The Midwestern Expatriate

2007-06-09T14:40:00.001-07:00

2006-12-12T15:25:00.000-08:00

Seasons Greetings! I swear the Chinese celebrate Christmas more than Americans do! They have decorations everywhere! (If only they knew the religious connotations behind Christmas, then maybe that may all change their ways)

The picture above is from Thanksgiving, Pablo, Phoebe, Phoebe's parents (who were visiting) and I all went to the Ritz for Thanksgiving dinner, amazing food. We ate until we were about to explode (buffet) and then we all decided to have a night cap at Cloud 9 in the JinMao Tower. Excellent night with the Scott family!

Despite all of the Christmas cheer, I miss home and snow! I miss the family element of the Holidays. This is my first Holiday season away from home, and I have to admit, it is a little odd...

I don't really know what to say about this photo. . .
Last Saturday i went to club Bon Bon to see DJ Green Lantern! He took a liking to me and I got to hang out with him backstage, along with getting a photo him and everything! For the uninitiated... DJ Green Lantern was Eminem's DJ and now is signed to Def Jam as a DJ with the Invasion Movement. You can hear DJ Green Lantern on Hot 97 in NYC and on Sirrus radio... he is the real deal, and im standing right next to him!

This is a photo of me pre-go-karting... too much fun

Finally, I feel like I need to move on with some aspects of my life and some thoughts. My memories of home and what "home" is, is simply what I left. I still think that it is summer time, green grass, green trees, people cruising down Lake Shore Drive with the tops down on their Pontiacs. The harsh reality is, things change, the weather changes and most of all, people change... and slowly I feel like home is forgetting me. Out of sight is out of mind right? Im being very general, so those looking at the particulars, do not think i am pointing fingers, I am not.

Classes are going well, the kids really like me and I have taken a liking to a couple of my schools (i teach at 3 different schools). It is open class day next week, this is where parents come into the class and watch. Im going to nail it, i know it, parents tend to enjoy watching my classes because I am such an insane teacher haha. I try to make the most boring stuff, as fun as possible. Until next time!

2006-11-08T00:48:00.000-08:00

So i know I have not updated in a while, and for that I am sorry. Work and the overall urge to report had left me slightly. Some updates, schools are going well, kids are fantastic and are learning at an unprecedented rate. They now have learned the virtue which I am so ever loyal to, the virtue of SARCASM. The hilarious part is, the execute it quite well! Ah how proud I am of the little critters, not only can they speak English now, but they can be sarcastic...*pride*

Another cute fact. My 1st Graders in PG School had been very bad recently. So me being the nice but firm educator as usual, punishing the bad kids and awarding the good kids. The interesting part is that the children I scold, the next day those very kids are running up to me with extreme excitement giving me huge hugs and saying "Will-Teacher HI HI HI" like nothing happened the day before...im so confused...but its cute so ill keep them :)

I find myself missing home at times. I am beginning to feel that the culture shock of me returning will be way more intense than the culture shock that I overcame in China. The thought of this is scary, if I seem different upon my return, that may be the explanation. I am also applying to grad schools, well... school because I am primarily shooting for Yale. I would absolutely love to go to Yale, that opportunity would make Will very happy (shameless plug for those who have any connections to Yale) :)

I also have an interesting story. In order to get a Visa you have to have a health examination. So I go to the clinic, fill out a bunch of paper work along with the other hundred Expats in this clinic. Then, we are ALL moved into this locker room where we have to change into robes; we are then moved into the blood room where they take our blood (scary); then the EKG room; then the Xray room; then off to the Blood Pressure room and then to another X-ray room. Needless to say I was sweating buckets throughout the whole process because it was just that taxing, but its all over now!

Pablo, Phoebe and I bought a Bar-B-Que Grill and hosted a little grill out with some Co-Workers at Phoebe's place. It was pretty cool (Pablo can cook like a mad man... its ridiculous for the little material he has what he can do).

We all then decided to go out to this Masquerade party in the spirit of Halloween/Thanksgiving. (You walk in and everyone is given a mask...it was a little odd if I do say so myself.)

So far not much new has happened, same ol Shanghai, same ol INSANE Taxi Drivers...have I mentioned this before? The Taxi Drivers are literally insane and drive at 100MPH down a busy street in the middle of the DAY!!!!!! Its the craziest thing I have ever experienced in my life.

Shanghai Taxi Driver Class 101:

Who has the right-away on a corner?...

THE ONE THAT IS THE FASTEST AND THE MOST BOLD

What is a nice speed limit to have on a busy street?

PERHAPS 300MPH IF ONLY CARS COULD GO THAT FAST

When pedestrians cross the street what should you do?

SPEED UP AND TRY TO CLOBBER THEM. WHY ON EARTH ARE THEY IN THE ROAD ANYWAY.

haha sorry I just thought that was funny, but it is so true. The Taxi Drivers drive like madmen, be prepared if you ever decide to come here.

Last but definitely not least, I will answer a very eloquent question asked by a colleague of mine. "Will why on earth are you in China, you talk all of this 'patriotic' stuff but as soon as you got the chance, you jumped ship and went overseas. Why?"

Ok here is my answer. First I would ask for one to define what it takes to be "Patriotic". I for one am an American, born and raised. I am in love with not only my country but the idea in which my nation stands for domestically and globally. Politically I may not agree with SOME decisions made by my government, (but all governments make mistakes) but I have that right due to my citizenship.

Now as far as me being in China; does being a Patriot mean you have to be domestic in mind and presence? Or is it actively and positively representing that which you were born in a dignified light? I feel the latter to be the true code of the enlightened patriot. "Americanism" is not blindly following that which one person tells you to do, that is called a "football team". "Americanism" consists of people that are willing to think outside of the box, challenge the old and explore the new; that is how we were founded as a nation, and that is what we all must strive to achieve as Americans. We consist of the world's people given our youthful foundation, with that in mind, we must see the world as our nation along with our domestic borders. So to answer the question, "Why are you in China" I would say that I am here because I want to see a world beyond my domestic borders of CNN and MTV. I want to meet people that have never seen my people nor my countrymen. I want to share the space with those so different yet so similar to me. It is a feeling that is overwhelming at times... it makes you wonder why hostility exists in the world. Globalism shows you that nobody is different, we are all in essence the same entity, perhaps once this is realized there will be more peace... haha yeah right who am I kidding

until next time

2006-10-19T02:08:00.000-07:00

some pictures ;)

2006-10-07T23:19:00.000-07:00

So this week was national week/autumn festival in China. Fortunately for us we were given the week of from teaching, but unfortunately we are still in the process of acquiring our business visas, so we are without passports that would permit us to go on any trips outside of the city. Imagine a prison without bars, that was us this week.

It started with Parent's Day at one of my schools. Talk about pressure... 40+ parents looking at you with mean glares trying to see if their child learned anything. Luckily I got excellent reviews!!!! They loved me! I had every kid speaking and laughing and engaging in the material. The dreaded day actual turned out to be quite enriching.

We began the vacation week by going to a friend's house to watch the fireworks over Century Park. It was easily the most impressive fireworks display I have ever seen in my life, and nearly one of the most memorable experiences I may have in China. We watched the fireworks for hours while listening to some smooth downtempo euro-breakbeats on Steve's speakers. It was definately a laid back atmosphere.

We then proceeded to go out and be social literally every night therafter. Since we got paid, we bought a great deal of things for the room, in order to make it feel more "home-like" for us. So i bought two wall scrolls which sit in our living room at the moment, and other bells and whistles.

We also acquired a significant amount of DVDs for the room, so our movie selection is almsot infinate.

Later on in the week I got some interesting news from some colleagues of mine back at school (as mentioned earlier). Something quite troubling, yet, not surprising... a response was necessary, and some irrational actions were taken on my part (one of which being mentioning it on this blog). So I want to send out an apology to the uninvolved reading this for tarnishing it with that which is just not worth it.

I can feel myself growing up day by day here. I am coming more into this teaching thing, and adjusting to the general way of life here quite well. I am begining to see a routine formulating which is a very promising sight.

We have a vacation in mid January until March, it seems the team is going on a trip to Moscow and Thailand... we are currently planning the details.

And finally I have found my entire Address here. Please send large wads of cash, candy or souls to:

Summit Panorma Buliding 7 Apartment 2701
233 Pucheng Road
Shanghai, China 200120

Donations to the "Will is going to Thailand" Fund is welcome at all times :P

That is all for now!

2006-10-05T04:45:00.000-07:00

Now onto this fish on your screen. We went back to this japanese restaurant and ordered flower fish, we were thinking it was going to be some nice and fresh sashimi... it turns out that they literally bring an entire fresh fish out on the table... and when I say fresh, I mean this thing was still moving!!!! No joke, the fish was still moving on the table as we were eating it, something about it's nervous system not quite dying out yet, D I S G U S T I N G...but it did taste good.

I will add more later about my last 2 weeks.

So I heard some troubling news about some activites going on back at campus in the last few days... i am not surprised, things are what they are, I knew I would have to face something like that eventually...but wow, so soon! Good luck with that... enough of that topic.

2006-09-19T05:26:00.000-07:00

**LanguageCorp Group (from the left): Phoebe, Michele, Pablo, Chi, Mike, Your's truly.**

So it seems that the nightlife in Shanghai improved itself last weekend. The last time I posted, I recall heavily complaining about the night scene in Shanghai; it seems it was solely due to us not knowing where to go and not the fault of Shanghai the city. We found this place called Barbarossa in People's Square in Puxi, which immediately became the official hang out spot for us on any Thursday/Friday/Saturday/Sunday evening. I befriended one of the DJs there, this guy named Rafee, he isnt Chinese and he also happens to be the Entertainment Manager for the entire establishment! Rafee is giving me a few mix CDs, and he also wanted me to design a couple flyers for him for a few club nights, in exchange for some VIP treatment in the place, networking at its finest.

Like ive recently learned, "It isn't about who you know, but who KNOWS you."

My classes have been quite stimulating for my teaching improvement, yet at times I feel that I can be a little hard on myself. It is my first time teaching, and if students don't entirely understand the unit in one lesson, it does not mean that i didn't teach them correctly. Despite the countless times i reassure myself of this, i fall into slight depression when i teach a lesson and only 70% of the class retained it; i can be a perfectionist at times...someone hit me.

The thoughts I have pondered in the last week or so have varied in importance day by day. Each night I catch myself gazing out of my window at the lights of Pudong in complete awe that I am on the opposite side of the world from all that I know and am familiar with. My parents have been so supportive of my endeavors; my mind is consistently at ease due to their unconditional foundational support. I am conflicted in my thoughts, on one end I feel secured in this position as a teacher. I am thankful that I came here with LanguageCorps and not on my own, I dont think I would have made it this far in China without them, thanks.

In contrast, I also feel alone...very alone. I continue to drown myself in thoughts of home, its not "home sickness" but more a yearning for wanting to just be apart of the crowd. I am sick of being a blatant spectacle in every situation; sticking out like a sore thumb can get annoying at times, especially when you just want to run to the store to get something to drink or eat. Walking down the street and getting the countless stares and herds of people trying to practice their English, its cute...but sometimes you want your alone time. So I find myself at times feeling alone, alone in that undescribable kind of way.

Wow overdramatic, but thats my description.

So I plan to fix this issue by being more active in the various activities of Shanghai. Be it a sports team, social life or another side job that is fun, there will be a remedy to this issue.

Until next time.

2006-09-13T21:34:00.000-07:00

"The greatest personal limitation is to be found not in the things you want to do and can't, but in the things you've never considered doing."

- Richard Bandler

2006-09-09T22:21:00.000-07:00

This was a Jade Sword me and Pablo bought for the room, its nice....

So I think this whole teaching thing is truly beginning to hit my heart. I never thought I could care so much about making these kids masters of English. In all honesty, teaching is the greatest feeling in the entire world. I had multiple kids on Friday come up to me and give me a card and flowers and said "Happy Teacher's Day teacher! We really love that you are showing us how to talk like you!" and ran off... Absolutely amazing feeling.

The children are so smart, absolute sponges of knowledge and information; i teach them one thing, they mimic, then it is instilled in their brains immediately. I am very impressed with the retention level. I cannot express the feelings I have at the moment. Of course there is a side of me that misses my family, my friends and the overall American way of life; and then there is this other part of me that is overwhelmed with joy that I am able to experience this opportunity. So as I struggle with that paradox, we will see how it unfolds throughout this year.

I had a girlfriend back in the States, an enormous side of me misses her; but our paths are headed in two different directions... Besides the drastic levels of incompatibility.

Overall I would just say that Shanghai is amazing, and now that I am just embarking on being settled in my year long way of life, I am beginning to reflect more on who I am, and what happens when I leave in June. I want to go to Graduate School, but at the moment I haven't taken the GREs and I am slightly concerned about how I can take them here. I am looking at: University of Chicago International Relations MA, Duke, GW, Georgetown, Northwestern, American U, Yale(haha) and Maryland. If anyone has any advice, please do not hesitate to provide it.

On a more humorous note, Shanghai nightlife is absolutely hideous. Imagine the greatest clubs in the world, the greatest deals and the greatest decor...with no PEOPLE in them! Shanghai must hold the record for the most uninhabited nightclubs on a Saturday night!!!! We club hopped throughout Puxi for like 3 hours at night in cabs, every club was completely empty!... upsetting, we really need to get in the loop. I think we were just given bad information on the good areas to go.

All in all everything is going well, I am taking these days on one day at a time, keeping my head high and striving towards being a better teacher. Wish me luck.

Did I mention that my apartment is amazing?...

the living room

my bedroom

another shot of the living room

2006-09-07T22:38:00.000-07:00

Long time no talk to!! Ok so ive been out of internet for like 2 1/2 weeks. But good news... I am not in ZHUHAI anymore!! Thats right i moved up to a Penthouse in Shanghai, no more Projects!! Here are some images. Its like our living standards went from like 2 to 10 in like a 2 day period, being certified really helps with getting jobs and salaries!!!

(By the way...the photo of the city buildings was taken from my BEDROOM)

We took a 24 hour train ride to Shanghai from Zhuhai which was quite unpleasant, because it was four Expats with a year's worth of luggage in one cramped quarters for 24 hours, kinda sucked.

But I have officially taught my first week of school at my official job wtih ESL Shanghai. The kids are adorable and it is truly a pleasure to begin my teaching experience with them. I will have photos of them later this week.

This is going to be a quick post because it is Friday night, and the social life is calling. However I will keep you all up to date very soon about everything that has happen and will happen.

Plus I will give you all my address to the "penthouse" so you can send me care packages, large wads of cash and perhaps your souls if you would be so kind... thanks a bunch... HAO LE!

and plus today was teacher's day, so i got flowers and chocolate from the kids, kinda warms the heart, who knew eh?

2006-08-22T04:04:00.000-07:00

Second day of practice teaching. Today's class was entirely different in setup and more advanced in their grasp of the Enlgish language. I was called to teach a class about American Culture and trends to this advanced group, it was probably the most intriguing thing I have ever experienced overseas.

I began class by asking each student to stand up and say their name, age and then one thing that they know about the US. The students followed suit and 90% of the student responded with words like "beautiful", "strong", "rich", "wonderful" etc. All extremely positive things that were clearly instilled by our glorious media machine.

(even the chinese word for America is "Meiguo" which means "Beautiful Country")

I then challenged them by asking them why they felt America was beautiful and glorious. They responded with a variety of answers. "The men are all very strong and all of the women are so beautiful." "Everyone is so rich in America" etc. needless to say this in some way or another made me fascinated in the thoughts of foreign nationals.

So then I promptly went into my monologue on why America like ALL countries is beautiful and glorious, wonderful and strong. I also explained that "American" is kind of a loose term because we are comprised of everyone in the world. They were amaized that there are "Chinese Americans" in America that ARE 'American'. That idea didnt really register clearly in the begining but eventually they began to get the idea. I also explained that America like all countries has beautiful people, but America in no way "sticks out" as an example of residential beauty.

I then proceeded to ask them what an American looks like. They immediately said "you! and people that are white." and then i pointed to some other people in the room who were Chinese and they said "NO!" and then I asked "why?" and they said "because that person is Chinese." I then proceeded to explain that "American" is literally everyone and takes no particular physical features... we are all primarily immigrants of the land... (drilling this in their heads was taxing but important).

I then ended the lesson by listening to them talk about Tyra Banks and America's Next Top Model and Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman's former relationship and how Kobe Bryant is the best basketball player of today, etc. Not a bad class today, until Thursday!

TRYING TO SAVE PEOPLE FROM BEING SLAVES OF THE MEDIA!!!
-----------------

Oh yeah and you know how you catch people negatively bickering about you?...that happened today...not cool...but its ok. I just find it hilarious.

And I am still home searching for Shanghai...kind of scared about that, but we will see what happens!!!!

2006-08-20T22:32:00.000-07:00

Today was my first youth mental poisoning day, just joking, the first day I was actually able to teach in front of a class. I truly enjoyed it... my parents really helped me with the advice the night before when they said, "hey, just be yourself and relax!"

It totally worked and I think it was a great lesson. I was quite enthusiastic about the material (the days of the week), so I presented it in a very lively manner which definately sparked the attention of the students. All in all a great morning!
I did notice that the students although very respectful, were reluctant to participate in the class. I presented various opportunities for them to speak aloud etc. and it was like pulling teeth! The Chinese education system is sooo different! They actually take notes at the age of 12!!!!!!!!! When I was 12 you would be lucky if I even opened up a notebook (well I was a nerd...so maybe not me) but you get my point.

Tomorrow is my next day of teaching practice!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2006-08-18T21:20:00.000-07:00

Ok so it was inevitable, this was bound to happen sooner or later. I get up in the crisp morning on 7am to go and take a hot shower and prepare for my day. I get in the shower... I turn on the water heater... I turn on the water...I begin to lather... BOOM a crawling object sprints up from the drain and runs in one of the corners of the bathroom! Yes people, it was a roach about the size of my wrist watch (as seen above). This little thing was so fast! So I run out of the bathroom and yell "Pablo!" (my roomate) for backup. I was about to torch the whole room with my foggers but you cant go back into the room for hours after u unleash one. Luckily Pablo restraind my World War II mentality and brought out his Roach killin Spray...trust me it didnt take just one spray... it took half the bottle, then the roach (we will call him Herbert) flipped on his back and the war had ended...needless to say I need to talk myself back into showering... its just that scary.
--------------------------------

Now for the interesting part. So I am looking for jobs in Shanghai, here is the online convo I had with one employer... the names have been held for obvious reasons...just thought it was interesting; you can make your own assessment on what you think about this, and see if you can pick up on what I was thinking during this entire convo:

(small segment out of a 30 min online convo)

Employer says:
Let me preface this with I am the complete opposite of a racist
Employer says:
You, as I recall, are black
Vertigo says:
ha i was expecting this
Vertigo says:
yes I am black
Employer says:
While Chinese are only racist when it comes to Japanese, black people are just beginning to be accepted as REAL native English teachers
Employer says:
I hired a good teacher a year ago. She was technically a good teacher
Employer says:
Her problem was that she figured every time someone looked at her sideways, they were racist
Employer says:
She was very defensive and offensive
Vertigo says:
ha
Vertigo says:
well, given that I am a black man who has basically been in every setting imaginable racially....such issues I dont react to
Vertigo says:
(I went to college in Maine)
Employer says:
The Chinese, while curious, a little afraid and a little suspicious that I had hired a cheap copy of a native English speaker made in Africa, were accepting until they got to the point that they couldn't understand why she was always suspicious and offensive
Employer says:
Main! Impressive
Vertigo says:
so i mean I am a very approachable person, while also quite genuine
Employer says:
What I am trying to tell you is that you would have to be understanding and also 'prove' you are a great teacher and real native English speaker
Vertigo says:
I can assure you that I have an idea of what you experienced with that former teacher, and can assure you that I am not a repeat
Employer says:
thank you
Employer says:
I am a little uncomfortable trying to explain the situation but I figured you seemed smart enough to want to know the situation
Vertigo says:
oh totally
Vertigo says:
i totally get what you are saying
Vertigo says:
immediately when people hear that I am black they incorrectly assume that i speak a certain way etc.
Employer says:
Be assured, although the result is similar, the motovation is not racist
Vertigo says:
given my vocal and written ability, I am quite above par
Employer says:
more a fear of being cheated and an ancient fear of black people
Vertigo says:
oh i totally understand
Employer says:
Great
Employer says:
about 700 years ago China began trading with west Africa
Employer says:
Imagine a culture that felt they were in the middle of the world as they knew it and that EVERYONE was 'yellow'
Employer says:
Then they get to africa and see these huge people who are black
Employer says:
Not sure if you're aware of this but, at the time, most of west africa was inhabited by cannibles
Vertigo says:
scary stuff
Employer says:
so these little yellow people meet these huge black ghosts with white eyes and teeth and then discover that they could become lunch at any moment
Employer says:
looking at it from our perspective, it would be a hell of a stand-up comedy plot
Vertigo says:
yea i see! haha
Employer says:
but the fear goes back hundreds of years and almost all Chinese dont even know why, just that all are (were) afraid.
Vertigo says:
Such barriers I can trandscend however.
Employer says:
The last 2 or 3 years has changed but not completely yet
Employer says:
cool
Vertigo says:
I am as "American" as one can get
Vertigo says:
which i feel is important
Employer says:
I am thinking Drew Carry
Vertigo says:
ha not exactly, but ok
Employer says:
sorry but the idea of him going through the story has me chuckling
Vertigo says:
haha
Vertigo says:
but I just feel that I can bring alot to the table there
Employer says:
American is ok but try for western. More flexible
Vertigo says:
well, in terms of terminology i would definately say western
Vertigo says:
but I am 'American' in terms of my culture
Employer says:
so, lets see what you have in your bag of tableware
Vertigo says:
my linkage to "Africa" is only restricted to my pigment
Employer says:
Culture?
Employer says:
Gets me laughing everytime when I hear it from Canadians and Americans (I'm Canadian)
Vertigo says:
ha
Employer says:
We DON"T have a culture
Employer says:
a couple hundred years
Vertigo says:
well, if I was a culture...i definately am not African
Vertigo says:
so whatever we consider the melting pot of The United States..I am that
Vertigo says:
Employer says:
most of which we only grouped 100 or so vastly different cultures together and gave them a name
Vertigo says:
haha very true
Vertigo says:
I am sorry I have to run to class
Vertigo says:
will you be online later?
Employer says:
ok. Nice to chat. Look fwd to mtg u
Vertigo says:
likewise
Employer says:
probably
Vertigo says:
have a good one!

-----------------------------
There is not much else to say...obviously... till next time!

2006-08-13T06:49:00.000-07:00

Ok people this adorable critter deserved her own post on my blog. So me and the rest of the US Expats decide to go out to eat at this lil Thai Spot over by Pleasure Street in Zhuhai. Instead of hopping on a taxi like the wise individuals...we decided to essentially walk the long way back to get a feel for the street. Lights and markets were everywhere, definately a booming part of town. Suddenly as I walk I feel a small tug at my crispy Ralph Lauren Polo... I look to my left...nothing. Then i continue to walk and I feel another tug, and see a small hand. Here is this little girl no more than like 5 hanging on for dear life to my back thigh. I gotta give it to the kid, her hustle is priceless because she was adorable!!!!!! She kept pointing to my stomach and then pointed to hers and then to her mouth as in "feed me" kind of thing... whoever sent her knew i was the biggest softy on the planet. But this kid literally wouldnt let me go....like literally...she was holding on to my clothes for at least 3 blocks and tugging away!!!!! I signaled to the girls in our group to try and pry the girl off of me, 2 looked scared to death, luckily Michelle grabbed the girl and tried to pry her off, but she was still hanging on!.... absolutely hilarious. I dragged the girl (on my body) all the way to a security guard who got her off me and hopefully found her parents... Wow I was shocked, well hey I coulda took home a lil Chinese daughter, because she wasnt letting go for nothin!

2006-08-12T20:06:00.000-07:00

Hello Again! Long time no talk to! Yes since my last post I have been extremely sick with some kind of cold. Due to this, i really did not have the energy to post on this blog. Well, to catch you all up to what has been happening, on Friday I student taught our class. We had to either make up a language or do a language class on a language that the class did not know, so i decided to have fun with this project and do informal english. You know the Enlgish that 98% of Americans know and can understand and interpret, but if English is not your native tongue, you will be lost.
Needless to say I did relatively well, I got a lot of laughs and claps etc. It was quite interactive, I wanted it that way. Its on video tape, so hopefully if i get the video file I will post it so you can see me student teach!!!

On Friday night all the Meiguos went to Bar Street to hang out and get some more taste of the Zhuhai nightlife. (NO THE TYPHOON DID NOT HIT ZHUHAI)

We had a good time, hung out and listened to the Chinese Techno. We went to this one club called "Today" which basically had a bunch of Thugs and like no commoners, it was kind of hilarious. We left out of there like 10 minutes after walking in. Then we ran into the other TEFL students in our class, apparently they went skinny dipping in the ocean...if you saw the coastal water, you would never even touch it long swim in it. (Its brown, ide rather swim in the Chicago River...no joke)

Ok, knock on wood.... I have not had ONE roach in my room. But dear GOD are they everywhere in our hallway outside of our apartment. These arent just "roaches" Im talking about roaches the size of my fist...if i catch one i will take a photo, its awful. I got some fogger grenades from the states just in case one of those lil foolz decide to be bold and roll in my apt! If they do its ON!

I would like to also take a brief moment to thank Sprite for its wonderful taste over here. Sprite and Coke taste waaaayy better over seas than in the states, which makes absolutely no sense since its like our product. But i think its because we use corn syrup as a sweetener and other countries actually use sugar. We use Corn Syrup to support American Corn Growers, arent we just so patriotic...
Today is Sunday, we are going to the mountain by cable car....fun fun... I will get you all pictures when we get back...

2006-08-10T04:10:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is our teaching lesson. The whole LC crew is meeting up in our room to put together our lesson plans etc. tonight (gotta love the teamwork) However laziness has overcome me and of course I seem to be coming down with a slight cold, so my work ethic has dropped significantly.
I am tired and sick with alot of work to do... I will write more tommorrow!

Some random pics of today.

2006-08-09T03:39:00.000-07:00

I woke up this morning and walked over to the MinRun (Pronounced "MeenRune") Market to grab a drink before class. It was neat, the usual stares and the occasional "Hello" from random people passing by, it kind of makes you feel like a celebrity. I ate breakfast as usual at the GLV center, talk about the blandest noodles you could think of... it was awful. But I did have this little white fluffy thing with sweet bean inside of it, it was quite the picker-upper.

So today the workload begins. We are preparing for our mock classrooms on Friday where each student has to play "teacher" for 15 minutes. We have to either speak a different language that we know, or we can make up a language to teach. This exercise is merely to get in the motions of teaching language and its components.

The classroom today was Awfully boring... i mean beyond the point of boredom that when it was time to go half the class was out of the room before Shireen (our teacher) said "bye". I honestly caught myself sleep like about 3 times and looked around the room really quick in attempts to grasp how long I was out.

Me and the rest of the "Meiguo's" ("Americans" in my sarcastic Chinese tone) were basically on one side of the room pretending to be the most enthused by the material, sometimes faking it really helps! Needless to say the LanguageCorps crew stays pretty much above par the entire time, above par to the point that its almost a mockery...gotta love it.

The few Brits in the room are absolutely hilarious, I mean hilarious. There is this guy named Sid, straight up looks like Crocodile Dundee (but is British) but he is constantly complaining about how hot he is in China and how he hates the weather, but he has been living in China for like 7 years!!!! He even refused to live in our crappy pro-jects and is living in a 178 kuai a night hotel for this month. I swear if you saw this guy, you would fall out, every manerism this guy has screams out "Im just too hot to even think" and he looks at whoever is next to him and always says "Wuh is goain oan in thissss clawssss, its bloAAA Hawwt!" I honestly cant stop laughing.

The two people from Whales pretty much stick to themselves and no other... they also seem to be very quiet and go with the flow-ish. But by far the coolest dude in the room is this 58 year old 5'1 Japanese dude named Moto, he knows very little English so he is always nervous about his English skills, however, the dude basically does better than most of the others in the class!...crazy times.

Outside of that, we had another regional dispute today.

Ok say this word to yourself "NIGERIA"... now when you say "NIGERIA" are you pronouncing it " NYE-GER-AY?" NO! Do you know why you are not saying it like that? Because the word is NIGERIA and not NIGERAE or NIGEREE or whatever the is clearly an "EE-YA or EE-Ah" sound at the end; maybe my articulation is just off, but it was war for like 30 minutes; and of course the Meiguo's made a scene yet again due to this, (we can't help it, we not know what we do).

I am going to Shanghai in like a week and a half or so to visit some schools and see what jobs and housing situations are out there for me. Money at the moment is not an issue, but I know as soon as the move hits, its gonna hit me pretty hard...not really going to know how to adjust to that issue just yet, but I will figure something out.

Outside of that people all is well and I am workin stuff out!

2006-08-08T02:50:00.000-07:00

Ok this post is not for those with a weak stomach, if you cant take it, dont read any further.

I have a serious bone to pick with Zhuhai China. Apparently in most cities with the exception of Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong, it is an accepted practice to freely release urine and feces on the street if you just really have to go. On numerous occasions I saw women and men just walk into a corner, and just letting loose on a busy street in broad daylight. What the hell!?!?!? It is the most digusting thing I have ever seen in my life. Most of the time I have to watch out for dog feces in the U.S., but here I have seen more human waste! I asked that New Zealander Jesse who has been here some time about it and he said "Oh yeah man, in Zhuhai its not that bad though." I began to laugh hysterically and just shrugged it off....human waste people....human feces....just think about it.

I dont get it and im not trying to be mean people, just being real, its gross...and my toilet looks like this (feel sorry for me):

But on a lighter note, class was fun today. We covered some activities that we could do with the students. We began by singing various songs that kids could sing in order to practice pronounciation, we also wrote some of our own songs. Needless to say I am back in grade school; the material we are covering is quite young, but it makes sense since that is the age group we are going to be interacting with. I should really learn how to teach, I honestly have no idea what activities I would have my kids do... :(

***Any of my professors reading this please give advice on how to teach*** !!!!!!

Perhaps tonight I am going to hit dinner and then fire off some job applications in Shanghai, and maybe snag a side job there as well!!!!! Hurray for my native Enlgish tongue! I got about 3 1/2 weeks left here in my Zhuhai Pro-ject, and then off to a better spot in Shanghai!

Oh yeah...homework too

I checked my mail today, still no packages containing anyone's soul...ill just wait.

That is all for today!!! Payce!

P.S. Nolan you better start reading my blog or i will pry your eyelids open and continuously take your picture until I run out of film.

2006-08-07T04:18:00.000-07:00

Ok i bet you are wondering what language this is in?... ITS ENGLISH!! Yes its this international system to teach kids English phonetics, I swear I thought it was Russian or something. Its pretty neat actually once you slowly get the hang of it.

Today was the first day of TEFL classes; basically we were treated like kindergardeners for 7 hours to actually learn how classrooms will be taught. There were more foreigners from all over the world that showed up for this class: China, Japan, USA, New Zealand, India, Australia, Whales and some Brits sprinkled here and there, gotta have the brits :) All of whom were here to get their TEFL certifications. It felt real international up in there... it was funny because there were distinct regional divides and rivalries in accents, the Americans were clearly the more vocal on these disputes, God Bless Us ..haha

Lunch time, I was nabbed by some girls who literally would not let me hang with my American buddies. They forced me to sit with them so they could learn everything they could about American culture, black Americans, English, American English etc. It was fun, I got emails, so now I got some Pen Pals.

After Lunch back to class I went where we did exercises and skits in English...very grade school, but funny. I was purposefully being difficult by using enormously huge words unecessarily...like when Shireen (the teacher) said, "William give me a word that starts with the letter N" i would say "ok um Narcolepsy" ...or when Shireen asked me why does anyone want to learn a new language, I said "To become an optimal entity in the global sphere, and to reject being so reliant on the domestic"... needless to say I got a few laughs, hey, you gotta have fun while you are here right?

Reppin Ma Polah Bearz wid da big wurdz cuz uze kno i be learndin and readin and stuffff...!

I met this guy Jesse at dinner, he is originally from New Zealand, but his parents moved to China when he was 12, so he is this dude who looks like he is from straight out of London, and he speaks PERFECT and i mean PERFECT Mandarin, im so jealous. We all had dinner, it was bland and really not doing it for me... ah well.

Got an email from my mom today, it was cool, stuff like that is always good to get when you are so far away, gotta get some home reminders in order to keep yourself truckin!

ADAM IF YOUR READING THIS PLEASE GET MY MUSIC!!!!!!!!! (pulling hair out)

Oh and here is my Address for those who are at all interested in writing letters, sending large wads of cash or just boxes containing their souls in the mail to me:

P.O. Box 935, Ningxi Zhuhai, PRC 519001
NOTE*** THIS ADDRESS IS ONLY FOR THE MONTH OF AUGUST!!!! After that I will be moving so I will have a new Addy.

It seems as though me and a significant portion of the group are entirely choosing Shanghai as the city to do it big in for the year. We are constantly being sold on Guangzhou and Shenzhen etc...but Shanghai is definately calling us. So we are vigorously trying to find jobs there; there are many openings so it is not difficult. I found a job that will pay me 8,000 kuai a month thats like 1,000 USD a month...not bad at all for China.

That is all for now... Hao le!

2006-08-06T04:45:00.000-07:00

Well finally I find myself moderately settled in my month long apartment in Zhuhai for my TEFL training. After my training I will be able to take on a teaching job anywhere in China that has an opening. Ideally I am hoping to snag a job in Shanghai so I can live like a big time Expat and hopefully get some political contacts and network etc.

I would like to apologize for not contacting a few people before I left; the combination of a recent breakup of a 3 year relationship, packing, along with the daily stresses of someone about to leave home for so long brewed such actions on my part.

This last week that I have been here has been interesting. In the mornings, the other LanguageCorps Expats and I were in Chinese class from like 9-1 ish and then we would head out on various excursions. My personal favorite was the Underground Market of Zhuhai where everything is cheap and negotiable (my Dad would love this place). I picked up a Rolex (I still cant tell if its fake or not) for like 250 RMB. Good Times.

Food is amaizing here, and very cheap. Since the money is 7 to 1, it is quite easy to get a fulfilling meal for around 2 to 3 bucks. Instead of water and ice, you get tea and ridiculous amounts of it, not to mention we are in Zhuhai and its like 100 degrees outside at night with a cool breeze! But hey no complaints.

It has been difficult to adjust here, I get frequent stares as a black man in China. It is not hostile, more intrigued, especially since some of the people here literally have never seen someone that looks like me up close. So despite the slight annoyance, I am happy to show people that "American" is not solely "white" but American. The children are adorable here, they look at me with very curious expressions and generally when I give a smile and wave they light up with astonishment. The men dont really talk to me much, I get a laugh and point here and there, but they stay away. The women generally immediately attempt to practice their English with me. A "Hello how are you?" and then intense laughter, its a fun process.

My roomates are pretty cool, one guy is from Chicago and the other from Penn, so I lucked out to get two U.S. Expats in my crib. Unfortunately we dont have a toilet, we have a squatter...which is a hole in the ground...yes a hole in the ground; plus, this hole in the ground, is in the same exact room as the shower...which is very small...yes i never quite feel zest fully clean.

Then to top off my adventure, in the last 20 years Zhuhai has not had a level 3 Typhoon...Zhuhai decides to have a level 4 typhoon my 3rd day here! 3 people died in the city and it was quite horrific... but I am ok people thank God. But how lucky could I get to experience a Typhoon as soon as I get here! Oh the fun the traveler has...

I really miss the States, but I know this is what I have/need/want to do. I guess being a global player, you have to do some global time.

My TEFL class starts tomorrow morning, so I need to do my homework tonight, ugh I just graduated why on earth am I still doing work!!!!!

Ill post more often now that everything is set up... CYA