Challenges and Celebrations in China

COUNTRY: China
PROGRAM: GapBreak
PROJECT: Teaching
WRITTEN BY: Robert Meek
 

I'm writing on Monday, the 23rd of February, 16 days after the program started. Fireworks are going off relentlessly outside my window on what is hopefully the last day of New Year's celebrations; there are only so many fireworks you can take before it's just noise and light, like a week-long hangover.

Don't get me wrong, China offers plenty of opportunities for hangovers, alongside many opportunities I'd never have experienced in the humble suburbs of Australia. To kick things off, here's a quick list of some of the more outlandish things I've done in only 2 weeks:
• Eaten three whole scorpions
• Had my outdoors Tai-Chi lesson interrupted by a McDonald's home delivery man
• Climbed to the top of a section of the Great Wall of China
• Set off fireworks in the middle of a road that was still being used by vehicles
• Mastered the art of crossing the road (the trick is confidence; Chinese drivers can smell fear)
• Had a beer with my schoolteacher
• Walked on a frozen river
I live in one room with my roommate Hugh, the only Kiwi on the trip. All 50 of us live in similar conditions. It's cramped and frustrating, but we don't spend much time there. I am a member of a vast minority of monolinguals (all from either Australia, England or Scotland). Everyone else is at least bilingual, and some can speak 4 languages (not including Mandarin). Most interns are from Denmark, but many are Swedish or Norwegian. After some deliberation with colleagues, we established the final list of the collective spoken languages among us:
• English
• Mandarin
• Dutch
• Danish
• Swedish
• Russian
• German
• French
• Norwegian
• Korean
• Spanish
• Portuguese
• Albanian
Surprisingly, all 50 of us get along perfectly. After a week social groups formed based on either your native language or whether or not you smoke. The school schedule has been increasingly hectic with the arrival of Teacher Practice (TP) week, but generally sticks to a High-School-esque period schedule, with three 90-minute lessons a day plus Mandarin classes after school. So far we've handed in four big assignments with the due date for the fifth rapidly approaching.

Tap water is unsafe to drink, so drinking water is purchased at the local supermarket and/or liquor store for about 10 kuai (aka Yuan or Renminbi) for five litres. It has to be said that the hotel food has the potential to be atrocious (today's broth contained entire chicken feet and possibly its' Aorta/Femoral arteries) and so, with no communal kitchen, a trip to a local restaurant or vendor is sometimes necessary. Luckily food is cheap and everywhere. The local dumpling shop has saved many of us from starvation, and if you're really homesick the local McDonald's delivers straight to your door.

Beijing is a filthy place, but entirely devoid of litter. These kinds of compromises have become commonplace on our various expeditions into different avenues of the culture. There are no Chinese Bars/Pubs, but every restaurant, cafe, supermarket, corner store and lemonade stand sells alcohol. The roads appear to be a chaotic hell at first glance, but there is a method to the madness of the streets. While the Chinese cannot be called "good drivers", there is absolutely no doubt that they are "good at driving".

The process of learning Mandarin is excruciatingly slow, but can be attributed to the enormous workload and being always surrounded by English speakers. I expect my Chinese to improve when I get to my placement.

The responsibilities of schoolwork and the inevitable culture shock are balanced by the intelligent, interesting people that surround me every day. The freedom to explore China and its' weird and wonderful ways is secured by the support of the in-country partners and the Antipodeans staff. And the brain-melting early starts are combated by the knowledge that every day will present some wacky custom or ridiculous challenge or life lesson to wrap your head around.

Living in China is not easy, and I already feel better for it. I wouldn't pass up this trip for anything, and I still have 5 months left!

A week at Beijing University

COUNTRY: China
PROGRAM: GapBreak
PROJECT: Teaching
WRITTEN BY: Stephanie Chan

Wow! A month has already past and the teaching training in Beijing has ended. It has been probably the most exciting, wild and awesome experience so far. This adventure all began when I arrived in Beijing on January 15th, after an annoying delay and 3 hour plane ride from Guangzhou (as I came to China in early December to visit friends and family in the south). I exited through terminal 2 and waited at the meeting point for the IES global representative.

During this time I saw another person waiting with their luggage too, but being me, I was too afraid to go over and ask if he was part of the program. Our representative finally arrived and her name was Bella. Sure enough, I met Jason who turned out to be a fellow Aussie! We had to catch a shuttle bus to meet up with the others who were at international arrivals. First impression was: woah, so many European backpackers. It was followed by a bus ride to what was to be our living headquarters for the next month, UIBE: University of International Business and Economics.

After receiving our name tags and room keys, then lugging my luggage up 5 whole flights of stairs, I was surprised by my room - two beds, two desks and a bathroom. The bathroom especially, was a small but adequate contained space, though the showerhead was right next to the toilet.

I met my roommate, Gabriella (or later to be called Gabz by me) and she was Swedish. She invited me to dinner with the fellow Swedes she met, and I was glad I accepted. Our first night was a free night so we headed out the west gate in search of a local restaurant. We stumbled upon a Japanese restaurant and ate there. There was a problem in asking to split the bill and I was the only one knowing a reasonable amount of Chinese, so I was proud to put my forgotten Chinese skills to the test (my parents are both Chinese and I went to primary school in Guangzhou for 4 years but haven’t since learnt more). It was a fun night and I met so many new faces, some who are true close friends now :D

Orientation was the next day and it was followed by warm up games/icebreakers to meet others. That night we had an introduction dinner and the food was delicious, buffet style! – a mix of western and Chinese, for example French fries but also dumplings. We started classes the day after and it was great being introduced to our new teachers and classmates. Participants of the teach and travel china program (ttc) was split into 3 classes in random assortments- class A, class B and class C – and I was in class B, best class of course :P

The classes taught theory on how to become a good teacher; such as learning icebreakers and fun games to rouse or settle the mood of the class, learning how to teach vocabulary through flashcards etc, learning how to teach listening and speaking skills, and most importantly, how to write and create a lesson plan for teaching a whole period of class- based on age level, English level and class size. Then we were also offered 4 periods of mandarin class each week. I went to the first class and learnt the alphabet again, but decided the pace and content was not appropriate for me. Upstairs, there was a mandarin corner, where the ttc staff could separately teach you with the others who knew some of the language as well. This is where I met Theo, otherwise known by his Chinese name as Dongyu, a fellow Chinese from Denmark, as we were the only two full Chinese in the program.

Each day we could head over to the canteen/cafeteria for breakfast lunch and dinner (it was pretty big, to accommodate all the students at the uni of course), although people soon got a bit tired of eating the same style of foods over and over again haha, not me though! I really liked the food there, and there were always long queues for the fried rice station.

Until next time!
Stephanie Chan

Learning to teach in Beijing Union University

COUNTRY: China
PROGRAM: UniBreak
PROJECT: Teaching
WRITTEN BY: Maile Taimana

So it has only been two weeks yet it feels like months! We are living in Beijing Union University. Our days have been filled with classes to tours around Beijing. Our first day we got to know everyone in the program. It is amazing to get to know people from such different cultures and places. It is also such a unique circumstance to meet such people! From Danish to German, English to Norwegian and many more....there are many nationalities and names to remember but we're getting there!

Our week works from Friday to Tuesday filled with classes with trainers that are teaching us how to become the best English teachers as possible! We attend mandarin and culture classes to help us out. Wednesdays are our 'Tour days' in which we take trips to visit the sites. Last week we went to Wungfujing (or as we like to call it the 'bug market). It is full of western food, book and clothing shops but with a particular section where you can buy live scorpions on a stick, octopus, starfish, snake and other creepy crawls to eat! (Needless to say some limits were tested). We have witnessed amazing Chinese acrobatics, visited various markets (where barging for a price becomes a sport - always good fun!).

We have seen the worlds longest corridor at the summer palace (once a place where the royal family would stay in the summer, which is now a major tourist attraction.) Many of us have gone off and have done our own exploring! We are learning to use the subway and finding paths and shortcuts to various places.

China has many quirks. We as westerners have reached 'celebrity status'. Many Chinese people have never seen foreigner and would either sneakily take photos of us or outright stand next to us and take photos. Many stare and like to practice their English. It does take some getting used to but that's just what comes with the experience. It is a vastly different culture and is and interesting change for most of us.

There has been so much going on that it would be impossible to recall it and write it all down! This truly is an amazing experience to learn from.