Thanksgiving and AIDS Awareness Week

So, what does Thanksgiving in China look like? The first thing it looks like is students asking all week how you'll celebrate on the day. It looks like us answering something like "well, we each have two classes to teach, Chinese conversation practice, and a recitation competition to judge that day, so we won't celebrate until the weekend."

So, on Thanksgiving Day, we did just that. The annual recitation competition was like English from another planet, in some respects. Each student did 4 tasks: a short recitation, answering an interview-type question, performing a short skit, and answering general knowledge questions in English. All of the students performed admirably, with the most popular passage being something called "Youth" by Samuel Ullman. Many of the students, especially in the previous round, pronounced it "yoose," which started them off on the wrong foot. However, most of the students practiced a lot, and their intonation and pronunciation were right on target. The interview questions were great, and the students had inspiring answers about working hard, looking up to their parents, etc. The skits were also great, as many students' vocabularies are high. The one piece of advice they need is just to listen more. Natural responses are better than talking over someone in response to their first few words. The last round of general knowledge questions wasn't planned as well as the other parts, so some questions had the wrong answers, or the students weren't given enough time to answer. I think all the international teachers judging sort of threw that round out. In the end, one of my writing students was the champion! So, good luck to him and all the contestants next year.

On the Saturday following Thanksgiving proper, Nick and I hopped on a train up to Lanzhou. I promptly made some mashed potatoes with my Italian spice stash, and were were off to dinner in the English meeting room. To my surprise, the volunteers up here really pulled it off! Someone had been sent Thanksgiving decorations like plates, cups, napkins, and centerpieces, and everyone brought a dish. There were mashed potatoes, potato salad, green beans, gravy, stuffing, shells 'n' cheese, Mozzarella cheese bag (hey, we don't have cheese in this part of China), cranberry sauce, sweet potato casserole, and as the main course ... KFC buckets of chicken! Later at one volunteers apartment we feasted on pumpkin pie, chocolate chip banana muffins, and cheesecake. We played some pickup football (what are those crazy Americans doing?), and had a great time hanging out and talking with the other volunteers. I heard that volunteers in other provinces went out for dinner or lamb hot pot. That sounds great, but not as good as our dinner of 32 (28.5 Americans)!

This week has been AIDS awareness week, as Saturday is December 1st, World AIDS Day. Nick had I have been taking a short, general quiz from Avert to our classes each day, then going over the answers in detail with the students. Because of recent government and NGO efforts, the awareness of AIDS is increasing exponentially in this part of China, which is great. If we can somehow curb the misinformation, then we'll really have a leg up in protecting our students and their communities around Tianshui. Some of the students knowledge impresses us, as they know you cannot contract HIV from touching of hands, or sneezing on someone. They also know it is a virus, and there are no obvious symptoms. However, some of the students' information scares me, as they have been sheltered from the real risks facing them. For example, almost 90% believed that most people become infected with HIV through blood transfusions. This was never the case, though there have been few serious incidents in China of selling blood or tainted blood. They have no idea what various contraceptive and protective measures are (contraceptive pills, spermicide, condoms). Also, I'd say 40% answered 'homosexuality' when asked "What is AIDS caused by?" So, we went over the answers and told them that anyone can get HIV through risky behavior. We reviewed the 3 methods of transmission, and emphasized the ways to protect themselves and their communities: 1) keep yourself safe, learn what condoms are, and 2) tell you friends, family, and community which practices are dangerous (intravenous drug use, visiting sex workers, unsafe sex). We tried to empower the students to be the prevention for their communities by education. We also told them we are around to answer any questions they might have about sex, HIV, or pregnancy. None yet, but it's only been a few days.

From what we know, sex and HIV education is mandatory in senior high school and college, though some schools skirt the regulation or take inappropriate measures such as handing out short pamphlets. Combine that with sheltered adolescence, questionable condom quality, and a one-child policy, and you've got quite a bit of confusion. We're trying to figure out how it all works still.

Also, we are honored to be the guests on a campus radio show next week about HIV/AIDS! Thanks Simon!

So, those have been our recent thrills. We love getting e-mails and packages! If you would like any information about how to send us a package (for us or our school library), please do not hesitate to e-mail me! Thanks!