Thank you so much to each and every one who responded to my
recent epistle telling of random adjustments to my life here in Nanjing. Some of you asked about my work. Now that I have been able to meet some of my
basic needs, food in my belly and a roof over my head, I am now much more able
to focus on my teaching.
The British Columbia Academy is a grade 10-12 sub-school
within Nanjing Foreign Language School (NFLS).
It is a private school, many say the best in Nanjing perhaps, some say, the
best in Jiangsu Province. Middle class
and wealthy parents, or perhaps with help from the grandparents, have paid
handsomely, 60,000 Rmb Yuan for a year’s tuitition(about $160 = 1000 Rmb Yuan),
with the hope of going on to one of the best Chinese universities, or preferably,
to a university in Canada or USA. NFLS
goes from grade 8-12 in the International Baccalaureate (IB) stream, or the
English A-level stream, whereas BCA offers the British Columbia curricula. Education is very important to Chinese
people. Apparently a good wage for a teacher
might be about 80,000. If both parents
work, one salary would pay for the child’s education, and the other wage would
pay for everything else.
It seems these are three levels of admission at NFLS, depending
upon how well students did on their entrance exams. Perhaps the other
programs are even more expensive. My
understanding is that the IB stream allows students the broadest scope of
choices in the Western world, UK, Australia, New Zealand as well as the US and
Canada, from which to choose. IB is
becoming very popular and fashionable around the world, including Canada, and
is a very rigorous academic program. Some
choose to graduate only from BC, while others study non-stop to obtain both the
Chinese and Canadian diplomas, thus able to attend a Chinese university in the
event they are not successful in their applications to study abroad. BCA has about 300 students, while the entire
school is about 4000 students.
The school fronts onto one of the city’s main drags, and at
7:30 in the morning and from 3:30-5:00 the mass of jostling parents, bicycles,
e-bikes, taxis and private cars at the school gates is a milling throng of honking
horns, people visiting, grandparents with young children in tow, wanting to be
elsewhere. The high school kids are off to their dorms, huddled at tables in
open spaces with study groups, or off to catch the bus or one of two Metro
subway lines homeward bound. Not a place
you want to be at those times of the day.
Our staff usually goes out to dinner, and the younger ones party till
dawn. It is virtually impossible to get
a cab on Friday or Saturday in the early evening. Shift change happens between 3:00-7:00 so
that the bounty of this high demand period is shared among the drivers whom it
seems drive 12 hour shifts.
As I mentioned, I teach grade 12 English to classes of not
more than 20 students, one of 17 Canadian and 2 American colleagues. Preparing for the Provincial Standards Exam
is a huge focus. I also teach
“Graduation Transitions” a weekly 50 minute class that helps students think
about their adult lives in the West in terms of maintaining physical health, achieving
a level of community involvement and most importantly, where to apply to attend
university. About five of my colleagues were here last year so
there is some continuity. The current
grade 11 and 12 classes conducted in English have a maximum 20 students, while
the pupil teacher ratio has been bumped up in grade 10 and 11 to 27. The more kids there are in a class, the less
teacher time they get, and the less actual student talk time students get. I seriously doubt that tuition costs reflect
the learning implications of that change.
Math classes run about 50 students.
They are taught by Canadians who happen to be fluently Mandarin. Though they teach in English they do have the
added advantage of being able to clarify in Mandarin.
The Principal is also a “new hire”, though he was in Beijing
for three years preceding last year which he spent back home in St. Mary’s,
Newfoundland. His wife, originally from
St. John’s, is teaching the grade 10 English. Six of us, Principal, Grade 10 English,
Physics, Math and me with Gr 12 English are all retirees. We have four staff
members who have been in China for a while.
One has been in China for six years, and this is his 4th at
this school. Oral Communication is
taught by a 50 something from the US who is in her sixth year at the
school. She uses debating skills as a
forum to help students gain the confidence to express their opinions and to
speak out. Her son is here too, teaching
at one of the universities. The other two senior staff are here with their
wives who are Chinese. The former lives
in the residence floors of one of the downtown malls, which he says is just to
his liking as he loves to shop. Go
figure. I’m happy where I am too,
because I don’t like to shop. The other fellow
is very quiet, and old and wise enough to have become somewhat cynical about
rhetoric vs practice. I do believe that
is part of the professional development of a teacher. He just seems to prefer to keep to himself
and that’s all good. He has been here
for 9 years and is in his 70’s. The
remainder range from new graduates in their first teaching position to about
age 35. Most are hard working, dedicated
and all are adventurers.
Three staff members speak Chinese so we have in house
cultural informants, though one admits she only knows what her parents have
told her. Two of the young teachers came
to Canada during the Hong Kong exodus, and are now learning first hand about
China. One is a really vivacious 30
something who teaches Biology and coordinates the many events, clubs and
extra-curricular activities. She’s a
treasure, open minded, forthcoming, diplomatic, organized and of course, hard
working. Another is about 23, teaches
Biology, fresh out of university, and a ball of fire. She is so intense that, in her presence, I
feel I should be running. She talks
REALLY fast but I’m sure she is barely keeping up with her own mind. And finally, an early 40’s Chino-Canadian has
returned after 10 years in Canada, to be nearer to his aging parents. His wife has stayed back “home” in Montreal
to help their two daughters make the transition from high school to
University. He has not mentioned her
except in response to a direct question.
He misses her and I do hope she
will come to visit though she is staying behind now to help the girls with
their life transitions. Two of the young fellas are here with their Chinese
wives. The Phys Ed guy, a Canadian who
played pro basketball in the US and New Zealand, exchanges weekend commutes to
Hong Zho (spelling) where his Chinese wife teaches at a private international
school. Another new graduate is an
Indo-Canadian. She works hard and I
thought was quite quiet. However, her
voice was a little raspy last Monday morning, and she confessed to having gone
to Karaoke with the group after Friday’s staff dinner and singing till 4:30 in the morning. I’d be a little raspy too, I should think. I look forward to the next Karaoke though I’m
sure I won’t make it to that time of night!
This Friday, I did go out to dinner for Ladies’ Night out, then on to a
house party, and from their to a club.
Home at 3:00 a.m., tired and tipsy.
I’m paying for it still in that I am less focused even than usual from
sleep deprivation. I woke up on Saturday
at 7:00 a.m. and could not get back to sleep.
I really do have to get some ear plugs.
The megaphones and firecrackers go non-stop on weekends, adding to the
occasional car horn blasts that reach my 16th floor.
I was warned it would be difficult to get students to
participate in classes. Since I knew
discipline would not likely be a problem, I set a relaxing tone from the outset
rather than the hard line I would have adopted back home. I
showed some photos of my family, my home and my town, a couple of gardens, and
main street Birtle with five vehicles in one direction down main street, and
none facing west on the highway out of town.
My students could not imagine it!
I now find that the majority of students are happy to answer questions,
and discussion groups are becoming more active by the day.
Just before leaving Manitoba, I heard a program about the
fashion of immigrants adopting English names, or anglicizing their given names,
and the negative effect that has had on their perception of self and their
self-esteem. I’d often thought about
that as a hangover from my days in Xuzhou where all the students had chosen
English names for themselves “because their Chinese names were too hard for
their English teachers to say”. Here too all the students have English first
names, either selected or given to them by their teachers! I always thought, “Here these kids are
trying to learn to communicate in a whole new foreign language, and their
teachers can’t learn to say their NAMES!”
So, I am trying my best to learn my students correct names. Chinese
given names are two meaningful syllables carefully chosen by their parents as
“life wishes”, or descriptions, Red Flower, Brave Leader, that sort of
thing. From my first effort, I could
tell they appreciated the thought, if not the pronunciation. On the other hand, once I got the tones
marked on the Pinyin names, I did notice some positive body language suggesting
I wasn’t doing so badly and that is encouraging. I had to tell them not to laugh at my bad
pronunciation, but rather to bear in mind that I am trying. Noone has laughed since. Now I am at the point where I am ready to
seek their critique. Nonetheless,
surprisingly, when asked, about 50% of my students say they prefer to be called
by their Chinese names. Shamefully, I
have to admit, that I too find it much easier to learn than their proper names. The students say, that among the new recruits
my pronunciation is the best. They are
either being characteristically too kind, or it is a shocking truth!
Though I am supposed to teach the BC curriculum, we do not
have the materials. BC, like Manitoba,
has three English 12 courses, though they do not write a common exam. I teach the mid-range course, English 12 which
is supposed to include the texts Richard Wagamese’s Keeper ‘N Me, Ogawa’s Obasan,
and Hosseini’s The Kite Runner
by way of novel studies, as well as Hamlet
and Miller’s Death of a
Salesman. We have one copy of
Hamlet and the BBC CD. We have a class
set of Death (March-April) and
the DVD. We do not have the novels. Instead, we will probably use Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird which the
Oral Communication teacher uses as a primary research source for debates, and
Keyes’ Flowers for Algernon. I have
the play so we will probably do a read-along of that text. Students will write a comparison of the two
forms. I’m none too crazy about the
novels because of the non-standard English used, the dialogue in Mockingbird or
the spelling in Flowers. If
any of my teacher buddies can offer some feedback about my thoughts on this
topic, I would appreciate whatever advice or wisdom you might share. We
will give Hamlet short shrift (May-June)
using the video and selected passages. I
think they would be so much better to use several novellas rather than these
250-300 page novels. Afterall, these
kids probably read at about 75-150 words a minute, so comprehension retention
and attentionality will be problematic, let alone the language used.
But I knew about the availability of resources from a
conversation I had with the library records keeper. I arranged to have a sample copy of an Oxford
publication that gives comprehensive coverage of vocabulary, some grammar and a
good focus to discussion, comprehension and writing as well as listening activities,
5 minute lecture excerpts and complementary contemporary music in 10 weekly
lessons focused on developing academic informational text skills. The lessons are based around a two page text
on various recent new issues, Bloody Sunday, the Cold War, Apartheid, American
race relations, etc. In the meantime the
Canadian representative and program coordinator, a semi-retired BC school
division superintendant, will bring back sample copies of the remaining
materials. It takes about a year or more
to have a novel approved by the Chinese Ministry of Education but I hope the novels
on the curriculum may be approved. They
are certainly easier reads than those we are using though they are not short
texts. If any of you can suggest
novellas that might be appropriate I would certainly appreciate the
feedback. I have thought of Steinbach’s Of Mice and Men or The Pearl but will have to do
some research and reading to find others.
Unbelievably, two novels that were purchased by outgoing
staff and approved appear nowhere in any curriculum I have come across. One is Hamilton’s Water Rats of Wanchai, and the other is the Dust of 100 Dogs. Water Rats is a mystery along the
lines of Lars Steig’s The Girl Who
series. Whereas you may know that Steig’s
novels are strong pieces with complex well developed characters, Water Rats is
just ok with rather flat characters and predictable plot lines. It did win a mystery writer’s prize and will
make adequate vacation reading in February.
The reviews for 100 Dogs are inconsistent at best, and bad at
worst. It has many characters and ranges
over thousands of years of human history and several continents. Reviews say it is hard to follow. This does not bode well for my EFL population
and I hope the grade 11 teachers enjoy it.
I am working on getting Kite
Runner, Obasan, and Keeper for
next year.
I am contracted to teach 25 or fewer hours a week. At this point I have 21 hours. My English
classes are all double 50 minute classes, four per week with each of my two
classes. The Career Planning –
Graduation Transitions course is a strange one.
It is a 4 credit course and I have 5 sections. The morning classes are 50 minutes, but the
afternoon three are 40 minutes long. Two
of those are from 4:20-5:00! Those are
two very long days. My English classes
alternate sections, but all start at 7:45 in the morning. But we are also, as usual, expected to do
some extracurricular work. There are about
50 different school clubs organized by students and sponsored by a teacher
liaison/supervisor. I may do a debate
club though that will be something new for me.
It is though something I am interested in. As well, the Study Hall and Remediation
Centre will soon resume services and I hope that will be the last part of my
assignment. It ran 4:30-6:00 last year,
though the new schedule gives students many more breaks during the day than
previously. So perhaps this year it can
run during the day.
My English teacher colleague who teaches the other three
sections is a new graduate and very well read and keen and insightful about
literature. She will be a big help with
the haute culture aspects of the analysis, the part I was never too keen
on. And I hope she continues to be
concerned about the language aspects of the courses. That is my area of interest and
expertise. That and the research and
writing skill development.
September 10th was Teacher’s Day, a day set aside to honour
teachers. Teachers are given thank
you’s, a special wish for the day, a card or a gift. I was given a beautifully colourful silk
scarf by one student and a lovely card from another. NFLS gave us each a box of Moon Cakes in
honour of the annual “Thanksgiving” harvest full moon. Moon Cakes are little round cookies, 5-8 cm
in diameter, with a thin pastry covering around a filling, usually of ground
fruit and nuts. They are reminiscent,
for me, of fruit cake though the consistency is finer. Those given by the school are delicious with
a fruit flavoured jelly filling.
Individually they cost anywhere from 7 mau (1.5 cents) to a silk or
satin lined box of 10 for 350 Yuan.
Needless to say, I have no idea what filling those might have – gold
leaf perhaps? Anyway, the boxes are certainly beautiful.
On a personal note, I like many things about my
apartment. The location is a little
removed from the crowds, the noise, and the expensive foreigner’s shops of the
downtown core. It is close to the subway
and not more than a km from the buses I use most. Plus, I am on the verge of buying a bicycle
to commute to work. But the walls are in
dire need of paint. Washing them will
help, but they are many marks and stains.
I have had the cushions on the rattan couch and chairs replaced and they
are much more attractive. But there is
no mattress on my guest bed, which is quite unacceptable, and is, I hope, a
problem I must resolve in anticipation of guests. The bathroom vanity cupboard doors and
drawers don’t align and don’t close properly as a result. It’s probably not of “best quality” and is
far from new. The backing for the hooks
on the drapes is sun damaged and ripped and the weights at the vertical edges
have pulled away from whatever was supposed to hold them in place. They don’t hang nicely. The
counter top of the vanity and the one in the kitchen is stained and in the case
of the latter, has a crack in it. I
ground out whatever corrosion was in the shower massage nozzles and they now
work. And I miss my own cooking. I'm virtually living on fruit and nuts, coconut milk and yoghurt, coffee and tea, beer and now, alas, red wine.
I never imagined I’d be grateful to my mother
for knowing how to render pork lard. In
a country where pork is the staple meat source, and everything is dripping with
it, I find it impossible to communicate that I want to buy lard. And I can’t identify it in the department
stores though it must be there. All the
bread is sweet and I just want plain, plain, plain bread. And I want to make a
pie so I will have to get out to buy a toaster oven soon. Fry bread was delicious in desperation, but
fat is fat. So you see, I am now solidly
in phase 2 of acculturation. Missing
home and family, foods and dogs, and “our” way.
But as Ron said, I will get over it.
End of conversation.
There is one little comical idiosyncrasy I must mention
because it makes me smile every day. I
live on the 16th floor. As I
rise in the elevator I pass floors – 2, 3, 3a, 5 and on to 12, 12a, 12b, 15,
except in the stairwells. There the floors are labelled numerically rather than
sub-alphabetically. I guess those who use
stairs must be less suspicious by nature.
Four is an unlucky number for the Chinese, and 13 is unlucky for
us. But Che tells me many buildings in
Winnipeg don’t have a 13th floor either. There the floors go 11, 12 14, 15, etc.
Enuf for now. Time
for my Chinese massage. It will feel so
good when it is over, but it hurts like the dickens while it is going on. It’s like acupuncture with thumbs! I hope you read with interest. I was thrilled to receive your feedback after
the last update and look forward to encouraging feedback again.
If you do have any specific questions about my teaching experiences, please ask.
