I must admit, I am having a blast working with these culture classes. It is especially fun because David, the new teacher has taken over my two oral English classes so now I am down to only teaching 12 hours of culture class a week (6 classes - each class is two hours). I only teach weeks 2-14 so that is not a whole lot of time to really cover all of the English-speaking countries and their cultures. I am taking it as more of an introductory course with the goal being to learn a little about some different countries, think critically about our own culture, investigate some cultural differences and, hopefully, have some fun with some games, skits, music and debates.

Although it is more work to design my own syllabus and framework for the course, it is also way more fun. Each week I tackle a different country and try to balance some of the harder information like politics, history, religion and government with some fun pictures of places to visit, food (of course) and random trivia. For example, they really liked hearing music from bagpipes, watching some Irish dancing, contemplating the existence of "Nessie" and watching people kiss the "Blarney Stone." Hilarious.

We've covered a few different countries so far so this week I decided to talk about basic cultural differences between China and Western countries. I get really excited about this topic because it's so interesting and I knew the students would like it too. We started off with some group work and discussion questions:

1) List the top three societal values in China and the West (in your opinion).
2) What are some things you like about China and some things you don't like? Why?
3) What are some things you like about Western culture and some things you don't like? Why?
4) Do you think your culture will change significantly by the time you have children? If so, how?
5) In your opinion, what are the three biggest cultural differences between China and the West?

The conversations that we had from those questions were awesome and could have taken up both class periods. I was impressed with how detailed and deep some of the students were willing to go and that made it really fun.

For the second half of the class I gave each group a picture that was designed by an artist named Yang Liu. She grew up in China but them moved to Europe and has used her artistic ability and mixed background to examine cultural differences in an exhibit entitled "East meets West". For the following pictures I asked each group or pair to explain the meaning and choose to agree or disagree with the artist's representation. Sometimes it's so hard to define what's different between Western cultures and China - especially in another language so these pictures provided a really nice transition to a more complex discussion. Have a look for yourself and see what you think (Blue side is Western culture and the Red side is Chinese culture).

The first week I was in China I met Xing xing (English name Carrie) who was a senior at JSTU at the time and friends with Ken, Daniel and Dave who were the English teachers before me. While I was gearing up to spend my first year in China, Carrie was preparing to study in England for a year. One year later, I am back in China and Carrie is getting ready to come home. Since I am teaching a Western culture class that focuses a lot on the U.K. I asked Carrie a few questions about her experience to share with my students (and with you). Perhaps this information will be a lot more interesting, relevant and helpful to them coming from a Chinese perspective. Thanks for the help Carrie!

1. What surprised you the most about life in England?

"The most surprising thing for me here in UK is that most shops close at 5pm except big cities like London or Birmingham. So compared to the situation in China, it is kind of annoyingly surprising. Especially for a student who doesn’t have a car to drive to supermarkets that are not close to the city.

Another surprising thing is that at work people drink a lot of tea here in UK. I noticed this because I did a three-month internship in REED, an international recruitment company. Black tea is very popular and they put a lot of milk and sugar. Speaking of sugar, British people love sweets and they consume the most amount of chocolate among Europe."

2. What did you like most about life in England?

"I like a lot of things in UK such as the uncensored Internet, not polluted sky and a national sex education show on BBC. I also can buy books that are banned in china. (maybe I’m too cynical here, haha). The most interesting thing for me is the diversity. It’s good to talk to people from Europe, India, and Africa, not many Americans though. Before I came, I thought I would hang out with British people a lot when I study here, but in fact there are just a few local students in our postgraduate class which has more than 100 students. Also different from China where almost all students will go directly to pursue their master’s degree after college, here most of my classmates have quite a lot of work experiences. Honestly speaking, the fun I had here in UK are not with the British people, it is the people outside UK that tend to be more open minded and interesting."

3. What did you not like about being there/what was the hardest thing about being there?

"A lot of people complain about the British weather, but I’m okay with it. The summer here is really short though. It was hot for like a week this year and then summer was gone. I can’t really think of any very hard thing about living here besides the loneliness I get sometimes. Oh, their running water pipes are interesting. Normally, we have one that can mix the hot water and cold water in one tap. But here they have two taps, one only for hot water and the other one only for cold water. So in winter when I wash my face I need to switch from two taps and afraid of being too cold or too hot.

I don’t really like the British accent and some young people here, haha"

4. What do you wish someone told you before you went to England?

"Before I came here, I had this weird idea that women here only use tampons not the pads. So I brought with me so many pads that are more than enough for a year… Pretty stupid ;-) In reality, they do have pads here so it is unnecessary to waste the precious luggage space… I wish someone could have told me that."

5. Do you have any advice for Chinese students going to an English-speaking country?

"I think football, pubs and churches are quite important in the British culture. British breakfast and fish & chips are worth mentioning as well.They are not great but not too bad either.

Based on my own experience, I do think there are some things that the Chinese students should pay attention to.

1. Always say sorry and thank you.

2. Always try to stand in the line. Wait for people who are getting off and then get on.

3. Hold the door for people behind you if possible.

4. Don’t waste food. Take food that is enough for you. You don’t need to show off.

5. If it’s a self-service café or restaurant, clean your table and put the trays in the specified place after you finish eating.

6. Try not to talk loudly in public or on your phone.

That’s what I can think of now. I’ll let you know if there is anything more=)

I’m very happy to help and feel free to let me know if you have more questions.

Cheers! ( British say cheers a lot instead of thanks)"

I love first impressions - not making them, but seeing other people make them. They are pretty interesting especially when you know you will be meeting someone you will spend a whole year with working and hanging out.

That being said, the new teacher, David arrived yesterday. We were all eagerly anticipating his arrival as 1)our lives really aren't that exciting 2)it's always fun to have another foreigner around 3)he is going to take over some of our classes (= less work for us).

We all went out to lunch where we learned some basic information about him. He is from Virginia but grew up mostly in Georgia. He went to the University of Georgia and majored in film studies. After graduation he taught in China at a university similar to ours but a little more north in our province. He can speak Chinese and German and seems really smart. He likes to travel and has been to many places. An interesting fact is that he takes his fold-up bicycle with him wherever he goes - it fits in his suitcase! Overall he seems really nice and easy-going and already seems to fit well with the group. More importantly, however, he's a towering 6'4" and played basketball in high school . . . look out faculty bball tourney - this year team foreign language is going to dominate!

Tonight the four of us (Sean, Jordan, Ariana and I) went over to Steve's apartment for dinner and games. We went over a little earlier than usual because Steve didn't want it to become too late of a night.


As soon as we got there we made dumplings which was a lot of fun. They were just the pre-dinner snack and were absolutely delicious especially when dipped in a spicy vinegar sauce.


After chatting and looking at the Wu's family vacation pictures to Qingdao, we had another pre-dinner snack of steamed eggplant sticks and spicy garlic sauce - amazing. Who knew eggplant could taste so good?


After we were all stuffed from dumplings and eggplant, the real feast began with loads of dishes including onions and pork, asparagus and pork, pork and peanuts, pig feet muscles, shrimp and peppers, cabbage and cabbage with other vegetables. Spring was worried that she didn't make enough food. She shouldn't have been - we were all stuffed after having barely touched the dishes.


After dinner we played Monopoly which ended up as it usually does: Steve's adolescent son wins by a landslide and even if we all want to quit early we have to play it through. I was consoled only by the fact that Sean and I had brought over some Butterfinger candy bars to share for dessert. Score one for the good guys.


The new teacher arrives tomorrow; I'm crossing my fingers that he's cool! As Zhen Zhen wisely noted, "We need some fresh meat around here."

One of the challenges for me so far has been talking loud enough in class for the students to hear me. I am not really a loud talker by nature and in China I am competing with 8 ceiling fans, freshmen military training (for the first two weeks of class), fireworks (because of Mid-Autumn Day and National Day), random chatter and noise from the students and the loud presentations of the professors in neighboring classes.


On Tuesday, when I teach for six hours, my voice gets really tired, not necessarily from talking a lot but because when I talk, I have to be loud. Some students came up to me after my last class and suggested that I use a microphone. That sounds a little ridiculous to me, but maybe I will have to resort to using it. Sean suggested that I just make them sit in all of the front rows instead of skulking off to the back of the class and I think this is an excellent idea.


Overall, I like the rooms where I am teaching. All the rooms have media and sound which means that I can use powerpoint for showing lots of pictures and the speakers for playing some music or audio clips. My only complaint is that the chairs/desks aren't movable which makes group work a little less comfortable, but whatever. The front of the class is on an elevated platform which means I trip about a thousand times during each class to the amusement of the students.

Today (Wednesday), tomorrow and Friday I don't have to teach because of Mid-Autumn Festival. Wednesday is the actual holiday because it is the day when the moon is full (the Chinese follow the lunar calendar for everything). In China, Mid-Autumn festival is a day to eat with family, share mooncakes and admire the beauty of the moon. Wikipedia says, "The festival is for lunar worship and moon watching; moon cakes are regarded as an indispensable delicacy on this occasion. Mooncakes are offered between friends or on family gatherings while celebrating the festival. The Mid-Autumn Festival is one of the four most important Chinese festivals." So there you have it.


Sean and I spent the day hanging out, relaxing and eating sushi that we had delivered with some help from our Chinese-speaking friend (thanks Qin Chen!) We might crack open our boxes of moon cakes later on and glance at the moon if the spirit moves us. The moon might prove to be rather elusive, however, since it has been cloudy and rainy all day - the temperature took a sharp and surprising drop from a humid and sticky 95 degree weather to cool 60s. I was both happy and sad: happy because I'm a bit weary of being permanently slimy with sweat which then proceeds to act like glue for chalk dust but sad because it means that frostbite is on the way (this year I came prepared with new boots and a long down jacket). Unfortunately, Changzhou seems to live not in the lovely in-betweens of weather like spring and fall but rather only in the extremes.


Back to moon cakes - although they are very pretty to look at, they can be an adventure for the taste buds. Basically, they are some kind of dough or crust with a filling which is usually red bean paste or lotus seed paste. But really, moon cakes can be filled with anything and businesses like Dairy Queen are capitalizing on this newly-commercialized traditional holiday; now you can buy ice cream mooncakes! For the people with more money to spend you can buy Peking duck-filled mooncakes or cakes filled with jellyfish, bird's nest or shark's fin. Though they are usually sweet, mooncakes are also commonly salty or spicy (which can be a bit of a disappointment if you are like me and hoping for something akin to a donut). In addition, they are usually stamped with some kind of auspicious Chinese character like "happiness" or "good health" and "good fortune".


I am a bit fascinated by the whole mooncake thing. When I ask my students about it they say that everyone gives them and gets them during this holiday but not many people eat them anymore. When I question them as to the purpose of giving them if nobody eats them, they reply that it is just something that is done, it's a tradition, it's respectful etc. I guess it might be like sending Christmas cards or giving a fruitcake - everyone appreciates these gestures but you can't really do anything with them. My other question is what everyone does with them after the festival if they don't eat them; I imagine some motivated entrepreneurs might cash in on the business of recycling uneaten mooncakes or re-using still-new bags and boxes. It could be huge business.


As with many other things in China, it's all about the "look" - presentation is everything. Other people I have talked with about mooncakes say that the actual taste of the mooncakes doesn't really matter, rather it is the brand of the company, the cost and the packaging that really shows your generosity. Companies make mooncakes to fit any budget and there are some that cost about a dollar to some (in real gold boxes) that go for over $1000 a box.


I've included some pictures of the impressive bag and box of mooncakes that the school gave me during our last meeting. I'm thinking about cracking them open and sampling a few before I head off to bed, but I'm kind of wary as to what flavors they are. You never really know what you will be biting into. I guess you could say life is like a box of mooncakes . . .

This semester most of the classes I am teaching are about Western culture specifically called "An Introduction to the society and culture of the English-speaking countries." I taught it last year and it was a bit rough which is to say I learned a lot and have changed quite a bit about how I am doing things this year.

Some things that I have changed include:

-Handouts in class with main points from lesson
-Skits instead of group presentations
-At least one game/activity per each 45 minute period (each class is two 45-min. periods)
-A midterm exam and a final exam instead of three short quizzes
-More general knowledge instead of very detailed/complicated information (some lessons on government, politics, history were simply too tough and I lost them)
-Work on simplifying my vocabulary (or at least explaining some of the bigger words more often) and slowing down
-Relate/compare topics to China (great advice from Zhen Zhen who said that if the students don't have something that they are familiar with to go on, they will be completely lost)

I came up with these changes by talking to past students who had taken the course (Zhao Min, Qin Chen and Zhen Zhen) as well as by reading my evaluations that previous students completed after taking my class last spring. Some of them are helpful and some of their suggestions are completely useless and/or cryptic (although keep in mind that they have to do them in their 2nd language). Overall consensus included a hatred of exams, that I should talk less and let students do more and the need for me to slow down and simplify things.

Here's a few examples:

What did you like about the class?
"playing games" "active atmosphere" "activities like listening to foreign music and learning to set a table are my favorite" "not very interesting but ok" "favorite activities is the small games during the class" "I feel freedom in the class" "it's very interesting and funny and can improve our English. My favorite topics must be music, system of government and scenery of country" "class is vivid but the content taught in class is so boring" "class is ok but I don't like the course because there are two books with a lot of words" "I like many activities in the class such as listening and singing songs, place setting and silverware and decorating the eggs" "Sarah's smile" "I like the group activities and cooperation in three or four people" "the teaching way, the atmosphere is very excited"

What didn't you like about the class?
"I didn't like to much quizs" "test- it makes me nerves" "something we learned is a little boring" "Wales - I have no interest in it" "we students were not very excited about it, maybe it is every Monday morning and we are too sleepy" "I don't like exams, students do not like it" "I think this class is not very interesting. We have to remember something about many different kinds of countries. It's hard. Because we don't touch these in our daily life. My favorite topics are food, fashion and culture" "We have to remember many places. And the names of the places are hard to spell and it's boring. What's more we should do a lot of noting" "the exam made me anxious" "the exam can be easier" "I don't like the exams because it is a horrible thing"

What do you think I should change about the class?
"maybe the presentation could be changed into a personal show" "slow down the speed" "I think you can put in a lot of famous topic in your class like the information about policy" "you can talk more about something interesting" "too many details to remember" "maybe you can speak slow when introduce the history, government of a country" "I don't know too many things about the West so when you taught something new to us I couldn't understand well" "this class is awesome and I like you very much, tip: for Chinese students you should remind them of taking notes" "more movies and less examinations" "go outside together and play some games" "I hope you can teach us less quick and say them concrete"

How can I be a better teacher for you?
"maybe it's good to make a concise conclusion at the end of each class" "to know what we really need" "no test" "a better teacher is gentle, friendly, just like our friend" "just do it like now" "give us some information we didn't know" "teaching us more about the foreign life" "you are very friendly, you always smile to us and I can feel you try your best to help us" "talk with us more often" "when we meet some new words I want you to explain for us" "help us more with new words" "teach us about the western life and culture that is attractive to us" "actually you are a good teacher, you are kind" "you are good enough" "communicate with us more" "talk more interesting things"

So far things are going ok and since I teach each culture lesson a total of six times it gets better and better each time I do it. In addition, I have a really great group of students this year and everyone seems to be very respectful, hard-working and interested in Western culture and practicing English. The attitude of the students really makes the difference and I think this semester is going to be a lot of fun.

Current . . .
Temperature: A steamy and humid 95 degrees F.
Beverage: Tea
Number of mosquito bites: 3
Number of mosquitoes killed in the last 5 minutes: 5
Hobby: Lesson planning
Craving: Fruit roll-ups and Reeses Peanut Butter Cups
Thing I am missing from home: College Football
Addiction: Coffee, cold Coke and Oreos
Attire: Matching couples shirt with Sean
Activity I should be doing but I'm not because it's too hot out: Running
Website: Wikipedia (to make aforementioned lesson plans)
Distraction: Facebook and Blogger

It's Saturday night and while I should be out doing something fun I am at home hastily trying to put something interesting together for a two-hour culture class tomorrow morning. I don't usually teach on Sundays but this year, for some reason, the school is requiring that we make up the days they give us off for holidays. That means for the 3 days we get off for Mid-Autumn Festival and the 5 we get off for National Day we should teach on Saturdays and Sundays for the next three or four weeks. In keeping with Chinese tradition I only found out about this like two days ago, of course. So this week I teach a Thursday schedule on Sunday, a normal schedule on Monday and Tuesday and then we have Wednesday, Thursday and Friday off only to teach some more days on Saturday and Sunday. It's an interesting (if not incredibly complicated and confusing) system. We had to have a meeting just to make sure we understood how to read the calendar. I am sure my students will be ecstatic to be in class on Sunday morning. I know I will be.


But the weekend we have had so far has been fun. Last night we all went out to eat at a Western restaurant called TGIS (thank goodness it's summer) and Qin Chen tried their famous cheeseburger which was, no lie, bigger than her entire head. Then we went out for a few drinks at the Euro club. It was really fun catching up with Qin Chen, Zhen Zhen and Zhao Min - they are a blast and hilarious to hang out with.


Today Sean and I sported some new matching couples shirts and watched the current craziness on campus - freshmen move-in day. The freshmen will have two weeks of mandatory military training before their regular classes start. This means that for the next two weeks my voice in class will have to compete with hordes of camouflaged clad students marching, chanting and yelling while surrounding the main teaching building. Maybe they will throw in some fireworks or target practice for that added sonic boost.


Tonight one of my tutors from last year came over with a huge gift for me. She had spent the summer working on this elaborate sewing project for me and then had it framed. It is pretty awesome and I was very impressed. She was so incredibly excited to give it to me and I was totally unprepared. I had gotten her a few little things from Michigan but immediately felt dwarfed when I saw what effort she had gone to. She had embroidered a Chinese plum tree with a bird in it and added a dedication with my name at the bottom. Even though we end up speaking more English than practicing Chinese, it will still be fun to work with her and hang out with her again this year.