China Teacher (David’s big adventure)

I arrived in Singapore on Thursday afternoon (7-10) and spent the next few days seeing the sights such as the National Museum, Asian Civilizations Museum, Chinatown Heritage Museum, Singapore Zoo, Riverwalk area and some of the ethnic neighborhoods (Chinatown and Little India). Singapore is very clean, orderly and tightly controlled. Opposition to the government is not allowed. It has a bit of a science fiction movie “big brother is watching” kind of feel to it. Punishments for crimes are severe, chewing gum is outlawed and it seems it would be easier if they put up signs in the subway saying what’s allowed rather than what’s not allowed because so many things are prohibited. If you’re a rule follower it seems a very livable place; modern and very westernized. Many western food chains can be found here including Hooters. English is the official language but most people also speak the language of their heritage. Singapore is a city/state of only 228 square miles and has a population of 4.4 million people of which Chinese make up the largest group followed by Indians and Malay. It became part of the British empire early in the 1800’s and became an independent state in the mid 1960’s. Pushed by a strong leader the country became somewhat of an economic miracle.

It’s pretty expensive here (I’m paying more than $40 U.S. a night for a very small room in a hostel without a private bath) with prices for many things being about the same as in the U.S. My first night here I sat at an outdoor cafe overlooking the Singapore River sipping on a Singapore Sling. The zoo here is very nice and they have a “Night Safari” which highlights some of the nocturnal animals and brings in a lot of revenue for them. It was a bit creepy walking through the exhibit with the large fruit bats close enough to reach out and touch while they were hanging upside down eating their fruit. The taxi’s here are all very clean and well maintained and the subway system is a great way to get around. The people here are very friendly, polite and helpful……sometimes when you ask for directions or information it seems they respond like they know big brother is watching…. .lol. I haven’t taken many pictures here so I’ll wait to post pictures until later. On Monday morning I will be taking a bus north for about 6 hours to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

I am writing this on the train that’s taking me from Kunming to Nanning. I opted for the “soft sleeper” cabin with 4 beds. The trip will take 13 hours and will arrive at 8:30 in the morning. I have successfully completed my first year of teaching in China and am looking forward to my second year after my summer vacation and some travels. As has always been the case for me when moving to a new city, I am leaving Kunming with mixed emotions. I had many great experiences here and made some great friends. I can only hope Nanning will be equally rewarding. My last day of classes was a memorable one as the night before we had torrential rains and when I arrived near the classroom building I found there was flooding all around it. So I took off my shoes and socks, rolled up my pant legs and waded through about 8 inches of water to get into the building. I went to class barefoot and found that only 4 of the 40 some students had braved the water. Another student called me and said many of the students were waiting outside near the building so I went to meet them. I held a very short class in the lobby of a girls dormitory which consisted of returning their final exam papers to them and showing them their grades for the class. On the way back to my apartment I had to wade through knee deep water. I wrote some things in the past about my Sophomore writing class. They were the worst group of students I have ever seen….so lazy! I failed 20 of the 45 students in that class! The most I failed in any other class was 5. I am now technically homeless as I vacated my apartment in Kunming and cannot move into the apartment at the school in Nanning until August 25. I packed my belongings into 3 travel bags and 3 boxes. I am taking the 3 bags with me and leaving the 3 boxes with a friend to be shipped to me later in Nanning.

I decided last year to teach in Kunming because they told me I would be probably teaching some business classes but when I arrived they only gave me English classes. So I decided if I was going to teach English I might as well go to Nanning to a better school and get much better pay. In general, the school there seems much more professional. I have been working with them on getting my visa renewed and had some difficulty getting a clear answer from them about when and how I would get my visa. The government has made it very difficult to get visa’s here recently because of the Olympics and perhaps also because of the unrest that took place a few months ago. It may also have something to do with them keeping tabs on the foreigners here and with the influx of visitors for the Olympics they may be having capacity issues. The best answer I have received is that I will have to go to Nanning on August 4 to get a 30 day tourist visa since my current visa expires August 5, then the school will get my new resident visa by September 3. While in Nanning this week I will get the medical exam for my new visa and will leave one bag in Nanning. The school will pay for my hotel during my short visit this week then I will do some traveling.

I had originally planned to travel to Japan, South Korea and around northern China. I have changed my plans because of the visa issues and because of the protests that have been going on in Korea. If the Koreans don’t want our American beef then they’re not going to get my American dollars. I haven’t heard very many good things about the Korean people anyway. I will be flying to Singapore on July 10, then will slowly work my way north through Malaysia and perhaps southern Thailand before returning to China on or before August 4. Singapore is very near the equator and if there was land south of Singapore I think I could easily drive to the equator in a few hours. Oh well, I guess my first time south of the equator and my trip to Japan will have to wait.

I posted a bunch of pictures that have been taken over the past couple months. To see the pictures click on "Pictures" under "my links" on the right hand side about half way down. ... [Continue reading this entry]

The earthquake has proven to be a tremendous tragedy. The final death toll will likely exceed 70,000 and they say they are 5 million people homeless! That would be like the entire population of ... [Continue reading this entry]

I have received quite a few e-mails checking on me to make sure I’m okay after the earthquake. I didn’t even feel it and there was no impact here in Kunming. I haven’t ... [Continue reading this entry]

It’s been about 4 weeks since I’ve written mostly because the last two weeks I’ve been incredibly busy. I have been working on finding a different job, dealing with some issues at my property in ... [Continue reading this entry]

Last Friday was a holiday (“Pure and Bright Day” for honoring the dead) so many people had the day off. Some friends invited me to go with them on a trip to Dali and Jizu Shan (mountain). Four ... [Continue reading this entry]

I actually teach for 2 different schools even though I collect my pay from just one of them. Half my classes are YUFE (Yunnan University of Finance and Economics) classes and the other half are IBS (International Business School) ... [Continue reading this entry]

School is back in full swing now and I have 17 hours of classes this semester vs. 16 last semester. I have 6 oral English classes and 2 writing classes. One writing class is with freshmen and 1 ... [Continue reading this entry]

I arrived in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) on Friday, February 1 after flying from Kunming to Hong Kong then on to Saigon. In Hong Kong they didn't want me to get on the plane since I didn't have a ... [Continue reading this entry]