Remembering China Adventures of an American Teacher Living and Learning in the Middle Kingdom Rodney H Clarken Clarken China Stories 7/3/2012 Copyright © 2012 by Rodney H Clarken All rights reserved. The latest version of this book is freely available at http://rodclarken.wordpress.com/published-works/ Please send comments and suggestions to [email protected] Current version: July 2, 2012 Page 2 Clarken China Stories 7/3/2012 Table of Contents Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................ 6 Preface ................................................................................................................................ 7 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 9 The Earthquake ................................................................................................................ 11 May 14, 2008 ................................................................................................................ 11 May 17, 2008 ................................................................................................................ 12 Three Days in China .......................................................................................................... 14 Tuesday, December 26, 1995 ....................................................................................... 14 Going to Work .......................................................................................................... 14 Going to the Countryside ......................................................................................... 16 First School ............................................................................................................... 18 The Banquet ............................................................................................................. 24 The Hotel .................................................................................................................. 26 Wednesday, December 27, 1995 ................................................................................. 30 Eight Weddings and Eight Accidents ........................................................................ 30 Next Town, Next School ........................................................................................... 35 Thursday, December 28, 1995 ..................................................................................... 41 Third School .............................................................................................................. 41 Going Home (I Think) ................................................................................................ 44 Christmas/New Year’s Party ..................................................................................... 45 Foreigner Living in China: Cross-Cultural Experiences ..................................................... 47 My First Visit to My Chinese Employer ........................................................................ 47 Working with the Waiban ............................................................................................ 50 Panda Cage: Aliens in China ......................................................................................... 52 Monkey in a Cage ......................................................................................................... 54 May You Live in Interesting Times ................................................................................ 57 Assaulted in China ........................................................................................................ 59 Pigs in China.................................................................................................................. 62 Living with Rats ............................................................................................................. 67 The Pedicab Affair ........................................................................................................ 78 Christmas Eve in Deyang .............................................................................................. 81 Johnny's Chinese Haircut .............................................................................................. 84 Watch Out for Wajiao .................................................................................................. 89 A Ticket to Ride and a Place to Stay: Xian .................................................................... 91 Page 3 Clarken China Stories 7/3/2012 Riding My Bike to Work in Chengdu ............................................................................. 93 Reflections on Driving Across Sichuan ......................................................................... 96 American Hamburgers and Chinese Boazi ................................................................. 100 Stranger in a Strange Land ......................................................................................... 102 Building and Struggling in China ................................................................................. 105 Karaoke and Leadership ............................................................................................. 108 Chaos Theory in China ................................................................................................ 110 Arrested ...................................................................................................................... 112 Honking ...................................................................................................................... 113 Looking at Chinese Education ........................................................................................ 114 Ideas for Teaching English as a Second Language to Primary Students ..................... 114 Notes on Meeting with Leaders and Teachers in Leshan ........................................... 117 Visiting with an American Comrade ........................................................................... 119 Teaching Middle School English in Guanghan and Deyang ........................................ 122 My First Observations of Teaching ............................................................................. 126 Going to and Observations of Guanghan School ....................................................... 128 Rock Star Receptions .................................................................................................. 131 Observing and Speaking at a Middle School .............................................................. 132 Learn from Yang An: A Model School in China ........................................................... 135 Ceremony for Bilingual Education and Experimenting English: Chengdu 10/25/95 .. 139 My Last Trip Out: Tuesday, May 28, 1996 .................................................................. 142 Aftershocks ..................................................................................................................... 144 Yesterday in Dujiangyan ......................................................................................... 145 Today with Yingxiu teachers ................................................................................... 146 The Next Day and Many More to Come ................................................................. 149 Postscript ........................................................................................................................ 151 What Happened Next ................................................................................................. 151 Writing in China .......................................................................................................... 154 On Choosing My Chinese Name ................................................................................. 156 Dear Mr. Bahai: Farewell Letter ............................................................................. 162 Unfinished notes: Observations traveling in rural Sichuan ........................................ 164 Essays.............................................................................................................................. 167 Cultural Identity and World Unity .............................................................................. 167 Drug Wars: Past and Present, East and West ............................................................. 169 Thoughts on Chinese Education ................................................................................. 170 Page 4 Clarken China Stories 7/3/2012 Understanding Social and Economic Development ................................................... 171 Made in China............................................................................................................. 174 Moral Education and China ........................................................................................ 175 Open and Closed Door Policies Between America and China .................................... 176 Fears and Social Reconstruction................................................................................. 178 Five Impediments to Prosperity ................................................................................. 181 Religion and Moral Education in China and America ................................................. 183 China Wakes: Role Of Education ...............................................................................