One of the primary challenges of being a Fulbright scholar is learning to structure your life. Coming into my research field site, my schedule was so open and flexible, it took time to actually mold it and find ways to keep productive and busy. This was especially tough early on in the first three months during the Chinese New Year break when less people were around. But as March came and the Spring semester got started, things slowly started to change. Since then, to make the most of my time here, I’ve attempted to branch out and diversify my activities.
Language exchanges
One of the best ways I’ve done this has been setting up language exchanges with local people here. I was able to find these individuals through a website called gokunming.com, an expat run website about all things Kunming and Yunnan related with classifieds, a discussion forum, and a list of daily events around Kunming. Typically we meet for two hours once a week in which we speak only in Mandarin for one hour and then only in English for the other hour. This has allowed me to expand my social network here and meet people from a variety of ages and backgrounds. It’s also led me to get other contacts related to my research. As an important ongoing part of my life here in Kunming outside of my research, I thought I would share some interest tidbits about some of my partners and our conversations:
The single mother
I’ve met with her at least 3 times. She’s from Kunming and she has a three year old daughter. In typical Chinese middle class fashion, even though her daughter is very young, she is already very worried about her education. When we first met, she asked me what kind of books my parents read to me as a child and wanted to know about kindergarten education in the US. She’s also asked me about the best techniques for reading English books to a child (which I didn’t really know) and ways to teach her daughter “how to think” (like brainstorming techniques- “thinking map”). She complained about how all the good kindergartens in Kunming are either too expensive (6000 RMB or about $1000 a month) or you need connections to get in. She’s already teaching her daughter English (she used to be an English teacher) and wants to teach her German (since her father, and the woman’s ex-husband, is Swiss German). Since her daughter is part Swiss and has a Swiss passport (which the woman doesn’t tell anyone because she also has a Chinese passport), she was considering sending her child to a Swiss government run kindergarten in Beijing and moving there because it would be free.
Her ex-husband, the father of her daughter, is Swiss but he doesn’t live in China. It’s kind of weird how they met and their relationship as well as the aftermath. Apparently they met on an Asia online dating website and he came to visit Kunming a bunch of times but never actually lived there or with the woman. I never really asked but I guess they got married within that period of time, eventually they got divorced and the daughter was born. But after her ex-husband refused to pay alimony, she moved to Switzerland and lived there in a bed and breakfast for a year to legally get him to pay alimony for the daughter. Finally she won and he pays her and the child alimony which allows her to not work (but payments to her end in August though payment for the child lasts until she is 18).
The police department civil servant
She is an older woman, in her late 50s early 60s, who works in the police department dealing with residence permits and registration. When she retires, she wants to teach Mandarin and she’s currently taking an online course to get certified to do so. She has a son who studies at a university in France in chemistry who got a free ride to go there. I’m not sure about her husband; either they are divorced or he passed away I just haven’t asked her but she mentioned that she lives alone and eats out a lot with friends. She’s traveled a number of places outside of China including countries in Europe and she just got a ten-year travel visa to the US (which I had no idea existed) which to me suggests she has significant money outside her civil servant position. From what I know, it’s difficult for many Chinese to get travel visas to western countries especially ones for independent travel but she made it seem like it was no problem. She seems also to have a number of affluent friends. She told me that a number of her friends have sent their children abroad for undergraduate studies, about a couple she knew in Dali that owned two high end hotels there, and friends that owned a chain of seafood restaurants in Kunming.
More interestingly, as of late, she told me that in the police department there has been a greater emphasis on political studies. She described it as “brainwashing.” Essentially it consists of forcing the civil servants to study CCP thought and memorize Xi Jinping’s speeches and discussing them in meetings (twice a day) where their knowledge would be tested. For example, she got called on in a meeting to state what Xi Jinping said in a speech in Dali (a city in Yunnan) but she couldn't remember. For 100 days they had to daily re-write CCP ideas and Xi Jinping’s speeches in a notebook by hand. Leaders from the department would come at times to test their knowledge as well. She said it was akin to “the beginning of the Cultural Revolution.”
The English teacher at a private college
He’s around my age (a year or two younger than me I think) who last year did a short term English study program in southern England (for two months during the winter). We usually have very good conversations about all kinds of topics. He’s also interested in international education and exchanges. At his college he works with international students (who are mostly from Laos) and teaches Mandarin classes to them.
My tutor- the provincial government civil servant
Since January, she’s been my tutor and I’ve met with her on a weekly basis. Her main job is in the Yunnan provincial government’s economy and trade department but she teaches at a training school and tutors on the side. She’s from Henan province (in central China) but has lived in Kunming for 10 years. The tutoring sessions are usually pretty informal and inexpensive ($10 for two hours); it’s usually a mixture of questions I have for her or things I want her to help me with along with open discussion. A number of interesting things have come up in our conversations:
In addition to language exchanges, I’ve been a volunteer ELT teacher at a local kindergarten. I go there once a week for about two hours in the morning to teach a twenty minute lesson to 6 classes. It’s a kindergarten set up for children of migrant workers. These private schools exist because residency restrictions do not allow migrant workers from the country side to place their children into state schools in urban areas. Usually the tuition is affordable but the resources are limited and the facilities and teaching material are lower in quality.
It’s usually pretty fun and the students get excited when I come to teach. I teach basic English words and use mostly Mandarin to explain things and ask them questions. I try to keep them active with games like “head, shoulders, knees and toes.” Aside from that, at the school I've noticed that many of the teachers are pretty strict with the students. Often when I come into the classroom, some teachers will force the students to put their hand behind their backs in attention to me. They’ll also scream at the students and lightly hit them at times. Once, when the students were being especially rambunctious, a teacher got out this short bamboo rod and rapped it on one of their desks to get them to pay attention. I asked a Chinese friend, an art graduate student, about these practices in the kindergarten and she said when she was younger that was pretty common. According to her, teachers would also lightly rap students on their hands as a classroom punishment. But nowadays, especially in more affluent schools, it may be less common.
Auditing a graduate school class
I’m auditing a graduate course at my host institution called “multicultural education.” It’s taught by my advisor at Yunnan University. It’s a new experience taking an academic course at a Chinese university. Surprisingly though it’s almost all in Mandarin, I’ve been able to largely keep up in class. There is a Power point for each class which helps me to understand. The most annoying part is that I’m often the American ambassador in class; when something comes up related to America or the professor wants to know about the American perspective related to a particular topic, she will just call on me and put me on the spot to respond in Mandarin. One example of this was when she was talking about diversity in the US, she had all these power point slides with statistics about different American ethnic/religious groups. But none mentioned Middle Eastern or Jewish groups so when she called on me, I pointed that out. I also mentioned that a significant number of Africans voluntarily immigrated to the US in the 20th century.
Playing ultimate frisbee
I also play Frisbee with a group of people each Sunday. It’s mostly American guys but there are some Chinese also that participate. I hadn’t played competitive Frisbee in a long time (probably not since high school), but it has been a great way to meet new people and get exercise. Outside of my language exchanges, playing frisbee has become my main social outlet and many of the guys in the group have become my best friends in Kunming.
Language exchanges
One of the best ways I’ve done this has been setting up language exchanges with local people here. I was able to find these individuals through a website called gokunming.com, an expat run website about all things Kunming and Yunnan related with classifieds, a discussion forum, and a list of daily events around Kunming. Typically we meet for two hours once a week in which we speak only in Mandarin for one hour and then only in English for the other hour. This has allowed me to expand my social network here and meet people from a variety of ages and backgrounds. It’s also led me to get other contacts related to my research. As an important ongoing part of my life here in Kunming outside of my research, I thought I would share some interest tidbits about some of my partners and our conversations:
The single mother
I’ve met with her at least 3 times. She’s from Kunming and she has a three year old daughter. In typical Chinese middle class fashion, even though her daughter is very young, she is already very worried about her education. When we first met, she asked me what kind of books my parents read to me as a child and wanted to know about kindergarten education in the US. She’s also asked me about the best techniques for reading English books to a child (which I didn’t really know) and ways to teach her daughter “how to think” (like brainstorming techniques- “thinking map”). She complained about how all the good kindergartens in Kunming are either too expensive (6000 RMB or about $1000 a month) or you need connections to get in. She’s already teaching her daughter English (she used to be an English teacher) and wants to teach her German (since her father, and the woman’s ex-husband, is Swiss German). Since her daughter is part Swiss and has a Swiss passport (which the woman doesn’t tell anyone because she also has a Chinese passport), she was considering sending her child to a Swiss government run kindergarten in Beijing and moving there because it would be free.
Her ex-husband, the father of her daughter, is Swiss but he doesn’t live in China. It’s kind of weird how they met and their relationship as well as the aftermath. Apparently they met on an Asia online dating website and he came to visit Kunming a bunch of times but never actually lived there or with the woman. I never really asked but I guess they got married within that period of time, eventually they got divorced and the daughter was born. But after her ex-husband refused to pay alimony, she moved to Switzerland and lived there in a bed and breakfast for a year to legally get him to pay alimony for the daughter. Finally she won and he pays her and the child alimony which allows her to not work (but payments to her end in August though payment for the child lasts until she is 18).
The police department civil servant
She is an older woman, in her late 50s early 60s, who works in the police department dealing with residence permits and registration. When she retires, she wants to teach Mandarin and she’s currently taking an online course to get certified to do so. She has a son who studies at a university in France in chemistry who got a free ride to go there. I’m not sure about her husband; either they are divorced or he passed away I just haven’t asked her but she mentioned that she lives alone and eats out a lot with friends. She’s traveled a number of places outside of China including countries in Europe and she just got a ten-year travel visa to the US (which I had no idea existed) which to me suggests she has significant money outside her civil servant position. From what I know, it’s difficult for many Chinese to get travel visas to western countries especially ones for independent travel but she made it seem like it was no problem. She seems also to have a number of affluent friends. She told me that a number of her friends have sent their children abroad for undergraduate studies, about a couple she knew in Dali that owned two high end hotels there, and friends that owned a chain of seafood restaurants in Kunming.
More interestingly, as of late, she told me that in the police department there has been a greater emphasis on political studies. She described it as “brainwashing.” Essentially it consists of forcing the civil servants to study CCP thought and memorize Xi Jinping’s speeches and discussing them in meetings (twice a day) where their knowledge would be tested. For example, she got called on in a meeting to state what Xi Jinping said in a speech in Dali (a city in Yunnan) but she couldn't remember. For 100 days they had to daily re-write CCP ideas and Xi Jinping’s speeches in a notebook by hand. Leaders from the department would come at times to test their knowledge as well. She said it was akin to “the beginning of the Cultural Revolution.”
The English teacher at a private college
He’s around my age (a year or two younger than me I think) who last year did a short term English study program in southern England (for two months during the winter). We usually have very good conversations about all kinds of topics. He’s also interested in international education and exchanges. At his college he works with international students (who are mostly from Laos) and teaches Mandarin classes to them.
My tutor- the provincial government civil servant
Since January, she’s been my tutor and I’ve met with her on a weekly basis. Her main job is in the Yunnan provincial government’s economy and trade department but she teaches at a training school and tutors on the side. She’s from Henan province (in central China) but has lived in Kunming for 10 years. The tutoring sessions are usually pretty informal and inexpensive ($10 for two hours); it’s usually a mixture of questions I have for her or things I want her to help me with along with open discussion. A number of interesting things have come up in our conversations:
- Practices of the local government: According to her, departments in the government often keep documents and reports secret regardless of their content and aren’t even willing to share with other departments. When it comes to government statistics, often there will be two sets, one for internal purposes and one that is published. The statistics that are published often are politicized; there is pressure from leaders to make them look better.
- Education- She told me about some teachers in local schools who wouldn’t teach all the material students needed to know for exams. Instead they would teach part of it in class and then charge students to come after-school to learn the rest of the material. Though it’s illegal, it apparently still happens in some schools here.
In addition to language exchanges, I’ve been a volunteer ELT teacher at a local kindergarten. I go there once a week for about two hours in the morning to teach a twenty minute lesson to 6 classes. It’s a kindergarten set up for children of migrant workers. These private schools exist because residency restrictions do not allow migrant workers from the country side to place their children into state schools in urban areas. Usually the tuition is affordable but the resources are limited and the facilities and teaching material are lower in quality.
It’s usually pretty fun and the students get excited when I come to teach. I teach basic English words and use mostly Mandarin to explain things and ask them questions. I try to keep them active with games like “head, shoulders, knees and toes.” Aside from that, at the school I've noticed that many of the teachers are pretty strict with the students. Often when I come into the classroom, some teachers will force the students to put their hand behind their backs in attention to me. They’ll also scream at the students and lightly hit them at times. Once, when the students were being especially rambunctious, a teacher got out this short bamboo rod and rapped it on one of their desks to get them to pay attention. I asked a Chinese friend, an art graduate student, about these practices in the kindergarten and she said when she was younger that was pretty common. According to her, teachers would also lightly rap students on their hands as a classroom punishment. But nowadays, especially in more affluent schools, it may be less common.
Auditing a graduate school class
I’m auditing a graduate course at my host institution called “multicultural education.” It’s taught by my advisor at Yunnan University. It’s a new experience taking an academic course at a Chinese university. Surprisingly though it’s almost all in Mandarin, I’ve been able to largely keep up in class. There is a Power point for each class which helps me to understand. The most annoying part is that I’m often the American ambassador in class; when something comes up related to America or the professor wants to know about the American perspective related to a particular topic, she will just call on me and put me on the spot to respond in Mandarin. One example of this was when she was talking about diversity in the US, she had all these power point slides with statistics about different American ethnic/religious groups. But none mentioned Middle Eastern or Jewish groups so when she called on me, I pointed that out. I also mentioned that a significant number of Africans voluntarily immigrated to the US in the 20th century.
Playing ultimate frisbee
I also play Frisbee with a group of people each Sunday. It’s mostly American guys but there are some Chinese also that participate. I hadn’t played competitive Frisbee in a long time (probably not since high school), but it has been a great way to meet new people and get exercise. Outside of my language exchanges, playing frisbee has become my main social outlet and many of the guys in the group have become my best friends in Kunming.