Deference

The Chinese show great deference to those they consider elderly and are always wanting to help them. In this culture, I qualify as elderly. When people even a tad younger go walking with me, they are inclined to grab me by the arm and guide me. This is supposed to connote protectiveness and respect. To me, it feels like they're shoving me around. The woman in the above picture tried to "guide" me through Yentai on a snowy day. Her English is limited-- she is the friend of a friend. She was helping me bargain in the downtown shops.

Older Chinese ladies walk in tandem with the person guiding them. Since I am American, I have not acquired this skill, nor do I want to. I was polite to the woman when she took my arm, though I did feel crowded. Then, as we moved across an ice patch, she upset my balance and nearly knocked me off my feet. I yelled at her. Her feelings were hurt. She got my friend on the phone, and we straightened out the misunderstanding.

People keep saying Americans are exceptionally independent. I have learned to agree. Then I tell I don't like to ask for help. "The day I ask, you'll know I am really in trouble." As a consequence, people jump out of their skins on the few occasions I ask for help. The lady in the international office who negotiated for my airline tickets seemed more upset about the problem than I was.

Objects of curiousity

Eating out in restaurants seems to be the primary social, recreational and cultural activity in Weihai. The chef at a major restaurant, a friend of a student, asked if I would help him with English. He needs English to advance professionally because his is an international restaurant. While I do not give English lessons, I told him he could come over and show me how he cooks (see above), and we'd speak English as we worked. This man could discriminate between a dozen varieties of mushrooms and knew their English names, but had not acquired English verbs. After he and I talked and cooked, we continued speaking simplified English over a dinner at my apartment (see below).

When Westerners eat in restaurants, we can be an object of curiosity. Servers stifle their amusement over our awkwardness with chopsticks. Other night, I had dinner with several people from church. After eating, we got to talking about our faith journeys. Now this group always says grace in public,but I had never seen them do longer prayers in public. In effect, we had a short prayer meeting. We closed our eyes, bowed our heads, and made requests of God on each other's behalf. Very moving.

Then I looked up. Four servers ringed our table, and were scrutinizing us as if we had just performed an exotic ritual. From their point of view, we had. Another four servers came out to watch. One of my fellow worshippers wondered aloud if the restaurant staff knew what we were doing-- China has been atheist for awhile, and many people don't relate to prayer. But I think they knew.

A Matter of Guanxi

Sorry-- No picture on this one. Only one of my three email addresses is unblocked, and I cannot send attachments on the one I am using to relay this posting to Dennis. Information Control is apparently very busy. I am told sites go down when they are being electronically copied. There is said to be a vast data base of email in Beijing.
The airline ticket problem is being addressed. I hit a brick wall when I tried to change the date of my flight back to the US. Turns out I was doing it wrong. I had presumed there were uniform procedures for such things as in the US. Wrong! In China, guanxi or "relationship" is the necessary ingredient in all but the simplest business transactions. To get anything done, you have to have pull with someone.
Northwest Airlines was giving us a hard time about changing my flight. They said I had to visit their office in Beijing personally. But I needed my ticket changed before I made the flight. The airlines was totally inflexible.
A woman in the university's international office had a solution: she has a friend who works in the building where Northwest Airlines is housed in Beijing. The friend will personally represent me. This seems to be satisfactory to all concerned.
It seems a convoluted way of doing things in an age of computers. But, as I keep reminding myself, this is China.

Awesome Sea
















Rereading my last entry, I note at least three serious English errors. Funny thing-- they sound like errors my students make. I must be acquiring the dialect (or interlanguage) some people call "Chinglish."

I know it's still autumn, but it feels like winter here. America has the Gulf Stream; Weihai has the Siberian current. The wind is fierce. More than in the summer, one is aware that the university is at the tip of a penninsula. This city is called Weihai, and its name means awesome sea.

Christmas Festivities






























Except in the churches, Christmas here is secular, but in these increasingly prosperous times, it has become popular both with merchants and consumers. The officially atheist government does not mind, since the Christmas story is viewed here as myth.

Last Saturday, we foreign teachers performed Christmas carols at Weihai's premier seaside hotel. Two choirs of local children also sang at the Golden Bay; carols such as Silent Night and Come All Ye Faithful were rendered sweetly in Chinese. Very touching. The hotel lobby was decorated with Christmas trees, colored lights, reindeer, and smiling pigs. Santa was present, along with another character associated with Christmas in this country: Snow White.

Tickets Home













The exam schedule has been revised. Finals are now scheduled for Christmas week, which means I can leave shortly after New Year's. There's no point staying an extra week, once exam are over. I need time to rest and reacclimate to America, after all these months away. The ETSU term begins January 16. Before the schedule change, I was planned to come home January 12, which left no time for recuperation.

I was prepared to pay a penalty for the changed my ticket, but I was stunned by the complexity of the process. The American travel agency says the ticket should be changed in China, and the Chinese say the ticket can only be altered in America. Airline personnel say that to do anything, I must personally visit their office in Beijing. The international office is not sure its travel agent can help. It would seem that tickets could be changed over the phone, but in China it seems to take an act of God.

I could stay here after finals on the empty campus, and it's a bad time of year to do touristy things. I could fly standby, that's not a wise option for so long a trip.

A colleague who has changed tickets in the past is helping me work on the problem. Meanwhile, I am asking that anyone so inclined PRAY!!!