It's Sunday night here.
The last email I sent you was a note from one of my students. I had taught them two songs, in reference to the Great Depression and what the country was experiencing, "This Little Light of Mine" (Afro-American spiritual) and "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?".
Meantime, we are all teaching six days a week, with two classes a day, meeting for 2-1/2 hours each. We each have about 24 students in each class. The students have a lot of respect for educators. Apparently, in the culture educators are held in high esteem. They are not used to being asked for their opinions and insights with the literature. The educational system in China is very regimented; there are typically 40-50 students in a class, lecture style, with a professor who simply lectures and the students reiterate the material on an exam. It has been a challenge getting the students comfortable and confident enough to express their opinions and engage in dialogue. They are very eager and receptive to learning much about American culture, and each of us is bringing our own perspective. Because of the strong technology in the classroom, we are able to actually tape classroom presentations and play them back for the students with mounted cameras in the classroom. Keep in mind this is the Wenzhou University campus where we are renting space. The new campus for Wenzhou-Kean University is scheduled to open September 30. The earlier pictures I sent were taken at the construction site.
It's been quite an intensive time period. Our typical day consists of meeting the van or bus, which picks us up at our hotel at 7:20 each morning. We usually pick up some staff along the way to arrive at the campus around 8:15-8:20 a.m. Our classes are scheduled from 9-11:30 a.m. and then from 2-4:30 p.m. The van or bus brings us back to our hotel around 6 p.m. It's very weird working six days a week. The students have to speak English only all day on campus. Obviously, some students have strong English skills and some have very limited skills. In many cases, this is the first native speaker they have had. Dr. Cirasa and his staff have really made us feel at home and comfortable during our stay. We've had a chance to visit a number of restaurants: Chinese, Indian, and Arabic, so far. Unfortunately, the skills of our hotel staff are very limited. It's a challenge to ask for simple room requests. Sometimes, we have had to have the Chinese staff at Wenzhou-Kean intervene and interpret on our behalf.
It has been HOT AND HUMID since we have been here. So far, we have broken records for heat since the last 140 years. It's been in the upper 90s, with heat indexes over 100. Maybe it rained for a few minutes over the past 2-1/2 weeks. As I said in my previous reports, the culture is quite fascinating. There are no ovens here in China; most people have to import ovens and it's very expensive. They have top ranges, but no ovens. Consequently, baking isn't really done here. Most of the food is fried, boiled, or roasted. There also seems to be an abundance of pork. The grades of beef can vary, depending on the restaurant. Tipping isn't really practiced here, for example, with the hotels or taxis. Wenzhou has historically seen as being somewhat isolated from the mainland because of the mountains. They are not as tourist-friendly and conscious as what you will find in Shanghai or Beijing. The personality of the people here is more more shy; you are seen as being somewhat strange to speak to greet someone with "hello" or "how are you?" unless you know him/her personally. So far, very few of the locals speak English. The Wenzhounese dialect is distinct from the Mandarin spoken in Shanghai or Beijing. Often, people from the different provinces are unable to understand one another. Also, apparently spitting is very common. It's considered more sanitary than swallowing your phlegm or mucus. The food here is not as flavorful as in the other provinces.
Until next time!
DR. JONATHAN DEWBERRY
