze me with their knowledge of western cultures. I've talked to them about Newfoundland and Labrador, Canadian food, networking strategies and left-handedness (since they're always commenting on the fact I use my left hand). At the next English Corner I'll show them some photo highlights from my time in China. They love to see foreigners in the context of their own country.

My last English Corner is on June 15. I'll be sad to leave Web and based on what I hear, I think the feeling will be mutual. But my "Web memories" will last a lifetime.

The English Corner crowd at Web English

Gender Relations

One of the many paradoxes about China is that it is very conservative in its approach to homosexuality (i.e., it is neither acknowledged nor accepted), yet both men and women can be openly demonstrative (read: touchy-feely) with members of their own sex - and that is viewed as perfectly acceptable. It is common to see women walking together linked arm in arm, or even holding hands. Men will walk with their arms slung around each other. At English Corner, I often see female students practically hanging off each other.

Those who know me know that I'm very socially liberal. I'm proud to be from one of the few countries in the world that allows gay marriage. Yet even in "gay-friendly" countries like Canada, would we not make certain assumptions about two adult women holding hands? Those assumptions just aren't present in China. What a topsy-turvy world. I suspect a certain percentage of the Chinese population is gay - like the rest of the world - but that most Chinese gays are still in the closet. Like left-handedness, being gay marks you as different and this is a country where conformity rules.

An example of this homosexual non-acceptance/same-sex touchy-feely behaviour happened just tonight. Another teacher gave me the idea of holding a pretend speed-dating event in my Oral English class. Great idea! It certainly gives everyone a chance to speak - A LOT. No matter that there are only four guys in my class. I just had many of the women pretend to be men. I knew that would fly here in China.... there's an innocence here that allows women to pretend to be men wooing women with absolutely zero homosexual overtones. Some of the women were really hamming it up too, grabbing each other's hands and saying "I love you". Behaviour was more constrained in opposite-sex conversations. I accurately predicted that most of the "matches" would be same sex. Sure enough, at the end of the night, the women rushed to their desired partners - all of them other women. The four guys were left standing alone.

There's something rather Shakespearean about all this. In Shakespeare's time, homosexuality was tantamount to sodomy, yet men played female roles on the stage. It was acceptable within a given context, but once it went beyond those bounds, it was no longer ok. In China, you can be quite affectionate with those of the same sex - but that affection has to stop outside the bounds of a romantic relationship.

Vancouver Meets New York City

I haven't been great about blogging about my travels. Since arriving in China, I've been to Shanghai, Nanjing, Suzhou, Beijing and most recently, Hong Kong. For whatever reason, I think writing about me being a typical tourist is not as interesting as my everyday life as an English teacher in Changzhou.

However, I'll make an exception for Hong Kong. Two weeks ago I spent the weekend there with my usual travel buddies, Peter and Adrienne. I knew HK would be different from the mainland, but I wasn't prepared for how different. It was China, but without the 3 "S" vices: smoking, spitting and staring. While HK hasn't gone so far as to make bars smoke-free, you saw a lot more no-smoking signs in general. And fewer people seemed to smoke anyway, so even bars and clubs weren't too bad.

I didn't see one person spit the entire weekend - or for that matter, do anything rude in public. And if anyone wanted to stare at "waiguoren" (foreigners) in Hong Kong, they'd be doing A LOT of staring. Unlike the rest of China, where Han Chinese make up about 95% of the population (and more like 98% in Jiangsu province), Hong Kong was very diverse and cosmopolitan. In Beijing I saw a lot of foreigners, but they always looked like tourists. Even there, I couldn't escape the occasional stare or request for a photo - Beijingers may be used to foreigners, but the city gets a lot of tourists from other parts of China. Not so in Hong Kong. It is actually easier for a foreigner to travel to HK than a Chinese person. To prevent an influx of people across its borders, HK requires mainland citizens to get a visa. We only needed our passports.

Compared to Beijing or Shanghai - the mainland's most "diverse" cities (relatively speaking) - HK had a lot more foreigners, many of whom looked like they worked there. We came across this expat scene in the famous Lan Kwai Fong bar district...

Although HK has been reunited with China now for almost 12 years, it still has its own currency and government. People drive on the left, just like in Britain. Its subway system, the MTR, is one of the cleanest and most efficient I've experienced. And Hong Kongers are taller than people on the mainland.... I resumed my natural role of bringing down the average height in a room. To me, HK felt like a combination of New York City (skyscrapers, famous skyline) and Vancouver (coastal, yet mountainous). It even had a beach area that reminded me of the south of France.

Hong Kong's famous skyline

At the top of Victoria Peak, with a view of Hong Kong's city centre

Hong Kong was expensive. It was hot. And I loved every minute of it :-) It is the kind of city that I can see myself living in long term. I've loved my time in Changzhou, but I don't think this could be anything but short term for me. I miss aspects of western life. The inability to blend in gets to me. You could live in HK, but still have a piece of home. And a piece of other people's homes too. In the two days we were there, we had Cantonese, Indian, Vietnamese and Western food. On the Western front, I finally got to indulge in the steak I've been craving for some time. And paired with a good red wine at that! We were delighted to see an Outback Steakhouse across the street from our hostel.

Tasting steak for the first time in 3 1/2 months - yum!

Hanging with Zhong Guo Ren (Chinese People)

I've decided to return home a little earlier than planned. When I booked my flight, I didn't know when the term would end, so I chose July 9. It turns out all of my classes will be finished by mid-June, so I've changed my departure to June 22 - and thankfully it cost nothing more than the change fee.

My earlier departure has nothing to do with the experience I'm having here and everything to do with wanting more time with family and friends before moving to DC the first week of August.

I've made some great friends who I will be sad to leave next month. I'm posting some pictures of some recent excursions.

With Connie, one of my Chinese tutors, in Hongmei Park

Playing Monopoly with Steve, another tutor, and his son. Steve often invites foreign teachers to his home.

At Las Vegas, a local club

May Day Fireworks

At home, we sometimes joke about fireworks on New Year's Eve barely lasting until 12:05 am. No such worries in China. I'm now used to fireworks going off at the oddest times - like 10 am on a Sunday or 5 am on a Thursday. I don't see the point of setting off fireworks in the daytime, but apparently some people do.

Sometimes people set off "homemade" fireworks outside the hotel where I live. This makes me a little nervous; the CCTV fire in Beijing during Spring Festival is never far from my mind at these times. Yes, people at home may set off fireworks in their backyard for NYE or Canada Day, but I think they generally avoid setting them off in busy areas where there are cars and pedestrians. Again, not so here. Check out this video which I shot from my apartment on Friday, the big May 1st holiday. (I didn't think I had much of a Newfoundland accent - especially over here - but apparently I developed one for this video).

This Week's Miscellany

Here is some commentary on things that have either happened to me this week or have been rolling around in my head....

Challenging Gender Roles

There are some topics I won't go near with my students - but gender roles is not one of them. While China is not as traditional as Japan when it comes to gender roles, it's also not as progressive as North America. Some of my fellow teachers have commented on how female students will say they're not as smart as their male classmates.

So you can imagine that I - with the business background and aiming for the top of the corporate ladder - get great joy out of presenting students with a different perspective on male/female roles. At English Corner I was asked whether I want to get married and have children. I think I mildly shocked some of them (especially the guys) when I said that though I'd like to meet someone to share my life with, I don't want children. I've just never been the maternal type. Even "marriage" doesn't have to be a traditional marriage - I could do common law. It's almost unheard of here for men and women to live together before getting married. I was a little surprised to see a few of the girls around me nodding and agreeing when I explained my views. Things are changing here, especially for the younger generation.

I think it's no secret that although I'm quite career focused, I'm also very conscientious about the way I look - my vanity doesn't allow me to step outside my apartment without make-up! I make an effort to be the "whole package" - and I do this for me. I feel better when I look better. So in that respect, I hope I'm presenting my female students with a different view of femininity. You can take pride in your appearance and still be smart and successful.


Things I Miss

I'm starting to really miss some things that you can't get over here - or at least aren't as easy to get. I did a presentation on Canadian food and drink for some older students at another school. (Yes, I did talk about NL food, though I don't like much of it myself - e.g., fish and chips). Of course I had to mention Tim Horton's! When I arrive in the airport in Toronto, you can be sure my first stop will be Tim Horton's. There are days when I really crave a Tim's sandwich or chili - and of course, their coffee. The Chinese don't really do coffee. I have to make do with a cup of instant stuff in the mornings. McDonald's has "real" coffee, so sometimes I'll stop in for one when I'm in the Nan Da Jie area. Ironically, my consumption of tea has dropped here. I can't seem to get into the loose tea leaves. You can buy tea bags, but I don't bother with it. I drank a lot more green tea at home. The most tea I've had over here was the week mom and I were in Beijing.

Also on the topic of food, I miss steak! I'm really looking forward to a nice, juicy, BBQ steak when I get home. I miss happy hours with the girls at The Keg and Keg-size glasses of Pinot Grigio. Wine isn't very popular here and it's hard to find good wine, unless you want to pay a bundle for it.

I miss big, North American-style breakfasts - hash browns, sausages, toast.... yum! I'm getting hungry just thinking about it. Here, what people eat for breakfast doesn't differ much from lunch. As I mentioned in a previous post, the Chinese don't eat bread like we do. Once again, in Beijing it's much easier to live like a westerner. So I reveled in toast a few mornings there.

I also miss orderly lines....


Bu Hao Yi Si

I was having none of it this morning. After my early morning class, I stopped to get something to eat at one of the small snack places on campus. There were maybe four people in front of me. They were orderly. And just as I get to the front of the line, I see her coming.... I knew exactly what would happen next. She immediately skipped the line and started to push her money at the server. I don't think so girlie - not today. I was too tired and too hungry. I go right up beside her and say in a very annoyed voice "bu hao yi si" and hand over my money first. One of my tutors told me this means "excuse me". Now, I don't know if the annoyed-sounding "excuse me" translates well culturally in China - maybe there is a stronger phrase - but she knew what I meant. She was quite taken aback. Her friend started to laugh and I got a comment, but I only caught "English". Maybe she was saying "damn English speaker". I don't care. Damn line jumper!

In all fairness, I experienced some unexpected politeness this week too. A man (besides Teddy or Steve) actually held the door open for me and a male student let me go ahead of him in line in a convenience store. There's hope yet for chivalry in China!


Expectations Management

Thinking back to December and January, when I was preparing to come over here... it's like I can't even remember what my expectations were. I've learned so much and seen so much since arriving that it has completely obliterated any hazy images I had in my mind about China and its people. I think I was mentally prepared for more culture shock, which was good. I expected to find more differences. I didn't know what to expect from Changzhou. Not knowing what I'd find in stores here, I lugged over tons of toiletries (making my bag too heavy at the airport) - all things you can buy here, like contact solution and soap.

Having lived here now three months, I feel that the similarities are greater than the differences. I strongly believe that regardless of language or culture, people are essentially the same. Everyone wants to be listened to; everyone wants to be understood. My students laugh and smile. In fact, one of the things I'll miss most when I leave is all the smiling in my classes. I smile a lot, so maybe that's why I get a lot of smiles back. The smile is pretty much universal. Like young people at home, my students love to eat, sleep and hang out with their friends. People love a long weekend. Everyone is gearing up now for the Lao Dong Jie (May 1) holiday. I'm not travelling anywhere (technically, every weekend is a long weekend for me), but a friend is coming to visit and next weekend I'm going to Hong Kong.

And so concludes this week's miscellany :-)

Happy English

Back on campus, I'm reminded of why I made the right decision in coming over here. I love my classes, especially my smaller Oral English classes on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings. Here's a photo we took the other night (I just wish you could see the three girls behind me).

Also this week, my culture classes did their country presentations. Their group project for the term was to develop a tourism ad for a major English-speaking country (yes, you can see the influence of my business background in my teaching ;0). There were two components to the project: The ad itself (though most students did a PowerPoint) and an in-class presentation at a "Travel Expo", aimed at convincing their classmates to visit their assigned country. The presentations ran the gamut, and some were truly standouts. Some groups made a poster to complement their presentation; others adopted a TV show format where they interviewed people who'd already visited the country. Others had good taglines like "Canada - waiting for you" and "Take a journey, find your true self".

Selling America

Performing a skit about a Chinese student new to the UK

Coming from my Wednesday afternoon culture class, I came across a banner for the University's English Festival, which kicked off this week. When I saw it, I actually stopped, laughed out loud and took a photo.

Oh the irony: Celebrating English with some questionable English

"Happy English, I'm lovin' it!" Poor English plus a direct rip-off of McDonald's tagline, right down to the dropped "g" in "lovin'". I guess this is the slogan for this year's English Festival. Wow. Amusing, yet sad at the same time. They've gone to great effort and expense to bring five so-called "foreign experts" here to teach English, and it never occurred to anyone to ask one of us whether their "slogan" made sense? Is this the English they're holding up for students to model? I see this and I'm reminded of why students persist in saying things like, "I wish you happy every day."

Another funny thing about the McDonald's rip-off is that many students are under the impression that all "Americans" (i.e., I'm included) live to eat hamburgers. Perhaps this is an unconscious - or conscious - equation of English with the land of hamburger eating? Though I'm not sure that anyone thought about it that deeply before having the banner made....

A few other things about English Festival have left me scratching my head. After seeing the banner, I noticed a large crowd gathered outside the library. As it turns out, it was the opening ceremony for English Festival. I managed to catch the end, but wondered why the native English speakers hadn't even been invited to the opening ceremony. If I hadn't stumbled across it, I wouldn't have known it was happening. There were a number of University dignitaries there, and apparently there had been a student talent portion. It would've been nice to have been invited to a celebration of English, given what we're here to do.

At least the school involved us in their English Festival lecture series - though not without a hitch. The five of us each delivered a lecture on a subject of our choice. Sticking to what I know, last night I presented "Success in the West: Tips for Doing Business with Western Business People". But if it hadn't been for students at English Corner on Thursday night, I might not have made it to my own lecture! Again, unbelievable.... the school told us weeks ago the location of the English Festival lectures. I mentioned to some students at English Corner that I'd be speaking in the library lecture hall on Friday at 6:30 pm (yes, I know, a crappy time for a lecture - many students are gone home for the weekend by then.... I'm amazed that 30 to 40 people attended. At home, I'd be speaking to an empty room). They quickly informed me that the location of the lectures had been changed. Apparently the students had been made aware of the change, but not the guest speakers! I heard Dan didn't find out until he showed up at the library and nobody was there. Another frustrating head-scratcher. I asked one of the University administrators why I hadn't been informed about the change - no answer on that one.

I should add that none of this lies in Teddy's domain. Those of you reading my blog know that Teddy has been nothing less than fantastic.

Anyway, the students brighten my day, even if other aspects of the school don't. Forget us - the University could have gotten a better slogan by talking to some of my culture students.