Things I learned

Don't tell your friends about your imminent departure to begin teaching in Japan until you see that the contract you are sent reflects the deal you negotiated. otherwise, you spend the whole day texting clarification

start again

It seems I'll be able to post again, at least for a while.

Things are not terribly different than they were 5 months ago. Switched schools, to a place that treats me much better. not necessarily good, but better.

My students are much worse than before. basically, I am teaching in a program for rich students who have flunked out of or been kicked out of other schools. their parents want them to go to university, but they have no chance of passing the exams. So a back door is being created. If they can pass an English exam, they can attend a university to study business and English. So I need to get them ready for the IELTS exam. None speak English well, most speak it very poorly, and a few can't communicate simple ideas in English. One can't answer questions like "what's your name?" but all are taking an exam to see if they can begin studying accounting or finance next year in univeristy classes taught in English. They frequently refuse to do assignments or open their book. The school will not allow most rewards or punishments. Everyone agrees I will fail in my task, but not much that can be done. Since they come from important, rich families, they will be fine. At least until they take over the family business and destroy it, but that's years away.

Little changes regarding friends and the town as a whole. Zhongshan changes, but only slightly it seems.

Last weekend, a friend was attacked by a group of knife wielding gangsters. a few friends and I intervened, and were stabbed. Their original target was stabbed multiple times in the chest and back. One guy was stabbed in the leg, and another in the hand. I had my arm sliced open and was stabbed in ...uh...the posterior. All of us are out of the hospital, and everyone will recover completely. In that regard, we were very lucky.

Why the stabbing? Another foreigner was mad at my friend over a pool game. So he called thugs to scare him, and they instead decided to remove him. So my feelings regarding Chinese haven't changed, just my contempt for Canadians.

My employer is insisting I take a few weeks off to recover. My wounds aren't that big a deal, but the blood loss left me a wreck. One week later, I'm almost back to normal. I think they just want this kept quiet. It's really cool that they are telling me to rest and recover. It's not so cool they are saying I should have run off and called the cops, as a teacher getting into a fight will give the school a bad reputation. Put simply, they are saying i should have let my friend die. There is little doubt that would have been the outcome. I may be replaced due to this, but the other foreign teachers have made it clear that they will resign immediately, and no other foreigners will take my place. At least not from Zhongshan.

Turns out I'm pretty well liked here. I spend a lot of time at home resting, but trek out ot the hospital every day to have the bandages changed. friends are doing a good job of making sure i'm fed, translating for me with doctorsm and generally keeping me happy. Which reminds me that I'm meeting some xiolan friends soon. Finally convinced them to come here to see me. All it took was some blood loss.

To those who heard before and have been sending support, it is appreciated. This is the worst time I've had in China, and I can't wait to move on.

where am I?

Internet is down again. Third world living has it's drawbacks

things she learned

I taught a young woman named Yan back in 2000 in Xiaolan. We've had sporadic contact sense, and bonded over the last month or two. She went with me on a trip to Hainan, which was a blast. She brought an electronic dictionary that translated at times for us, and the following is a partial list of things she translated:
thong
hirsute
drunkard
buffoon
aggravation
motion sickness
manic
knave
albino
thug
discord
nonsense
declasse
pointless
pennywise, pound foolish
nerd
butler
dysentry
blind
sea sick
bald
unappealing

Sums up travelling with me pretty well

things I learned

There are people who will sell mobile phones with cameras and mp3 players which cannot be connected to a computer without blue tooth, but not sell the blue tooth. So, no pictures.

Off to Hainan tomorrow. Days in the tropical sun. Wager wisely on just how burned I will be which day.

Wii and beaches

The wii works fine now most of the time, so blogging suffers. I must choose between telling tales of students or Lego Star Wars. Incidentally, the Wiis at the electronics store with the Sony sign near the Star Ferry in TST work fine oncce you set them up. Just took a native English and a native Chinese speaker to get to that point. They can be bought cheaper, but they do work.

On another unrelated topic, when playing lego Star Wars, it seems that you need Jar jar to leap about on Naboo. He does it better than the rest. This interferes with the joy I take in slashing him to pieces with a lightsaber. Since I've completed 3 levels out of 160, I don't think I'll ever finish it, but I can't see what greater thrill the game could provide than that, unless it combines Dance dance revolution with Hutts.

On an increasingly unrelated topic, I am heading back to Hainan. I've decided i like being cash strapped each month. Bought a bike, and was poor. Bought a Wii, and was poor. Time to travel and resume being poor. Sanya is a place with nice beaches and monkeys, and there's little else i want in a vacation. I hear it's getting more developed, but that there are still places that accomodate backpackers.

Might rent a motorcycle and drive around the island a bit, visiting a few remote towns. There are a fe flaws with that plan. First, i don't have a credit card. Second, I don't have a driver's license. Third, I'm still sketchy on the intricacies of motorcycles (as opposed to scooters), and might smear myself over the road. Fourth, I speak roughly three words of the hainan dialect, and not a word of the minority languages, which i think are closer to Thai or Vietnamese. I've had Chinese friends tell me that a lot of Hainanese have a weak grasp of mandarin, and cantonese is unknown.

So i might stick to the beach. And Monkey Mountain. You create a monkey preserve, I believe I am obligated to go.

things I learned

When someone turns off the light on their electric bike to save power and drives the wrong way down the street at night, blows a red light, and almost hits you, it is possible to slap them off the bike. The face of a person being slapped off a scooter cannot be compared to any other facial expression.

Also learned that Chinese police are remarkably unsympathetic to people who are slapped off bikes when they almost crash into people in a crosswalk.

And Officer Leung is a handsome, witty charming man. A paragon of virtue, and a credit to Chinese culture. All hail this officer's wise decisions, as we enter an era of slapping