Introverted Tigger Eisleys

I live in Chengdu: Tigger hunt. That's right.

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I've had my PC for almost 6 years. I'm really quite proud of that. How much money have I not spent? A lot.

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I've recently been thinking about why exactly I generally feel rather disappointed with my time at ASU, and more specifically with my Chinese class during my last semester. On the whole, it was alright; I don't hate... but I think the root of my disappointment stems from the gap between the China that I know and the China that I was learning about in Arizona. I believe a number of factors were involved, including but not limited to: the uniqueness of Chengdu compared to the rest of China, the shortcomings of the Chinese program at ASU (there, I said it), and, of course, my own knowledge of the fact that I was disappointed and general disillusionment with China and the Mandarin language.

There's no blame. Chengdu's just weird. And I'm weird. And the ASU Chinese program must not be.

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Standing up to family and friends is a challenge for many Americans. Based on my experience, however, the situation is exponentially more challenging and complicated for Chinese people. Chinese society traditionally idolizes family above all. There are webs and structures in seemingly every aspect of life which are meant to ensure the adherence of all to certain thought processes, methods, goals, etc. You're probably thinking, "Well... yeah. It's China, Chris." The thing is, we normally picture government forces enforcing this sort of system. In reality, I find that it's friends and family- the ones closest to a Chinese person- who tend to keep the individual "on track". Loved ones have essentially become the instrument by which the individual's choices are kept in line.

This is, of course, just what I see. Furthermore, change may be on the way.

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I could upload all of these things to the blog, but I'd rather just give you links:

To begin,

...Something else...

And now, this.

Well, that was fun, right? A little bit of something for everyone. Maybe.

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I like the music I listened to in high school.

I sometimes miss practical jokes. (Not common in China.)

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Teaching story alert:

I now have a student named Leo Liu. Chinese speakers will know that's the stupidest English name ever to give someone with the family name of Liu. Why? Because "Liu" is essentially just pronounced "Leo" but with the emphasis on the second vowel. In fact, it's just "Leo", but spoken in one syllable instead of two. So, maybe it's not the stupidest name. Honestly, I quite like it. What doesn't seem too wise is the fact that class now has two girls named "Lily" (Lily Love and Lily Rong) and two boys named "Leo" (Leo and Leo Liu). Yeah.

Where? Where? It doesn't exist. (哪里哪里，不存在)

The top picture is the view from one of my uncle and aunt's bedrooms. They live in Guangzhou, China. I stayed there the last time I made my trip down to Hong Kong.

The bottom picture is my room with the curtains closed. It looks a little different now, but that's about it. It's too big for me (and too expensive), but it's where I live for right now!

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Question: How can the fact that human emotions and feelings are capable of leading to massive physical responses in our bodies not point to the fact that we are fearfully and wonderfully made by a creator? The intangible can cause the tangible. Things we hear or view change who we are; how incredible is that?

That just doesn't seem likely to have been an ability we developed as we evolved... and if it was and evolution is the reality of our existence, then that just sucks. Think about it! If something as beautiful as an Aristotelian understanding of catharsis was simply evolved into being... that just sucks, man. It just sucks.

And I don't believe that it did.

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How often do Americans actually say the word, "Hello"? I only say it when I answer the phone and I don't know who is calling, or if I want to greet someone profoundly or formally.

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Hearing the phrase, "Everything Will Change" repeated over and over again at the end of the song "Brand New Colony" by the Postal Service has a profound impact on me every time I hear it. It sounds hopeful.

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Alright, teaching stories:

I have one class in which the students are named Jim, Anna, Terry, Kerry, and Frank. They are 8-9 year old Chinese kids, so a take a second to read those again.

While teaching class, I'll often say their names individually to get their attention. Well... I said Jim and Kerry's names back to back, respectively...

...and then the same thing happened the next day with two students, one named Jerry and one named Louis (pronounced the same as Lewis).

=Jim Carey

=Jerry Lewis

These are the times when it's tough to be the only American in the classroom.

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I was teaching the days of the week to 4-5 year olds a few weeks ago. I was highlighting the first letters in each word to help them differentiate.

"Bobby's" Wednesday simply became "W-Day", which is quite fun to say, I must admit.

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Check out this link for pictures of Chinese kids. None of these scenes are uncommon!

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/05/31/chinas_little_emperors?page=0,0

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I miss Seattle.

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I had a nightmare about homework. And doing homework.

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Eisley- The Valley (album)

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According to my estimates, I have approximately 106 students. I've also got most of their names memorized. Most.

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I'll wrap up by saying rather simply that, sometimes, it's hard to remember what is important when you live in the city.