再见南京 (Good-Bye Nanjing!)

For the next few weeks, I will not be updating my blog because... I am going on vacation! I will be in Thailand (Chiang Mai, Bangkok, and Ko Samet), Cambodia (Siem Reap) and Hong Kong (perhaps with one night on a Hong Kong island.)

So far, Sophie and I have amazing things planned. Most exciting is our day at Baan Chang ELEPHANT FARM where we will care for and RIDE elephants. I am also really excited to the see famous Angkor Wat temple in Cambodia.

I leave today and won't be back until around February 16th. This is the longest trip I have ever taken, at 3 weeks long. Anyone who knows me knows that this presents an extremely difficult packing situation... Expect many, many updates when I return.

For those of you who are devasted at the thought of not hearing my witty and delightful commentary for a full three weeks, check out my second Grinnell Corps report.

AHHHHHHH CHINA DOLL EXPLORES THAILAND AND CAMBODIA! SEE YOU ON THE OTHER SIDE!

Nanjing Massacre Museum

Statue outside the museum

Sophie and Jonah walking toward the museum

Only part of the binders full of victims' names 

Statue garden outside the museum

Even though Nanjing has a long and fascinating history, the city is now most well-known for the historic WWII event: The Rape of Nanjing. Over 300,000 Chinese people were killed within a span of six weeks by invading Japanese soldiers during this horrific time. And as the name implies, one of the most horrific parts was the brutal rape of Nanjing women of all ages and from all walks of life. The city was destroyed and people were mass executed for fun. Since I took many classes on the German-USSR part of WWII (and the Jewish Holocaust), I spent a lot of time relating the Chinese-Japanese experience to what I have already learned. It gave me a new perspective on my understanding of WWII. 

The Nanjing Massacre Museum was the best museum I have been to in Nanjing so far. It was informative, well laid out, and was host to many intact artifacts, unlike 95% of the museums I have seen here. I already knew a fair amount about Nanjing's history from classes and just from living here, but the firsthand stories presented were really moving. The museum was built on a burial ground for the victims of the massacre, and in the middle of the museum you can see the actual bones in a large dugout pit. I also learned a lot about the aftermath of the event, which I had always wondered about. What do you do in a city where thousands of people were mass murdered? How do you rebuild the city? What are the first steps, and who takes them? It was nice to think about rebuilding the city after seeing all those horrific pictures and reading those terrible stories. It also gave me shivers when I read the firsthand accounts and knew where in Nanjing the events took place; places I walk past all the time.

At the end of the section of the museum specifically about the Rape of Nanjing (there was another part of the museum contextualizing the event within WWII,) there was a small, dark room. 300,000 deaths in the span of 6 weeks equates to a death every 12 seconds. So over the loudspeaker, there was a clock ticking out 12 seconds, and every 12^th second, a drop of water fell from the ceiling into a shallow pool and a picture of a Chinese victim lit up on the wall. It was extremely moving and well done.

Having been to many museums about the Holocaust, I knew what to expect. For the most part, the museum was not more graphic than others to which I have been. However, some of the stories presented went a bit farther and were more gory than, say, the DC Holocaust museum. And like Yad Vashem, the exhibit was underground, and the layout was architecturally relevant to the museum experience.

The biggest difference between the Holocaust museums I have seen and the museum honoring the victims of the Rape of Nanjing is how the perpetrators are portrayed. Unlike people and leaders in Germany, who publicly apologize and repent for their role in the Holocaust (save for those few scary Holocaust deniers,) Japanese leaders/people do not accept the blame for the Nanjing Massacre. The Jewish Holocaust is taught in the schools of the countries that committed the crimes, while the Nanjing Massacre is not taught in Japanese schools. Many Japanese do not believe/know it happened, even though there are witnesses from China and abroad. Add in the fact that China and Japan have a very strained relationship even into today. For these reasons, the museum truly vilified the Japanese in a way that Jewish Holocaust museums do not vilify Nazis. It's hard to explain, since it's not like Nazis are off the hook at Holocaust museums. But I just got this feeling that the museum exemplified a manifestation of the current tension between Japan and China.

It was a rainy, foggy day, which fit my mood when I left. I am glad I went, but I'm not sure I can do it again...

What's in a Name? Part 2

On the Nanda Fu Zhong English exam, there were two separate yet equally important things the student had to write: their new American name, and the name of their English teacher, which was spelled on the chalkboard in front of them. These are their misspellings.

(cue theme song)

Student's names: these are the English names of students that were new and surprising

CM Punk (the wrestler?)

HAFE 

Genious (sic)

Mini

Saber

Yuri (not an English name)

Jone (John?)

Lucky
Shack (I assume he meant Shaq, these kids love basketball...)

Athran

Misspellings of my name:

Mrs. Brie (I'm married now?)

Ms. Brit (The UK version of my name)

Ms. Brae 

Ms. Broken (How I feel after reading all these misspellings)

Ms. Grie

Mas (No words, just, no words...)

Ms. Brin

Mrs. Green (Now I'm married to that dude who killed Mr. Body in the conservatory with the lead pipe?)

Readers, have you reached a verdict?

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Learning Chinese

I am one of those people who picks up languages really fast. I think I inherited it from my mom, who can learn and correctly pronounce phrases wherever she goes. So I was under the (wrong) assumption that when I arrived in China, I could just learn the language naturally. Of course, I planned on taking private lessons so that I could actually learn Chinese. However, I thought little phrases like "How expensive is this?" and "Excuse me" would just stick to my brain like fully cooked spaghetti on a kitchen wall.

I was wrong. So very, very wrong. To be honest, I'm still not fully confident in my ability to ask how much something costs. My Chinese ability is improving at a snail's pace. I am very lucky that NDFZ provided me with a Chinese tutor, Zhang Laoshi, and she is awesome. She is my age, super sweet, and an amazing teacher (she is also the Chinese English teacher who sits in on my Junior II classes.) However, she is an English teacher. She has never taught Chinese before. The textbook she (very graciously) bought for me is full of complex sentences I don't understand. Plus, she is so cool to talk to: I'd rather just chat with her in English after a long morning of teaching than make the effort to learn Chinese. And I don't feel too bad about it, because she wants to improve her English. Our relationships is more "language exchange partners" than "teacher-student."

One month ago, I started taking private Chinese lessons with a Chinese language teacher, Qi Laoshi. Already, my Chinese is seriously improving. Part of it is the textbook, which teaches basic Chinese and provides the building blocks needed to create simple sentences. Part of it is the length of the class, 80 minutes instead of 40. Part of it is that I'm paying for it, so I feel more pressure on myself to do the homework. But part of it is also my teacher: she doesn't really speak English. Although we do occasionally chat in English, I feel more required to speak in broken Chinese. When I wanted to ask her how older her son is (I often see them walking around my area together), I got creative with my language skills. When I wanted to tell her that my mom may potentially come visit me in the spring, I used Chinese.

The best part of this is that I'm finally at the point where I'm eavesdropping on conversations and I can understand the gist of it. The combination of straight vocabulary I learned from Zhang Laoshi and the sentence building skills I learned from Qi Laoshi has made me feel more confident in my Chinese. My listening and speaking skills are improving daily. The hardest part about Chinese is reading and writing. I dread the part of my lessons where I have to read Chinese. When I see a character, I can recognize that I studied it, but I don't remember what it means. One step at a time! China Doll may be an English teacher, but also 我是学生!

China Doll Hosts!

This past weekend, some friends I met while being TEFL trained in Hefei came to visit Nanjing. Not only was it fun to see these friends (especially because Nanjing seems like a ghost town right now without all the young college students and the teachers who went home for the holidays) but it felt really good to show people around Nanjing.

Their visit made me realize how well I know the city. I was able to find them a decently nice hostel because I always see signs for it on the way to my dance class. I was able to show them shortcuts and cool alleyways while we walked around the city. I was able to show them where to hike up Purple Mountain, and what restaurants to go to. I even know what bars and clubs to take them to, an accomplishment considering how not cool and hip I am... (as evidenced by my use of the words "cool" and "hip.")

I really love this city, and it was so exciting to show it to other people. My mom showed me an article from the NY Times travel section about Nanjing: In Nanjing, China, Art and Youth Help a City Recover from Its Tragic Past. Nothing could be truer. Nanjing is amazing because of its vast history (former capital, location on the Yangtze, etc.) and because of the energy and excitement the young people (and expats, for that matter) bring to the city.

Yo Yangzhou!

Two weekends ago, Nanjing University organized a trip to Yangzhou, a city not too far from Nanjing. The group was an interesting mix of retired American professors teaching in China, families, and then, of course, a group of younger teachers (including myself) who I had met in the beginning of the year and have hung out with them a bunch of times throughout my months here. (They live out in the boonies of Nanjing, so I don't get to see them often.)

I must preface this post by admitting: my camera died at the first place we went. I thought I had brought my charger, but it was the wrong charger. So this is a very photo-less post. I also must admit that I really have no idea what were the names of the places we went. I just hopped on the bus when instructed and hopped off when everyone else did! Also, everywhere we went was basically just a pretty garden, with either a temple or a home in which a family resided.

So first, we went to a pretty garden and lake (no temple, no home.) For this, there are pictures! I realized that I am too obsessed with taking pictures, so I think the fact that my camera was dead may have actually been a blessing in disguise. I was able to appreciate everything just a little more. Our tour guide was very informative, so I learned a little bit about the history of the lake, the famous emperors and people who have visited, and why it was set up the way it was.

A famous bridge

A famous lake

Famous people (kidding, it's Violeta, Sophie and Clément)

David, in a traditional Chinese pose

Pretty roof 

Famous bridge 

Famous view of the lake

Famous rock

From there, we went to have dinner (including famous Yangzhou foods, like a mix of corn, shrimp and green beans.) That evening, a group of us tried to find a place to go out and have a drink, but that doesn't really exist in Yangzhou, so we ended up on a very famous market street at a restaurant. Not only were we the only foreigners, we were the only PEOPLE. The family who owned the restaurant chatted with those who spoke Chinese, but otherwise they watched us sip at our Tsingtaos.

I slept like a rock (not unlike famous rock pictured above), finally being in a WARM room under a million blankets. The next day, we went to some very famous (I find that everything in China is the "most beautiful" or one of the "most famous") gardens. Since it used to be the home for... someone... we also got to see how the kitchen worked and learned about the living space, which was pretty cool. Afterward, we went to a vinegar factory. It was odd... In China, a lot of the dishes have vinegar. Vinegar goes in soups, it is used (not soy sauce) for dipping dumplings, etc. There was a place where you could see the Chinese vinegar that is exported all over the world (I could read the Hebrew, Spanish, French and Italian, go me!) We even got to see where the grains were being fermented (smelled TERRIBLE) and we got to try some straight up vinegar (which was way too strong.) At the end, we tried vinegar candies (not bad) and Sophie and I bought Apple Vinegar juice, which was really delicious. It was like apple cider, but lighter in color and more acidic. Lastly, the tour hit up another beautiful garden temple area, which also had a "very famous" engraving by a famous calligrapher whose handwriting is still copied and emulated today. In China, everything I see is rebuilt or recreated, due to natural forces or the cultural revolution, so it was cool to see something that was actually old.

The trip was fun, but FREEZING! Everywhere we went, our tour guide told us the best time to come is the spring, which is kind of disappointing. When I got home, I got into bed with my electric blanket and stayed there for a good 24 hours, I was exhausted. But it was worth it: I love seeing new places, and it was nice that this trip was totally organized. China Doll: frozen but happy!

Happy New Year!

Now that I have informed you what Christmas in China looks like, I bet you're wondering what New Year's Eve (a Western holiday, since the Chinese New Year is February 10th this year) looks like...

However, I wouldn't know. Historically, China Doll HATES New Year's Eve. Sorry to all those with with whom I've spent a lovely December 31st into January 1st, but I do get a little down around the new year. I think part of it is how dangerously sentimental I can be. For example, moving out of my childhood home and into a new one was quite difficult, which is fairly understandable. What is less understandable is how, in my time off this week I have been doing a second round clean up of my room still finding remnants of Grinnell Corps fellows past, and I had trouble throwing away the to-do list of the former fellow. I thought, "Wow! Her to do list! I wonder what she was thinking? I wonder when she wrote this? I wonder if she got stuff done, since only the first thing on the list is crossed off? I wonder, I wonder, I wonder?" And then I wondered if I should keep it, for posterity's sake. And then I thought, "China Doll, throw that goddamn paper in the garbage." Perhaps it's the history major in me, but I have serious problems getting rid of anything.

For this reason, the passing of an entire YEAR is quite difficult for me. I get mopey and distant. So this year, I had planned to go to Shanghai to celebrate, since it seemed like all of Nanjing up and left for those two days. But then I realized that was a dumb idea, because it would be quite an expensive trip (and I could be saving up for my trip to.... wait for it... THAILAND!) and I don't really like NYE anyway, so why spend the money?

On December 28th, NDFZ had a New Year dinner for the staff. It was actually at the same place where I had my first banquet, so it felt very apropos. There were performances (in Chinese) by the staff, which were apparently very funny judging by how hard the teachers laughed, but I wouldn't know. I spent the evening conversing with Sophie's parents, as they couldn't follow the dialogues either. Although at one point the faculty engaged in a "Guess that Tune" activity, and I won a stuffed animal snail for knowing "Unchained Melody!" 

This may sound strange, but this was the first banquet at which I felt like my language barrier didn't present a problem. Sophie and I weren't at the center of attention, so I didn't have to listen to endless toasts in Chinese and I didn't feel the pressure to keep track of who toasted me so that I could toast them back (Chinese etiquette is a bit different.) And I wasn't relocated to a separate room for English teachers and speakers. Obviously it's an honor when the teachers and principals toast Sophie and me, and it was incredibly kind when they sat me with other English speakers so that I wouldn't be bored, but it makes me feel like a nuisance and inconvenience. I was more inconspicuous at this event, and I felt like a regular member of NDFZ, which was just a nice feeling.

But onto my mellow New Year's Eve: Anna, Lela, Anna's roomate Jessica, and I had a fancy dinner at a surprisingly good burger place called Blue Frog. We had a great time, and it felt really good to eat Western food, since I never do. Plus, my super nice waitress in training forgot to put my order in (which was okay since I had already shared a plate of chili fries with Lela and was not super hungry) and her boss told me my meal was on the house. I got to save even more money!

Classy Lela

Classy Me

Jessica's sliders

Glowing Mai Tai

After a stop at BHG, the huge Western import store on the way to Anna's apartment, we stopped and bought a few things. At Anna's apartment, we played with her adorable cat Marbles and watched a movie. It was a very uneventful New Year's, which is exactly the way I like it.

Evil kitty, as Anna calls him

I don't usually like cats. Or animals, for that matter.
But Marbles is just SO CUTE

Of course, the new year EST standard time was at 1 PM on January 1st, for me, and I got to talk to my family on Skype and Facebook, another added bonus. So, from the Nanjing China Doll to all my readers (and by readers, I mean reader singular and by reader singular, I actually mean my grandma) HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Eating Chinese Food on Christmas

I did eat Chinese food for dinner on Christmas. But before that, so many other things had happened!

On Christmas Eve, Anna, Sophie, Lela and I baked chocolate chip cookies and watched Love Actually, the perfect start to Christmas activities

In the weeks before Christmas, I realized that NDZF expected me to be their resident Christmas expert. One student wrote me a very nice letter, wishing me a Merry Christmas and requesting that I teach him about the holiday in class, which I thought was funny. I was expected to teach the students Christmas songs, write Christmas plays for their Christmas “English Week” performance (since, as you know, all English speakers celebrate Christmas.) I did all this with a smile (or was it a grimace?) and was happy to see the students getting excited about their special performance. Only the Junior Is and Senior Is would have a “Christmas party,” and it was fun helping them prepare.

However, during this week I also became painfully aware of what I now call: China, SURPRISE! I felt like things were constantly changing on me while I remained unaware: days off when I thought I had work, work when I thought I had the day off, new schedules for next semester that were different from what we were originally told, our lesson plans going in the garbage after we were informed what we were teaching was not the “correct lesson” for the day. Needless to say, I was feeling underappreciated and a bit frustrated.

These feelings dissipated when I actually attended the Christmas performances. I felt frazzled when I arrived because (China, SURPRISE!) the show started at 3:30, not at 3:50 like we had originally been told, which made us a) late and b) unable to inform our students about the changes we had to make to their exam because of another, separate China, SURPRISE we had learned about the day before. But onto the good stuff: the Junior I play. The show was hosted by two excellent students (who were chosen from a contest that China, SURPRISE Sophie and I had judged) who were dressed very fancy and adorably. The first skit was based on the two characters from their textbook, the famous Eddie and Hobo. The next skit was a nativity play that Sophie and I had written (at the behest of my tutor, who insisted it be about the “origin of Christmas"). When we had rehearsed with our students, they still had not memorized their lines and did not know their blocking. However, China, SURPRISE! the play went wonderfully! Oddly, they changed a few of the lines we had written (which changed the story of the nativity, but that’s OK), Mary carried a Chinese fan, and Joseph was decked out with blush, eyeliner, and lipstick. Next was another play we had written (it had to be about a girl who had a dream that she was in New York City and made lots of English mistakes) that also went very well, even though there were more confusing and inexplicable changes.

Gagnam Style had to make an appearance...

Baby Jesus AKA a panda 

"American Dream" skit 

Sparkly dance

Some students singing "Baby"

Que Sera Sera

Students participating in a Christmas contest

I learned at these performances that Chinese teens really love Latin music, because the next few dances were also cha cha inspired. The students also sang the songs they chose for the performance, including Justin Bieber’s “Baby” and “You are my Sunshine.” Also, inexplicably, the few hours we had spent teaching Junior Class 5 “Jingle Bells” were apparently pointless, since their song was replaced with a dance to a disco version of “Que Sera Sera” (which explains why, when I asked them to what song they would dance, they told me: Cue Sarah Sarah.) At the end of the performance, they gave us a few gifts and a few hugs and I was in a really great mood.

Me with two of my best students,
Laurence Lee and Evangeline

The senior performances came next. I only teach 3 out of the 10 senior classes, so I didn't really know many of these kids. But first, China, SURPRISE, one of the Grinnell Corps fellows always dresses up as Santa and hands out candy to the kids, so I donned the famous red and white suit (and beard, which was a bit gross) and chucked candy at children. After Sophie and I settled in our seats post candy dispersal, some students sang an interesting rendition of "Moves Like Jagger" with a cha cha dance interlude. Next, the students' rendition of "Romeo and Juliet," except instead of the classic Shakespearean version, in this one Romeo and Juliet get married in a church while her father pantomimes trying to break down the doors, but in the end they're married and no one can do anything about it so Juliet's mother tells Romeo to "take care of her daughter." China surprise, whatever. The students were excellent though, so I didn't care about the rewrite. After a great Michael Jackson impersonator, my students did a performance of Mulan, the traditional Chinese legend. They were so good!

Michael Jackson! In the flesh!

Mulan and the soldiers

No one explained why Mulan's mother 
was a boy in drag...

Next came the dance section. A few students did a "street dance" performance complete with light up bracelets and shoelaces, which made for some cool photos. The students also sang "As Long as You Love Me" by the Backstreet Boys, which was really fun for Sophie and me since that song is basically like our childhood. For the last number, all the senior teachers got onstage and insisted Sophie and I join them. They sang, "dui mian de nu hai kan guo lai" to us, which is a Chinese song (duh) about guys who see lots of cute girls. I happen to know the words to this song, because it's the one Sophie, a history teacher, and I sang in the beginning of the year for the faculty talent show. They gave us fake flowers and it was just really adorable (and embarrassing.) At the end of the song, student representatives from all ten classes, even the seven I don't teach, rushed onstage and gave us gifts. A lot of gifts. By the end, it reminded me of one of those scenes in a movie where someone is trying on clothes and they keep throwing them onto their shopping buddy at fast forward pace so that by the end they're covered in clothes. You know what I mean? I couldn't carry all the gifts! It was way too generous and kind, but also made me feel really appreciated.

"Street dance"

Another photo, just cause it's so cool 

Singing "As Long as You Love Me" by the
Backstreet Boys

Afterwards, Fang Laoshi invited Sophie and me to a Christmas dinner with some of the NDZF faculty and their children. The kids were adorable, giving Sophie and me little gifts like they had seen the older kids do just a few minutes ago. We went to our favorite restaurant near the school and the food was delicious. Plus, it was the birthday of one of my favorite English teacher, Fanny, so we had a cake to celebrate. All in all, I left the restaurant feeling like I was a valued member of the NDFZ staff.

Even though I was exhausted from the activities of the day, I met up with Lela and Anna for hot chocolate (with crushed candy canes courtesy of Lela’s mom) and it was the perfect end to the evening. 

Lela with her hot chocolate

Anna, looking joyous

With my delicious hot chocolate...

Aren't the cups cute?

More photos soon to come... pictures of me as Santa, a cute Christmas card from a student, best of the "letters to Santa" and an itemized photo list of the gifts I got! Since I’ve never actually celebrated Christmas seriously, I will go so far to say: best Christmas ever!