Open Ceremonies

The Chinese government, which is sponsoring our teacher training, is taking the process very seriously. We trainers, all native speakers, are from Great Britain and America, and the clients are Chinese, making this a complex cross-cultural venture. At times, there was so much back-and-forth that if I hadn't known this was teacher training, I'd have thought people were discussing nuclear disarmament. Above: Our director, Sir Barry Jowett with the Chinese officials at the training's opening ceremony. Yes, we had an opening ceremony. We'll have a closing ceremony. too. Like the Olympics. Believe me when I say it's a big deal.

Infrastructure

China has modern technology. But equipment doesn't always function with antiquated wiring. It is difficult to install sufficient wiring in these old buildings, especially when workers are have outdated skills. My state of the art laptop does not always function effectively here. Above: the teachers' room at the Oxford Academy, where we access the Internet, or try.

Silk Shop

Silk is very cheap in China, as is the labor of a tailor. One can go to a silk shop, choose fambric and get a custom tailored shirt for about $6.00. This is less expensive than purchasing a garment off the rack. Above, a seamstress and a sales worker at a silk counter. Below, Joe is measured for a silk shirt.

Pizza Chinese Style

The last day of middle school language improvement, we had a pizza party for the kids, a first for them. The pizza, like everything else in China, was not what we're used to. Oh, it had a crust and everything, but the toppings were all different-- tiny clams on the half shell, for example. Pizza is not particularly popular in China. Many of the kids had not tasted it.

Balancing Act

Teaching gobbles time. It's sometimes hard to work in the sightseeing, because the teaching has to come first. Today, Joe brought his bloodhound puppet Beauregard to the middle school where I've been teaching. Monday, we made it out to the old city wall which is now in the heart of Nanjing (above).

Negotiating language

When eating out, we avoid the "tourist trap" restaurants with their bi-lingual menus and high prices. We must therefore negotiate language with staff who know only a few words of English. I've picked up just a little Mandarin, but that's not the dialect most Nanjing residents speak. We negotiate menu items using our Chinese phrase book. Frequently, the restaurant workers, pull out their English phrase book. This was how we found out that one restaurant worker thought 'fish' was an English word meaning 'lamb.' When we've succeeding in ordering, eating and paying, both we and the restaurant staff are apt to feel triumphant. Above, restaurant workers at a moderately priced Nanjing restaurants.

The clock as we know it did not arrive in China until the 18th century. Previously, The Chinese used water clocks, or beat the times of day on drums like the one above. Below, a scene from the so-called presidential palace in Nanjing, used by emperors for centuries. The palace later housed the offices of Sun Yat-Sen.

Work week

I teach a review class for 10th graders at an area middle school whose goal is improvement of English-- what my son Mike calls "English for Repeat Offenders." It never occurred to me I wouldn't have weekends off: that's downright un-American. Then I found out that this particular class runs seven days a week. I do try to make the class as interesting as I can for the inmates.

Note: Blogspot, which has been acting finicky, will not let me post and image just now-- I'll add it later. It's been difficultg to get on blogspot at all the past few days.

Buddhist Temple

Not all Buddhist temples in China are used for worship these days, but this one is. Many are in effect musems. But this temple is a vital religious community, with people of all ages. Buddhist worship is not corporate. Worshippers purchase incense and burn it before various statues. There appeared to be a discussion group run by one of the monks. A well-dressed man who spoke English welcomed me.