Great Fact #112 About China: I just bought all nine seasons of the X-Files for less than $35 Canadian. And the discs actually work!
does China get movies that have not yet come out in the rest of the world, 6 month before they will come out? Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! and all this for a dollar or three....?
There are some new pictures up from Huizhou. My apartment, my school and co-workers and a kindergarten I teach at.
Good news. I have a new gong-fu teacher. Today I received a call from the school asking me to come in and meet a teacher. So one of the girls took me to Huizhou University - which, by the way, is beautiful - and I met the school's head professor of Gong-Fu. (Yes, you read that right, here you can major in Gong-Fu. My teacher holds a doctorate). So the man was very nice though he speaks little English he can understand some. My Chinese is improving to the point of holding mild conversation with him anyway and I think lessons will help. So we're sitting and chatting with the girl from EF as our interpreter and one of his students walks in, apparently his greatest student. After a while of discussing what I want to study, when is best to come and all other details, Joy - the girl from EF - tells me they're talking about the price. I was fairly sure I overheard him say "Normal is 100 kwai a week for group lessons, 150 an hour for solo." At this point I was thinking maybe I would do just once a week. Soon after Joy turns to me and tells me what was really said. The teacher is absolutely overjoyed to have me as a student as he has never taught a foreigner before but would love to, as well as wanting to improve his English. His best student is also eager to try teaching a foreigner as once he completes his Masters degree he will begin teaching himself and would like to have experience as well as a lao-wai friend. So, no charge. I can come as many times a week as I want, including a private lesson every Monday for two hours, and I can use their gym and center as often as I like. They do not want money, they simply want to learn themselves how to teach a foreigner gong-fu and have a white friend. So what would amount to me paying about 1,000 yuan a month for free. Pretty frickin' remarkable. This place is some demented paradise. I get things constantly for free, everyone always wants to help me and teach me anything I want to learn for free, last night I got free drinks all eve for playing guitar... living in China was one of the smartest decisions I ever made.
Welcome to China Tyler. Your first impression was a dirty shitty city.. Now you can understand why i love the country.. The people.. ( my wife hehe ). They are willing to give, as long as you are willing to reciprocate.. We all have some thing to offer !!.. Keep up with the path you are following .. Adam
With Halloween approaching my school decided to hold a big party for all of our younger students that revolved around the holiday. So yesterday we all had our classes canceled and spent the day decking out the school in various terrifying ways and creating costumes of our own. I was definitely the teacher who got most into it and by nightfall had a room with bats hanging down from the ceiling, various monsters jumping out of the walls, all of the lights covered with orange paper so that the room had an eerie glow and a full vampire costume for myself, complete with pale white face and blood running down my chin. In general the kids had an amazing time. As they arrived we all walked around in our costumes scaring the crap out of them and their parents (the Chinese are easily frightened). The next hour and a half would be each teacher in their own room hosting a certain game while the kids rotated rooms in groups. My game was called "Halloween Walk" and basically just involves me telling the kids to "creep like a cat" or "scurry like a spider" or "stomp like a monster". The first couple rounds went okay but the kids mostly just wanted me to chase them and scare them. So I decided to change it up a little. I had brought a CD with some dark but movable music, including a few Phish tunes with darker jams; 2001, Birds of a Feather, Suzie Greenberg. So I just put those three songs on repeat and had the kids dance (tiaowu in Chinese) in between the various "walks". It was so fucking cute to watch 20 10 year old Chinese kids funk out to 2001. And there were two kids who at some point just dropped out of the game, walked over to the stereo and just funked out solo-style with big-ass smiles on their faces. There are few things as enjoyable as utilizing your music in a classroom.
No, but our school hosted it for the kids. We teach them about Western things in general while teaching English.
(the Chinese are easily frightened). Hahaa.. You are so right.. Male and female.. It still amazes me when my wife jumps at the smallest thing.. Our apartment in Shenzhen is in a standard block nothing flash.. You know 6 levels with 2 or 3 apartments on each level.. Bars on the windows and a second steel front door . Clang clang clang in the morning as they go to work.. So to just walk in at our home after work in NZ, on time Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!) Still produces a fright..
You teach in a university as a foreign teacher,right?Would you mind to tell me which city you live now?
Meanwhile, in the US, many schools are holding "orange and black" parties because PC morons are offended by Halloween.
Hey Tyler.. Why no post ??.. There are many here that are interested in your day to day life in China.. ( maybe not your night life Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!) ).. With the Olympics coming up China is in the spotlight.. Adam.
He probably froze there. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! I've heard most places there don't have heat during the winter... :shrug:
