A Not So China Related Post

The Arts in America are dying.

What tells me its dying? It's the fact that in the past 2 years in Hanover County 5 FULL TIME positions have been eliminated from the County. In a County of only about 30 art teachers that's 1/6 of art teachers.  And jobs are in limbo AGAIN this year. And I haven't heard one peep about it at the School Board Office meetings. The quiet killing of the arts program continues on with out an objection.

What tells me its dying? It's the proliferation of teach to the test. NCLB has insured America's children to only answer questions that involve A, B, C or D. And god forbid that an answer (like many of life's questions) falls into one of the shades of grey in-between. Or that the answer doesn't have a scantron circle next to it- How will our children know what answer to pick? Subjects like Theater, Fine Arts, & Music remind our children that there isn't always just one right answer....but we can always work towards finding the best one. 

What tells me its dying? This concern and assumption that America's education system is failing it's children. While in the public school sector the #1 problem we dealt with wasn't bad kids or bad teachers it was a lack of parenting. People who sent their children to school and expect the teachers to raise them. It also the idea that you can continue to pay teachers low wages, ask them to work long hours, and cut their benefits, only to have your children succeed.

What tells me its dying? With budget concerns abounding, the Republican party focused its sights on PBS, NPR, & The National Endowment for the Arts. That somehow- cutting the MINIMAL funding of these three facets of our society- would save us from the debt that the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, over inflated Federal Budgets and the Banking sector have driven us into. 

And what does this mean? 

It means, almost hilariously, that we are becoming more and more like China. Why do you ask? In China, the education system is focused on celebrating children who learn quickly and don't ask questions. Many schools reject the smartest students because they know that they will be "trouble," asking too many questions and distracting the teacher from what they must do. Take that a step further and let me ask you this question: What is one Chinese product/name brand that you know and use? Anybody? You know why you can't name any- it's because they truly don't exist. China is a country filled with people who were taught to the test. They can only recite the answers that have been given to them and that is where America is headed. Any country that de-values art, creativity and individualism is headed down this road. China is a country of people who make things that other countries have invented. The American Education system that everybody deplores is the same system that raised the people that helped men reach the moon, invented the PC computer, & the internet!

What can I do?

I feel like most of America is too apathetic or feels to impotent to do anything. And you know what- by resolving yourself to those emotions you are correct. So what can you do?

Donate money. The next NPR/PBS money drive donate $20. Think about it- if an average movie costs $10 a ticket and gives you 2 hours of entertainment...then do the math. I watch easily 20 hours of PBS programming a year (thanks mostly to Antique Road Show) then I can atleast give them $100 (which is an under-donation.) 

Take an active role in your children's school. Don't just show up on report card day- get to know the people in the office. Do you know the name of your child's art teacher? Do  you know the name of your School Board Office representative? Find it out. The squeaky wheels get the grease- and if you think art is an important facet to your child's education, send them an e-mail reminding them you are a citizen who cares. Hug an ART TEACHER today!

Vote. Find out who supported the arts and who did not. Write your State Congressman & State Senator! Write the men in Washington, DC. Remind them that they are only THERE because we the people elected them to be. Need help? Americans for the Arts has a pre-written form to help remind them that you want creativity taught in your child's school.

Need more reasons? Research shows: Children from Art classes out-perform non-art students on the SAT, US Employers Rate Creativity Among Top Skills, The Arts Boost Learning & Achievement for Students. 

Where's Waldo?

Find me in the company picture…..if you CAN! 

Homogenous

You know what is one of the most horrid statements in the world? This: "I'm not racist, but…." The second you say that….you're wandering into scary territory. But I almost started my post that way.

Here are my thoughts: I very well may be 1 of 1000 or so ex-pats living here in Wuhan ( a city of 9 MILLION. ) Yes, there are business travelers coming in and out- but LIVING here I may even be over estimating at 1,000. And the business travelers are mostly French- which doesn't help me much.  But I find myself craving somebody who looks like me. Well- maybe that's a little too extreme. I'm craving somebody from the West. 

Don't get me wrong: I love my co-workers. They are super accommodating, they treat me well, and we ARE friends. But, we're from different backgrounds. This is all of their first job. They all still live at home. Their first time at a bar was one week ago when I took them there (and they lied to their parents about going there!) Most have never driven a car. Most have never left this city. 

And- they're all Chinese. AND AGAIN: don't get me wrong! I LOVE Chinese people. They are so nice, they are so welcoming, they have a lovely culture, but at the end of the day there are some things they don't understand. For example- yesterday in art class a little girl had to use the bathroom, so her grandmother scooped her up, pulled down her pants and held her over my trashcan. Nobody else batted an eyelash as she pee'd….all I could think was 'awww, really???'

And I don't have the person here at the end of the day to just shake my head with- to laugh it off. Another Westerner came to our Romp n' Roll (a Kiwi!) and my deprivation must have showed because I talked his ear off….and didn't once mention any pluses of our classes. I just wanted to talk about how much I missed good BREAD! 

And I feel bad- sometimes I whine to Candy that I wish I had another Westerner here to hang out with. And she exclaims, "But you have us!" And she is correct, and I love them dearly - but there is something to be said for people from the same hemisphere as you. There's a connection there- something in the way we talk, or grew up, or the tiny minutiae that makes up our lives that I can't describe to you.

14 days till Jill comes down here! 12 days till Michael and Luyin show up for the grand opening! I have to say….I'm really looking forward to it. 

A Skinny Post

You would think that living by myself would create a plethora of posts.
I keep on writing them in my head on the way to and from work. But-
nothing has come to fruition.

I guess one notable thing is my weight. Geez is it hard to gain weight
in China. Actually here in Wuhan it's especially hard. I was told
prior to coming down here that their portion sizes are smaller down
here. That's not really saying much because Beijing serves everything
in Cheesecake Factory sized portions.

And it's true. But their portion sizes aren't small, they're reasonable.

Every day I eat a yogurt. I pay a small restaurant to make me
vegetarian lunch every day. And it turns out a vegetarian lunch means
rice and veggies. Dinner is my only grab bag. If I eat at home I'm
limited to: 'Ramen' Noodles, PB & J. I can order food in CHINESE at a
hot dry noodle stall, a rice dish stall, & a fried dumpling place. So-
you can tell variety isn't really in the menu.

This diet has caused me to just shed weight. So much so that I'm
purposely supplementing my diet with all the yummy stuff I never use
to eat because it wasn't WW friendly. My main unhealthy delights:
Magnum Bars (Cake batter ice cream dipped in chocolate), Ice-cream
flavored Oreos and haw fruit leathers. I've even been drinking the
occasional ::gasp:: COKE. It's just so weird to not feel like I'm
fighting my weight so much.

It's the first time in a long time when I feel like I'm eating exactly
what I want with OUT feeling guilty. Don't get me wrong, Weight
Watchers is the BEST eating plan out there. It really fully educates
you: but with most things the more you know the worst you feel. And
once I did the math about some of my FAVORITE things (California Pizza
Kitchens FROZEN Individual Pizza: 30 POINTS!) you start to feel guilty
when induldging.

But here I don't worry I just eat. And who woulda thunk….a rice and
veggie diet keeps you slim. Haha ☺

Got Your Goat

As a teacher it's really hard when a student "got your goat." To all my former students who may be reading, know this: teachers hate disciplining their students. Believe me, every teacher, when they decided on the career path of teaching would imagine themselves in the classroom enlightening and engaging young minds. They believed that they would be such an amazing teacher that they would NEVER have to discipline anybody because their students would be so self-motivated and inspired they would NEVER be off-task.

 

Reality check comes like 5-minutes into your secondary practicum. And I can say for the most part- I did not live a disciplining nightmare.  But- I did not teach a disciplining-free career.

 

But the hardest part of being a teacher is when you see a smart, capable student screwing up and not doing their work.  You always start out taking them aside and kindly ask them to get their act together. And if the student doesn't start getting their act together then you have to have the "reality" talk. The "listen I'm not sugar coating it and I'm not asking." And then there is the day that they really get your goat. 

 

Today- a worker at Romp n' Roll Wuhan got my goat.

 

The first day I was here I was greeted at Romp n' Roll by Candy and Jerry. Candy is my assistant. She is a really hard worker and even though her English isn't perfect she constantly works at making it better. She is always happy and always thinking. Jerry was in sales. But the day I showed up we had to move a lot of gym equipment and set the gym up. Jerry is the only boy who works at our company and even though he probably weighs 120 lbs SOAKING WET he helped us move all the equipment. It turned out his English wasn't that bad. AND it turned out he loved to sing. He also had this really amazing energy and was just bright eyed and bushy tailed.  He decided he wanted to try to train to be an assistant.

 

The managers at Romp n' Roll gave him 1 month to learn to be an assistant, which really means they gave ME 1 month to train him. One thing I told him from Day 1 is that for him to be a successful assistant his English was going to have to improve. He was going to have to live, eat, sleep and BREATHE the English language. And that if he did not understand me HE was going to have to stop me and have me repeat.

 

I also explained to him that in the next month he was going to have to work harder then he is use to.  Much harder. But if he did work really hard he was would have no problem becoming an assistant. In addition to improving his English skills he was going to have to learn how to sing songs in English, learn how to translate, learn all about pre-k children, and how to teach/interact with them.

 

Well- Jerry's excitement for being promoted into the education department took one week before it had waned.  It took until this week before my energy for helping him learn had waned.  He is always the LAST to show up when we're flipping the gym or cleaning the art room. He pretends to understand- until I stop and ask him a question to check for understanding. Then he asks me to repeat. I don't mind repeating myself or re-explaining a concept. But what I CAN'T do is psychically know that the person I am training DOESN'T understand something. AND If I'm not FOLLOWING him around making sure he is working then he is NOT working. I've pulled him aside 3 times and given him warning. I've talked candidly to him about the likely hood of his success with out more effort. I usually got an apology and an excuse, and a promise that tomorrow would be different.

 

Now, in addition to training Jerry, I have been: interviewing possible assistants, doing total TRM inventory, re-painting murals, writing training schedules, writing Oral English lessons, setting up equipment, ordering materials, organizing materials, and TEACHING.  Also, since I have no Internet at home I have no contact with the outside world OUTSIDE of work.  So I have to schedule business meetings & personal meetings.  So- it is not as if I am blessed with a plethora of time.

 

One major hurdle in training people in their second language is teaching them the songs.  So- since my first week here I have been going over the Spring Session songs EVERY day with the education department. And they had to learn all the songs by yesterday. They have the song print outs and the MP3's of somebody singing them.

 

On Thursday we did one LAST review of the songs with a reminder that TOMORROW was a test. I gave Jerry one last "you need to get your act together speech." On Friday, Candy passed with flying colors. Jerry knew 1 of the 6 songs I tested him on. I was PO'd. He had promised that he was going to work extra hard. He gave me some excuses. I told him he had 24 hours to learn the songs.

 

And today, he knew 2 of the 6 songs. And I lost my cultural grace.  (CUE THE GOAT) He apologized for FAILING his test for a second time and I said that he need not apologize to me. I told him that he needed to apologize his managers.  Then I asked him to go apologize to the managers in front of me. Because he needed to understand that I am not the one paying him. That it is his managers who get to decide whether he has earned his job and his PAY as an educator.  That they have trusted him to work harder and earn this position and he hasn't done this.

 

In Chinese there are two terms for friends. There is (excuse the spelling) Pone-yo.  And then there is Tong-yo. Pone-yo translates roughly that means somebody who says something nice. This idea is transferred into Chinese culture. They would never say something negative about somebody- or point out another's failures.  They never want to say NO to you because that would not be "nice." This is where I failed Jerry. I was not his Pone-yo.

 

Then there is Tong-yo which means a good friend who doesn't always say nice things, but who tells you the truth. Which is rare and harder to find in China. I'd like to believe that what I said to Jerry came from a place that wanted him to succeed. That maybe this last wake up call will be the one that helps him succeed.

 

I feel awful and guilty for laying into Jerry. I feel like I did not go about it the right way. But at the same time- I feel as if I care enough about him to tell him that what he is going is setting himself up for failure. I just. I regret going about it the way I did. But at the same time I feel like I begged him every other way. And he is 20 years old. He is a man. And I am not his mother. I should not have to chase him around to work.

 

I guess my conclusion of this post should be…I wish there was no goat.

Chinese Law

Now that the whole world seems to be in some sort of revolution the
Chinese government seems to have taken notice.

So, today the Chinese government declared that it has all the laws in
place to be a "socialist democracy with Chinese influences." It was
just that easy! Damn! After 50 years China has done it! So- when do
the citizens get to vote?….Anybody?….Hello? ….Bueller?

And you should SEE the spin that CCTV put on it. They keep asking all
the analysts, "Is China now a socialist democracy?" And they don't say
"yes," but NOBODY has brought up the issue of voting! I don't know if
I fell asleep during 8th grade Civics, but I thought the KEY to a
democracy was the idea that every citizen had a say in what happened.
That seems to really be a KEY element that would be missing.

It's so interesting to see how the analysts so carefully critique the
Government. They never will directly say that the Communist party does
what it likes and gives lots of money to it's highest members, or will
point out that the current Chinese Constitution has an Amendment that
says that the ONLY party that can have power IS the Communist party.
They say careful things like, "Forming these social democracy laws is
definitely the first step in creating a harmonious society- but the
real issue is enforcing these laws and this is what the challenge will
be to the Chinese people."

But this is all from the same people who say that the 1989 Tiananmen
Square protest was an incident where protestors got a little unruly
and the government came in and helped calm them down.

What really is happening is that by offering an idea that democracy
might be within grasp the Chinese government helps to calm anybody who
may be planning to take part of any type of revolution. They are so
masterful at orchestrating enormous lies and events to help people
feel better about their hardships.

There are huge issues in Beijing now with rent costs skyrocketing and
many normal workers cannot afford to live in the city. So Chairman Hu
went around and knocked on doors in Beijing and asked people how much
they payed for their apartments- of course with a camera crew. All of
these people claimed that they payed 600RMB a month for a 2 bedroom
apartment in the Capitol, and they did not understand what everybody
was complaining about. They saw that there was no problem with rent
prices. Just to give you some perspective- Jill and I pay 7000RMB a
month for our apartment which is a 2 bedroom 1 bath. So CCTV was
claiming that Jill and I must be paying 10x more then our apartment is
worth. Man, we negotiated a bad deal! After a little research, it
turns out the families that were interviewed are all well-to-do
members of The Party! They didn't even do a good job covering up their
deception.

My final note has the need, the need for speed. The Chinese government
recently released footage of the Chinese Air Force that looked
suspiciously like footage from Top Gun. I'll leave you the link….and
let you guys decide.
<a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thecutline/20110131/ts_yblog_thecutline/chinese-air-force-drill-looks-awfully-similar-to-top-gun">China
Air Force: I feel the need….</a>

When Ordering TRM's Goes Horribly Wrong

I guess this was for Valentines week….