|
|
|
Guide Page
|
15 December 2007 It appears that the Christmas season is upon us again. The Old Codger is, of course, very enthusiastic about this time of year. One good thing about this season in China is that it is totally lacking the commercialism so prevalent in Christian countries. The Old Codger's hero, Ebenezer would surely love it here, had he not fallen victim to those stupid, damnable ghosts. When Dickens introduced those ghosts into the story, he totally ruined what was otherwise a fantastic story. There is a definite upside to this time of the year though and that is of course, the Christmas parties. Free food, and of course, the main attraction for The Old Codger: Free drinks! The magnanimous largesse of the hosts of these parties is not to be discounted. It is indeed wonderful that these wonderful people possess the spirit of the holiday season in their humble efforts to convert old curmudgeons into believers of holiday cheer. Last night (Saturday, 15 December) The Old Codger attended what will no doubt be the 'mother of all parties' this year. The party was sponsored by five of the local ship rebuilding companies here in Nantong. How The Old Codger, who has absolutely no knowledge of ships or any affiliation with the industry got invited to a party like this is a mystery, which he will not attempt to unravel. It once again gives a certain amount of credibility to the statement that it isn't what you know but who you know. Actually, The Old Codger felt rather privileged to have been invited as he was the only attendee who had no affiliation with the industry. Given that he was the only American in attendance, it could be that he was simply the "token American" to ensure that the party had a true 'international' flair.
Somehow the Chinese players lost the plot on this game. They couldn't seem to get their minds around the fact that even though they had "won" a present, that it wasn't theirs to keep until after the game was over. They would "win" a present and then put it under the table so that no one could take it away from them. In the end, Joy got to leave with one present, so I reckon she was happy with that. I too was able to walk out with a present - that Joy had given me: She had crocheted a scarf about 12 feet long for me. When she gave it to me she explained that it was Chinese tradition that when someone invites you to go someplace you are supposed to give them a gift. The Old Codger just might put that tradition to test... Have another party scheduled for Wednesday night. This one is sponsored by the city government of Nantong from what I understand, and is for all foreigner's employed by the government. That one is to be held at one of the 5 star hotels here in Nantong. If this is anything like some of the other parties that have been given, it should be pretty good. Plenty of food and drink. It is a nice gesture, to say the least. Actually, The Old Codger would prefer getting an envelope full of cash, but something is certainly better than nothing. In Thailand we received absolutely nothing for Christmas. At least the University had the forethought to organize transportation to and from the event. And then, of course, another party scheduled for Christmas Day that is apparently a tradition here in Nantong. The party is sponsored by and for foreign teachers. Well, perhaps "sponsored by" is a bit of a misnomer - "organized by" is probably a better term. Costs 150 Yuan for all you can eat from a buffet and apparently free beer, though one would doubt that the free beer is "endless." There are about 40 foreign teachers in Nantong, so should be a pretty good gathering. Finally, to top things off for the holiday, the University is throwing a party for all teachers on New Years Eve. That will be one of those parties that one stops in to be polite, spends a bit of time, eats the meal and then discretely departs. The students at the University here had a New Years party on Saturday night. Seems a bit early for that kind of party - but there is a logical explanation for it. Final exams for all of the students, with the exception of freshmen, begin this week and last for three - that's right - three weeks. That is a lot of tests! It is easy to see why students dread the tests. Right now one can see many students trying their best to memorize everything that is in their books. I must admit - and this may well ruin my reputation of being a heartless old bastard - I really do feel sorry for the students here. In their dorms they don't have any heat at all. Same goes for most of the class rooms - no heat there either. (Fortunately, all of The Old Codger's classrooms have heat.) Some of the residential buildings - the one I'm in included - didn't have any hot water for three days this past week. Despite these hardships, one never hears the students complain. They stoically carry on as though nothing is amiss or that they are uncomfortable. Seemingly, all of the Chinese students have gained about 5 kilos of weight almost over night. Those who were quite slender or even a bit slender now look rather bulky, the result of four or five layers of clothes. Of course, the foreign teachers complained about the lack of hot water. The University accommodated us the best that they could. The only problem is that we would have to go all the way to the other end of the campus to take a shower - about a kilometer away. Can't think of things much healthier than taking a hot shower and then going out in the cold right away. In all honesty though, the students are not above blatantly trying to get an invitation to my apartment. By blatantly, I mean things like: "May I visit your apartment tomorrow at 6 P.M." As much as I would like to believe that they just want to spend time with an intelligent, handsome and debonair individual such as myself, I suspect the heat is a more compelling reason. Regardless, all that I can really say is it ain't easy being me. I must confess, once again at the risk of ruining my otherwise questionable reputation, I now do have a number of students coming to my apartment on most evenings to study. They do appreciate the warmth, and since it doesn't cost me anything (they bring their own water and what-not) and hopefully it will help them get good grades. Of course, they are typical Asians on their first visit - wanting to see everything in the apartment. This extends to even checking out the cupboards in the kitchen to see what pots and pans are there. It's an Asian thing, especially when visiting a foreigner: wanting to see how they live and if it is any different than the way that they live. Naturally, they are all attracted to my computer and want to show me different things that they know about - and admittedly, some of those things are pretty good, despite all being written in Chinese. For example, I can now download all the music that I want, for free as well as movies. Copyrights? Nah. Forget about them. Of course, I do have to supervise the computer usage very closely. For some reason, they all have tried to download this or that from the Internet. Experience tells me that is a definite "no-no." If there is a computer virus out there, an Asian can find it in a matter of moments. Two other teachers here have let their students "assist" them with their computers. Their computers ended up on my desk for an hour or so each as I sorted things out for them to get them back to "normal" - assuming that such a term can be applied for computers. I must admit that I did have a number of reservations about fraternizing with students - especially my own students. Took me a while to get over that "hump" if you will. Here in China teachers are encouraged to fraternize with their students, especially the foreign teachers. Initially, some of the Chinese teachers asked me if students were coming to my apartment, and they were surprised when I said no, that I didn't really think that it was appropriate. They assured me that it was indeed appropriate, and suggested that perhaps I was being inappropriate by not allowing this practice. Surprisingly, though perhaps not so surprising considering how fine and upstanding I am, I was the only foreign teacher here that was not engaging in that practice for most of this term. (Even Paranoid Delusional Dave has a male student living with him more or less full time - but I'm not going any further with that discussion. PD Dave is hardly a "benchmark" to emulate no matter what his gender preference is.) In any event, I relented and am now "fraternizing" to a degree. If it is true that being around young people will keep an old person young, then The Old Codger reckons that he will be around for a long, long time. At times I do wonder what I am doing. Here I am, an old man, spending the majority of my time with 18 to 23 year olds - mostly of the female persuasion. Not old enough to be their grandfather, but getting closer to that status every year. Certainly, for most of them, I am older than their own father. Being with an older woman - anyone above the age of 40 or so - anymore scares the hell out of me most of the time. Those that I meet over 40 or 45 for the most part, all seem so old in their appearance, dress and mannerisms. Like the old joke, they all seem to be way too old for a good looking young man such as myself. They are all quite serious, to say the least, especially when they find out that I am single. Then they become quite forward and obvious in many respects, presuming I guess that I am as desperate as they are. Reckon that they are afraid of growing old alone. I suspect that I would have some of the same fears if I weren't around young people all the time. Here in Asia, they do respect age and someone that is a teacher, especially here in China for the latter qualification. Speaking of computers, The Old Codger has added a new section to the web site - a listing of FREE computer programs. All of these programs - except for a couple of them, which are duly noted - have been personally tested by The Old Codger and are guaranteed not to hurt your system if you chose to use them. They do not carry any spy ware or viruses at the time that they are shared with you. However, despite that guarantee, combined with the fact that The Old Codger has never had a virus on his computer in the last 8 years or so, always make sure that you scan each program with a good anti-virus program before installing. In the world of computers and software, what may have been virus free yesterday may well not be virus free tomorrow. The Old Codger's Free Software page. I'm not really sure what the actual temperature is, though I suspect that since I have seen ice on my motorbike that it is damned cold. Hard to determine if the ice is due to just plain cold weather, or a combination of that and wind chill. Suffice to say that these days we are supporting the local taxi cab companies. I have been fortunate enough to find a cab driver that speaks English very well - and he has a great sense of humor as well. Can call him anytime of the day or night and he is there within five minutes. Lest I forget (one of the side effects of old age I have heard), I promised another American and part time ex-pat here in China a link to his website here. (Better late than never, Rob.)
Rob is a resident in Washington State, but because of his lovely wife, he has extensive ties to Nanning, (a capital city) in Guangxi (Gwong-shy) Province here in China. Nanning is in the south west of China and boarders Vietnam. His web site has a lot of information about Nanning and the Guangxi region and some wonderful pictures. If you wish to see another part of China, this is a good site to visit. Just click on the banner above. The Old Codger has another friend here - this one being a Kiwi from New Zealand - that has a clip on YouTube that some might be interested in seeing. This clip gives you a tour of a city in China from the back of a motorcycle. Despite the blokes name - (he swears that he is not an ex or current porn star) - Johnnie Faithfull's Video. Unfortunately, especially for the Chinese students, and to say nothing about civilization in general, China is so desperate for English teachers that they are hiring Aussies and Kiwis to teach English. No matter how much true English speakers - such as The Old Codger - try to educate them on proper English usage and vocabulary, they simply do not catch on. I fear that the Chinese students of these teachers are going to fail their English exams having seen a copy of the English Exam that they are giving to their students. Click Here for a sample of the exam that they expect their students to pass. These so called "teachers" are simply disgraceful - a blight on an otherwise respectable profession. I reckon that I have rambled on enough for this letter. Maybe I do have too much time on my hands. This is the last full week I have of teaching until around the first of March next year. Next week, I will be down to two classes - one on Wednesday and one on Thursday. Then around the 15th of January will have no classes at all. No one responded to my plaintive plea for an airplane ticket to someplace warm for that period of time, so I guess I will stay here in the cold and be a bit miserable. Will try to second guess the weather and probably spend a couple of days in Shanghai during the holiday. Time to get some extra pages put into my passport and that is the closest American Embassy. Extra pages for now are free, but I suspect that it is only time before they start charging for them. The State Department recently increased the price for foreigner's visas by 30% - now up to $130. And to think that complained about China charging me $50 for a visa whilst charging other countries only $30. I would wish all a Merry Christmas, but given that I haven't been visited by any ghosts, I suspect that the wish would be rather hollow. Bah Humbug will have to suffice. The Old Codger
|
