Back-to-School
I woke up yesterday with the tiniest bit of a hangover. Colin, Lisa, Russell and I had tried out one of China’s lesser-known evils – Hong Jiu (the second word pronounced, “Joe”). I’ve written a bit about Bai Jiu, which is just as not delicious. I think the small bottle, which amounted to half of a fifth, cost about 5 kuai – or $0.62 US. It tasted like burnt, melted M&Ms, which SOUNDS like it might be tasty but it wasn’t.
I called Mr. Ye to see if we were having our meeting yesterday and he said something about afternoon and then hung up on me. Mr. Ye is under a lot of stress right now. He’s got to get several new foreigners to the doctor’s office and then wait a couple of days for their tests to prove a good bill of health and then he’s got to wrestle with the visa department to get everything in line before Monday, even though school officially begins TOMORROW!
What actually woke me up yesterday (the washer women tried but I incorporated their hollering into a somewhat restless dream through the duration) was the loudspeaker. It hasn’t started up this morning which makes me think yesterday was some sort of orientation for the children, but believe you me, (what does that saying mean? Do I have it wrong?) the voice on that loudspeaker would put the fear of God into you, or at least get you out of bed and have you marching around the room. I don’t quite know how to describe it. First, the acoustics were terrible. Even if the sweetest voice in the world were whispering into the microphone, the amplifier would mangulate (for those of you unfamiliar with my day-to-day, this is one of my favorite words…right Ben?) that voice into a screech so intense you would feel it in your bellybutton. Next, the woman who was shouting into the microphone sounded a bit harsh. Her tone of voice, it had an edge and every other word would create that reverb that makes peoples eyes roll into the backs of their heads.
I walked down the hall and looked out of our barred windows at the end and could see children of all ages marching in sleepy formation to line up by grade in front of the Screecher. It was one of the most comforting scenes for me since arriving in China. Not the marching so much, but seeing all of the children and remembering why I’m really here. I’m not nervous for tomorrow. Maybe I should be, but all I think about is that I can’t believe I’m going to get paid to be around kids and to have fun with them and to teach them to understand me. When I saw the rows of girls wearing their pretty new school dresses and the boys so fidgety that even the harsh voice couldn’t quell their energy and excitement, I felt completely at ease. I’ve decided that the first remedy of culture shock is to engage with children. Children are still innocent of the experiences that separate nations. A child from the United States and a child from China can hash out playground politics and they’ll be holding hands and playing games without being able to verbally communicate before a grown American can figure out how to order dinner. I’m starting to get a glimpse of my life for the next ten months and it is exceedingly pleasing to me. Don’t get me wrong, I know that teaching involves a great deal of energy and patience, but those are the things that I always gain in the presence of children. All I can say is that yesterday, while watching the laughing children of the Wuchang Experimental Primary Branch School, I felt extremely lucky. I’m looking forward to posting this so that when my patience wavers and my energy deteriorates, I can renew myself with these initial sentiments.
Around 3pm yesterday, Lisa and I decided to go on a short adventure to find the main school campus. There are two buses that stop right at the end of our street. One is air-conditioned and costs 2 kuai and the other is not air-conditioned and costs 1 kuai. We took the one with aircon. The bus ride to school is just over 35 minutes during high traffic times (notice I didn’t use the word rush hour because during these times of day, I think it can take up to an hour) and 25 minutes when it is relatively slow. After looking around the main campus, which is installing an adorable statue at the entrance of the five rings of the Olympics made up of twisted colored pencils – I’ll take a photo later – we went to a DVD shop so Lisa could get her first taste of ridiculously cheap pirated movies. Then we went to a salon for “Ganxi he an mo” (Dry wash and massage) and it was better than anything in Shanghai and only 10 kuai! About an hour into our indulgence, Lisa turns to me and sighs, “I love China”. It is experiences like these that help tip the balance back towards happiness. When you’re frustrated and freaked out and tired and worried, there is always sanctuary in a salon. I never thought I’d hear myself saying that.
I want to discuss the hair-straightening process in detail. My hair is thick. My hair is curly. The Chinese don’t know what to do with hair like mine so they straighten it. I was sitting in a chair for an hour. Literally. It took three people to straighten it. By the end, they brought in the professional and he ordered one of the hair washers to stand and hold strands of my hair for him so he could get a rhythm going. Watching his face, I knew for certain that hair is a special medium for him and he takes it as seriously as a sculptor takes a good piece of marble. His brow was furrowed the whole time while the poor hair washer stood staring into space, holding my hair up. Then, the hair washer started staring at my hair and petting it and talking about “Meiguo de toufa” (American hair) and he got really into his job. Two other hair washers came over to stare at my hair close up. There was one hair washer sitting in the chair to my left as Lisa’s hair was finished after 20 minutes of working with it (granted her hair is really short).
When we paid, Lisa and I tried to leave tips, but we were adamantly refused. I cannot imagine how 10 kuai is split up between so many people. There was the guy who washed my hair and gave me the massage, the guy who blow-dried my hair into a giant puffball, the girl who started straightening my hair and the master who finished, not to mention the guy who held my hair up while it was being straightened. All in all, we spent 2.5 hours at the salon. It is right across the street from the school and will be a regular hang out. The benefit, to me, is that I get 2.5 hours to practice my Chinese because the workers are always curious and like to talk.
More teachers have arrived. Tish is back, as well as Matt. Both are from Canada. I’m not sure who is in the fourth apartment on our floor, but so far, the layout is this: Russell and his wife Bing-bing, Colin and Lisa and I on the fourth floor, Angela and Roy from England, Mia from I don’t know where, and Litisha on the third floor, and so far, just Matt on the second floor. Robyn called me today to invite us to go to Club Café tomorrow night. There is a very lonely Canadian teacher at a different school who just arrived and she wants him to meet some people.
I had my meeting with Mr. Ye and he gave me the teacher’s books, the pupil’s books and the activity books for Grades 1 and 2. I have two classes of 1st grade and two classes of 2nd grade every day. English is taught at a different time of day every day so my schedule is all over the place. We aren’t actually teaching tomorrow. It is the first day of school and we will attend an opening ceremony and then meet the children and introduce ourselves. This means I get the weekend to review the books and create my lesson plan for the term. I LOVE IT! I am so excited. Also, I get to give English names to the children in my 1st grade classes. 90 English names. Apparently, the teachers and children encourage names like “eggplant” and “dinner” and “happy” because these suit the children more than random English names like “Arthur” and “Sally” and “Matilda” (although I’d love to have a Matilda in my class!) My 2nd grade classes were Annaick’s students last year. I think she’ll be happy to hear I’m carrying on the torch for her. And so, I’m here to say that even though my Internet connection is bad (and currently non-existent), my life is good!
