Yunnan Stories 云南故事

Three Lis are three students whose last names are Li. Have I mentioned before that there are extra many Li-surnamed people here in Honghe? Just in my class the Lis make up nearly half, most of whom belong to Hani(哈尼)ethnic group. Really, nine out of ten people you meet in the streets are surnamed Li. From the angle of history and georgraphy, it is not hard to explain given that Li in itself is popular family name and that Honghe is relatively of a backwater.

The three Lis I’ll talk about are from one place called Shitouzai or literally Stone Village, which is 2 hours on bus plus 4 hours on foot from the county town where they go to school. A great number of students here have to rent rooms either inside or outside of the compus because the school dorms are far from enough. The rooms, varying in monthly rent from 30-50 RMB per person, are basically very ridiculously small—–2 by 3 meters at the most, which squeezes at least 2 students with a desk between their beds. It is not unusual that 3-4 students share such a cramped room, with 2 bunk beds.

The Three Lis, living next to our courtyard, are three sunshine boys. Their given names are Zhengzhou(literally,integrated and considerable), Tianxiang(Literally, fly in the sky) and Yangguang(literally, sunshine)from senior grade two, one and Junior grade three respectively. I didn’t know they are living in compus until the other day I stumpled into Tianxian( my student)carrying a bucket to fetch water from the public water station 5 minutes away. Asked him why bother and he replied that there were no water pipes connected to his dorm. Needless to say , he with his mates have since then become our daily visitors, washing clothes or even taking showers in our courtyard. Besides, I keep an open house to them and vise versa. As their friend, I will share my goodies with them if there are and ask them to feel free to consult me over English. Yet, what they fancy most is the 2 hours I have promised them to play QQ on my labtop at weekends. At that point, I, dealing with a large pile of laundry or homework, could feel they are the happiest kids in the world. After all, they are in the most lively ages between 15 and 17. Unfortunately ,they are all forced and trained to act like bookworms, with little time to have fun except hitting the dull books. Only from their excitenment with the QQ do I find they don’t look like nerds any more, about which I don’t know I should be happy or sad.

I often visit their dorm, which is let by a teacher who has moved to a new flat in the town. The first time of seeing them was unforgetable, reminding me of 15 years back when I leased a room with another buddy during the Gaokao(高考) countdowns. The similarities: intense studing atmosphere with books after books everwhere. The defferences: more cramped with little room to turn around your body, two bunk beds with the fourth berth as a luggage rack, two small desks filling almost all the rest space, one of which is even shared by two kids sitting face to face. Without places for putting chairs, the kids have to sit on the bed edges and so has every guest unless he would rather stand. I noticed there were some jars under the beds and asked what were they used for. They looked a little embarrassed first and then said they were for storing pickles, which could save them a sum of money from meals. Later I also learnt that they normally stayed at school until a semester was over. Asked them why and was given two reasons—-#1,They didn’t want to waste the 10- yuan bus fair.#2, The going-home thing was too troublsome to them, one way alone would take 6 hours on the way AND the school has ONLY Sunday off AND the Sunday evening class must be attended.

That is only the story from my first vist to their dorm, and in the following days, I just find there are too many things worthy of writing about the three Lis. Here I name only one example. Last Monday evening, Tianxiang was absent from the class and someone said he was ill. I headed to his place as soon as the 9:30 Pm- ring went off, which was finishing time of the evening study. His door half open and the light on, I found he was sitting at desk doing maths problems with a cap on his head. Turned out, he had a bad fall the day before and his eyelid was swollen plus he happened to catch a cold so he didn’t go to the classroom. Later his two mates came and said they had took him to the clinic and the doctor said there was nothing serious and more rest was suggested. I fetched some cold pills for Tianxiang and asked him to rest early. Probably around 12 pm, awoken with a start by a nature call, I jumped from my bed into the courtyard and found their window was still bright. Only then did I know they meant serious when they said in the past that they never hit the sack before 12 pm. I know there are too many resons why they have to study excessively such as endless homework and eagerness to get rid of the humble fate.Good luck, three Lis and the like.

By the way, the three Lis mentioned last time to me that how beautiful their hometown was and warmly invited me to have a look in person some day. Since then I have been looking forward to the day but have no idea when I could eventually make it. Maybe I will have to wait until summer holidays. And I really wanna experience ,just as what the three Lis said ,what it would be like running along the mountain ranges&paths in 4 straight hours just in order to make it to home or bus station before sunset!

Today I observed another fellow’s lesson. A newbie as he is,his passion and vitality is what I pretty much envy. Counting him in, I have sitted in on no less than 10 teachers’classes up to now.It is beyond doubt that I have learnt a lot from these observations.

In gerneral, you need make a special appointment with the teacher you wanna observe. It’s also ok you go to his or her office during the break between 2 classes—-Normally, they agree on the spot.These teachers are just so amiable,easy-going and confident－－－more than glad to show their authentic and natrual teaching styles. Nevertheless, they are rather modest,insisting you should leave some advice after the class ended. Through this blog,I wanna make a review of the lessons observerd in the past 3 months.

The fellows I observed were more than meticulous in imparting their knowledge, not only orally but also on the chalkbord. Occasionally,they cracked a reserved joke to liven up the tedious class. Most of them had the relaxing expressions and soft eye contacts with the students. "Any questions?" is the sentence I heard the most in the observations.

The students. Yes, the students were the most attentive in the world. Especially the girls. Hitting the books means almost everything to them. According what I saw, these lovely and honest kids kept joting and joting for fear they would miss any single word.Infrequently, sporadic responses were heard, which was probably the only interaction.

Yes, it was far from an interactive or dinamic classroom, bringing me to 20 years back—–shockingly familiar. Basically,there is no communication in classes between teachers and students, nor was there  among the students themselves. Maybe the teaching pattern was suitble for the local situation.That’s why in such atmosphere, I didn’t see the expected boredom but their hunger for learning.They were just so easy to please—–All too often,a silght digression from teachers was enough to relax or stimulate these lovely kids.

To top that off, I made a rough estimation about TWO TIMES in the clasrooms—one is the speaking-english time and the other is student-speaking time in a 40-minute class. The former was around 10 minutes,of which 99% was spent in reading aloud the materials. The latter was miserablely little 5 minutes or so, of which nearly zero was speaking English in the real sense. To be a teacher-centered class or a student-centerd class, that’s a question.The both are hard.

That said, I am by no means targeting something or somebody in this post cause I DO have the same problem here. Instead, I respect my fellow teachers and their teaching strategies. I like the local kids and their never-ending fighting moral. I only wanna seek a possibillty on how to hit two birds with a stone. That is, can we make our students smarter in learning English, in a more efficient way?

The other day,I ran into a little girl on my way to a student’s home in the mountains. She, sitting on the ground, looked up and smiled sweet to meet my greeting. Around 4 years old , she was no longer a toddler. I bent down and tried to help her up but she seemd reluctant. Instead of rising, she extended her arm and wanted to grab my digitcam, thinking it was a toy or something like that. A naughty and lively kid, I figured.

At the point when I took a snapshot, a boy , supposed to be her brother, came over and carried her sister on his back. All of a sudden, I knew she couldn’t stand on her feet and had to rely on her brother. From the talk with the boy, I also learnt that he had never been in school for a single day, helping his parents to attend her sister who suffered from polio. Out of sympathy, I insisted he recieve 100 yuan but he declined. The brother,with a sad and embarraced look in his eyes, didn’t say anthing while the innocent girl giggled and looked exited at the beautiful paper. In the end, the brother,with his handicaped sister on the back, bent his head and hurried to the direction of their home, silently and heavily.  It was a distressing sight.

What a contrast between the looks in their eyes!－－－the bro’s is unsuitablly melancholy against his age while the sister’s is pure and even beautiful. Will we be able to read the purity and beauty in her eyes when she grows up a bit more?

Last week I went to see a student, who lived in the 5-hour-away countryside. The first 3 hours was a bus ride to a small one-street town, where I was told the road ahead was impassable. With the help of locals and a draft map, I managed to make it to Li’s home(my student) before noon. Li is a sensible and clever girl. She was ill and absent from school for a week. My visit was mainly to help her make up the missed lessons.

After lunch, I bumped into Li’s nextdoor maternal uncle, who was dining with his mom. With open arms,they invited me to join them. After a small talk, I stepped into their world bit by bit. The 43-year-old host, surnamed Wang, was still in singlehood while his mom hadn’t been remarried since her better half passed away 12 years ago. When asked why he didn’t find a wife, this honest man smiled and hinted that I should have a good look around. Yes, I saw. The house (no, it was at best a hut) was scantily furnished.  No any electric appliances. A bag of chemical fertilizer placed in the corner maybe was the only stuff that was worth money.

Wang added that he,as the only son in the family, should support her old mom, who was in poor health. Last year’s stroke almost paralized this poor old woman. Now she can only do some simple housework like cooking while her son grows a mu(亩) of rice paddy. Occasionally,the only breadwinner would go to town to do some odd jobs.

"We are not the most poorly off in this village and the life is much better than before. My only wish is my mom stays healthy and happy for the rest of her life." This middle-aged man said.

The other day, I met two countrywomen in the street, who were selling the firewood in the market. I was taken back when they told how heavy each bundle was. 100 jin at least, my god! Seeing my suspicion, one of them unloaded hers and let me have a try. Until my back was bent down did I find I couldn’t stand on my feet no matter how I struggled. Futher inquiries and I knew they were Hani(哈尼）ethnic minorities and had trudged 4hours along the mountain trail. The firewood was sold by jin(斤） and a bundle was worth around 10 yuan. They would carry them back home if there were no buyers.

4 hours’ toiling up the rugged mountain trail with an extra-heavy load is only for 10 yuan. But wait! I was also told this kind of a market was open only once a week, which means they would have to wait another week to try luck if no deal was made this time.

Along the mountain muddy road were more and more people advancing toward the market, with more budles of firewood and even cattles. I couldn’t help but crossing my fingers for them, hoping them to sell at a good price. Such market must have existed for thousands of years, If I am not mistaken. Would their business always thrive even though they just make peanuts? What would they do if they couldn’t make the both ends meet?…….I dunno.

Maybe my previous fear about their fate was unnecessary. They are a tough breed after all, for which I could do nothing but show deep respect.

Today, I recieved a strange letter after class. No sooner I was to leave the classroom than Li (better not reveal his identity here)ran over and handed me this sheet of paper. Astonished and rather upset at the moment of reading it and I am now still in denial. Mainly two unexpected things. One is that he wanna quit school, the other is more ridiculous—–he wishes me to get him a graduate certificate!

Here are Li’s reasons: 1)He together with his younger-and-brighter brother comes from a one-parent family and wants to reduce his mom’s unbearable financial burden. His mom, without steady income, just finds it too hard to support two kids’education at the same time and agrees to his idea of dropping out. 2)He finds it too tough to catch up with the class because of his too weak foundation in the junior stage. Therefore, he concludes it is just a waste of time and money to continue staying in school since there is almost no hope of going to college. 3)He thinks a high school diploma will help land a job, and assumes that a deploma is easily obtainable even the student in question doesn’t go to school at all as long there is some connection with the ups. 4)He thinks the principal will issue a diploma if I put in some words since the principal is also from Shanghai.

Li’s letter, started with a compliment to my teaching, puts me in an awkward predicament. One thing for sure, I won’t support his idea of quiting school at any cost, and I won’t be naive enough to report his case to the principal,either, becauce the diploma thing is simply out of the question. I know the kid’s practice is too juvenile despite his commendable motivation, but something should be done to save the boy———His family’s burdon should not be his burdon and his confidence in study should be rebuilt. I know it’s easier said than done but what do you think I shall do. Poor kid.( By the way, it’s only the very beginning of Grade One, some two years away from the graduation. )

Hongxiao(an affectionate form of address to our principal, Literally meaning a principal surnamed Hong.) is definitely a legend, setting a great example for Shanghai voluntary teachers. He is the first elected principal from Shanghai to Yunnan with a three-year contract. Only a man of transcendental love and courage like him can make such a resolute decision. More importantly, the school has taken on a brandnew look since our Hong took the post. The changes are obvious, positive, and productive, among which the most convincing and prominent is that Honghe No.1 High School achieved the best result in the previous admission exams in its history. You can imagine how many efforts our Hong has made and how far-reaching his series of reforms are to local education. To be honest, I have never seen such a vigorous teacher who is both enterprising and devoted to the lofty cause. We are lucky and honered to work with such a good principal, a man who gains wide respect due to his efficiency, affinity and especially his charisma. As a celebrity, Hong never puts on air, calling us buddies, which makes us feel at home. We are happy to coorporate with him for another 8 months before we return to Shanghai in July, 2007.

Lao Sun is also a character and personality, dinamic and considerate. He ofen comes up some brilliant ideas and put them into practice with enormous patience. His dorm is decorated by a bunch of baubles， with a feel of what he proclaims A HOME AWAY FROM HOME. Sun is witty and kind, which can be reflected from an anecdote. The other day, he bought some chestnuts for his students, telling them to eat and aim high because chestnut is pronounced almost the same as "aim high" in Chinese. Actually, Lao Sun has tons of anecdotes. Here are some in the form of FAQ. 1,Who goes to sleep latest? Sun. 2,Who dislikes rice noodles? Sun. 3,Who loves snacks best? Sun. 4,Who has the most ideas? Sun. 5,Who likes badminton best? Sill Sun….. An interesting dude, overall. (Thanks, Sun, for the umbrella you send me for free, by the way.）

There is a Zhang and Zhu living together with a TV room in between. Both are maths experts so they have the most common language, a little similar to two pods in a pea. Zhang is a good-humored person , who can make and take a joke. Zhu appears more steady and taciturn, a good poker player as well as a good cook. The red-cooked pork we ate twice was both his work, not yukky.

Ms Fu is the only female aid teacher here, sharing with us the woes and joys here in the remote moutainous area, leaving behind the comfort zone and the dazzling urban life. Cool. (Thanks, Fu, for rescuing my air-dried clothes from the sudden rain the other day.)

The sixth is me.

The student-hit-teacher incident I heard the day before yesterday was proved last night  by Longxing,  who came to my dorm for a shower and  then we chatted for a while. Naturally, our chitchat is never short of the topic of class teaching. He wanted to be the best teacher, buiding the most interactive class. He proceeded and expressed his appreciation to some collegues including Miss Gao for her rapport with the students. I noticed that his eyes twinkled and his face lit up when taking about his students, without a single negative comment. During our chat, an intersting"pressure cooker phenominon"was also touched, related to aforementioned news. It was concerning some inexperienced teachers, who expect too much of their students and turn the class to be a pressure cooker unwittingly. Tragically, the teachers in question , who undertake the thankless task, put all the blames on the students. It’s too late when it explodes.

Young and laid-back as he is, Long possesses all the passions and gets a kick out of being a teacher.  Enlightened and moved from time to time by Longxing, I’ve striken some inspirations which will be useful to English teaching, not harmful to say at the least. In a word, I should continue the student-centered approach, making the class a happy place with more smiles and encouragement. Can’t be careful enough even though there is slim chance of "turning into a pressure cooker". After all, that’s only a bottom line, which  is far far away from your pursuit.

Just now watched a basketball match between two classes while having my lunch at the canteen doorway. A really close and keen fight. These days witnessed the students’ craziness about the school-organized tournament. Some classes even set up a cheering squad, and in the distance, you could HEAR girls’ loud acclamation for their own class’s wonderful performances. Every movement, whether it was a turn, a snatch, a shot, or a slamdunk, thoroughly revealed these mountain-born kids’ brilliant stamina. It was such a good show, nobody I think would sit on their hands. I felt the school did a good thing, venting their redundant energy, bringing to full play their talent in sports and more importantly,cultivating their sense of coorporation. Sometimes, I really admire these active-on-the- arena big boys, swathy,agile and full of vitality.

Speaking of the match, a busy figure popped up on my mind. Longxing, a young teacher who just graduated two years ago, was occupied with the rear service for his men on the spot, including preparing the drink,looking after the students…. I saw him but not vice versa. Anyhow, he worked his butt off yet still with a smile and a sence of his unique humor. It’s Sunday today, so a lot of class teachers didn’t  have a day off Monday through Sunday. Don’t forget they have exessive teaching load—20 classes a week is a common occurrence, 30 is not a big deal,either. Long is one of them, with only one day to rest in theory. Class teachers here will do a lot of home visits to their classes, and this extra job seems to be completed only on Sundays because the Saturdays and evenings are all used to solidate the students’ study. Longxing is no exception but exceptionally good at his job. I didn’t know him until he sat in on one of my Engligh lessons recently. He is a geography teacher but shows enthusiasm in all the subjets especially English. I don’t know where he gets so much energy but at least one thing I know is that he is very popular among students. Maybe it’s his rich knowlege, humor that matters, but what rules I think is his love in teaching/students.  Definitely, one part of my Yunnan life is being moved–  by a number of Longxings EVERYDAY.