It is currently 6:30 am, Sunday morning, and I'm wide awake listening to propaganda loudly shouted from the intercom that was recently installed outside my window. I'm not listening by choice, but because the propaganda is so loud that it's impossible to do anything else (I tried earplugs, headphones, and even tried turning on my own music at max volume to dull out the sound of the intercom but cannot even hear a faint whisper out of my speakers due to the excessively powerful noise outside). Thus begins the school year, and with it, military training.
Every person in China is required to go through military training, and freshman in college are put through an intensive (at least a month long that I know of, maybe longer) military course, where they learn to march, yell, shoot guns. Because school starts tomorrow, so does military training on campus, and that means that everyone on campus (myself included) must wake at 6 am to the sounds of patriotic music, shouting, and loud, loud propaganda from speakers installed all over campus (this is the same as last summer, except with the addition of this lovely, too-loud-for-its-own-good fuzzy speaker installment outside of my window…). Sunday mornings are supposed to be peaceful, reflective, quiet, sitting in a chair with a Bible and cup of coffee. They are not supposed to make my temples throb and stomach turn; I don't think I could even focus on an American-made comic strip in this condition, let alone Sunday meditation.
School starts tomorrow, and I'm told that I will teach two subjects: oral English (of course), and writing (each writing class has 70+ very low-level students). As per usual, I do not know my teaching schedule, even though I'm supposed to begin tomorrow. Based on the last two semesters, I think it's accurate to say the following situation will take place: I will call in the morning and ask if my schedule is ready. I will be told "maybe not." An hour + later, I will receive a phone call from someone in the department asking "FeiFei, where are you? Your students are waiting for you." And I will patiently respond, "What classroom? And what subject?" And they will respond. "Just a moment." A moment later: "Maybe we do not know." And then I will go to the English department, wander the halls, look in classrooms, eventually stumble upon a class of students with no teacher, and they will kindly tell me "Yes, you are our teacher. This is ______ subject. This is what our textbook looks like that the school told us to purchase." I will discretely memorize the cover of the textbook while introducing myself, and after class will search the department for my own copy. I'm quite excited. :)
The rest of summer has been very nice and relaxing, but I am definitely ready for school to start. Most of my time has been exploring Guiyang, all of the touristy places I have not yet had the chance to visit, and spending quality time with both my Chinese friends and Peace Corps friends. On Friday, the last official day of vacation, I went with two Chinese friends to Tien He Tan (roughly translated: God's River Pool), which was a beautiful place where you take boats through caves. We had a really good time, and afterwards had a water fight in the river; it was a fun, carefree end to the summer. :)
I continue to tutor Jake, the little boy who didn't know any English (*I say "little boy", but he is 15 years old; it's important to remember that in China, the maturity level is, on average, at least 5+ years below the average American; some of my freshman in college—the same freshman now learning to shoot a gun—bring stuffed toys to class*) and while it has been incredibly difficult to teach him, I also find it extremely fulfilling! He comes every week, and I have employed the help of my Chinese friend, Sammy, to translate the grammar lessons. This is beneficial for all of us, as it helps Sammy and Jake both improve their English, it helps Sammy gain experience in teaching, and it helps me improve my Chinese, so everyone is benefiting. In order to be more productive, I insisted that Jake must learn more than 200 words/phrases before we could start learning grammar, which he has done, and now he frequently calls me between lessons and says things in English like "Fei Fei Jie (Big Sister FeiFei), are…you…sleeping?" or "Fei Fei Jie, are…you…eating?", "Fei Fei Jie, I…miss…you." After the lessons, Jake usually hangs around and we do fun things as a reward for good studying (he's trying to teach me how to play basketball—haha); it's become a lot like my AmeriCorps after school program, which is really rewarding. After our lesson this week, he gave me a hug (Chinese people DO NOT hug!!), which he initiated. It was special. :)
Aside from the above mentioned news, not much else has taken place. People ask me if things have changed in China now that the Olympics are over. Honestly, I don't know. I imagine they have in places like Beijing and other touristy areas in eastern China, but here, so far removed, we don't notice anything different (not even a small influx of tourists; people don't come to Guizhou province), aside from the "We are Family" Olympic song playing loudly everywhere imaginable. During the Olympics, a big screen was installed outside of a department store in downtown Guiyang. It played all the sports (that Chinese were participating in), so occasionally I would go with the mass crowds of people who also do not own a TV and we would watch together in the street. Otherwise we didn't get to see much of The Games.
On a whim, I registered for the GRE this week and take Part 1 (in China, to avoid notorious cheating, the exam is divided into two parts) in Kunming in 3 weeks, so I've been studying a lot. Between grading a lot of papers for writing class, preparing lessons, grading oral English homework, tutoring Jake, doing the other out-of-school projects I've initiated, and studying for the GRE, I imagine it's going to be a busy first 2 months. I think this year is going to go a lot faster than last! In October we have a week long holiday, which I plan to (fingers crossed) either spend in Beijing or horse trekking near Tibet, and then in January/February I am (again, fingers crossed) spending a few weeks in Thailand and possibly Cambodia. It should be a good year! :) Looking back, I am so proud to have been here 13 months, really look forward to the next 10.5 months, and yet I am so glad that it's only 10.5 months left! ;)
The propaganda has stopped. It's time for coffee.
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