Music

We had just gotten out of the subway at Luo Hu and had come into an area of "shadow" taxis, as Cody named them, to drive us far away to an investment house on the beach. It was Tom's new bosses place. We hustled the first cab, no luck. Second cab, no luck. They were wanting the equivalent of fifteen USD to drive four of us an hour. A taxi pimp arranged a third for us at a ten percent discount, but he kicked us after I showed him the exact location. He wanted even more than the others.

Standing on the curb, trying to hail a new cab The Revelation hit me. We were in front of a small clothing shop, the kind that always blares that 500 beat-per-minute Mickey Mouse techno. It was doing it's own blaring, drawing customers like bees powerless in front of flowers, and it hit me then, and right then, that Chinese people actually like this music.

That's a big thing to wrap your head around. I endlessly make fun of other people for their musical taste while clinging to my own taste as an example of the perfect example of thoughtful, unique, fun, diverse, quirky, and enjoyable library. Actually, all personality traits I'd like to assign myself. That means something.

I mean I knew they prefered it, but I always had it in the back of my head that as soon as someone drops in a better CD at a dance club they'd get a little red face and not want to mention putting Alvin, Simon, and Theodore behind the DJ booth.

Right now I'm listing to the new Mofro album, a song called "Circles" about fighting in a relationship with some shadowy and ancient emotional baggage as the culprit. The band is from the backswamps of Jacksonville and the theme and language used to describe it is something I can deeply identify with. The sound of the music itself, the drawly vocals and that Hammond organ, remind me of marshes of my childhood and blistering midnights of my college days. It's something that hits the essence of my being without even trying. Music just kinda does that. That's why we make mix tapes as young lovers, trying to have Alanis Morissette or Jim Morrison say what you really mean. Some how John Lennon or Maynard Keenan says it better than we can.

For some strange reason, my boss loves mixing up Mary J Blige and Mofro to impress foreign passengers in his VW wagon. It's strange to me that he likes it. I expect him not to. I think, perhaps, it's easier to understand "tastes are different" and perhaps people don't all like what you like. The hard part, and The Revelation to boot, is that other people like different things. Not just prefer them, no just are used to them, but truly, genuinely like and enjoy and thrive off them.

This chipmunk techno that surrounds my daily existence and feels like a long-running inside joke really is the product of artists making things that The People enjoy. The sappy MandoPop and CantoPop is the soundtrack to millions of rising and falling lovers. And you know what? Those ridiculous poofy dresses the girls wear with the pseudo-punk hair or tapered pants... that's really hot to some Chinemen dudes. I mean really hot.

It's a hard thing to wrap your really wrap your head around and realize all your tastes, something you could never do without, are inversely ridiculous to someone else. And that, in a word, is culture. Oh, and your favorite band sucks (to someone out there).

Update: Two More Years in China

Dear People Who Read Treyopia,

Last week I applied for a Master of Education from Hong Kong University. They have a specialism in International and Comparative Education and Development that seems right up my ally, mixing politics and education perfectly. It's two days a week for two years and is about a two commute for me in Shenzhen. Despite initial positive feedback from HKU faculty, I was worried that my less-than-stellar academic record from UNF was going to be an issue getting into the 33rd best university in the world. I've been keeping this on the down-low until I received an acceptance letter.

I was given provisional placement today, the only holdup being the official transcripts making their way across the pond. I think I can say with certainty that I'll be a student there in September.

The plan now is to stay in Shenzhen at least through the first semester to see if the commute is too much of a hassle. It's quite a distance and I'll be passing through an international border on the way to classes. I'd prefer to stay on the mainland side because my job is going well, cost of living is low, and my Chinese is getting better everyday. Hong Kong is a great place, but it comes with all the pros and cons of living in the most densely populated city in the world. We'll see what the future holds though.

Stay well and stay in touch,
- "Master" Trey Menefee
Dear People I Mass E-mailed,

Last week I applied for a Master of Education from Hong Kong University. They have a specialism in International and Comparative Education and Development that seems right up my ally, mixing politics and education perfectly. It's two days a week for two years and is about a two commute for me in Shenzhen. Despite initial positive feedback from HKU faculty, I was worried that my less-than-stellar academic record from UNF was going to be an issue getting into the 33rd best university in the world. I've been keeping this on the down-low until I received an acceptance letter.

I was given provisional placement today, the only holdup being the official transcripts making their way across the pond. I think I can say with certainty that I'll be a student there in September.

The plan now is to stay in Shenzhen at least through the first semester to see if the commute is too much of a hassle. It's quite a distance and I'll be passing through an international border on the way to classes. I'd prefer to stay on the mainland side because my job is going well, cost of living is low, and my Chinese is getting better everyday. Hong Kong is a great place, but it comes with all the pros and cons of living in the most densely populated city in the world. We'll see what the future holds though.

Stay well and stay in touch,
- "Master" Trey Menefee

P.S. - The tickets aren't bought yet, but it looks like I'll be home the last two weeks of July.

P.S.S. - (904) 302-7336 calls me in China and it's dirt cheap. I'm 12 hours ahead of EST.

The Art of Dumbing Down

An anonymous comment left on my "Teaching" post a few weeks back:

As a teacher of English, don't you think that you have a responsibility to teach PROPER English [instead of rewarding them for merely speaking]?

In a classroom you visit once a week with 30-40 five to twelve year olds with only basic skills, priorities change quickly. I've made the case to school administrators and people in my own company that schools are wasting a LOT of money by putting us into these situations. What a foreign teacher is best at - fine-tuning grammar and pronunciation - is pretty worthless when dealing with the demographic we do. In most cases, I don't feel like there's much I can do that a normal Chinese English teacher can't do. I can't change the whole system, so I do the best I can.

My first priority is effective communication. Use what you know. My Chinese is horrible, but I use it rather effectively and with the help of body language there's almost nothing I can't do. I find our jobs here to be well-suited for that: communicate with the foreigner using what you know. I teach/demonstrate that the average foreigner is not going to understand most of the Chinese you use, so use the English you do know to convey your message. Be comfortable with the language enough to actually speak it and guesstimate grammar in a creative, if stressful, environment. It's much better than locking up trying to remember finer grammar points or more difficult vocab.

For what it's worth, I almost always repeat student statements and questions loudly and in proper English so the whole class can hear and the student can make notes on where they went wrong. When playing games I help them say what they want correctly before giving them points. What it seems you are suggesting would force me, more or less, to make a fool of anyone who dared raise their hand to speak.

In one-to-one environments, I encourage students (typically adults in high-ranking positions) to not be afraid of dumbing down. You always see good speakers getting stuck on one word, trying to remember something the learned ten years ago. I always tell them there's likely four or five easy words that they do know that say almost the same thing as the big word and if used, the conversation won't grind to a halt.

Only my ideas... what do others think? Comment!

Happy Trey Day Eve

It's that time of year again. Know what you can do to make me super happy? Use this damn Florida phone number I bought and CALL ME! Even if just for a few minutes... you have know idea how good familiar voices sound 8500 miles away.

I'm 12 hours ahead of EST (11pm Saturday in Jax = 11am Sunday for me). I'm off work tomorrow. And the next day. Friday night my time is good for super-short drunken hello's and that's about it. Hot Pot, karaoke, and wine will surely flow at a Double Going Away + Trey Day Party.

(904) 302-7336

Step 1) Save it in your phone.
Step 2) Right now.
Step 3) Call it at a good time for both of us.
Step 4) Identify yourself.
Step 5) Chat!