A day in the life - in China
"Danyo ogesumnida!"
I bow as I say the Korean phrase for "I will come back" (the proper term to use when one's leaving home in the morning) to my host mom as I leave my Korean host family's apartment. It's 7:30, and I've got to hurry if I want to make it to class in time. I walk down a few flights of steps, through our alley, and down the street several blocks towards the bus stop, carefully avoiding bikes and cars that don't worry about details like staying in one lane or driving only on their side of the street. I turn the last corner and see that the bus is right ahead of me, and I run to catch it as it pulls to a stop ahead. I pay the one yuan fare (about 13 cents), and find a handhold among the crowd of passengers. Soon we're making our way outside of the city center, and the road gets noticeably rougher as shacks of wood and brick take the place of the high rise apartments and stores of downtown. Now the bus has emptied a bit, and I manage to find a seat and take off my backpack...
"Zhou Ming!"
I look up from my notebook to my teacher as she calls my Chinese name.
"Zhou Ming, jintian xingqi ji?" (what day is it today?)
I think for a second, and then slowly reply, "Jintian xingqi san," (today is Wednesday) trying to remember which of the four tones to use for each syllable- if they're not all right, my words could mean something very different. The teacher nods and goes to the next student- I'm safe for now. But Charlie, the 15 year-old Korean boy who sits next to me, doesn't understand her next question. And while the two other westerners in the class understand the explanations our teacher gives in English, as our class's unofficial translator, it's up to me to translate for the two Korean students. As Charlie looks to me for help, I whisper the word in Korean, and he gives her an answer in Chinese. One 45-minute class (almost) down, three more to go...
The loudspeaker on the bus is probably announcing the stop in Chinese right now, but I can't understand the words. I just remember the steps: get on the bus in front of school and stay on it through the city center, past the waterfront, back into the city a little, out by the water a second time, get off at the third stop after that, walk down the street to the light, go right, down two blocks, left, and then straight until the end of the road. The first two days it was a little hard to remember, but now I know the route from the university where I take Chinese classes to our little English school. Today there's no laundry up on the line I walk under, but there are always people who take a second (or third or fourth) look at the foreigner walking through their neighborhood. I arrive at the school, and go up to the teacher's lounge/office for lunch. Lunch is generally variations on a theme- usually dumplings or fish with some side dishes. My favorite side dish is tomatoes and eggs fried together (almost like a watery tomato omelet)- which tastes better than it sounds. And although they don't have it today, I can't complain- lunch is free for us teachers. I hurry through lunch and make sure I have everything ready for today's first English class, which begins in half an hour.
After an hour and a half of explaining recipes, ingredients, and why Americans use measurements like "cups" and "pounds" instead of liters and kilos (and strange words like "heads" to count lettuce and "loaves" for bread), I have a break. Now it's time to prepare for my next classes, grade papers, study some Chinese, and check my e-mail. One of the staff brought in some treats for us- sort of like tart, small, candied apples on a stick. The fruit is evidently called Hawthorne in English, which until now I only knew as an early American author. The taste is new, but I think it'll grow on me- maybe I could say the same about China. There's a lot of things to get used to and to learn, some easier than others- but it's definitely been a good experience so far. Well, this day isn't over- I've got another class to teach soon, and then it's home for dinner and the vocabulary quizzes my host sister and I give each other every night- English for her, Chinese for me. And then I've got to sleep, because another busy day in China is waiting for me!
Zai jian!
-Michael Jeter
P.S. The pictures are 1) of the university campus 2 weeks ago, and 2) of me and a Brazilian guy on the Great Wall
.
I bow as I say the Korean phrase for "I will come back" (the proper term to use when one's leaving home in the morning) to my host mom as I leave my Korean host family's apartment. It's 7:30, and I've got to hurry if I want to make it to class in time. I walk down a few flights of steps, through our alley, and down the street several blocks towards the bus stop, carefully avoiding bikes and cars that don't worry about details like staying in one lane or driving only on their side of the street. I turn the last corner and see that the bus is right ahead of me, and I run to catch it as it pulls to a stop ahead. I pay the one yuan fare (about 13 cents), and find a handhold among the crowd of passengers. Soon we're making our way outside of the city center, and the road gets noticeably rougher as shacks of wood and brick take the place of the high rise apartments and stores of downtown. Now the bus has emptied a bit, and I manage to find a seat and take off my backpack...
"Zhou Ming!"
I look up from my notebook to my teacher as she calls my Chinese name.
"Zhou Ming, jintian xingqi ji?" (what day is it today?)
I think for a second, and then slowly reply, "Jintian xingqi san," (today is Wednesday) trying to remember which of the four tones to use for each syllable- if they're not all right, my words could mean something very different. The teacher nods and goes to the next student- I'm safe for now. But Charlie, the 15 year-old Korean boy who sits next to me, doesn't understand her next question. And while the two other westerners in the class understand the explanations our teacher gives in English, as our class's unofficial translator, it's up to me to translate for the two Korean students. As Charlie looks to me for help, I whisper the word in Korean, and he gives her an answer in Chinese. One 45-minute class (almost) down, three more to go...
The loudspeaker on the bus is probably announcing the stop in Chinese right now, but I can't understand the words. I just remember the steps: get on the bus in front of school and stay on it through the city center, past the waterfront, back into the city a little, out by the water a second time, get off at the third stop after that, walk down the street to the light, go right, down two blocks, left, and then straight until the end of the road. The first two days it was a little hard to remember, but now I know the route from the university where I take Chinese classes to our little English school. Today there's no laundry up on the line I walk under, but there are always people who take a second (or third or fourth) look at the foreigner walking through their neighborhood. I arrive at the school, and go up to the teacher's lounge/office for lunch. Lunch is generally variations on a theme- usually dumplings or fish with some side dishes. My favorite side dish is tomatoes and eggs fried together (almost like a watery tomato omelet)- which tastes better than it sounds. And although they don't have it today, I can't complain- lunch is free for us teachers. I hurry through lunch and make sure I have everything ready for today's first English class, which begins in half an hour.
After an hour and a half of explaining recipes, ingredients, and why Americans use measurements like "cups" and "pounds" instead of liters and kilos (and strange words like "heads" to count lettuce and "loaves" for bread), I have a break. Now it's time to prepare for my next classes, grade papers, study some Chinese, and check my e-mail. One of the staff brought in some treats for us- sort of like tart, small, candied apples on a stick. The fruit is evidently called Hawthorne in English, which until now I only knew as an early American author. The taste is new, but I think it'll grow on me- maybe I could say the same about China. There's a lot of things to get used to and to learn, some easier than others- but it's definitely been a good experience so far. Well, this day isn't over- I've got another class to teach soon, and then it's home for dinner and the vocabulary quizzes my host sister and I give each other every night- English for her, Chinese for me. And then I've got to sleep, because another busy day in China is waiting for me!
Zai jian!
-Michael Jeter
P.S. The pictures are 1) of the university campus 2 weeks ago, and 2) of me and a Brazilian guy on the Great Wall
.
posted by Mike @ 3:15 PM
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