China The Same And More

Susan doing domestic.

 A popular saying in India The Same But Different has a sister version in China “The Same And More”. In 2005, we arrived at the Vancouver International airport only to be told that our bags where grossly overweight and deemed totally unacceptable. Poor Frank had to hustle down the airport corridors to buy a third luggage bag. I had provoked the over packing because I thought there wouldn't be any  conveniences in China. What a quality lesson learnt. China has the same as every other country in the world and way more.

We have pollution in Canada and China has more. The sky in Yichang, Hubei Province, where we taught for six months was sometimes green. It smelt like metal and tasted like car exhaust. We have goods in Canada and China has extra. Frank and I walked to the food market regularly and were thrilled with the abundance of fresh vegetables and fruit, live animals ready for slaughter, flopping fish of every variety including eels and frogs. "Anything that walks, swims, crawls or flies with its back to heaven is edible." Cantonese saying.

What we found most intriguing was the lack of wild birds. According to our guide, “They’ve all been eaten. You will only find birds in cages.”

Canada has people and China has more. Our population is approximately 36 million, nearly the population of Beijing. We have lots of vehicles in Canada while China has way extra. You will see that there is not enough room for the cars and so drivers have taken to parking on the sidewalks. Exploring your neighbourhood will be the most fun you’ve likely had in years. We guarantee a busy, noisy, friendly, polluted and crowded adventure.

Tip No. 2: Don’t over pack. China has the same and more.

Sidewalk Scenes

Students Curious About Food

Frank Joins Workers

The Teacher According to Students

Chinese Classroom Heirarchy

According to over 1,000 middle school and high school students in five provinces in China, a teacher, whether Chinese or foreign, should be kind above all else. I conducted a survey in all the schools where I taught and asked the students to express his or her idea of what a best teacher should be. According to the students, the best teacher has the following uncomplicated characteristics:

• Kind
• Beautiful
• Funny
• Pleasant
• Strong
• Wonderful

One of my students wrote, “My best teacher is Long Tang. He’s very friendly and he very likes to forget. Some things we can’t forget but he says forget. If we are a little or a lot sad he says forget. I like him very much. He likes words. I like how the words feel. It’s very nice. He told us a lot of things. He made me happy. He made me don’t cry. He is unique. ~ Yang Yang, Grade 2 Senior Middle School.

Tip No. 1: Learn from your students the characteristics they believe reveal a good teacher.

The Kindness of Strangers

Yichang Architecture

 On December 12, 2005, we needed to send a fax from Yichang, China, to our bank in Port McNeill, British Columbia. The only institutions in the massive city offering the service were luxury hotels.

Frank and I walked eleven kilometres searching for such a lodge. We entered the palace-like front entrance of the Innca Hotel. We took a seat in the lobby and ordered a cup of tea. The gracious hostess set the hot beverage on the table and bowed to us both. Her polite character was a delight. Afterward, we went to the front desk and asked if there was a fax in the building. The clerk blinked at us and pointed with his open hand to a glass walled office. We approached the young lady in the room. Frank asked about sending a fax.

The attractive woman smiled at Frank and spoke to him in an eloquent tone of English.

“We do not have to send a fax here, but I can take you to a business that can arrange it for you,” she said. “Come with me.”

Frank followed her dutifully out of the hotel and down the street. I chose to stay behind and lost track of them until they returned to report that the task was complete.

Her name was Riya. We became fast friends and were privileged by her company for our entire six-month stay in Yichang. She introduced us to huǒ guō, a hot pot feast of meat and vegetables, street noodles, walks along the Yichang River, fine tailors and the kindness of strangers.

Riya introduced us to huǒ guō

Riya introduced us to street noodles