Review: Interesting -
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 03 27, 2013
Author Adams ostensibly moved to Wuhu, China to teach English in a rural area at Anhui Normal University; in reality, it was to escape both a personal life and career that were going nowhere in N.Y. Here she records her experiences with real people in China.Upon landing in Shanghai, she was greeted by several Chinese people associated with the school, all doing their best to be polite, most extremely limited in their command of English. Lots of 'Hellos.' Shanghai was nothing less than spectacular, though not representative of the rest of China.A five-hour drive brought her to Wuhu; en route she saw vast fields, while in town it was lots of poorly built shacks selling dried goods on rickety tables. The college itself looked like other small colleges in America. Her apartment was way more than she'd hoped for, though everything seemed teeny. Later she learned the hard way that the toilet couldn't accept anything like toilet paper - that had to be placed in the trashcan.Again, everyone was very friendly and polite - staff and students. Turned out that Director Huang, head of the English department, didn't speak English. Adams was surprised to see that the local party secretary was also at the welcoming dinner. Also learned that it is common for a host to serve guests with his/her own chopsticks and good manners to attempt to serve the host yourself. The meal was quite an experience - lots of hot food, and even more wine and liquor.Toileting was also a memorable experience - smelly squat pots situated within waist-high stall walls three-feet apart. The worst smelling places usually had troughs instead of holes, and no stalls. WalMart stores had the best squat pots - with high stalls and toilet paper. The Chinese carry tissues in their pockets at all times. Observed one well-dressed woman do a dump on the sidewalk in town.Her eight classes required 18 hours/week over four days and consisted of about 45 20-somethings students (360 total) who already spoke some English. They all rose and clapped when she first arrived in the unheated classroom. Later she ventured out to eat from the street vendors the American health advisers had warned her about, then took the bus downtown.Turns out the Chinese don't do lines, especially in rural areas - its everyone boarding or ordering food at once. They don't hug either, but will tolerate American huggers. Then someone's grandmother spit on the bus behind her. After getting off the bus, she noticed people spitting everywhere, something she hadn't seen in Shanghai. (Turns out big cities enforce rules prohibiting such.) Then she saw five department stores the size of Macy's in downtown N.Y. - in a small Chinese city of two million.Before entering the grocery store women were required to lock up their purses.Female students at the college lived in rooms with six students, the boys in rooms of 8 - 10. Each room was about 10X12, and had lines of rope covered with wet laundry drying. The students shared these rooms with the same classmates for four years, and moved in herds to class and ate and studied together. Many cut class and/or did not turn in homework - even though about half was supposed to be done in class. Cheating was wholesale - sort of a cultural expectation connected to the emphasis on high achievement. They began their day with a sort of outdoor group dance/exercise for about ten minutes.Learned that the Chinese, like us, appreciate others' attempts to learn their language. Adams took regular lessons in conversational Chinese from another teacher at her school (Linda), while helping Linda with her already very good English (particularly wanted to learn colloquialisms). Offering vendors what one considered a fair price and not bargaining is considered rude - part of Chinese culture to go back and forth, haggling. Described buying a robe in Beijing - seller wanted 800 Yuan, finally got it for 50.Learned to never cross congested streets w/o being in the middle of a large group; big cities had policemen enforce a semblance of order, but she never saw one in Wuhu. Considered buying a moped, but seeing the wild traffic and wrecks, and even being in a van that hit a motorcycle (going slow, no injuries) dissuaded her.Varying dialects were a problem - Adams described it as nothing like a U.K. and U.S. person talk and having trouble understanding each other, more like a Japanese and Russian trying to communicate and not understanding a single word the other was saying. To fix this, the school enforced a strict policy requiring all students to speak only Mandarin on campus.Learned the ugly side of China's one-child policy - eg. her friend Linda would lose her teaching job if she had another job, abortions were sometimes forced, and girls were commonly given away.Living with mosquitoes. Saw piles of trash at apartment entrances, with the interiors immaculately clean. Litter was common. Repeatedly was advised, 'Don't go to sleep on the bus' (train, taxi, etc.) - found out the reason was to prevent having things stolen from her.Went inside a hospital to visit a fellow teacher - trash on the floor, patients wore their regular clothes, the area smelled, the equipment looked like it was left from WWII. The teacher died - brain aneurysm caused by high blood pressure.Visited a student's home and met his parents and paternal grandparents - described it as one of her best experiences in China.On leaving, was visited by a parade of students bearing treats. Failed only one student - blatantly cheated on final and had hardly ever attended class. Emotional leaving; now wishes she'd stayed longer.Final observations: China is a predominantly atheist country, has one time zone, diarrhea relief products are essential for American travelers