Very important to remember: sarcasm does not translate.
There is no sarcasm in China - at least, it seems it's not native to this land, and was apparently imported from less respectful cultures. English speaking ones, most likely. My boss informed me of this early in my time in China, and while its universality is therefore debatable, it has held true in my experience.
I get an awful lot of entertaining looks accompanied by "no it isn't!" when I say things like "wow that sounds like fun" in my best dripping with sarcasm voice.
But even foreigners who move here seem to eventually forget that they've ever understood this brand of communication*. I rather enjoy it, so I'd prefer not to allow my sarcasm muscle to atrophy completely... in the mean time I suppose I must abide strange looks and lots of people who think I'm completely unfunny.
*I was tempted to use the phrase "tonal lexicon" though I'm not sure this combination of words would actually make sense.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Monday, March 21, 2011
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
ashes, ashes
WARNING: Religion-related content. Potentially also blocked in China.
So, yesterday was Ash Wednesday. Or today, if you're in the states.
I sat through the service and listened carefully to the verse about not publicly displaying your devotion to be rewarded for it on earth, but rather praying quietly and privately to preserve the reward for Heaven. I get it, I think. In so much as I "get" anything having to do with religion. But I have to say this created some confusion for me. First of all, Ash Wednesday directly involves a public display of faith. You walk around with ashes on your head, and everyone then knows you're religious. So there's that.
But then, there's also the distinction between then and now. There are settings, both past and present, where there is a social reward of sorts for displaying one's faith. China isn't really one of them, what with its whole banning citizens from attending churches - you have to have a foreign passport to attend church here.
So I considered at length (by which I mean the length of the service prior to the distribution of ashes) whether it was worse to take the option of ashes on my forehead, thereby displaying my faith, or on my hand, which is, let's admit, much easier to hide. I couldn't decide if my decision would be based on being embarrassed about ashes on my forehead in the public place I was going after church (Frank's - a great place for trivia, by the way), in which case it seemed worse to hide them, or if it was because I somehow wanted people to think better of me because I went to church in the middle of the week.
Turns out no one opted for ashes on their hands, so I followed suit and hoped God would forgive me if my motivations were impure. At any rate, I got some really interesting stares, several questions (is that a tattoo? Are you a witch?), and a lot of blatant giggling and pointing by the Chinese waitresses.
On a side note: They don't tend to try to conceal it when they're talking about someone here - it's almost refreshing how blatant they are about things like mocking others, and discriminating on the basis of socioeconomic status, religion, race, etc, at least as opposed to denying that it exists. Then again, if they have no intention of changing it, maybe it's even worse? What an interesting world we live in.
Also, I like the smell of the ashes. So I suppose I'm also quite selfish in being glad my forehead still kind of smells like them.
So, yesterday was Ash Wednesday. Or today, if you're in the states.
I sat through the service and listened carefully to the verse about not publicly displaying your devotion to be rewarded for it on earth, but rather praying quietly and privately to preserve the reward for Heaven. I get it, I think. In so much as I "get" anything having to do with religion. But I have to say this created some confusion for me. First of all, Ash Wednesday directly involves a public display of faith. You walk around with ashes on your head, and everyone then knows you're religious. So there's that.
But then, there's also the distinction between then and now. There are settings, both past and present, where there is a social reward of sorts for displaying one's faith. China isn't really one of them, what with its whole banning citizens from attending churches - you have to have a foreign passport to attend church here.
So I considered at length (by which I mean the length of the service prior to the distribution of ashes) whether it was worse to take the option of ashes on my forehead, thereby displaying my faith, or on my hand, which is, let's admit, much easier to hide. I couldn't decide if my decision would be based on being embarrassed about ashes on my forehead in the public place I was going after church (Frank's - a great place for trivia, by the way), in which case it seemed worse to hide them, or if it was because I somehow wanted people to think better of me because I went to church in the middle of the week.
Turns out no one opted for ashes on their hands, so I followed suit and hoped God would forgive me if my motivations were impure. At any rate, I got some really interesting stares, several questions (is that a tattoo? Are you a witch?), and a lot of blatant giggling and pointing by the Chinese waitresses.
On a side note: They don't tend to try to conceal it when they're talking about someone here - it's almost refreshing how blatant they are about things like mocking others, and discriminating on the basis of socioeconomic status, religion, race, etc, at least as opposed to denying that it exists. Then again, if they have no intention of changing it, maybe it's even worse? What an interesting world we live in.
Also, I like the smell of the ashes. So I suppose I'm also quite selfish in being glad my forehead still kind of smells like them.
Tea time
So, in an effort to make my curriculum more accessible to Chinese teachers and students, I decided to go with my boss's advice and create a unit (theme, we call it) all about Tea.
At first, this seemed really boring. I mean, I love tea; I grew up in the deep south, so sweet tea was my drink of choice for most of my life (until I realized the perils of drinking all that sugar, and opted to save my teeth and my waistline by switching to - gasp! - unsweetened tea. Don't tell my ancestors - I'll be disowned as a Southerner). But a month's worth of activities on tea for preschoolers? I wasn't so sure.
Once I got to working, though, I found that I was really enjoying researching tea, tea plants, herbal teas (not actually tea, it turns out), tea parties, and trying out all sorts of fun hands on tea activities like painting with tea and tea-tee-tie-dye. Say that three times fast. I did tea-related relays, volume activities with tea cupa and tea pots, and a couple of math activities around planning a tea party for another class. All in all, kind of fun, and though it took some convincing, the teachers actually came around and ended up enjoying the theme, too.
I got to sit in on the "making our own tea" lesson with a kindergarten class, in which they first smelled all of the potential ingredients, voted on their preferences, and created a bar graph to represent class favorites (yay for Miss Eryn for bringing in the math).
Then they all got to make their own tea (most of which were cinnamon and mint) and try it. And then, of course, they got to make tea for the teachers. This was the best part, since they naturally included all of the "gross" ingredients in the teacher tea. Here is a photo of the tea Hannah and Isabel made for me:
I didn't disappoint them by telling them that it was actually quite tasty.
At first, this seemed really boring. I mean, I love tea; I grew up in the deep south, so sweet tea was my drink of choice for most of my life (until I realized the perils of drinking all that sugar, and opted to save my teeth and my waistline by switching to - gasp! - unsweetened tea. Don't tell my ancestors - I'll be disowned as a Southerner). But a month's worth of activities on tea for preschoolers? I wasn't so sure.
Once I got to working, though, I found that I was really enjoying researching tea, tea plants, herbal teas (not actually tea, it turns out), tea parties, and trying out all sorts of fun hands on tea activities like painting with tea and tea-tee-tie-dye. Say that three times fast. I did tea-related relays, volume activities with tea cupa and tea pots, and a couple of math activities around planning a tea party for another class. All in all, kind of fun, and though it took some convincing, the teachers actually came around and ended up enjoying the theme, too.
I got to sit in on the "making our own tea" lesson with a kindergarten class, in which they first smelled all of the potential ingredients, voted on their preferences, and created a bar graph to represent class favorites (yay for Miss Eryn for bringing in the math).
Then they all got to make their own tea (most of which were cinnamon and mint) and try it. And then, of course, they got to make tea for the teachers. This was the best part, since they naturally included all of the "gross" ingredients in the teacher tea. Here is a photo of the tea Hannah and Isabel made for me:
I didn't disappoint them by telling them that it was actually quite tasty.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
fun at work
We had a meeting today in which we actually had to make a clarification between "fireman's pole" and "Stripper pole." I do, in fact, work in a preschool.
On an exciting note, we get to revamp and playground and plan and plant a garden with the kindergarteners. Provided we can work out these important clarification details.
On an exciting note, we get to revamp and playground and plan and plant a garden with the kindergarteners. Provided we can work out these important clarification details.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Because we're in China*
Someone's phone just rang and the tone was the "1UP" sound from Super Mario Brothers.*
It can take hours to order McDonalds, see a doctor, or get a waiter's attention, but in the time you've waited, the building on the corner was probably commissioned, designed and completed.
It is probably safer to cross the street when it says "don't walk" since at least then you're prepared for cars speeding through the intersection.
No one will understand the powerpoint I prepared yesterday, entirely in English, despite the clever use of images.
There are no slander laws, deceit is expected, and the customer is never right, unless that customer is a parent whose child goes to your school.
I had 13 extra hours to finish sending emails by March 1st.
I still sent them with less than an hour to spare.*
*May or may not actually be because we're in China.
It can take hours to order McDonalds, see a doctor, or get a waiter's attention, but in the time you've waited, the building on the corner was probably commissioned, designed and completed.
It is probably safer to cross the street when it says "don't walk" since at least then you're prepared for cars speeding through the intersection.
No one will understand the powerpoint I prepared yesterday, entirely in English, despite the clever use of images.
There are no slander laws, deceit is expected, and the customer is never right, unless that customer is a parent whose child goes to your school.
I had 13 extra hours to finish sending emails by March 1st.
I still sent them with less than an hour to spare.*
*May or may not actually be because we're in China.
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