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.