Shenzhen Blog
23 August 2011 – 15 January 2012
I have now spent 5 months living in China. These are some of my impressions so far.
Housing
On my second day in China, after staying the night with a friend of Yvonne's, I met two of my new colleagues and we set about finding apartments. The third estate agency we tried, after insisting that we didn't need something brand new or luxurious just because we were Western, showed Tom and I an apartment on the 17th floor of a building with an amazing view of the surrounding area. It was stacked floor to ceiling with possessions and even had an upright piano in one of the rooms. The view and the western style toilet sold it for us and we signed a contract to live together only a few hours after meeting for the first time. The rent is £180 each, excellent value for money compared to renting just one room in a house in England, never mind renting half an apartment. Amazingly the current tenants were able to vacate in just one day, piano and all. Our colleague and his wife settled on a brand new building, where the fridge and television were still in their packaging. Our double apartment door opens into the living room with a hard wooden sofa and chairs. We have a small balcony which holds two chairs, a washing machine and bizarrely a sink, and of course the awesome view. Left of the living room is a corridor to the kitchen on the right (tiny), Tom's double bedroom on the left, then my single bedroom on the right, with the fully tiled bathroom at the end containing aforementioned western toilet, sink and an open, wet room style shower. My room has a hard, thin mattress, built in wardrobe space and a small study room leading off it and the better view :p We also have 24 hour security, who are very friendly but who speak no English. One of them looks only 17, dressed in what we call his “Action Man uniform” of a dark green camouflage t shirt and combats.
Food
A variety of delicious food is available nearby as we live above four restaurants and a few shops. We also live a few minutes walk from American supermarket Walmart. Chinese food has a lot of variety, with different cities and provinces specialising in their own style of cooking. For example, the cuisine of Sichuan province is renowned for being hot, spicy and full of chillies. Coastal cities boast numerous types of seafood. Shenzhen also carries plenty of western and international food. In the first month or so, Tom and I had 'Foreigner Friday' when we would treat ourselves to non-Chinese food.
MKC
I work at one of the schools belonging to Manhattan Kids Club (MKC), relatively young company run by an interior designer who, although Chinese born, lived in America for many years. Its fair to say I have a love hate relationship with the school. They enforce strange rules without explanation, constantly checking and evaluating our work which makes myself and the other staff feel that they don't trust us. This led me to tears several times in the first couple of months, but after asking around and reading discussion boards on Chinese management styles, specifically in dealings with foreign staff, I am now aware that this is simply how Chinese bosses differ from English ones. It is widely agreed that a good teacher should be in possession of adequate patiences, but I feel that my manager tests them far more than my students do! Looking at things from her perspective, she is at the mercy of parents, who pay £10000 a month for their child to attend and who she is scared of displeasing for fear of losing business. The emotional welfare of staff and students seem to take second place. Her satisfaction that the business is running smoothly over whether the teachers are allowed to work effectively, the physical safety of the children (to superstitious levels) over allowing them to have fun and discover their own resilience.
My Class
At Manhattan Kids Club I teach the youngest class, mostly aged 2, with a couple of them turning 3 after a couple of months. My class was initially of only 4 students, but that has gradually grown to 10, with 4 or 5 more joining us all at once after the Spring Festival holiday. I have a large classroom divided into the teaching area, where we also put the beds out during nap time, the tables where the children eat and colour their workbooks, the play area and the soft reading area. We also have a bathroom and storeroom. I enjoy decorating the display boards to reflect the themes of my teaching. I am assisted at all times by my teaching assistant Phoebe and my classroom nanny Lin Ayi (Aunty Lin). Phoebe is 21 and was at first a little hesitant with her English. However, I have seen it grow as well as her confidence (hopefully due in part to my influence). I have been actively encouraging her to be assertive and independent, and to have faith in her competence. Actually, she is a very good teacher and I feel lucky to have her help me with the translation, behaviour management and preparation for Arts and Crafts projects which take a lot longer to prepare than it takes for the kids to attack them in their enthusiastic way. Lin Ayi is older, with a 16 year old daughter. She speaks next to no English, apart from the basic commands we give the children constantly, such as “Wash your hands”, “Go pee pee” and “Sit down”. My wish to communicate with her has given me extra incentive to continue developing my Chinese. She is excellent with the children, and can often stop them crying where Phoebe and I fail. Although the children see her as a soft touch, and therefore a push over on the behaviour management front, I have seen her more and more asserting her authority with those children who refuse to eat, fight or switch off their hearing at moments opportune to them. Their presence makes my job a lot easier.
Chinese Fashion Sense (generally speaking)
Men: The Token Parentally Approved Boyfriend (white shirt, glasses, navy trousers, rubbish haircut) The Not So Sporty Sporty Type (head to toe Adidas / Kappa / Nike) The Workman (paint and dust covered denim, with more denim) Korean Pop Star Wannabee (Leather jacket, a tshirt with English on it, any old English at all, whether it makes sense or not) The Rest (some kind of polo shirt, without fail)
Teenage Chinese girls: Anything fashionable, Hello Kitty, teddy bears, bows, lace, frills, dungarees, hotpants, knee high socks, platform trainers, big glasses, curling tonged hair.
Women: Dungarees, teddy bear jumpers, lace, frills, bows, some kind of height inducing footwear, curly tonged or permed hair.
Older women: Garish jackets in pseudo traditional Chinese patterns, permed hair, small dog in tow.
The Rules of China
1) You can't live in China if you're scared of lifts.
2) Chinese people can't queue. They will push their trolley into your back in supermarkets. Not maliciously, just because they think a couple of centimetres will make all the difference.
3) In traffic jams, they love using their horn, especially when its obvious the only thing it will accomplish is to make every other driver become pissed off, or start doing the same.
4) Motorcycles, scooters and bicycles are commonplace... on pavements.
5) If you say something in English in an English accent, they won't understand. If a Chinese person says the English in a Chinese accent, they will.
6) In China, every request has to be dithered over and argued about first.
7) “Meiyo” is the worst word ever. When you hear it, your stomach drops and all hope is lost. It literally means “don't have” but is often used to mean “No way”, and often “I can, but I won't”. Imagine a builder has been in your house for months on a two week job, and you ask whether him, and his team of tea guzzling, bottom exposing louts, will be done anytime soon, and he responds with “Nah, mate”. That's the British equivalent of “meiyo”.
8) There's a 5 step rule to speaking Chinese to Chinese people. You will, more often than not, have to repeat the phrase 5 times before they will respond. The first time, they don't listen because they are thinking “Oh my gosh, a foreigner is here!”. The second time, “Oh my gosh, the foreigner is saying something”. Third, “Oh my gosh, a foreigner is talking to me!”. Fourth, “Oh my gosh, is the foreigner speaking Chinese?!” and finally “Ohhh... I get it”. It can be frustrating, to say the least.
9) Staring. Lots of staring. And occasionally, paparazzi photo taking can ensue. Its a fact of everyday life.
10) China is an amazing country, not just for its rich history and beautiful landscaping. It is also well documented to be a place of political unrest and questionable human rights. Consequently, people are a little odd, and regularly bemuse me.
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