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.

Rob Rogers writes about his life in China.

Rob Rogers, my friend and rugby coach, had an article published in the China Daily, China's English language newspaper.  He sent me the information and link on Yahoo.  I will get that information to you as soon as I finish using my netbook and get to the big Mac.

Speaking at the American Welding Society meeting

I got a chance to speak about my time in China during the September meeting of the American Welding Society.  It has been a while since I actually spoke in front of a group and it has been a long time since I have done a presentation about where I have been and what I did.   I could do it better the next time.  I showed pictures of welding in China, places I had visited, food that I ate, and just some things that I thought were interesting.  Ava Zhong went with me and listened to me speak and ate a steak.  I enjoyed the chance to talk and like I said, I could do it better the next time.  I how I get another chance.  I enjoyed my time in China and I enjoy talking about it.  One of the class assignments for my Chinese students was to give a presentation and use their talk as a way to teach me new Chinese words and teach me about their country.   I did not realize until the semester was almost over that my students had never given a talk in front of a group before, not even speaking in Chinese.  Some of my students did very well and many did a good job, considering everything.    Like I told them, "You have to practice."   
I practiced but I also brought Chinese hard liquor for my crowd to taste and had door prizes for them.  That always helps.

Here I am with the other members that have serve as a Chair of the Peoria Chapter of the AWS.

This is a picture of Phil England with his door prize, a Chinese style welding helmet, a pair of sunglasses stuck in a piece of cardboard.  Some of the people that I saw welding did not even have this much protection.  I do not understand why people do not protect their eyes but I am glad I work in the USA.  What is strange to me is that even in this country with all our regulations you can still see people doing things wrong.  At the Cougarplex, a contractor was grinding on the concrete floor and worked at it for over a week, no ear plugs and no safety glasses.  I know what he will say to his grand kids, "what." 

Thats me with the Chinese photo pose, the victory/peace sign.

QQ and my Chinese students

I am still able to keep in touch with my Chinese students, using QQ, a Chinese social network.  I have about two hundred people that can communicate with.  I use the netbook for this and check it for a virus many times.  It is not hard to get a virus in China or on a Chinese system.  The netbook is mainly just for me to use to email my Chinese students.  With QQ you can look at others peoples pictures and see what people are doing and my students look at the pictures I post and see what I did in China and what I am doing here.  They have seen the July 4th parade, our home, my college, the farmers market, and soon will see the orchards and the fall produce.  I enjoy writing to them and sharing some of my life with them.
I enjoyed my time in Xian but I really enjoyed spending time with the students.  I know my having a QQ number helped me get to know more students.  When I told my students that I had QQ, I think the students realized that I was not going to just leave and never be heard from again.  When ever I would ask a Chinese student if they had QQ, which they all do, their eye would open wide and they would say, "you have QQ?"  I gave out my QQ number to everyone.
I met a girl on the bus and she figured out I was a teacher at Xian International University, because I was an American, and I was on the 300 bus that takes you to Xian International University.  If I had been a tourist I would not be going that direction and I would not be on the bus.  We talked for about 20 minutes total.  The main topic is almost always, " how can I improve my English skills?"  I have sent her information on how to check on ICC's Website and use the Tumble Books.  We still chat on QQ and she is in Holland now.  I was chatting with a student on QQ and found out he was in my class but had never came to any of them.  He did show up for the last class.  Our conversation was like this, "who are you", "I am in your class but I have never came to any of them.  Sorry."  I said OK watch what the other students are doing and try your best to do your presentation for the final.  Every day in China something happened that made you realize that this was a new experience.  The experience could be a new food, a new smell, meeting a new students, seeing someone spit in the hallway at the hospital, seeing a city bus drive pass you going the wrong way on a city street, having a person yell out the window of the restaurant, "hey, tall man.", but every day something new and different happened.  That is what I really miss about China.  I can see new things here but it is not as exciting.  If you are driving a car that is probably a good thing.