Exploring Tianjin

Well, 2 weeks ago I started to feel a bit homesick. This was mainly because of some issues with the foreign language department that made me angry. How they deal with things over here is SO different then how things are done in the States that it can be very frustrating- 3 hour lunch breaks, issues not dealt with quickly enough (from my perspective) or brushed aside, etc. This all just puts you in a negative frame of mind which definitely is NOT they way to live in a foreign country because you start looking at everything negatively. At this point, I stumbled across a book, "Survival Kit for Overseas Living", in our office (which is currently 'under construction'...one of those previously mentioned issues haha). The book looks horribly outdated and full of pretty pointless graphs. However, it did have some useful advice for getting through those bouts of homesickness.

One of the suggestions in the book, was exploring your environment. Yes, I have lived in Tianjin for over 3 months, but a lot of it I have yet to see. One of the main tourist attractions is Ancient Culture street and I have never even been there. It is a shopping area filled with the typical chinese goods from all different types of minority groups. I went here with one of my students, who is pretty good with her oral english so it is easy to carry on a conversation with her (it is nice to actually be able to joke with a chinese person and they understand your sense of humor etc). We were able to do a bit of holiday shopping and Rosa was incredibly helpful because she was able to bargain with the shop keepers (whitey alert: raise the prices!). Therefore, I was not totally ripped off thankfully. It truly was a wonderful shopping day and totally helped me get over my little bit of homesickness (darn holiday season gets you every time).
Me throwing up the "V for Victor" sign like all my students do haha

My student, Rosa, rubbing the foot which brings 'good fortune'

All about FACE

By now I should come to expect/accept the cultural differences that I encounter on a daily basis...but there is just one thing I can not accept is the lack of responsibility I see here. Let me explain:

The foreign teachers have been having some issues with some customs students who are living in the same hotel as us. I had one try and enter my room and a drunk customs student tried picking a fight with another teacher. Needless to say, we complained. We were told by the International Office that they would take care of the problem etc etc. On both accounts, the chinese customs students lied. They told me that the guy made a mistake about trying to enter my room and that I was 'blowing it out of proportion'(next time you are in a strange country and a guy is entering your room, you let me know if you are frightened by it or not). And in regards to the drunk student picking a fight, that it was actually the foreign teacher who was the aggressor...WRONG!

Instead of taking responsibility for their actions, you often have people over here try and blame someone else or pass the buck. It often works out to their advantage, because their are so many layers of people you have to jump though that you can actually do this. Also, the whole concept of "saving face" means you never admit to being wrong. THAT IS SO FRUSTRATING to me because I think one of the greatest aspects of a civilized culture is the ability to admit your mistakes and realize what you have done wrong SO THAT YOU CAN GROW FROM IT.

So just in case you ever encounter a giant, fat customs official when traveling in China and he obviously has a dislike for foreigners (and his favorite swear words are 'f*** your mother' in both English AND Chinese)...you will know it is our fine friend who tried attacking one of the teachers.

P.S- Because of these incidents, the customs students have been removed from our floors... but they have now told everyone that it is our fault for both occurrences. Let's just keep shifting the blame and changing the stories- ARGHHH