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This year was a long one, but many of the awesome AYC participants have finished out their academic year! The above collage only showcases a few of the 150+ teachers spread throughout China with their students. Many have already left for their next journey, others are teaching farther into the summer, but one thing remains true: AYC is immensely proud of it’s inaugural class of Ameson Year in China!
Salute — the AYC Class of 2013-2014!
Have you ever mused over the possible deep meaning of the choice English names your students chose? Have you ever wondered why your Chinese name sounds really strange when translated into English? Well below is an introduction to some of the more interesting naming practices.
“I don’t think the magic has died down, really. Everywhere I go on campus, someone will run up to me and ask me how I am or say good afternoon. Many students are not afraid to just come up and ask me random questions, like, “Where are you from?” or “Do you have a boyfriend?”
Proposed in 1934 by geographer Hu Huanyong, the Heihe-Tengchong line is not China’s newest highspeed rail line, but an interesting artifact of human geography. This line divides China roughly into two halves in terms of geographic area (57% to the West, 43% to the East), but nearly all the population - a whopping 94% - resides to the East of the line.
Impressive though these numbers may be, what’s perhaps more impressive is that despite having a population density lower than all but 27 countries, the western half of China would still be the 16th largest country in the world by population, just below Germany.
As you can see from the map, China’s population density is highly concentrated between the Yellow River (黄河） to the north and the Yang-tze River (长江）to the Souh, as well as along the coast. The large red spot just east of the line represents a very fertile agricultural area sometimes referred to as “China’s breadbasket” and includes the megacities Chengdu and Chongqing. Most of China’s West is arid, high up in the mountains, or both, making it difficult to sustain dense populations.
“Exploring the city with my students has definitely given me the experience that I’ve had,” Mary says. “I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”
If your Chinese is at a moderate level, there’s a good chance you’ll have learned the word 老百姓 (lit. “old hundred names” or “the common people”). What you may not have learned is that the word has completely flipped in meaning over the last hundred years. Throughout most of Chinese history, common people did not have surnames. Surnames (姓) were reserved only for the aristocracy, and the “hundred” (百) was a way of referring to all of the various family lines as a unit. Thus, 百姓 refers to the nobility, not the common people. However with the end of the feudal system, the universalization of surnames, and progressive social atmosphere brought by the communist revolution, the term took a 老 (“old”, which to this learner seems to add both respect and familiarity) and began to refer to “the people” as a whole.
Visit Huanghshan with AYC in 90 seconds! The video of AYC'ers on Mt. Huangshan features photography by AYC’s own Fred Bane, and takes viewers from sunset to sunrise in the mountain region. Discover one of the beautiful wonders of China with participants!
Victoria Caitlin Evans, placed in Longwan High School in Wenzhou, brings creativity to the classroom. When teaching her Grade 1’s (17 year olds) she prioritizes student involvement, creating fun lessons that stretch students use of the English language and promotes full class participation. Her method is simple, “I have an outline of what I want to happen, tell them, and then we work through it together. For example, the last lesson I did we played scrabble with some homemade scrabble letters I made. I explained to them how to play, and as they are playing/writing/talking /singing (whatever we are doing that day), I make my rounds and just help them out, whether that’s keeping them on task or answering questions.”
Caitlin has found many ways to adjust to her new home in Wenzhou. She mentions that the other AYC'ers in the area have helped her adjustment to China life, as well as her awesome students. Some adjustments have stemmed from ingenuity: she was able to overcome a lapse in communication with her school by increasing her involvement around the school. Other hurdles proved to be more difficult. Upon arriving into China, aside from the universal barriers of language and culture for foreigners, Caitlin has faced “an apartment fire, a typhoon, small earthquakes, late paychecks from [her] school, and worst of all, [her] school lost a student to depression in the fall.” Facing these issues in ones native country can be difficult– in a foreign land they can be down-right soul crushing, but Caitlin has passed through the darker spots head-held high and thankful for this experience. “It’s going to be a bittersweet good-bye in July, but I’m grateful to have been able to come to Longwan, (or as I like to call it #Winning-zhou) and -cheesy warning- I’ll always have a special place for it in my heart forever.“
Before 2008, International Labor Day was one of three long holidays during the year, along with Spring Festival and National Day. Like every other so-called “Golden Week” this inspired enormous crowds, jacked up prices, and severe shortage of resources in tourist areas. Around 2008 the government realized that if the holidays were a bit more spread out workers would be happier and fewer old ladies would get punched in the face for the last train ticket. And so, Labor Day was reformed from a week long holiday into a three day one, and three other holidays were given official recognition.
These holidays, Qingming (Tomb Sweeping Festival), Duanwu (Dragon Boat Festival) and Middle Autumn Day, were not new creations, but rather traditional holidays that were reinstated in 2008. These holidays all enjoyed official status during the Republican period (1912-1949), but saw it revoked with the rise of a new government determined to wipe out old superstition. However, recent years have seen interest in preserving traditional culture rekindled in China, and these holidays have accordingly been transformed from something to be ideologically reviled to a way to preserve and continue aspects of China’s unique cultural heritage like respect for ancestors, love of nature, and punching old ladies in the face.
Simeon Campbell made it a mission to bring his passion into the classroom and succeeded by not only introducing his students to poetry, but also putting on the very first Poetry Slam at Nanjing Zhong Xue in Jiangyin. Simeon has long written and performed poetry of his own at his native Los Angeles’s DPL Lounge’s open mic nights, and he showed the kids some of his poems, along with other poems by more established authors, to help explain what poetry is like in English.
The day of the slam, Simeon coached his students on the makings of a great performance – body language, projection, and vocal control. Fellow AYC'erKatherine Priddy, played a large roll in helping him organize the event; four other teachers volunteered as judges, ranking participants on a scale of 1-10 for both performance and quality of writing. The students competed for monetary prizes – 100 yuan for first place, 75 for second, 50 for third, and 10 yuan each for four honorable mentions.
In the end the event was an incredible success produced by AYC'ers Katherine and Simeon, and the kids at Jiangyin were able to uninhibitedly express themselves in english in front of their classmates and teachers. Kudos to these AYC'ers!
After inventing the movable type printing press, not a lot of innovation happened in Chinese typography until the invention of the computer. Early attempts to digitize the language included shape-based methods like Cangjie and phonetic-based ones like Zhuyin, but today the most common are Pinyin and Wubi. After six years in China Wubi is still like sorcery to me, so today we’ll just talk about Pinyin. Among Pinyin input systems, the best by far is Sougou.
Earlier Pinyin methods worked character by character, so you had to type wo, select 我, yao, select 要, qu, select 去…. but Sougou and other modern pinyin inputs can interpret entire sentences (woyaoquxuexiao 我要去学校) with impressive accuracy using context clues and data from other users. You can also just type the first letter of each syllable, for example xx pulls up 谢谢, 学校, and 信息 as my top 3. Typing rq for 日期 gives you the date in multiple different formats, and classical poems are indexed as well (try typing llysc!). After some practice I found that I could type in Chinese even faster than in English.
One particularly cool feature for learners of Chinese is that by first typing u you enter an input mode that allows you to break up characters you don’t know and enter them radical by radical. For example, to type 淼, a character made up of three 水s, type u then “shuishuishui” and Sougou will tell you it’s pronounced miao3. NICE.
As many of you are painfully aware, China is a land of many dialects, and people are often unsure of the “proper” pronunciation of a character. So most Pinyin systems today allow for what’s called “fuzzy Pinyin”. In the settings menu you can check boxes indicating the features of your dialect (sh goes to s, h goes to f, n goes to l, etc.).
Last but not least, if you come across a computer that’s ｔｙｐｉｎｇ ｌｉｋｅ ｔｈｉｓ， the computer is in full-width character mode, which you can exit by hitting shift+space or control+space.
China has its own special way of celebrating diversity, but as the song referenced in the title suggests, China is home to a staggering array of ethnic diversity. Nothing you can say about 56 different cultural groups in two paragraphs could really communicate anything, so the only option is to go out there and experience it first hand. Popular destinations for cultural travel in China include Yunnan (Xishuang Bannna and Lijiang) and Guangxi (Yangshuo), which are very accessible but quite touristy. For people who want to get off the beaten track a bit, there are some better options. For Tibetan culture, Western Sichuan is actually a better choice than Tibet, as there are less restrictions both on you the traveler and on the local community. For Miao/Hmong people, Guizhou is working hard to attract tourists but is still full of amazing undeveloped places to visit, and the local culture is extremely hospitable (but be prepared to be drunk every day). Even further afield choices include Ningxia for an interesting mix of East and Central Asian cultures inhabited by the Hui people (Chinese Muslims), and the Nu and Dulong river valleys in the far west of Yunnan near the border with Myanmar. These latter two valleys are very hard to get to, but home to some of the smallest ethnic groups in the country (the Nu and Dulong respectively). If you do not fear the cold, legend has it the far Northeast still has nomadic herders of the reindeer variety. Any true China experience should include at least some time spent in minority areas.
Samantha Coughran is in Beilun, Ningbo at Chai Qiao High School! Here with two of her best friends from University of California Santa Barbara, John Leach and Amy Montemayor, she explains that because of them her adjustment to China has been a smooth one, aside from the clear bathroom doors, learning Chinese, and the not-so-casual daily stares. With about 3 and a half months left in her China experience she’s hoping to get some bucket list items crossed off, by heading to the Great Wall!
In the Classroom Sam has been through the novelty phase and uses her classroom as a portal to a land of excitement, flaws, and learning, “Perfection has been the ultimate goal for these students, so a class dedicated to speaking with flaws and discussing weaknesses is horrifying. I’ve turned my classes into a goofy 45-minute break from their hectic day; I focus on things my students like, crack jokes, dance and laugh…My students are less afraid of speaking, chat with me during passing period and hang out in my office to read English books that I had donated to the school through a Book Drive.” This kind of classroom ability is to be expected from an old pro. Sam, and her two very good friends, taught English in The Republic of Georgia last year!
Sam not only works for her students advancement in the classroom, she also works for it through social media by promoting her book drive to her friends in the states, in hopes that they will send books for her students to enhance their English literacy and understanding of American culture through reading!
Sean Hayes is currently teaching in Guangzhou. Like many AYC'ers he visited the Ice Festival in Harbin during his Spring Festival break, but by the time he left he was engaged! Read up on his magical proposal:
“I have a very interesting, and I think unique, story to tell about my Christmas and Spring Festival break. I’m not sure if anyone at all except my own friends and family know this, but I’m very happy to share it with others who may become inspired by my story. I recently took my girlfriend, who lives and works in Tianjin, on a trip to Harbin in the far north of China. We had a marvelous time viewing all the sights, as well as visiting the famous Harbin Ice and Snow World, which was almost entirely composed of breathtaking ice sculptures. Even the buildings were made out of ice! It was amazing. Even more amazing though is what happened in front of the Russian cathedral, St. Sophia’s, where my girlfriend of over two years became my new fiancé. Yes, I asked my girlfriend to marry me. It was like something out of a fairy tale. Everything had been just perfect, right down to the falling snow and beautiful music being played by the church in the background. After Harbin, there was my visit to my fiance’s home town were we spent the entire break visiting her extended family and telling everyone on her side the good news. I enjoyed every moment of visiting my future Chinese family. After our vacation, my fiancé and I returned to our respective cities to resume working.”
Congratulations to Sean Hayes and his new fiance! Who says that dreams can’t come true in China!
Soccer, that foot sport you may remember from elementary school gym class, is an excellent way to meet people in China. There are a couple of reasons for this: you don’t have to speak Chinese to play it, and, unlike table tennis or some of the card games, it’s a popular game that you know how to play.
The hardest part, which is actually pretty easy, is finding a game. Ask some of your (male) colleagues, students, or neighbors if they have a regular pickup game that you can join. (Note: If you’re a woman, they may find your request a little odd, since soccer is, like, so brutal. But don’t let that stop you!) If they don’t have a game, or you don’t want to play with them, try heading down to a nearby university or park on the weekend and hanging out at their soccer fields. When you see a group of friends with a ball, ask to join their game. It’s a request that’s pretty easy to make with body language if your soccer Chinese is sub-par: join the warm-up circle and see if they let you in.
Once you’re in the game, everything should go pretty smoothly. Keep in mind that, as in the US, some players take their games super-seriously, while others are more like your little brother and will tackle their friends. Go along with it, and enjoy your new hobby!
Like most AYCers, Anitra Saddler wanted a new experience. “I chose China as a way to branch out into the world,” she says. “I wanted to experience life that was different from my own.” She sought the exact opposite of her small town in Minnesota: Changsha, in Hunan Province, renowned for its spicy food and warm climate. “Here in China it has been a different beat I have to move to and learn how to adapt to day to day,” says Anitra. “I am sometimes frustrated with the new change of pace; however, I do not regret it for one moment.”
For many teachers, Anitra’s classes would have posed a huge problem. She encountered the same problems all foreign teachers have in China: huge class sizes of up to 40 kids, in her case all girls, and her students entered the room believing they could walk all over a foreign teacher. But for Anitra, who comes from a large family with many younger siblings, controlling her classroom has never been an issue. “The students are so used to being drilled by their teachers that they believe foreign teachers are the “easy fun class” and will try not to follow the rules,” Anitra says. “It is very important for them to know you want to have fun, but you are their teacher and rules MUST be followed.”
Another challenge Anitra faces is that she teaches a mixture classroom: half her students spoke English fluently, while half knew no English at all. “At times making lesson plans is a bit difficult due to the wide range of English abilities. However, I love the challenge! This gives me the opportunity to use multiple strategies, learning aids, and so on to engage the students.” Anitra’s effort pays off: she loves her students and her students love her, constantly approaching her for hugs and presenting her with gifts. But she doesn’t get a swelled head; instead, she is reflective. “The older children are more difficult to bring them out of their comfort zone. They are afraid of losing face!!! The younger children most of the time can’t get enough. Making the class fun and new, keeps everyone interested and willing to explore outside the norm.”
China has three distinct concepts of homeland: 籍贯 (jiguan)，故乡 (guxiang) and 老家 (laojia). Many people in traditional families will be headed to their 籍贯 - their paternal grandfather’s hometown. 籍贯 is the only one of these three used on official documents like school records or hukous. 故乡 (lit. former hometown) sounds a bit more poetic, and can be used to refer to any place with which you have developed an emotional attachment (Nanjing would now be considered this columnist’s second 故乡）. 老家 (old home) is very colloquial and usually refers to the place where you grew up or where your parents live. Most people will probably head for their 老家 for the holiday.
As it happens, the reason tickets are hard to buy at this time of year is not entirely because everyone in China will be traveling during the same few days. Scalping of train tickets by people called 黄牛 (yellow bulls) has historically been a huge problem, with people using their connections to buy obscene numbers of tickets and selling them to desperate migrants returning home to their families with the money they’ve earned working. The government has taken huge steps to curb this in recent years, but the problem is probably impossible to totally eliminate.
Note for foreigners coming to China: be aware that going home for the holiday with your S.O. strongly implies that a wedding is not far off. Even if you’re just friends, it’s probably a good idea to bring someone else along if you’re visiting the hometown of someone of the opposite sex during Spring Festival to avoid adding grist to the vicious hometown rumor mill.
Congratulations to the AYC Photo-Essay and Video competition winners! We will be showcasing all of the submissions for the contest over the next few weeks, so be sure to check-in here to see what it’s like living in China with AYC! You can view all entries here: on.fb.me/1kesX7P
The Winners of the 2013-2014 AYC Photo-Essay Contest:
First Place Winner: Andrew Ebanks (picture on left)
Second Place Winners: Isaak Tarek, Lindsey Pointer, and Arielle Strafford
Third Place Winner: Brecken Byron, Jessica Gourdet, Jaline King, William O'Brian and Linda Wang
The winners of the 2013-2014 AYC Video Contest:
First Place Winner: Michael Peterson (picture on right)
Second Place Winners: Mackey Landy, Richelle Gamlam, and Kirsten Ourada
Third Place Winners: Victoria Evans, Evan Deal McDaniels, Ilyse Liffreing, Daniel Ward, and Rachel Smith
Jaline and Jen both studied Chinese in college, and both women had spent a few months in China before joining AYC. Jaline is particularly attracted to Chinese as part of her heritage: her mother is Chinese, although as a fourth-generation American, she can no longer speak the language. Both women knew before they arrived that they would remain in the country another year or two.
When they were placed in Hefei Number One High School, the school did not quite take them seriously. Rather than giving Jaline and Jen classes to teach, the school gave them small groups of students to practice conversational English with in the hallway. But the two quickly proved themselves, bringing quiet students out of their shells and pushing confident students further. “We made it clear they couldn’t just give one-word answers, they had to expand their thoughts in English,” Jaline says. “If they didn’t want to talk, we’d ask them, What do you think?” Noticing that the students’ written English skills lagged far behind their spoken ability, the women set up a writing lab for the kids, both to go over basic English writing skills and to edit college essays. “We’re so happy our school supports our ideas, since we know that’s not always the case in China,” Jen says.
Next year, the women think they may stay on at Hefei Number One, where they have made so many connections and so much progress. Although life hasn't always been easy – the women mentioned flushing their toilet with chopsticks – they have carved out a niche for themselves at their school.
Spring has come to Yichang! We were blessed with two beautiful sunny weekends in a row, during which I was able to fit in three great hiking excursions to a few cool new places around Yichang (including Wenfo Shan- a sacred Buddhist mountain with a temple on top) and a trip out to the countryside with a few of my third grade students, Kay Kay, and Salina to see the beautiful Oriental Cherry trees in bloom. My classes the last two weeks have consisted of various excuses to take the kids outside for some time running in the sun, and mandatory classroom dance parties. To top it all off, my mom sent me the most amazing care package full of all sorts of vegetarian-surviving-in-China-goodies and I’ve been eating like a granola chick queen. So things have been pretty dang good!
The spring has always been my favorite season. In part definitely because of my birthday, but there is also something about things warming up, coming alive again, that awakens me. Winter was difficult here between the inescapable cold outside and inside and barely ever seeing the sun through the smog and fog. For a girl raised on 365 days of Colorado sunshine, it just wasn’t easy. But at last, the sun has returned!
Sun worship makes a lot of sense to me. Of course there is the joy when it rises each morning, and the woeful longing of “please don’t go!” when each evening I watch it disappear behind the hills, leaving traces of light strewn across the Yangtze river. Then there’s the vitamin D factor and whatever happy chemicals are released in your brain as that sunshine soaks into your skin. But there is also something else about it, something about being in sunshine evokes a sort of liminal space for me. The penetration of the sun’s beams melts illusive boundaries of my skin and I catch a glimpse of that ultimate unity with the universe. Suddenly it is all too clear that I can just be. And better yet, I can just be happy, I don’t have to wait for anything to make me feel happiness, because it is just a choice I am making. “If you want to be happy,….” becomes “If you want to, be happy.”
As always, John Denver says it best. Sunshine almost always makes me high! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybeke7_d1zE
And here’s a song called Happy that I played during first and second grade dance parties last week! Great video too! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6Sxv-sUYtM
Check out participant Lindsey Pointer’s post about the happiness of Spring in Yichang, China!
