I have now been in Dalian for a little over two weeks, and I have also completed two out of the four weeks teaching here, so already I am halfway done. It seems difficult to believe, honestly—and not in the traditional sense that time has passed quickly, but in the sense that it seems like our students just haven’t learned very much from us yet. This past week especially felt underachieving, but there were reasons beyond our control as to why.
We found out that last Thursday and Friday (the 23rd and 24th) were like the final exam days for our students; many of them told us about the nerve-wracking “dissertations” they would have to give (which were only 15 minutes long—5 minutes of talking, 10 minutes of questioning, but of course to them that seemed like eternity!). As a result of this high-pressure atmosphere, over half of our students were missing on Wednesday, and hardly any showed up to class on Friday (I don’t remember if I have mentioned this yet or not, but we do not teach on Thursdays). I was peeved about this at first, but then Carol brought up a good point: If they don’t graduate from Dalian, then they don’t get to come to Wright State to study in LEAP. So, I have learned a valuable lesson from this experience: sometimes as teachers we just have to acknowledge that we will be unable to teach everything we want to cover simply because there are circumstances beyond our control. For any of you considering applying for the Dalian summer internship next year, remember this, and expect to not have nearly as much time as you anticipate having with your students.
Anyway, as far as we know, the students should be done with their classes now, so we’re expecting to get our regular attendance back tomorrow. However, we shall just have to wait and see…so far this trip has been nothing but a miniseries of surprises, both in and out of the classroom.
Just yesterday we took a mandated trip to downtown Dalian by bus (which took us about an hour and a half), and we quickly realized that the four of us were the only English speakers inside the vehicle! (Our travel-mates were all Japanese tourists staying here in the Luxun hostel with us, and they apparently had their own plans once they arrived in the city.) When we finally arrived and parked, the Japanese tourists got out of the bus first and walked nonchalantly into the city square surrounded by skyscrapers, completely at ease. Meanwhile, Dr. Hall, Carol, Stephanie, and I are standing with our mouths hanging open in front of the bus like lost sheep, and the bus driver (who is Chinese) did not even make an attempt to communicate with us. Talk about a strange feeling! And then, about a minute or two later, one of our most advanced students (who will actually begin taking classes for the MA TESOL degree at Wright State in the fall) magically appeared in the parking lot, and all anxieties were erased. We were so relieved to see her! As soon as she arrived, it was clear that there was really no agenda for the day; she was simply told by the program director that she had to entertain the American teachers for the morning until lunch, at which we would meet the Dalian Jiaotong University VP at a fancy Shanghai-style restaurant (a few blocks away from the shopping district). So, we perused the local malls and had a good time gaping at how expensive everything was, and then we were treated to a marvelous lunch and sent back home (once again reunited with the Japanese tourists). What a strange, surreal experience that day was—but hey, the lunch was worth it!
Right now it is raining, and it has been raining relentlessly since last night. I tried to get some RMB out of the ATM this morning (which is another story on its own) and had quite a harrowing journey; normally, walking to the local bank takes only a pleasant 3 to 5 minutes (depending on how fast you walk), but this morning it took me twice as long because the wind was fierce and the rain fell relentlessly. Even with my umbrella, I returned to my apartment completely drenched. (Here in Luxun, they have not planned drainage systems very well; every time it rains here, water just pools in the concrete sidewalks. And apparently, when it rains a lot, small rivers and streams appear where streets used to be!) We’re starting to wonder if our students will be dedicated enough to trek from their dorms to our classrooms tomorrow morning; I sure would be tempted to stay inside if I were one of them.
Anyway, life’s good here in Dalian (other than my international currency woes; word to the wise, do NOT rely on your debit/credit cards here if you end up going next summer—I am a member of US Bank, and I was told (twice, now) that my Visa debit card WILL work at any ATM here in China; however, that has not been the case so far. My student took me to at least 4 banks in downtown Dalian yesterday, and none of them would let me extract money with my card. This is the first time I’ve ever tried this, and I’m definitely never doing it again; next time, I’ll either get a prepaid travel Visa (which is what I usually do for international trips), or I will simply order my currency online prior to leaving (which is what all the travel gurus are recommending now on various online forums, simply because you only have to deal with a one-time exchange fee, and you get to avoid the kind of hassle and headache that I am currently experiencing). But, if my card does not work by Tuesday, Stephen promised me that he would send money to the local bank here via Western Union, so at least there’s that. I have less than 150 RMB left, and that only equals about 20 bucks. Whatever happened to the convenience of modern times???)
I will try to write these blogs more frequently so that I won’t have to type so much for each one. J Thank goodness for Stephen and his willingness to post these entries for me on my website while I’m stuck behind the “Great Firewall of China!”
J. Rowe
