Changes in Latitudes

Awake at 3 a.m. Left nostril totally dysfunctional. Right nostril ready to surrender. Headache behind the eyes.

I caught this cold from one of my friends who came over to talk about stuff. She clearly had a cold. I had to remind her constantly to cover her mouth when she coughed or sneezed. This is not a stupid girl, ignorant of bacteria and viruses.

People in Beijing more often do NOT cover their mouths when they sneeze than do cover their mouths. They turn their heads slightly away from people, then sneeze into the air. This is done on crowded sidewalks and in crowded subway cars alike. Occasionally you see someone cover his or her mouth with a hand, but certainly no more than 50% of the time.

And, of course, one of my pet peeves: they spit. Non-stop and loudly. I could write a book on this, also, but I would end up saying the same thing over and over. But here’s what I’ve noticed about spitting: it’s less in Xian, much less in Chengdu and Shanghai, and less still in Guangzhou, Guilin, and Lijiang. Thus, the farther you get from Beijing (at least going south), the less spitting you see. The same correlation applies to driving rudeness.

I think we’re seeing the “capitol effect” where people living in the capitol of a country feel privileged and special, less constrained by societal norms, arrogant, etc.

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If You Want to Know Who We Are

Both Bob and Lynn commented on the production of “The Mikado” that was put on by Santa Barbara Junior High School (SBJHS) when we were there. As I recall, we three were in 9th grade at the time. To this day I think it is one of the best musical productions I’ve ever been a part of. For a bunch of kids in grades 7-9 to successfully perform Gilbert & Sullivan’s best operetta with such style and class is almost unimaginable. Thank you Irwin McGuire, the music director there, for that wonderful experience.

Paul Uyesaka (also 9th grade) played the male lead of Nanki-Poo and Kathy Belkowski (7th grade, I think) was the female lead of Yum-Yum. Lynn played cello in the orchestra and Bob, I think, played bass. I was supposed to play the piano part in the orchestra, but when the music arrived, there was no piano part. So McGuire created a part for me, which was the umbrella carrier for the Mikado. It was an extremely minor role, but I did get a good laugh during the curtain calls: when the Mikado bowed, I did also, lowering the umbrella so it blocked him and revealed me. It was an accident, but it worked.

SBJHS was a marvelous school in those days, and I have many fond memories of my teachers and fellow students.

You Say Tomatoe

One of the nice things that happens at the beginning of the school year is the Teachers’ Day that I spoke of in “Lady in Red.” In addition to the show, the school gives each teacher a gift or two. These vary from year to year, probably depending on which private or government entity decides to provide the items.

These gifts are for the Chinese teachers only because (1) their salaries are much lower than those of the 60 foreign teachers, and (2) the foreign teachers are hired by and paid through a separate company.

I am the only exception. I was hired directly by the school, and thus I receive, probably mostly as a courtesy, most of the special privileges the Chinese teachers receive (food card, gifts, etc.). This year each of us received a box of tomatoes and 5 dozen eggs.

After having a couple Greek salads, I decided I needed to do something more long-lasting to (with?) the tomatoes. I’m not sure what everyone else did, but I know that many teachers gave the bulk of their tomatoes to friends. As almost all my friends are other teachers, I didn’t really have that exit strategy.

The answer? Tomato sauce that could be frozen. I boiled the tomatoes in batches for a minute, then plunged them into ice water,…

…transferring the cooled tomatoes to my pottery pot.

All the tomatoes I’ve had in China are meatier than those I’ve had in America, except for heirlooms. I peeled them and cut them up.

When I was a little boy, I had an aversion for seeds. I think I still do. It started with tomatoes with their seeds embalmed in that gelatinous crud, so I ate no tomatoes when I was young. This aversion spread to eggplant for the same reason, as well as to watermelon, which, to this day, I don’t eat much of. For this reason, whenever I use tomatoes in cooking, whether raw or cooked, I take out the seeds and the gelatinous crud. This results in better Greek salads and better tomato sauce that lacks those unaesthetic seeds. It takes at least three times as long to cut up the tomatoes, though.

I then simmered the seedless, peeled tomato fruit in a pot for 2 hours with some Italian herbs, garlic, and a little olive oil. (I hope Italy forgives me, but I prefer Greek olive oil.)

The work counter started off clean enough,…

…but ended up like this.

After hours of work (that ended at 1:30 a.m., incidentally), I had 4 medium jars of sauce.

Not much to show for all that work.

Now the task was to find room in my fridge, an ordeal that you should not underestimate.

The next day I had a little tri-color penne with half a jar of sauce, and it was indeed delicious.

I love homemade tomato sauce – at least I love mine and my brothers.

I put the other half jar of sauce into a smaller jar, envisioning an easier time of squeezing into the mess inside the fridge. I was wrong.

I REALLY hated to lose that sauce, considering how much effort went into producing it.

Sadly, the crowded-fridge damage was not limited to tomato sauce. A large bottle of oyster sauce came rolling out as I was looking for some olives that I was sure I had in there…somewhere.

That took be 30 minutes to clean up. One thing for certain: the glass jars in China shatter into a billion tiny pieces when dropped on hard tile.

Tragedies come in threes, or so I’m told. The third happened this morning when I dropped my frying pan.

Now THERE’S a gap that took a lot less than 18 minutes.

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Lady in Red

School began here at the beginning of September, just as it did in Fairfax County. On September 1 (which was a Sunday, incidentally), RDFZ held its annual Opening Ceremony on the soccer field (known as the “main playground”). There were speeches, singing, and dancing. I sat next to the principal, other principals were around us, and beyond were all 500 faculty and 5,000 students. I brought my movie camera this year, so I have no photos, but I suspect it won’t take much imagination on your part. The principal enlisted the school’s English teachers to translate for us foreigners. My favorite event, as it was last year, was the middle school chorus, partly because these 8th graders sound professional and partly because I have music in my veins where blood is supposed to be.

The beginning of the school year here is loaded with presentations of various kinds, some musical and entertaining, others consisting of long speeches and definitely NOT entertaining. Here are a few photos from September 6; students were being informed of new procedures and stuff. At least 30%, but probably many more, were not paying attention in one way or another.

One of my major concerns here is student behavior, which is not monitored very well and corrected even less. I’ve told other teachers that I think we are failing in our jobs if we allow a significant percentage of students in assemblies and in classes to tune out. At the presentation above, I was the only adult who occasionally walked up the outside aisle asking students to put away their MP3 players and other distracting devices and activities. All other teachers were sitting in the back of the auditorium mostly not paying attention either.

On September 9, school terminates early so teachers can put on a show. Each grade is represented by a group of teachers who perform in some way. The audience is made up of all the other teachers. Usually there are plenty of teachers available and it’s easy to find a few who would perform something. The exception is Grade 10 teachers. During the first week of school, all Grade 10 students go off campus somewhere for military training. They don’t shoot guns but they are taught how to march and probably some other stuff. Most of the Grade 10 teachers are required to go with them, so they are unavailable for any rehearsals. Mi Qi and I are in charge of two Grade 10 experimental classes this year, trying to convert the teaching style to something more interactive. He and I, as well as two other friends, were among the few Grade 10 teachers not at military training, so we decided to perform something.

The four performers were Mi Qi, Ruby (my main translator), Sun Jingju (a “politics” teacher), and I. (“Politics” is in quotes because it is a much broader course than just politics in the American sense. It’s a combination of Chinese government, society, and culture.) Ruby was the instigator and director, coming up with (finding online, I think) something called 3½ where one-by-one, 3 people say a profound or positive statement (in this case about teaching), and the 4th says a much shorter, humorous statement after clanging a pair of symbols. There were 16 of these.

I was the 4th person and had to learn how to pronounce 16 short phrases in Chinese well enough so people could at least understand what I was trying to say. Over the period of 3 days I had 4 different tutors work and rehearse with me to that end. It was all I could do to learn how to pronounce them (sort of), but there was no way I could memorize them in the time available, so we wrote them on a the symbols. The night before the performance we went to a costume store to rent the appropriate attire.

Here we are at the beginning of the performance. The oration went from right to left, starting with Sun Jingju on the far right, then proceeding to Mi Qi, Ruby, and finally me.

Note how I furtively glance at my lines written on the symbols, then wait patiently for my turn.

After Ruby speaks, I clang my symbols,…

…deaden the sound on my garment,…

…and utter my line with as much panache and hammanship as I can muster.

The audience loved it and they laughed after every set of statements. On the last one, Sun Jingju got a little confused, which threw off the whole bunch of us. I, already nervous enough, stepped up to the microphone but had to recheck my line, which led to even more laughter.

It was a great success and a jolly good time. I’ve got the whole thing on video.

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The Wrath of Khan

I am, as all normal humans are, a Trekkie, deeply devoted to Star Trek, regardless of which version. After the original series, which achieved cult status, Star Trek creator Gene Rodenberry agreed to help Paramount make the 1979 movie called Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Since then, 11 more Star Trek movies have come out, and I’ve enjoyed each one of them several times.

Many critics and Trekkies agree that the best of the movie series was the second one, the 1982 Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, starring the original Star Trek cast plus Ricardo Montalban.

In that movie, the Genesis Project was introduced. It was a technology that designed to take a small “seed” of life and use it to convert a barren planet into one thriving with life.

This movie is what comes to mind when people ask me what I’m doing in China. I usually respond, only partly facetiously, that my goal is to change the education culture of this country. In my year here (starting August of 2012) I have made some progress at the institution where I am working. I am not at liberty to discuss the details, but I am very encouraged with the results thus far, though frustration often rears its ugly head.

The question I’ve received in recent weeks from my friends in the U.S. concerns when I am returning home, so I thought I should let everyone here know what’s up. Orally the Administration expressed their desire for me to stay at least 2-3 more years, but I told them I could only stay one more year. So I have a new contract that goes to September 1, 2014, that allows me to return home more often. After that, I will either terminate my relationship with this entity completely, or work for them (or another Chinese entity) part-time from Virginia, traveling only occasionally to China. There is absolutely no doubt that I will NOT stay a 3rd year full time in China.

During these next 11 months, I will continue to help this school transition from traditional Chinese teaching methods to more interactive methods that result in more creative thinkers (both among the student body and the faculty). In this past year, I have made some valuable contacts outside the school who may be able to help me take bigger steps: at the moment I’m working on a comprehensive plan, a detailed road map, on how to improve China’s education system, something almost everyone here seems to be in favor of but also something no one seems to know how to achieve due to the many interrelated components that need to be modified.

Anyway, that’s what I’m doing until next September, so if you’re coming to China between now and then, let me that.

That’s it.

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