"They are not good drivers"

In a recent article in the Los Angeles Times, China's hazardous driving is spotlighted and I couldn't agree more with what the author had to say. China is a booming country and along with the new high rise apartment buildings and new fashion malls popping up everywhere, so are new drivers. China recently passed the United States to become the world's top buyer of new vehicles, nearly 50,000 a day. And although China currently has 40% fewer cars on the road than the United States, it doubles the number of people that die in road accidents each year. Driving in China certainly is not the same thing as driving in America. There are so many more things to watch out for here, the same rules simply don't apply. Many pedestrians act as if the auto revolution never happened and many motorists don't obey common traffic rules. I like to think of the roads in China as "survival of the fittest". Usually the biggest vehicle wins. Then theres the difference between cars, electric-scooters and bicycles. While few cars obey traffic rules, scooters and bicycles definitely do not.

Because of the sheer number of people living in China, if a car stopped at a pedestrian crossing, they might be there for hours waiting for the crowds of people to part. Cars that miss an exit on the highway will often slam on their brakes, throw the car in reverse and stop traffic to get back to their exit. When making a right or left turn, cars do not yield to oncoming traffic but force other cars out of their way. Lane markers are a suggested rule to follow but don't mean much. I often see cars attempting a 3 point turn in the middle of road, blocking all lanes of traffic. I regularly take public buses and we are often stopped in traffic with a car directly facing us, almost as if its a duel. I chuckle to myself because the bus will always win, its the biggest. When crossing the road, it doesn't matter if I am in a cross walk or not, I have to look in all directions and for all types of vehicles. Usually if a motorist sees you, they will avoid you, but I never depend on them.

I often see accidents on the road that easily could have been avoided. People just don't obey simple rules like yielding when making a turn, using turn signals, stopping at red lights and staying in your lane. China is far from becoming a country that obeys traffic laws. If the rules are not enforced (which they aren't), people will continue to drive recklessly. I have no desire to become a driver here and even riding my bike on the streets is stressful!

Read the full article at: http://articles.latimes.com/2011/apr/20/business/la-fi-china-crash-20110421

A Day in the Life of a Chinese Student...

On our recent trip to Deze Middle School to teach English, I got a copy of a students schedule. I was shocked to see how busy these middle school students are. The students live at the school Mon-Fri and go home on the weekend. They live in small dormitories of 12 people to a room. So the next time your son or daughter complains about having too much homework or too many classes, inform them of the life of a Chinese student in the countryside.

Day to Day Schedule:

6:30 - Wake Up

6:40-6:50 - Exercise

6:50-7:15 - Breakfast

7:15 - 7:45 - Reading

7:50 - 8:35 - Class

8:45 - 9:30 - Class

9:30 - 9:50 - Exercise

9:50 - 10:35 - Class

10:45 - 11:30 - Class

11:30 - 12:00 - Lunch

12:00-1:10 - Rest

2:00-2:45 - Class

2:55-3:40 - Class

3:50-4:35 - Class

4:35-5:05 - Homework

5:05-5:35 - Dinner

6:00-7:00 - Study time

7:30-8:10 - Class

8:20-9:00 - Class

9:10-9:50 - Class

10:10 - Bedtime

A student dormitory

English Teaching - Creativity

Last week I traveled outside of Kunming to the countryside of Deze to teach English at a middle school for two days. I was accompanied by three women from Hong Kong and Alma, CWEF’s Education Director. We were welcomed by a large group of teachers from the Education Bureau who were very eager to have us teach at their school. As we prepared for the following days activities, I soon realized that teachers were coming in from around the county to observe our foreign teaching techniques and were taking our lessons very seriously.

Each class consisted of 60-70 students and each period lasted 45 minutes. Such large class sizes initially posed as a problem, but since 4 of us were teaching each class we were able to get around to each student and help them. We emphasized creativity in the classroom: drawing, singing, dancing, games, etc. Chinese classrooms can be a bit boring, with emphasis on memorization and repetition so we really wanted to show the teachers there are more fun ways to learn English.

We brought the students outside and gave them chalk to draw activities they like to do. We were teaching Who, What, When and Where, so students made sentences such as: “On Monday, I like to play ping pong with my sister on the playground.” Leaving the classroom to have class was such a foreign concept to these students they were very reluctant to even start drawing on the playground with the chalk. We also had to encourage them to get out of their seats to move around the classroom when doing other fun activities and games. We tried to be as silly as possible to get the kids laughing and enjoying themselves and at the end of the day, one of the English teachers in the back of the room commented that we seemed very professional.

Overall, it was a great trip. At the end of each day I certainly was exhausted. I have to give credit to all teachers out there, getting in front of a classroom full of students and keeping them engaged is an exhausting activity. I only did it for two days, I can’t imagine doing it year after year!

I hope the English teachers that observed us can utilize the teaching techniques we used and engage their students more. In countryside schools, much like the one we were at, it is common for students to drop out after middle school to go work in the city or help their parents on the farm. Many of them don’t see a use for learning English and their classes are so boring they don’t care to try. It can be hard to find ways for students to practice their English, but we encouraged them to speak as much as they can to their teachers and peers.

Hopefully, CWEF can continue to work with this school and provide English lessons and teaching excursions to encourage these students to study and work hard so they can get into college.

Deze countryside

A student showing her paper in the front of the class

Working my way around the classroom which is hard to do with 70 students

Students drawing their own pictures

Megan, from Hong Kong, teaching "happy" to the class

A view of the entire middle school, 800 students

Student dormitories

Ping pong table on the playground

So cute

Students eating their lunch outside

Health Surveys

This past weekend I had the pleasure of accompanying five English teachers from Taiwan and two of my Chinese co-workers to a small village in rural Yunnan to conduct health surveys. Before CWEF decides to do health trainings in villages, we go in and access the needs of the people, and that is exactly what we did this weekend.

The English teachers from Taiwan took time and energy away from their own work to travel all the way to Yunnan for a few days to help conduct the surveys among two villages. We interviewed around twenty households and asked basic health and hygiene questions. How often do you brush your teeth? Do you wash your hands before eating and after using the toilet? At how many months do you introduce supplementary foods to your baby? Have you had any diseases or sicknesses? What kinds of food are you eating and how many meals a day do you eat? How often do you eat meat?

These types of questions seem simple but are very important when accessing the needs of a particular village. Many of the people we interviewed brush their teeth only a few times a month and do not wash their hands before eating or after using the toilet. Most of the households do not have individual toilets but community bathrooms, a cement trough leading down to a dug pit. The majority do not have education past elementary school or any at all. Their health habits are lacking simply because no one has ever taught them. We as an organization take the information we learn during these interviews and decide what kind of health training and education we can provide for them.

The two villages we visited were Christian and both had churches that welcomed and offered us a place to sleep. It was amazing to see their joy and passion for the L-rd, something I had not witnessed in a village yet.

Overall the trip was a success and we were able to gather a lot of information to use in future trainings. In two weeks, another group from Taiwan will be arriving and we will be going out to another village, conducting the same surveys.

Next week, I will be leading a new team from Hong Kong to teach English at a middle school a few hours outside of Kunming. We partner with schools in this particular area to offer scholarships and school resource materials. I pr-y the few days we have at this school with encourage the students to continue in their English studies and work hard for a higher education.

The Miao choir singing in church

Conducting household surveys. One of the English teachers from Taiwan on the left, my Chinese co-worker on the right.

The first family we interviewed, the wife was shoving pumpkin seeds into my jacket pocket as we left.

A scene of the village.

Sitting in a circle around coals trying to stay warm during the interviews.

Enjoying a feast of Chinese food.

A typical wood burning stove used for cooking.

We look for toothbrushes and toothpaste inside a villagers home, this woman had one but only brushed her teeth a few times a month.

So cute.

The community bathroom. Women on the left, men on the right.

A village woman washing vegetables for dinner.

Many of the homes built fires during our interviews to help stay warm, this one was especially big and bright.

A Miao woman and her daughter during an interview.

A new mother and father with their baby, they are the same age as me but have a much tougher life.

Some of our team members and myself with a few of the Miao women.

$1.5 million dollar dog

This past week, a dog sold for $1.5 million dollars in northern China. The red Tibetan Mastiff named “Big Splash” or “Hong Dong” in Chinese is now the most expensive pet on the planet. The dog is 11 months old and has no idea what kind of life he is in for. Tibetan Mastiffs are an ancient breed long revered as adept guard dogs and have taken an increasingly heightened role as a status symbol representing affluence in China. This dog is to the Chinese as a BMW or Mercedes is to an American businessman; a status symbol. Part of the reason for the high price tag is the exclusivity. Red Tibetan Mastiffs are rarely seen or bred outside of Tibet and seldom seen outside of China. The owner says his new dog is a “perfect specimen” and worth the price paid.

But still, $1.5 million?!

Big Splash

China Rushes to Buy Salt

Photo courtesy of China Daily

Residents in China and Asia have caught on to a new and false rumor: that iodized salt can help prevent exposure to radiation. Within 24 hours, people flocked to grocery stores to buy up all the salt they could find, only to find most stores were already sold out. This false rumor, that iodized salt can ward off radiation poisoning spread in response to Japan’s nuclear crisis. Officials have informed citizens that ingesting iodized tablets will not protect against radiation and consuming too much salt can lead to death. The government has reasurred its citizen that China is in no harm from Japan’s radiation but people are still fighting for a sense of reassurance via salt. Prices of salt have jumped ten-fold in some cities and eBay is selling tablets for more than $540. Once the salt ran out, people started buying soy sauce saying that just in case, soy sauce as a lot of salt as well.

Doctors say that potassium iodide pills are used to help mitigate the effects of radiation, but regular table salt does not contain enough iodine to make a difference. Government officials are hastily trying to stop these rumors before people take advantage of the price jump and spread even more rumors. Some say it is disheartening to see how much the trust in the governments information has diminished.

I luckily made a trip to Wal-Mart on Tuesday and happened to buy a container of salt since I was close to running out myself. The salt I bought will be used strictly for cooking purposes.

5.8-Magnitude earthquake hits Yunnan

On March 10, 2011 a 5.8-magnitude earthquake hit the far west side of Yunnan, in the county of Yingjiang leaving 25 dead and 314 injured. The quake toppled the homes of 1,039 families and left 5,000 others seriously damaged. As of Sunday, the central and local government have disbursed 10,000 tents, 15,000 quilts and 15,000 coats to the homeless victims in the quake-hit region. Altogether 53,000 people are being housed in large-sized tents in plazas and village squares. So far, no epidemics have spread as doctors are disinfecting the tents daily.

Kunming did not feel the quake and carried on like normal, but Yingjiang is an area with many minorities and poor villages. Please pr-y for the victims families and for the efforts in Japan.