On Fridays during the summer we often visit this barbecue place in Dongba. It’s not your traditional barbecue manned by fat blokes with burgers and chicken that takes forever to cook, but it’s meat on sticks accompanied by the finest of beers. We imagined we were eating lamb on skewers, and quite tasty they were too. Now it seems, allegedly, that we have been eating cat and dog meat soaked in sheep’s urine to give it that lamb flavour. This is somewhat disturbing. I just hope the beer is beer.
That'll be winter then
Tragically due to me being terrifically busy working, and not much else happening besides snow arriving and the temperature dropping to minus a million or so, I don’t really have much to say but I thought I’d publish just to keep the revenue flowing in so I can think about all those Christmas presents I’m not going to buy. Just a few random things then:
North and South
You can’t beat that feeling of schadenfreude when the Northern Irish protestant and true-Brit realises to his horror that he’s been drinking in an Irish Republican pub. I did tell him the 1916 proclamation was on the wall, but maybe he didn’t know what it was, or maybe I said it quietly as Gaeilge. (It’s not a very ‘Irish’ pub as the owner appears to be American, they do Thai food, and I seem to be the only genuine Free Stater who frequents it.)
Copyright in China
I tuned in to Newstalk to listen to commentary on Leinster v Glasgow in the Heineken Cup. After a few minutes they interrupted the live broadcast to say that for copyright reasons the broadcast was not available in my area (or something to that effect) and they’d be playing some old stuff for us foreigners. After about 30 seconds the live commentary returned. Ah, the joys of China laughing in the face of copyright restrictions. But really, they are making strenuous efforts to do…..just about nothing.
The fighting Chinese
There appears to have been a mad outbreak of fighting in the school. In one of my classes a student was nursing a bandaged head wound while three of the other boys in the class served one week suspensions for fighting to defend the head-wounded one. In another incident, some boys from Year 10 were helping police with their inquiries after beating up some younger kid. And just the other night apparently there was a fairly massive 40 boy (I assume the girls aren’t involved) fight between the various different schools on campus. There are times (many times) I think that this whole school is on the verge of collapse and I’ll be joining the (non-existent) Chinese dole queue.
Another blue sky day
Compare and contrast
The first major task for my year 11 students was a compare and contrast essay and all my 95 students misguidedly saw fit to hand in some kind of transcript in the end. Some were heavily reliant on cut and paste, many were badly delicious food translated colourful dreams from Chinese to Chinglish, one or two were barely comprehensible, and a few were actually pretty good. I am now fully aware that Chinese students work too hard (and are therefore way more intelligent) and western students basically do what they like, according to most of the essays I read.
Contract negotiations
So Lily says asks would I like a new contract. I said maybe. She mentioned a fairly ok increase in salary and various other benefits. I said I’ll think about it. She said I should stay in China and get married; there are plenty of nice looking female teachers in NIT. I should ask one of them out. I was inclined to think she was pimping out her teachers to me to convince me to stay. I wonder who’ll be the sacrifice.
Self-praise is no praise
We all have to fill out our self-evaluation forms by tomorrow, awarding ourselves scores under heaps of categories. I’m pondering should I take the Chinese approach and mark really generously, perhaps recommending myself for a promotion and a massive pay-rise. Or should I take the humble approach and be tough but fair?
Sports news
That English rugby team, eh? Great to hear them complaining that the Irish were worse and yet somehow got away with it.
And finally, that little cackle you let out just as you check out the football scores from the night before and see that both United and City have crashed out of Europe.
Another bleedin' willow scene
There you have it. I promised nothing, and delivered less.
No way am I wearing a Santa outfit
