Alternatives

As we finalized payment for the train tickets, there was a problem dealing with the Chinese agent, Dr. Hogan's picture had not uploaded properly, and the agent did not understand that ETSU email addresses can be written either someone@etsu.edu or someone@mail.etsu.edu,  and was suspicious when she saw us using both forms.

Some of us worried we'd be traveling by Chinese donkey cart.

Misunderstandings like this are extremely common when we're dealing with China.  Their system and ours do not align well, and even when agents speak English, they can misunderstand our cultural practices.  But today we got word that the tickets had been approved.  So no donkey carts.

Here's what a Chinese train ticket looks like:

Hard bunks, anyone?

We will follow a compressed version of the itinerary we plan for the students when we go to China next month.  Most of our overseas travel will be on commuter trains, which are cheaper than planes and afford more contact with locals. Now that we all have our visas, we booked on the train. This way, we avoid the rush and crush of a Chinese booking hall (see below).

Alas, on our longest train ride-- the 16 hour journey from Weihai to Beijing--  we could not obtain the most desirable sleeper compartment with the so-called "soft beds."  We're having to settle for hard. This ensures us a culturally authentic, but not entirely comfortable, experience. The bunks in these cars have three levels, and since there's no guarantee we'll be assigned to the lower ones, Drs. Hogan, Lewis, and I may be climbing up metal ladders to our nesting spots

.
People in "hard bed" compartments are less reserved than the upper class people who can afford the "soft beds."  Last summer, I made an eight hour trip in a "hard bed" compartment, and Dean Lily Wang, who was worried about me, informed the train personnel that I am a teacher.  The Chinese have deep respect for their teachers, especially old ones, and my fellow passengers took excellent care of me, plying me with fish-filled buns and hard-boiled duck eggs.  I was glad I had some granola bars to share with the lady sitting across from me when she insisted I accept an ear of corn on the cob.

 

Complications

As things get tighter in China, obtaining a Chinese visa is harder.  In the past, you needed a copy of your passport, an extra passport photo, a four page form which gives your address, occupation, level of education, the names of  relatives, a letter of invitation, and a consulate fee of about 200 bucks.  Now, however, you also need a detailed itinerary, describing your projected movements in China, along with addresses, emails and phone numbers of those who will know where you are. The inviting institution must validate this document with an ostentatious looking stamp.

The university had already bought our air tickets when we learned this. After reassuring my Dean and Chair that I had it under control, I held my breath and contacted the primary place we will visit, Shandong Institute of Commerce and Technology,  Fortunately, they knew how to do up this paperwork, and we've been told the visas will arrive shortly.

Note: The images in this blogpost are examples, only.  Didn't want to expose our actual documents.

Marketing

It isn’t enough to arrange a study abroad.  Students have to know something’s happening or they do not sign up. I’m fine with addressing classes, but publicity also involves the posting of flyers and yard signs; the construction Facebook pages and online websites. An academic is trained for none of this.  Fortunately, my graduate assistant, John Mooneyham (pictured below), is over thirty years younger than I, and very computer literate. He also worked extensively as an English teacher and program administrator in Asia before returning to ETSU for a graduate degree.

I could not get the posters and websites to look so professional without him:
http://www.etsu.edu/honors/international/documents/china_document_cuai5199_4220.pdf

http://www.etsu.edu/coe/china/default.aspx

  

    

Busy, busy...

Arranging an overseas teaching trip of the kind I usually do is extremely complex.  But when you’re preparing to take half a dozen students from East Tennessee to teach English with you, the number of hurdles goes up geometrically.

A project like this involves an agreement between ETSU and an international partner in China.  Faculty members can explore such exchanges, but we do not sign documents committing our institutions to a formal relationship.  So for the summer program to happen, I must return to China over spring break along with Dr. Lewis our Dean, and Dr. Hogan, Chair of Curriculum and Instruction (pictures below) and meet with the Chinese partners.  We’re busy with mapping itineraries and obtaining visas for the spring trip, which will occur in March.

   

                                                         Dr. Angela Lewis, Dean Clemmer College of Education

                                                            Dr. Norma Hogan, Chair Dept. of Curriculum and Instruction

Applying for China visas isn't an easy process, but I've been through it before and can help Drs. Hogan and Lewis.  Today as I worked on the multiple forms, I realized my visa will not expire 'til April 2015, so I  won't need a new one 'til summer. 

When stars align

I train education students to teach English, and for years, I've been hoping to take some students to China so they could practice their skills overseas.  University study abroad programs involve permission from lots of different departments.  Most of the time, we write them up and then they go nowhere. No one blocks them exactly-- it's just that lots of work is involved and  people have to give a project priority for it to fly. I retire in July of 2015, I figured the project would never happen under my leadership.

 When I came back from China at the end of last summer, I suggested the possibility of an English teaching experience in China to my Dean and Department chair once more.  I was stunned by their enthusiasm.  It looks like it's going to happen. http://www.etsu.edu/coe/china/default.aspxThe stars are in alignment, I guess.  Check our website.

Will I return?

Already, my friends are asking if I’ll be returning next year.  I say I will if invited.  And then I ask myself why anyone would spend a vacation in a military dictatorship.  This place gets very spooky at times, yet part of my life is here.

But I’ve made lifelong friends, and I want to see them again. Truth to tell, I feel a bit guilty about going back to America. So many people I care for are here and cannot escape.  I am even acquiring the language, at long last. 

None of the staff in my guest house speak English, and using Chinese has been a matter of necessity. Now, I am understood when I ask for soap and towels in the guest house.  I can ask for soup, vegetables, and rice at the dining hall. This morning, I succeeded in buying wrapping paper from a shop on campus.

The words now come automatically. I don’t have to wrack my brain.  The Chinese lessons and practice with Rosetta Stone are finally kicking in.

I feel I belong here.  Of course, I’ll be back.