The Chinese educational system has a strange idea of what it means for students to have a holiday.

The May Day holiday is right around the corner and late last week we were told we'd have a five day holiday (but we're actually getting seven days, the students are getting five). Needless to say we were pretty excited for it. We've been wanting to go to Wuhan to visit a friend we made during our time in Yichang.

On Tuesday, my coordinator let me know that "due to the holiday, there will be classes this weekend". Huh? The school is making up the classes over the weekend that are lost during the week because of the holiday. And "you don't work on May 7, the students have exams."

Because godforbid they let students have a real holiday where they can relax and be kids instead of spending their time studying for midterms that will take place the day they come back.


*sigh*

If you were to take a look at the notes I’ve made in my Hello Kitty (fake of course) notebook you might get the impression that I’m preoccupied with all things toilet and other bodily function related. I never thought I was so easily grossed out by it all but I think since coming to China I’ve become more aware of my aversion to the sight of it. Using the toilet or blowing one’s nose isn’t hidden away by a stall door or a tissue here, but often is out in the open for everyone to see. And my Western upbringing hasn’t budged one bit regarding these things these past eight months.

I’ve gotten used to using “squatty” toilets, those don’t bother me one bit, but the lack of doors on the bathroom stalls is still unbelievably unnerving to me. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve walked into the “Woman” restrooms at School #73 to find young women having conversations while one of them is using the toilet. No sirree bobby, I hunt out the stall that has the most amount of privacy. I keep my eyes firm on the ground while in the washroom. My attitude is if I don’t see them maybe they won’t see me. Granted it doesn’t always work. One day as I was exiting a stall a student tried to have a conversation with me. I got so flustered that I washed my hands as quickly as possible and bolted back to the teachers’ office.

Before coming to China I read “River Town” by Peter Hessler about his two year Peace Corps stint in Fuling. In it there is a section about a family he’s become friends with and how their little son wears split pants so it makes it easier for him to go to the toilet during potty training. While reading the book I thought “What a great idea.” That flew out the window as soon as I arrived. I now hate those pants with a passion. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, diapers, this country needs to invest in diapers.  

One thing I do have to give credit to the culture is their attitudes towards bodily functions. One is not meant to feel shame for having to use the toilet, or burp or blow their nose (but please for the love of Gordon use a tissue!). As the kids book title says “Everybody Poops” and really I’m ok with that. I just don’t want to see people do it or accidentally step in it because someone didn’t have the common sense to move their child off of to the side of the walkway. Or see a Mom hold her son over the garbage can on the bus so he can pee.

And I’ve realized it’s not the actual act of going to the toilet that grosses me out so much but how unbelievably unhygienic it all is. It just screams “Diseases here! Get your diseases here.” The irony of it all is that when I taught a lesson about the cultural differences on going to a restaurant most of my students said they didn’t like to share dishes with other people because “it can spread disease”.

I know I often write about the less pleasant things about my life in China, but the fun stuff just isn’t as exciting. Although over the weekend Niels and I spent the day with our friend Jennifer and her family in Luoyang. (I've posted the photos on my Flickr page.) We had a lovely time, I, unfortunately, ‘tho was as sick as a dog and hopped up on cold meds. I have not been sick this many times since freshman year at St. Bonaventure’s.

The May Day holiday is right around the corner, with the extra time off Niels and I will be going to Wuhan to visit some of the college students we befriended during our 10 day English Training Camp Experience in Yichang during the Spring Festival holiday.

We found out last week that our last day of teaching is June 1^st. A day or so later we will head out to Xi’an for a visit with the Terracotta Warriors before going to Beijing so he can take the LSAT (on my birthday of all days) before heading home for the Summer. I’m sure some wackiness will ensue in us trying to get the school to reimburse us for our airfare home.

Mon ami Dan, has, in a way, tagged me on a meme. But this is a unique one, where when you get tagged, new questions are created just for you by the tagger. I got tagged a couple weeks ago but have been quite busy, and our Internet has been uncooperative (thank you Golden Shield) that my time surfing the ‘net has been quite limited these days. If you want me to “interview” you, leave a comment with your email address or email me, since I can no longer post comments due to the firewalls.

1)      Who is your favorite pre-20th-century author?

I’ve been thinking about this question since it was asked, and it’s been a lot harder to answer than I expected. There was a time period where the vast majority of what I read was pre-20^th century, and mainly British, and I thought 20^th century lit was crap. Then I took a class on 1930s American Literature that, well, honestly, completely changed my literary life. And it’s now making it really difficult to answer the question, as I’ve moved away from pre-20^th century literature these past couple years.

But after much searching, I think my favorite pre-20^th century author is Thomas Hardy. His books are tender, tragic, melancholy, and draw you in like no other. I remember reading Jude the Obscure for AP English senior year in high school and totally falling in love with Jude, even though his life was a complete disaster and not at all what he had hoped it would be.

I remember watching the BBC adaptation, then reading, Far From the Madding Crowd in the mid ‘90s and admiring and hating Bathsheba all at the same time, for her stubbornness and her naivety.  

I also love that he wrote strong female characters during a time where women were considered to be inferior.

2)      You've spent several years now in a relationship with a geek. What aspect of nerd culture are you secretly most glad to have been exposed to?

Hands down, I’m glad to have been exposed to comic books. Even though I’ve not read many, and I’m really particular on what I read (if I don’t like the art I have a hard time getting into the story), I adore them. And I love going into comic book stores and seeing the vast array of genres out there. I’m looking forward to going back to the comic book store in Bethesda when we come home.

3) What three European cities do you most want to visit that you haven't already?

Prague, Munich, Warsaw

4) Has spending time in a non-Western culture changed the way you think about American/Western society, either for better or worse?

Definitely, I’ve realized how much I take for granted: clean water, clean air, “Western” toilets, my own bathroom, washing machines, the ability to dissent, unobstructed access to the Internet, newspapers with real news, and the educational system. I also realize that the Chinese have a different idea of friendship than we do. Because the students are pretty much classmates until they go to college the vast majority of our Chinese friends are still friends with their primary school classmates, which is almost unheard of in the States. I can name only a few people I know in the States that are have friendships such as these. The idea of community is much deeper here than in the States, for better and worse. 

Unfortunately, all the things that drive me nuts about Western culture, especially American culture has been intensified since coming here. Things like hyper-consumerism, big cars, the American government thinking it knows all the answers, the government’s inability to separate a people from the government that leads them.

I’ve also realized that I can’t foster change in a foreign country the way I can in the States. If I were unhappy with the, oh say, educational system in America I’d be able to talk with teachers, meet with my local PTA, school board, form a committee, etc. to see what can be done to help make changes.

Here, because I am a foreigner, I can’t do squat and it’s really frustrating. ESPECIALLY when it comes to the educational system. Yes the kids excel at math and science, but they have no life outside of school. They and the teachers are overworked, and it’s not just the strict guidelines set out by the government. The government is slowly trying to change things. But the majority of the parents are fighting against the change. When teachers try to lighten the load parents freak out saying their child needs more work. (Niels had a teacher friend tell him that a parent called saying more homework and exams needed to be given.) If classes get cancelled on the weekends (as they have been for all public middle schools here), parents hire private tutors for all day weekend classes.

The Chinese style of education does have some good qualities, but I think the bad ones far outweigh the good. The students are too dependent on what their teachers or parents think, they don’t learn how to think for themselves; only to memorize and regurgitate. They have no time to foster their individual interests, so when they graduate and actually have some free time before going to university they have no clue what to do with their time.

Change is slowly coming but unfortunately not where its needed most, meaning it’s happening in Beijing and Shanghai, but everywhere else is resisting the change, even though they know by resisting it is hurting the students

5) What do you think American progressives most need to do to get their act together and work effectively for change?

Stop infighting. They need to put their differences aside and work together on what they agree on. I hate to say it but they need to learn from the Republicans on this one. Newt Gingrich did an amazing job in the mid-1990s to unite his party, and unfortunately, the Democrats and the progressives don’t have a leader which they can turn to. And until they get one, they’re going to continue to flounder.

The powers that be have decided to increase the strength of the country's firewall and pretty now almost all the blogs I read are blocked. And depending on the day the proxies I use are blocked to. If I manage to get a proxy to work, I can't leave a comment. *sigh*

Good luck getting Tor to work, it's so unbelievably slow.

So, if you've not seen me around on your blog lately, it's not that I'm lazy, it's that I can't come visit.

And is it me, or does the firewall sound like a name of a maxi pad? "During that time of the month, use the Golden Shield, the strongest safeguard against leaks."