Today, time passed as a fever—that is, 6 of the 14 children
in my class were out with fever.
Does my throat hurt? Am I getting flushed? One can’t help but feel sick under these circumstances. However, I will say that the panic
about hand and mouth disease appears to have ebbed. We did, though, have to spend another hour outside while the
classroom was sterilized again, and the day wasn’t quite so nice! The nurse’s solution to this situation
is to urge us to open the classroom doors so that the air can circulate better.
No mention of washing the nap bedding, where the germs must be proliferating
almost visibly; the sweating going on under those heavy quilts every day this
week was something to see! This
attitude toward almost magical treatments is in keeping with the Chinese belief
in the curative powers of various kinds of teas and the use of medicines as a
preventive—several children have been taking significant quantities of
medicines that are designed to ‘keep them healthy.’ Or, again, the idea that the children should be kept warm
under all circumstances, leading to girls wearing winter tights in late
May. Or, finally, the response I
got when I suggested that we take our morning snack out to the playground: that would be unsanitary. When finally it was agreed that the
children might get hungry and/or thirsty out there for 1 ½ hours, we brought
plastic gloves so that we could pick up the (delicious) cherry tomatoes and pop
them in the children’s mouths, so that the children would never touch them with
their germy fingers. No one
noticed that the teacher’s gloved finger touched every child’s mouth before it
went back into the bag to select another tomato for the next child—a veritable
germ factory was being created!
And, again, in a culture where children regularly urinate outside on the
side of the street, and where comprehensive spitting is de rigueur. Perspective is all.
 |
| Here is one perspective, from this afternoon's walk, on strollers! |
I should have expected a day like this when the day began
with a breakfast of ‘fry stick.’
Mr. Lee, van driver, stopped at one of those street kitchens to purchase
some breakfast for several of the van riders. I asked Maggie about the typical Chinese breakfast—bread
patties with meat and onions, bean broth, steamed buns with bean paste, and fry
stick are typical choices. She called
out to Mr. Lee to purchase an extra fry stick for us to sample. It was a giant version of a tiger tail
donut, without the sugar cinnamon/glaze.
Very fried tasting; needless to say, Julia and Alex were delighted to
consume the lion’s share! The taste
lingered in my (relatively) vegan mouth a long time; I had to have some
cherries to change the flavor! The
bread-meat-onion patty actually looks tasty—a bit browned and crispy but not
drenched in fat. The bean broth
came in a plastic bag, something like a Martin’s bag; I also saw a bag of beer
this week (featured in travel book paragraphs about Qingdao)—nothing more
substantial than a very cheap thin plastic bag. Is this a smart decision—easily disposed of with less
material than a cup with lid?—or just bizarre—how easy would it be for the bag
to slip out of one’s hand!
Julia had a good week at school, I think. She has settled in, has a routine,
isn’t forming grand friendships but seems to be comfortable with the kids. She has aspects of the day she likes,
and Ms. Alice is a great contributor to the sense of comfort. She and Alex start every day with some
enjoyable kid interactions, which puts her in a good frame of mind. Wouldn’t it be great if they can come
to the US and visit us sometime in the near future?
After school, Julia went home with 1st grader
Saskia, who is Japanese and British, here for the second year of a 4 year stint
as ex-pats; dad has a job managing an energy development project. I followed them to the apartment about
an hour later; they live on the 21st floor of a twin tower set of
apartments about 1 block away from the school—the view, even on this densely
foggy day, was phenomenal. Mom
said she can identify children on the soccer field with binoculars. The girls seemed to have a good time,
albeit somewhat at loose ends. Mom
and I drank tea and chatted about being ex-pats and about highlights of Qingdao
while the girls used the couch as gym equipment; there were many photos taken
of jumping and rolling girls.
About this endlessly fascinating topic of ex-pats, Mom seemed to
indicate that it’s dad choice that they continue on in China; she’d like to
return to Switzerland/Europe. Dad
works 60-70 hours a week, while Mom deals with the daily issues of living in a
culture where she doesn’t speak the language. When asked somewhat circumspectly
about her personal options in Qingdao, however, she clammed right up and said,
‘we like being ex-pats.’ I may
have overstepped propriety!
Happy clambering girls:
Happy clambering girls:
Today is the International Day of Children—why have I never
heard of it? Lots of low key
celebrations going on, on par with Mother’s Day here, including lots of sales
on children’s items. We may go
shopping tomorrow to take advantage!
My conversations with the aides have reached the topic of
gun control, as well as more on the cost of living. Mia is fascinated with the question of what kind of salaries
school teachers might get in America.
At 24, she is worried about the future given the low salaries that are
available to her, whether she teaches in a public or private school. When I asked them if it was legal to
carry a gun in China, their instant response was forceful: No; straight to jail
with you if you have one (the Japanese mother said the same thing about Japan
swiftly and strongly; and she said Japan is about the safest country in the
world. Food for thought).
The question of China in the modern world is certainly a key
question of our age. In light of
that, I am including the following link to a fascinating interview with a
reporter who tracks, in China, the Chinese business climate. If the idea of China is becoming
more intriguing to you, as it is to me, it may be worth reading.
No comments:
Post a Comment