Questions Answered... maybe

A Japanese science class

So, you guys actually asked me questions this time when you posted on the blog. Cool! Now I have a little direction on what to write about. So, here we go:

Felicity asked:
"Don't you wish the students here were as well behaved as the ones in China? I do, sometimes. But the uniforms were hideous. Seriously."

Answer:
Yes. I wish you guys did behave better. Here's my question to you. Why don't you? Several of you made comments on the behavior of the kids, and even mentioned that you wished American teenagers were better behaved. That's totally in your control. Don't get me wrong- the Japanese kids that I visited yesterday seemed to be having a lot of fun at school. But they also worked hard. They laughed and smiled and joked. They were probably the giggliest group of girls I had ever met. We had about a 45 minute talk with a group of about 20 Japanese juniors and seniors. They were fantastic. They were really interested in American teenaers- especially in the whole concept of dating. Japanese teenagers don't really "date." At least not in the American sense of the word. (Oh, and Mrs. Davis, they don't have a prom either!) They have group "dates" and group study sessions with both boys and girls. And this leads into another question that you asked:



Venacia asked:
Also, are sports important in their school, the way it is in our school?

Answer:
Sports (and clubs) are considered important, but in a very different way. First, I think it's important to point out that joining 2 or 3 (or 6) different clubs and playing more than one sport is a concept that does not exisit in Japan, like it does at our school. Think about how many of you guys are in multiple clubs- Beta Club, Anchor Club, SGA, FCA- and then play one sport in the fall and another in the spring. Well, the Japanese consider clubs and sports to be part of their students' "moral education." They believe you should choose one thing and focus your energy on being good at that sport or committing yourself to that club, not spreading yourself thin over many different activities. In contrast, American students try and fill their resumes with as many different things as possible. It's an argument of quanity vs. quality. What do you guys think about that?



Oh, and let me point out that I was told in China that art was not considered an important subject. Slap in the face to me. But it's different here in Japan. The fine arts (and especially music, Mrs. Pace and Mr. Gipson!) are considered very important subjects. In fact, it's part of the core curriculum. Both art and music. Kids have to take, and test, in both.

Estzer asked about the government in China and Japan, paritcularly about the Emperor.

Answer:
China no longer has an Emperor. Japan has an Emperor and a Prime Minister. The Emperor is like the Queen in England, just a figure head. The Prime Minister is like the President. I think I have that right, but I will ask some of the history teachers tomorrow.

Spencer asked me about sucicide rate in Japan. I will try and ask the guide about that tomorrow and get back to you on that. I know they have such a thing as "Sudden Death" which is where overworked adults either committ sucicide or have heart attacks/strokes. A lot of times the families will then sue the companys.

Lastly, you asked me to look up Lolitas and J-Rockers. I will look that up now. I would almost bet that Mrs. Brock and I have pictures of both!

I did ask the kids to write down the names of the bands that they listened to, so that I could take the list and go and buy some CDs for us to listen to in class. The first band they said was Green Day. I told them that you guys would be so mad if I went to Japan and all I brought you back was a Green Day CD! So here are some of the bands they suggested: Rad Wimps, Bump of Chicken, SMAP, Perfume, Hyde, Aiko, and L'arc~en~Ciel. Do you know any of these bands? I bet Priscilla Han does!
And Felicity Swafford!

Well, to close today, I will leave you with a cool photo. It's not artistically the prettiest photo, but there is a neat story behind it. We brought a lunch to eat on the bus yesterday before visiting the high school, but we arrived early enough that we voted to have a picnic lunch. It was a bit warm, and some of the teachers wanted to stay on the bus to eat. But a few of us got off the bus and were going to take our lunches to a nearby park. On the way to the park we came into a clearing and there was an old Shinto shrine. There was no one around, so we sat on the steps of the old shrine and ate our noodle bowls. For those of you who don't know what Shinto is, it's the native Japanese religion. To worship at a Shinto shrine is very easy. You just walk up to the shrine, bow twice, clap your hands twice to alert the kami (the spirit that lives in the shrine) of your presence, pray and ask the kami for your wish, and then you bow one last time. Tada!

China Catch Up

I haven't posted to the blog in a few days, and there is so much to catch everyone up on... at least all the adults reading. If the kids are actually reading this, they aren't posting!

Environmental Issues
Mrs. Long asked me to check into the environmental issues of each of the areas. Well, now that I am out of China, I am a little more uninhibited about what I can say. I think Beijing would make a fascinating environmental study- the effect of the recent Olympics on the environment. I got the real impression that China didn't want to loose face during the 2008 Olympic Games. They underwent massive changes in their intrastructure. I believe that before the Olympics there were 2 highways that ran through Beijing. Now there are 8. (Don't quote my exact numbers, but you get the general idea). They converted all their buses from diesel to natural gas. They planted "green spaces" all over the city, and while we were there we witnessed them digging up those green spaces. (Such as in Tienemin Square).




If you look closely at this photo you will see that all the trees are in plastic buckets, like when you first buy them from the nursery. (If you don’t see what I am talking about, look closely behind the couple who are getting their picture taken under the huge portrait of Mao. Remember, if you click on the photo, you can enlarge it.) What I didn’t get to show you, but really wish I had, was a photo of the guards and the workers who were digging the trees up out of the ground and loading them onto a waiting flatbed truck. As they lifted the trees out of the ground, they still had the brown burlap wrapped around their root balls. It was obvious they never intended to keep the trees there. It was all show for the Olympics. During the Games, the farmers in the surrounding area went through an extreme drought because they were diverting all the water into Beijing. If there is one thing this country can’t afford to loose it's a crop of food.

Beijing has taken some other measures to become more eco-friendly. They instituted a traffic law that only allows you to drive 4 out of the 5 days of the working week. It’s all according to the last digit of your social security number. On your “off” driving day, you are encouraged to share a ride, use the subway, bus, bike, or walk. It’s not hard in this city, since you have all forms of public transportation available. Bikes share the road equally with cars. In some places they have their own full-sized (or over-sized, even) lanes. In other places bikes and cars and trucks coexist in the same lanes and intersections and traffic jams. So the problem isn’t that there aren’t ample and economical options available for transportation other than cars. The problem is the sheer number of people. I’ve seen hundreds, nay, thousands of bikes and scooters since I have been in China. They are everywhere, parked crammed into any and every available space. They litter the sidewalks. And, in all reality, they don’t use them to be green- like, say, the residents of Portland, Oregon or similar. No. They use them because that’s what they can afford.

I would take this opportunity to talk about the price of gas in China, but I haven’t seen a gas station with Western numbers on the sign, yet.

But since we are talking about pollution, the environment, and the Olympics, let me post an interesting photo. Witness the Bird’s Nest on a typical Beijing Friday:
---OK, so I wrote this and went back to insert the photos, and I realized I couldn’t get them off my camera. I have an 8-minute video of the Chattanooga teachers eating seahorses on a stick in the market and a 45-minute video of a lecture by a famous Beijing calligrapher (the same one who painted the Olympics characters). For whatever reason, my camera doesn’t want to let go of the videos and the pictures that came after them…--- I will upload my horrible photo of the Bird's Nest later. It's so hazy, you can barely see it in the distance.

I don’t want anyone to really get the impression that I am dogging China too much. The truth is, they are a wonderfully rich culture full of interesting (and very nice) people. But they certainly do have their problems. The environment (despite their efforts- or the appearance of) is one of them.

Speaking of rick and interesting culture, let me post a few nice photos before I go to bed. These came from a hudong- a traditional Chinese neighborhood.





Tomorrow we go to visit a Japanese middle school and a high school. When I get back to the room tomorrow, I will try to report back on man purses, fashion, the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, the temple of Heaven, the list goes on and on!

Good night for now!

Compare and Contrast

So, Andy asked a good question. Goofy, but good. He asked if I was the tallest person here. Haha. Google Yao Ming. Anyway, I will interpret this question to mean, “Do the Chinese fit the stereotype?” Well, that depends… Today let me tell you about my visit to the Jingshan School.

Jingshan is a K-12 magnet school in the heart of Beijing. I sat through two classes today- one English class and one Chinese class. Here are some of the differences I noticed. For starters, the kids stay in the same room, and the teachers move from class to class. (Bingo! No tardies!) The rooms in this school were old, but clean. Paint was peeling off the walls, yet they all had Smart Boards (or the Chinese version, at least).

When the teacher was ready to start class, all the kids stood up. The teacher greeted the students, and then the students all greeted the teacher in unison. The kids raised their hands to speak, and when their teacher called them on, they stood up to answer. They did not chit chat in class. They all looked like they were paying attention- even if they weren’t. They get an hour’s free time on campus in the afternoon unsupervised (yes, unsupervised). Oh, and there is no detention. I asked the teacher about cell phones in class. She said, “They have them, but are not permitted to use them in class.” Ah, but do they? She said it is rare that she sees a kid texting in class, and when she does catch one, she just has to remind them that it is the school policy not to use them in class, and the kid puts it away. She said she doesn’t have repeat offenders. Hmmmm… I want some of you to think about that. She said they do not have to discipline many kids. When they do, their homeroom teacher acts as a guidance counselor and calls them in privately to discuss their behavior. If this doesn’t work, the school calls the parents and that stops the bad behavior. Because of this, they get very far with their studies. To be fair, she did say that not all Beijing schools are like this. Some schools do have behavior issues, and the students’ grades on the entrance exams reflect it.

To illustrate, check out this photo of the Chinese kids about 2 seconds after the teacher told them to read a passage in their book:


How are teenagers in China like American teenagers? Well, take a look at this kid’s desk in homeroom:



Also, they hate their uniforms. The teachers say the kids complain about them. A lot. They remind me of basketball warm-ups. (Which, btw, they are obsessed with the NBA here.) Look at them. Recognize those colors from anywhere? Despite the fact that they complain, they ALL wear the uniform, and the teachers have no problem getting the students to comply.

Speaking of basketball, look at this guy’s shoes. Number 23. Do you remember who was #23 in basketball? Michael Jordan.



For those curious readers who have been following my man bag story, I did ask Li (the Jingshan teacher I ate dinner with tonight) about them. She said that Chinese men are tender and show their affection by carrying their girlfriend’s purse. But then I asked her about all the guys who were not with girlfriends, yet still had the purse. Her reaction? “Men do that?!” My reaction? “Well, have you taken a look around lately?!” She said she would get back to me on that one. News at 11.

Also, I asked her about the crazy hair on all the guys. I don’t think I mentioned this in my blog before, but all the guys here have this bizarre, sticky uppy sort of hair. I can’t tell if it’s on purpose or just a really bad case of bed-head. Or a cowlick. I will post a picture after I get some good ones from Mrs. Brock. Anyway, Li’s explanation was that a few years ago Japanese and Korean TV shows became very popular with Chinese youth. This is a very popular haircut in Japan and Korea, and has since become popular here. I have a feeling I can get some really great hair pictures next week when I go to Japan.

Send me some more questions. I would love to answer them! Start thinking about questions for the kids and teachers in Japan. Students, by the time you read this again, that is where I will be. Teachers and family, send me questions anytime! (Oh, and Mrs. Long, wait until you see the photos I took of the biology lab at Jingshan!)

I want to end this post with a little reminder to all you out there in CHS cyber-space: MRS. KIDWELL IS READING THIS BLOG, TOO. If you don’t know what it means when someone types out all uppercase letters, go ask Coach Shaw.

Rules for Shopping

This morning we headed out to an old “restored” fishing village just outside of Shanghai. Tongli was not exactly what I had anticipated. I thought it would be sort of like Williamsburg- people in period costumes reenacting an old way of life in the name of preservation. Instead, it turned out to be more like Gatlinburg- a beautiful setting with lots of potential and lots of crap for sale. Don’t get me wrong. I bought my fair share of crap this morning while wandering through town. But I didn’t like how you were bombarded by shop people calling out, “Hello! Hello! You like? Hello!” It got a little old if you were just in the mood to window shop. It also reminded me a little of “Welcome to Moe’s!”


Rule No. 1: It is the custom here to bargain for prices. Our tour leaders said to offer the store keepers 10% of what they were asking. I have a hard time doing that. Yesterday, a lady offered me two terracotta figurines for 50 yuan. I offered her 30 yuan (which is way more than 10%). She laughed in my face, and said, “No, lady. I offer you best price I got.” Like a fool, and afraid I had insulted her, I forked over the 50 yuan (which is equalivent to like $7). Today Mrs. Brock and I found the same stinking figurines for 5 yuan a piece! When the woman told us the price, I got mad, didn’t say anything, and walked away. She followed us shouting, “No good? I give you cheap! 3 yuan! 3 yuan!” So, that’s the secret. No matter how interested you are in whatever the wares may be, you walk away. Fear of missing a sale will cause them to follow you. And if they don’t, there is another vendor just around the corner selling the EXACT same thing who is willing to offer you a better price.

Rule No. 2: You have to be careful. A better price doesn’t necessarily mean that you got a good deal. I’m still learning how to negotiate in the markets here (and can’t wait to get to Japan where you don’t have to bargain!). Today I walked into a shop where the man carved some sort of nut into beads shaped like Buddha heads and made them into bracelets. I absolutely loved them. I asked him how much, and (not speaking English) he pulled out his calculator and typed in “680” meaning it cost 680 yuan. That’s like $115, so of course I said, “Boo ya,” which means “don’t want.” (Boo ya isn’t spelled “boo ya,” by the way. That’s just how I remember how to say it.) The next store I went in had the same beads. The man who ran the shop and I went back and forth until we agreed on the price of 215 yuan, which is like $35. Much better price! When I got to lunch, I realized they were plastic. I was so caught up in the moment, excited that I was bargaining, that I didn’t pay attention to the quality of what I was buying. Buyer beware.



On a different shopping front, we flew to Beijing today. Out hotel is just off Tiananmen Square and adjacent to a huge pedestrian mall. Right on the corner, just outside our hotel door, is a McDonalds. Yeeeessssss!!!! I had not eaten much since my potatoes and spaghetti for breakfast- yes, spaghetti, don’t ask- so I was starving. I ate two large fries and a chocolate milkshake for dinner. It was heaven!





Then a few of us went walking through the shops.

Rule No. 3: Always carry your man bag. It truly is a cultural phenomenon here! And I got confirmation that they are not just carrying their girlfriends’ purses. I saw several groups of all guys, and many of them had very feminine looking man purses. Granted, many of them also had small versions of the messenger bag, but I did spy several pink leather knock-off purses as well. Let’s play I Spy, shall we? Let’s see if you can spot the man bags in the pictures below:













Here are a few more pictures from today:

Day Two- Shanghai

Well, it's day two and I am already on a quest. My quest isn't particularly noble, but it's a quest nonetheless. Mrs. Brock (the art teacher at GPS) was asked to take pictures for the NCTA website. They need photos of Asian teenagers that aren’t copyrighted- particularly ones of what I like to call "fashion forward" teenagers. Think guys with pink hair that sticks up in all directions, brown striped shirts with skinny black or purple jeans and red sequined Converse shoes. (Yes, these people do exist- Mrs. Brock has the photos to prove it.) While looking for kids to photograph, we noticed a few commonalities- a lot of kids have cell phones; a lot of young people ride scooters or bikes; a lot of young men smoke; and a lot of young men carry purses. Cell phones, duh, just like the States. The scooter thing is easy- cars are expensive and take up space to park. Bikes and scooters are cheap and you can weave in and out of heavy traffic (or occasionally cut off a tour bus and ride against traffic- saw that today, too!) The smoking thing was explained as well. Apparently, the tobacco companies aren't doing so hot in the States (yea for us!), so they have moved the market overseas and are pumping the kids over here full of nicotine. Sad, but it seems to be the truth. LOTS of people here smoke, and you can smoke inside pretty much anywhere and everywhere. It's hard to go someplace and not get a lungful of smoke. But the purse thing... hmmm... they aren't "murses" or man-purses. They are like pink designer knock-offs. I have an inkling they belong to their girlfriends, but I will need to test this theory. So, my new quest is this: to find one photo that embodies all these things. I want a photo of an oddly dressed and poorly matched (but very trendy) teenager riding a bike with his girlfriend side-saddle on the back, smoking and/or talking on a cell phone, carrying a purse. Let's face it- talking on a cell phone AND smoking while riding a bike is just too much to ask for, even for native Shanghai-ians who seem to have no fear of being hit by giant moving purple tour busses.



My favorite part of today's tour was the Jade Buddha Temple. It is home to the largest statue of Buddha carved from a single piece of jade. It portrays Siddhartha and looks quite feminine- a trend that apparently started during one of the times that China was ruled by an Empress. (Ming Dynasty??) This temple is a working temple, home to monks and visited by devout Buddhists who clamber over masses of tourists with cameras to kneel and pray. My favorite part of the temple was the red ribbons tied to absolutely everything in the courtyard outside on the ground floor. Each ribbon represents a wish made by a visitor to the temple. But it's like blowing out the candles on your birthday cake. Your wish doesn't come true if you tell someone what it was. :)






After visiting the Temple, it only made sense to eat lunch at an adjacent vegetarian restaurant. For those of you who don't know, most Buddhists are vegetarian. As a matter of fact, while attending a lecture on Japanese Buddhist sculpture, I once heard that if you are Buddhist and you eat meat, you would end up in the Hell of the Fiery Chicken! Well, needless to say, I was excited. But the excitement didn't last long. Now, I'm not what one would consider an adventurous eater. As a matter of fact, I kind of like to know what it is I'm eating BEFORE I eat it. Call me weird. But, I could identify very little at lunch, and consequence ate very little. And speaking of food, guess what we had for dinner?

That's right, folks. Fish heads. Again. We're fondly referring to it as the "Blooming Fish." Kind of like the Blooming Onion at Outback. Only fish.

Journey to Shanghai

Good morning! Although, I think it's really 6:25 p.m. where you guys are. It's morning here (we are 12 hours different), and I figured I would start my day before the alarm goes off. We are leaving at 8:45 to take a city tour and then go to a museum before visiting an old fishing village in the afternoon.

Getting here was interesting. If you include take off and landing, having to disembark the plane, etc... I think we were on the airplane for a little over 17 hours. The flight attendent told us that this is the second longest flight they make- second only to Bombay or someplace like that. They didn't have vegetarian meals, so I was pretty hungry when I got off the plane. There are only so many goldfish crackers you can eat... But I can't complain. I REALLY lucked out- I was in seat 45F, which was in the first row of a new section and I had LOTS of leg room. I sat next to Chuck, who teaches Enlish at Notre Dame. At one point, two of the other Chattanooga teachers came and sat cross-legged in our "leg space" and we had a little party. I watched 4 or 5 movies, a few TV shows, and listened to ABBA on the in-flight entertainment. I didn't have a window seat, but did get up and peek out of someone else's window to see the cracks in the ice over the Artic. All in all, it wasn't too bad.

We hit the ground running. After customs and picking up our baggage, we road the mag lift to Pudong- the newer section of Shanghai. I took a video out the window, but don't know how to upload it here. Anybody know? Post a comment and tell me if you do!!


When we arrived in Pudong, we went to the Pearl, which was a TV and observation tower. It included a wax museum- which would have been really interesting if I hadn't have been sooooooo tired. After that, we all tried not to fall asleep at dinner. We went to some crazy floating restraunt which was lit up like a giant fish with different color scales. Let me see if I can upload a picture of the fish they served (head and all) at dinner. Again, nothing s vegetarian would eat, so I just picked the veggies out of what they put in front of me!

Test Blog

This is basically my test blog, just to see if this whole thing works. The countdown has begun- less than one week to take-off. I am excited because I got an email today from Laura. Laura is the Pilot Club International’s Anchor Club coordinator. She sent me the email address of a lady named Kiku, who is the Japanese Translator for Pilot International. She lives in Osaka, and I will be in Osaka on October 24th. I also have a free evening that night, so I emailed her and asked her if she would like to get together. Pretty cool, I’m not even there yet, and I’m making friends. :)