People still have their basic needs to meet. I eat, sleep, love, hate, smile, laugh, and a whole host of other things just the same as the people I encounter on the street. I am ever more convinced that no matter how different one’s culture and language, we are all suffering the human condition. There certainly are differences, but it is a mistake to believe that because someone looks different or speaks differently they do not have the same depth of feeling and experience that we ourselves possess. To make such a judgement would be narcissism.
And now for something a little lighter. One of the Junior 1 Chinese English teachers, whose English name is Lisa, asked me today whether a student should say, “Let me try,” or “try me,” when wanting to answer a question. It seems the teachers don’t want students raising hands, but rather practicing an English phrase while cutting down on waiting (40 minute periods demand good time management). At first I simply said that “let me try,” is the correct one. Then I tried to explain why “try me,” while not incorrect, was not contextually correct. Eventually I came to the explanation that “try me” is an imperative (or a command), while “let me try” is a more polite way of saying the same thing. It didn’t seem right for students to be commanding the teachers, not in the context of how the students typically are here. I’m sure there are plenty of Rockford teachers who would be familiar with students who would have no qualms about commanding a teacher. Eventually, my explanation made sense, and I felt satisfied that I did not lead them astray.
During the same conversation, I asked how many subjects the Junior 1 students study in their curriculum. I was told 10: Biology, History, Geography, English, Oral English, Math, Art, P.E., Music, and Chinese. When they move on to Junior 2, if I remember correctly, they add in Physics and Chemistry. Now before those of you reading this take that as proof positive the Chinese will take over the world because their students are given a more demanding curriculum, know that this school is one of top 3 in the city of Shijiazhuang. As one of the top schools in a city of 10 million people, one would hope that the students are given a challenging schedule.
When the students reach Junior 3, they take a test to decide their entrance into Senior High. This particular school only has 400 Senior 1 slots, but only about 300 will come from the Junior 3 class here. So, when the group of 1500+ Junior 1 students reaches Junior 3, only the top 20% or so can hope to continue school here. The test they take is out of 640 points, and to get into the Senior High, a students needs over 600, being at 600 is not enough I’m told. I don’t know what is on the test, but I can imagine it’s no walk in the park. Then of course there are tests to get into University. It is certainly a more demanding education system than our own.
An unrelated note. Every morning, except for a couple so far, I walk maybe 5 minutes through campus, avoiding the construction, to get breakfast at a street cart. That was the one thing the nurse at the county health department told me to avoid while I was here. I’m a bad listener sometimes. The fine owners of the cart make a delicious food called jian bing. It begins with some batter poured onto a flat grill (no doubt heated via propane tank, as are most things here it seems) and it’s then spread thin, like a Swedish pancake. An egg is cracked and poured on top of this, the yolk is broken in the spreading. The end result is a tasty looking egg-cake, or maybe pan-kegg (I’ll leave the choice up to you, dear readers). They spread some sort of sauce on this, sprinkle some green onion on, put some thin fried dough in the middle (it gives it a nice crunch), add in a nice big leaf of lettuce, then wrap it in a way that it reminds me of a taco, though it tastes nothing like a taco. It is a darn fine way to start the day.
The couple that run it have come to know me as laoshi (teacher), though at first the woman, who may or may not be the wife of the guy who also works there, didn’t seem to like me due to my lack of Mandarin. Thankfully, she warmed up to me. There must be something disarming about a guy who is clearly far out of his element and can only seem to shake his head and smile, embarrassed on account of his failure to understand what you’ve said. They now know my order, which was really just me pointing at a specific type of batter and holding up one finger. I have even begun giving them a good ni hao to begin and a nice xie xie to end. So far it’s been a good system. I can’t wait for the day when I can actually hold a conversation with them. I’m sure they’d be quite impressed.
Well that’s all for now. I’ve got some laundry to go hang up. I’m not sure if this is just the school, but they don’t have a dryer, only a washing machine and some drying racks. I don’t mind, though it is weird when your clothes don’t shrink down after cleaning them. My shirts feel so big now. Enjoy your Friday evening, everyone!
The below picture is of another beverage I got at the grocery store. At first, I could’ve sworn it said, “Lonely Pear.” I was confused as to why the pear would be lonely, but decided that maybe is was a poor translation of something that would make sense, like “golden” or something. It was only after taking the picture that I realized it said, “Honey Pear,” which makes a whole lot more sense.