Sickness / the system
For the third time in two months I have been feeling significantly under the weather. As luck would have it (or as I like to think of it, as Someone's abundant grace would have it) several of my classes have been cancelled this week due to mid-term exams. I am happy about this, but I also feel bad to think of my itty-bitty adorable 6 year olds taking midterms while I'm lounging around the house in pjs. That just seems wrong.
Since my school is a boarding school, most of my students don't live with their parents during the week. They go home on weekends and holidays, and that's it. Can you imagine? 6 years old and you only get to see your parents 2 days a week. No wonder they are little monsters in class sometimes. I don't understand this: I asked my teacher's aide why on earth a parent who was only allowed one child to begin with would choose to be away from them so much and let someone else discipline them. His response was characteristically vague, he just mumbled something about "more time for play." I understand that education in China is absolutely the number one priority, but I've also been told that relationships (especially family) are also muy importante. How does being away from your parents at the tender age of 6 foster good healthy family bonds? Just another unanswerable question. This entire country is one massive riddle.
Since I'm griping about the education system, here's a fun story: me and some friends were coming home on the bus, and John Edwin (age 9) befriended a Chinese girl about his age who spoke excellent English. They chatted all the way home on the bus. At one point the conversation lulled a little bit, and the girl suddenly blurted out, "Do you know how to make a sandwich?" to which John replied in the affirmative. The girl then said, "Oh good. I know how to make a sandwich too." This is a case where she was obviously taught a sentence in English class, had it drilled into her over and over and was forced to memorize it, despite it having absolutely no practical application in the real world. I mean, at the most a normal person might say that phrase twice in their entire life. And I somehow suspect that she would say that regardless of whether she knew how to make a sandwich or not. I get so irritated when I say something like "My favorite subject is English. What's your favorite?" and get 35 kids all responding with "My favorite subject is English." I mean, let's be realistic. Some of those kids probably hate English.
Here's another fun fact: Chinese people rarely have car accidents. They cut each other off left and right but somehow have worked out a system whereby, if you can get your nose in front of another person's, then you have the right of way. That's it. It's simple, but it works. If you want to turn left, and someone else is in front of you, also waiting to turn left, and you feel like he is taking too long, why then you just get to go even further to the left of him (into the line of oncoming traffic) and go around him. Turn lanes? Pshaw. However, on the rare occasion of a traffic accident, the whole system goes kablooey. No one knows what to do: people drive the wrong way down interstates, cross median strips, get out of their cars and set up merchandise stands, etc. So if a car happens to stall in the middle of the street, no one (not even the driver) would ever consider simply pushing the car to the side of the road. No no, that would be too easy. Let's just keep the massive blockage in the street until the pileup behind it gets so bad that the cops have to come and redirect traffic. By that time, of course, your driver is an hour late for your class at a school that is 10 minutes away which, if you had known about the traffic jam, you could have easily taken a taxi and been there in plenty of time.
Since my school is a boarding school, most of my students don't live with their parents during the week. They go home on weekends and holidays, and that's it. Can you imagine? 6 years old and you only get to see your parents 2 days a week. No wonder they are little monsters in class sometimes. I don't understand this: I asked my teacher's aide why on earth a parent who was only allowed one child to begin with would choose to be away from them so much and let someone else discipline them. His response was characteristically vague, he just mumbled something about "more time for play." I understand that education in China is absolutely the number one priority, but I've also been told that relationships (especially family) are also muy importante. How does being away from your parents at the tender age of 6 foster good healthy family bonds? Just another unanswerable question. This entire country is one massive riddle.
Since I'm griping about the education system, here's a fun story: me and some friends were coming home on the bus, and John Edwin (age 9) befriended a Chinese girl about his age who spoke excellent English. They chatted all the way home on the bus. At one point the conversation lulled a little bit, and the girl suddenly blurted out, "Do you know how to make a sandwich?" to which John replied in the affirmative. The girl then said, "Oh good. I know how to make a sandwich too." This is a case where she was obviously taught a sentence in English class, had it drilled into her over and over and was forced to memorize it, despite it having absolutely no practical application in the real world. I mean, at the most a normal person might say that phrase twice in their entire life. And I somehow suspect that she would say that regardless of whether she knew how to make a sandwich or not. I get so irritated when I say something like "My favorite subject is English. What's your favorite?" and get 35 kids all responding with "My favorite subject is English." I mean, let's be realistic. Some of those kids probably hate English.
Here's another fun fact: Chinese people rarely have car accidents. They cut each other off left and right but somehow have worked out a system whereby, if you can get your nose in front of another person's, then you have the right of way. That's it. It's simple, but it works. If you want to turn left, and someone else is in front of you, also waiting to turn left, and you feel like he is taking too long, why then you just get to go even further to the left of him (into the line of oncoming traffic) and go around him. Turn lanes? Pshaw. However, on the rare occasion of a traffic accident, the whole system goes kablooey. No one knows what to do: people drive the wrong way down interstates, cross median strips, get out of their cars and set up merchandise stands, etc. So if a car happens to stall in the middle of the street, no one (not even the driver) would ever consider simply pushing the car to the side of the road. No no, that would be too easy. Let's just keep the massive blockage in the street until the pileup behind it gets so bad that the cops have to come and redirect traffic. By that time, of course, your driver is an hour late for your class at a school that is 10 minutes away which, if you had known about the traffic jam, you could have easily taken a taxi and been there in plenty of time.