The rains are coming again. After a dry winter and a super humid spring with sweaty walls, it is time for mother nature to let her hair down again with torrential downpours. Here is a sample of that from my previous apartment on the Jinan University campus.
Warning: These photos are rather Armageddony!
(Click images to zoom in)
Rainy Season in Zhuhai
Titanic in Chinese
I watched Titanic in 3D today in Zhuhai and was a little bit surprised- I actually shed a tear. Not because of the love story, but at the view of the Statue of Liberty near the end. (Sometimes the somewhat cheesy moments in Hollywood movies catch me at a sensitive moment.) But, its ok because most of the other (older) people in the theater were crying too.
I went with my girlfriend, who clearly remembers watching the original Titanic in 1997, and was really looking forward to taking me to the show. While we were there she noticed something peculiar. There was no voice singing during My Heart Will Go On; it was just the score. I had to think about that for a minute and then I realized she was right. “Why did they take out the singing?” she asked in Chinese. I said I wasn’t sure, but it might have had something to do with the modern audience not really caring to hear an older song. “The song isn’t popular anymore” I told her. But maybe there was another reason. Who knows. But that wasn’t the only thing different about this Chinese re-release… Read More…
A Guess from The Telegraph
A metropolis of humongous purportions is said to be in the works for southern China, although there are reports on this being false. The cities of Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Foshan, Jiangmen, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Huizhou and Zhaoqing would merge together, theoretically, amalgamating various public services, including: health care, job opportunities, communication networks, transportation, natural resources, etc. With one big city they would eliminate long-distance calling fees and reduce over-burdened facilities, such as hospitals. Merging into one unit, with a completed high-speed train network, would allow citizens to travel to other city areas when their current location is overwhelmed by local demand. Read More…
Catic Hotel - Zhuhai
March 12, 2007 – 4:00pm Meeting with …. The Whole Staff! Johnson (Wang Manager-Lobby) Simon (Yan Asst. Manager-Lobby)
A situation that i wanted to avoid became unavoidable today! My intention was to meet the manager(s) of the Guest Relations office or Front office. I hoped to discuss what their specific situation is like before meeting the staff altogether. I thought this would be a good step-by-step approach. This is China right?? But, i got a kind of rushed (almost Western) feeling.
I arrived on time, greeted by Wang Qi, the bellboy who was my initial contact. He had been there for 2 years and his English was severely lacking- my first conundrum, although extremely friendly. He took me to the 3rd floor and we stopped outside the VIP conference room. That’s when he said “Everyone is here.” I said “really?? well… this is not what i expected. I’m not prepared to hold a class. I should talk to the manager first.” Then, the Asst. Mngr., Simon, came out to talk to me. He said “Hello, nice to meet you!” I also met Manager Wang. They told me about 20 staff members were waiting in the meeting room…
Now, i wanted to just meet these two men and discuss returning for a few classes, however, a new situation slapped me in the face: an actual class! So, I told them it would be a short meeting with the staff and in I went… I was applauded and got a standing ovation. I was under pressure!
I basically adapted what i planned to say with the managers to suite a large group of people. I used my famous “Make a friend with you” example. This got an immediate response from about 5-8 people; the other 12-15 were lost. (I suggest this for future initial meetings. It helped me see how many intermediate and upper level students there were. Also, it lightens the mood!)
Here is the breakdown of the staff:
Most are at a very low level of English. A few have actual questions that could be useful to discuss. BUT, that’s not the case for most of them.
If they are ALL lumped together in one class, i’ll spend the beginning on simple conversation and dialogue + vocab. In the middle, I’ll discuss some upper level vocabulary with “contextual” examples. Finally, i’ll review the simple conversation with the lower levels. They will form pairs and repeat the dialogues.
Here is what the managers expect the classes to include:
VOCABULARY.
Of course, they want their staff to understand specific cultural differences between the languages, but they think a major focus should be vocabulary. So, i plan to give them relevant vocabulary and their various forms/ parts of speech. Looks like i’ll be in the book store tomorrow AM…
Specifics about the Catic Hotel:
1) They don’t have an “annual English program” for their employees. It doesn’t surprise me considering the low level of English most of the staff has. The lobby managers are young, with fair English, and very interested in helping their staff improve English. Good prospect!
2) The Asst. manager of their department is a slightly older woman who speaks no English. She looks a little impatient as well. I should consider her more next time I visit!
3) Hotels in general seem to have just a couple very good English speakers. Their abilities must be considered and we should allow them to take an active role in helping the class. It’s a chance for them to shine, not for them to feel isolated.
4) Simon mentioned “hui bao” or “repayment.” The hotel really seems to want to repay me in some way. I will be more clear about what I hope to do in the future in order to quench their curiousity. Maybe I need to up the ante after the first classes of both YinDo and Catic.
5) Catic’s design and managerial aspects are much more creative and youthful. Their strong support can really be useful for the website and future tutor offerings!
6)* Over a plate of Baby Japanese Octopus, Simon discussed the hotel’s goal to have the “Best Front Office/Reception” in Zhuhai. There must be some kind of award for this. If so, find the source and advertise future “Hospitality English” training programs there.
Yindo Hotel in Downtown Zhuhai
March 8, 2007 – 9:30am Meeting with Zhou Laoshi. (HR department- 13 years experience)
Meeting with Zhou Laoshi was a pleasant experience this morning. I found out, ironically, that she was probably in her late 40s and rather traditional, but ready to accept me and bring me in for a few test classes ASAP! One of the most important experiences of all, though, were the moments when her boss would speak Chinese with her. This was the “invisible wall” factor that most chinese count on and 99% can trust is there.
You know, it’s the “we speak our language with the foreigners present and assume they can’t understand it” wall. For example, they had already agreed on times for me to come in next week and then the HR Manager asked about “future cooperation,” “what does he want to do with us in the near future?” “Will these classes really be free?” etc. I knew about these discussions and waited for the translated version from Zhou Laoshi. (She was very diplomatic by the way. She didn’t want to discuss the future yet, so she just simply left it out of the conversation. I respected that invisible wall and didn’t bring it up.)
YinDo Hotel Class
This was perhaps the most victorious feeling i’ve had since my stay here in China. I’m now able to (listen through that wall and) consider all of these outside ideas, projections, and queries without responding to them instead of the translator. I feel like changing my name to a number… maybe 008!
We discussed the following points, which I will remember easier in a list:
1) Major problems for teaching English with the current hotel scheduling system:
a. Entire staff on different levels. Some think the lessons are too simple, while others find them too hard. Can’t be consistent with everyone!
b. A group works together one week, at the same time. The next week there is a time change for half of them. This creates different mixes of staff in the classes, creating inconsistant groupings in class.
2) Because of the above, there is always a dropping number of students no matter what is done to counter that; It goes from MANY to A lot… to some……. to few …………to very few.
3) 600 employees, but many don’t need English. IN FACT, only 15% of the guests are Westerners. This creates less demand for English study. *MORE Korean and Japanese* Although i did argue the fact that many Asian people can’t speak Chinese either.
4) March and April are the slowest times of the year. The times when hotels do annual English Lessons to reteach the basics to everyone.
a. May- (1-7) is Golden week, a big time for chinese travellers.
b. Summer months are usually busy because of Zhuhai‘s resort status.
c. Sept./Oct.- Moon cake time (Famous in ZH) they sell “1,000 million” I guess…
d. Oct. (1) is national day, busy time.
e. Nov./Dec.- Most people get married during these months to get ready for the New Year.
——————–
So, it was a productive morning. I had coffee after the initial meeting and I got a tour. I met everyone from high-level managers to trainees. All had rather mediocre English, but i stayed positive through it all. Sometimes i showed my chinese ability, but not in front of Zhou Laoshi or her boss. I will keep that a secret the staff doesn’t leak it first!
I further learned that the foreigners in this area are mostly Korean and Japanese. This is an idea that I would like to apply to my website- a kind of teacher search portal, but more on that in the next post.
-Ben杰明
Contact Me: ben@asianliving.me