Spring has Sprung

All of these leaves and flowers have appeared in the last few days.  They say that there is no Spring in Jinan.  It's just Winter and then Summer.  Right now it is quite pleasant.  Even at 75 degrees, the Chinese are still wearing coats and sweaters.  We are definitely out of place.

We have been having internet problems during the last two weeks.  For this reason we have not posted for a while.  Hopefully those issues have been resolved so we can maintain contact with all you faithful readers.

We are now into the 5th week of semester two and back "into the swing of things."  Since we have the same students we did last semester, we don't have to become acquainted with a new group but instead, can continue continuing on.  We feel that we are getting closer to them.  More and more  are asking for time to talk with us about their lives.  Perhaps they see us as surrogate parents and that is totally ok.  We enjoy sharing our own life experiences and hope we can suggest some things that will help them in their personal journey.

This is June.  She is not one of our students but actually a fellow teacher.  She is an instructor at the law school and is the "go between" for communication with the parents of our tutoring girls, Sunny and Lisa.  June attended Harvard Law School on an exchange and is well on her way to a great career.  She wants to find someone special to marry because she is close to becoming one of those "leftover ladies."  She has volunteered that she has a boyfriend, but she needs counsel about dating. She has asked us for our opinion.  She is just a delightful person.  We are going to miss her.

This is one of the smaller vehicles on the road.  Our USA friend, Brian, just bought one similar to this so he can drive around Jinan with his wife, 4 year old son and new baby.  There is one seat in front and two people can sit in the back.  (No car seats are required in China!).

We saw a car like this that was black and had English words all over it...like SWAT....even police dial 911, etc.  We thought it was quite unusual.  When we went back to take a picture, it was gone.  However, another BYU teacher has also seen it in Jinan.

We received our first major essay from our second semester writing classes this week.   It was a compare and contrast paper looking at Life in High School vs. Life in the University.  We have learned many interesting things.  Many of our students have not lived at home for a very long time.  In order to have an academic advantage, their parents enrolled them in private boarding schools, some as early as 11 years old.  Those students already experienced dormitory life so that was no change.  For others, coming to the university was a shock and it was a difficult transition.  The focus in high school was passing the college entrance exam and it required them to study all the time.  Common hours were 7 am to 11 pm.  Teachers supervised their studies and extracurricular activities were nonexistent.  They were not allowed to have a boy friend or girlfriend for it would be a distraction.  They almost unanimously referred to their academic experience as "hell."  Their teachers reinforced that and used it to drive them to succeed, at least in taking the test.  University life, in contrast, was referred to as "paradise."  Less pressure, more freedom, more independence.

There are some interesting consequences because of this approach.  One, the students know how to study, or I should say, they know how to memorize volumes of information.  They know English grammar far better than we do.  They know a lot of "stuff,"   Two, creativity was something there was not time for so they have no experience in critical thinking, problem solving or working in groups.   They feel they have not had the chance to develop their talents or to even discover who they are.  They crave the spiritual, but they don't know where to find it.  Many want to travel to Tibet because they perceive it as a spiritual place.  Three, they are incredibly naïve about their own history and about the world.  It is getting better, but they have a long way to go.  Four, socially, they are close to their parents and a few others.  Their best friends are usually their roommates.  (there are 8 to 10 in a single dorm room)   They know nothing about dating and they don't know where to start.  They all want to find Mr. Right, but there are few boys in the School of Foreign Languages.  They are aware of a large number of Chinese that are referred to as "left over ladies", who have put off marriage for a career in this growing economic atmosphere.  Generally these are women in their 30's with no prospect of a husband who will want them, specifically because they may be more educated or have greater earning power than males).

All of this makes for some interesting essay reading.  Their openness is refreshing.  They just seem to be so young but our writing students are 21-22 years old.  They thought that Nancy and I were married too young, 26 and 22.  Most of them cannot conceive that they will marry before they are 30.  In China, young people cannot legally "tie the knot" until the boy is 22 and the girl is a least 20.  Most parents won't let them marry until the boy has a car and an apartment, which is a very tall order for most.  I have used the terms boy and girl for these students because that is how they see them selves.  I asked the girls in class if they were "girls" or "women" and the boys whether they were "boys" or "men."  When I used the terms "men" and "women" they just laughed.  They honestly feel they are still boys and girls.

We really enjoy getting to know these young people more personally.  Nancy had a writing passage that she will share with you.  I think you will enjoy what was said.

Difference between University Life and High School

(This female writer started her essay by saying that the "dream university to a high school student  is as desired as the sight of ripe fruits to an orchardist.  What's more?  Just like the orchardist has no idea about how these fruits taste like, nor does the student know what life will be like when attending university."  She writes about three main points:  state of mind, ability required and romantic relationships.)
"Speaking of romantic relationship, maybe it is the most prominent difference between university life and high school life.  It can never be enough to compare romantic relationship as forbidden fruit in high school.    Parents at home as well as teachers at school, they all serve as guards with watchful eyes to prevent you from getting a glimpse of it, not to mention have a mouthful of it.  In contrast to this, it is university where romantic love is nourished and many people meet their future husbands and wives.  To many students, romantic relationship is an essential part of university life, the absence of which would fade their life."

Outside of teaching and correcting papers, we have done a few other things.  We complained to the foreign office 5 times about our internet problems.  They said it was probably because we were trying to go to blocked sites.  We laughed about that.

We tried some new restaurants and spent time with our BYU colleagues.  We also started communication with the couple who has been assigned to our campus next year.  They are the Naegles from St. George, UT.  We are looking forward to sharing everything that we have learned in our short time in China.

I took this picture of our BYU group with some Chinese jaywalking across a major road on our way to a restaurant in the mall.  This a major phenomena in China, "every man for himself." (or woman)  Jaywalking is expected behavior. 

Our 9 year-old Chinese English students had birthdays this week.  Part of our lesson on Tuesday was decorating cupcakes and playing some games.  We are impressed with their progress and we seem to be understanding each other at least some of the time.  We do know this; food is an international language.  They loved the cupcakes.

Nancy is so excited when we go to the baking store to purchase the items that are not available at our local grocery outlet.  Even though it is a 45 minute bus ride one way, it is wonderful to have Kraft parmesan cheese, powdered sugar and baking cocoa!

 

 Part of our "birthday activities" was to do a silly skit.   Sunny (on the left) and Lisa enjoyed being in the car with driver, Stan.  The car never took off because someone had to go back and retrieve sunglasses, a hat, a jacket, etc.  When the passengers were ready, the driver had forgotten his keys! 

Nancy went to a cultural market to purchase beads and string for bracelets for our tutoring girls.  She wanted them to make them as part of our birthday party.  However, Nancy could not make the vendor understand that she just wanted the materials.  The vendor was very happy to make the bracelets so the girls got them as ready made gifts!