Catching up

Christmas is a small deal here. There are some Christmas decorations in shops and restaurants. You mostly see “Santa faces” everywhere. You don’t really see trees or wreathes or candles or anything – just Santa faces. It’s a little creepy, but nice. Last weekend we went to Guiyang to celebrate with the other foreigners who live there. There is a large foreign community in Guiyang, and we had a Christmas celebration service with probably 100 people. I was so happy to sing carols! It was a good time.

Well, it’s almost the end of the term here. Semesters are technically 20 weeks long, but foreign teachers are asked to give exams on week 18. We just finished week 17, the last week of classes, and next week is week 18. It seems crazy to me that finals week is the same as Christmas week! According to our contracts, we do not work on Christmas, so I had to reschedule my Monday class to take their exam Friday. It’s cool, though.

My finals’ schedule is as follows:

Tuesday 2-4 Writing Exam (they have a research paper due January 2^nd also)

Wednesday 8-10 Pronunciation Exam

Wednesday 10-12 Literature Exam

Thursday 2-4 Oral Exam

Friday 8-10 Listening Exam

Friday 10-12 Listening Exam

Of these exams four are written and two are spoken. For my Pronunciation and Oral classes I have the students signed up to talk to me for 5 minutes at a time. In Pronunciation they have a poem prepared, and an impromptu dialogue to read. I’ll assess their pronunciation this way. In Oral I will have cards that they will draw randomly and have a conversation accordingly. They have an idea of the parameters of the cards-it covers things we have learned in class-but they don’t know exactly what they will say. It makes for a long two hours, but there isn’t any additional grading to do, so that’s nice.

After December 29 I just have to collect the research papers from my writing class. That will probably be a bit of grading, but I can handle it. That’s why I get paid the big bucks. :)

The week of January 1-8 I will finish my grading. I have to hand in special grade sheets. Then I’ll prepare for my trip! Here’s the plan: we are taking a train to Kunming (the capital of Yunnan province) where we will stay for one week. We need to stay there to secure visas for Laos and Cambodia. Then we will travel to Laos. We’ll make our way south for probably a week and a half. That should take us to the Cambodia boarder. Again, we’ll go south and end up in Phenom Phen. We have flights from Cambodia to Thailand to Macau (all in one day) on February 8^th (I think). Once in Macau we’ll cross the boarder into China (near Hong Kong) and take a train to Beijing for the ULS winter conference. After four days in Beijing we’ll take a train back to Guiyang. That trip should be 29 hours – a long time on a train! Six weeks later I’ll be back in Anshun with probably one week before the spring term starts.

It’ll be nice to travel to the warmer climate and to see Southeast Asia. This will bump my number of visited countries from six (America, Canada, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Russia, China) to eight (Cambodia, Laos), also. If I count countries through which I’ve flied, the count is ten (I stopped in Brazil on my way to Bolivia, and will stop in Thailand in February).

I was talking to a student the other day and she asked me how many countries I had visited. I said 5 (I forgot about Canada) and her eyes got big. I said “oh, you’ve never been out of China?” and she said, “no, Guizhou province!”. I am fortunate for the opportunities I have had so far. It takes seeing a completely different way of life to realize how fortunate I am.

I have learned so much this semester. I’m very excited for next semester because I’ve already made so many mistakes that I hope I can avoid next semester. I know how long 18 weeks feels and how to pace myself. I know what teaching the students appreciate, what teaching I’m good at, and where to find the balance between the two. And I know the students. I am not teaching any new groups of students next term. We signed up for classes a few weeks ago. I will teach 3 Oral classes (all 5-year students), a Literature class (5-year), a Writing class (5-year) and a Listening class (3-year). I’m pretty excited.

Wow, that’s a lot of information. I know I haven’t been faithful in updating, and really wanted to let you all know what’s going on with me. I appreciate your thoughts and support!

Merry Christmas!

It's c-c-c-c-cold!

So, I live in sunny Guizhou province. It's a beautiful, temperate, sub-tropical environment. Or not. It's really cold here. Right now it 37 degrees Fahrenheit. I know it's not as cold as Russia (27 degrees) or even Western NY (16 degrees), but it's still cold!

See, there's no central heating in China south of the Yangtze River - that's me! Most people use coal to warm stoves. But that's messy and a little dangerous. So I use electric heaters, which are dangerous in their own right. Running too many electrical appliances runs the risk of burning wires.

Burning wires vs. Burning coal and smoke - what a choice! I just keep an eye on things and don't run more than two heaters at a time. Also, I have smoke alarms.

The students don't even have heat in their dorms. They rely on body heat to keep themselves warm - ten students share a room.

There is no heat in the classroom buildings. Everyone wears their coats during class. In fact, it's rude and a little scandalous to take off your coat during class (as I discovered last week!).

I bought a heater Tuesday that blows hot air. It's mounted on my wall and keeps my living room pretty warm. Think of it as a huge blow-dryer, but quieter.

I close all the doors in my apartment, and just heat the living room. I have taped all the windows shut with packing tape. Believe it or not, it makes it warmer! I don't even go into the study anymore - I moved the computer to the living room. My bedroom is cold, but I move a heater into it when I go to bed at night, and I have an electric blanket. My kitchen is cold until I start cooking, then it heats up some. But my back hallway is freezing! It is all windows and when I do the dishes I can see my own breath! Brrrr!! Thankfully I have a heat lamp in my bathroom for when I take showers. It doesn't make it *warm* but it keeps it from being too cold.

I'm sure I'll survive the winter, but I was not in for this shock! I wear long underwear every day. And in one month I'm going on vacation to Cambodia and Laos. It should be warm there!!