Happy National Day
A year ago some roommates at a Venice Beach hostel and I were having lunch and they started going off about the level of flag-waving and patriotism in America being a bit unsettling to them. I found it hard to believe then, but I'm begining to understand. Other countries are proud but they just don't display it as openly. This is very true of China. I've had adult teachers seriously tell me they think China might win every gold metal in the 2008 Olympic's, but I don't think they would ever have thought to display the Chinese flag on a pin, shirt, or bumper sticker*.
National Day has to be the most anti-climatic holiday I've ever experienced. I was expecting people to come out for some kind of public gathering with massive firework displays and maybe even some MiG's doing acrobatics in the sky for The People. I mean... this is THE day of the founding of the People's Republic, right? So what has it amounted to? A week off and flags on lightpoles in the street. That's it. No fireworks, no parades, no laser light shows at Stone Mountain. People were just chilling out walking around with their families and playing badmitton..
I was really looking forward to fireworks! The Chinese invented them!
In any case - all those kids, all those classes, all those noon naps on chairs in conference rooms, and soar throats all paid off with paycheck twice the normal size and a week off for National Day. All the teachers went out for dinner and hung out last night at our apartment in celebration. It was nice. A lot of the negative vibes from previous weeks have subsided. I even went out and bought a guitar with my new wealth. I leave you with a photo of me learning some Nirvana songs while knocking off some beers after dinner with other teachers.
Brendon [Australian], Me, and Tom [British]
* bumper stickers aren't as popular here, but vinyl stickerwork on the sides of SUV's is common. You'll often see a map of China with a superimposed flag on the same Toyota Prado's that have snorkels coming up the side of the windsheild.
1 comment:
Hi there!
You don't know me, but I found your blog while researching about ACES. I was actually accepted to the program and was really excited to go around the Chinese New Year and all that, but when I told my parents they were concerned and little doubts started to creep up. But after I found your blog and read some of your entries, I feel a lot better about it. Thanks!!
Sarah
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