giving a shop clerk money

Even after more that 7 months of being back in the states it is strange for me to take money out of my wallet and hand it to a person money with only one hand.  In China the proper way to give a person money or a business card is to hold it in both hands and present it, so to speak.  Any time I have to give some one money I still feel awkward just handing it to them.  There are many differences between China and the USA but this is the one that has given me the most trouble adjusting to now that I am back home.  Ok it is also hard to eat out and not pay 2 dollars for a meal.

Mongolian Horse Milk Wine for Christmas

On Christmas Day at the Thomas family I brought my Mongolian Horse Milk Wine for everyone to try.  I had never had it before and it was a gift from my Dean in the English Department, and good friend, Zhou Sha Sha.  Her father gave it to me the last Sunday I was in Xian.  I actually like it.  It looks like the Bai Jiu but has a smoother taste.  For a horse milk wine it has a bit of a kick to it.  I am going to polish this off.  It was different this year at Christmas.  This year I was emailing people in China and wishing them a Merry Christmas or Sheng Dan Kuai La, as we say.  We got a phone call from one of JoAnne's students and she wished us a Merry Christmas.  I had many of my Chinese students wish us a Merry Christmas on our Q-zone the Chinese social network.  James Zhang, our Chinese exchange students sent me a message on QQ and wanted me to give everyone his best.  It is a little different each year here at Christmas.  My friend, Rob Rogers, a foreign faculty member at Xian, said the best thing about this time of year in China is that there is no this time of year in China.  Ah, but they have the Chinese New Year next month and that is this time of year only with 1.3 billion people.  I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and I wish you all the best for the New Year, ours and yours.

speaking to the English Class

I has been a while since I spoke at the English classes of Prof. Paul Resnick.  I did enjoy talking about my time in Xian and what my experience of China was like.  Sometimes when I talk about China I get a little sad, because I really did like being there and being with the students and friends that I met.  This time my feelings were happy.  The feelings were happy because I really did like being there and being with the students and friends that I met.  I was so fortunate to have that opportunity and tried to share that with the students.  I don't think the students expected some one to come and talk to them wearing an old work uniform, wearing a large key ring, and having a maintenance radio in their back pocket.  When I told them they have many opportunities to do things at ICC, I meant it, because I was sent to China.  I talked about the food, the culture, the language, and the school system but I also told them that as a student they have so many opportunities if they just say,  "I would like to help or I would do that."  As I get older it does get easier to speak to a group.  What I did was the same assignment I gave my students, to prepare a talk for about 10 minutes on a student that is interesting to you.  Of course my Chinese students had never given a speech to any group on any subject.  It took me about a month of classes to get that bit of information communicated to me.  The school systems are so different.  I did enjoy talking about my hometown of Xian, China and will do it every chance I get.  Thanks, Prof. Resnick for asking me to talk to your students.  One less day that you have to prepare a lecture.

speaking about China

I am going to go over the list of questions that Prof. Paul Resnick gave me about China.  I need to sort them and figure out what ones to talk about in my 10 to 15 minutes.  I will be doing the same thing I had my Chinese students do for me in Xian.  The only difference is I actually have given a speech and my students never had.  They didn't have a clue how to speak in front of group.  The two systems of education are so different.   That is one of the questions I have been asked about, what is the Chinese school system like and how is it different.  I was also asked about how different is China from the USA.  I think I will hold up a pair of chop sticks and a fork and say this is how different we are.  It is easier to list how we are a like.  Take out a sheet of paper and label it from 1 to 2.  I think you can get it filled up but the second one will make you think.  I will list the questions I have been asked and I will try and post some answers.

Can you help me with me speech?

I got an email message from Zhang Kai asking me to help him write a speech that is due next week.   He is very nervous about this even though he is an English major at Xian International University.  Zhang Kai was not my student but he is a person that everyone knows and I went to WuWei with him to speak at his Middle School.  He only has to speak for three minutes but from what I found out, Chinese students do not do public speaking like we do here.   I had asked my students to talk for 5 to 10 minutes and teach me new Chinese words.  That is when I found out they had never done anything like that before, not in English and not in Chinese.  I am trying to help Zhang Kai as much as I can.  He wrote me the topic, "a world that has changed the world."    First thing I asked was, "Is this the correct topic?"  I think it may be a word that changed the world, but in China you never know.  We will see how this goes.  I do keep in touch with my students and I enjoy finding things that I think could help them learn more about the English Language and the USA.  I was not Zhang Kai's teacher but he calls me Eric teacher.  Many of my students called me Eric Teacher.  I did like that.  Now all I need to do find out the topic and try my best to help my friend.  We will see how this goes.

Speaking at Paul Resnick's class

I will be speaking about my time in China to the students of Professor Paul Resnick on November 8.  I will have to check the actual class and times.  I am looking forward to sharing my experience with the students. I was thinking it may be interesting while I am talking to try and do a QQ video chat so some of my students could see what an American class room looks like and the American students could probably see what a Chinese dorm room looks like.  Of course I don't know how to use QQ well enough to do that and I can not read the Chinese well enough to figure it out.
I am looking forward to talking about my time in China.  I am a product of the community college experience and I have been very fortunate to be able to maximize my opportunities while I have been at ICC.  I am going to miss being at an education facility when I retire.  What I like about my job is that I am at a college and I get to teach, be around the faculty, and the students.  A community college has so much to offer a person and it is affordable.  I have students in my welding class that use the classroom as an art studio.   You sign up for class and for 16 weeks you have a very good space to work, good equipment to work with, and a fantastic instructor.  The place is well ventilated and is heated during the winter.
Today the Chinese Club went to Chicago to China Town.  I would have liked to go but I do need to get something done for the Guatemala coffee project.  I am sure Ava will tell me about the trip.  I do need to get some supplies for hot pot and make Jiao Zi before too much longer. It has been a busy day time to relax and hope the Cardinals win.  Friends of mine, that I met in Xian, are going to be teaching in Riga, Latvia in a few weeks.  I need to find out more about that.  Matt Fuller was in China and I think he has a copy of the China Daily that has the printed copy of the article that Rob Rogers wrote about his time in Xian.  I have found travel to be so interesting.

Rob Rogers my Rugby Coach and his China Daily article

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/cndy/2011-10/01/content_13830157.htm


I hope you find this interesting.  Rob is a good friend of mine and I always enjoyed having a beer with him and a cup of good coffee.