We boarded the plane at 6:30am, just as the sun was just rising above the smoggy Chaoshan horizon. We were thrilled and practically pranced our way down the gangplank. Our final weeks in Shantou had flipped-flopped between happiness and anger with a good dash of stress.
The second week in June we went to Zhongshan, our new town. Due to visa regulations, we had to appear in person at the visa bureau to say, "Hi, I am Amanda. Hi, I am Zach. We are alive and here are our passports. Please put a visa in it." While a trip for fifteen minutes seemed extravagant, it did provide an excuse to escape Shantou and to get a preview of what is to come concerning our life in China - a first, as we have never previewed a location before arriving to live and work. Within the first hour of exiting the train station, we were in awe of being within six bus stops of high speed train station, bewildered that we could hop on a bus within five minutes instead of waiting for an hour, and had met a woman in an elevator who welcomed us to Zhongshan, spoke highly of the school, and firmly told us to call her upon our permanent move to town should we need help or want to visit with a local. It was shocking, but in a delightful, encouraging manner. The 48 hours we spent in Zhongshan were renewing - we ate a lot of Chinese food, chatted with a few students, walked the campus, and explored some of the immediate area surrounding the campus. The trip provided ample reminders as to why we love living in China and want to continue to do so for now.
Returning to Shantou, we faced finals, packing the apartment, and a lot of "last time to do...." moments.
The last weeks of classes were as depressing as expected. Students were drained from school-mandated propaganda hoopla and we were drained with dealing with students who had no ambition or willingness to try. Upon learning of our departure, we even had students try to shame us by saying that we needed to stay to make sure they learned; to which I would chuckle and reply with, "So, what were you doing these past months?" Eventually, our response became, "If you could stay or go, what would you do?" Most said they would go, and we agreed that was our decision as well. Sadly, this past year showed us that China definitely has good and bad schools; our bad school was systematically corrupt, with leadership more interested in personal fancy cars than equipping classrooms for the 21st century. Plus, there was a prevalent administrative attitude that since the students were unable to reach a high score on the gaokao (college entrance exam), they were just too stupid to get past that one seemingly failure. It was disheartening and a vivid reminder that while society leaders will loudly declare everyone has equal opportunities, it is just not true. The opportunities and expectations for our students of GDOU were far above and more abounding than for these Shantou students.
Our happiness and delightful moments revolved around World Cup, Zach, his birthday, and our one expected/one surprise visitors. On Zach's birthday, Tiger and Emma arrived in Shantou. Tiger was a planned arrival, as we had asked her to come help us finish packing and ship because we knew no one on campus had the English ability or know-how to handle the shipping company. Amidst our reunion with Tiger at the bus station, Emma strolled towards us, flung her arms wide, and declared, "I'm here!" It was spectacular and a genuine surprise. As a result, we had many late nights and a lot of cake to eat.
Late nights were not only on Zach's birthday weekend extravaganza, but for a couple weeks as we were fully captivated by the World Cup. As a birthday gift, I bought him a projector. He said he did not need anything, to which I responded, "I know you do not need it, but I think you will like it." Upon opening the box, his excitement was great and he did agree that it was not necessary but a fantastic addition to the hutong.
Our final week was spent packing, saying farewell to the few students would chat with us, and dispersing our plants among the villagers who cared for us in some way - the market vendor who won my adoration, the little old lady who sat on her porch, the old gentleman who was the village mayor (by self appointment, I believe), and the sole restaurant owner who fed us many nights with yummy peanut noodles. Their small acts of kindness on some of our bleakest days was so appreciated and we wanted to acknowledge them.
Of course our final week included a heated spat with our boss, Nate. As per contract, we asked for the car to take us to the airport at 4:45am for a flight that left at 7am. His response was less than polite - all hinging on the statement that "If we were nicer people, we would have asked if that was OK." We had asked our liaison, Icy, and she had approved it. The following days involved a lot of yelling over Wechat audio, with him saying declarations such as: "I should take back money from you" and "There are other flights to Beijing". Intertwined with seething anger was humor, for in this tirade he truly showed his man-child personality. Plus, we wondered who was going to Beijing as it was not us. After a couple days, our patience was depleted with him, so we went to Icy. We asked for intervention for we were to the point that if we had to see Nate face to face, we would physically punch him. We had had enough - we wanted to leave, we had fulfilled contract, so why the hell was he trying to keep us on campus. That evening, we received a message from her that the car would pick us up at 4:45am. We deleted Nate from our Wechat accounts.
The day before our departure, Icy stopped by the apartment to make sure everything was satisfactory. As she walked through, she kept commenting on the poor condition of apartment, insinuating that the black mold-stained toilet seat was our fault. At each jab, I countered with a "really, because it looks much better than when you gave it to us in September." At the end of the walk through, she admitted that perhaps conditions could be better for future teachers. I nodded and smiled, knowing that nothing was ever going to be done.
As our plane headed west towards a couple of days of rest and recuperation among friends in Zhanjiang, Zach and I sighed deeply. We had survived.
We do not regret the move to Shantou. In adversity and some really horrid conditions, we learned a lot about ourselves. We were exposed to a very different China and a subset culture. We grappled with the idea of privilege and how that plays out in the education system. We saw some stunning temples and had freedom to travel during a semester unlike our prior years at GDOU. We did make some unique connections with a few students as well as locals. Our Chinese community rallied around us in ways that were tangible, generous, and encouraging. We met Logan and Reannon.
Our fellow foreigners-in-crime were the perfect amount of sarcasm and wit to survive such an ordeal. While their apartment was not the cesspool destruction that was ours, they had the delightful experience of the maintenance man checking for a gas leak with a lighter. They ran for cover, he laughed. We all agreed a small piece of us wished his hunt for a leak had resulted in at least singed eyebrows. Over meals and campus run-ins, we laughed about so much, swapped stories of our experiences, and bonded over sci-fi and fantasy books and films. These guys even had McDonalds waiting for us in the movie theatre one day when we had been thrown behind schedule once again by the crappy Shantou bus system. (Solo and french fries are now synonymous.) Over the months, we were continually grateful for their sarcasm, wit, and snarky comments - especially with available food. I do not think I will ever be able to look at a fake Dico's (chicken sandwich shop) and not think of them. Like us, they finished their contract and ran...to a university on the outskirts of Beijing.
Thus, another chapter of our China life ends and the next will begin with, "Upon our arrival in Zhongshan...."
The second week in June we went to Zhongshan, our new town. Due to visa regulations, we had to appear in person at the visa bureau to say, "Hi, I am Amanda. Hi, I am Zach. We are alive and here are our passports. Please put a visa in it." While a trip for fifteen minutes seemed extravagant, it did provide an excuse to escape Shantou and to get a preview of what is to come concerning our life in China - a first, as we have never previewed a location before arriving to live and work. Within the first hour of exiting the train station, we were in awe of being within six bus stops of high speed train station, bewildered that we could hop on a bus within five minutes instead of waiting for an hour, and had met a woman in an elevator who welcomed us to Zhongshan, spoke highly of the school, and firmly told us to call her upon our permanent move to town should we need help or want to visit with a local. It was shocking, but in a delightful, encouraging manner. The 48 hours we spent in Zhongshan were renewing - we ate a lot of Chinese food, chatted with a few students, walked the campus, and explored some of the immediate area surrounding the campus. The trip provided ample reminders as to why we love living in China and want to continue to do so for now.
Returning to Shantou, we faced finals, packing the apartment, and a lot of "last time to do...." moments.
The last weeks of classes were as depressing as expected. Students were drained from school-mandated propaganda hoopla and we were drained with dealing with students who had no ambition or willingness to try. Upon learning of our departure, we even had students try to shame us by saying that we needed to stay to make sure they learned; to which I would chuckle and reply with, "So, what were you doing these past months?" Eventually, our response became, "If you could stay or go, what would you do?" Most said they would go, and we agreed that was our decision as well. Sadly, this past year showed us that China definitely has good and bad schools; our bad school was systematically corrupt, with leadership more interested in personal fancy cars than equipping classrooms for the 21st century. Plus, there was a prevalent administrative attitude that since the students were unable to reach a high score on the gaokao (college entrance exam), they were just too stupid to get past that one seemingly failure. It was disheartening and a vivid reminder that while society leaders will loudly declare everyone has equal opportunities, it is just not true. The opportunities and expectations for our students of GDOU were far above and more abounding than for these Shantou students.
Our happiness and delightful moments revolved around World Cup, Zach, his birthday, and our one expected/one surprise visitors. On Zach's birthday, Tiger and Emma arrived in Shantou. Tiger was a planned arrival, as we had asked her to come help us finish packing and ship because we knew no one on campus had the English ability or know-how to handle the shipping company. Amidst our reunion with Tiger at the bus station, Emma strolled towards us, flung her arms wide, and declared, "I'm here!" It was spectacular and a genuine surprise. As a result, we had many late nights and a lot of cake to eat.
Late nights were not only on Zach's birthday weekend extravaganza, but for a couple weeks as we were fully captivated by the World Cup. As a birthday gift, I bought him a projector. He said he did not need anything, to which I responded, "I know you do not need it, but I think you will like it." Upon opening the box, his excitement was great and he did agree that it was not necessary but a fantastic addition to the hutong.
Our final week was spent packing, saying farewell to the few students would chat with us, and dispersing our plants among the villagers who cared for us in some way - the market vendor who won my adoration, the little old lady who sat on her porch, the old gentleman who was the village mayor (by self appointment, I believe), and the sole restaurant owner who fed us many nights with yummy peanut noodles. Their small acts of kindness on some of our bleakest days was so appreciated and we wanted to acknowledge them.
Of course our final week included a heated spat with our boss, Nate. As per contract, we asked for the car to take us to the airport at 4:45am for a flight that left at 7am. His response was less than polite - all hinging on the statement that "If we were nicer people, we would have asked if that was OK." We had asked our liaison, Icy, and she had approved it. The following days involved a lot of yelling over Wechat audio, with him saying declarations such as: "I should take back money from you" and "There are other flights to Beijing". Intertwined with seething anger was humor, for in this tirade he truly showed his man-child personality. Plus, we wondered who was going to Beijing as it was not us. After a couple days, our patience was depleted with him, so we went to Icy. We asked for intervention for we were to the point that if we had to see Nate face to face, we would physically punch him. We had had enough - we wanted to leave, we had fulfilled contract, so why the hell was he trying to keep us on campus. That evening, we received a message from her that the car would pick us up at 4:45am. We deleted Nate from our Wechat accounts.
The day before our departure, Icy stopped by the apartment to make sure everything was satisfactory. As she walked through, she kept commenting on the poor condition of apartment, insinuating that the black mold-stained toilet seat was our fault. At each jab, I countered with a "really, because it looks much better than when you gave it to us in September." At the end of the walk through, she admitted that perhaps conditions could be better for future teachers. I nodded and smiled, knowing that nothing was ever going to be done.
As our plane headed west towards a couple of days of rest and recuperation among friends in Zhanjiang, Zach and I sighed deeply. We had survived.
We do not regret the move to Shantou. In adversity and some really horrid conditions, we learned a lot about ourselves. We were exposed to a very different China and a subset culture. We grappled with the idea of privilege and how that plays out in the education system. We saw some stunning temples and had freedom to travel during a semester unlike our prior years at GDOU. We did make some unique connections with a few students as well as locals. Our Chinese community rallied around us in ways that were tangible, generous, and encouraging. We met Logan and Reannon.
Our fellow foreigners-in-crime were the perfect amount of sarcasm and wit to survive such an ordeal. While their apartment was not the cesspool destruction that was ours, they had the delightful experience of the maintenance man checking for a gas leak with a lighter. They ran for cover, he laughed. We all agreed a small piece of us wished his hunt for a leak had resulted in at least singed eyebrows. Over meals and campus run-ins, we laughed about so much, swapped stories of our experiences, and bonded over sci-fi and fantasy books and films. These guys even had McDonalds waiting for us in the movie theatre one day when we had been thrown behind schedule once again by the crappy Shantou bus system. (Solo and french fries are now synonymous.) Over the months, we were continually grateful for their sarcasm, wit, and snarky comments - especially with available food. I do not think I will ever be able to look at a fake Dico's (chicken sandwich shop) and not think of them. Like us, they finished their contract and ran...to a university on the outskirts of Beijing.
Thus, another chapter of our China life ends and the next will begin with, "Upon our arrival in Zhongshan...."
