The good and the bad

At the start of this semester we were giving a book called 'Teaching English in China'. It's really useful and a great read for anyone new to teaching and China. It's quite useful for those who've been here a while as well. There was one part of the book which talked about 'culture shock' and also 'culture fatigue'. I think that sometimes, despite being here now for more than year, I still find myself suffering from culture fatigue. The book describes it as 'the "little things" that wear you down' and things do still wear me down sometimes [though living in PX does seem easier since our summer roadtrip].

Anyway, an example of one of those "little things":

I got a call the other morning from DHL. I worked out [after a bit] that the guy was Chinese. His English was very good and I couldn't really place his accent at first. He asked me if I was expecting a parcel from DHL. I wasn't. He then said it was from the University of Birmingham and it clicked - it was some initial paperwork for my distance learning MA that I'm embarking on this year. So, I confirmed that it was for me and he asked me for more information about my address, such as the street name. Embarrassingly, I didn't know. So I said I'd find out and call him back. In the meantime, he managed to find enough information and phoned me back to say it was sorted. I told him to send the van to the Foreign Languages Department office.

A little while later I happened to be looking out of the window and I saw a DHL van drive past. I got Rick to check later with the FLD office, but no parcel had arrived. I couldn't understand it. One response was that mybe the parcel wasn't in the van(!!!) So it had come all the way from the depot in Nanchang with no parcel?!! Hmmm... Anyway, they seemed to think that it would turn up the next day. I was far from convinced and not a little annoyed. I thought that if they came too many times and couldn't deliver, then they would just send the parcel back to Britain and I'd end up having to pay for it again. Grrr...

But it turned out well in the end. DHL reposted it through the Chinese EMS (express mail service) and it arrived the next day. Culture fatigue [just about] averted. Things just seem so difficult sometimes.

But luckily there are usually things to counter-balance the bad stuff.

Today in China it is Teachers' Day. Unfortunately we don't get a holiday. However, in my class this morning the class monitor had organised all the students to say "Stephanie - Happy Teachers' Day!" which was great. And then, at the end of class, one of the students, actually one of the quiet ones, gave me a bunch of flowers. I was so touched.

Happy Teachers' Day!