Apparently I'm the first English 外教 (foreign teacher) to speak Chinese, that made me feel relieved! I was told by one of the English teachers (she's the top of the department) that the principle is very excited that I speak Chinese because his English isn't very good (in China saying you're English isn't very good doesn't mean much, they all say that). He was glad we could get to know one another better and he hoped to become my 干爹 (god father). She said he liked the idea of having a cute young American at his school, which oddly in China isn't a creepy thing to say.
In China the people are direct. Not in every way, and especially not in the way that we American are. In China 胖 (fat) is just a way to describe someone, not an insult. Also fat here is a relative term - Chinese people are super skinny. The people are small in every way! In fact, yesterday I had to explain the words "dwarf" and "midget" to a class full of kids because they were in a reading and the students (and teacher) didn't understand what they meant. I wanted to point out that in the US some of the kids in that class would be considered midgets, but refrained.
There is a similar feeling to being skinny in China as there is in the US. Women are under immense pressure to be skinny. My coworker said that women are always on diets, trying to keep their weight down. I talked to an American who has lived in china for a few years and he said that online their are diagrams showing a woman's legs and dictating where they should and should not touch. As you can imagine woman aren't called fat as a descriptive word, just men. Because men being fat doesn't matter.
Attractiveness over here is difficult for me to understand. I'm not one of those Americans who doesn't find Asians attractive, but I definitely do not believe in the same "rules" of attractiveness that these people do.
Last night when I was hanging around in the Grade three building after dinner during their homework time (yes they have designated time to do homework) I was asked by a female student if one of the male students was attractive. Firstly I was shocked by the question, in America that would never be asked! Sexual harassment laws and all... So I said to her that I was too much older than them to answer that question. This offended the boy (who was apparently seen as a hotty... not by me...) and then the girl told me "only four years," like that was nothing.
When I told the students I was 22 they didn't believe me. My colleagues were all shocked at how young I was but the students thought I was closer to their age. I guess it was wishful thinking. They all want to make friends with me, spend time with and do things for me. The last is my favorite... Hey! It's fun having people do things for you just because they want to. Also, here it's normal.
When I first got out of the taxi at the school the teacher I was with said she'd find some boys to carry my suitcases up. I felt terrible and tried to tell her no, but no sooner had I gotten out of the car then there was a rush of boys fighting over who could help carry my suitcases. Now, this is due inpart to the fact that the week before classes begin the students go through military training and helping me with my bags was not military training, but hey - I'll take it!
Want to learn more about Qinhuangdao? Checkout this website my friends made. (There are even some pictures of me on there!) http://qhdconnect.spruz.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment