The Two Weeks From Hell

Well, things in China haven't exactly proceeded as I had forseen. I have truly been through a trial by fire. I have been teaching for several weeks now, and the vast majority of my students don't understand what I'm saying at all, or can only understand a few words of English. This despite the fact they have been "learning" English for the better part of at least six years. So my educational adventure here is more akin to "Dangerous Minds" than it is "The King and I."

I have been experimenting with different ways of trying to reach out to the kids. My hands are tied by the lack of resources and the number of students.

22 classes per week X 70 students in each class = 1,540 students PER WEEK.

Bear in mind I do this in 45 minute blocks, with only a chalkboard and a microphone that doesn't work half the time. And in China, due to the sheer number of students, the teachers switch classrooms between periods rather than the students, so I spend my day running around the campus between buildings. So no classroom is "mine" and I have no base to work from. There are no copy machines, no printers, no overheads, no projectors, no TVs. This is truly testing my creativity in finding ways to teach all these kids with no resources.

Fortunately discipline isn't much of a problem. Chinese students are MUCH better behaved (on the whole) than Americans, I will give them that. The worst problem I have is talking while I am teaching, but fortunately these kids are usually taken aback so much by a raised voice that they shut right up.

Well, that covers my teaching quandry, now onto the rest of life in the PRC.

I got a horrible cold as soon as I arrived. As usual, I developed a cough that's still lingering. The next week I was told I would have to go to Changsha to have a physical done by a Chinese doctor, because some bureaucrat said she couldn't accept copies of my health documents and that I would have to either have the originals sent from America or redo the health check.

So after a particularly hellish day of teaching, off to Changsha I went, packed into a bus for the three hour drive to Changsha. Once I arrived my guide and I spent nearly two hours trying to find my hotel, the 7 Days Inn. Once I was settled and had had enjoyed my KFC dinner, it was off to bed so I could get up early enough for my physical.

After awaking very early, and not eating breakfast as instructed, my guide Jaclyn took me to the provincial government building where I was to have my exam as planned.

But that was not to be. The doctor/ director took one look at my documents, said I didn't need the physical, signed the papers, and left. All that for nothing.

Jaclyn then took me sightseeing around Changsha. We visited a very beautiful park on Orange Island in the middle of the river. The island lives up to its name, as it is covered in beautiful orange trees, which were loaded with fruit on this particular day. Changsha University is directly across from Orange Island, and Chairman Mao, in his youth, spent a great deal of time here. He wrote a very famous poem that is quite beautiful called "Changsha" about his time there. In his honor, the Chinese government has build a large Mount Rushmore-esque model of his head on the southern tip of the island.

Orange Island was followed by dinner at a Daoist Temple/ Restaurant called the Fire Palace. It lived up to its name, as Hunan cuisine is renowned for its spiciness. Then I was taken on a quick tour of the downtown shopping and bar district. Unfortunately, something I ate disagreed with me horribly and I discovered to my horror that Chinese drugstores, while looking modern with people in lab coats and medicines in professionally printed boxes, only sell Chinese herbal and traditional medicine. No Dramamine, Immodium, Pepto Bismol to be found. Not even ginger ale. Let me delicately say powdered dung beetle was not going to cut it in this instance.

It was in this sorry state that I was put back on the bus to Shaoyang. An hour into the ride I became a little concerned because we had been driving and driving but were still in Changsha. About this time, we stopped and about 50 differently-odored peasants crowded onto the bus. It was clear they were not paying for this ride, and they knew the driver, so I'm assuming he was helping his fellow villagers out by giving them a lift into town to sell their wares.

Once the local yokels were safely aboard, we were off again. The Bus of the Damned, next stop: Shaoyang.

 Unfortnately, much like my first trip to this town, the bus did not stop at the bus station. They didn't even stop IN Shaoyang. The bus stopped on the western edge of town FAR, FAR AWAY from any area I recognized. I was then strongly encouraged to de-bus. I was somewhat confused by this, but having my person and belongings forcibly ejected from the vehicle made their point pretty clear.

So there I was, left alone on the side of the road yet again. Fortunately there were cabs available, but the driver didn't even recognize the name of the school. The Chinese girl I had been next to on the bus, also forced off the bus, took pity on me and explained it to the cab driver, as my broken Chinese was quite obviously not working. After a 30 MINUTE cab ride from the far side of town, I finally got dropped off at San Zhong (the name of my school). I was promptly met by Flora, for all intents and purposes my "supervisor." She promptly scolded me for - wait for it - making her wait at the bus station for an hour.

I then vigorously expressed my displeasure at her attitude and illustrated the nature of the plight that I had just been through. Somehow I don't think she really understands what I had been through. I then signalled that the audience was at an end, and left my paperwork with her. I climbed the hill to the school, and then the steep steps up to my building and then the flight of stairs up to the apartment. I was finally home, seconds away from refuge. Keys in the door. Turn the lock. Home. And this was when I promptly vomited.

The rest of the night is a blur, wrapped up in blankets shivering with chills, feverish, and generally not feeling too well.

The week that followed was fairly uneventful. I'm feeling better, thankfully. The main problem being I still have my cough. As a matter of fact, I'm getting ready to go to the doctor right now to see what can be done about it. My understanding is that if I at least go to the hospital I may be able to get some Western medicine. Today would be a great day for codene. Thankfully health care is much cheaper here than in America. 300 RMB to see the doctor (roughly about 60 bucks). I can't testify as to its effectiveness as yet... only time will tell.

I still haven't formed my opinion yet. I can't lie, and I can't sugar coat it. The last two weeks have been miserable. There's no way around that.

But I'm just trying to hold out until Winter Break starts on January 14th. I get a paid month off and will get to do some travelling. When break is over, I get a brand new apartment all to myself. It's not on school grounds like the current one, but it's literally right over the fence. If I can just make it to Winter Break and have some time to decompress and adapt more, I'm hoping things will start looking up again.