No Kraft Dinner here

As we are settling into Chinese life, the last few weeks have become a bit monotonous with work and daily life. While living on campus, working on campus, eating on campus and the availability of daily necessities on campus, sometimes I feel like we’re living in the isolated little world of our university. Though, we have also taken turns getting sick with both stomach viruses and head colds – so at times I am grateful for the convenience.

Scott has started a new job teaching kindergarten children. We met some Canadian guys from Nelson, BC of all places, at a coffee shop last week and they were bragging about how wonderful their jobs are as kindergarten teachers. As our teaching schedule is very lax and we are a bit strapped for cash, they set up a meeting for us with their bosses. They work for a company that hires out western teachers to kindergartens around Kunming to teach 30 min of English a day with the children.

Well, apparently the company prefers Canadian males as they hired their third. Scott is thrilled with the opportunity to work with children, something he’s been saying he is more cut out for, opposed to teaching university students. The children are aged 2-5 and are so cute. Somehow Chinese children seem far cuter than white kids. I am excited for him in his new endeavor.

To fill my spare time, I am creating a flyer in Chinese (with the help of China guru Gaetan), advertising my services as an English tutor. I will post these around some of the more prestigious universities in Kunming and perhaps some high-income apartment buildings.

Our Chinese lessons have finally begun. After working our way through the university bureaucracy, we were successful at last in enrolling in a beginner class. The only problem is that the class started September 1, so we are quite behind. The rest of the class is comprised of French exchange students, enrolled in the university’s MBA program. Interestingly, the French students have an oddly similar behavioral style to their Chinese counterparts. I’m not sure if these lackluster habits stem from their own culture, or if it’s something they’ve picked up here in China. At the moment, we are attempting to cram the twelve chapters we’ve missed into one week in order to catch up. Not only are we learning to speak and understand Chinese, but we’re also learning to read and write Chinese characters. The 3,000-plus-character system is a bit intimidating, but could sure help out when attempting to order food at a restaurant or finding my way around the city.

I found a new store in Kunming that is a short 20 min walk from campus. Metro, a German owned chain, is similar to Costco or Sam’s Club in that it’s a large warehouse selling both bulk and non-bulk food and household items. There is a large selection of imported wine (though quite costly), a variety of imported beers (including Belgian brands like Hoegaarten, Duvel and Leffe) and European chocolates. The availability of western goods in Kunming has surprised me. When packing for this trip, I made sure to bring along some staple western items like Dove soap, tampons and English novels, while preparing myself to say goodbye to favorite snacks like cheddar cheese and apple pie. However, with numerous expat specialty shops and “import” aisles in local grocery stores, you can find just about any western commodity you crave. The only thing we haven’t seen is Kraft Dinner, though, without our own kitchen, it would only be a tease. There is a street in Kunming named Wen Jin Li (westerner street) that houses numerous western-style cafes and restaurants. While they are twice to three-times more expensive than a local restaurant, you can fill your cravings for burgers, pizza, bagels, sushi, pad thai and lattes.

Most the bars and cafes here have shelves of English books you can trade or buy and there are also a few bookshops that carry a large selection of English titles. Before leaving for China, on the advice of my mom and her book group, I read Wild Swans by Jung Chang. This is an incredible account of three generations of middle-class Chinese women spanning from the late 1800’s through the Cultural Revolution. As the author’s parents were both Communist Party members, her first-hand account of this period in Chinese history is quite critical. I was warned not to attempt brining the book into China and raced to finish it. Scott didn’t quite finish the book before landing at the Guangzhou airport and nonchalantly carried it through customs in his backpack. Even though the customs form states that items that criticize or condemn the Chinese government are illegal, no one searched us. I was later surprised to find the same book for sale in a Kunming bookshop. I have also been told that this same book has been translated into Chinese, but omits all critical accounts of Mao and the revolution. The Chinese translation must be a short story.

This time period in Chinese history is very hush-hush here on the mainland. All but one student we’ve asked about it either plays ignorance or is ignorant to the events of their country’s recent history. Propaganda is still an important tool in Chinese society. It’s apparent on Chinese television, where even the one channel in English (CCTV 9) speaks only of great things happening, both current and past. While American’s complain that the news in the US is always bad news – this is the other side of the spectrum. Censorship is also widely enforced especially through the Internet. Websites like Wikipedia and YouTube are inaccessible due to some critical material. And perhaps my blog too will be blocked after this posting.

No pictures this time, except the below shot of Scott with friends Chad and his brother Michael from Vancouver. Scott played hockey with Chad in Galeen, Netherlands and has kept in close contact. Chad had been playing hockey in Beijing this year and came down to Yunnan for a short visit. We took them out for the famed Over-the-Bridge Noodles and some beers.