We are Volunteers!

My apologies to our devoted fans! We have been extremely busy. First, most recently:

Today was an easy teaching day, so this afternoon we went to buy a toaster oven and some other small things. I needed to get a new watch battery for my Timex, so we stopped by the watch repair shop. The repair man popped off the back of my watch, and saw what type of battery it was: 1216. He dug through his battery supply until he found a similar one, i.e. same supply voltage, only it was 1220. He put it in, checked it, and then couldn't fit the back on because this new battery was a little thicker than the old. No problem, of course. Just take out a tiny hammer and flatten the new battery some, until it fits into the watch.

Our classes here at Tianshui Normal College are very good so far. The Oral English classes will be pretty fun, though a little repetitive. The students are very embarrassed when doing some simple things in front of others, such as introducing their partner or shaking hands. I think after a semester of practice, they won't let the giggles stop them from speaking. The writing classes are good too, though not very interesting yet. Nick and I have chosen 2 short story mysteries as the basis for their writing this semester, so that they are not continually having to express some opinion or other. I do hope they enjoy a good murder mystery.

The other foreign teachers here are truly a mixed bag. Without giving away too much personal info, there is a Russian man, and older man from Maine, a young guy from Michigan who's been in Beijing for a year and half, a Jamaican woman, and a couple from New Zealand that are "on sabbatical" from their normally hectic schedule of training new teachers in China (+ 2 sons). We have all gotten along well, if sharing library hours is any indication.

The other Chinese English teachers (that is, from China, teaching English) are great also. My counterpart teacher, Sylvia, is very fun, and honest. She took us shopping today, and then she invited us to her home for some tea (and watching her wedding video, only 2 months old!). The Waiban, or Foreign Affairs Officer, is a really nice man with a slight British accent. He has friends all over the world, and is very happy to help us. Nick's counterpart teacher, Hugh, has been around, but only I have met him briefly. I have also met two other Chinese English teachers around the building here, both eager to have "some chats" with Nick and me to keep up their spoken English.

Our swearing-in ceremony was wonderful, but brief. It began with all of us Trainees lined up on a stage in a mostly-empty ballroom. The U.S. Ambassador to China came in and swore us in, and then it was time for speeches, performances, and lunch. Each training site performed in some way: a song, a skit about training, or a photo slideshow of their time in China thus far. All were great hits. Our group (the best group) from Chengdu University sang a well-known pop song called "Tian mi mi," or "Sweet Honey." The song is super-cheesy, but everyone knows it and it's beautiful.

Training wrap-up was really exciting (you know, being issued water filters and smoke detectors), but also very fast! We went over most relevant Peace Corps policies from the coveted Volunteer Handbook, as well as received some great lectures. The lecture I enjoyed the most was by Professor/Dean Shi Jian, of Sichuan University (top tier university in China). The title of his talk was extremely hard to cover - "Higher Education in China and Challenges to College Teachers" - but he really got it all in. We learned amazing stuff about how most older professors are still influenced by the old Russian education system, even as far as the architecture of educational buildings. He told us a moving story of his father, who died after a fight with the Red Army in 1968. At this point Mr. Shi had moved out to the countryside to continue his education. He was in charge of starting dinner, so he would memorize a page of words from the English dictionary, and then use that page to start the fire. In this way, he learned and English dictionary with no excuses, since the words were quickly gone.

Later on when Deng Xiaoping came to power, he reformed the education system enormously. There is a common joke about his leadership, with respect to conservatism vs. liberalism, and it goes like this:

Taxi driver to Deng Xiaoping: We are coming to an intersection, should we turn left or right?
Deng Xiaoping: Let's turn right, but put on the left turn signal.

And here are some interesting statistics:

22% of high school graduates in China go to a university

25% of students have difficulty paying tuition, 15% take out loans for schooling

college tuition is about 10,000 RMB/year, or $1333 USD

in 2004, there were 53,000 English-major graduates, China-wide

in 2004, there were 26,000 jobs for them

the 2004 average income of a primary school graduate was 8,744 RMB/year ($1166 USD)

the 2004 average income of an advanced degree graduate is 37,880 RMB/year ($5051 USD)

the current 5-year plan is to devote 4% of the GDP to education, most of which will go to primary schools in the countryside (it was 2.7%)

Whoa, those are some big numbers; big because they are small in the US. Speaking of big here, small in the US, we moved out of our host family's house, and we will miss them, especially the laughter, food, and the little dog, Miza.

As for pictures, I have been lazy about that as well. However, I have uploaded a few videos to youtube, so you can see, in part, as we do. More pictures soon!

We miss you all, and hope you are well. The sky in Tianshui is great today, and we can see all the hills clearly.