Runnin' The Great Wall (Education Edition)

Navigating Runnin' The Great Wall's Education Edition

2009-08-31T16:49:00.010-04:00

Welcome!

If this is your first visit to Runnin' The Great Wall's Education Edition, allow me to provide you with some simple tips and insights for maximizing the enjoyment of your journey.

To the direct right of this post are the selected, archived entries beginning in June 2007 and continuing to May 2009. If you simply scroll down, you will view these entries beginning with the most recently published. I recommend starting in the beginning (June 2007; when I was completely naive to the intricate workings of the Chinese education system) and follow the development of my ideas, opinions, and experiences as the months and lessons pass by.
Also on the right side of this page are some of the Quick Links to various media articles written during my Peace Corps service, as well as a link to my YouTube channel with dozens of educational (and extremely embarrassing) videos shot during my final year in China.
Again, I would like to remind you that this Education Edition is only a small taste of the exciting adventures documented on my Runnin' The Great Wall blog. If you are interested in more tales of American Phil in the Middle Kingdom, check out the original blog for everything from Chinese language translations to exotic culinary delicacies.
As always, I am easy to contact with any further questions concerning my experience. E-mail is best: philiprazem@gmail.com
Last but not least, if you are a potential employer and like what you see, have any constructive criticism, or would like a resume, I appreciate any and all insights and would be happy to provide one for you.

Thanks for visiting Runnin' The Great Wall's Education Edition!

Sincerely,

Phil Razem

The end is near...

2009-05-14T05:10:00.003-04:00

你们好:
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The end is near. I am reminded of this by Dustin's last few posts.
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Sarah, a PCV from Gansu Province, is putting together a PCC"13" e-yearbook and sent out a list of questions for us to answer (in as few words as possible) in regards to our experience. Here are a few highlights from my contribution:

1. Favorite moment with your students: Tuesday mornings, 9:30am, Shakespeare class
3. Most useful/interesting Chinese word/phrase you learned: ren 忍
6. Something you still don't understand about China after two years: The popularity and advocacy of the saying: 稳定压倒一切 "THE OVERRIDING NEED IS FOR STABILITY"
7. The thing you'll miss most about China: My students, without a doubt.

8. The thing you'll miss least about China: Open-air sneezes on the bus, without a doubt. And the everyday blind faith in the Chinese Communist Party.
9. Best place you traveled to in China: Beibei, Chongqing, my site.
10. Best Teaching Moment: “I've never thought about that before,” said the student.
11. The thing you're most thankful you brought to China with you: My individualism (个性自由gèxìngzìyóu)
14. Your Greatest Moment At Site: anytime I was hanging out with my two amazing sitemates
15. Your Most Embarrassing Moment At Site: anytime I was hanging out with my two amazing sitemates
18. The thing you missed the most from home: Family, friends, the Buffalo Bills, and the infinitely beautiful game of baseball.
20. Most Disappointing Moment In China: Hearing about my students' indescribable daily hardships during the day and then running alongside BMWs at night.
22. Funniest Moment: Not having any toilet paper in the school's public bathroom, but having a bag full of my students' poems. 哈哈-非常抱歉！
24. Something you'll miss about the Peace Corps: Being in a room full of Americans just as idealistic, confused, and crazy as me.
25. Favorite dish: Pete's Texas Whopper
28. Favorite[/funny] quote you've heard in China: 建立和谐社会 "To build a harmonious society"
29. Number Of Illnesses/Medications Taken: 0 (seriously!)
30. Chinese cultural practices I plan to make cool back in the States: Ping Pong, Hot Pot, Pirated DVDs (shhh!), and open-air sneezes on my neighbor's face.

The end is near...

I love and miss you all,

Phil

蓝麦飞

For Teachers, PCVs, and Students in China (past, present, and future)

2009-05-09T22:36:00.000-04:00

你们好!

When I am not teaching or "China exploring," I find myself doing quite a bit of research on the Internet concerning "China" and "Education." As a Western-educated teacher living and teaching in China, there aren't subjects more relevant to me than those of "China" and "Education," but surprisingly, as intense the Internet and Blogosphere is, not as many articles are written about "Chinese Education" in the English language as one might expect.

So, when I come across an article that moves me, I feel I must share it with those who read this blog, many whom were, are, or will be teachers/PCVs in China. Here is the article from the LATimes:

Click!

My favorite excerpt:

Ultimately for China, becoming a major world innovator -- and by extension, a robust economic power -- is not just about setting up partnerships with top Western universities or roping off elites and telling them to think creatively. It's about establishing an intellectually rich learning environment for young minds. It's about harnessing the same inventive energy of the street markets and small-time entrepreneurs and putting it in the schools.

The Chinese don't need expensive free-agent scientists. They need a new farm system -- and about 10 million liberal arts professors. (Source)

I guess as my China days diminish, I will begin retrospecting the lessons I've learned from my two years abroad. One of those lessons - one that I know I would have not understood unless I lived in a country like China, and taught within an education system such as that of China - is how important a liberal arts education is, and how happy I am that I received this type of education at SUNY Fredonia. My Chinese university students are bombarded with English-language grammar and translation, but get very little philosophy, real, complete literature, science, and most importantly, the arts. So much emphasis is placed on passing the test, acquiring that little sheet of paper, and getting a job to make money teaching or doing business/research with the same trite methodologies that something is lost, or forgotten in the shuffle. Defendants of this system can't drop the "Well, China is a developing country with thick traditional roots" or "We have a large population and need to maintain stability" bomb for very much longer. If China should happen to stop growing someday, I think I can take a guess [right now!] as to why it happens. China can pirate the West's Hollywood movies all they want, but they can't pirate the a liberal-arts-educated person's original thoughts. Let the Chinese education system evolve! Listen to Liu DaoYu!

And while we're at it, let's let that political system evolve too! They are linked!

I love and miss you all,

Phil

蓝麦飞

Introducing...

2009-05-01T10:38:00.000-04:00

Peace Corps China "13"

July 1, 2007 - (approx.) July 17, 2009

I love and miss you all,

Phil

Site-Exchange in Guiyang, Giuzhou University

2009-04-20T14:56:00.000-04:00

你们好!
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This past January at PC China's IST conference, PCV "13" Dave (California) asked me if I might be interested in traveling down to his school - Guizhou University 贵州大学 - for a PC-sponsored site-exchange in order to help facilitate the introductory stages of a student production of Shakespeare's Hamlet.
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"Of course!"
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Timing could not have been better. I had just finished teaching Hamlet to my post-graduate English Literature majors last week, so the play was (and always is) fresh in my mind. Sitemate Kristen decided to travel down to Guiyang, capital of Guizhou province (about 5 hours by bus), with me to visit some "14's" and help Dave celebrate his 27th birthday (生日快乐, 哥哥!). We arrived on Friday evening, met up with PCVs Todd, Jess, and Lisa, and enjoyed cheap beer, many laughs, browsed Guiyang's pirated movie scene, and devoured the local Guiyang delicacy: Bean Hot Pot. All this before the next day's Hamlet-facilitation marathon.
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I received the (only slightly) abridged 55-page script from Dave about a week before I arrived at Guizhou University, and my first thought was, "Wow, Dave's students must be English-language machines." Dave originally told me that his students were to put on a Shakespeare play for a competition in Hong Kong, but when I asked them for the details, I was both amazed and impressed that almost none of them alluded to this competition, but simply said they wanted to "challenge" themselves. And after spending the next 6 hours with these students (YES! 6 hours, with one 5-minute break and a 2-language rendition of "Happy Birthday" to Dave), guiding them through the motions but more importantly, helping each actor find his or her own dramatic identity, we finished strong with Act V's "bloodbath!" I don't know if I will ever see the final line of Hamlet read, followed by an uproar of laughter, again! 哈哈!

I regret not recording more of our productive afternoon; all the actors were so good, especially Hamlet (English name, Nemo, red shirt), who has so many lines to memorize...in his second language! This feat, sophomore undergraduates performing original English-language Shakespeare in China, combined with my infinite struggle to read, write, and speak in Chinese, boggles the mind. All in all, I drank about 4 bottles of water, peed twice, and at one point - around hour #5: "the gravedigger scene" - thought I was going to pass out (and die? - how appropriate!).
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I wrote Dave an e-mail this afternoon, thanking him for inviting me to participate in this incredibly rewarding experience. I told him that as this crazy 2-year performance continues its final act, I try to make every day in China special, and this past Saturday, with his amazingly motivated students and Billy Shaky's Emo King, I felt like I really helped some students not only understand Shakespeare, but feel it too. The pleasure was all mine.
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I love and miss you all,
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Phil
蓝麦飞

Concrete Poems, Debate Contests, Anticipated Video Blog Explosions...

2009-04-13T23:27:00.000-04:00

你们好!

It's been about 2 weeks now since the CCP decided to shut down Youtube.com in mainland China. I've had many conversations with students about this move, and though many wish Youtube was alive and thriving in China (the website is a window into the outside world, educational resource, freethinking portal, and helped ME become Time's Person of the Year a few years back), a surprisingly high number justified the block with the trite, Party-line "If China is to respect the world, then the world must first respect China." I always ask these students to consider the vice-versa of this indoctrinated statement, which among many of their defenses include the assumption that I "can't possibly understand" because "I don't understand Chinese culture and tradition" (Are both Chinese culture and tradition advocates of government oppression? I hope not!) and their repetitive stating of the Chinese saying "稳定压倒一切 wěndìng yādǎo yī qie" which translates to "Stability is of overriding importance." Their rhetoric, which is repeated over and over again in (antithesis-longing) Op-Eds throughout the Chinese state-controlled media, scares the bejeebes outta me, especially how it comes out of their brains so fast and definite and with no flexibility, as if they were trained to "block, block block" incoming fists of criticism. To those who educate young, creative people this way - reminiscent of GWB's "You are with us or you are a terrorist" quotation - I say, "Join the real Party." There is a wealth of Truth out there that no government should "protect" you from. To quote Dr. Seuss: "Oh, the places you'll go..."

But the inflexible, iron fist of the Chinese Communist Party will not defeat Phil Razem. The Youtube block never discouraged me from pulling out my video camera (摄像机shèxiàngji) and recording my experience as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Middle Kingdom. This evening I will meet my younger sister on Skype, and send a fresh batch of videos to her in Canada for uploading. Check the Youtube page (link on the right-side column) in the coming days! If only the CCP knew of the inconveniences they cause a foreigner who only desires to bring his experiences with beautiful (real, 1st-hand) Chinese culture to the people around the world...

(Update! www.youtube.com/philiprazeminchina )

On the topic of freethinking, Kristen and I were among the judges of a debate contest on Thursday evening. I really enjoy judging debate compared to the endless speech contests. Debate, which I will teach my students after they finish their TEM-4 exam, is a combination of strategy, logic, creativity, critical thinking, and drama - the latter three I try to incorporate into my classes every meeting. The students impressed me, and without writing you a novel, the most interesting part for me was how Chinese Generation Y'ers are willing to say the things their parents generation would never say loud (and proud!) into a microphone, i.e. "The 1-child policy is a miserable law, and the government should change it at once!" Bravo! They are my Chinese optimism...

My students composed Concrete (visual) Poems for homework last week, and like the Adaptation Poems from the week before, I took pictures of my favorite examples. Concrete Poems are poems that use words and lines of poetry to create an image that represents the subject, tone, mood, or theme of the poem.

Read all of my favorites! (click!)

Here are a few of my favorites:

If you need proof of (sometimes strange/excessive) Chinese nationalism from the 90's generation, this would do (larger print on the Flickr page link above:
And my favorite, because nothing says poetry that a steaming pile of SH*T! Don't ever let someone stop you from expressing yourself. In our dreams and creations, we are truly free...

I love and miss you all,

Phil

蓝麦飞

English Composition class connects students with Chinese counterparts (SUNY Fredonia Campus News)

2009-04-07T00:45:00.000-04:00

你们好!
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Before I became a Peace Corps Volunteer in China, I taught English Composition as a graduate student to mostly freshmen and sophomores at SUNY Fredonia. It was a wonderful experience. Besides facilitating a university-level writing class, I was given the opportunity to closely interact with the Department of English's amazing faculty. As an undergraduate, these professors were my heroes (they still are!), and then suddenly, I was able to sit next to them in department meetings, like a kid who comes of age watching the Red Sox, and then one day being drafted and hitting a home run over the Green Monster. One of these "heroes" was Bill Boerst, a fellow ENGL100 instructor and former Peace Corps Volunteer (Liberia III, 1963-65).
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Bill and I started talking about doing a project with our university students about a year ago. Just this Spring Festival, the idea took shape and BAM!, before we knew it, 15 of his students and 15 of mine were communicating through e-mail, sharing stories, asking questions, and most importantly, improving their English-language/writing skills. The SUNY Fredonia Campus Report did a story on it: (click or below)
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English Composition class connects students with Chinese counterparts
Monday, April 06, 2009

Fourteen students in an English Composition class at SUNY Fredonia have stumbled upon an opportunity to not only interact with students seated across the classroom — they're getting to know some from across globe as well.

Phil Razem, a former SUNY Fredonia graduate student now teaching English to college students in the People’s Republic of China, enjoyed sharing his experiences with friends and family back home in Western New York so much that he decided to find a way to incorporate it into his classroom.

While corresponding with SUNY Fredonia English professor Bill Boerst, they decided to create a similar experience for their students by developing a modern day pen pal element to one of their courses. Their students have volunteered to become "e-mail pals," corresponding regularly with each other to learn about one another's lives and cultures. So far, indications show that both sides are truly enjoying and benefiting from the experience.

Melissa Cummiskey, a freshman at SUNY Fredonia, said of her exchange, "I really enjoy learning about my e-mail pal's college experiences, family, friends, and the events that are happening in her life."

"America, to many Chinese (citizens), remains a place that only exists in their history books and through Hollywood movies," said Professor Razem. "This experience will help them gain a better understanding of our country and, likewise, help young Americans gain a better understanding of the future of China."

By the end of the semester, Fredonia students will hand-in what Professor Boerst calls "cycles" of emails: five printed pages each of e-mails from the U.S. students to their Chinese counterparts, as well as return correspondences from their e-mail pal.

"The opportunity to chat with a real American is worth a lifetime of 'A's,' Razem asserted. Not only are the students learning about the other culture, there are some practical English lessons in it as well. One of those is the concept of understanding one's audience. "English teachers love to talk in terms of audience," Professor Boerst said. "For whom are you writing? And how can you best reach that audience?" He says that, for these students, an audience is built into the project.

Both professors hope that this exchange will be a lesson not easily forgotten. These days it is common to make light of texting, instant-messaging, and e-mailing, as if such pursuits lack depth," Boerst added. "For these students, bridging miles and languages and customs may be a way to change that popular perception."

To learn more about Professor Razem's experiences in China go to the blog at www.philiprazeminchina.blogspot.com.
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I can't wait to read these "cycles" of e-mails! "Professor" Razem sounds nice too....it only it was true! Someday...
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Tearin' down the wall and buildin' the bridge!
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Bill deserves all the credit; it was his idea, and without his students' participation, 15 Chinese university students would still only have Hollywood...and their lowly Peace Corps Volunteer teacher (wink). Thanks Bill! And Thank you SUNY Fredonia!
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I love and miss you all,
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Phil
蓝麦飞

The Chinese University Adaptation Poem

2009-03-27T09:49:00.000-04:00

你们好!
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Hearts, Love, Longing for that special someone, and a few more Hearts for good luck...
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As my students prepare for their grueling and, in my opinion, extremely silly TEM-4 (Test of English majors) Exam (today I had a student ask me the difference between "assume" and "presume" - do you know?), I have been trying to provide a creative, non-grammar-related learning environment where they can freely express themselves without thinking about whether the better answer is A or B. Poetry to the rescue...
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The Adaptation Poem is simple, yet requires students to a) work together, b) use what they already have, and c) joint the pieces together with their own homemade glue (metaphor) to ultimately create some new kind of flying machine. Think back to Ron Howard/Tom Hanks' Apollo 13 where the NASA crew had to take supplies already on the space craft and make a contraption that filters CO2 - duct tape here and there, a tube sock, a piece of wire wrapped around there, and WHA-LA! An Adaptation Poem!

I gave the students a list of famous/infamous lines from poetry and/or music (below) and they must write a 10-line poem alternating the list's lines with the original lines:

My heart is as dry as dust.
For God's sake hold your tongue, and let me love!
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
The answer is blowin' in the wind.
There are daggers in men's smiles.
My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard. (many questions about this one)
I'm bringing SEXY back!
Welcome to the jungle, we've got fun and games.
And my heart will go on...
Girls! Girls! Girls!
This is the first day of my life...
Will I wake tomorrow, from this nightmare?
I woke up this morning, I suddenly realized, we're all in this together.
We didn't start the fire!
For the times, they are a-changin'!
I am the walrus!
I am going to stay 18 forever...

I gave the students about 30 minutes to write and decorate their poems, and then they presented them in front of the class. I took pictures of all 25 poems so you can see and read them all HERE. Many laughs were had. It's lovely to observe how free-thinking minds can start with the same exact things, tinker with them, and then finish with completely different inventions...

But are they different?

I think it would be interesting for a sociologist to examine my students' poems; about 80% of them seem to have the same subject matter: LOVE, whether it is lost, gained, wanted, or completely missing. Not even "love for one's country," or love for anything other than intimate human relationships. Even the poems about "growing up" and "being positive and optimistic" were about love being the missing piece of the life pie. I counted nearly 100 heart decorations before I gave up, hearted out!. I have many hypothesises for this subject choice, and I am sure if you are a Westerner teaching in China and are familiar with the (unscientific) effects of the College Entrance Exam (GaoKao) on Chinese social adolescent development, then you can put 1 and 1 together.

But some poems really impressed me! I read a few that were about real issues: war, political activism (sort of), and narrative in nature. One of my favorites - just because the group didn't know what a walrus was until I drew a rough sketch for them, used the famous Beatles' line and changed it into a poem about animal rights (again, sort of). You gotta love the bloody cross in the bottom corner:

Poetry is grand...

I love and miss you all,

Phil

蓝麦飞

P.s. Sitemate Kristen is a Mexican Chef! 很好吃!

The 6-word Memoir (Expanded!)

2009-03-19T22:23:00.000-04:00

你们好!
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I've written about my experiences using 6-word memoirs in the Chinese University Classroom approx. 1 year ago, and due to their overwhelming success then, I thought I should expand the lesson this semester for my English major students. Last week I gave my students the homework of writing one six-word memoir followed by a short paragraph explaining the "story" behind their 6 words.
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Read all my students' 6-word memoirs!
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My favorites:

Rock, Rock, Rock, Keep on Rockin'!
I once was so much naughty!
Grammar and Vocabulary make me down!
No absolute fairness in this world
Try to remember, try to forget
Friends hurt me, friends save me
The stereotype sucks, the rationalism rocks!
East or West, home is best
What am I going to do?
Like a fish, but couldn't swim
I will be my own boss!
So lucky to be with you
Got the flu, lost in school
I never feel alone, thank you
Mum and I planted the tree
I WANT TO BE WITH YOU!
My life seems like a ladder
Love me or hate me. Choose.
No one knew. But I did. --- my favorite...

After we looked at a blackboard full of summarized experiences, picked our favorites and explained why they "stirred our soul," students got into 5 groups and I asked them to work together to write one 6-word memoir for each of 5 "famous" persons from history (pictures taped to the front board; see above pictures link). I tried to select a mixture of Chinese and Americans, from both the past and modern society, the last person being the "most intelligent, good-looking, and overall coolest person of the five pictured." Here are some of their responses, concluding with the 6-word memoirs/autobiographies I wrote for each of these world-renowned figures (Bolded):

George Washington:

First President of the United States

He chopped down a cherry tree

I really like your hair style

Where would America be without him?

Brave hero, but he approved of slavery

Mao ZeDong:

No Chairmen Mao, No new China! (insert smiling, clapping students here)

He swam across the Yangtze River

He made life easy and hard

Sometimes the hero can't resist temptation

Where would China be without him? (Good Question!)

A "foreign teacher" is an oxymoron (homework was to understand this)

Bill Gates:

Money Money Money Money Money Money!

Hundreds, Thousands, Millions, Billions, Trillions, WOW!

Gained from others, gave to others

You can't take it with you

Liu Xiang: (2004 Olympic gold-medalist who was injured for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, inspiring many Chinese tears)

Proving Chinese can run fast too

Run, Jump, Run, Jump, Run, Jump

Will come back stronger and faster

Love him or hate him? Decide.

Disappointed? What if he won silver?

Philip Razem:

Phil: 桃花朵朵开 táohuā duǒ duǒ kāi (Phil: You cause the peach flowers to blossom)

Being handsome is not your fault (Trust me, I know!)

I love you! Yes! Me too! (I love you too!)

A bridge to a different world

All I want is the truth!

This activity, of course, was designed to exercise students' creative skills, as well as think critically at a life and note its successes and failures ("Remember: No one is perfect"). The most interesting answers were groups' 6-word memoirs of Mao; when I put his picture on the front board, many students in the class clapped and got physically excited (wiggling in their desks) when it was him I chose from Chinese history. Some groups, as listed above, had only good things to say, but others acknowledged the many (many!) faults of Mao in their 6 words. If a class from, well, any country outside of China was asked to write this summarized moment of Mao, I am sure a very, very large percentage of them would use words like "murderer" and "evil" and "failure" etc. But the question is: How many American students would acknowledge Washington's (many!) faults like I did above?

Final note: A student in my last class came up to me and asked, "Why didn't you select any women?" I had no good answer, and for that, I apologize.

PCVs! Do this with your class! and check out http://www.postsecret.com/ for inspiration. "We are more similar than different."

I love and miss you all,

Phil

蓝麦飞

Introducing Zappa! "For BRAIN POWER!" and Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery"

2009-03-06T01:19:00.000-05:00

你们好!

Introducing Zappa!

"For BRAIN POWER!" "Zappa! is an all natural supplement that stimulates brain activity. Popular with American university students during Finals Week, it can be taken directly or mixed with the beverage of your choosing. Tasteless and odorless, it aids memory, recollection, and mental alertness!"

Now before you start thinking I am trying to sell homemade heroin on the blog, hear me out! At the end of last semester, I gave my students a take-home "final exam": Shirley Jackson's 1948 short story, "The Lottery" (click if you haven't read it) and asked them to write a simple 1-2 page composition detailing their reaction to the story's "ridiculous" (the most popular adjective in their essays) ending and how the story was relevant to personal experiences from their own lives. I gave the assignment and said nothing more. All Spring Festival, I read hundreds of these essays, collected interesting quotations from a select few, and just this past week addressed the story/assignment to the class. But before that....

I want to thank my lovely mother, who sent me a huge crate of Zappa! in the mail. I chopped it up into small cubes and passed out tissues to all my students. I used a pair of Peace Corps-issued tweezers to disperse the Zappa!, because every American college student knows you can't touch Zappa! with your bare hands or the active chemical in it would be compromised. As I carefully placed the fragile cube on their tissues, some of their faces moved curiously close to the Zappa! and gave it a really hard look. I gave myself a cube and, after raising my tissue, stuck the tip of my tongue onto the small cube and pulled it into my mouth, chewing quickly and then swallowing. The class followed.

The class quickly started, we did our speaking/thinking exercises, and after a 10 minute break, we started talking about "The Lottery" and the things they said in their essays (NOTE: If you want the handout with the complete quotations, send me an e-mail). Here are a few of my favorite quotations:

"Today, we still follow like sheep. When seeing a report in the newspaper, we believe it without thinking; when knowing a piece of news from the TV, we accept it; when hearing an inflammatory speech, we respect it. But is it true? Is there something phony? Is there a stereotype which puzzled our right decision?...Because of conformism (conformity), we lose our creation; because of conformism, we stops thinking, because of conformism, we human being degenerate to animals"
"We cannot tolerate to see the situation in Tibet worsen like in DRC, not let Taiwan be independent as Kosovo, not have an election like America does. We hold different history, different culture and different backgrounds. The tree that bear fruits in the outsider are unquestionably cannot always grow well on the soil of China"
"Sometimes opposition is not enough. Last year, almost all the students in our major asked the school to change a better dormitory for us, or at least gave us a shower. We wrote a letter to school and we all signed our name on it. But our school didn’t take any action, and in other words, our school just ignored our request. Though we felt very angry about it, we can do nothing. Perhaps we need to adapt ourselves to our environment."

And a quotation that received many laughs and nodding heads:

"It seems that people can only be happy when they see others unhappy. I have to admit that I have also had this kind of feeling. My friend ____'s boyfriend is gorgeous and they look very happy. I really envy them. Once ____ had a quarrel with her boyfriend and cried in front of me. I felt sorry for her and tried to comfort her. I could feel the smile inside my heart. That was true. I could feel it and even hear it."

We talked about these quotations; some students said some really interesting things that I believe aren't normally shared in a Chinese university classroom (setting aside tradition for modernism, wanting a say in political affairs, etc.) but there was still many who regurgitated the Party line: "The West should stay out of our affairs. The monks in Tibet like their hard life - it's part of their culture." The Peace Corps and SWU told me when I arrived that I shouldn't talk about the "Three T's" (Taiwan, Tibet, and 19_89 Tian_an_m_en - the last still being too controversial to discuss in a classroom) but I slowly start to see I don't need to bring them up in class - the students make connections themselves. That is wonderful.

And finally, in the last 5 minutes of class, I ask the students where their Zappa! is, and ask them why they ate it. "You did it!" they yelled. The week before, I gave everyone a fortune cookie my mother had actually mailed from home. They were primed for receiving presents. "Guess what? Zappa! doesn't exist...I made it up. It's poison - (Phil looks at his watch) - you have 5 minutes to live." The class sits back quickly and stares at me with a mixture of curiosity, catharsis, and pure fear. "Just kiddin'" I say.

"What how many things are like Zappa! in your life? How many things do you just accept and put into your body or mind without thinking and asking yourself, 'Wait a minute! What?!' What is your Zappa!?"

Heads nod, small smiles, working brains.

Of course, maybe they will never trust me again. But I would rather have them not trust me than compliantly swallow without first thinking if they should put something or idea in their mouths/minds. "Never forget Zappa!" I tell them before the bell rings.

What's your Zappa!?

I love and miss you all,

Phil

蓝麦飞

References:

Lu Xun's "The Medicine"
Zappa! is just Chinese snack food called 禄豆糕 I bought in Guangxi Province. Hard Bean Cake. 不好吃!

The First Week

2009-02-28T01:14:00.000-05:00

你们好!
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The first week is done and on the record. I thought it went pretty successful. During the winter break, my students have been in their hometowns for 2 straight months with very little English-language exposure, so the mission of Week 1 was to "pull them" (Insert image of me pulling an invisible rope in front of the room) back to the world of English I try to create during our 90 minutes together each week. The below image is our theme this semester - the students fired off their interpretations! What do you think our goals are this Spring? If you read this blog regularly, you already know that there are two pinnacle skills I feel obligated to facilitate for my Chinese university students (taken from my Spring 2009 Syllabus):

Creativity – See the world around you in new and innovative ways. Use what you know and have and invent and transform! Be unique and original! Search and find life in everything！Don't be afraid to be different! It might be uncomfortable at first...maybe seem foolish - But it's not foolish at all! It's invention!
Critical Thinking – The empowerment of inquiry, or the power a person feels when he or she has the ability to reflect and search for the Truth ("capital 'T'"). How do I feel about something? Why do I feel this way? How and why do others feel differently than me?

Both of these skills are neglected by the Chinese Education System and students are almost never exposed to any classroom pedagogy that utilizes either. Since the students have a dreaded country-wide exam (TEM-4) next month, I've decided to focus most of the first 6 weeks around the first skill - creativity - and have them a) write poetry and b) perform various learning techniques that use a discipline very close to my heart: "Dramatic Pedagogy" or "Enactment". Enactment is, quite simply, creating situations in which we "imagine to learn" (Wilhelm and Edmiston, 1998). Let's take a look at two popular first class activities from this past week.

The Stick:

"What is this? A stick, yes. But tell me more! What do you see? Bamboo, yes, it is bamboo. But do you think it could be something more than just a bamboo stick? Let's look at it for 5 seconds. What could this stick be? Create! Create Create!"

"Yes! A javelin! Yes! A flute! A Harry Potter broomstick! A calligraphy brush! A stick of sugar cane...Delicious! A pole vault! A telescope! Gimme more!"

The Paper Platform:

"Okay, get into groups of 5 people. Here is your platform. Your mission is to see how many people from your group you can get off the cement ground and onto the piece of paper in front of you. Start slow! 1 at a time! Ready...Go!"

Both activities produced some interesting answers and performances. After both, the students understood or began to understand why both are relative in the classroom and most importantly, in their lives as active learners and planners. They began to recognize each other's strengths (girls with high-heels had an advantage on the platform; boys with muscles could carry each other/smaller girls) and weaknesses (trying to have everyone start on the platform and then try to balance) and compared this collective cooperation activity with the previous "Stick" activity which dealt with individualized creative expression. All in all, the students did a great job...

The very lovely Mother Razem sent me a box of Chinese fortune cookies over Spring Festival (Chinese restaurants in China don't give customers fortune cookies after the meal, much to the sadness of first day tourists in China, and a custom completely unknown to my students) so I handed these treats out and asked them to read each other their "fortunes". Some did not understand their pieces of wisdom so I tried my best to explain. May favorite fortune of the week:
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"All the water in the world can't sink a ship unless it gets inside"

"Who is the ship? What is the water?" A lesson everyone, indiscriminate of country or culture, can learn from...

I love and miss you all,

Phil

蓝麦飞

E-mails from Students

2009-02-19T02:17:00.000-05:00

你们好!
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As I mentioned a few blog posts ago, I gave my students one simple assignments for their long, nearly 2 month Spring Festival break from classes: write me 1 e-mail, updating me on their lives away from our classroom. Classes start this Monday - I have been planning non-stop for the 48 hours or so - and, better late than never, my mailbox is being flooded with 20-30 e-mails/day from students who, in some cases, haven't been in front of a computer in weeks because they either lived with their grandparents during the break or their home doesn't have/can't afford Internet access. I reply (or at least try to reply) to everyone (some students forget that I don't necessarily read Chinese too well), usually with a short and sweet message of thankfulness that he or she survived all the fireworks that were inevitably being set off all around his or her limbs and face (Yikes!).
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Many of the 150+ e-mails are the same: students talk about the delicious foods they ate, the friends from high school they were able to see again, the endless games of Mahjong, and in some cases, meeting their very own Mr. or Miss Right. However, there were some highlights. I picked 3-4 e-mails - no names mentioned - that stuck out from the bunch with humorous and/or sentimental anecdotes (pasted as original e-mail).
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The first is from a student who desired to improve his or her spoken French during the break (yes, my students have a 2nd foreign language as well!). I thought this e-mail was great because he or she described a scene that can me found in every 21st century classroom, indiscriminate of country or student - the diligent juxtaposed with the straight-up lazy:
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There were two [people] in the training class who left me a great impression. One is a middle-aged man.He has to learn French because he is going to imgrant to Qubec,Canada.Maybe because he was not in the time of study any more, he couldn't understand the classes very well. Sometimes he raised some questions that was stupid enough to throw the class into laughter. But he did not lose heart. He was the last one to leave the classroom in the evening. He was not ashamed of his innocence and continued to ask questions. I got moved. There was also a girl who impressed me . It was her third time to take this training class because every time she took this class, she spent most of her time playing around and learnt nothing when the class was over. She came from an extremely rich family and she lived extravagantly. She told us she bought a new cellphone every year for the simple reason that she would get tired if she used one cellphone for more than a year.She was wearing heavy make-up and seldom attended class in time.I don't like her.

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My reply: "I don't like her either."
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Another student sent a long e-mail about his family's Spring Festival and then concluded it with a short, 3-sentence-long story with a few pictures that could have filled pages:
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Let me share one of my interesting experiences on the mountain with you. One day, when we were playing games on the mountain, I found that my uncle's dog was missing. We searched for a long time but it didn't appear. When we were about to leave, the dog appeared, it jumped up and down and threw an object to us. Guess what? It was a big hare! Oh my god! Our dog caught a giant hare which weighted 5 pounds! That night, we cooked that hare, the meat was very very delicious!

.

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I laughed, partly because of the "coming-out-of-nowhere" last sentence and remembering a much younger Tootsie (The Razem Family's daschund) bringing dead baby rabbits into the house...and moreover, onto my parents' bed in the middle of the night. Why didn't we cook all those "hares" up, Mom and Dad? Delicious!
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Lastly, a sentimental message I just want to remember, or rather, post to remind myself of the the real reason I am here in China - to help. My students may not know it, but they are one of the only reasons I have morally-survived China for almost two years. They are my rock...and without even knowing it, their country's rock:
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Dear Phil, honestly speaking, you are the teather I like and respect most among all the teachers who teach me in my college. That't neither because you are the only foreigner who teach me nor you are a handsome man, more important, you teach us with your heart and soul! I like your creative teaching style(that's also the reason why I didn't miss even a lesson last semester). Your class is full of passion and enthusiasm, and the final aim you teach us is to develop our creativity, which is not only useful for ourselves but also for the fate of our whole country! In your lesson, you give us couragement as much as you can, you make us see the hopes of our English study. I know my English is very poor, however, you give me 90 point in last semester, which is the highest grade I have got in college so far. Thanks a lot! It's you who give me enough motive to study and practise hader and harder, to gain more and more progress in the next semester. I know that next semester wiil be the last semester you teach in China. All my classmates are very sad about this. We like you at the bottom of our hearts, however, we can understand you have your own dream to persue, you have your own country to come back. Just fly as you like! we are for you forever!
Last but not the least,I have three wishes to you:first, I wish you had a promising future;second, I wish you don't forget us--your chinese sincere friends forever;last, I wish you can consider china to be your family, your home. Don't forget me! don't forget China! Yours, ________
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How could I forget?
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I love and miss you all,
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Phil
蓝麦飞

Those signs around campus...

2009-01-24T02:26:00.000-05:00

你们好!

All over Southwest University's campus, glaring poster boards display large messages and quotations for the student passersby. I have walked by these posters for 19 months and haven't given them a second look until today. I figured I should randomly pick one, snap a picture (below) and translate, character-by-character. Let's take a look:

改革开放是决定当代中国命运的关键抉择，是发展中国特色社会主义，实现中华民族伟大复兴的必由之路 (gǎigékāifàng shì juédìng dāngdàizhōngguó mìngyùn de guānjiàn juézé, shì fāzhǎnzhōngguó tèsèshèhuìzhǔyì, shíxiàn zhōnghuámínzú wěidà fùxīng de bìyóuzhīlù)

What the heck does this say?

It took me about 30 minutes of plugging each individual character into my electronic dictionary, resulting in a mess of words and ideas that needed to "Englishified." I thought it would take me hours to make sense of it...until I did two simple things. First, I was having a problem transferring the 4th-last character into my dictionary, which is 必 bì, but, at least to me, doesn't at all like the character in the picture. I text messaged a few students, giving them the characters before and after this "bì" character hoping them could fill in the blank. To my surprise, they all knew it, and one even sent me the entire quotation from his memory. This got me thinkin'. So, I copy and pasted the Chinese characters into Google and found this article, entitled "Reform & opening up is vital to the destiny of China." Surprised once again, I found the exact text within the Chinese translation at the bottom of the article. To quote this (extremely boring, plagiarized, Chinese Communist Party-line) article, the sign above can be translated as:

"The decision to begin reform and opening up is vital to the destiny of contemporary China, that reform and opening up are the only way of developing socialism with Chinese characteristics and rejuvenating the Chinese nation."

An important note is this specific sign can be found directly across from the School of Political Science at Southwest University, which is a major I find as pointless to study in China as studying astronomy in perpetually cloudy Chongqing. There is very little debate in the controlled Chinese political science classroom, or any Chinese classroom for that matter, except mine and other PCVs' of course.

Propaganda? Yes. Where in the Western World are there college campuses lined with signs telling students how to think and which political ideology to support? I would like to see how long a sign like this would last on an American college campus - even if it promoted absolute DEMOCRACY - before someone sprayed-painted it with satire.

This sign is nothing unique or creative. It can be found over and over again in newspapers and on websites in China. The simple fact that students (of mine) have memorized it sets off the Propaganda Alarm. And it's sad that students aren't encouraged to think for themselves at the university level. It's my students who will be given the power to make real changes in China, yet they are significantly deterred from reaching their full potential as individual, free-thinkers. To back up this idea, I was happy to find a New York Times article this morning that proves that not every Chinese young person is a Communist drone. Hip-hop, arguably the most creative form of music (maybe just behind jazz), is exploding in urban cities around China and these free-thinkers are the ones who speak their minds:

"'Hip-hop is free, like rock 'n' roll — we can talk about our lives, what we're thinking about, what we feel,' said Wang Liang, 25, a popular hip-hop D.J. in China who is known as Wordy. 'The Chinese education system doesn't encourage you to express your own character. They feed you stale rules developed from books passed down over thousands of years. There's not much opportunity for personal expression or thought; difference is discouraged.'"

As one who knows first-hand, I can affirm that Wang Liang aka Wordy is right. By not promoting individualism in their university classrooms, the Communist-run education system neglects to acknowledge that maybe the brightest young people might not be in their classrooms, memorizing, memorizing, memorizing, but on the microphone and graffiting walls with messages of Truth, unlike the picture above.

I love and miss you all,

Phil

蓝麦飞

A Farewell Letter to President George W. Bush

2009-01-20T00:43:00.000-05:00

你们好!

In about 12 hours, America swears in its 44th President, Barack H. Obama. I plan to watch the inauguration with a few other PCVs here in Chongqing at 12:30am Beijing Time via CNN.com. It's bound to be a moment millions of Americans will remember and tell their children and grandchildren about far into the future.

However, as President Obama is welcomed, President G.W. Bush becomes "former-President Bush II". I have been thinking about Bush's exodus for some time and thought I should write him a farewell letter, explaining to him who exactly he is to me. As you will learn, the words and feelings that poured out of me in the last few hours weren't what I initially expected. This is the last blog post on Runnin' the Great Wall as George W. Bush as my President, and as a Peace Corps Volunteer, my boss. Thanks for reading, and if you know how to contact the soon-to-be former President, please forward this on to him. I think he will appreciate it. Thanks for reading.

Dear President George W. Bush:

In the next 24 hours, you will move out of that big ivory house in Washington D.C. and leave the key to your office desk's top drawer behind for a new President. The newspapers from where I live say many millions, maybe even billions of people are overjoyed by your exodus. I am sorry to say I am one of them. But before you go, I think you should know who I am.

I was born in the summer of 1982. You were elected President a few months after my eighteenth birthday -- no thanks to me. I voted for the other guy in my high school gymnasium. He, not you, was my first vote. I am not completely sure why I didn't vote for you – something about that other guy being connected to the President that came before you. Then, the country's economy was growing and people around the world thought, for the most part, America was a good place and had good people. Plus, that President played the saxophone. This was when I was eighteen years old.

The following autumn, I became a university student and began, better late than never, my "coming of age." As an English education major, I only had to take one math class, which I choose for my first semester, Tuesday mornings. I walked out of class on Tuesday, Sept 11th, 2001, hungry and tired of numbers. Those were my last moments in a Pre-9/11 world.

Affected by that morning's events, I took a liking to politics and our American Constitution. I developed opinions fostered by close examinations. As two mammoth holes lay empty in Manhattan, you made an announcement that America would militarily invade Iraq and bring to people of an evil dictatorship freedom and democracy. I marched through the streets of New York City with hundreds of thousands of others, protesting your ambiguous plan. It was my first protest. It felt right. I was angry.

The war started anyways. I cut class on November 4th, 2004, to stand on an Erie, Pennsylvania, street corner in the pouring rain with a sign encouraging drivers-by to vote for that other guy. I didn't want to eat or talk to anyone in the week that followed your election victory. I graduated from university, then again from graduate school, and, with only a year left in your Presidential contract, joined the United States Peace Corps and was sent to China to help the world's people, educate them about my real home, and bring back knowledge of the world to America after 2 years of being far away from her. At this moment, I have lived in China for almost 19 months.

"China and America are more similar than different." This is the right thing to say; this is the line of lines that fosters peace and friendship. It is the Peace Corps anthem. Sometimes it is the truth, but the more I submerge myself in the great pool of Communist-run society, I start to think that maybe the differences, which are naturally more visible and easier to notice, should be promoted just as much as the similarities. Why? Because of a pair of flying shoes.

I am sorry to say, sir, I smiled when an Iraqi journalist threw his shoes at you a few weeks ago, but not a smile of contempt for you or because I advocate violence of any kind. I smiled because I have always fantasized about making a scene in your presence, refusing to shake your hand, giving you a cold stare, or screaming in your face about how you've only made the word "America" sound ugly around the world. Then, as I reveled in those flying shoes like some sort of beautiful 4th of July firework finale, I remembered where you were when you so gracefully ducked: Iraq. There aren't too many Middle Eastern leaders I wouldn't mind throwing my shoes at, but would I? Not a chance. It would be a death wish. Yet this man did not die, and is actually being praised by his fellow countrymen as a hero and a symbol of change. And then I remember where I am: China. I know millions (millions!) of Chinese wish they could throw their shoes at their own government oppressors, but can't because they know it will mean the end of not only their lives, but the end of opportunity for everyone they hold dear. I see it in my students' eyes – they want to yell out but know if they do fight back it will most certainly lead to further oppression. They are confused and powerless, but inspiringly optimistic. I hope someday they will know the empowering feeling felt when their voices are no longer silenced by those who have the real ability to change their country for the better. Who knew a flying pair of shoes, paired with my students' cravings for individual empowerment (whether they recognize it or not), will be the thing I will positively associate with you for the rest of my life?

Sociologists claim captives can fall in love with their captor(s) as their time together passes, and though I am not proud to say this, I find myself feeling nostalgic for you, even before you depart. You must know that you are all I have ever truly known. My entire life as an empowered democratic citizen has been during the Bush administration. In the simplest terms, you were my first love – being that hate is a form of love, and vice versa – and as you buy property and dough-si-dough back down to Texas, I am confusingly sad to see you go.

I've learned so much from you. I've learned to see through the fog, to ask questions, to hunt and fight for the Truth. I learned to take chances and debate and form a personal identity that is identifiable to others who choose not be empowered democratic citizens. You have ripped me away from potential friends, but brought me closer to those who care the most about America – those who dare to question its every move.

But don't you worry. That next guy - you know, the guy who is getting all this attention – isn't getting a free pass from all worldly 26 year-olds like me. His 4 years will not be paved in gold and garnished with exotic truffles. Here in China, I have learned the importance of the fact that I do not work for the American government, the American government works for me. Yes, he received my vote, but until he practices what he preaches, he hasn't earned it yet. I wish him the best of luck. He will need it, like he will need people like me to support him as we grow in courage, experience, and wisdom.

I will still be here in China when this new guy moves into your old house, and frankly, if I had not been able to look at America through a Chinese lens as a Peace Corps Volunteer, my parting words to you might have been radically different than what I am about to say. So, without further ado, as the last few hours tick away from your time in Washington, Mr. President George W. Bush, from the bottom of my heart, "Thank you."

An empowered American,

United States Peace Corps Volunteer
美中友好志愿者
Chongqing, China
January 20, 2008

Again, thanks for reading. I welcome any and all comments here on the blog or to my e-mail (philiprazem@gmail.com).

I love and miss you all,

Phil
蓝麦飞

Return from IST and Killer Pandas

2009-01-10T20:53:00.000-05:00

你们好!
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Peace Corps IST in Chengdu was nice, both with the discussions and ideas it inspired and the all the faces I rarely see. There were a few notable sessions: Matt (you will remember Matt from a year ago, pushing buses up snowy mountains with me, his wife, and a few other PCVs) gave a great 45-minute rundown of the last 60 years of Chinese history, carefully showing each of China's "existential crises" ('77, '89, '09) and where economics (he was a US Government economist before joining Peace Corps) and politics collide. Alison and I gave our talk on "Integrating Sensitive Issues into the Chinese University Classroom" which went well and sparked some interesting debate (PPT available for anyone curious - philiprazem@gmail.com) and the biggie - "Why Peace Corps China?" - with Country Director Bonnie, sitemate Kristen, and I was a popular hit for many. I took so many notes after this session, based on so many different prospectives of the engulfing question "Why the heck are we here?" that it would be impossible to relate them back to you now. However, I did present the question/idea that Peace Corps might want to think about removing itself from the Chinese countrysides and think about integrating into the even larger metropolitan cities; are we humanitarians or "soft diplomats"? A large percentage of PCVs in China and around the world would argue we are the first, but this is CHINA, and the latter might not be that wrong of a description/direction to head.
More soon, but I wanted to share with you a story that I think (oh so poetically) describes the "Harmonious Society of China." Click!

Gu Gu is not your typical soft and cuddly giant panda. For the third time, he's tasted the flesh of an unwitting intruder in his pen at the Beijing Zoo.His most recent victim was 28-year-old Zhang Jiao, who told CNN he fell into the panda pen Wednesday while trying to catch a small toy thrown by his young son. "My son and I were playing with a panda doll, throwing it to each other, when I dropped with the toy" into the pen, Zhang said. That's when Gu Gu went on the attack.

and my favorite line...

"I always thought they were cute and just ate bamboo," Zhang said.

I love and miss you all,

Phil
蓝麦飞

A simple, multi-part introduction...

2009-01-04T02:25:00.000-05:00

你们好!
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In the next 24 hours, sitemate Kristen and I will head to Chengdu, join the rest of the 100 or so PCVs in China, and participate in my 2nd Peace Corps IST (in-service training) conference. I will be presenting in two different sessions: "Integrating Sensitive Issues into the Chinese University Classroom" and "Why Peace Corps China?" Both are very important to me and are routinely discussed on this very blog. I have created a PPT about the first issue; if anyone is interested, please shoot me an e-mail (philiprazem@gmail.com).
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Since my grades are submitted and my free time as grown before a few Winter Holiday trips begin, I decided to experiment with my video camera (摄像机shèxiàngji). The success of my "Merry Christmas" video (189 views is a success to me!) inspired me to create "A simple, multi-part introduction" to Southwest University and my life as a Peace Corps Volunteer in China. Before you take a look (below), please remember that this is just an informal sliver of my life. I can promise many more videos about the different parts of my time in China - coming soon! Here is the link to all my Youtube videos, or you can watch them back-to-back below! Part 5 has an unfortunate, anti-climatic ending, mentioned below...

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

Part 4:

Part 5: (I wanted to show the final scene at night - complete with superfluous Spring Festival lighting decorations - but learned the lights don't get turned back on until the end of January, so I inserted some photos I took last year around this time)

I love and miss you all,
.
Phil
蓝麦飞

"The Democratic Classroom"

2009-01-02T03:26:00.000-05:00

你们好!
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Peace Corps China volunteers produce a small, bi-semester publication called The Rice Paper, asking volunteers to submit articles based on their personal experiences and discoveries. I submitted an article a few months ago - "Politics as usual" (link on the ride side of this page) - and so I thought I should submit another (below). Dustin, famed PCCV blogger, is the editor, which is a job I commend him for since he has to deal with the strong arm of censorship; the line we were told by the PC was everything has to be written as if it was being printed in a "1950's American newspaper." This makes me wanna vomit. I wouldn't be allowed to sit next to Barack Obama on a public bus in the 1950's. So, dreading the content is not appropriate, I am thankful for this blog, which has published much, much worse things about China and the Communist-run education system. Enjoy my thoughts and superfluous metaphors!

Granting our Students the Privilege of a Democratic Classroom

Call me Zeus. Whether you, PCV, can relate or not, I am a god when I yell "Good Morning" to my Chinese university students. I stride into my classroom after a tempest of hello's, daily welcomes like those after checking in to a Hawaiian hotel sans lays, and student conversations end abruptly when I quickly step onto my throne, a 10-inch stab of raised concrete in front of their bolted-down desks. They are quiet when I am talking and sometimes quieter when it's their time to talk. I navigate their eyes and swirl their pencils like an omnipotent being swirling planets and galaxies with perfect alignment. Sometimes I feel that if I suddenly left, walked out of the classroom, disappeared, even for the briefest of moments, they would fret and inevitably implode. Throughout the span of human existence, there is no greater feeling felt than that of being needed. I feel needed in my classroom. As a teacher, it is lovely and troubling.

During my undergraduate degree, I took a semester-long course on classroom management. At first, "Classroom Management" seems like an exalted term for preventing students from killing each other (and you!) and lubricating the ebb and flow of productive participation. At a recent Hot Pot dinner with a few Chinese graduate students majoring in education, I was asked about the major differences between a Chinese and American classroom. "Classroom Management," I told them. "In China, I am a figure of authority and must be listened to, like a parent or a politician. Students in China are, more or less, easy to handle." One student animatedly disagreed with me and said many Chinese students are "very naughty." Thinking back to my time as a summer school teacher in Brooklyn, I told this student that she should download "Dangerous Minds" for her next movie night.

My life as a university teacher in China, despite being busy and feeling occasionally overworked, is good, and the average American English teacher teaching in China shouldn't have too many complaints. Everyday I walk into a classroom full of smiles, and when I peer through the peepholes of other teacher's classroom doors, the scene is similar to my classroom: diligent note-taking, quiet conformity, and harmonious (ugh!) nodding heads. What more could I ask for? This classroom is a serene, peaceful snow globe without the smallest trance of wind. Such a scene, day after day, has got be thinking about my American classrooms – chaos deep-fried in a bubbling bat of expressive emotion – and I feel surprisingly nostalgic. I think this snow globe needs a shake!

As an educator, I believe some of the most important skills students should acquire at a young age, indiscriminate of which country students live and learn, are those of creativity and critical-thinking. I also believe there is only one way to progress these skills; the teacher must create a "democratic classroom," which is, to quote Jonathan Zimmerman in The New York Times, an environment where "students would be required to formulate their own views rather than imbibing the ideas of somebody else." I almost never use this term – "democratic classroom"– when students ask me about my teaching philosophy because, well, China is not a democracy, and to promote "democratic" anything might not win me any teaching awards from the Chinese Educational Ministry. However, just because I don't say it, doesn't mean it is impossible to create and facilitate in a Chinese classroom. In fact, the students - and I realize this is quite a hyperbolic simile - are like children taking their first taste of chocolate. There is just as much confusion as there is excitement. "What do you mean we have a choice?"

On the other hand, one can't just give someone democracy - Bush learned this the hard way. We need to give students the option of empowerment. We need to help them creatively create, and then criticize, but be respectful of others' criticism. Most importantly, we need to "unbolt" them from their desk prison cells and focus their culture, literature and language learning not on a text book, but ourselves and our personal experiences. The production of intelligent, world citizenry should be our highest priority, regardless of your students' language-level.

We are not gods, the classroom Chairmen, lecturers, or even teachers. We are facilitators. As foreign teachers, important ones too! We shouldn't take complete comfort in our compliant students and amenable classroom environment. My favorite quote about education comes from Yeats: "Education is not the filling of a pale, but the lighting of a fire." Democracy, as we learned this past year, is quite the inferno, and it gets people's hearts pumping. Remember: A snow globe is much prettier when there's snow falling.

1/1/09

I love and miss you all,

Phil

蓝麦飞

Phil at the Southwest University Shakespeare Conference

2008-12-28T21:01:00.000-05:00

你们好!
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This way to the 1st Annual Southwest University Shakespeare (莎士比亚 shāshìbǐyà) Conference: Yesterday afternoon, I attended and participated in my university's first Shakespeare conference. This meeting of scholars from mostly Chongqing universities was the master plan of Prof. L_, my friend and fellow "Bardophile" (lover of the Bard - absolutely no relation to the more-popularly-know "Pedophile": molester of small children). A few weeks ago, Prof. L_ asked me if I would "represent my country" at the conference - how could I turn him down?! - but when I arrived at the conference and glanced at the participating scholars, I was the only one who wasn't Chinese. So, without trying to elevate my presence, technically I was representing the whole world outside of China. Talk about big shoes to fill...
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In my experiences, most Chinese are pretty laid-back, beholden people (compliment!) so I knew that whatever presentation topic I chose, it would be appreciated. As a graduate student, I had written several lengthy papers about Shakespeare and his plays, some with titles that seem to stretch the length of the actual paper (i.e. "Advancing Aristotle's Mimesis in Dramatic Tragedy: The juxtaposition of Greek Dramatic Tragedy with Shakespeare's Tragic Epilogues" - yikes!). As I brainstormed, I knew I might be the only presenter who spoke entirely in English (I was right!) so the worst case scenario would I would go on and on (each presenter was only allotted 10-12 minutes) about this and that, confusing everyone, especially those who do most of their research in Chinese. But then I thought about why I am here in China - to teach, to inspire, to expand minds - and the topic I chose, though sounding somewhat complicated, was simple and representative of everything I believe should be present in a Shakespeare classroom: "Reprioritizing Shakespeare Teaching Objectives: The importance and promotion of "I" in student understanding and explanations." In a nutshell, I set the complicated mumbo-jumbo aside and I delivered a 10-minute "call to action" promoting a "student-centered Shakespeare classroom," as opposed to the conventional text-centered, lecture-style classroom setting. Why? Because, in the words of Shakespeare critic Harold Bloom, "Shakespeare invented us." Why not introspect who we are through his work?

It was fun, and I think I set myself apart from the other speakers, not only by picking a topic dealing with Shakespeare Education, but because, and I think this is what most people will remember most, I didn't use the microphone, preferring to pace and, I guess, "perform" the 10-minute speech. It's Shakespeare - it is meant to be experienced! I will give props to an older professor who performed a monologue from Romeo & Juliet with a very (very!) thick Chinese accent. This was my highlight of the conference.

All in all, it was a great experience and I am happy Shakespeare, a person who helped me understand the world and my place in it, is gaining momentum in China. I proud that I could campaign for him yesterday and every morning I am able to facilitate his masterpieces to those irreplaceable smiling Chinese faces...

I love and miss you all,

Phil

蓝麦飞

Merry Christmas! 圣诞快乐 shèngdàn kuàilè

2008-12-25T06:37:00.000-05:00

你们好!

Merry Christmas, one and all. A cold day in Beibei, Chongqing, but nothing like that of Western New York. I taught this afternoon (second consecutive year I've taught on Christmas) but it was a treat indeed. We had out Secret Santa gift exchange, watched the 1966 version of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" (subtitles included) and took our Christmas class photo (above). As I mentioned in the previous entry, it pains me (seriously! Physical pain!) that I can't give back to those who have sent me so many packages over the last 18 months, most notably, my parents. So, since the rule for Secret Santa was "You can't spent money!" based around the forever-old lesson that the best gifts are free - also the moral of Dr. Seuss's Grinch tale - I have filmed my loving family a video message, aiding by none other than those who keep me thriving in China: my students... (click here if the below video does not work - watch it in "high quality" and click "more info" on the ride side of the screen for the subtitles)

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My last Christmas in China (hopefully) - nothing against Chinese Christmas, but when it comes to holidays like this, home truly is where the heart is. I want to thank my students again for helping me create this gift for my family...these, and all my students, are most beautiful Chinese in the world.

I love and miss you all,

Phil

蓝麦飞

Art at Southwest University

2008-12-22T10:25:00.000-05:00

你们好!

One of the reasons I enjoy teaching at Southwest University is every now and then it makes me feel a little nostalgic for art scene at Fredonia State, my Alma mater. There I lived for 3 years with a graphic design major, Eric, and was fraternity brothers and friends with countless painting, sculpture, and design majors. I visited the Rockefeller galleries often and even took my English Composition classes there to explore the ins-and-outs of descriptive writing. SWU is huge (55,000 students compared to FSU's 5,000) and with so many students, almost every major you can think of is offered, including the Arts. I was happy to find a student art show happening this month and perused the works, snapping pictures of some of my favorites:

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What's interesting is that if you want to study visual art, music, design, etc. in a Chinese university, more than often your tuition is much higher than the average English or Poli-Sci major. In other words, most of the students who study Art...can afford to study Art. It breaks my heart when a student tells me a story or writes an e-mail claiming they love to, example, play the piano or violin, but had to give it up at the age of 11 or 12 because it was time to get serious about studying for the college entrance exam. This is a problem (for both China and America). When will society learn the true importance of Art and Art education?

More pictures can be found here....

I love and miss you all,

Phil

蓝麦飞

Food, Table Manners, and setting aside the chopsticks...

2008-12-13T00:52:00.000-05:00

你们好!

I just returned home from a Waiban-sponsored venture to Metro, a Sam's Club/CostCo.-esque supermarket that sells many of the foods and brands found in the American equivalent. As a PCV (who barely cooks), my purchases consisted of:

-French Bread

-2 bottles of ketchup (great on eggs!)

-sugar-glazed donuts (a birthday party donation for tonight; 生日快乐 PCV Jake!)

-a package of sliced cheese. (if you are a Western foreigner in China, I know you are drooling after reading the "C" word)

But after two hours of looking at food I desperately want but can't afford, I was reminded back to this week's lesson entitled "Hungry in America?: Foods of the world, Manners, and Etiquette." This is the first generation in China to grow up with a choice in how their taste buds should be titillated. Food is an amazing educational tool/subject when talking about culture, and judging from my students positive response to the lesson, especially the mini-lecture on table manners (I know, Mom, who am I to teach table manners!?), this is a lesson they will remember far into the future.

I must say that I can't take full-credit for this lesson; Devon, my site mate last year, designed a presentation and supplemented it with a massive purchasing of plates (3 different sizes), cups, forks, knives, bowls, napkins, and doilies. I sat in on her talk and only tweaked it here and there to better accommodate my students. As you can see above, before we talk at all about how to eat, I let my students attempt and create their own table setting, then ask them to try their best and place the objects in their "correct" places.

The most fascinating parts of this lesson:

- Chinese students have no idea what fortune cookies are.

- For the most part, students know how to use forks and knives (with only a few small mistakes). I asked one class where they learned how to cut a piece of meat - their answer: "Movies!" Thank you, Hollywood!

- Eating noodles in China can be a quick processes, but when I taught them to use a spoon and twirling fork with their Italian pasta - "1-3 noodles at a time...Keep you posture!...twirl, twirl, twirl....not too much!...now gracefully place into mouth...." - they felt exhausted.

- Finally, I told them how in America I am required to "sign" my name on the check. I printed my name on the board, then under it, I sign it, which is a fast looping, barely readable chicken scratch. "What's that!?" they ask. "That's me!" I say.

I conclude the lesson with the same advice/encouragement I end most of my lessons on world culture. "You might think this is funny. Maybe even some of you think this is useless. But I know many of you dream of seeing the world, or at least the world outside of China, and my dream is that you will use this lesson someday when you fulfill that dream. Your dream is also my dream! Hey! Everybody has to EAT!...and NEWSFLASH, more than 75% of restaurants in the Western world don't offer chopsticks! Don't get caught spittin'!" (referring to my instruction on the proper use of a napkin).

Don't get caught spittin'!...

I love and miss you all,

Phil

蓝麦飞

Why I am not teaching this Friday afternoon...

2008-12-05T03:58:00.000-05:00

你们好:

I just return home from the supermarket in Beibei. It's a gloomy day - typical December weather in Chongqing. I usually do my grocery shopping on the weekends, but I found myself with some extra time this afternoon after I received a call late last night from my teaching counterpart telling me that my afternoon classes were being rescheduled for Sunday afternoon. "为什么?" I asked. "Why?"

"Red Songs," (红歌, hóng gē) he said.

Red Songs are, according to the link above, "melodies from the early 1920s and the period after the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949...They are songs on 'main themes' (referring to tributes paid to the [Communist] Party, army and common people)."

According to word of mouth (the only real source of information I receive at Southwest University), the mayor of Chongqing has required university students to organize and perform various Red Songs in honor of the 30th anniversary of the "Opening up" of China by then leader, Deng XiaoPing (邓小平). This little shindig (pictured above) is happening, coincidentally, on the same day I posted an UPDATE (see bottom of entry in link) on the last blog posting, in regards to what a student text messaged me about her generation being criticized [by the government] for "lack of patriotism." This is mind-lowing to me, because I think the post-80's generation is excessively patriotic! But it just might be a master plan...and I am sad to report, it's working.

It's nice to love your country. But it's dangerous to LOVE your country. It's even more reckless for a government to sacrifice classes, student's time and energy to gather tangible proof that young people LOVE not only China, but the Communist Party. The truth is - and this is for all you Chinese who read this blog, especially my students and Chinese friends - you don't know any other party/organization to love. It's like marrying your 1st and only middle school girlfriend; you never had a taste of anything else. You will never know if the grass is greener on the other side. And in actuality, these students might not even LOVE China and "the Party." They might be the greatest actors in all the world...in fact, I know many of them act and hold up pictures of Mao ZeDong, when in reality, they know they...just...don't...know. How do I know? They tell me.

It's frustrating to be a foreigner in China, especially when all you want is the Truth. Save your expensive Hot Pot meals, decorative gifts, smiling hospitality, and truckloads of excuses...Give me the God Damn Truth!

This week I gave my students the homework assignment of putting their face in their pillow and screaming as loud as they can. "Have you ever done this?" I asked them. "It feels great..."

I love and miss you all,

Phil

蓝麦飞

P.s. Random Pictures from the last month or so...

Happy December! 十二月快乐 (updated)

2008-12-03T04:17:00.000-05:00

你们好!
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I am teaching one of my favorite lessons this week - Stereotypes! I can't remember if I've written about this concept in the past, but when it comes to student catharsis, this lesson really rips their guts out. In summary, I list 10 different stereotypes about Americans (i.e. All Americans like guns, all Americans support war/want to take over the world, all Americans like fast food, etc.) and then 10 stereotypes about Chinese (All Chinese know kung fu, all Chinese know how to grow rice, all Chinese are good at math, etc.) and we chat...and laugh (sometimes). As many of my loyal readers know, my raison d'etre in China is the promotion of critical-thinking skills, something that is neglected and discouraged by the powers that be within the Chinese education system. It's really sad...but I will get to that.
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I added a new stereotype this semester that has been getting a mixed reaction from students:
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True or False?

All Chinese love and support the Communist Party and Mao ZeDong (pictured above).

As soon as the stereotype goes up on the screen, there is an immediate "Yes!" - I say nothing (pause, 4 long seconds) - and then a few trail in with some barely detachable sounds - not actual identifiable words but definitely audible graveling - that might indicate that this statement is not necessarily true. "C'mon!" I say. "You know there are people who don't love and support this thing and this person. I have had many Chinese tell me they distrust one and detest the other! Are you naive to that fact, or are you just not speaking up?!" One student said, "We know, but we don't talk about it." I said, "I know. I understand."

"We know, but we don't talk about it."

The lesson eventually leads to the class writing anonymous adjectives on slips of paper describing different groups of people (French, Blacks, Japanese, Homosexuals, Muslims, Rich people, Poor people, Men, Women, American, and finally Chinese). Stereotypes are identified - this is tricky, especially with Japanese, which 85% of my students seem to hate with all their hearts and souls, even though barely 1 or 2 in the class has ever met a Japanese - and I tell a story about the first time I performed this activity with a freshmen class (just after their military training) when, unsurprisingly, 100% of their comments were positive for "Chinese are..." I said with a suspicious tone, "Wow! No one wrote anything even remotely negative about China or Chinese..." The class in the story broke out into an instant and roaring applause, leaving me wide-eyed and speechless. I tell my classes this week that the feeling I felt when these students clapped was one comparable to the feeling you feel right before you vomit. "I felt sick. Why? Well, I knew right then and there that these students weren't going to listen to anything I had to say. The worst feeling in the world for a teacher is the feeling of helplessness. And I was helpless. If you can't look at something and question it, how will you ever grow? How will it ever change or improve? Nothing is perfect. Nothing will ever be perfect."

Silence. Good silence (I think). Thinking silence.

I love and miss you all,

Phil

蓝麦飞

Update: (student text message; edited for anonymity)

"Hello Phil, when you told us that hopeless story about the freshmen, I was keeping on thinking. And now, I can tell the reason is that you are a foreigner. We would like to acquire practical criticize from others. But we do not like to show the weak side of ourselves to a stranger, especially a foreigner. I believe the students there did have an opinion about China's negative side. But they chose to show you a united Chinese. What's more, we generation is criticized by the society for lack of patriotic heart. We are sometimes so eager to show that we do love our country. China is a country that can face our problems and also a complex country. I cannot explain you clearly. But in fact we people need a peaceful life. The party can help us."

I think this explanation, if true (and I do truly believe it is true, because I refuse to believe that anyone in the world would be as naive as the freshmen students in question), is a good example of the modern Chinese ethos. Foreigners may never understand China if Chinese don't tell foreigners like me the Truth (capital "T")...or tell themselves the Truth for that matter.

Happy Thanksgiving 感恩节快乐!

2008-11-27T07:25:00.000-05:00

你们好!

Today is Thanksgiving (gǎnēnjié) in America - the second Thanksgiving I've missed due to my service in China. Nothing truly exciting to say except that I have a bad cold (imagine doing pronunciation drills with a clogged nose; I made a metaphor today comparing the activity in my nose to Beijing traffic at rush hour) and as mentioned in a blog entry 1 year ago, there is still no turkey to be found in China (unless you go to a fancy foreign-friendly hotel buffet). I've decided that this cold - one of the many I develop every time the weather changes (Today was sunny and about 55 degrees, as compared to the last 4 weeks: rain and 40 degrees) - will be "cured" by exclusively Chinese medicine. I have to take 4 pills every 6 hours until they are gone. Will it work? Who knows, but it certainly won't hurt tryin'. Peace Corps is all about integrating!

Top 5 things I am thankful for on this 2nd Thanksgiving in China:

5) Sitemates: Devon and now Kristen. C'mon! Could anyone have better luck?

4) The lamp beside my bed: I read a lot. I love to read at night before bed. I am certain Thomas Wolfe's You Can't Go Home Again changed my life forever.

3) The New York Times Online: Without it, I would be living in a "harmonious society" - and nothing scares me more that hiding from Truth! Click on the link and read one of the greatest pieces on the pursuit of justice...ever!

2) My students: They remain the reason I stay and learn.

1) My family and friends: I miss them, especially today.

Enjoy your turkey, America! And in the words of PCV Becky's dinner invitation, "[come join] us celebrate the killing of Native Americans by evil white men - come one, come all!"

I love and miss you all,

Phil

蓝麦飞

Translations

2008-11-14T21:40:00.000-05:00

你们好!

Many of my days as a PCV in China are quite repetitive; I wake up, eat breakfast and drink some instant coffee, make my way to class (walk or bus), teach on average 3-4 hours/day, have a delicious lunch and dinner at one of my favorite restaurants, meet up with my DanMei or sitemate Kristen for a meal or chat, and retire at home in the evening to either prepare for a run or an hour or so with the NYTimes online, whatever book I am reading, or a little free-thinking in the journal. It's sounds like a simple life, maybe even a little unadventurous, but the excitement is there - I just need to find it...and believe me, I hunt every minute of the day!

The students are my #1 priority at Southwest University; I find them the most in need of the things I can actually provide (Language, Culture, a hearty laugh, etc.), and in turn, I spend the most time observing them and the way they act around me, each other, and the priorities/problems they seem to possess during their daily lives. They are more similar to American college students than different: school, friends, and family are important, money is desired, a boy/girl friend is very nice to have if you can manage him/her with endless classes and studying, and sometimes YES!, it seems like politics are (kinda) a priority. But this priority of "politics" is not like the politics we, Americans, participate in. Being a "political" participator in China is, more or less, publicly displaying how much love you have for your country. I write about this often, but yesterday afternoon, the usually subtle became blatantly obvious.

After class, I usually walk out of the foreign language building to a brigade of hello's from past and present students and slowly make my way home if the weather is nice. Students who aren't English majors are usually hesitant to approach me but one gentlemen did, and handed me a sheet of paper (picture above) and guided me to a long banner with (literally) thousands of signatures on it. Now, I never sign anything in China, unless the document is entirely in English. My command of reading Chinese is not at the level where I feel comfortable putting my name on any type of petition or contract (my signature is, more or less, my vote, and I take the freedom of voting very seriously) and frankly, most of the things students and other Chinese want me to sign are in support of things I (sometimes very animately) don't support (i.e. CCP propaganda about who knows what!). This incident was no exception.

The large line of text reads:

心系祖国 -- 爱国万人留言 (xīn xi zǔguó - àiguó yīwàn rén liúyán)

Translation: "Tie our hearts (together) for the motherland -- Come together to celebrate/express our love for our country by signing your name/leaving a comment."

I told the student, "No thanks, maybe I will return..." in Chinese, pulled away from his guidance and kept walking. I met up with DanMei and asked her what that was all about. She was even confused why suddenly students were mobilizing. "What happened? What holiday is it?" she asked. To her, this was (somewhat) strange, but as a foreigner, this is just another day in China. So I spent the rest of the day thinking about all the questions I would like to ask those students who so anxiously wanted my signature: "Why? I am not Chinese! Where is the banner for America? (not that I would sign that one either!) Have you ever left China? How do you even know if you love your "motherland" if you've never left it? What if someone doesn't sign this? Or refuses to? Or writes something critical?" My mind goes on and on... I would love to start a banner petition at Fredonia State University with the same objective-less goal, and count the "why's?!" from the students. Nationalism can be a really scary thing, especially if it has no aspiration.

I love and miss you all,

Phil

蓝麦飞

Priorities, Problems, Solutions, and Sacrifices

2008-11-09T03:55:00.000-05:00

你们好!

Last week was one to remember: America elected a new President and I taught one of my favorite lessons - "Priorities, Problems, Solutions, and Sacrifices." I try my best to design my lessons with a 1-2 punch, meaning give the students what they need to become modern, free-thinking individuals (this simple concept is more or less neglected at almost every level of Chinese education for a variety of reasons) as well as provide them with an environment that let's them teach me about themselves and their views of the world. This lesson is given to my 2nd-year English majors and is simply a springboard for some of the more difficult decisions they will have to confront (面对miànduì; I love using this world in China) next semester when we discuss the ins-and-outs of debate.

One of the most popular requests I receive from Chinese university students is, "Phil, I want to learn more about the daily lives of Americans..." This question threw me at first - "What do Americans do on a daily basis? Well, we wake up, take a shower, eat, work/ go to school, eat, sleep, etc. etc. etc....what do you do?" But I think I misinterpreted this question for "What do Americans like to do on a daily basis?" or rather, "What do Americans care about?" I did a little research and found the top (general) priorities of American university students and asked my students to grade the American priorities with what they feel applies to Chinese university students: A=All, M=Most, S=Some, F=Few, N=None. The most notable differences, as you can see from the above picture, took place in the categories of "Opposite Sex" (Many of my students want boyfriends or girlfriends, but know it might hinder their study ethic - something drilled into Chinese high school students by parents and teachers. The funniest/most interesting question of this survey was when I asked them what grade should be assigned to Americans' priority of "OS" - giggles and a few "A's"; I think some of the students view American college students as a bunch of horny toads - Thank you Hollywood!), "Politics" (To quote one of my Chinese friends/Devon's old student, "Why care? We don't have any choice!"), and, without question, "Religion" (...but I have had a handful of students tell me their parents are Christians or Muslim; some have copies of Chinese-language Bibles their parents gave them when they entered university). The most important lesson of this activity is its framing - we are much more similar than different!

Next we discussed the problems/priorities, possible solutions, and inevitable sacrifices of several popular issues. This originally was a lesson I adapted from a former PCV's summer project, which asked the question, "What came first: the chicken or the egg?" leading into which problem(s) of a society cause other problems. However, being in China for 16 months and basically seeing/reading more injustice, empty/uneducated criticisms, and helplessness than actual Truth and constructiveness (mostly in form of each side bashing the other's media outlets - yes, I do have my own opinions: A press should always be free!), I thought adding the very important "solutions" and "sacrifices" categories were essential. As I said at the end of the lesson, "It's easy to criticize, but the real leaders are those who aim to fix the problem, peacefully of course, with real solutions, being always aware of the sacrifices. It's easy to yell at the top of your lungs at injustice, but it takes a real citizen to create a better world with the abilities he/she has, no matter how limited those abilities are."

So we broke down examples of each country's problems, thought long and and hard about possible/inevitable solutions/sacrifices, and concluded with many "?" - leaving it up to this generation to confront these problems and always (always!) have opinions... and never be afraid to express them when necessary.

Like I said, it was a week to remember...

I love and miss you all,

Phil

蓝麦飞

Why am I here?

2008-10-28T21:31:00.000-04:00

你们好!

Why am I here (in China)? It's a popular question, and usually receives the whole "I am a volunteer English teacher..." and "To learn about Chinese language and culture..." But recently I realized that this question may not only be asked out of simple curiosity or to start conversation. Some Chinese students, to my surprise, have other ideas as to why I am in China.

Vocabulary Lesson of the Day:

1) 间谍 (jiandie) - "Spy"

2) 糖衣炮弹 (tangyipaodan) - "Sugar-coated bullet"

Southwest University has a interesting message board feature attached to its website (only accessible in China) through its IntrAnet, called the BBS. One of my students posted a picture of me from my lecture last week and said some kind words about the performance. She is a sweet female student (and an excellent speaker of English) and when other students (SWU has 55,000) saw a posting about a foreign teacher, the reply posts spread like brush fire. With the help of my Chinese tutor (the postings were in Chinese), I learned what some of the students thought about me (good and bad), some commenting without ever being my student or attending any event where I was present (not surprisingly, these pugnacious posts were posted almost entirely by male students, but that's another story，and according to my much-wiser-than-me tutor, this phenomena has a very simply explanation 哈哈...).

But this message board took a sharp turn, and from it, I feel I gained an interesting gem of information about how some (not all) of my students view me. I still optimistically believe a large, large, majority of my students know I am a good person who does want to help them in ways their education system hasn't or won't. But a small majority may believe I am, what I was called last night, a "sugar-coated bullet" or "spy for the CIA or FBI." Sure, the skeptics may have watched a few too many Hollywood movies or simply be jealous (see 哈哈 above) that some female students enjoy more than just my English pronunciation, but this was a very visible experience with the feelings of Chinese youth animatedly distrusting foreigners in their own country (the conversation even led into a gender-related topic, where one student made a point of asking the female supporters-of-Phil why very few women are Communist Party Officials - because women are too naive, he claimed). In America, during my 6 years of university-level study, I never once fathomed that one of the hundreds of foreign professors at my university was a spy for their respected home governments. I told my tutor that I wish I was a spy, then I wouldn't be so 穷 (qiong) POOR! But, I can assure you, China, I am no Bond, James Bond. I am more like Austin Powers, I think.

But this incident was enlightening. I posted my own reply on the message board (and probably scared the sh*t outta a few male students, not knowing I was reading their words) and turned off the computer for the night, letting them enjoy their imaginings about Phil the Spy. This happened, coincidentally, when the NYTimes posted this ediorial by Diana Fu. She speaks with a Beijing University (the Harvard of China) student about her feelings on the Western media, Chinese forbearance (忍), and so on. The one part of this editorial that makes me step back and ask myself, "Why am I here?" is this question and response:

NYT: "So you think protesters are always trouble-makers? What about pressuring for positive social change?"

Student: "Those protesters, especially foreign ones, want to harm our country. They want to damage China’s reputation. They don’t really understand our culture and our history. I guarantee that if you took any one of those journalists who harp about China and put them in Beijing for a month, their opinions would change. I’ve seen it happen myself."

Will I ever be seen as more than a pronunciation teacher to these students? Are all my lessons about creativity and critical-thinking skills, carefully constructed and rehearsed, just another name for toilet paper? Will Chinese students always see me as a person who wants to help, but can't because, simply, I "don't understand [Chinese] culture or history"? - which after two years, I am understanding more and more with each day. Am I trying to "harm" China when I write about the TRUTHS of CCP (disguised) corruption and education failings (informtion I recieve from not only Western Media, but Chinese media and conversations with students)? No, of course not. I never want to harm anyone, and if I "hurt your feelings" for being critical, then that's a problem that Chinese need to alleviate on their own, because, sad to say, it's not a harmonious world, and China certainly isn't (this is my experience, which is much, much longer than the above student's dosage of "1 month") a hexie shehui. "No country or society is or ever will be..." says the Peace Corps Volunteer, 16 months deep. I am only here to help...if you will let me.

And don't forget, "I'm watching..." (insert evil laugh) 哈哈

I love and miss you all,

Phil

蓝麦飞

Rain, Metaphors and Politcs

2008-10-28T00:22:00.000-04:00

你们好！

A creative exercise I play with my students:

It's been raining here in Beibei for the last few days. All this precipitation, combined with the raging storm of U.S. Election/"World Financial Crisis" coverage I voluntarily place myself in, has got me thinkin' about politics and government (and, of course, Education's relation to both). I like the two images above, and think they are effective metaphors for ________ and _______. The second is described here, and the first, I feel, no description is necessary. And that's where this blog entry ends... philiprazem@gmail.com

I love and miss you all,

Phil

蓝麦飞

Part 2 of 2 (2008 U.S. Presidential Election Lecture）

2008-10-25T07:53:00.000-04:00

你们好!

This past Thursday, I delivered Part 2 of 2 of my "U.S. Presidential Election" Lecture to an overflowing crowd at Southwest University's School of Foreign Languages. Kristen, my site mate, and I have been advertising this event for the past week or so in our "English Communication" classes, and because Part 1 was "overflowing" (Literally! students were standing outside and looking in through open windows), I requested to perform Part 2 in a bigger classroom. Nonetheless, hundreds of students lined the aisles and even stood in the back for the 2+ hours of me ranting and raving about the complexities and excitement of the American Election Season. I later learned that some students arrived in the classroom, which has 220 seats, 2 hours early just so they could have a seat. That's dedication!

The lecture was divided into two parts: one for review of Part 1, which included everything from the history of American democracy (complicated!) to how the Electoral College works (even more complicated!) and the other on the issues and how Obama and McCain have similar and different views and solutions for the problems and challenges facing America. I used a microphone this time, which is always a strange, impersonal way of explaining something with passion (I am sure many believe Barack Obama defies that idea!) but like Part 1, we held an election - my 6 fellow foreign English teacher assistants (see pictures) passed out hundreds of ballots to the crowd and I asked them to be honest, and not follow their friends, and vote for who he/she thought was best suit to fill the Oval Office - and the results, unsurprisingly, were in favor of Obama:

Obama: 221 votes

McCain: 25 votes

But that was great, and I was especially proud of those 25 votes for McCain (Part 1, only 4% of the crowd voted for McCain, this time around, after we eliminated Hillary from the ballot, that number grew to just over 10%, confirming the idea that some saw McCain has more credible than Obama when they face solely against each other). I fully recognize that parts of Part 1 were slightly biased to the Democrats (I brushed off the Iraq War Issue and did not explain why McCain voted YES in 2002, which instantly made him viewed as a war-hungry solider instead of a politicians who knows the true horrors of war), so this time around, I displayed a picture of my best friend Scott, who is serving in Iraq, and explained that this issue is important to me because "how would you like to see your best friend fighting in a war?" Many eye-opening oooooh's! And explained that neither candidate will instantly stop the war if elected on Nov. 4th. It's hard for a teacher, living abroad and knowing the positive implications of electing Obama for America's international image, to belittle Obama, but I had to, several times, in order to show that his inexperience in Washington might factor into his successes (or lack thereof) if elected. The truth is, many Chinese students see him as a golden God compared to the old, pugnacious McCain, and that's not right. But nonetheless, an expected HUGE victory for Obama, but 25 solid votes for McCain. (Interesting Note to ponder: The McCain campaign proudly displays the slogan "Country First!" - a slogan I think many Chinese dislike, but appreciate, since technically their own country's "slogan" isn't too much different.)

The foreign teachers and I fielded questions, and the truth is their were too many for the time allotted, but one question was asked by one of my students that I liked and think should mention, in hopes some American out there reads and can give a better answer than I provided:

Q: "In one of the speeches you played (I played the closing remarks from both the DNC and the RNC), Obama talks about the 'American spirit.' What is the 'American spirit'?"

A: "Wow! That's complicated (foreign teachers nod heads in agreement)... I think the American spirit is...well, think about what you might consider the "Chinese spirit." I know many of you love China. You believe in China. You trust China and you would fight for China. Now take that desire, that love, and dedication, and imagine Americans doing and feeling and fighting the same way for their own country."

The student seemed to understand, nodding with agreement, but after the lecture, when I asked the foreign teachers what they might have said, one interesting answer came from Kyle, when he said, more or less, terms like that - "American spirit" - are things you might believe in, but mostly are coined by politicians for political reasons and to stir the pot with patriotic brouhaha. I partly agree with Kyle, and I would have never told the crowd this answer, fearing they would think I was telling them not to trust their own beloved Communist government with its version - the infamous "harmonious society" - but then again, after 16 months in China, a country that is so much different from China in so many important ways (government, education, etc.), I think I have a better understand of what the "American spirit" is - it's indescribable, of course, but it transcends so much more than the trite 1-word explanation of "Freedom."

I want to thank my foreign teacher friends - Rob, Kyle, Andrew, Julie, Keegan, and site mate Kristen (pictured above) - for their wonderful help, support and insights during the successful (and fun!) performance of this lecture. I know the students enjoyed it!

In closing, my "Final Thoughts" from the lecture:

The U.S. Presidential Election is an infinitely complicated process and results with many tears of joy, as well as many broken hearts. As I said in Part 1 of this lecture, I would argue that this American process is more dramatic and exciting than any movie, television show, or video game. Why? Because it is real. Because the outcome not only effects Americans, but the entire world. That's why the entire world will watch as Americans elect their President in 11 days. Regardless of the outcome, it will be a day when history is made! And it will effect us and our futures, regardless if you are American or Chinese, more than we can possibly imagine...

Picture Tag: Part2of2ElectionLecture

I love and miss you all,

Phil

蓝麦飞

Reveling in the spirit of politics as usual...

2008-10-21T00:13:00.000-04:00

你们好!

Reveling in the spirit of politics as usual (click)

Lack of experience? Playing the race or gender card? Pregnant teenage daughters? Sometimes the political stage resembles more of a soap opera than an exemplary part of the democracy America was founded upon. As new allegations are thrown from deep inside each party’s base, the most popular defense results in either Barack Obama or John McCain claiming his opponent is playing “politics as usual.” In fact, so many criticisms have been fired in the past few months that many Americans simply dismiss each side’s tactics with a resounding (and in my opinion, heartbreaking) “who cares?”

On Nov. 4, America will elect a new president and I will have completed my 16th month of service in the People’s Republic of China as a Peace Corps volunteer. For the past year, I have taught Chinese university students English language and literature and have been submerged in almost every aspect of Chinese culture. I have studied the language, traveled far and wide, attended the Olympics and blogged about my trials and triumphs as a foreigner living and working in the Middle Kingdom. And yet, the most exciting moment of my day is entering one of the small Internet cafes and reading the latest condemnations from the campaign trails.

Why? As an educator, I’ve noticed something very odd about how my Chinese students face criticism — they divert almost all eye contact and grow completely silent. Having been educated at a Western New York high school and university, I learned the importance of critical thinking skills, the value of individualism, the weight of exercising my freedom of expression and the significance of recognizing and battling injustice wherever it surfaces.

These skills are neglected by the Chinese education system for a variety of reasons, mostly political, and thus even playing Devil’s Advocate in my class results in a roadblock. To criticize someone in China results in what the Chinese call diu lian — losing face. Plus, society runs on guanxi, or relationships, and a break in guanxi could result in alienation and thus, inevitable failure. All in all, it’s best to keep your mouth shut.

Last semester, I gave my students their first dose of American politics with a lecture on the then three candidates for president: McCain, Obama and Hillary Clinton. I played various video clips from debates where Clinton and Obama battled, raising fingers, voices and eyebrows at each other. Another showed McCain reprimanding a reporter. The clips showed a wide range of emotions, and the crowd of 200 students stared, bright eyed, at the screen in silence. But the mood slowly began to evolve into laughter and excitement. When Obama stabbed Clinton with an accusation, the debate crowd roared, giving my audience the green light to roar along. This, I dare to say, was the students’ first taste of real politics, as opposed to the countless political classes that are mandated at the university level in China.

I had no political agenda while delivering the lecture, but when it ended, students had very opinionated, diverse views on who they thought should be the next president. And they openly argued with each other about it. I never thought the endless contemptuous diatribes that float around American politics would be my saving grace in a compliant China.

America might seem like a war between red and blue states, and Americans might get sick of the endless belittling and tactful banter. We might all want to end partisan politics, but this exemplified criticism is what makes America free, and ultimately, great. Politics as usual? Sure, and I love it.

I love and miss you all,

Phil

蓝麦飞

Apple, Love, Madness, and Revenge (Shakespeare in China)

2008-10-14T05:30:00.000-04:00

你们好!

I should write more about my teaching of Shakespeare on this blog - it's the one thing that I feel spotlights my service as a Peace Corps Volunteer in China. Also, this morning's class was surprising profound - Act IV of Hamlet is profound; it has Existialism ("We fat all creatures else to fat us, and we fat ourselves for maggots") Humanism ("A beast, no more!"), and everything in between! - and since Hamlet starts to "eat the burnt bread" (a playful metaphor we use in class) I should document for you one of the "creative activities" I use in this class to jump start my students understanding of the some of the fundamental ideas in this play. Maybe you could even experiment yourselves...

I have observed several graduate literature and communication classes at Southwest University, and for most of them, it is simply a professor, robot-like, reading his or her PowerPoint Presentation, which comes directly from a text book. The students (and myself) slowly drift away until we are barely conscious. This will never happen in any of my classes (forever and always, I tell myself!) so I try to spice things up with a warm-up activity that the students are almost never used to performing. This morning's warm-up, for example, was the "illustration of the Intangible" (insert thunder and lighting here! dum dumh DUM!)

Utilizing the student's creativity and multiple intelligences, I ask the students to fold a piece of paper into 4's, and illustrate (no words!) both tangible and intangible things and concepts (the last two, arguably three, are related to Hamlet). The above is a great (and funny!) example from this morning:

The first box, please draw an....APPLE. Simple!

The second box, please draw a picture that represents "LOVE." Still, simple!

The next box, bottom left-hand side, please draw..."MADNESS" Students look at each other and think, then start scribbling...

Finally, draw "REVENGE."

Most students drew the bloody knife as "REVENGE" (no guns in China!) and the hearts for "LOVE." "MADNESS" definitely got some interesting interpretations; one student drew the same picture - a bleeding heart - as he drew for "LOVE"... DEEP!

All in all, Shakespeare class still proves to be one of the most rewarding parts of my service (and life!) here in China. I am truly grateful to be able to perform the Bard in a classroom full of graduate students, and most importantly, give them something new and different...and hopefully, inspiring.

What would you draw?

I love and miss you all,

Phil

蓝麦飞

3 - in - 1

2008-10-11T05:05:00.000-04:00

你们好!

A short and sweet one here for all ya'll who need a little clarification about the world I live in. Plus, this story, found on my favorite Chinese news source, Danwei, incorporates 3 things I more-than-often mention on this blog: education, running, and the poor decisions made by the Communist government that interferes with my students reaching their full potential in the classroom.

Click!

Last week, the Ministry of Education released its "Sunny Sports long-distance winter run" program (阳光体育冬季长跑), which requires the country's schools and universities to organize runs for students. The program is intended to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, which takes place one year from now on October 1, 2009, so students are supposed to run distances that are multiples of 60 kilometers: 120 km for elementary students, 180 km for junior high students, and 240 km for senior high and university students. This equates to 1,000, 1,500, and 2,000 meters per day, respectively.

Critics argue that the plan puts politics ahead of students' health, and that a one-size-fits-all training program is unlikely to benefit everyone because of individual physical differences. In response, the Ministry of Education told a press conference yesterday that the "Sunny Sports Run," is only a recommendation, not an order, and is intended to be a goal for students to accomplish. There is no time limit for how long the run should last, and students who are physically unfit for such exercise should not be compelled to participate.
The controversy should really come as no surprise, because the Ministry of Education has a history of issuing policy "recommendations" that at first glance appear to be compulsory. In June, 2007, a plan to bring coed dancing to school physical fitness programs raised an uproar before the Ministry emphasized that it was only voluntary, and earlier this year public opposition forced it to back down from a proposal to make Peking Opera part of the required curriculum.

The Beijing News quoted teachers at a city school who complained that there was no space to have all the students run. They also said that students are usually too tired to focus in class after running. Beijing has barred schools from allowing students to run in streets and alleys following reports of students involved in traffic accidents in other parts of the country.

The shocker, if you didn't "click" before you read, is the only reason this "recommendation" is getting any press is because a senior at a Beijing H.S. died while on one of these runs. Heartbreaking, because, well, to be a senior in high school is like serving your last year of a 18-year prison sentence. University, though it is no paradise, is rolling pastures and cloudless skies compared to the desolation of high school gaokao studying (reference: my students).

Leave the schools alone, Huey (my affectionate name for CCP President Hu Jin Tao). Let teachers do what they feel is right; they are the professionals! Governments with bigger fish to fry have no place telling teachers and students what they should and shouldn't do to celebrate a holiday. For God sakes, improving English pronunciation is more patriotic than cross-country treks in the middle of the afternoon.

I love and miss you all,

Phil

蓝麦飞

An exciting week awaits...

2008-09-28T04:15:00.000-04:00

你们好!

It's an strange, mixed reaction from my students when I tell them I am off to XinJiang Province for the October Break Holiday. It goes something like this,

"So is anyone going anywhere fun and exciting for October break?"

"I'm going to the Avril Lavigne concert in Chongqing!" one girl says, with many of her classmates moaning in jealousy (tickets are 500 RMB - much too expensive for the majority of my students, who seem to live at least 4 years in the past when it comes to pop music).

"That's interesting," I say. "I will be going to XinJiang Province....."

A majority of my students let out the standard Chinese "Aaaaaah" (imagine "aaaaaah" being said with a mixture of excitement and confusion - and if you know Chinese, it's in the 3rd tone). "Why are you so...surprised?" I ask. "It is a very...beautiful...place," they say, hesitating.

And from what I hear about XinJiang from former PCVs is that they are right. I actually met a freshmen student at my favorite Muslim noodle restaurant from XinJiang and he scribbled some Chinese on a piece of paper for me, all names of delicious fruits grown in the province (哈密瓜 hamigua, Cantaloupe is supposed to be especially delicious there). The initial interesting thing about this student was he was Han Chinese, the ethnic group that makes up about 92% of the population (see nearly the entire Chinese Communist government). XinJiang, other than being known for delicious fruits, is the home to the Uighur minority (I had my first exposure to the lives of Uighurs from Peter Hessler's Oracle Bones), many of which make up the 20 million or so Muslims that live in China (the Hui minority, who are Chinese-speaking Muslims spread all over China, factor into this number) , and the place where many "terrorist" bombings and attacks have been held in the last few months. The Chinese government calls these attacks "terrorism" but in actuality, they are mini-revolutions/separatist movements many XinJiangren commit to move their province out of the hands of Communist Beijing.

The issue is discussed in detail at this NPR report. In summary:

XinJiang has a lot of natural resources (oil being a big one!). The Uighur minority, for the most part, do not speak Chinese, look Chinese (I hate this comparison, but think of Borat's village), or practise the Chinese culture. They are, like Tibet, a completely different world altogether. However, unlike Tibet, people in XinJiang do not have a leader like Tibet's exiled D.L., and after 9/11, the CCP basically used the (failing?) "War on Terror" to tighten security in the region, eliminating many of the practicing Muslims' abilities to pray, practice their customs, and journey to Mecca.

So when my students hesitate with telling the foreigner (me) that XinJiang is beautiful, they give away their real feelings; the region is unstable (but don't make your country lose face while the foreigner is listening!). In fact, after teaching Act III of Hamlet this morning, my post-graduate students, who are much more open and honest with me about the way China works, flat-out said, "be careful." I don't worry at all, because they are not like the terrorists of 9/11, who wanted some Nirvana with 40 virgins - they are just wanna live the way they want to live, and sadly, resort to violence to make their case be heard around the world. Mao is the real terrorist in their minds, and his statue garnishes their cities far and wide. Has everyone forgotten Gandhi?

But it's okay. I can't blame my students for them viewing all disturbances in China as terrorism (this definition needs a lot of clarification - the world media uses much too freely!). The greatest thing about America, though it may cause countless problems always and forever, is we are a diverse people, a land of foreigners. After I left class this morning I walked out of the building and there was a parade of children, no more than 5 years old, carrying Chinese flags and cheering "Wo ai Zhongguo!" in unison - I love China! This is just another example of how China breeds defenders of all criticism from a very young age, when a 5, 10, 15, 20 year old doesn't even know if he or she really loves China (I will never for all my life forget being woken up in the morning to the kindergarten across from my apartment building leading the song "Wo ai Tiananmen"). Think about what would happen if all Americans supported Bush and his regime in everything they wanted to do! Scary thought! This is China, or the future of it, and that's equally scary. Teach your students critical thinking skills, Peace Corps Volunteers!

I am off to my first Chinese wedding tomorrow evening (more on this soon!), then XinJiang on Tuesday. I will try my best to update you while there - and if I am MIA, I return and will post sometime next weekend!

I love and miss you all,

Phil

蓝麦飞

C'mon! Speech Contests Are Great!

2008-09-26T21:00:00.000-04:00

你们好!

C'mon, PCVs! Chinese Speech Contests can be great! HAHA! 哈哈！I say this half-heartily of course, because for the most part, these competitions are 2+ hours of students making the same points over and over again, with the winner being selected almost solely based on his or her English pronunciation. Like the saying, "In the Land of the Blind, the man with 1 eye is King," these competitions normally revolve around the philosophy that "he/she that can be (patriotically) understood, wins."

But this is slowly changing in the School of Foreign Languages, and I am proud to say I feel the Peace Corps' presence and influence at Southwest University are partly (mostly?) responsible for this shift from bland to spicy.

Last year, my sitemate Devon and I were invited to judge countless speech contests. Due to our training and contracts with the school, PCVs teach almost exclusively English majors, thus we (now sitemate Kristen and I) are very familiar with the students participating, as well with the faculty judges, so having us sometimes feels like we are being spotlighted and, if one considers our roles at last night's competition, utilized to our maximum capacity. It's understood, of course; we are different, we are native speakers, popular and have a calming effect on the mostly nervous competitors, and I know even experienced teachers in our department lack full confidence in speaking the language they teach. We don't mind, especially when our prominent roles - last night at the 2008 CCTV Cup, we found ourselves being the only judges asking questions to the competitors, requiring us to really stretch our imaginations for new material - allow us to "open the cage" and letting our students' inner (and can I say, repressed?) creativity to fly out...

According to the rules, each of the 17 speakers have to read a speech he/she wrote on the competition's theme (Last night, the theme was "1 + 1 = 2?" which is a hell of a lot better than anything to do with the Olympics - the sole speech theme last year - but trust me, the Olympics found its way into almost every competitor's speech), give an impromptu answer to a prepared question, and then answer a question from a judge (There were about 8 judges, but Kristen and I did all the talking, without microphones in a classroom of about 250 students, I must say). Here are some of the questions/hilarious highlights that made this specific competition worthwhile (Quotes aren't entirely accurate, but very close):

Q: If you had an endless supply of money and resources to explore one of your curiosities and/or find a solution to one problem in the world, simply, what would you do?

A: Let me think... (Pause/10 secs.) I would put a microchip in every Pepsi can. When someone opens the Pepsi can, they would hear a voice that says "This is delicious" or "This is strawberry!" or "This is chocolate!" (She made up for this interesting answer with a big smile, which a Chinese crowd can't resist = many cheers)

Q: China just launched a maned space shuttle into space last night. Millions of Chinese watched the launch on TV. The astronauts in the shuttle waved to the camera and many people cheered (this reminded me of America's short-lived obsession with space travel 50 years ago - see above picture of my TV as I watched it). If you were an astronaut, and you could say one sentence to the millions of people around the world watching, what would you say?

A: (Pause/thinking) "I AM CHINESE PEOPLE!" (This was screamed into the microphone and then she walked immediately off stage)

Q: Everyone always asks how your generation is different from your parents' generation. How do you think the next generation - your children - will be different from your generation?

A: I think the next generation will just know things. Language will come easy to them. They will just know it. They won't have to study like us. They will just know it. It will already be in their brains. (Visions flashed through my head of Chinese scientists conducting experiments on children, implanting microchips on their brains that provide them with language skills)

The list continues: One student had a mysterious/confusing question in his speech that read, "Have you ever eaten an egg laid by a cock?" (Of course, I have been repeating this question to Kristen for the last 12 hours). One student jumped up to the podium and announced that he is not good at speech contests, but he will try to be "smelly" (he meant to say "smiley"), and another started her speech out with a sentimental story about how her father once found her mother laying on couch "mouth wide open, her teat fully exposed" (she meant to say teeth - Chinese have trouble with the "th" sound) and Kristen and I looked at each other like we were about to the hear the story of how the student was conceived! Remember, this competition was themed "1 + 1 = 2?"!

But ultimately, this competition trumped all others I've judged. The students did not have to reiterate the same Olympics propaganda and could focus on a real, creative theme that could take them in many directions. Choice was present, and because choice was present, the students ran wild and explored, discovered, and learned. Kristen and I both emphasized this point when we were asked to address the crowd after the competition concluded.

This is all being written while Obama and McCain debate back in the States. I am listening through the NPR (a god-sent in China) website. It seems like a close battle, and I hesitate to admit I think McCain will be seen as victorious in this first of three.

All for now. More on my upcoming trip in the next 2 days...

Random pictures from the last month uploaded! Tag: Beibeichaos

I love and miss you all,

Phil

蓝麦飞

Fengjie Summer Project (Part 2)

2008-07-21T01:58:00.000-04:00

你们好!

The story continues...

The 6 of us kept a pretty tight teaching schedule; morning and afternoon classes were separated by the standard 12-3:30pm xiuxi (Chinese for the Spanish siesta) and then an optional evening activity, which ranged from my installment of Pictionary (more on this later), Katie's Bingo, Ron's American Football, Candice's movie nights, Ryan and Matt's Frisbee and basketball, and of course our group effort in the beloved (and dreaded) English Corner. Fengjie, which Ryan and I affectionately named "the wet dog of China" due to its smell after it rained, has zero foreigners. How many? ZERO. So, we were like "panders" (the Chinese pronunciation for Pandas) in this little river town. Every Chinese was curious. Many stopped dead in their tracks when we walked by. Ryan, who speaks the best Chinese of us 6, practically scared the poop outta store owners who had never seen a foreigner, moreover heard one speak their language. It was unlike any spotlight I have ever experienced in my entire life, and I now understand why Brad and Angelina run away from photographers and bury themselves in little bungalows in France. However, after a while, we start to wonder exactly why so many people stare and more specifically, we ask ourselves, "what are they exactly thinking?" The simpleton points out the difference in physical appearance, but I like to believe that Chinese are more creative than given credit for. They dream big (at least the younger generations do) and when they see a foreigner, I think some sort of imaginary life teleportation occurs and their synapses fire without pause - "What would it be like to be this person? What do they know? How do they think?" All this is a single second, resulting in a frozen rope stare. This is not to say we, as foreigners, don't think the exact same thing when we see them; Americans are just better at not staring because we live in a much more diverse country (that's the New Yorker in me talking). The few Chinese that are not our students who have the courage to come and talk with us occasionally ask us if we know a way they can leave (or rather, escape) China and travel to America. This situation happened at the Wangba (Internet cafe) when a teenage boy approached Ryan and asked (in Chinese) if we knew any way he might be able to go to America. Ryan tried his best to explain to the boy our mission in China, but we never know what to say when people think we have all the answers....

Speaking of creativity, that was the theme of my classes for the past 10 days. China has publicly acknowledged the problem of it's country's lack of creativity and (half-heartedly) encourages its educators to promote creativity in it's classrooms. If you regularly read my blog, you might consider me somewhat of an antagonist in China (a distinction I am proud of) so being that I believe that I should give students (and in this case, teachers) what they need, I declared war on the old, boring style of Chinese teaching (lecture x 1000) and tried my best to show how language learning can be a exercise in creativity. Some of the older teachers looked physically out-of-place when I asked them to do a few "dramatic" activities, albeit "stand up!" Students listen and teacher talk. It has been that way for thousands of years in China, and it needs to change....

As mentioned, one simple activity I prepared for my students was Pictionary. Americans love Pictionary and I can remember watching "Win, Lose, or Draw" as a child on television. It's simple, really. You just need to visualize a word and draw a picture for it as your team shouts out what they think the word is. Ready? The word is "Queen"...GO! You might draw a woman figure with a crown, a man figure with a woman figure sitting next to him, or just a crown! These are just a few examples, but when a student was asked to draw this word, he simple drew a face, no crown, no long hair, no gender distinction. After he drew it, he looked at this team for the full 30 seconds as if they were stupid, tapping his chalk on the front board with increasing force. "Time is up!" I yelled and the crowd groaned. Of course, this is just one example, but the list of seemingly easy words they students had real trouble with goes on and on. You would think "Mao ZeDong" would be easy for a team to guess in China, but not when the drawer draws a stick figure of a man and then is perplexed as to what to draw next. Mao is on every bill of money in China for God sakes!

And I know Pictionary is not a real assessment of creativity. Neither is my similes activity; I asked students to complete the following sentences:

The man was as tall as _________.

The woman was as beautiful as ________.

The weather is HOT like ___________.

At least 75% of all the students answers were as following: a tree, a flower, the sun. Ugh! "C'mon, you can do better!"

But these students/teachers have never be asked to do such a thing before, and though had a ton of fun, I still feel many missed the point of the exercise.

Ultimately, these 10 days taught me, or rather reaffirmed to him the importance of education in the development of a country. Since many of my teachers have never performed in a classroom, they saw us 6 Peace Corps Volunteers as the way it needs to be. Some of them will never try the methodologies we taught them, while others will never look back. I know I helped a handful of teachers during these 10 days, and I hope that handful leads China out of the stagnant puddle that is their education system.

So much more can be written about this Fengjie Summer Project, but I don't have the time, finger-typing energy, or ability to recreate the zany events that occurred. Highlights (let your imagination run wild): Chinese television shows = Letterman's "Stupid Human Tricks" 24 hours/day, late night scalp massages, yelling at smokers in the elevator, explaining that spitting on the classroom floor is not appropriate, losing Bingo like it was my job, passing off fake money at Western food restaurants, flooding the bathroom, Ryan's late-night gas (ew!), female teachers telling me they don't really love their husbands, English Corner with more people who can't speak English than can, Olympic fervour leading to nausea, and finally, discovering Chinese believe the three main components of a Peanut Butter & Jelly sandwich are:

1) Vegetables

2) Bread

3) Sausage

Gotta love it!

When life gets hard, its nice to take solace in the many existing joys of humanity. I believe this video captures those beautifully: The latest Internet sensation.

Picture Tag: FengjieSummerProject

I love and miss you all,

Phil

蓝麦飞

In the above picture (left to right): Matt, Katie, Ron, Candice, Phil, and Ryan.

Fengjie Summer Teaching (Part 1)

2008-07-15T05:32:00.000-04:00

你们好!

Thanks for the patience for this long-delayed entry. If you've been under a rock in relation to this blog (or perhaps I've been the hermit), I have spent the last 10 days in Fengjie, Chongqing, for my Peace Corps summer project. I would have loved to regularly update my teaching Odyssey for you, but, well, too many games of pictionary interfered, and, frankly, Chinese Internet bars are not the ideal place to contemplate profound thoughts (insert sound of 200 Chinese gamers hocking spit in their mouths and the smell of cigarette smoke, everywhere).

But I am home via boat and bus. Fengjie County (奉节县) is a combined 8-hour journey from Beibei; a comparatively small city to Chongqing - a little over a million people, and might never be recognized as a important place in China if it weren't for its strategic location in relation to the Three Gorges Dam, the controversial massive energy supplier of Southwest China. Why controversial? Well, the Fengjie I experienced wasn't exactly Fengjie, but rather the New Fengjie, as the Old Fengjie (which supposedly can be traced back to 314 B.C.) can be found, sadly, under a few hundred meters of Yangtze River water...read the about the film inspired by the Fengjie displaced population.

But all controversy aside (in China, controversy never really is set aside), I and 5 our PCVs (Ron, Candice, Matt, Katie, and Ryan) arrived in Fengjie to teach a total of 90 middle and high school English teachers new and creative ways to teach English in their classes, as well as promote American and Chinese friendship. I assumed this assignment was right up my ally, as I love to juxtapose the teaching methodologies of East and West, and since these were English teachers, these students would be just as high-level conversationalists as my students at Southwest University. When the first class started - smiling teachers ranging from 21 to 50+ walked in and sat down in the same desks as their students - and I did my signature "GOOD MORNING!" I knew I assumed wrong. Silence. Huh? What did he say?

In a nutshell, I would make a rough estimate and claim that a solid 40% of these English teachers (again, I need to emphasize these students were employed as teachers) could barely speak complete sentences in English without some preparation. Sometimes I would only get completely irrelevant answers to slowly delivered, easily worded questions: "How are America and China different?" "I like to play basketball. Yao Ming, you know?" Of course, there were exceptions (a handful spoke beautiful English: young female twentysometimes that gawked over Ryan, Matt, and I; Matt being married to Katie, Ryan and I being the only single, young Americans) but a majority of the older teachers, mostly men who looked strangely similar - comb-over hair style, polo shirt tucked into slacks with the signature Chinese man-belt buckle, beer belly with rotting, cigarette stained teeth (cigarette breaks were essential) - rarely participated and when they did, it made me want to yell, "YOU ARE AN ENGLISH TEACHER!?" (Much more on this phenomena) But I was patient and tried my best to deal with first real taste of low-level students...

Spoiler-alert! The 10 days was incredibly successful. This is "Part 1" because it's 11pm and I am exhausted from a day of traveling. Tomorrow: Part 2 with all those great stories and crazy, profound thoughts.

Pictures (my camera; most of the best pictures were taken by Ryan, which will hopefully arrive on my electronic doorstep in the next few days) Tag: FengjieSummerProject

I love and miss you all,

Phil

蓝麦飞

Interesting links:

Terrorism and the Olympics

New York Times article

Richard Gere and the Prom

2008-06-23T21:02:00.000-04:00

你们好!

No, Richard Gere did not surprise Devon at her Oral English Class's end-of-the-year American-style Prom....but judging from Mr. Gere's latest run-in with the Chinese (Han) people, I think it would have been pretty awesome!

For the last 2 months or so, Devon has been planning "The Prom" - as she refers to it - for her 2nd-year English majors in celebration of the their year together and, of course, Devon's exodus from "this fuckin' country" - as she refers to it while sardined on a public bus. The students prepared dances and songs (the trite/overplayed "Beijing Welcomes You" (worst song ever) juxtaposed to some "sexy dances" (my favorite!) that belonged in a raunchy strip club rather than a conservative Chinese university auditorium) and honored Devon in their cute, American middle school-esque ways. During several parts of the night, I had to remind myself I was a University English teacher, especially when the students thought it would be funny to vote the King and Queen of the Prom - two male students. "Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!" they screamed when they finally got both men on stage. "Ugh," I thought. This with absolutely no alcohol consumed.

The "free dancing" part started after about 2 1/2 hours (the entire Prom was 3 hours long) so I still think 95% of these "kids" are baffled at what an actual American-style Prom is, but that's okay, because it was fun and more importantly, Devon had a blast being "rich and famous". We both know these memories, though strange and sometimes extremely awkward, are the moments we will never forget...

Returning to Richard Gere (I know, terrible transition), he and his (possibly subliminal) political views have entered the Middle Kingdom by way of the Fiat's new Lancia Delta luxury car. In a recent ad (click for the YouTube video - btw, it is blocked in China), Mr. Gere drives his new Lancia Delta through the Hollywood Hills, which magically transform into the Himalayan Mountains where he exits the car and plays in the snow with some (assumed Ti betan-style) Buddhist monks. The loyal and excessively patriotic Chinese bloggers jumped all over Gere, who is a Buddhist and has spoke out against the Chinese gov't violent (and smoke-screened) crackdown of Ti bet earlier this year. Fiat, unlike Sharon Stone, who said the Sichuan Earthquake was "karma" for the Ti betan crackdown, has not formally apologized and will continue to air the ads in Europe and the States. Why? Well, because Fiat doesn't sell cars their cars in China, and since the ad doesn't have a political message (at least in my opinion; or will Buddhism and/or Buddhist monks/children always be associated with the "Free Ti bet" movement?) why should Fiat apologize? This is proof, again, that the Chinese Blog Army think there is some secret conspiracy by the West to keep China down, down, down. Message boards on Youtube list the arguments for miles and there is always one that appears over and over again: "Roads in Ti bet? Guess who built those roads? The Chinese!" Interesting....But at what/who's expense were those highways paved?...that reminds me of something...

When I was teaching 11th-grade English at Forestville High School in 2005, we read Elie Wiesel's Night, a memoir of a Jewish child's traumatic years as a prisoner in a Nazi concentration camp. While planning my lessons, I couldn't help but list all other genocides that had occurred in history, most notably the Native Americans bloody interactions with early American settlers/explorers. About that time, the situation in Darfur was heating up, and continues to burn white hot today. I asked my students the most important question any teacher teaching the Holocaust can ask: "Why are we reading this?" Why do we study and burn these terrible atrocities of man into our minds and memories? Why do we need to see the pictures of bodies stacked, lifeless faces behind barbwire, beautiful, spiritual birds locked forever in cages because their God is not the God of the majority? We need to - because we must make sure it never happens again.

And all this is happening right now...

But who cares, right? Let's just DANCE!

I love and miss you all,

Phil

蓝麦飞

Last Week of Year #1

2008-06-20T05:12:00.000-04:00

你们好!

At 11:30am this morning, I finished my last class of the spring semester, thus concluding my first year of teaching in China. It's a nice feeling, I suppose. After various songs the students prepared and me handing out coins from America and Canada as sentimental keepsakes, I reassured to my students that it's not "goodbye" since I will return for another year at 西南大学, so the result was not as emotional as Devon's final class in China, which held her up for a solid 30 minutes due to autographs and pictures. After the pandemonium, we ate (strange, but delicious) Muslim noodles with Dicaprio and his girlfriend, Mary, and walked to the bus stop:

"I wonder how we would have felt if we learned at 20 (the average age of our students) we would be spending the death rattle of our twenties in Chongqing, China, teaching and eating unidentifiable foods for lunch?"

"Are you kiddin' me? When I was 20, I was certain I would be rich and famous by 30..."

"Well, you kinda are....对不对? Right?"

"Hmmm, I guess so..." Devon confirmed with a smile, carrying a bag full of Bon Voyage gifts from her students. Thus, her two years in a Chinese university classroom - the last two years of her twentysomethings - ended.

This week was fun and exciting for my students, and after Thursday afternoon's class, also incredibly nerve racking! So, after conducting hundreds of "Oral English Interviews" for my students (The truth is: My class is called "Oral English" but retrospectively, the class should have been called "Western Culture") I decided we all needed some fun on our last day together. I took the students outside and we played some games with simple materials (rubber band/straw relay, egg/spoon relay) and finally, since none of my classes managed to break any of the 6 or so eggs I brought in for the egg/spoon race, I thought it wold be fun to have a good, old fashioned egg toss. On Wednesday, a young female student managed to catch the egg on her face, exploding in her hair and on her shirt (much to the enjoyment of her peers) and so I thought this would be the sole glitch of the week's egg-related activities (For all the week's remaining egg toss participants, I showed them how to catch an egg without using his/her body - or in this unfortunate girl's case, her face - as a backboard). I was wrong.

On Thursday afternoon, in a slight drizzle, I found myself participating in an egg toss with a student named Wayne, who happened to be the captain of the Foreign Language Department's student basketball team. I thought, "This is the time to set a distance record...how far can we stand apart before this little egg breaks?" I threw one toss from about 30 feet and with Wayne's good hands, we succeed. The crowd of about 50 students, which had doubled as Wayne and I moved past 20 feet, cheered loudly. It was Wayne's turn, and since we were approaching the end of class, I decided to really make this last toss spectacular - so I backed up to about 45 feet. I told Wayne that he really had to throw it....because if he doesn't heave it hard enough, I am not running in for it, adding to its impact, and thus walking home with egg snot all over me. Now, I don't know if anyone has ever throw an egg to a partner from any significant distance, but the best way to do it is similar to the motion of rolling a bowling bowl, smooth and graceful with power and accuracy. Wayne, unfortunately, had none of these qualities when he launched (literally! LAUNCHED!) the egg to me. The egg, which must have left Wayne's hand at 70 mph, zoomed up and to the right and found its way to the 3rd floor windows of the Foreign Language Building, smashing with fury . The crowd laughed uncontrollably and I, initially shocked that such a bad throw was possible, ran to my bag to get a towel and told Wayne to go up there, clean the window and say he was sorry. I thought, "Well, that's it! It was fun while it lasted. Some high-ranking Communist Party official is probably in that classroom delivering a lecture about China's 'harmonious society' and suddenly an egg smashes against his classroom window. I am heading home...America, here I come!" But luckily, the classroom was for self-study and no class was going on. The window, however, was the kind that simply doesn't open, so the yoke and egg snot dripped down, down, down, again, to the amusement of the crowd, especially when the students in the classroom came to the window, staring down at the crowd. Luck was on my side, as the rain started to grow, eventually cleaning the window and dispersing the crowd..."Wow!" I thought, stunned.

So, has anyone ever successfully "egged" a Chinese University Classroom building? Cause I have....and as I sit here typing to you, I won't lie, it felt good...

See some pictures (before the mayhem): Picture TAG: lastdayyear1

Also, within those pictures, check out what happens when Phil gets stung on the right hand by a Chinese hornet while hanging up his laundry...

This link exemplifies my problem with this country: click and listen.

Avoid the Chinese Egg Toss...

I love and miss you all,

蓝麦飞

Chengdu TOT (Training Of Trainees)

2008-06-18T10:40:00.000-04:00

你们好!

About 24 hours ago, I returned via train to Beibei from 四川大学 in Chengdu, capital city of Sichuan Province and home of Peace Corps China. I was asked to return to Chengdu (if you can remember, I spent my first two months in Chengdu as a Peace Corps Trainee) to participate in TOT - several cultural and educational sessions in preparation for the incoming China 14's - as well as check off my mid-service medical/dental exams. It was a wild weekend of identifying and correcting dozens cultural misunderstandings that many of the next group of trainees might initially experience as they slowly adapt to their new life in China. I would say 80% of the weekend was spent comparing the Chinese university classroom to that of the American, but, have no fear, adventure was had, and most of it dealt with two things: Delicious Western Food and (perhaps in relevance to) having a my first dentist experience in a foreign country.

The Chinese dentist office has always amazed me. I am not sure what percentage of Chinese people I regularly interact with on a daily basis have ever visited a dentist, but judging from appearance alone, the number is not high. Many fine excuses can be made, but when fake teeth are sold on the street by a man with a megaphone, you know dentistry isn't the biggest priority for most of my students and their families. In all honesty, I have always feared having to visit the dentist in China (who wants to visit the dentists anywhere!) because it seems to be a very public experience. In America, when one visits the dentist, he or she is normally taken into a private room where 4 walls enclose you with the dentist and his/her assistants. In China, privacy is not much of an option. I was seated in a large room, no larger than the size of my living room, which held 4 dentist chairs. When I finally stretched out and rested back, I notice 3 others having their teeth inspected simultaneously. As for the work, I was told I had 1 small cavity and was given the option to fill it now or "wait and see." In a very self-surprising move, I put 100% trust in the dentist, who spoke decent English, and ask for her opinion. "We can do it now," she said, and thus began. "Shot or no shot?" she asked. "I think a little pain is good for everyone," I said stubbornly, remembering I was in Sichuan Province where about 60,000 people died in the last month due to the May 12th earthquake. "什么?" she asked, "What?" "No shot, please" And she began the process of filling a cavity, which I will say, was not an incredibly different experience from what I remember it being in America. When all was drilled, filled and cleaned, I said thanks, tried my best to explain to her the plot of Little Shop of Horrors (a great dentist movie! Classic Steve Martin!) and I was off to enjoy yet another meal from Pete's Tex-Mex and Grill, probably the best western food in China. The Texas Whopper and chocolate peanut butter milkshake consisted of probably 75% of my food intake in the last 4 days. It was justified too, since my teeth were nice and clean and, according to Peace Corps records, I have lost 9 pounds (probably of pure muscle) in the last year....

This is the last week of classes so I am ending with a bang, or rather a "splat" - the class concludes with a great egg toss (one student today managed to successfully catch a raw egg with her face, much to the enjoyment of her peers) and a brief letter (abridged below) I wrote to all my students, concerning what I have learned in China this past year:

June 18-20, 2008

My students, friends, and teachers:

I think all good lessons begin with a story...

Some of my greatest memories from my first year in China took place on a train. Trains are interesting – we don't use trains very often in America, so you must imagine how exciting they are for me as a foreigner – and, though many of you might consider riding them long and boring, I think there is a lot to be learned from riding on a train. On Tuesday, from Chengdu to Beibei, I sat next to three children: 1, 3, and 5 years old. All were incredibly cute, smiling, and full of curiosity and life! But I noticed something unique about how these three children interacted with their parents. The 1-year-old could barely do much but just sit in her mother's arms, opening her mouth to accept her bottle of milk. The 3-year old screamed and cried, thrashing his arms and running through the aisle. The only way his parents could keep him still in his seat was give him candy and snacks, which he accepted without even looking at what his parents were giving him. The 5-year-old was my favorite (I think I speak Chinese at a 5 y/o level) because she would take a long look at the food her mother was trying to give her before she put it in her mouth. When her mother asked her to do something, she would say, "Why?"

After playing with these three kids for 4 hours, I think I learned just as much about myself and the world as I did from my past year in China. At what stage of our lives do to stop looking at this complicated/curious world int he way children do? Why do we occasionally act like the 1-year-old, dependant and helpless, and the 3-year-old, full of energy but accepting of everything others feed us? When did we stop being like the 5-year-old, who questioned everything?

Some important lessons I learned in the past year (you may agree or disagree with me. Different opinions are good.) ~

- You don't know who you are or where you live until you meet people unlike yourself.
- "That what is common to all is proper to none."
- It's good to be angry when you see injustice. And it is even better to fight it, as long as you use your mind and not your muscles. Truth is the most dangerous weapon.
- Creative wisdom defeats endless knowledge in every battle.

- You can’t truly love something until you've seen the world without it.

And the letter continues....Carpe Diem!

I love and miss you all,

蓝麦飞

莎士比亚的火锅 Shakespeare's Hot Pot

2008-06-13T07:19:00.000-04:00

你们好!

The spring semester is coming to an end at Southwest University and as June slowly turns into July, I will have completed my first year living and working in The People's Republic of China. More reflections on my first year in China will arrive soon...

Tomorrow morning, I'll jump on a bus to Chengdu (about a 4 hour trip) to attend a weekend meeting in preparation for an upcoming PST (Pre-Service Training) session I will be delivering at the end of August for the new Peace Corps "14" Volunteers. A month of so ago, the PC staff asked the current volunteers to submit ideas for a 90-minute session that they feel might be beneficial for the incoming trainees. Having a background in education and, at least in my eyes, feeling confident that my action-oriented teaching philosophy is a nearly-perfect fit for the creativity-deprived Chinese University Classroom, I submitted the idea of using "Drama as Pedagogy" (The title of one of my favorite classes in Graduate School). I guess that was a little too specific for the PC staff so instead I was awarded with a "Teaching Literature" session, which is great, since probably my greatest accomplishment in China thus far has been the dream I set out to fulfill from Day 1: teach Shakespeare in China. So, since "how to teach literature in China" has been on my mind, as well my 1-year anniversary, I thought it would be best to thank my post-graduate English Literature and Education students for making Shakespeare Club both possible and a raging success. So, how do we celebrate in Chongqing? Yep! You guessed it! HOT POT!

So, I proudly introduce to you the 1st-ever Southwest University Shakespeare Club (pictured above - with a few missing due to scheduling conflicts!).

Picture TAG: ShakespeareClubHOTPOT

More soon! Including my upcoming summer plans/future adventures in 中国.

I love and miss you all,

Phil

蓝麦飞

6-Word Memoirs, Dancing, and Chongqing's "Pre-heating"

2008-06-03T03:27:00.000-04:00

你们好!

Chongqing is gettin' HOT! As mentioned in previous entries, Chongqing is considered one of China's "ovens" as temperatures soar into the 40's (around 100+ degrees Fahrenheit). Devon and I never forget our cold water, ceiling fans turned to maximum speed and tiny packages of tissue (which everyone uses as toilet paper) to mop up the sweat that drips (literally, drips!) from our faces, soaking our clothes, making us feel like we need a shower after every class; How do you do it, Peace Corps Africa?

This past week was exciting: I decided to test some new, creative ideas/methods on my students (we only have 3 more weeks left of classes) I had learned from graduate school, as well as from various newspaper clippings sent ever so graciously from Mike Razem in Canada. One such newspaper clipping (Toronto Star, 3/15/08) told the story behind a creative writing phenomenon that is intriguing the English-speaking world (other languages too, I presume) called the 6-word memoir. As legend says, Ernest Hemingway was challenged to write a novel in 6 words. Known as a "master of minimalism," Hemingway came up with: "For Sale: Baby shoes, never worn." Interesting! So, why not ask my English-major students to do the same about their lives? Any good teacher knows the best way to get through to his/her students is to first understand who exactly his/her students are (a task especially hard when your students live 8000 miles from anything you consider normal), so why not have them experiment with their buried (but nonetheless, existing) creative juices and produce their own tales with only 6 English words. My favorites:

"Happiness and sorrow are always together"

"Don't cry - you are not alone!"

"on off on off on off"

"Changed both in characteristic and temper"

"Know the world outside of campus" (my favorite after teaching here for a year!)

"In skirt, into a new stage" (reference to her starting to wear skirts, thus becoming a true lady...what would Hillary Clinton say about this?!)

"Knock knock! Who's there? No idea!"

"So lucky to study in College" (approx. 30% of students in high school go on to college)

"Stop! Stop! I have to change!"

"Two friends just stand there silently"

"No! No! No! ...Oh yes! Perfect!" (It's about basketball, perverts!)

"My knowledge went to the dump!" (reference to his intellectual awakening in college)

"Baby, kid, girl, lady, lady lady..." (reference to the Chinese female desire of never wanting to become a "woman": a word that means you're old and no longer beautiful and "fresh")

Many were in reference to the May 12th Earthquake: "Natural, man-made calamities: misery, awake, united"

With some politics as well: "Taiwan Island - A part of China!" Yikes!

Overall, the assignment was exciting and enlightening. There are many pictures of the front backboard from all my classes if you are interested in more Chinese university students' 6-word memoirs. Picture TAG: 6wordmemoirsandmore

Also, there are some pictures of Devon's final project before departing China - A Prom! She is teaching her students how to dance! This morning I assisted her in deomstration of the Macarana! How do I remember how to do this stuff? Many laughs!

On a final note: As many of you know, I read a lot of CNN.com. I do this because I both dislike and distrust the state-censored Xinhua News Agency, especially due to stories like this (not reported!) concerning the ANGRY (a great word to hear while living in China) parents of children killed in shoddy school buildings. There was one part of this article that made me especially interested:

An Associated Press reporter and two photographers covering the protest were forcibly dragged up the steps into the courthouse by police trying to prevent them from seeing the demonstration. "The parents were here to give their report to the court," said one police officer who refused to give his name. Calls to local police were not answered Tuesday. The protest happened while Chinese leader Li Changchun, the country's fifth-ranked ruler, was touring other parts of the city. The official Xinhua News Agency said Li was checking heritage sites damaged in the earthquake. An official from the foreign affairs office of the local government, Zao Ming, said "this is not a good place to do interviews ... In a disaster like this, there will be a lot of opinions. The government will solve their problems."
There were several Japanese reporters at the courthouse. One witness who did not want to be identified said the police told the parents "the Japanese are reporting bad things about you."

There is, if one doesn't already know, a supreme hatred of Japanese by many Chinese. A majority of my students, during a lesson on stereotypes this semester, called them "shitheads" and "lying dogs." This is China's "harmonious society"? This is what happens when people seek justice in an unjust world.

My 6-word Memoir: "Above money, love...give me Truth"

I love and miss you all,

Phil

蓝麦飞

Shakespeare Club Finale

2008-05-29T12:37:00.000-04:00

你们好!

As many of you know, this entire semester, at 7pm on Tuesdays in the post-graduate room of the Southwest University Foreign Language Building, I held an optional class for lovers of the Bard. This past Wednesday, after several cancellations due to the aftermath of the May 12th earthquake, the final installment of Shakespeare was held...with gusto! I recruited my sitemate and dear friend, Devon, to assist me in the final 3 acts of Twelfth Night; usually I read long passages aloud while explaining motives, asking questions, etc., and "performing" in both male and female voices. As to facilitate the reading load, as well as give my loyal students a final exciting treat, no longer did my students/friends have to hear me reading the part of Olivia, lovesick for Viola (Ceasario), wailing with her "oh's" and "ah's" (strikingly similar to Orsino's Petrarchan moahs! - but that's a whole different story!). When you are a foreigner in China reading a play about men playing the roles of women playing the roles of men, you can't be afraid to get your feet wet with ridiculousness...

Anyways, Devon and I, without any rehearsal, finished the last three acts (53 pages) within 90 minutes (along with 3 bottles of water) to the applause of the crowd. It was a lovely moment for us to share and remember. I've talked about Shakespeare Club all semester (the sole reason for my Chinese sanity!) and it was nice to end it with Devon, who will be leaving China in 42 days (She, as well as the other China "12s's" have started the countdown). Back to Bean-town for her, and another year in the Middle Kingdom for me. New sitemate: August 2008.

I have been contemplating this blog in previous days, trying to understand its role in this adventure I am living as Peace Corps Volunteer. Blogs sure are interesting; sometimes I find myself using this blog as a motivator to do strange and exciting things in China - both in and out of the classroom - simply to be able to report interesting and out-of-the-ordinary events, reactions, and feelings to you (who "you" are, I have no idea. For all I know, about 10 close friends and family members actively read this blog, but in my utopia, its glanced over by a few strangers as well). It works, as I find myself bringing my camera to the classroom in hopes of capturing something that people on the (literal) other side of the world might find strange, humorous, and/or revelatory. A good friend of mine, Eric from Fredonia/Long Island, sent me this article from the NYT Magazine yesterday and even though the writer's blog has a strikingly different objective from my own, she, more or less, sums it this blogging experience beautifully:

I think most people who maintain blogs are doing it for some of the same reasons I do: they like the idea that there's a place where a record of their existence is kept — a house with an always-open door where people who are looking for you can check on you, compare notes with you and tell you what they think of you. Sometimes that house is messy, sometimes horrifyingly so. In real life, we wouldn't invite any passing stranger into these situations, but the remove of the Internet makes it seem O.K.

Possibly, blogs are virtual life-enhancers. They do motivate us to live and think and breathe with as much -and I will use this word again - gusto as possible. This last 11 months has been the wildest roller coaster of my life, and this blog makes it feel as if the brakes have suddenly gone out and the seat belts popped open, yet my hands are still in the air as I plunge up and down through the gratifying highs and helpless lows. So, I will continue, even if my mom is my only person in the world who spends more than a few minutes reading/thinking about these entries...

I love and miss you all,

Phil

蓝麦飞

Earthquake! 地震

2008-05-13T00:28:00.000-04:00

你们好!

First, thank you for all the e-mails, Facebook/MySpace messages, etc. in concern for the developing situation here in China. I am safe and secure, writing you from my apartment in Beibei, Chongqing. Official Peace Corps Statement:

"[Yesterday at 2:30pm Beijing-time], an earthquake registering 7.9 on the Richter scale occurred 55 miles northwest of the Peace Corps/China office in Chengdu, Sichuan province. There are currently 111 Peace Corps Volunteers serving in China. Individual Volunteers and local counterpart schools have collectively reported that all Volunteers are safe."

I am located approx. 175 miles from Chengdu and roughly 250 miles from the epicenter of the Earthquake (Wenchuan; where 1/3 of its buildings collapsed). I apologize for my lack of "creative spirit" in writing this blog entry; I am incredibly tired after spending part of the night with students on several of the sports fields, where they camped out in fear of aftershocks (see above picture). The stories were ambiguous and terrible. One of Devon's students approached me as I walked through the crowd of twentysomethings - thousands sprawled out on newspapers, some with laptops playing music and movies, others playing guitars and setting up camping and makeshift tents - and told me that he thinks his whole village was destroyed today. "Have you spoken to your parents or family yet?" I ask him. "No" he said, "The phones are out (which they were for most of the day, sending thousands into paranoid mode) and I just need to hope they are okay." What do you say to a kid like this? He is speaking English to a foreigner he barely knows, trying to smile, telling him that his entire family could be dead...I consoled him, wished him good luck and left him with his friends....I just got off the phone with Devon. She tells me that her classes were cancelled this morning because some students have "lost people," as quoted from her class monitor. This is being typed approx. 23 hours after the quake....the personal stories, unfortunately, will continue...

A school in Sichuan Province, with 900 8th-graders inside, collapsed...

In Mianyang county alone, approx. 5000 people have died...

CNN is reporting up to 10000 people total...

23 hours ago I was finishing some jidanchaofan (egg friend rice) and feeling tired, ready to take a short nap before I went with Devon to her class to observe her students' midterm presentations. I had stripped down to my boxers (its presently about 75 degrees in Chongqing; the air conditioning is on) and rested on my bed reading "Wild Grass" by Ian Johnson. There is when I noticed a slightly squeaking on the bed and the open drawers of my closet beginning to rumble. "What the F*#@ is this?" I thought after I determined it wasn't the water in the pipes or the neighbors' washing machine spinning out-of-control. I got up from the bed and just sat there, feeling the ground vibrate. Suddenly, people outside started screaming and doors were slamming. "Oh Sh*t" I thought as I made my way to my shorts and t-shirt. I slipped some sandals on, grabbed my key, and ran outta there like the wind. My building, which I suspect was built in the 1950's or 60's, is not what anyone would consider "earthquake proof." It's the standard cracked Communist concrete box-style, waiting for the wrecking ball and an ambitious Chinese architect and contractor...

Outside there were already people gathering, holding their newborns and toddlers, the kindergarten across from the courtyard was evacuated and XiaoPengyou (literally "little friends") ran around like it was all a game. I sprinted over to Devon's apartment, in fear of, well, anything and everything, and she was outside as well, next to men in their underwear putting on pants and women holding pots of food they had just removed from the stove. "Was that an Earthquake?" we asked each other...

It was and it was our first....7.9 at its climax

Devon's class was cancelled, we walked to a local restaurant and ate a early dinner, watching the news and trying to understand what the Chinese media was saying about the earthquake. As the night grew dark, Devon returned to her apartment and I wandered through the playing fields looking for students. I returned to my apartment at about 1am and slept through (supposedly) 2 more small aftershocks (a fellow PCV has just told me that he was evacuated from his apartment at 2am and 4am).

The stories will continue...

Again, I am safe. Check back in the coming days...

I love and miss you all,

Phil

蓝麦飞

二00八 U.S.A Presidential Election Lecture at Southwest University

2008-05-08T07:01:00.000-04:00

你们好!

For the last few weeks I have been planning a very special lecture for the students of the Foreign Language Department concerning the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election. Having never been an advocate of Microsoft Powerpoint (I believe it is more of a sleep aid than a learning tool), I have been following the Chinese Lecture Guidelines (which requires professors to use PP in their classes; add it to the list of criticisms!) and piecing together information, pictures, and multimedia that would educate Southwest University students about the importance and historic implications of the upcoming American elections. Finally, after all was copy-and-pasted together, the date was set (this past Wednesday) and it was time to tell my students what voting is (and more importantly, feels like).

I arrived at the lecture building around 6:35pm (25 minutes early; plenty of time to set up the PP and arrange the multimedia on the virus-filled computer system) and was greeted by Cinderella (yes, that's her English name...) at the entrance as she announced, "Everyone is waiting!" "Doesn't the lecture start at 7?" I asked. "Yes, but you are so popular!" (Note: I would like think that I am not popular, but the subtlest taste of freedom and democracy - even if it comes from a 40+ slide PP Presentation - was the real attraction) When I walked into the room - which seats about 120 students comfortably - about 150 + students were lining the aisles and pooping their heads through the windows. I was later told this phenomena wasn't due to the lecture topic, but my irresistible good looks...one male student in the crowd even announced I was "hot" during the Q&A (possibly inspired by my slide on the candidates' opinions on gay rights in America - 哈哈 - more on this later...)

I was happy to recruit 6 young American teachers (including Devon) to attend the lecture, promoting the diverse opinions and debate that American politics is founded on. I moved through the slides, explaining the structure of the U.S. Government and the process of electing the President. After explaining the Electoral College, Primary Elections, and SuperDelegates in the simplest terms (not an easy feat!) and briefly analyzing the 2004 Election results, we entered the realm of the 2008 Presidential Candidates and the issues they face when/if they are elected President. Sparing you all the complicated details on universal health care, "staying the course", No Child Left Behind, and Roe Vs. Wade, the students at the end of the lecture voted on the issues they thought would be the most important to them if they were Americans eligible to vote in this upcoming election. Below is the results, from the highest to lowest priority:

The War in Iraq

Education

The Economy

The Environment

Health care

Terrorism/Homeland Security

Illegal Immigration

Guns

Abortion

Gay Rights

The most "ahhhh" inspired issues were most certainly the bottom three. Guns are illegal in China (as you might imagine...), Abortion is somewhat common (Population is a problem, very little sex ed. is given to students during their middle/high school years, and of course, religion is not a factor in China), and Gay Rights, well, is a big joke to most of these students. They refer to, let's say, Elton John, as "a gay" and almost every time the issue comes up I always ask them 3 questions, all demanding a "yes" because, well, the truth is important... "Are there Gay People in China?" "Are there Gay people in Chongqing?" "Are there Gay people at Southwest University?" YES YES YES! and I thought America had a long way to go...

After all was said and done, the students voted on who they thought would be the best President (Note: Roughly 80% of the crowd could not recognize John McCain when they saw his picture, nor did they know someone else was running for President besides Hillary and Obama, so naturally, we foreign teachers had a lot of explaining to do...) and the results are as follows:

Obama 88

Clinton 66

McCain 7

So Obama was elected, mostly due to his "international education" and "deep voice". Ugh. Many of the women in the crowd were surprised when Devon announced she was supporting Obama and not Hillary, and she gave a brief but important speech about how being a woman doesn't mean you always need to support the female candidate. It's my freedom to choose. Tyler, most acting, chose not to vote, again to exercise his freedom. Anna supported Hillary (many applause), Kristina abstained (freedom!), and Brian chose McCain and gracefully justified it. (Note: I am almost certain why many of the students immediately discredited McCain from the running. During the "Candidate Profile" section, everyone gasped when they learned McCain would be 72 years old in August. "He might DIE!" One student this week told me that he walks and talks like his "dying great-grandfather").

The Q&A followed and we Americans were ready for the firestorm of questions about CNN, Ti bet, Tai wan, that guy from Ti bet whose name I can't type here, etc. But unfortunately, very few controversial questions were asked. Honestly, I was perplexed. I am usually flooded with these questions, all which I must answer (unhappily) with a "I can't talk about this. I am sorry."

But then I learned why...

The coordinator, Cinderella, who informed me that she needed to make an announcement before the lecture in order to inform the students that they must "turn their cell phones off" actually told them NOT to ask "sensitive [political] questions" in very quick Chinese. This was right after Devon, on her way to the lecture, was stopped by a SWU teacher and briefly lectured (for the 3rd time) about the importance of being "sensitive" during this lecture. Ugh (x100)

And, unfortunately, that's all I can say about that....

One student, during the Q&A, simply said he would vote for the candidate that loves China the most. I told him that I didn't know which candidate loved China the most and that he should do some research into the subject. However, I did know the answer, but didn't have the guts/heart to say it to the crowd. 1 2 3 The answer: None of the above.

Picture TAG: 2008PresidentialElectionLecture

I love and miss you all,

Phil

蓝麦飞

News Around 中国 (and the 世界)

2008-04-22T21:54:00.000-04:00

你们好!

I am hesitant to talk about world events on this "playful" blog; if you really know me, you'll understand how constraining that is. If the New York Times was a hot dog (and either was available in Chongqing 重庆), I would be Joey Chesnut.

But sometimes I can't resist. When one lives in a place far from home for an extended amount of time, his or her home country's news steadily grows more interesting - not because of the magnitude of the actual events, but because, especially in my case, it is being reported in a completely different voice. "Voice" is a concept I've taught to university freshmen and sophomore English Composition students at SUNY Fredonia, and it's important on all levels of writing. Shakespeare would most likely be a terrible journalist (Imagine a newspaper article about foreign affairs with rich poetry and allusion to country pastoral life!) and some of the best journalists, keen on objectivity, would write novels or plays that explain a tale rather than tell one. A writer's voice is especially important when writing about Sino-West relations, because, well, things aren't really going too well right now...

And, in my opinion, there is only one way to know the truth, and that is being confrontational about all sources, including your home country's. One country, in my opinion, needs to work on this skill more than another. There isn't a conspiracy to "keep China down" as so many Chinese netizens claim. I want China to rise too, especially when I am carelessly passed by black Audis with black tinted windows and respectfully walk by the vegetable/fish/eel/dofu sellers outside my apartment on my way to school. No country on this planet is "harmonious" - Moore's Utopia is a great fictional work - and no country in the modern world will always have beautiful prancing unicorns under perpetual rainbows. Racism and discrimination exists everywhere, including China. Stories like this, which are absent from the Chinese media reports, are true and yes, they do tarnish China and worry me/us. I am a dreamer, people of the world, but sometimes I must be a realist.

I am a volunteer, recruited by both the American and Chinese governments, and I am thoroughly enjoying my time teaching and living in China. This is a fascinating country and I feel I write warmly about (most) of my experiences here. As a creative, warm-hearted person who wants more than anything to live in a harmonious world, I find it especially difficult to bottle things in when so much smoke is filling the room and thousands of mirrors are redirecting the obvious for personal gain. In the words of Iago from Shakespeare's Othello (a character I do not see myself as nor strive to be): I am not what I am.

Keep it in mind when you read about my future "amazing" experiences in China...

I love and miss you all,

Phil

蓝麦飞

Hip Hop in the Chinese Classroom

2008-04-15T00:26:00.000-04:00

你们好!

"As many of you know, 1/2 of our class is dedicated to learning about American/foreign culture with the aim of helping you all become "world citizens". Today's topic is an interesting one – Hip Hop. Popular in various forms all over the world, Hip Hop is a culture and form based on creative expression using both music and words! Many people believe that Hip-Hop (similar but different to Rap music) is the closest art form related to both music and poetry. As we will learn today, Hip Hop can be fun, but true hip-hop is serious, tells stories about problems, frustrations, and societal troubles. Today, I will demonstrate both examples for you in class..."

If you are an avid reader of this blog, you will remember back to my stories about Bevon, the introverted Chinese Rapper/Hip-Hop artist of Southwest University. Since then, I never thought I would have the opportunity to write about Hip-Hop again on this blog (moreover, ever again for the rest of my life), but here I am, using it in my Chinese university classroom as a tool for promoting creative expression through each student's personal poetry.

My English-major students' midterm assignment is to write and "perform" an original Narrative Poem (A poem that tells a story...) for the class. I used Hip-Hop to explain this concept to my students for two reasons: first, Hip-Hop, as described above, is confrontational (a word I LOVE to use in China, as opposed to being "harmonious" all the time) and full of extroverted emotion and second, Chinese "Hip-Hop" is NOT Hip-Hop, but catchy "harmonious" pop music where Chinese dudes dress like they are from the Bronx and sing really fast. "How many of you like Hip-Hop?!" I ask my students. Everyone's hands raise. I then ask, "What is Hip-Hop?!" "When the singer sings really fast!" they shout together. "NOOOOOOOOO! WRONG!" I yell. (They laugh because I'm mimicking/mocking their middle school teachers when a student said the wrong answer).

I used two songs: Gym Class Heroes' "Cupid's Chokehold" - a Top 10 hit of this past year, very poppy about love with "fast singing" - and 2Pac Shakur's "Brenda's Got A Baby" - a tragic narrative from one of Hip-Hop greatest orators (pictured above) about a 12 y/o girl who gets pregnant, loses her family to drugs, nearly kills her newborn baby, turns to selling drugs, gets robbed, becomes a prostitute and inevitably is "slain" in public, leaving her child behind, alone. WoW! Click on the song's title to listen and view the videos...

As you might imagine, in a country where Mariah Carey and Titanic are still incredibly popular, watching a video in which a young poor black girl is pregnant and viciously murdered is not a standard scenario for the English/American Culture classroom. I actually saw students tear up. And, I am not ashamed to say it, I was proud of their reaction, and I was proud of myself for being unconventional and yes, confrontational. Conversation after the video was limited, a few brief deep breathes, and class continued on. "Does this type of thing happen in America?" "Yes," they reply. "Does this type of thing happen in China?" I ask. A brief pause. "Yes," one or two people say. "Good," I say, "Yes, it does..."

And it does...

"Be this the whetstone of your sword. Let grief/

Convert to anger. Blunt not the heart; enrage it."

~Macbeth. Act IV.

I love and miss you all,

Phil

蓝麦飞

Middle School Celebrity

2008-04-01T22:14:00.000-04:00

你们好!

A few nights ago, I was (very carefully) sent via Skype a pirated copy of Woody Allen's "Celebrity": a clever, introspective tragi-comedy from the mind of the eccentric Allen who creates a world where everyone - everyone except his fumbling protagonist (Kenneth Branagh) - is famous. It is a sort of Topsy Turvy interpretation of Warhol's "15 minutes" quote. Anyways, it was a decent flick (I am a big Woody Allen fan; "Annie Hall" is immortal) and after it was over, I went about my daily routine. If only I knew 48 hours later I would be drowning in students' notebooks and already uncapped pens, feelin' like thousands were pleading me for an autograph, I would have paid closer attention to Allen's subtle message.

Yesterday, having no classes in the morning or afternoon and Shakespeare Club not until 7pm, I ventured to NanPing (南坪) to observe some middle school classes taught by Decaprio and his girlfriend, Mary, who are doing their student teaching. Student teaching was an arduous semester for me, so, hoping I could assist my friends in their experience, I promised to make the journey (about 2 hours by bus) and say a few kind words about them to their cooperating teachers and students. Simple, right? (Cough cough) Nothing is simple in China...

I found the bus without a hitch (Wo yao qu NanPing. Wo zuo ji lu che?) and rode it into Chongqing (10 元). Reading Macbeth on the bus, imagining his post-regicide insanity, I thought the hardest part of my journey was behind me. But like Macbeth, the fun was just getting started: "We are yet but young in deed" ~Act III.iv.176

After arriving in NanPing, for some odd, stupid reason, I thought the school would be right there, across from the bus station. It wasn't. After being told several wrong, nonexistent bus numbers, I finally made my way to Decaprio and Mary's school, 重庆市第二外国语学校, which is nationally-renowned Chinese middle school that prides itself on having the best young Chinese speakers of English. I later learned that a handful of former students go on to study at Harvard, Yale, and Oxford, which are the only 3 western universities my students seem to know...where's the love for SUNY Fredonia?

Anyways, I get off the bus and there is Decaprio waiting. "I have been waiting for an hour!" he says, "Let's go!" and starts running. Now, I was in dress shoes and wasn't under any impression that I was late. "Why?" I ask, a stupid question in China. "Mary only has 20 minutes left in her class. She has been telling them you would be coming to visit for a week!" he yells, trying to urge me to pick up the pace. "Whaaaaaaaat?" I say, now running.

I arrive in the class, 40 students, all in neat lined desks wearing the same wind-breaker uniform, a seemingly equal number of boys and girls (a strange site, since 85% of my university classes are women). "Yah!" they all yell, and clap. Mary initiates the "Welcome Teacher Phil" roar and I, for about 30 seconds, take a seat in the back of the room with other visiting teachers, all Chinese. "Phil, come introduce yourself," Mary says (more clapping). I move to the front of the room...

"Hi, boys and girls (Phil desperately trying to remember how to talk to 12 y/o's). My name is Phil (writes P -h - i - l on the black board) and I am an English teacher at Southwest University (Do they know what Southwest University is, or should I have said it in Chinese?). I teach 2nd year (raises 2 fingers, easily confused for the Chinese hand gesture for "victory") English majors and Shakespeare to post-graduates (Mary whispers to me, "They don't know what those are. They are 12." I am stupid.) Umm, I really like China. The food is delicious (what else would a 12 y/o possibly want to know?) and, um, I am, um, really happy to visit you! (Yikes!) Any questions????"

1) Do you like the NBA? Yes.

2) Do you like Chinese food? Yes (did I speak too fast before?).

3) Do you like China? Yes.

4) Do you have a Chinese girlfriend? (classes laughs and claps) No. (and then I add, "Why do you ask? Do you have an older sister?" bad joke, only the teachers laugh, 1-child policy, Phil, DUMB!) "Um, Do you have a girlfriend?!" (Class laughs, teasing the boy who asked)

5) Do you like China? Very much!

6) Do you speak Chinese? A little. Nimen hao! (many claps)

7) What is your QQ number? Meiyou QQ, Duibuqi! (many laughs)

8) Can we be your friend? Smooth answer: "Can all of you be my friend?" "Yes!" (many laughs and claps!) "Then we are friends!" wow!

Then Mary tells the class they need to go to the back of the room to take a picture with their new foreign friend. We smile and give the "victory" sign. Then, as you can see above, I am drowned in requests for autographs. I signed my name, like I am some sort of superstar, and hell, I am, damnit! right? not at all...

After a delicious lunch that made me feel really nostalgic for my old Grand Island High School lunches, I loafed around, toured Decaprio and Mary's apartments, watched Decaprio lead his students in some gym classes (where he challenged them to a 200 meter sprint and beat them by about, no lie, 100 meters), and hopped on a bus back to Beibei for a night of Shakespeare and twentysomethings.

Pictures TAG: Chinesemiddleschoolandmore

I love and miss you all,

Phil

蓝麦飞

2008-03-28T10:32:00.000-04:00

你们好!

A solid week at 西南大学. The most miraculous event, without question, was the 3 day (and counting) streak of blue skies. I have written about my new fascination with blue skies (蓝天) in previous entries, but these past few days take the cake. I will make an educated guess and say that this city receives no more than 30 days/year of cloudless skies and pure, clean sunshine. In other words, Chongqing is not the play to come to study astronomy. You know, I don't even know if 西南大学 offers an astronomy major. What a disappointment that must be to open your college acceptance letter and learn you have been selected in study astronomy in Chongqing (FYI: Chines students have little or no choice in what major they study in college). Yeah, it's basically a 19th-century Russian novel everyday.

But unlike Crime and Punishment's Raskolnikov, the weather does not inspire any motiveless murders (that I know of). To calm the storms (of perpetual gray, bleakness), I've attempted to unlock the sunshine from within, slowly spoon feeding my students their first taste of writing poetry. As a student-teacher during my last semester at SUNY Fredonia, I taught a few similar lessons to middle school students, introducing them to poetry's basic elements and having them jump into the poetic pool immediately. The same philosophy is being applied to my University Oral English classroom. The existence and promotion of creativity in a Chinese classroom is rare, so, to pick up the slack from the other (direct quote from students:"boring") professors, I have designed the class based solely on creativity, introducing them to everything from jazz improvisation to hip-hop music/culture analysis (next week's lesson). It's a wild ride! Much more on my student's poetry in the coming weeks, but while you wait, check out some pictures I and the students took this past week: my favorite being an Adaptation Poem crafted by a group of students (5 girls and 1 gentleman) entitled, "All the Men are Evils" - and to emphasize their strong womanhood, they made the lone man in their group come to the front of the room to read it for the class! Wow!

Picture TAG: OralEnglishPoetry

Enjoy some other pictures of: 1) Beibei blue skies 2) Devon and Phil's Macaroni & Cheese Adventure (prepared while watching "Reality Bites" because on that specific day we were feeling excessively Gen. X) 3) Pictures taken by a student after interviewing me for a school newspaper in front of a beautiful purple-flowered tree (thumbs up, as you will notice, is my calling card) 4) And of course plenty of vanity!

"Where [I am], there are daggers in men's smiles." ~ Macbeth, Act II. Why would Phil type this?

I love and miss you all,

Phil

蓝麦飞

Beijing Review Article!

2008-03-19T05:53:00.000-04:00

你们好!

Great News! I just received word that an article I wrote for the Beijing Review was published in this month's issue. You can read my article, which is simplified portrait of my teaching philosophy in China (and America), here, or below:

Speaking of portraits, take a look at the picture the BJReview tagged to my article. Never did they ask me for a picture, but now the entire English-reading Middle Kingdom will think I, Philip Razem, am a blond-haired, big-nosed teacher who likes to wear musical notes on his T-shirts! Gotta love it! 哈哈!

I love and miss you all,

Phil

蓝麦飞

"Teacher, Entertain Us!"

by Philip Razem

Sometimes, foreign teachers struggle to find a unique voice in the Chinese classroom. We want to help as much as they can and pass along a beneficial skill or language, occasionally one we feel our own country might take for granted. However, when faced with students' requests for classroom "entertainment" that seems trivial and/or childish, our first impulse is to dismiss and move on. The truth of the matter is that this student request, in fact, serves as a clue for gaining a better understanding of the Chinese student and ultimately, how to teach them effectively with fun and practicality.

It's the inevitable request every young (and old) foreign teacher receives from his or her Chinese students: "Sing us a song!" or if a teacher is especially lucky, "Dance!" At first, standing completely still and bright-eyed, I didn't understand what exactly they wanted from me. Did I arrive in China, a country with an insatiable hunger for the English language, to essentially be their entertainer, court jester, and dancing bear? I suppose it is every new teacher's first reaction to assume that these requests are frivolous and somewhat belittling. However, I have learned that at the core of these requests lies a revelatory telltale, leading to the erasure of previous fears and inhibitions for students and teachers alike!

One of the most important things a person needs in order to be an effective and influential teacher, indiscriminate of whatever country's classroom, is the ability to understand who his or her students are and where they come from. So, like anyone who wants to learn about a people seemingly unlike his/her own, I simply turned on the television. As an American, I was completely amazed that there was a country on this planet that enjoys (amateur) singing and dancing performances more than my own. Just when I thought shows like American Idol were a freak, predominately American phenomenon, Idol-esque contests are popping up all over the world, even in countries with strict social traditions. China, where KTV parlors seem to outnumber fast food restaurants, is no exception. It is no secret, the Chinese love to perform and be entertained, especially China's younger generations. So, as a young American teacher teaching English in China, I asked myself how this fact can be of some aid in the pursuit of maximizing learning in my classroom. "How can I use this?"

This past semester I taught a post-graduate English literature class several plays by William Shakespeare, which happened to be my focus in graduate school. I decided to use this truth--the engrained attraction to live performance in the Chinese psyche--to both enlighten and enliven a playwright's poetry that is often set aside by Chinese English learners due to its raw difficulty. I thrashed around the room, sometimes whispering, screaming, singing, and speaking in both masculine and feminine voices, transforming myself into as many different characters as possible. The students, mature post-graduates mind you, giggled and participated in delight. These students, at the end of the semester, having never seen or heard a live performance of Shakespeare, couldn't be happier or more enthused to read, listen, watch and participate themselves in more of the Bard's immortal creations. One student, on the course's end-of-the-semester's evaluation, said she never knew Shakespeare could be "so alive." I fully admit I am not the best teacher of Shakespeare, but recognizing and incorporating the Chinese penchant for live performance fulfilled my objectives beyond my wildest imagination. And I have no doubt this technique can be developed for any subject area, not only English language and literature.
Both the American and Chinese education systems have their flaws; both put an exorbitant emphasis on standardized testing and less importance on developing a student's creativity and social presence. The solution to both countries' problems might be right under their noses. Educational scholar Jeffery Wilhelm, who has done amazing work with incorporating drama and movement in the classroom, calls it "action-oriented learning." In my eyes, teaching has always been to a large extent about performance. Why not use our students' thirst for entertainment in an effective way? Giving the students what they want can ultimately provide what the students need. In my case, it is a win-win.

2008-03-13T11:59:00.000-04:00

你们好!

I would like to dedicate this blog entry to a recently deceased friend of mine. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, after approximately 3 years as my running companion, providing me with introspective and motivating music for hundreds of miles on the road, through the bitter cold and blistering heat, my Ipod Shuffle is dead. It has three of the four marathons on its résumé, thus I am proud to conclude, it lived a full life. Dust, or rather tiny blinking lights, in the wind...

It's been an interesting and productive week. I am proud to say the first meeting of the Southwest University Shakespeare Club was a big hit. We had about 20 post-graduate English Literature students and 2 professors attend with the promise of many more. Shakespeare Club, founded due to an unanticipated demand/love for Shakespeare after last semester's class and being that no specific Shakespeare class is being offered this semester, is an informal meeting of students in order to explore Shakespeare's plays and poetry in a "fun and exciting way. No homework, papers, or tests...just interested people who want to learn about Shakespeare (and themselves)." We started Macbeth (a tragedy was requested by popular demand), but not before I planned a little activity to warm them up to Shakespeare's way with words. Borrowed from an activity learned in graduate school, I asked the students to select various "insults" collected from Shakespeare's plays and, in an English-as-second-language cacophony, insult each other! A raging success! (pun intended!) "Oh yeah? Well you know what? You're a reeky pale-hearted clotpole!" I think I have some actors in the class after all! If motivated, everything in a Chinese classroom is bigger, louder, and I dare say, a hell of a lot more fun...Tuesday nights at 7pm = the Bard is alive in China.

Speaking of poetry, my sophomore Oral English students got their first taste of writing poetry, as I prepped them with some jazz music, a few activities on improvisation, and asked them, out of the blue, to "write a poem...GO!" "huuuuuuh?!" they all sat back, bright-eyed. I will stick to my firm belief that Chinese university students are some of the most creative people on this planet (I try to explain this to them using the trite yet true metaphor of letting a beautiful bird out of its cage...), and, after they got used to sailing in unfamiliar waters, my students surprised me yet again, with some of the best and most beautiful poetry composed in the alloted 3-minute time period. "Don't stop writing!" I yell. What did they write about?, you may ask. Well, I gave them some inspiration to spark their minds: A picture sent from the home front in Dundas, Ontario, of the recent (intense) dumping of snow. "Ooohhh!" they all shriek, and their pens start scribbling. An English teacher's dream. See, Mom and Dad, all that snow did more than give you wet shoes and slippery roads – it inspired poetry 8000 miles away!

All for now. This weekend, I will be heading to Chongqing for a little (or large) PCV St. Patrick's Day party. Rumor has it that Austin, a PCV from San Francisco, got his hands on some green food coloring. FYI: If you are a lady, don't wear a green hat in China. It means you are cheating on your husband!...among many other things!

May the luck of the Irish be with you!

Pictures TAG: Beibeipoetry

I love and miss you all,

Phil
蓝麦飞

My Chinese name is 蓝麦飞

2008-03-02T07:34:00.000-05:00

你们好!

First week of classes are complete and tomorrow morning Week #2 begins bright (well, it's never really bright in Chongqing) and early with your favorite Oral English instructor, 蓝麦飞. Yes, 蓝麦飞 (Lan Mai Fei) is my new 中文名字 (Chinese name), attempting to replace my first Chinese name, 费箱 (Fei Xiang). Why a new name, 蓝麦飞? "Fei Xiang" (pronounced Fay-Shang), if you can remember way back in August, is the name of a very famous Chinese pop singer (actually he is Taiwanese and American) adored by many 30-50 y/o Chinese. However, Chinese of all ages giggle when I tell them my Chinese name is Fei Xiang and occasionally ask me the inevitable question: Can you sing me/us a song? AHHH! C'mon, I love to sing (in the shower) but a beautiful voice was not included in the Razem gene package. But that doesn't mean I haven't entertained the Chinese with my extremely poor voice...always receiving a warm round of applause (to "save face").

I told Air, my Chinese tutor, about this problem. Air is a post-graduate student studying English Literature and a former student of my Chinese Shakespeare Professor; we spent entire sessions discussing (partly in Chinese) Shakespeare's role in China and she has been a great resource for me in my infinite quest to understand Chinese culture. Nonetheless, I asked her to give me a new 中文名字 based on some of my personality traits, interests, etc. She came up with 蓝麦飞 (pronounced Lan-My-Fay), calling it an "original name, very poetic."

"What does it mean?" I asked.

蓝 means Blue, as in the color. 麦 means wheat, as in the grain that produces bread. 飞 means "to fly". So, on the surface my name means "Blue wheat fly". Kinda strange, eh? Well, when faced with anything strange, one must search for meaning. My first thought turned out to be my favorite. About 3 years ago, I was studying in London and traveling through Europe. One stop on my journey was Amsterdam, home of - among many interesting things - the Vincent Van Gogh Museum. Never having been familiar with too many of Vinny's paintings, I perused the museum with some fellow Americans for a few hours, trying to have a look at everything it had to offer. I didn't make it through the whole museum that day because I was attracted to a few specific paintings, many I had never seen before. One such painting was Van Gogh's "Wheatfields and Crows". I thought it was beautiful, timeless, and mimetic. A painting, I believe, is like a potential lover; you need to feel something initially and test to see how it might represent or complement you before you "hang it on your wall". No lie: it has been my favorite Van Gogh piece since that rainy day in Amsterdam, something Air would have never known, and now, my Chinese name - I imagine the wind blowing the black crows from the yellow wheatfields into the blue sky, the wheat rolling like ocean waves - immortalizes it within me.

So, 再见 (goodbye!) Fei Xiang. 你好Lan Mai Fei! I think this name will stay with me for a while...I choose the Painting over the Popstar.

I love and miss you all,

Phil

蓝麦飞

2008-02-26T09:02:00.000-05:00

你们好!

Great things are happening (for me) in the Middle Kingdom. A quick update:

1) Classes have started. My course load is growing by the day, as random Oral English classes pile up with not enough foreign, native English-speaking instructors to teach them. As you most certainly know, the Chinese demand for the English language is high! Yesterday, I taught a culture/language lesson to 50 sophomores majoring in "International Chinese Education." 什么? What? More or less, these students study how to teach Chinese, both language and culture, to foreigners. I promptly asked them all to stand up and move to the front of the room as I moved to fill their seats. "You need me?...I need you!" Much laughter (and confusion)! 哈哈! This is why I sign e-mails to my students as "Your teacher (and student), Phil Razem."

2) I had lunch with Decaprio and his girlfriend, Mary, today at our favorite Muslim noodle restaurant. We talked about our Spring Festivals, laughed about how we braved a 27-hour hardseat train to Beijing together, and slurped the most delicious noodles in Beibei. The great news is Decaprio was successful in "winning" tickets to the Olympics this summer in Beijing and kindly offered me 2 of them! 我很高兴了! I was very happy! So, this summer, Decaprio, Mary, Decaprio's older brother and I will be attending...Woman's Beach Volleyball and Woman's Field Hockey! 哈哈! It's not the 100m Finals, but hey! It's the Olympics! And now I am a part of the (Chinese/world) magic...

3) As many of you know, I am (proudly and sadly) an Internet current events news junkie. I have been following the American Presidential Race like a hawk (a lecture topic I plan to deliver sometime this semester for interested 西南大学 (Southwest University) students). I would like to share with you a recent Cnn.com article discussing on the differences "words" make in voters' minds when they hear the two very qualified Democratic candidates speak. As a foreigner in China, I have experienced some of the "lost in translation" moments author Tom Foreman details, and glad to read that these moments can be relevant and revelatory. I would also like to make my official Phil Razem presidential candidate endorsement (not that anyone out there cares!). Today, February 26, 2008, after considering all the facts and figures, and of course factoring in the feelings in my heart and gut, I am officially endorsing Illinois Senator Barack Obama as he races towards the White House in 2008. Why? I prefer the "unite" over the "fight". America is a land of foreigners, a word I am no stranger to. Being in China for the last 8 months and preparing to stay much longer, I know how this life as an outsider can change/motivate a person to make the world a better place. The reasons go on, filling volumes. I am happy to believe that Obama is the right choice.

Happy debating!

I love and miss you all,

Phil

蓝麦飞

Sheng Dan Kuai Le!

2007-12-24T04:05:00.000-05:00

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Merry Christmas, everyone! This is just one of many Christmas class photos!

Picture TAG: ChristmasClassPhotos

I love and miss you all,

Phil

2007-12-24T03:58:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas, everyone! Sheng4 Dan4 Kuai4 Le4 (圣诞快乐）

Picture Tag: (ChristmasClassPhotos)

I love and miss you all,

Phil

2007-12-21T23:46:00.000-05:00

Nimen hao!

Every night before bed, I write a page or two in my journal. On the top of every page I write "MM:" which is an abbreviation for Memorable Moment, followed by just that: the most memorable, strange, interesting life-affirming event of the day. Sometimes it's something funny said in class, a sad line from one of my student's journals, or a beautiful/strange sight I most certainly would miss in America. Last night, extremely tired from the night's "Curious about Christmas? Lecture featuring Southwest University's favorite foreign Oral English teachers, Devon and Phil," I wrote: Before you die, you must dress up and play Santa Claus at least once in your life. So last night, with the help of my trusty partner-in-crime, I checked this off my "to do" list, and in all places, China.

It gets lonely in China. Devon and I have lunch or dinner together 3-4 times a week and the rest of my time is either spent cooking for myself, writing and rewriting my Chinese hanzi (characters), preparing for my classes (the Shakespeare class takes up most of that slice of the pie), running (3-4 times a week, usually at night), helping students with miscellaneous performances and examination prep, and doing the seemingly endless paperwork for Peace Corps (I despise fax machines). As the unique Christmas season chugs along in China, Devon and I marvel at the pictures and packages our friends and family send us of snow-covered houses, family Christmas trees, and delicious homemade candy (It arrived, Mom!). Over the past couple of weeks, our students have flooded us with questions about Christmas. Since Devon and I not only act as "oral English" teachers but also Southwest University's "American culture" experts, we thought it would be wonderful to hold a Christmas Lecture, answering questions, showing a movie – The Polar Express – and finally, despite my terrible (I repeat, terrible!) voice, sing some popular Christmas songs. All went as planned: Devon unsurprisingly out shined me with her perfectly hit high-notes (she is a professional singer in America), the movie was a great hit, sparking unanswerable questions about "the Christmas spirit," and I, as you can see above, half excited half scared the sh*t out of the 70+ students, with my impersonation of Santa Claus, yelling "Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas," throwing candy into the crowd! It was simply amazing...

But the "lecture" ended with our real reason for preparing this little slice of happiness for our students and their friends: Christmas, as we explained, is a time when those aware of their extreme fortune give back to those who are less fortunate, motivated by that little "Christmas spirit" voice in their heads. A very popular dinner conversation between Devon and I is the one where we unload the amazing things that happened to us that day, leading to us eating silently, lost in our own personal reveries and contemplating our own (extremely fortunate) lives as college students and how they were so much different from the lives we teach everyday. Devon and I are both smart people – we sometimes speak in great lengths about culture, language, philosophy, love, religion, politics, etc. – but we aren't afraid to be 11-years-old again, and we realize that sometimes the best gift for Chinese students, who spend 80% of their day studying, sipping caffeinated tea, and accumulating stress of unimaginable levels, is a happy, smiling face, a cheery song, and good laugh just to help them forget about that exam soon approaching that they feel will decide the rest of their lives. Knowing our real families and friends couldn't be here in the Middle Kingdom this Christmas, we wanted to celebrate our holiday with those we really love and appreciate for what they do for us, and because we feel truly loved and appreciated in return. They are our Chinese family, and we love them.

Many pictures posted (TAG: ChristmasLectureandIrishHotPot) including some of my final meeting with my students heading off to Ireland next semester for a year of post-graduate study. If you want to learn about some interesting (delicacy) foods served in China, nimen kan yixia (Have a look!). Hen hao chi! Oh, and the duck blood is supposedly good for removing dust from your lungs, which is why I had seconds.

More on my Chinese X-mas in the next few days... 圣诞快乐！(Sheng4 Dan4 Kuai4 Le4!)

I love and miss you all,

Phil

2007-12-08T22:27:00.000-05:00

Nimen hao!

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I write you all from my apartment during a typical cold, rainy December Saturday night in Chongqing. To my right sits a steaming bowl of jiao zi (dumplings) and to my left, a stack of my students' journals, ready to be happily read and learned from. Tonight I ran a few miles through campus alone; Decaprio has been busy studying for finals, but we (and his girlfriend, Mary) still find time to catch up on Mondays and Tuesdays at our favorite Muslim restaurant. No snow here. It's about 45 degrees during the day. In the last few weeks, I've received a few e-mails from friends and family with updates about Western New York weather (keywords: "Snow storm, freezing, shoveling the driveway"). I never thought I would say this, but I miss the cause of all those school closings listed at the bottom of the television screen. Some of my students wear full winter attire to class (I can't tell you how strange it is to turn around after writing on the front board and see 30 faces decked out with winter hats and gloves - remember: No Central Heat!). They ask me constantly, "Aren't you cold?" being that I usually only wear 2 layers while I teach, rarely needing a hat and gloves. In any American city, I could probably get by with my quick response, but in China, I think it just confuses my students, sending them off to Google the weather conditions of my hometown: "Cold? Ha! I am from Buffalo, New York. Comparatively speaking, Chongqing is paradise."

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Next weekend my students will be showcasing their English talents in a series of performances, including two abridged versions of Disney's immortal Pinocchio and the hauntingly bone-chilling Dracula. Some of the Dracula (Draconian? ha!) actors asked for my help and I wasn't surprised when they told me their rehearsal time. "Meet us at 10pm, Thursday night, at the Mao Statue," they said. 10pm is pretty late for a Thursday, being that all these students have class at 8am the following morning. The reason: All, or at least most, of these students have classes continually from 8am-9:30pm, with a few hours xiuxi (rest period) for lunch. Altogether, these students spend upwards of 80% of their day sitting in a classroom...that includes Saturdays! So, as you will see from my pictures, I brought some snacks for the students to ease their cluttered brains, including HOT CHOCOLATE for all. Judging from their reactions to the steaming liquid chocolate pouring out of the water thermos into their tiny paper cups, I am pretty sure "hot chocolate" and "happiness" are synonyms in the Chinese thesaurus.

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Final thoughts:

Go Bills! I still believe they can make the playoffs this year, without JP Lose-man. Wishful thinking, I know.

The school is remodeling my bathroom while I travel for Spring Festival. I told them, in a serious tone, I wanted a Jacuzzi in the shape of China (very Peace Corps, I know). I don't think they understood me (or my bad joke)...but then again, I really hope they did!

Picture TAG: DraculaRehearsal --- and no, those are not real guns. It was a chore to get my student, Myst, to pose with me without cracking a smile. FYI: Guns are [highly] illegal in China. America has a lot to learn from the Middle Kingdom.

Christmas in China is coming...Nimen zhun bei hao le ma?

I love and miss you all,

Phil

2007-11-27T02:54:00.000-05:00

Nimen hao:

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In Act V of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, the young, socially-sheltered Miranda, daughter of the power magician Prospero, after encountering the men shipwrecked on her father’s isle, utters:

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O wonder!
How many goodly creatures are there here?
How beauteous mankind is! O, brave new world
That has such people in’t! (V.i. 215-18)

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And with that, today I finished teaching of The Tempest to my Shakespeare post-graduate students at Southwest University. This was the second time I’ve taught The Tempest – the first being in NYC at Brooklyn Technical High School during its 2006 summer school program – but as you might assume, this time was especially unique being that I am 8000 miles away from an American classroom. The Tempest, as many of you know, is a tale of the powerful and the powerless, adventure, magic, forgiveness, love, comedy, revenge, and most importantly (especially in the case of young Miranda) coming-of-age and self-discovery. While I was reading aloud, trying my best to mimic all of the character’s voices (including those of the females; a crowd favorite!), I thought back to the dinner Prof. L___ and I had in September concerning the plays I would like to teach this semester. Having read and studied Hamlet and All’s Well That Ends Well extensively in graduate school, those were a shoe-in, but The Tempest, I like to believe, was mentioned/inspired by some sort of deep subconscious decision. In fear of losing your interest with my long Shakespearean diatribes (and in hopes you will read The Tempest if my enthusiasm about it is the slightest bit contagious), I will simply say that everyday in China is my very own Miranda-esque “brave new world” moment. O wonder! And that is why I've especially enjoyed teaching the Bard to my Chinese students, who always bring new and refreshing prespectives to Shakespeare's (supposedly) universal relevance...

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Speaking of new worlds, China is celebrating its first launch of its first moon orbiter, the Chang’e-1. Just yesterday, the first pictures of the moon’s surface were shot down to the People’s Republic and broadcasted all over the news. This is a great success for China, especially as they prepare for the Olympics Games next summer. Everything glorious/harmonious that happens in the next few months will surely be repeated/spotlighted this coming August as the world watches China change, grow, and influence. And if you are wondering why the moon orbiter is named “Chang’e-1” I recommend you trace back to my Mid-Autumn Festival blog entry and learn why Chinese newspapers claim, “Chang’e returns to the moon!” The Chinese never forget their history…(wink).

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Tonight Devon and I will watch our good friend/Chinese rapper, Bevon, perform in the next round of Southwest University’s singing competition. All I gots to say is YO YO, Fooo! Bevon lives in his own “brave new world” where hip hop is life, and Chinese pop music is “F’in illegal”…Add him to my list of inspiring people.

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Tentative Plans for Spring Festival (Mid-January – Early-March): Beijing (pre-Olympics viewing), Inner Mongolia with running buddy Xing An (Decaprio), Chengdu for Peace Corps IST (In-Service Training), and then hiking (yes, hiking) across Yunnan Province with my favorite Peace Corps married couple, the Bridges. I will keep ya’ll posted!

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Best wishes discovering your own Brave New Worlds…

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I love and miss you all,

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Phil

2007-11-16T22:04:00.000-05:00

Nimen hao!

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More computer problems, so I faithfully write from the nearby Chinese Internet cafe, complete with the standard dog, steaming bowls of noodles, cigarette smoke, and sticky floors.
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In about 2 hours, about 16 foreign teachers, including myself, will leave for Dazu, about 2 hours from Beibei by bus. This is a school-sponsored trip (Thank you, SWU!) and I am excited to branch out before the end of the semester in the coming weeks. Dazu, which is famous for its ancient stone carvings, translates to "big foot." So besides seeing many beautiful ancient stone carvings, I hope to see BIGFOOT.
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This past week consisted of my students presenting their midterm speeches. The theme was, "When I am 25 years old..." Of course, I chose this theme for slightly selfish reasons - I being 25 years old - but also to learn about my students' "dreams": a very popular word in their oral English vocabularies. I asked them to be "visionaries," predicting and/or creating his or her own world as a 25 y/o Chinese young adult: Where will you be living? Dating? Married? Children? What will be your job? How important is money? Are you a dreamer or a realist? etc. I informed them again (and again!) that I prize creativity in all my classes, and that there are "no rules" as long as you minimize your speech to 2-3 minutes. FYI: If anyone reading this finds him or herself teaching English in China and gives an assignment that contains the the words No Rules, brace yourself for the consequences, because when Chinese university students, who have spent most of their adolescent lives plagued with arguably the most confining, rule-ridden self-study regimen, are let out of their academic cages, they fly high.
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I received everything from Hulk Hogan impressions (this student actually tried to body slam me on the cement floor) to a student singing his own rendition of Queen's "We Will Rock You!" to elaborate diagrams of statistics and percentages of specific life probabilities. Sometimes I wasn't even sure how a "performance" related to the student: One student started her presentation with a demonstration of martial arts, much to the amazement and cheer of the students. Hell, I won't lie, it was awesome. Many students brought in pictures of famous celebrities and said in 5 years (many of my students are between 19-21 y/o) he/she will be his/her husband/wife. Celebrities included US Swimming Champion Michael Phelps, Chinese Pop God Jay Chou, and one student said he would never be married, but date every beautiful woman in a Vogue magazine he bought off the street. But where there are dreamers, there are realists. Many of the students started their speeches with elaborate plans to "travel the world" and "have big dogs walk around in big houses," but transitioned with lines like, "But I know this will never happen..." and "However, this is never to be true..." and told stories about returning to their hometowns and becoming English teachers and [maybe] finding a man/woman - who most likely "will not be beautiful" - and starting a family. Some of the women gave speeches about their dreams of being the richest/most powerful woman in China (the class cheers!), only to conclude their speech with their satisfaction in being a housewife after graduation if they met a man with a good job (the class is silent.). It was a 2-3 minute roller coaster of emotion, ups and downs, highs and lows. And just like real roller coasters, the speeches started very fasts with many twists and turns, but eventually returned to the solid ground of reality.
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I love and miss you all,
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Phil

2007-11-02T23:46:00.000-04:00

Nimen hao!
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Deep Breath! In...and out! The Ministry of Education's evaluation of Southwest University is finally over. It was a week full of lesson-planning, precise penmanship on the chalkboard, culturally-sensitive lectures, and, of course, saying exactly what 6 strangers in black suits and red neckties from Beijing wanted to hear. In retrospect, it was a great experience for a "foreign expert" teacher in China. China, having a very public overpopulation problem, takes their university education system very seriously, as only about 30% of high school students qualify to enter college. With the odds against you, it no wonder why so many of my students have spent their early adolescence buried in books. I think this week's requirements – having to get up extremely early, wear standard pins on their clothes saying "西南大学" (Southwest University), arriving to class 15 minutes early, and preparing and presenting various public activities to show off their multi-talents - purged the students memories of their [lost] years in high school. But now, as they say, "We are freeeee!"

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However, where there seems like only sour, there is always a little sweet. Though my actions on Monday thru Thursday afternoon was as standard as a Dilbert comic, Thursday and Friday evening was packed with performances the students organized for their teachers and school's administration. Thursday's performance was in honor of the 17th Annual CPC Convention and performed entirely in Chinese, causing me to say a big "Ting Bu Dong!" (Chinese equivalent for: "I have absolutely no idea what you are saying!"). Haha! It's a very common phrase said by foreigners in China - a daily occurrence for me. I did feel slightly out of place as the only foreigner in the room, especially when everyone sung the Chinese National Anthem [loudly] and I just stood there, next to the Communist flag. I was asked a question by the host of the presentation, and promptly gave the [correct] answer.

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“Teacher Phil, you have been in China for a few months,

what do you think of our harmonious society?”

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Friday's events were much more exciting for me, as I helped direct a presentation that consisted of short scenes from 4 of Shakespeare's most famous plays (A Mid-Summer's Night Dream, The Merchant of Venice, Romeo and Juliet, and Hamlet) and played the role of William Shakespeare lost in 21st century China. The students and I rehearsed their lines and actions on stage for an entire week. Originally, I thought it would impossible for sophomore students learning English as a second language to read, memorize, and performance Shakespeare (My students in America could barely do it..hell, I could barely do it when I studied theatre in London, and English is my first language!) but last night I was proved wrong - seriously wrong! Puck was magical with her violet love potion, Shylock was evil in his demand for Antonio's flesh, Romeo and Juliet died with pinpoint grace, and Hamlet sought and achieved revenge with utmost precision. I, dressed in a long Matrix-like coat, was dumbfounded with the students' success and, until the exact moment when Juliet followed her lover in death, realized I had completely sold my students short in reagards to their abilities with the English language. It was, without writing you a novel, a magical night for all of us.

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Olympic tickets are selling like hotcakes and I have several "connections" working on getting me some baseball tickets. Baseball, probably the most unpopular sport in China, is the sport I both want to see the most and have the best opportunity to buy tickets for. After surviving off 4-minute internet clips of the World Series, I think seeing a full 9-inning game is in order, and more so, it's the Olympics! I will know more on November 5th, when tickets go back on sale (20 million people visited the ticket website last Tuesday for the only 1,800,000 available tickets, and, expectedly, the website crashed).

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There is a week-long funeral going in my apartment's courtyard as we speak. Body and all. People have been sitting around, eating, playing mahjong, chatting. Before I knew what was happening, I peaked into the tent, decorated with thousands of flowers, and there was a body in a coffin. "Oh, sorry..." I said, walking away quickly. Happy Halloween! Welcome to China.

Pictures posted, TAG: IamShakespeare!

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I love and miss you all,

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Phil

2007-10-28T10:45:00.000-04:00

Nimen hao!
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An exciting and exhausting weekend!
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Pictures of everything described below are posted! Tag: Evaluationweekend
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On Saturday, after spending the afternoon with Devon, Krista, and Christina (fellow Chongqing PCVs; we went to the top of the tallest building in Beibei and had tea and took some panoramic shots, and no, I did not get my nails done like the three girls!) the ladies went back to Downtown Chongqing for some delicious western food and I decided to walk home, through campus, in hopes of snapping a picture for you of SWU's new computer science building fully illuminated, spot lights and all. Unfortunately, it wasn't dark enough so I decided to put it off for another night. As I walked home, I saw a large group of students walking into the university's cinema and, since I had never seen the infamous SWU movie theatre, I thought I would check it out. That's when the fun started...
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Being a foreigner in China has its perks. First, most Chinese, if they don't exclusively study English, are slightly intimidated/afraid to confront you about things you might be doing slightly wrong (Example: taking a picture of something that normally is not allowed to be photographed). I figure they just figure I can't read Hanzi (Chinese characters), which I can't, and why waste time and oxygen telling me to put my camera away if I can't understand what they are saying anyways? So yes, I just walked into the theatre, sans ticket, amid several people "attempting" to ask for my ticket, and sat down. I later learned that this wasn't exactly a big deal, but strange nonetheless, as the theatre slowly grew more and more full until students were sitting in the aisles. Suddenly, after a few important-looking men gave speeches, ending every sentence with a triumphant yell, I found myself experiencing my first Peking Opera, the cultural gem of China!
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Short an fast steps with graceful warm movements, slow and then fast. Imagine "wax on and wax off" in slow motion, with sudden jolting kicks and arm slices, all while singing in high pitch - glass shattering – screeches, infused with the crowds almost perpetual applause. Even more impressive than the voices and movements is the costumes and make-up: Rich, vibrant colors, reds, baby blues, oranges and yellows accented with the thickest eye shadow and whitest skin.
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It's takes something like the Peking Opera to give a new foreigner in China a reality check on how little Chinese he/she can read, write, or speak. Yet, as little as I laughed (and cried?) at the right moments, I could still [somewhat] understand, purely though body language and the singer’s tones, the plot of the story. I can't say that I have ever sat for a 2-hour performance or film in a foreign language without subtitles. Imagine watching the last movie you saw - in German! Do you think you could follow who loves/hates/wants to kill/cheated on/stole from/etc. who? I hope so. I think the best stories can be told without words... And that's slightly ironic.
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But I got that picture of the computer science building! Oh, yes! WOW! Beibei or...Las Vegas?
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Biggest Accomplishment/Failure of the Week: I successfully taught Shakespeare's (and maybe all of English Literature's) greatest work, Hamlet, in 4 weeks, meeting once a week for 90 minutes (school's orders). Should I feel accomplished or guilty that I steam-rolled my way through a play that is relevant to nearly every facet of life? You make the call... "The rest is silent." ~ Hamlet's last words.
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I spent most of my Sunday with students, preparing for the much-anticipated Ministry of Education "evaluation" of Southwest University. This is just a big "show off" week for the students and administrators, as well a week of (excessively) pampering a few Chinese dignitaries from Beijing. The students have been preparing skits and random English-language performances to spotlight their successes as Southwest University students. Today, for example, I met with 3 different classes: two are reading English poems alongside song and dance routines and the other, Shakespeare (I suspect they choose this intentionally, as to rope me in to participate with them - not that I mind!). So yes, on Friday evening, I will be playing the part of William Shakespeare, recounting three scenes from [my] great works (Hamlet, The Merchant of Venice, and A Mid Summer's Night Dream), as performed in by none other than 30 Chinese sophomore English major students.
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After all the rehearsals, I was invited to meet with yet another group of students who cooked me a great meal (Fish Heads!) in one of their "rented" apartments. Don't ask me how this "renting" works, because when I asked who actually lives in the apartment, no clear answer could be provided. A valuable Chinese lesson: When in doubt, don't question, just go with the flow. We spent dinner discussing the differences between Chinese and American cuisine, resulting in me feeling truly embarrassed on how simple Meiguocai (American food) is compared to the Chinese dishes, which not only titillate the senses, but have elaborate names and background stories. The depth of Chinese cuisine is at par with all of American history! And yet, all Chinese seem to know how the morsels they eat everyday came to be...
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A great read: Peter Hessler's Oracle Bones...that is, if these blog entries aren't satisfying your need for more China!
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I love and miss you all,
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Phil

2007-10-17T10:43:00.000-04:00

Nimen hao!
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As we speak, some great (and historical) things are happening in The People's Republic of China. Presently, the 17th Annual CPC National Congress is meeting in Beijing. This is a VERY big deal in China as the thousands of Communist Party leaders throughout China meet together only once every 5 years. President Hu Jintao is the leader of the 73 million Communist Party Members in China and delieverd his State-of-the-Union-esque speech (similar to the American version every 2 years, but on some serious steriods) concerning the present and future ambitions of PRC. If you like the color red, the video attached to the link above is for you.
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Also, I small, yet wonderful accomplishment for me concerning my love of Shakespeare. About 3 weeks ago I wrote an e-mail to the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington D.C., telling them about how I was a Peace Corps Volunteer and teaching Shakespeare in China. I informed them that many of my students were reading Chinese translations of Shakespeare plays and thus, as when most immortal poetry is translated from his native language, losing the true essence of the beauty (and tragedy) of Shakespeare's words. Not thinking too much after pressing "send" I was pleasently surprised when I received a call from my waiban yesterday saying I had a "heavy" package in their office with my name on it. When I opened the box, I found a copy of every play and anthology that the Folger Library endorses, thus, I had become the wealthiest Peace Corps Volunteer with the Bard's timeless words, words words.... I haven't decided what I will do with the 35 or so books yet (many of my students need their own personal copies), but after recieveing advice from my Chinese tutor, Air, I hope to donate all the books to the Southwest University English Library, so, hopefully, Billy Shakie will live on forever in the hearts and minds of the students I have grown to love and admire.
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I hope my friend, who is sleeping under Trinity Church's stone floors in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, is proud of me...a small part of me is doing it for him, too.
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I love and miss you all,
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Phil

2007-09-22T10:04:00.000-04:00

Nimen hao:

Tonight I had a lovely dinner with Devon and two of her former students, DiCaprio and Mary. DiCaprio is from Inner Mongolia, and as an English major, considers English his third language; his first language is, of course, Mongolian, which when written looks something like random squiggles running up and down the paper. Imagine your pen is running out of ink and you are trying to get it to work again, thus the written styles of Inner Mongolia. Fascinating!

The Mid-Autumn Festival was a big hit. The food was sub-par, but the moon cake selection was phenomenal. It was also a great opportunity to meet up with fellow PCVs serving Chongqing, as well as meet other foreign teachers teaching at schools in Chongqing Province. We all compared our students' oral English-speaking levels and I believe I am very lucky to have such great, high-level students, comparatively speaking. I feel very "wealthy."

Speaking of wealthy, my students' homework last week was to pretend they just won 1,000,000 RMB. The question was simple: What do you do with the money? (You might remember me mentioning this activity in previous blog entries). The answers varied from the incredibly exciting, beautifully creative, and altruistically selfless. Please remember: Chinese university students are similar to beautifully-colored birds that have been locked in cages throughout their entire high school careers. Once they are allowed to "open their wings," amazing things start to happen (Knowing this, I hope you can understand why I always leave my classrooms "feeling warm" with joy and inspiration; I literally smile for 90 straight minutes.). Here are some of my favorite "purchases":

Exciting:

1) Travel the world (the most popular destination: France. Why? "Romance")
2) Play Basketball with Yao Ming.
3) Open up a school for young magicians, like that in Harry Potter. "Do you know magic?" I asked. "No, but I want to learn!" she replied.

Creative:

1) Improve the food in the cafeteria at Southwest University (a dream of all college students around the world).
2) Buy a huge diamond ring for a beautiful girl "so she will like me and only me."
3) An air-conditioner for every classroom in Chongqing (I highly support this, as I wipe the sweat from my forehead).
4) Take the money to a tailor and have him or her make clothes out of it, and thus, "wear a million."
5) Give all the money to Jay Zhou, biggest pop singer in Asia, and have him write her a love song. And the class cheers!

Selfless:

1) Buy an airplane and throw all the money out to poor areas of China.
2) Give it to their parents (I, of course, would do the same. Love you Mom and Dad!)
3) Build a road to their hometown (Reality Check, America!)
4) Set up educational funds for students who can't afford to go to school, especially those from their hometowns. Some of my students are the first people from their hometowns to go to university, ever. Remember: Only 20% of high school students enter a 4-year university setting.

And knowing this after dreaming that money was no longer an option, I asked them - as they sat in my classroom at one of the best universities in China, bellies full, young and creative, smart and curious - to raise their hand if they were "wealthy". One hand would go up, then another, then 3, 4, 6, 8, 15, and eventually, everyone's hand was raised, including mine.

I love and miss you all,

Phil

2007-09-15T06:08:00.000-04:00

Nimen hao!

I've got sunshine on a cloudy day.

When it's cold outside, I've got the month of May.

I'd guess you'd say

What can make me feel this way

My Girl (my girl, my girl)

Talkin' 'bout my girl (my girl)

Ohhhhhhhhhh!

No, no, I have not found a Chinese girlfriend, much to the anticipation of my students. I did, however, deliver a presentation of "My Life" to a group of 30 students who asked my Waiban to ask a foreign teacher to "come and tell us about America and sing American songs with us." SING? yes, sing! As mentioned in previous blogs, Chinese love to sing, and, since my mission is to interact and help the students of Southwest University learn as much English as possible, I decided to test my vocal chords and brave the public humiliation. With the help of my site mate, Devon (who is an excellent singer, but too smart from her own experiences to know what was in store for me to participate herself) helped me choose the immortal pop hit "My Girl" by The Temptations. So, last night, I showed a slide show of some pictures from my life in America (see picture link tag "and my life") and taught the students to sing "My Girl" by doing my best impersonation of Otis Williams, Melvin Franklin, Eddie Kendricks, Paul Williams And Elbrige Bryant rolled into 1. After my "performance", I must say that I think I was a complete fool for not auditioning for American Idol because (WOW!) I can sing! (JUST KIDDIN') I was horrible, but the students never care; they are just amazed that I can pronounce the English words so clearly. Maybe I could try out for the English-speaking version of Chinese Idol! Mom, I am never coming home. I am going to stay in China and be the next big thing! (or I will, as they say, stick with my day job...) It was great fun and I anticipate more singing opportunities in future.

Speaking of "sunshine on a cloudy day," today the sky opened up and the blue sky and sun shined throughout Beibei. I took many pictures and will post them soon! Ordinary to you, truly breathe-taking to me. Maybe Mother Nature reads my blog; I need to point out the dreary overcast weather more often in hopes of more todays.

I must mention that the students presented me with a gift (two Chinese "baby dolls"; one for me and other for my (future) wife) and I gave them a gift as well. Thanks to my wonderful parents successfully mailing me my first set of packages full of American goodies, I presented each student with a American "lucky" penny. They went crazy with gratitude and amazement and said they would "keep it forever." Who says you can't brighten someone day/life with a single cent? It was a wonderful moment, like many of my moments in China, indescribable.

I love and miss you all,

Phil

P.s. The new teaching building at Southwest University is pictured above. Very nice!

2007-09-12T07:39:00.000-04:00

Nimen Hao!

Here are some pictures of Peace Corps China "13" with Ambassador Randt after we were officially sworn-in. The first is of my group, Sichuan Normal University, and the second is all three campuses (SNU, Sichuan Normal University East, and Chengdu University).

I love and miss you all,

Phil

2007-09-09T07:27:00.000-04:00

Nimen hao!

I am still getting settled here in Beibei. This little city is a wonderful site and a perfect fit for me, as it has everything within walking (and running) distance. I am still working on getting Internet in my apartment so, until then, you all must wait with these short (and sweet) updates I post from a sweaty Internet cafe as a stray dog runs under my chair, the smell of "stinky dofu" fills the air, and the dozen or so Chinese students around me zone out playing World of Warcraft and slurping their noodle dinners.

Tomorrow is my first day teaching at Xinan Daxue (Southwest University); I will teaching sophomore and junior English majors. Mrs. S__, one of my counterparts, asked me if I was nervous. I told her "No way!" and that I am much more nervous about the effects of eating HOTPOT on my digestive system. Hen La! (VERY SPICY!)

Above is yours truly shaking hands with Ambassador Clark T. Randt, Jr., U.S. Ambassador to the People's Republic of China (Click on the link to read more). This was my first picture as an official Peace Corps Volunteer.

I love and miss you all,

Phil

2007-08-16T00:32:00.000-04:00

Nimen hao!

Sites have been announced and I am being shipped (or rather, bussed/trained) off to Chongqing Province where I will teach and live on the campus of Southwest University (http://www.swu.edu.cn/) in Beibei, CQ....and I couldn't be happier!

About 2/3 of SNU (main campus) PC Trainees are moving to Chongqing, most directly within the city. Beibei (bay-bay), from what I've learned from my Chinese language teachers/students, is a smaller village just north of Chongqing (approx. 45 min. bus ride into the city center). I am hesitant to use the word "small" as it has over 600,000 residents, but compared to Chongqing's 31 million residents (yes, thirty-one Million), it's a single glass of water floating in the Pacific Ocean...

One wonderful highlight: The air. I've learned to think that we, Americans, take the cleanliness of our air for granted. China, as they and the world acknowledge, have a serious problem with air pollution that can be traced back decades. China, if I can remember correctly from one of our Health/Safety sessions, has more than ½ of the top 20 most polluted cities in the world (New York is on that list, but has nearly ½ the air pollution as Beijing and Chongqing [specific facts/sources will follow in future postings; this link provides some interesting information]). Beibei supposedly has very clean air being north of Chongqing, and Sandy, our site placement manager, must have been listening when I told her I loved to run and was discouraged when they told me that I might need to put my hobby/love of long-distance running on hold for 2 years...Beibei's air will keep my legs moving, one in front of the other! Yah!

Southwest University has (drum roll, please) over 56,000 students! Wow! Coming from SUNY Fredonia (approx. 5,000 students), SWU is, well, the Pacific Ocean compared to Fredonia's glass of water. I am thrilled though, as my packet of information says the school, which recently merged with another school, is flexible with what I teach. Perhaps this will be an ideal place for me to actually (a dream of mine) teach Shakespeare in China. “shi haishi bushi, na shi yige wenti!” (To be or not to be, that is the question.) Cross your fingers, America! Also, it has over 5,600 teachers...If my students don't feel like a number, I sure will!

SWU is also a “211 key school.” This is a very high Chinese distinction, as it is one of the most difficult schools to enter out of high school. I am not sure if it is comparable to our Ivy League universities, but in a nation where the college you go to is EVERYTHING, graduating from a “211” school is very, very beneficial for entering the work force. Initially I will be teaching oral and written English to Sophomores and Juniors, as well as lecturing on various aspects of American Culture and performing “secondary projects” if I, as many have failed, remain "sane".

I will (supposedly) be living on campus in a semi-furnished apartment – this is not Peace Corps Africa – and teaching on the same campus (there are 4) as the one I live.

There is so much more to say, including some amazing attractions in Beibei (cough cough, mountains to climb, hot springs to soak in, etc.) but I will hold off till I see it for myself. I leave early next week via train for SWU for a week long site visit, and I am sure I will have a lot to say then and when I return to Chengdu.

Chinese lessons are going well. I have my final oral exam two Thursdays from now and am not too worried. Knock on wood! Hanyu hen nan!

Thank you for all the e-mails. I will be posting my mailing address after my site visit for all of you dying to send me physical letters and packages full of America delicacies (i.e. CHEESE! Seriously, there is no cheese in China...enjoy your pizza, America! Savor it!) If you have any specific questions/requests/suggestions/or just want to send me books, pictures, money, clean underwear, love poems, etc. etc. please drop me an e-mail at philiprazem@gmail.com

I love and miss you all,

Phil

P.s. Where is Chongqing?

P.p.s WE ARE READY!!!!

2007-08-09T08:38:00.000-04:00

8-8-07 ershiwu shui zai Zhongguo! (25 years old in China!)

Nimen hao!

This was a birthday to remember.

Just outside Sichuan Normal University's Main Campus, the morning's air of August 8, 2007, was cool and calm. I woke up around 6 AM, ate my staple Chinese breakfast – two fried eggs, a small bowl of milk, and two bao zi (small soft rolls filled with veggies and pork) – prepared by my host mother, and made my way to the university's Waiban (School for International Affairs) for model school preparation. The walk takes about 20 minutes, and if I don't meet up with another volunteer, I'll listen to my Ipod and take in the morning hustle and bustle of North Gate Village. As I walked alone, I never would have guessed this was the last few minutes of personal peace and relaxation I would get for the next 18 hours! Needless to say, the Chinese don't take birthdays nonchalantly. Birthdays are celebrations and they must, must, must be celebrated by everyone you interact with in the course of the day. Everyday, I interact with seemingly hundreds of people – students, language teachers, PC Volunteers, dozens of random strangers, etc. – and somehow, someway, they all knew or quickly learned it was my birthday. Long story short, I counted at least a dozen rounds of "Zhu Ni Shengri Kuaile!" (the "Happy Birthday to you" song) throughout the course of the day.

Fellow Peace Corps Trainee, Leah, and I decided to do some team teaching that morning, juxtaposing American birthday traditions with those of the Chinese. At 10 AM, model school, which is an energetic (and exhausting) process as is, suddenly transformed into a celebratory madhouse! Leah bought a cake (see pictures!) and my students arrived with (expensive, at least in the eyes of us volunteers) gifts and cards. An apple would have been enough...right? But my desk was covered with decorated chopsticks, Chinese lantern covers, miniature models of Chinese furniture, a framed red "paper-cut" dog (my zodiac animal), origami animals, and eggs...yes, hard-boiled eggs! In China, I learned, people give hard-boiled eggs, preferably two, to someone celebrating a birthday. On the outside they write the person's name and “Shengri Kuaile” in Chinese characters. The egg supposedly represents good luck in life: the hard shell to protect you, the smooth surface to bless you with a “smoot" life, and “hard-boiled" for durability. Imagine your desk suddenly full of eggs and not understanding why! Thus was the first 10 minutes of class.

As we sang (again and again; the Chinese love to sing and seize every moment to do so), ate cake, and talked about our cultures' similarities and differences, one of my students, uniquely named “Grape," snuck in carrying a small box and two long white scarves. The class cheered! Grape put the white scarves around my and Leah's heads and the class stood and cheered again! Grape explained that it was a Tibetan tradition to clothe the guest(s) of honor in white scarves and then presented me the box. The class cheered, "Open! Open!" and inside was my first Sichuan tea set: cups, lids, and saucers, porcelain covered in real bamboo. "Ohhhhh,” the class wooed. I thanked everyone, we took pictures (see pictures!) and they sang, sang, sang again and again! It was truly amazing...

As the day continued, my fellow Peace Corps trainees – some of the most amazing people I have ever met – signed a car for me and write their personal messages. We have all grown together these past 6 weeks and see each other as “life supports" when the going gets tough. This card meant the world to me, as in the coming week we find out our site placements and thus will be separated from each other and be placed throughout China for 2 very long years. My site manager told the whole class about Chinese traditional birthday celebrations (If you are a senior citizen, your family will prepare you 1 extra extra-long noodle for dinner, symbolizing longevity) and then took two eggs from her bag and presented them to me, saying when she was a young girl she counted down the days when her parents would give her two (magic) birthday eggs. The crowd roared! :-)

We had scheduled an English Corner later in the evening and again, "Happy Birthday To You" was sung (twice) and more students, some who I had never met, presented me with more gifts! After seeing my birthday treatment, we Peace Corps trainees stated, “When suffering from homesickness, loneliness, or depression, just tell a few people in China it's your birthday and your whole life will turn around.."

The night ended with South Gate jiu. Nothing more needs to be said about this besides, "Empty green bottles are a beautiful sight (and feeling) under flickering florescent light bulbs in Chengdu, Sichuan, when you hit your ¼ century mark."

On a final note, I've learned that "8" is a lucky number in China. Many students told me that I would be blessed with good fortune in China, simply due to my birthday. Another reason: My 25th birthday marked the 1-year countdown to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. I am sure I will blog much more about this in the future, but the repetitive motto that graces nearly every commercial break is worth sharing: “WE ARE READY!” I think, after being in China for only 6 weeks, meeting its people, studying its language, teaching its students, and learning more and more everyday about its joyful and tumultuous past, this simple 3-word statement is very, very profound. The spotlight will finally shift in their direction. Everyone will be watching. Maybe this is one of those, “You have to be here to understand” situations, but just know, August 8, 2008 at 8 PM is not only the start of the Olympic Games in China, but a kind of rebirth of the Chinese spirit. I've learned that this event means so much more than just athletic competitions and an economic boom. I hope you will be watching...because I am going to try my best to be there...

I love and miss you all and thank you for all the warm birthday wishes!

Your Chinese son, brother, friend, student, teacher, etc. etc.,

Phil

(having some trouble uploading all the pics! Check back soon!)

P.s. Here is an e-mail from "Grape" of my students explaining her lovely gift (with permission):

Hi, Phil:
There are special meanings about the two presents.
1.The white Kha-btags(or Hada) are the ribbons that Tibetans use to show their respect for their gods or their hospitality to guests.
2.The ChengDu Woven bamboo wares with porcelain bodies inside --The unique Local artware originating from the CHING dynasty. In addition, it’s also the covered teacup. If you go to the teahouse, in the special atmosphere, the covered teacup tea set and excellent mixes the tea technique, can enable you to feel the thick Chengdu tea culture . But how to use it? I don’t how to say in English.
Zouqin (Grape) 2007-8-8

I love my students!

2007-08-01T00:34:00.000-04:00

Nimen Hao! Happy August!

I had a lovely personal moment this morning. As my chalk scratched and sprayed white dust, coating the cracked green chalkboard and my shirt, I stood back and saw "Wednesday, August 1, 2007." I have officially been in The People's Republic of China for 1 month. Yes, I know, "What is 1 month? You have 26 to go, Phil!" But there was the millisecond of awe; I feel as if I have been here for a year, and never once thought of my approaching 1-month mark as a type of countdown. It has been sooo inspiring. In the words of GWB (umm, my boss?), "Bring it on!" I will have a second helping of the dog, please. JUST KIDDING! The Chinese don't eat dog (everyday...just during certain festivals!). "It is delicious," says one of my students. I want to say a fast "Hi!" to Libby an Tootsie, my dogs.

So many of you have asked me via e-mail, "What are you teaching, Phil?" Well, my priority is the teaching or oral English. But this single subject opens endless doors, giving me the freedom and opportunity to teach...well, whatever I want. I have designed a semester-long class based around the juxtaposition of Chinese and American culture. This way, I learn about Chinese culture and they learn about the strange, strange things American do and believe. Killing two birds with 1 stone! The class's topics range from the role and importance of religion in American culture to the do's and don't's while eating in an American restaurant, and of course, the Venn Diagram is most certainly the class's logo. As you can imagine, their responses are fascinating! Did you know that the groom's best friends put peanuts in the sheets of the married couple's wedding bed to promote fertility? Sounds...pleasurable? Oh, China... :-)

Above is a picture of my fellow Peace Corps volunteers and language teachers. There I am, in front, after one of our language "field trips," which consist of us walking around in a public place, making a fool of ourselves attempting to speak Chinese to locals. It's great! Half the time they will speak English back to us and we need to ask them to speak Chinese. When they start speaking Chinese, we get confused and apologize over and over again. It's a vicious cycle, but somehow, it works!

More soon...

I love and miss you all,

Phil

P.s. I bought the Indiana Jones Trilogy for 15 RMB yesterday...that works out to roughly $2.10. Very nice! Tonight, I am watching Shakespeare in Love with my host family...5 RMB, or 70 cents! C'mon, what's China without a little (cheap) Shakespeare!? The Bard is universal... right?

2007-07-27T00:27:00.000-04:00

Nimen Hao!

First week of model school is complete and, for the most part, it was a pure success. I never realized how bad of a comedian I was until this week. Luckily, lame jokes in America are pure gold in China! What's my class like? We laugh (a lot), we speak English (only, unless when I want to make a joke, which is when I seriously try to say anything in Chinese), and I constantly answer questions like, "What does it mean when someone gives you his heart?" and "What do you think love is?" By the way, "love" in Chengdu is a clear blue sky, which rarely exists. Banana chips are love too, which is what I am eating while I write to you all.

The water is working. I am clean. Sort of.

Thank you again for all the wonderful e-mails. I love hearing from you! philiprazem@gmail.com

The general feeling among PCV at Sichuan Normal University is pure anticipation. We've lost the stress bug of lesson planning and language training (even though we all should study more, aka me!), and long for the day when we hear about our site placements. Chongqing is the desired location, but I am sure all sites will be excellent in their own unique ways.

"How good is your Chinese, Phil?" Well, yesterday, instead of asking, "How many hours of sleep do you get every day?" to my language teacher, I asked her, "How many prostitutes do you sleep with every day?" Yeah, the smallest mistakes in Chinese can shock and awe! More laughing was had....at me. :-)

All for now. Safe, happy, challenged, taking lots of strange risks, journaling like a journaling machine, and missing my family and friends like a missin' my family and friends machine.

I love you all,

Phil

2007-07-24T00:45:00.000-04:00

Nimen hao!

The Chinese philosophy of Ying and Yang proves true with me with my adventures during the last few days. Adventure is an understatement. This "unity of opposites" has provided me with many valuable lessons, and for the first time, I've felt the pressure of being in a new (and somewhat uncomfortable) place.

First, the dark horse:
My host family's plumbing system has seemed to check in for a vacation. HA! I woke up last Saturday morning and discovered the cesou (toilet), which, if you remember from "My Pictures" section, is a "squat" toilet, was not flushing. I learned this after I used it. Yah! Ewww!

SO I informed with host mother with broken Chinese that the toilet was not working. She, being the strong woman she is, immediately entered the bathroom and poured a huge bucket of water over my "business" and there is sat. Yah! It turns out that the water pipes have cracked and not only does the bathroom sink and washing machine not work, but neither does the shower. It has been that way since Saturday morning, as I write you all now on Tuesday afternoon. Can anyone say, "deodorant"?

So for the past few days I have taken "cup baths" with kitchen sink water boiled over the stove and dumped over my head from small tin cup. It's lovely (no sarcasm!). As I was bathing myself last night I discovered how little we actually clean ourselves when we are in the hot, steamy shower. When you have to use a small tin cup and a pot of boiled water, you really, really make sure no limb or crevice is overlooked...because you don't know when the next time a real shower is coming... My challenge to you, America, is to boil some water and bath. And yes, I thought of you Stephanie DeLude (Steph was my friend from Fredonia State University who served in West Africa for 2 years and had to shower like this everyday)! Who said China is the "Posh Corps"? :-)

But the pipes are supposedly being fixed today, but I will believe it when I see it. "No rush..,"I tell my host father, who is very apologetic. "I may never 'shower' again," I tell him, and we laugh. But I hope we are laughing about the same thing....

With every action there is an equal but opposite reaction:

Model School is amazing and I love teaching in China (so far!). The students are eager to learn and they have mastered my name, "Teacher Phil." They have selected beautiful (and uniquely strange) names for themselves: Juliet, Jocelyn, Natalie Portman, Janis Joplin, Shaq (Yes, Shaq!), as well as Juice, Corona, Candy, Tang, and my favorite, Grape. "What do you think about that, Grape?" I ask, and giggle to myself. Nothing against Grape, she is a grape student...I mean "great." I am a teacher in China, not a comedian.

I ask them what they would buy with 1,000,000 RMB if they had suddenly become rich. Great selfless answers all around - The Chinese see the poor all around them, thus their empathy is significantly higher than that in America (my opinion) - but the best answer proves the creativity of Chinese students when they are placed in an environment that allows them to come out of their shell: a time machine. I told them I would like a time machine too. And then they clap and say they look forward to traveling with me. I laugh, they laugh, we laugh.

But where there is laughter, there is also serious responses. The Chinese have mastered the art of proverbs. Sometimes a student will blow me away with a seemingly simple, yet profound response. I asked my students to write their definition of the word "wealthy" and the most creative response was from Nancy in the back of the class who replied, "Every coin has two sides..." Heads all around bob up and down, the universal sign for understanding. America, do you understand? :-)

I am wonderful. And clean. But what is your definition of "clean"?

I love and miss you all!

Wealthy,

Phil

"Wow...China for 2 years. That sounds...interesting": On my decision to join the Peace Corps

2007-06-03T22:04:00.000-04:00

Oh, Robert Frost:

But yield who will to their separation,
My object in living is to unite
My avocation and my vocation
As my two eyes make one in sight.
Only where love and need are one,
And the work is play for mortal stakes,
Is the deed ever really done
For Heaven and the future's sakes.

~"Two Tramps in Mud Time"

I thought about those lines - "My object in living is to unite/ My avocation and my vocation/ As my two eyes make one in sight" - quite bit in the past few months. I know I wasn't alone; every early-twentysomething desires what Frost desires: start a life after academia that "unites" their profession with their goals and interests. I met many students in the last few weeks of the Spring 2007 semester at SUNY Fredonia who succeeded at this very difficult feat (My friend J- graduated with honors and talked animately about a possible reindeer herding adventure in Northern Canada, and officemate C- may, in fact, temporarily trade in his pen, with which he writes so very creatively, to tickle the ivories as an up-and-coming jazz pianist), while others are content, at least on the surface, taking jobs that pay the rent, fill the fridge and gas tank, and allow them the freedom of the evenings at the sacrifice of 8 hours of their day performing tasks that have been (accurately) dramatized in Mike Judge's 1999 comedy, Office Space. There is nothing wrong with this sacrifice. Money is important ("It makes the world go 'round"). Student loans must be repaid ("Ignorance is bliss"). From my experience, "The Office", besides being one of the funniest programs on television, was created for and is laughed at the hardest by people working the 9-5 grind and who actually understand the plight of Dilbert. For all I know, people who work in offices are happy and fulfilled and challenged every day, month, and year of their professional life. And if so, if the people that surround you are funny and inspiring, if you wake up every morning with a new plan to attack the day, anticipate the afternoon's trials, and leave feeling accomplished, then I tip my hat to you, sir or ma'am. But what I am sure of, as a young, energetic, and ambitious teacher and student of literature and writing, is that working this way would not be uniting my avocation with my vocation in complete sense, and thus, sell Robert Frost's philosophy (and myself) short. Remember, it was Frost who wrote the famous (and over-analyzed) poem, "The Road Not Taken." In summary, with the words of Dickens' Oliver Twist, "May I have some more?"

My Peace Corps ambitions started in the Spring of 2004 while I studied abroad in London, England. Taking classes as a part of SUNY Binghamton's London Program, I was informed by one of my American professors that his daughter had served in the Peace Corps and the experience had completely changed her view of the world. This was a coincidence, since at the same time, while traveling through Western Europe nearly every weekend both with friends and solo, my view of the world was changing. Remember: "You don't know what an American is until you know what an American isn't."

So, as I completed my final semesters of undergrad at SUNY Fredonia, I slowly completed my PC application and was nominated to serve in Eastern Europe teaching English at the secondary-level. Wow! Yah! I was scared and excited, similar to the feeling felt while your roller coaster car clunks up the hill before dropping you into the unknown. Being that the application process took up to 9 months, I still had time to research other career paths, one being a position teaching at SUNY Fredonia as a ENGL100 instructor while attending graduate classes. I applied for the teaching position and was asked to join the English Department's prestigious faculty. In exchange for teaching a section of ENGL100, I would receive a tuition waiver and a small stipend, and being that a NYS certified teacher needs a Master's Degree within 5 years of becoming certified, I knew this was an opportunity I could not pass up, resulting in me putting my PC nomination on the back burner. "Phil, you will reapply in 2 years," I told myself. And I did.

I called my parents the day the invitation came in the mail. I had been told my new placement was in Asia, but did not know the actual country. My options were:
1) Cambodia
2) Mongolia
3) China
4) Philippines
5) Thailand (Where would you want to spend 2 years?)

I opened the envelope and was stunned...China. Wow! I was going to spend 27 months in China, teaching university-level English. Um, yeah...help?

Um, yeah...help.

I read the materials, talked to several reliable sources from the English Dept. concerning the Chinese education system, and chatted to a former PCV from China through e-mail (Thanks Dr. McVicker!) and after some careful introspection and incoherent, mumbling monologues while pacing back-and-forth through my apartment, I made up my mind. I kept recalling a conversation I had with a unique friend of mine who goes by the alias of "Business." The conversation occurred late into the night during my junior year at a local Fredonia dance club, a scene neither Business nor I felt we belonged. I think Brittney Spears played through the subwoofers as lights flashed, booze flowed, and white shoes became black as they moved over the grimy floor (If you are from Fredonia, you know this place does not deserve mentioning). As I told Business of my initial plans to join the PC, he told me, in the utmost seriousness in the most un-serious environment, that not one person in history that has ever made a significant difference has ever held back in doing what they think is right and just. They didn't question, they performed. I thought of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and George Washington, Joan of Arc and Ghandi. It was so simple, and Business was right. This was not some story from a history book; this was my life. This was going to be scary and new, but it might just lead to big things, or rather, inspire others to do big things. Someone must have taught John Lennon that standing up for what you believe in is the only way to changing the world. "The War is Over...if you want it." If it's me, Business, you will be immortal. If it is someone I inspire, you will be immortal.

There is so much more to say and so many more influences to mention, but I will end this first blog entry with saying that I am happy I called the Peace Corps and said, "Yes!" I am excited. It's not everyday that a 24 y/o punk kid who loves Saved By The Bell and Shakespeare is shipped off to China for 2 years..."only where love and need are one/ and the work is play for mortal stakes..."