Out of the Frying Pan and into the Classroom

Into the Chinese university classroom

Our Dept. representative, Jonathan (Chinese), came over to visit Sunday afternoon after our arrival with another foreign teacher in our tourism department, John from Clemson, SC.  John lives above us with his wife Chris from Australia. John taught one of the classes last year that I am teaching now so he was a great help. He also claims to have located the best fried chicken on the planet in Xi’an. He will take us there before long. We asked to have my schedule changed so that we have the same day off. Suzanne has Friday off and I have Thursday off. No promises were made. We arranged to meet Monday AM for John and Jonathan to show us to our classes. I was expecting classrooms like an American university. We found no ability to use PowerPoint, no dry erase but basic chalk boards with a box of chalk at the teacher’s desk. Welcome to the 80s. This is of no consequence for my classes and I will get along nicely without those things. Suzanne was assigned a computer lab. This seems like a waste of a native English speaker, but it is what it is. She was not too happy about the techno side of it. To make matters worse for her, she was greeted Monday AM with Mao’s revenge. Bad bacteria are everywhere here, it gives a new appreciation for the phrase; “Put that down, you don’t know where it’s been”. I have washed my hands more in the last week than I have in my entire life! There is no 10 second rule in China. If it hits the floor, you don’t even think of putting it in your mouth.



First Day of School

Classes started bright and early Monday morning after our arrival on Thursday. Class periods are two hours long here. The periods are from 8-10 AM, 10AM-noon and 2 PM- 4 PM. The university closes from noon to 2PM for lunch. We ride a foreign faculty bus from the old campus where we live to the new campus where the students live and attend class. The bus leaves our apartment complex (imagine 2 East German concrete cell blocks) at 7:20 AM. We arrive after a ride that rivals anything at Six Flags just before class at ~ 7:50. People in America would actually pay for the thrill of riding a Chinese bus. Quite exciting to have your bus making a U-turn in front of another bus while dodging pedestrians, scooters and bicycles holding entire families, or maybe they’re dodging us! Sometimes you just have to close your eyes and hope for the best. Usually, the driver with the biggest vehicle wins!



In our introduction classes we both showed pictures of our six children. We get a lot of woooos, but when our picture with 19 grand kids comes up; you should hear the “WOW!” In one class when I said that Suzanne & I had 17 grandsons and two granddaughters, I heard: “That’s not possible” from the back of the class. We were concerned that we would be considered irresponsible, but it is well received. We were surprised to find so many of our students have a brother and/or sister. Families of three children are not uncommon, but then they are not that common either. There is a hefty fine for having the second child, but apparently some find it worth it.

Dr. Mullins' Public Speaking class and Professor Mullins' computer lab

Rich’s classes on Monday and Friday are “Extensive reading” for third year students. At the end of the year they must pass an exam where they have a period of time to read a passage and answer questions. This class prepares them for the exam. They read a passage in class from the text. Rich will read it and time himself – a native speaker- to see how long it takes. Then he gives them about 25% more time to read it. Then the class discusses any words that they don’t know, and he answers questions about the text. Not a lot of prep for him. He gathers vocabulary and idioms and is a bright smiling face in class. Rich’s other class is a public speaking class, on Tuesday and Weds., for second year students, and it is a little more challenging. Few people like public speaking, and even fewer like it in a foreign language.

Suzanne’s classes are “Listening and Speaking” computer lab, and “Daily Conversations”, both for freshmen.  There are four 2-hour classes of each, so luckily only two preps. All freshmen students had two weeks at the beginning of school of military training before they started classes. They seem happy to be getting to know each other and enjoying classes. Suzanne is the first foreign teacher for most, if not all, of her students. 




The security guard loved being in a picture

 

Our university is celebrating its 60^th anniversary this weekend and we have had a mandatory invitation to attend on the celebration Saturday. The invitation was complete with matching t-shirts for the faculty!  We figured it would be a faux pas not to attend. There were two hours of boring speeches in Chinese. We did each get a miniature Chinese flag. They are proudly displayed in our dreary apartment hiding a dead Bonsai tree (if it, in fact, has ever been living!).

 

Japanese style

We attended an art exhibit showcasing the students of the art department that began in 2010.  We enjoyed the art as we were guided through the exhibit by one of the artists, 19 year old Joshua. He was assigned to be the translator for one of the BYU teachers assigned to an art class whose students do not speak English well enough. There were pieces from the Impressionist period, the modern era plus some traditional Chinese art.

Joshua and one of his entries

Most of the Chinese students use an English name. Some are very creative.  Each class has a Sunny, a Lucy, and a Vicky. Rich has students named Nine, Wind, Joker, Milky, and Star. Suzanne has Andro, Silence, Meteor, Every (all girls), and a boy named Frostbite. The seasons are all well represented—Summer, Spring, April, May, and Winter. Many pronounce their names a little differently, as well, and finally our ears are getting more accustomed to the accents. At the very least, it makes class a little more interesting.

We’re off this week for a school holiday, the week of Autumn Festival.  We’ll be touring some of the far west reaches of the country, following the silk road of Marco Polo’s time.