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老怪物
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Another Holiday and The Dragon Boat Festival 8 June 2008 For The Old Codger, the school year is officially over as of Friday afternoon. He is not scheduled to return to the classroom until mid-September - hence a three plus month holiday. To make it all palatable, the pay checks keep on coming in, and the free housing and utilities continue. Without a doubt, this is the best and easiest teaching job that The Old Codger has had since coming to Asia. There are a number of teachers in the area - 3 at this University - who did not have their contracts renewed. One at this University of course was our delusional paranoid teacher David, for obvious reasons. Some, who are truly desirous of staying in China, and in particular Nantong have elected to go to work at private schools. To The Old Codger, that is an act of desperation. The go from working about 10 to 15 hours a week to working a full 40 hour week - which always includes weekends and evenings. Two days a week off - seldom two consecutive days. They get 7 paid days for Chinese Holidays per year, but no vacation and typically no bonuses at year end. They end up earning between 3,000 and 4,000 Yuan more per month than other teachers who work about 75% less. There is no doubt about it - a private school can suck the life out of someone fairly quickly. Yep. The Old Codger is going to pass on that type of opportunity. On the subject of teaching, the rules and requirements for teaching in Thailand are getting a whole lot stricter. Before, practically anyone could teach - or probably more appropriately "get a teaching job." Now, after a few years of "talking" the government has finally established some fairly strict rules for teachers and those wishing to teach. All teachers are now required to take a 20 hour Thai Culture Course at a cost of something between 8,000 and 18,000 Baht. (USD $240 and USD $545) The Old Codger keeps on getting conflicting amounts from people that have looked into the course - but that is typical for Thailand. No one ever seems to know for sure what is going on as everything can change faster than the wind. Thailand is now also requiring a minimum of a Bachelors degree in Education, plus at least one year of teaching experience. If you don't have a degree in Education (and presumably the one year teaching experience) then you have to complete a one year Teacher's Licensing Course at a cost of about 60,000 Baht (USD $1,815). The plus side to that is that the Thai Culture course is included in the course. One alternative to taking the course is that one can take a 4 part exam after completing the Thai Culture course at a cost of 1,000 Baht for each part of the exam. Those with no college degree can receive some waivers, but will have to take at a minimum the Thai Culture course. The waiver is available only if someone is teaching in a school that cannot afford to pay what could be considered to be "prevailing teaching wages." Seems to The Old Codger that if they were really serious about raising the standards for teachers, that they would also require completion of the Teacher's Licensing Course, to give the unqualified teachers an opportunity to learn something about teaching. As in any Western country, students from poor school districts are more difficult to teach. This is especially true when trying to teach English because they cannot see the benefits to learning English given that most will probably never leave the village that they live in. Alternatively, if they do leave, they probably will not have the skills to be anything but a laborer in a job that does not require English. Ultimately, Thailand is most likely going to be experiencing a substantial foreign teacher shortage beginning next year. Despite the new requirements, it is not likely that teacher's wages will increase. Outside of the major cities, wages seem to be capped at 30,000 Baht per month. The required courses seem to be primarily available only and around Bangkok, which can be an impediment for someone living up country. Doubt that these types of requirements will come to China - at least anytime soon. China seems to draw a different class of person than Thailand does. Personally haven't heard of any of the teaching scandals here in China that Thailand seems to be plagued with from time to time. Before one can get a Foreign Expert's Certificate here, the vetting process is quite comprehensive. Took The Old Codger about two months to get properly vetted and approved. This weekend, which is the 5th day of 5th lunar month (Chinese calendar) is The Dragon Boat Festival. And no, that is not when old Chinese men take their wives (often called Dragons) out for a boat ride. Like most festivals and holidays in not only China, but also Asia, the actual origins of a festival or holiday can be a tad bit murky, with varying accounts of its origins. It is also known as the "Duanwu Festival" in Taiwan and parts of China. In Hong Kong and Macau it is known as Duen Ng Festival. It all translates into Dragon Boat Festival in English, which is the traditional activity for the holiday. Just to toss in a bit of trivia, it is also known as the Double Five Festival given that it is held on the 5th day of the 5th month. Similar festivals are also held in Laos, Japan and Korea. The primary focus of the festival centers around eating (surprise, surprise - every festival in Asia centers around eating), drinking realgar wine and racing dragon boats. The common food eaten for this festival is zongzi which is a combination of glutinous rice (also called sticky rice or sweet rice) and stuffed with various ingredients. The most common stuffing is either skinless mung beans or red bean paste. Other stuffngs can be most anything that can be eaten ranging from mushrooms to salted duck eggs to pork variations. The shape of the zongzi is typically tetrahedral (like a pyramid, with four triangular faces, three of which meet at each vortex). Once the glutinous rice is stuffed with the filling of choice, it is wrapped in bamboo leaves, and then tied with strings. To cook, the zongzi is either boiled or steamed. The University gave all of its teachers a large package of zongzi, and The Old Codger also received about two dozen home made zongzi from different students. End result is that he has more zongzi than he knows what to do with. After reading the ingredients on the package of zongzi he received, he just might give them a try. They are stuffed with pork and another ingredient called tequila. Upon opening the package, a strong odor of tequila was detected. This could easily become the best Chinese food The Old Codger has ever had in China. The realgar wine is something else. Realgar is an arsenic sulfide mineral that has been used for many different purposes ranging from rat poison to pigmentation and medicines and to give color to firework bursts. It is also made into wine bottles, wine cups and other ornaments in China. It is believed to ward of diseases. Realgar is also mixed with water and used to bathe children during the festival in the belief that it will ward of disease for the child. The Old Codger can't say specifically if realgar wine has realgar in it, or if it is just wine that is in a bottle made from realgar. However, knowing the Chinese, it would be plausible that it could be a combination of both. Not really being a wine drinker, The Old Codger probably won't be able to provide a definitive answer anytime soon. The most common legend about the origins of The Dragon Boat Festival is that it commemorates the death of Qu Yuan, a famous Chinese poet from the kingdom of Chu who lived during the Warring States period. Known for his patriotism, Qu Yuan tried unsuccessfully to warn his king and countrymen against the expansionism of their Qin neighbors. When the Qin Dynasty general Bai Qi captured Yingdu, the Chu capital, in 278 BC, Qu Yuan's grief was so intense that he drowned himself in the Miluo River after writing Lament for Ying. According to legend, packets of rice were thrown into the river to prevent fish from eating the poet's body. Another version states that zongzi were given to placate a dragon that lived in the river. In any event, it is a holiday to eat, drink and be merry. This is probably the most technical and factual letter that The Old Codger has ever sent out. Part of that could be attributed to the continuous state of boredom. Getting television channels here is pretty much a hit and miss proposition. Need to complain more loudly to the University about that problem. Eventually, they will get it all fixed. Getting English books to read is virtually impossible, other than those that are available on-line. The detraction from that is one must either spend a fortune in paper and ink to print them out, or sit in front of a computer screen, which is not exactly all that healthy for the eyes. So, about all that leaves is watching DVDs - and The Old Codger has accumulated quite a collection of them already. Of course, he is watching stuff that he never would have dreamed of watching before, particularly the violent movies that Hollywood churns out. Asians seem to really like those types of movies. But, when one can buy a movie (counterfeit of course) for less than a dollar, one cannot be too choosy. The Old Codger still hasn't settled on any definite travel plans for the summer, though there will certainly be one trip for a day or two to Shanghai. Time to get some more pages in the Passport. Another definite trip is being planned to Nanning, which is in south China. Other than that, anything is possible. Will leave you to digest all of these wonderful facts. Since many will be reading this on Monday morning, this could be indicative of what your week will be like. The Old Codger
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