Subliminal Empowerment

After weeks of, “Meh-Kan-Ik. Repeat! Meh-Kan-Ik. Mechanic,” I’d finally had enough today. I have one class with only two thirteen-year-old girls. They’re by far my most advanced students. One of the girls was absent, and the other is one of the happiest, giggliest, most positive people I’ve met. She pretty much lives in a Muppet musical. With her I’m allowed to teach more American culture and less vocab, so I thought the perfect theme for today would be American theatre (aka Broadway musicals.) I took some liberties; some of them were British.

It went over splendidly. The only issue was that I would get so passionate that I would start speaking rapid-fire English and she’d have to tell me to slow down. But I could tell she was amazed. She asked for the titles of the plays so that she could watch them on YouTube the next time she’s in Hong Kong. Imagine a world without YouTube! Thank God for Northwestern VPN. This was the line up:

1)   Wicked’s “Defying Gravity”

2)   Aida’s “My Strongest Suit”

3)   Les Miserables’ “One Day More”

4)   Evita’s “A New Argentina”  - I know that “Don’t Cry For Me Argentina” is the more famous number, but aside from the dress I think this one’s a lot more powerful

5)   Dream Girls’ “And I Am Telling You” – Dream Girls isn’t my favorite musical, but Jennifer Holliday’s 1982 Tony Awards is my FAVORITE THING PERIOD.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtnKI3ztz9w

6)   Jesus Christ Superstar’s “Damned For All Time/Blood Money”

7)   Hair’s “The Flesh Failures/Let the Sun Shine In”

I tried to include as many strong women and African Americans as possible (oops with “My Strongest Suit.”) This is something I do in all of my classes. If I’m teaching a vocab word like “business manager” I always make sure that the picture I include is of a female business manager. I don't like to think of it as brainwashing. I would call it "subliminally empowering." 

These things look weird without a title

I live in a happy homestay bubble.  Betty, my homestay sister, doesn’t eat fish. Therefore I do not need to eat fish. My family is dedicated to helping me experience everything Changde has to offer. They take me to traditional Chinese teahouses, and force so much expensive Chinese tea down my throat that every time I get car sick I panic that I’m getting a kidney stone. My homestay father doesn’t like to carry a wallet, so my homestay mother pays for everything and has complete control at restaurants. They’re a goofy bunch. At night we watch 3D movies and eat delicious Chinese fruit and ice cream. Best of all: Betty’s parents spend way more on her education than most girl’s parents would ever dream of.  It wasn’t until my conversation with Elena at lunch today, that I fully grasped how my individual homestay family and being white has colored (haha pun) my experience.

Elena is half Mexican and half African American. Her experience has been much different than mine.

I pretend I’m going to slap my student’s hands: they giggle hysterically

Elena looks as if she might touch one of her students: they back away terrified

I am frequently dodging men on motorcycles while waiting for a cab.

Elena has not been approached by even a single motorcycle.

I created a lot of trouble for the school when I refused to switch homestay families halfway through the program.

A few of the potential homestay families said they would not be comfortable with a black student.

Elena is beautiful. “Leggy” and “fabulous” are the words I’d use. But no one notices in a country where half the beauty products include the word “whitening.”

I cried myself to sleep most nights in India because of the way women were treated, but Elena is so strong. “That’s China,” she says nonchalantly.  “I’m lucky I don’t have to deal with motorcycles.”  “If I want my students to behave, I just have to look like I’m going to touch them.” I’m incredibly impressed by the way she handles it. She doesn’t let it get to her the way I would.

We’ve decided that it’s less racism here, and more ignorance. It’s not as if they have any people of African descent in Changde. They’ve only seen them on TV where they’re portrayed as gangsters and thieves. It’s difficult to describe, but it’s less of a “black’s are inferior” thing, and more of a “be scared of blacks” thing. Of course neither is right, but the latter is slightly less offensive. It’s ignorance. I feel it could be rectified by better information.  American media could take some of the blame.

I have also run into my fair share of gender issues. Oh no! Katherine’s ranting about gender issues again!

Elena and Kayliegh teach at the less expensive school. Their classes have about twenty students. I teach at VIP, the expensive school. I have no classes with more than eight students. Elena and Kayleigh have a gender split of about fifty-fifty. I have at least five boys for every girl. In fact, I have one class with seven boys and one girl. When I spoke to one of the teachers about it, she said, “It’s Chinese gender discrimination. I have four siblings because my parents kept trying for a boy.”

No official from the school contacts Elena, Kayleigh, or me with important information. They all run straight to Ralph and expect him to convey the information to us.

I would say that about 95% of the teachers are female. In speaking with the female teachers, I’ve found out that at least 50% of them are just teaching until they can find a husband.

It’s no India, but things are far from perfect here.

After all the seriousness, I have a funny problem:

The Problem:

The teachers in their early twenties are all in love with the only boy on my trip. Let’s call him Ralph.

Why the Teachers in Their Early Twenties Don’t Like Me:

They believe Ralph and I are dating.

The Biggest Reason Ralph and I Aren’t Dating:

Ralph is gay.

Why I Don’t Like the Teachers in Their Early Twenties:

They hit on Ralph all the time! They text him! None of the teachers have any of the girl’s numbers. If they believe we are dating, then they are trying to steal him from me! Uncool. Women should stick together. I’m hypothetically jealous and angry.

Also, swear to God I’m teaching the Chinese Dudley Dursley.  He terrorizes the smaller kids while swilling from his mammoth iced tea bottle. I’m pretty sure my hopes and dreams are being swallowed with his iced tea.

But teaching can be very rewarding…sometimes. It’s nice to go to sleep at night knowing I’ve accomplished something during the day. And it’s doing wonders for my patience. 

Things I Learned In China (So Far)

Because I have no time to write proper blog entries

I teach 29 classes a week

1)   Water chestnuts do not come from cans. They come from weird purple alien pod thingies.

2)   Do not eat water chestnuts from weird purple alien pods. They taste like dirt.

3)   Do not worry about culture shock. To facilitate an easy transition the Chinese government has kindly placed a KFC, McDonalds, and Starbucks right outside of the immigration line at the Beijing International airport.

4)   Do not thank the cook for dinner. The father who pays the cook will be offended. Thank god I was only in my Beijing homestay for two nights. And the mother was very nice. She bought me coke, breakfast cereal, and Thousand Island dressing to keep me from becoming homesick.

5)   THEY EAT DONKEY HERE!!!!!

6)   Babies don’t have to wear diapers in China. Nor do they have to wear clothing that covers their genitals. If you see a baby squatting in the middle of a train: Notify its mother!

7)   Driving lanes are more of a suggestion. So are breakdown lanes, seatbelts, and driving on the right side of the road.

8)   Beijing is disgusting. Wearing glasses may help to keep the pollution out of your eyes. They say that for every month you live in a developing country you take one year off your life. I believe I lost one year in the two days I spent in Beijing.

9)   Chinese homestay is the best in the world. In other countries one must pay families to host. In China families offer to pay to host. Then they try to figure out all your favorite foods and smother you in them. My homestay sister calls me “her real live Barbie.”

10)                 Always look for programs where teenagers find the homestay families. For our program the number one qualification was: chill. At first I thought my homestay family was terribly overbearing. Then I realized that the fourteen-year-old was just needy. I take her less seriously now.

11)                 Chinese people DO know how to knock. My homestay parents knock. The program organizers knock. Other people’s homestay siblings knock. Just because my homestay sister doesn’t knock doesn’t mean that all Chinese people don’t knock. That’s stereotyping.

12)                 Just because you’re and English teacher doesn’t mean you have to speak English. In fact you can teach from books titled “Good English.” Teachers in China can pretty much get away with anything. Throw a kid out of class: Never hear about it again.  Draw on students with whiteboard markers: No one makes a peep.

13)                 As for the students: CHEATERS!!! Which is why I’m coloring on them with whiteboard markers. Write answers on your hands and I am forced to cover them up with marker. And I’m not even giving them tests. They’re cheating on games!!

14)                 If enough random strangers tell you you’re beautiful you begin to believe it. Example, “she says you’re beautiful. She wants you to tutor her daughter.”

15)                 If cab drivers tell you you’re beautiful…I dunno…maybe get out of the cab. If they spend more time staring at you than the road: That’s bad.

16)                 I no longer notice people staring. It freaks Betty (my homestay sister) out. It bothers the other Northwestern students. But when they mention it my response it usually, “they are?”

17)                 Chinese people believe that hamburgers are a typical American breakfast. When I offered to make my homestay family a traditional American breakfast (pancakes with the Bisquick and maple syrup I brought from home) they said, “hamburgers?” Long story short: they took me to the grocery store and today I’m making hamburgers. The pancakes went over very well. My grandfather made more breakfast. I have to tell myself it’s because the Chinese eat lots of different foods for every meal, not because it was a backup.

18)                 The rice containers in the grocery store are bigger than my bed. And all the meat still has its face.

19)                 And entire Beijing duck (face included) makes a great souvenir. My host father brought two home from Beijing with him. One for the family, and one they insist I bring back to the US. Any idea on whether or not I can get this through immigration? I’m pretttty sure it’s already cooked.

20)                 Fear the police. They like to make their power known. Do not ask to borrow their phones (this was not me but a friend). Their headquarters are like palaces. They will visit you in homestay to make sure that you are in fact in homestay. The woman will ask real questions. The man will ask if you can eat spicy food.

21)                 The closest thing you’re going to get to Diet Coke is Pepsi Max. And you will only be able to find it in a Walmart. And why wouldn’t you want to be in Walmart? It’s got the best air conditioning in town.