Green Eggs & Ham

So I truly believe that a child should not pass preschool until they have had the experience of making and eating green eggs and ham! It is like a right of passage. Well here in China, Dr. Seuss is not nearly as popular as he is in the States, but that did not stop me from opening my children’s eyes to the wonderful world of Seuss. March is usually reading month in the states because Dr. Seuss’ birthday is celebrated on March 3, so I held the tradition and brought “March is reading month” to my class. When I sent out my newsletter for March, I told the parents all about Dr. Seuss and how we were going to be reading a lot of Dr. Seuss books and I also encouraged children to bring in their favorite books from home to share and I would read them aloud to the class (as long as they were in English). The kids were so excited about it and a lot of kids brought in books to share – many brought book just about every day.

So anyway, we read a LOT of different books and a lot of Dr. Seuss, and of course, Green Eggs and Ham- it was one of their favorites. I had planned a whole fun day for us at the end of the month to kind of wrap up the Dr. Seuss stuff and the kids were going to be able to make green eggs and ham. I was a little bit nervous about it though. In the states, it would not be a big deal at all to go to the store and pick up some eggs, deli ham and food coloring, but it is a little bit different here. The school is supposed to provide us with everything we need for cooking and whatnot, but the language barrier usually causes some misunderstandings and confusion. Last time I asked for eggs for baking, I ended up with hard boiled eggs and had no idea until I went to crack them… imagine my surprise that a simple thing like eggs was somehow misunderstood.

So this time, I checked every day to make sure they had what I needed, and tried so hard to explain to them exactly what I wanted. I was almost sure that I would end up with either an entire ham or I would end up with tiny ham chunks that they cooked with (instead of the thick slices that I wanted). Pleasantly, I was surprised that everything ended up perfect. I ended up with 18 raw eggs and 18 thick slices of deli style ham, and all the rest of my materials.

So I read Green Eggs and Ham aloud to my kids first thing in the morning for the fifth time (by then, they just about told the story themselves), then during work time, I did cooking in small groups. It was funny because I told the kids that we needed to add a secret ingredient to make the eggs green and everyone wanted to watch the first group of kids to see how the eggs turned green. It was like a huge surprise to the kids and they loved it! Everyone got to crack an egg (then I had to make sure there were no shells), mix in the green color, pour it into the pan, and help stir the eggs. I mixed the food coloring and oil and fried the slices of ham in the oil to turn them green. Then the kids each got to eat some eggs and ham – and let me tell you, they were GREEN!  There were a couple kids that kept saying, “I don’t like green eggs and ham” and they did not want to make them or eat them. However, I reminded them how resistant the character in the book was until he tried them and then he discovered that he really loved them, so I convinced all of the children to at least make them, and try them. Of course, they all tried it and loved them! By the end they were all saying, “I love green eggs and ham, Sam I am.”

They whole rest of the day, the kids kept telling everyone that they ate green eggs and ham and that it was so good! I just love that they enjoyed it so much!

Spring Concert Prep.

Well the madness has already begun. When I was offered the job at MRA back in November, all of the teachers were hating their lives and telling me not come because they were in the middle of preparing for the Christmas/New Year concert for the parents and families. The thing about the concert was that it became the most important thing and over trumped everything else going on in school. For Morgan, the concerts are a way to display that the children are learning English by singing English songs, and the parents eat up the adorable costumes and choreographed dance routines.

MRA puts on two concerts a year – one in December for Christmas and New Years and a second in April for spring. Each class sings one Chinese song and two English songs. Each song has to have a costume and choreography – and we are not just talking about a 30 second finger play – the performances need to be about two minutes for each song, and the costumes and choreography are supposed to be pretty elaborate. Since the concert is approaching, all the teachers have begun cramming to teach the kids songs and dances, and hand make costumes for each kid. Based on what the other teachers told me about the Christmas concert, concert practice begins to take over the entire day the closer it gets. Morgan expects teachers to cancel lessons, choice work time and outdoors time to practice singing and dancing with the kids every day, and teachers are supposed to use all of our break and prep time to make the costumes for the kids.

Well today, I got my first taste of concert prep. Thursdays are Chinese days – the Chinese teachers lead the whole day and they teach all the lessons and I use the down time for prep and planning. When the morning began, the Chinese teachers started off by having the children try on costumes, followed by placing all of the children in their spots for the performance, and then the teachers taught/reviewed the dance for the song several times. After that, the children were given a little bit of choice work time, however, during that time, both Chinese teachers sat at one table cutting, sewing and gluing felt for the costumes (zero interaction with the children). You see, Morgan told the Chinese teachers that they have to have all of their costumes done this week so that they can help the English teachers make costumes, too (we have not even started ours, but we have double the costumes). Anyway, after work time, they took the kids outside for a little bit to play (it is beautiful outside today). Once they came back in, I bet you can guess what they did again… yup, you guessed it – concert practice! Then the kids had lunch and took their naps, then went outside, and then (can you guess) sang and danced again… literally. When I was writing in the books today for parents, it was difficult for me to think of anything that the kids did today beside concert practice.

The worst part is how inappropriate the whole thing is. I mean, I am supposed to sit my kids down and teach them a songs and dance, then each child is supposed to practice singing independently in front of the whole class. When the Chinese teachers do their music and movement lessons, two children stand in front of the class and perform a song, then the children vote on who sang it best and the better child gets a reward! Crazy, right! When I do my lessons, we sing fun songs, and we sing in groups and if any children want to sing in front of the whole class, I have them volunteer to sing in groups or two or three and they are all rewarded for having the courage to do it.

It is just so odd to me how much pressure is put on kids in general, but definitely the pressure to sing. Parents honestly believe that if their child comes home singing English songs, that they are learning to speak English. Well let me tell you, I can sing about 5 kid songs in Chinese, and I still only understand about 15 words total.

I don’t know, but anyway, the two next months are pretty much going to be hell…  not only am I going to be under a lot of pressure from Morgan and my parents in regards to the singing performance, but I also have to hand make 32 costumes. Additionally, I have to write 18 observation reports, and assemble 18 portfolios for each child for my parent-teacher conferences in May (each consisting of 30 pages of anecdotes, pictures and observations).

Tomb Sweeping Day

We have a couple days off of school the first week in April for Tomb Sweeping Day. Apparently, this national holiday is a really big deal in China. On Tomb Sweeping Day, Chinese people honor family members whom have passed by visiting their grave sites, planting flowers and cleaning up their tomb stones. People travel far to be with their families and visit all the tombs of their loved ones. 

Although, I will use the time to remember and honor the loved ones that I have lost, I will be honoring them from Xiamen... another city on the east coast of China just a couple hours south of Shanghai (about the distance from Michigan to the South Carolina). Courtney L. and I began booking out trip today. We are leaving Thursday night after school and coming back home Tuesday morning. We have booked two different hostels for the weekend. The first half, we are going to be staying in a hostel called Bay View Inn and it is actually located on a small island just off the coast of China. Then for the second half we will be staying at the Blue House Inn in downtown Xiamen.

Xiamen is a contemporary, but historical city with a lot of tourist and religious attractions, beaches, parks and gardens. It is supposed to be very beautiful and warm this time of year (average mid 70's). We are really hoping for good weather, but either way, it will be great to get out and see a little bit more of China.

More to come :]

Playing with the Chinese Teachers

So the Chinese teachers at my school are always asking me to “play” with them. That is what they call it when they go out dancing and singing. The Courtney’s say that it is one hell of an experience, and I always wanted to, but I was never able to go until this weekend. Both Courtney’s were away for the weekend, so I was excited when Ms. Qian (my Chinese assistant teacher – phonetically Ms. Chian) asked me to come play with her. So I meet up with her around 10 and she took me to 03 VIP Disco Dance Club in Qibao.

Remember how I told you before that we refer to things as “very Chinese” when it is all Chinese and no expats?? Well the Qibao Dance Club was very Chinese! Although, the Chinese teachers say that it is “very country” – that is the term that they use to describe things that are kind of ghetto or not very trendy per say (they use that term a lot). So anyway… it is VERY CHINESE.

Chinese dance clubs are interesting in the way that they are set up. There are a lot of tables, booths and couches set up everywhere, but you have to pay to sit down. After you pay for a table, you get a server who brings you a pitcher of water and a large plate or basket of assorted fruits, some popcorn and other snacks. There is not a bar that you can just walk up to – you have to sit at a table to get drinks. You can’t just order one drink either; you have to buy a bottle of liquor or a pitcher of beer. I guess that’s how they keep people there longer. There is a big dance floor in the middle with a DJ and a bunch of random stages and polls throughout the bar where guys and girls dance and pole dance. The Chinese teachers call the dancers, “sexy girls” and “sexy boy” although I must admit that I did not find them very sexy…

So anyway, as soon as we get there, we head straight for the dance floor. The actually floor was crazy! It was almost like a trampoline or something, but it bounced and moved as the people danced! It kind of reminded me of the floors in a gymnasium for tumbling… the ones that absorb the shock and make you jump higher, but much more dramatic. It was impossible to stand still while on the dance floor. Anyway, it was soooo weird at first and it kind of took me a minute to get used to it. I think that if I was drunk and in heels, I am not sure if I would be balance. The dance floor was jam packed with people, and honestly, more guys than girls (which is different from American dance clubs usually). It seemed like everyone was just dancing by themselves, not really any groups or couples, and everyone was dancing in the same way – two-steppin and swinging their heads back and forth. There were tons of lights and chandeliers and disco balls and such covering the bar, and big TV screens everywhere playing videos

As the only foreigner in the whole club, guys were coming up to me none stop, getting right in my face trying to say stuff to me, but Ms. Qian would just tell them to go away. It is actually hysterical how fascinated Chinese people are with foreigners. You would have thought I was a green alien in the middle of the club. The music selection was interesting, too. They played both Chinese and English songs but everything with a techno remix (Chinese just love techno). My personal favorite was probably the Titanic song with a techno remix… can you imagine?

So sexy boys and girls get up on the stages periodically and dance for a song or two. They all wear interesting costumers or just skanky little clothes (like a stripper outfit, but they don’t strip). Some of them just dance with the pole and some of them actually pole dance. My favorite was sexy boy! Let me tell you about sexy boy… he was wearing tiny little black leather underwear with a belt, a black boa around his neck, black leather gloves (without the fingers), sunglasses and lace-up, knee high, black leather platform boots (do you have a good picture of this?). His hair was spiked in a faux-hawk but the hair was longer in the front than in the back, so it progressively got taller (like 6 inches). Let me tell you, although I did not find his outfit sexy, he did things on that pole that girls would never be able to do, yet he was bending and rolling around as flexible as a girl. I stared at him for the longest time mesmerized.

Another teacher, Ms Zhou (Ms. Jo) met up with us at the dance club for a little bit, then the three of us headed downstairs to KTV. Now, last time I went to KTV I LOVED it, however, we had twenty plus people and we were all drinking/drunk and we were all singing and dancing and having a grand ol’ time! I was not sure how it was going to be with just three people, but they really wanted to go so we went. Like I told you before, when we go to KTV, it is like Karaoke in a personal room. There is a large TV that shows the lyrics and a little video, and then there are couches and tables and a computer to pick your songs. You can buy pop or drinks to bring in the room with you and you just hangout and sing until 5:00 am. It was kind of weird though. Both of them were tired, so they wanted me to just pick songs and sing them while they rested. That is not exactly my idea of Karaoke though… I do love singing and all, but I love Karaoke because I like singing with people and dancing and whatnot. Ms. Qian can read a little bit of English so she could sing a couple songs with me, but Ms. Zhou cannot read at all.

I mean, I made the best of it and I sang my little heart out for several hours, but by 4:00 am I was cashed out and decided to leave a little early. Luckily it was only about a mile or so walk back to my apartment. The whole night was kind of weird I think because it was just me with the Chinese teachers, but I think I would go again and have more fun if more of the teachers came out or if the Courtneys went too. We will see...

Never a Dull Moment

Let me tell you about the park catastrophe today… the weather was soooo nice today. It was really sunny and warm enough for just a long sleeve shirt, so Morgan suggested that we take our children to a small park in the compound, just a short walk away. What could it hurt, right? It would be nice for the kids to get out and about, take a nice little walk and play for a little bit instead of being cooped up on such a nice day… well I was wrong – though when it comes to children, you really cannot predict anything.

For starters, I was a nervous wreck walking there. Sidewalks are janky; sometimes there is not a side walk to walk on, or there are holes in the middle, and cars park on the sidewalk so half the time, so my children were walking in the road. Can I remind you again about the crazy driving here?? But I will get to that. So we made it to the park, and it was neat. It had different things that we don’t have at the school playground – swings, a merry-go-round, and teeter-totters. The downfall was that it is all metal. Just about all playgrounds that I have seen are all metal. I just about never see plastic or wood, which seems safer to me (less painful).

So anyway, my kids were playing and having a really great time running all over the place. Ok, picture this merry-go-round thing. It was not just a circle that spun around, but picture more of an octopus-looking thing with a middle point and arms going out with little seats at the end of each arm, all metal… ok, so you have a picture right? The kids loved it. There were only 6 seats, so the other kids would stand on the outside or push it around while counting until they switched turns (self-management problem solving at its finest). Johann discovered that you could push it really fast if he pushed from the inside of the arms – really cleaver. The only problem was that when he got tired and wanted to stop, he tried to run out of the middle, but was hit but the next arm and was knocked down and started to cry. At this point he was the third child to be hit by this spinning calamity.

I was holding Johann, trying to comfort him, when I noticed that Taka was doing the exact same thing but had it spinning really fast. I was walking very swiftly over to tell them again that they could not push it that way, when Taka saw me and stopped. The next arm swing around and hit him in the back of the legs, flipping him over. Then he sat right up from the ground and the next arm smacked him right in the bridge of his nose… It was like a scene out of a movie in slow motion as I ran in slow motion yelling his name. I flew so fast, practically throwing Johann out of my arms before yanking Taka out of the middle and stopping it from spinning and hitting him, yet again. He did not even cry, but his nose started gushing blood. Can you even imagine being smacked in the nose with a thick metal pole?

Luckily we had tissues with us, but that was it (although, remember blood is nothing here – they would not have even made him wash his hands when we got back if I didn’t tell him to). Shortly after that, we headed back. Again, I was a wreck as I tried to make sure all of my kids stayed out of the road and out of the way of cars as they drove by. At one point, we were walking across the street in front of a parked car when the driver got in and started to go WITH MY KIDS STILL WALKING ACROSS THE STREET! Really? I mean, he couldn’t have waited an extra 5 seconds for a couple four year olds to get out of the way before he started inching in their direction? I wanted to scream at him! When the kids saw the car, they screamed and started to scatter, and I put myself in front of the car, trying to grab them all. OMG, just about gave me a heart attack!

On a Good Note...

Ok, OK, so I have been kind of cranky lately. Sorry, it is just a phase and I don't mean to bitch all the time. I will get over it and recover fast (I always do) and be back to my cheery self in no time... So on a good note, I had a meeting with Morgan today in regards to some issues and concerns that I have been having… this is actually the first time that I have been able to talk with him about my increase in children and the changes in my curriculum. I must admit that it went pleasantly well.

I have completely changed the schedule and curriculum of the classroom. My children now have more choice time with planned centers (instead of crayons and play-doh everyday), small group instruction instead of whole group, and my curriculum is slowly becoming more emergent than just following a book. Thus far, it is off to a great start! I have been following my new curriculum for about three weeks now, and I have gotten awesome feedback from the parents and from Morgan. Morgan often makes comments about how hardworking I am and how much he appreciates my ambitious, go-getter attitude. Parents are thanking me for my diligence and concern for their child.

I feel like my kids are happier now as well. Small groups are always a choice for children and rarely do children say no when I ask them if they want to come to my group. However, if they do say no, they usually see the fun game that we are playing and they eventually end up coming over to group. Yesterday, a parent pulled me aside to tell me how much her daughter loves the journals that we do in small groups, and that her daughter never talked about lessons from school until starting small groups. That was a pretty good feeling and reassured me that what I am doing here does matter.

So anyway, I have been working my butt off for the last couple weeks, trying new things in class, making adjustments and trying it again. I have been making teacher-made games and materials to use for class (since we do not have a ton of resources, I have to be pretty creative) in addition to my daily engagements and activities with the kids, and I am really trying to make my classroom more child centered, explorative and educational. Although I am not completely satisfied with my class, I think I am at least content with the changes I have made. As for the rest of it, there are cultural differences that I cannot change and habitual aspects which I am choosing to leave in place for the sake of child security, but I will change at the beginning of my next class.

So my meeting with Morgan… we spent a long time talking today about the things that I have been doing and the things that he has been seeing and hearing. He told me that he has gotten a lot of positive feedback from parents and that he fully supports whatever I want to do with my class. He told me that the reason that he had put the curriculum in place was because teachers were getting lazy. He said that it is easy for a teacher to say, “My class is child centered…” throw some crayons and play-doh on the table, sing a couple songs, count and call it a day. He had decided on the curriculum several years ago to ensure that his children were learning different things and to please the parents with proof that children were learning a specific curriculum. Although he thinks that my altering to a more child centered, emergent curriculum is more work for me, he says that he agrees with my philosophies about teaching and supports me as long as I keep putting the hard work into it.

To be honest, I was a little bit surprised by this because the other teachers warned me that he is very headstrong, unwilling to change and has to keep the power, yet I have not had to struggle too much in regards to my curriculum. This may be because I believe in asking for forgiveness instead of asking for permission. I just do what I think is best, and then tell him what I am doing – I don’t ask for his permission. Or perhaps it is because they were willing to complain, but not put the work in to make it better- who knows. All I know is that I don’t feel like I am stressing myself out with extra work, I just feel like I am doing my job and enjoying my time with my kids.

Issue Number Two: the increase in children… my parents are still pretty upset about the increase, but thus far, no one has really done anything but complain. For sure, MRA is losing six of my children to other bigger schools in the area. Morgan says that his rent on the building of the school has been increased, so he has made the decision to increase tuition and class sizes. He promises me that my class is maxed out and that I will not be getting anymore kids (although I have heard that before). I have 18 right now, but come next fall, the new classroom max is 17. He said that he sees now that 18 are just too many for one classroom. He also says that we will be getting raises next month, and that he is going to look into having two English teachers per classroom next year. Of course I think that is a fabulous idea, but I highly doubt that he will be able to afford it. I mean he has to pay the American teachers ten times more than what he pays the Chinese teachers. There is no way that he will be able to afford at least 8 American teachers – let alone will he be able to find that many American with the reputation that he is getting.

Side note – he is looking to hire people, so if anyone is interested in coming over to China to teach, let me know. You don’t even have to have a teacher certificate, just a degree (in anything really). I mean, it has its ups and downs, but the kids are amazing and the city experience is fabulous… that was my attempt at getting someone out here that I know. My roommate Courtney H is for sure not staying at MRA, but is thinking about staying in Shanghai – she is interviewing all over – but Courtney L is considering staying for one more year with me.

Traded Snow for Earthquakes and Tsunamis

So here is what is going on in my side of the world… There have been three earthquakes; one in northwestern China and two in Japan. The first quake in Japan was devastating and one of the biggest earthquakes Japan has ever had. As a result, a tsunami formed that crashed into the coast of Japan killing more than 3,000 Japanese residents. Shortly after the tsunami, three explosions occurred at the nuclear power plants of Japan spilling toxic radiation into the air. Many citizens and relief personnel have already been exposed to the radiation and the rest are being evacuated from the areas. Now, the biggest concern is where the toxic pollution is going to head… With fear that it might be headed our way, I have been checking the weather like crazy.

Although it is absolutely devastating to Japan, fortunately, Shanghai is not suffering any direct damages from the disasters. We are not located near any kind of fault line so the odds of us ever directly having an earthquake are slim, and we are located far enough inland that a tsunami would not reach us either (at least the part of Shanghai that I live in). Currently, the winds are coming from the northwest and pushing the toxic pollution away from us. Not that I wish it to go anywhere else, but I am thankful that it is steering clear of Shanghai.

Anyway, safe for now… I will keep you updated if anything else happens.

Pirate Hooker Party Bus

On Tuesday, Court L and I went out to dinner with one of her friends, Andy, and Andy’s roommate, Jobin. We went to a little Mexican restaurant in Hong Qiao that was nothing special but all of the food was half off and margaritas were buy one get one free. Andy is English and Jobin is German, and they were both really fun. Court and I had a blast, and before we knew it we were a couple margaritas deep and buzzed on a school night. We didn’t have time to finish our last free margarita, so we go it to go and drank them in the taxi – that is one of the fabulous things about China, no laws about drinking and riding. Anyway, Andy and Jobin invited us to come join them on a party bus on Friday night for Jobin’s final farewell (he is moving back to Germany in a week).

We were totally excited for the party bus because none of us had ever been on one in Shanghai, and we are always looking to meet new, fun people. Unfortunately, Andy decided to tell us 20 minutes before we had to leave for the bus that it was Pirate themed and that everyone was dressing up. I was so upset! I would have loved to go all out for a Pirate theme, but we didn’t have time. Andy did manage to get us some bandanas and a couple eye patches so we were not completely lame…

We started at Andy’s apartment, and had a couple drinks and some pizza before heading to the first bar. The first bar was a pretty cool pub, and that is where we signed in and paid for the party bus. Only 200RMB got us into all of the bars, an hour of open bar at the first pub, shots on the bus, shots at each bar and an hour of KTV- all of that for less than 30USD a person.

There were about 20 people going. Most of which were Andy’s roommates and other expats from his apartment complex. Everyone was really awesome. The best thing about Shanghai is all of the diversity, so there were people from Germany, France, California, Wisconsin, Great Britain, and Arizona and so on. And of course, can’t forget about Bruce… Bruce is a big blow up shark pool float and he is a PARTY ANIMAL! He stays at Andy’s apartment, but he goes on all of the party buses with them & even goes into the bars. For the Pirate theme, Bruce was wearing an eye patch, a hook, and a pirate hat! It was absolutely hilarious and I must admit that I became very fond of Bruce throughout the night.

So the first pub was great and an hour of open bar pretty much set me up for success for the rest of the night. I probably had at least 7 drinks and a couple shots before we piled into the bus headed for the second bar. Bar number two was a neat and they made all of their own rum, so I actually bought a drink there – delish! After that, bar number three was a local, hole in the wall basement bar called C’s. They greeted us at the door with shots of tequila. We did not spend a lot of time there because we were running late for KTV, so we piled back onto the bus.

The bus rides of course were a blast! We had music and drinks and we were all dancing and singing, just having a great time! Everyone was so much fun, too!

KTV is amazing! It is a Karaoke bar and they are HUGE in Shanghai. Do not let me fool you, it is not just a bar with Karaoke, it is a bar with a bunch of individual rooms, each set up with its own karaoke – huge flat screen TV, a computer for picking songs, a couple mics, musical instruments, and a bunch of tables and sofas for dancing or sitting on. This was probably my favorite stop. They have songs in both English and Chinese and I sung my little heart out and danced on all the tables. I would have stayed there all night long, but there was one last stop on our journey… Ba Shi Ba (club “88”)

Ba Shi Ba is supposed to be one of the best dance clubs in Shanghai, so I was kind of excited when I found out we were going there. It is supposed to be so much fun and it is so highly regarded… but let me tell you, I hated it! It was beautiful walking in. It kind of looked like we were going into a really fancy hotel or something. Inside, however, they were really rude at the coat check, and then they had a security guard and metal detector to talk through. The security guard went through my purse and made me throw away the unopened bottle of Propel I had just bought. Once through security, it was jam packed with Asians. It was incredibly hot and smoky. It smelled horrible, the music was terribly loud and Chinese and it was so crowded that you couldn’t move. It was all Chinese people too.

By the time we got to Ba Shi Ba it was nearly 3:00 am and Court and I had lost everyone as soon as we got into the club. We ended up finding the other Court and Andy and decided to leave. The club was really disappointing and to be honest, a little scary because there were so many people jammed into one bar, but overall, the Party bus was awesome! I can’t wait to do it again!

Dining Experience

I have kind of talked about food and restaurants before, but the dining experience is so different that I think it deserves its own entry… I mean, service was my life for like 8 years so it is easy for me to critique the differences.

First, tipping is not the standard. You do not tip anyone – servers, bartenders, masseuses, nail people, etc. Of course, I am sure they would not protest if a tip was offered, but it is not expected (usually). You might think it was a good thing saving a little bit of money and I thought so too, at first, but now I am not so sure. Since servers do not work for their money, there is no service, literally.

Restaurants usually do not have hosts, but some nicer places have a greeter whom opens the door. Otherwise it is just the server who directs you to ‘seat your self’ and then gives menus. Once sat, there is not a 30 second greet or drinks to begin. Instead, we raise our hand and yell, “fú wù yuán” if we want someone to come to the table to take our order. Fú wù yuán is the general term for employee, and the word is used in many different contexts, not just for a server. In a restaurant, the job of the fú wù yuán is to take the order, take the money and drop off the food. Period.

The fú wù yuán only comes to the table if someone yells, “fú wù yuán”. When ordering, it is usually confusing if we try to order drinks first without ordering food, or if we ask for an appetizer out first (the separation is not standard in Chinese dining), so we have learned to just go with it and order everything at once. Then after everything is ordered, the fú wù yuán writes out a reciept and we pay first.

Then as each item ordered is ready, it is brought to the table instead of everything all at once, or appetizers out first, etc. Although it is really not a big deal, sometimes it is obnoxious when I am the last person in the group to get my food and it takes a while. Sometimes there is so much time between food deliveries that the first person is finished before the last person has food. On the other hand, when we eat at family style restaurants it is actually nice because it is like never ending food because dishes are constantly being dropped at the table.

That is the only time the fú wù yuán comes to the table – to take the order and drop off food. There is no 2 minute check back, dessert card presentation or pre-bussing. Luckily, I am not a very needy diner, but it can be annoying when I actually do need something because it can be difficult to find a fú wù yuán or get their attention.

Interesting Facts:

Restaurants do not have bottomless fountain drinks. I can either buy just a can or bottle of something, or we can buy a pitcher to share.

If I want a drink cold, I have to specifically ask for ice and a glass, otherwise it will come hot or room temperature. Chinese people believe that cold beverages with meals slow down digestion so they always drink hot or room temperature. A lot of times, they do not drink something with their meal, but drink something warm after the meal. And if you ever get sick, the Chinese always say that it is because you did not drink enough warm liquids.  

Water is not the free drink of choice either. Since we cannot drink tap water, any water at a restaurant is bottled water- warm or hot, unless otherwise requested.

A lot of restaurants do not have napkins, but they put wet naps on the tables, however, they charge 1 RMB for every wet nap used (hence why we carry our own tissues).

Chopsticks are the norm at all local Asian restaurants but a set of utensils can be requested. All western restaurants have regular silverware. Although, I have actually become pretty good with chopsticks – the wooden ones are the easiest, but I still struggle with the metal ones.

Rice is always the last dish served in a Chinese meal. Rice is eaten as a filler. Once the rest of the food is gone, they can eat rice if they are still hungry. When I order rice, however, I want it as my meal or with my meal, and it is really difficult to explain that we want it out before the end. 

“Western” restaurant refers to anything not Asian. We can eat just about anything around here. They tend to be more expensive than local restaurants, but they usually have fú wù yuáns that speak a little English.

Some local places have menus with both English and Chinese, but mostly, they have menus with a lot of pictures. Sometimes, I really have no idea what I am ordering… I just point to a picture and say, “ji ga” (this).

Vegetarianism is really difficult! Even if it is a dish of just veggies, it is usually cooked with some kind of animal byproduct, or has a sauce with a meat base (fish, beef or chicken stock, pork fat, fish oil). Although I am still practicing vegetarianism, I am probably the worst vegetarian at restaurants. I will eat food prepared with meat or meat products, but I won’t actually eat the meat itself. It is too much of a challenge for me to order things without meat – usually they do not know what I am asking for, or they don’t understand vegetarianism (because it really doesn’t exist in China), or they pretend like they know what I am saying and the food comes wrong anyway.

Ups & Downs

Courtney told me that in my early Shanghai living experience, I would go through a series of ups and downs as I adjusted to living here, as everyone does… she was dead on. Sometimes I have moments that make me go crazy and I think “What the heck am I doing here?” On the other hand, I have moments when I look around in amazement and think, “Oh my goodness, I live here!”

The good days are really great. I love when we go out and about on the town and find new places and see new things and meet new people. I really enjoy when we get out of Qibao and head more into downtown Shanghai. There is just so much to do, and we never go to the same place twice because the city is so huge!

 We call bad days “I hate China days”. Those are the days when not only one thing goes bad, but everything goes wrong and those are the days when I really miss home and I count the days until I come home. That is the kind of week I have been having. I feel like I have reached my frustration level and suddenly, the fascinating and exhilarating has become the annoying and exasperating. For starters, my frustration at my job increases just a little bit each day – usually caused by the smallest, but nonetheless obnoxious, comment from Morgan. Then outside of work, the little things that people take for granted in the US are the things that I miss the most, like people holding doors open for each other, people waiting in lines, and people speaking the same language.

When I freaked out last week, I was frustrated with work and the situation going on with my class and Morgan, it was rainy (which automatically dampers me mood), a taxi driver yelled at us as we tried to go home, I was given a counterfeit 50¥, and I tried to order a pizza but no one could understand me (just to name a few). After the pizza thing, I threw my phone and screamed – ok, ok, a little bit melodramatic, but I had had enough! Sometimes it is a gift that no one can understand me – I mean, I can say just about anything I want anywhere. But sometimes I get just so aggravated and I wish that someone could understand just one word of what I am saying!

A little bit of my faith in China was restored when a Chinese guy actually stepped aside to let Courtney and I walked through a door first. We looked at each other in shock and concluded that he either went to an international school or spent time in America (honestly, that kind of polite behavior is just not the norm). Then in class today, I was reading a story aloud and talking about rhyming words. One of my four-year-old girls raised her hand and said, “Miss Melissa, I know two words that rhyme – duck and fuck!” All that I could say to her was, “You are correct, those two words do sound the same” but really, I was dying inside and I wanted to give her a huge and thank her for reminding me why I am in China – for the kids!

On a side note: I am teaching my children a new song for our Spring Concert at the end of April. Even though Morgan said the song would be too hard for my children, I am teaching my children “Somewhere Out There” from the Disney movie, “An American Tale.” How appropriate, right? I have only been singing it with my kids for like 2 days and they already know half of the words. I would absolutely agree that drilling kids with lyrics and choreography for a Concert with the expectation that they can sing word for word independently is inappropriate, but that is the cultural expectation. I am trying to make the best of it. One of my Japanese boys, whom doesn’t speak a word of English, can sing every word, and loudly! I have also been teaching then “You are my Sunshine”. I love singing with them, and I love hearing them sing “Somewhere Out There.”

China Post Field Trip

My class had a field trip on Friday to the China Post, and what I thought could have been a really great experience for my children, ended up being a total disappointment. First of all, I was completely left out of the loop with the field trip. I think it is rude and disrespectful, but Morgan doesn’t feel the need to tell the American teachers important details like field trip information. He tells the Chinese teachers all about it and they are expected to plan everything, but they don’t share the information and so I am completely lost. All that I knew was we were going on a field trip to China post sometime in March. I did not even know that I date had been set until parents started sending back the permission slips (that I did not even know were sent out in the first place).

So when I inquired about the plan for the field trip, I was told that the children were going to see the mail being sorted, and a Postal worker was going to explain the mail process. Then our children were going to send post cards home. Prior to going on the field trip, I talked to my kids about the post office and we talked about mail and letters and the mailboxes at our houses. However, since I cannot teach an emergent curriculum, that was the extent of out Post Office experience in class, but I had high hopes for the field trip.

Here is how the field trip went down. My class of eighteen preschoolers, and another class of ten kindergarteners, six teachers, two secretaries, one school nurse and four bus drivers embarked on the journey to the China Post Office. We arrived at a large concrete building, similar to all of the other buildings. It was all completely open, no doors and pretty dirty. Not exactly what I expected for a government building (not even in China). We lined our kids up and lead them into the back where the workers sorted the mail. It was a large room that was really cluttered. The workers were not sorting mail; instead they were all standing around just staring at the children.

The rest of the field trip was a series of photographs. First, our children got in a line and Ms. Qian set up a table with a stack of mail and news papers and posed each child in front of it. It was an assembly line – grab a child, take a picture, push them along, next. Then the children went into the next line where they got to stamp an envelope with the Postal Seal as the teachers took pictures. Then the children got into line and got to sit on a postal motorcycle that delivered the mail and take a picture. Then we took the kids outside and we took their picture in front of the mail van. Then we went around front to the inside of the building and took their picture inside. Finally, the kids each had their picture taken in front of the big mailbox while posing with a letter, pretending to put it into the mailbox. After that, we got back on the bus, headed back for school.

During this whole time, I was so focused on the dirty old Postal workers that were looking at and talking about my children. They kept trying to touch them, or pick them up and I was freaking out. Shannon (the other American teacher) and I were the only ones focused on the children, while ever other adult was focused on taking pictures – trying to keep them out of trouble.

Never once did any of the postal workers talk to the kids to tell them about what goes on in the Post Office, or how mail is delivered or anything. In between children getting their picture taken at each station, they just stood and waited (bored, I am sure). And the worst part was that the children did not get to make post cards or send them, even though I was told that they would. Had I know that, I would have spent the time in my class writing letters or postcards so that each child could send something while we were at the Post Office. I feel like it completely defeated the purpose of going there, and I am not sure if I can tell you one outcome of the field trip.

Once back at school, I sat down with my children in a whole group to recap on the Post Office. I asked me kids, “What did we see at the Post Office?” The things that my children recalled were ridiculous. Of course they all loved sitting on the motorcycle, but none of them had any idea what the motorcycle was there for. A couple of them remember seeing the stray dog that ran into the sorting room while we were in there. Sadly, none of them could recall words like mail, newspaper, mailbox, mail truck, or postman – then again, none of those words were even mentioned to them once at the field trip.

I feel like an entire day was wasted, and I told Morgan how much of a disappointment it was to subject my children to such a meaningless experience. Of course, he said that it was the Chinese’s teachers fault because they were supposed to plan something, but the Chinese teachers claim that Morgan was only concerned with them taking as many pictures as possible for the parents. We have another field trip at the end of this month to Carrefor (a large grocery store), and I told him that unless he allows me to plan activities or I get a detailed list of the activities planned by the Chinese teachers, I will not be taking my children on the field trip to only run wild around a grocery store taking pictures – meaninglessly!

I just need to vent...

So that last thing that I want is for this blog to become a Morgan bitch-fest, but I just need to vent a little…

Half the appeal of taking a position at MRA was because it is a small school with small class sizes and a small child to teacher ratio. I like the idea of the intimate classroom sizes. Prior to taking the position, I was promised a class of 15 children (max) with 3 teachers. Upon arriving, I was given a 16^th child and a raise for an increased class size. At a meeting with Morgan a couple weeks ago, he told me that my class was capped out and that I would not be receiving anymore children – even though there were several families interested and touring the school. Four days later, I got a new child. Not only did I get just any other 4 year old, but I got a 4 year old that does not speak or understand a word of English with developmental delays. Then two days ago, I got another new child. That puts me at a grand total of 18 children and 3 teachers in a very small classroom.

First, I have been in classes before with 18 or more children without a problem, however the total dynamic of the class changes when every child is diverse and ESL. Also, I have never been in a class so small with this many children. So the issue for me is not that I can’t handle that many children, the issue is that I feel crowded with that many children, and that I am only one English teacher with a lot of expectations riding on me from parents, and many parents are really upset!

My second issue is that I was not given any warning to prepare for new children – they literally just showed up to school one day, and then the whole day becomes a process of getting them the materials that they need, finding room for them and acclimating them to the classroom.

Morgan came into my classroom today and asked me how I was copping with my class of 18 children. I was honest and told him that my room was too crowded and that I was a little upset that I was not given any kind of warning. I also told him that I was concerned because I was told that I was maxed out at 16. He was confused – as usual – then asked me if I felt I needed another Chinese teacher in the room to help manage all of the children. I told him that I thought adding another adult in the classroom would only make it more crowded. Then he finished our conversation by telling me that next year, beginning in September, the new class size would be 18 instead of 16 so that he could afford to pay more teachers.

I had several parents address me today about the class size. They are angry because they were also promised small class sizes for their children when they signed them up, and they are worried that is it just too crowded. Many of these parents also confronted Morgan about the issue.

So here is why I am so mad… a parent, Yuri, called me tonight after speaking with Morgan about her daughter in my class (I had spoken with her several times prior to this). Yuri told me that Morgan’s explanation for the increased class size was because his landlord increased his rent on the building and so he needed to increase class size or tuition, and he decided to increase class size for now. This is lie number one because Morgan told us that he owns the entire building (so he is lying to someone). Then when Yuri mentioned something about the child to teacher ratio, Morgan told her that I refused to allow another Chinese teacher into the classroom, and since he is afraid that I will run away and abandon the classroom like the previous teacher, he wants me to feel like I am in complete control of the decisions. Lie number two – I never refused! I just told him that I did not think that was the bigger issue. He is the director of the program and there are laws for child-teacher ratio, so if he needs to put another teacher in there, it is his decision. How dare he lie to parent and say that I refused! Then the kicker was that he told Yuri that he cannot promise that more children will not be added to the class – awesome!

The thing about Morgan is that he cannot possibly take responsibility for anything, and when he is confronted about an issue, all responsibility is diffused away from him and onto other people. But seriously, man up and take responsibility for your actions. If he decided to increase class size to make a little extra money for his business then man up to that, and tell parents, I am the director and this is what I have decided – take it or leave it… Don’t make lame excuses or make up lies, and really, don’t put it on other people!

So now I can’t wait to go into work tomorrow and have a chat with Morgan. I just hope that he understands that if he is planning on increasing my class size again, that he is also going to have to increase my salary. Although I really don’t think this will be a problem because he has been bending over backwards to make me happy so I don’t “run away”. I am just so frustrated and I feel like this is the most unprofessional work situation that I have ever been in. And with the Spring Concert coming up, I know I am going to be hating life… I can’t wait to tell you all about that later.

14 more months, 14 more months, 14 more months, 14 more months…