Some uneducated observations of Ecuadorian education

In elementary school, one of my favorite classroom tasks was "logic grid puzzles." In these brain-busters, we would be given the first and last names of four or five people, and then something like the names of their dogs and the various prizes they might have won in some grooming competition. Then, given a set of clues like this...

1. "Mr. Bombadil, whose dog did not win first place, was sitting next to Sally when she found out that Ms. Mochachino's dog had dropped out of competition after vomiting all over the Fluffy the Labradoodle."

... we had to figure out who won, whose dog belonged to whom, and so forth. Such torture boxes undoubtedly aimed to develop pretty strong critical thinking skills, and potentially some creative thinking (another highly prized attribute). In contrast, if I were to look at the homework of our Ecuadorian students and guess which skills their school system rewarded most highly, I would guess 1) uniformity, and 2) obedience. With tasks like "color this page yellow" or "write the numbers from 1000 to 10,000 in multiples of 10" or "copy ¿? one hundred times," it seems that if these tykes are going to think outside of the box, it'll be in spite of their education, not because of it.

Therefore, I'm hoping to translate "logic grid puzzles" for the kids in San Fransisco, Ecuador, straight from South Highlands Elementary school in Shreveport, Louisiana. Perhaps:

1. "Maria, Byron, Emelia and Jorge are all planning on going to college, but can't decide which. Four universities in Quito - UDLA, ESPE, Catolica, and San Fransisco - all specialize in different areas: Engineering, Arts, Literature, and English. Can you help our friends figure out where to go to college?"

Other creative thinking and critical thinking activity suggestions welcome.

Passing a Birthday in Beijing

Today I thought I'd talk a little about passing a birthday here in China.

Throughout the day, I got several text messages that all said the same version of 'Happy Birthday' in Chinese. The consistency was probably a result of the fact that Chinese mobile phones come with a set of pre-saved text messages for all important occasions. Others include "I'll be about XX minutes late, please wait!", "I'm busy now and will call you later," and "Happy Spring Festival, Have a Good Time with Your Family". Anyway, a constant stream of Happy Birthdays was arriving on my phone throughout the day.

In the morning, Teacher Tan prepared a bowl of "Ba bao zhou" or "Eight Treasures Conjee," a thick, rice-based soup that tasted very sweet (Teacher Tan had added a lot of sugar as this made it more appropriate for a birthday). I'd had Ba bao zhou on the streets of Shanghai before, but what I had on my birthday was sweeter and chunkier.

Teacher Tan prepared a large number of dishes to have for a celebratory lunch, which he had on a folding table in the living room.




I made the mistake of taking this second picture after we'd done some serious damage to the good. The empty silver pan on the right had held tasty steamed buns containing pork and red bean paste. There was also an delicious, crispy sweet and sour dish that I initially thought was lightly fried fish, but Teacher Tan told me was actually some kind of plant. Most important for my birthday was a bowl of "Chang shou mian" which basically means "Longevity noodles".
Overall it was a very filling meal, and I barely ate anything for dinner that night on account of still being full.

At night I did save room for a birthday cake that Teacher Tan had procured from a nearby bakery. She had also managed to find a cardboard crown like the kind you see in fast food restaurants. She really wanted to get a picture of me cutting the cake on the living room table, which I think may have annoyed Teacher Diao as he was watching Peking opera on the television.


I ate the cake for breakfast all throughout the following week.

During my birthday weekend I also received from individual friends a couple of little cakes (about 2 inches in diameter). You can find these in all of the bakeries that blanket the modern Chinese cityscape. Almost no one in China actually bakes cakes, since even the most modern apartments often aren't equipped with ovens. Oven-cooking is a western import, and Chinese people still mostly cook with steamers and woks. Thus Beijing has hundreds, if not thousands, of little street side bakeries catering to people's cravings for Western-style baked goods.

Overall, not a bad day, though I spent a lot of it doing homework and never got to hear the Birthday song.

(S)election '07

A different kind of election--one absent the advertisements, polls, and predictions--is also occurring in China. This week the Chinese Communist Party kicked off the 17th National Congress, a week-long gathering of leading Party officials from across the country. The Congress occurs once every five years and provides an occasion for officials to reflect on the Party's history, promote new broad governing principles, and select a new slate of top Party leaders. Some argue that the latter is the most notable--and least predictable--of the week's proceedings.

We will not know for sure until next week, but most estimates suggest that two spots on the Politburo's Standing Committee--which constitutes the most powerful group of individuals in China--will go to two young rising stars in the Party. Some believe these two could go on to become the most powerful men in all the land, provided they stay in the good graces of the top leadership. The names to keep an eye on are Li Keqiang, Party head of Liaoning Province, and Xi Jinping, Party head of Shanghai.

The new members of the Standing Committee may provide for us some insight into the future of Chinese politics. Li Keqiang and Xi Jinping, for instance, do not share the professional or revolutionary experiences of China's oldest leaders, and their records likely reflect a different approach to policy-making. (I must confess that I am not familiar with their work.) Although the new members will represent a small minority on the Standing Committee, their generation's experience will add a new perspective.

Make no mistake, even with the new leadership, no groundbreaking political reforms are on the horizon. As most American papers enjoy pointing out over and over and over again (New York Times headline reads: "China's Leader Closes Door to Reform"), these leaders are in no rush to burn their bridges.

In this week of behind-the-scenes deal-making and consultations, in contrast to Mark's cynicism (all in good fun!), let's enjoy the onslaught of presidential politics. I suppose it's better than no onslaught at all.

Breaking legs in Thailand

(a post from Meaghan Long, whose host government apparently isn´t friends with Blogger)

Hello from Asia! Since this is my first post, I'll tell you a bit about myself first. My name is Meaghan Long; I am 23 years old and I live in Shenzhen, China. Its a bustling city of about 5 to 10 million people. No one knows the exact number due to so many people moving here from all over China on a daily basis! Its right across the border from Hong Kong and the weather here is basically like Louisiana. Ive been living here one year already teaching English to primary and middle school kids. Thats the short intro, more on me later. Heres what I've been up too recently!

Well, the public schools all have a break in October for the Chinese National Day which is a great chance to travel around China or Asia. This year I headed to Thailand for 4 wonderful days. While I was there, I was busy with my new obsession: learning Muay Thai (Thai boxing). There is a class in Shenzhen which got me hooked so I went off to Thailand for more! Everyday I trained twice a day for 2 hours, once in the morning and once in the late afternoon. What a great place where you can wake up at 7 oclock and have someone beat you up for 2 hours. And you pay them! Really it was great fun training with these Thai fighters. Kick! Block! Jab! Muay Thai is boxing with a little martial arts thrown in. Punches and kicks are used, as well as elbows and knees! Its a great way to get in shape, learn some self defense skills and have a really great time! At one point I was put in the ring to spar with the Thai kids who train everyday and have been training probably for their whole lives. Needless to say, the 8 year old kid threw me down just about everytime! With all these Thai men from the store next door watching! Watch the little white girl get her butt kicked by the kids! Fun times! When I wasnt training, I spent some great time at the beach just lounging around or treated myself to a Thai massage. (for the low low price of 250 Thai Baht, like $6 US) Luckily this trip I didn't get sunburned!

One of my favorite things about Thailand is the convoluted English they speak. Its different than the Chinglish (Chinese English mish mash) one hears in China. In Thailand its really very simple. Instead of asking if they have something, its just "Have, no have?" The reply: "Have!" or "No have!" Easy enough. They also love repeating words. "This very Cheap cheap!" but my favorite Thai saying: "Same same!" This phrase can be applied to just about anything! You want to buy one pair of pants but the others are cheaper? "this same same! Want cheap cheap!" Trying to explain English words to kick boxing instructors, "Punch, Jab. meaning same same!" Definitely one of the most useful phrases in the English language. They even make t-shirts in Thailand that say Same Same on the front!

So my trip was great, I arrived back to China and the next day headed off to my usual Muay Thai class. I'm having a good time, using my new skills, and we were practicing thowing each other like I had been doing all week. Except this time, I was slightly scared of falling on the floor because it was a bit harder than the ring I had been landing on in Thailand. So I tensed up, locking my ankle. The instructor went through with the throw with my foot firmly planted. My body twisted, foot didn't. Crack. 2 hospitals, and xray and a lot of waiting later, I'm informed that my ankle has been fractured. At the first hospital, they immediately tell me that I must stay because they want to operate. Yikes. No way am I getting an operation in China. My instructor asks him what kind of surgery and the doctor says "thats for me to worry about" Sheesh. This is a bit of a scam. Maybe I do need surgery but they really want me to have it because I'm foreign which equates to having lost of money that I can spend on surgery and hospital bills. Okay, next hospital! This one is a bit more foreigner friendly and one of the better ones in Shenzhen. They tell me I should put in screws. Again I vetoed. The fracture isn't that big and my instructor (who has broken multiple bones multiple times) syas that the bone will probably heal fine without them. So 20 minutes later, I've got a nice white cast. But no crutches. They don't sell them in the hospital. Sheesh. We hobble off to a taxi and go to a medical supply store to get crutches.

At the supply store, they are moving slower than Christmas. Im standing there on one leg obviously in some amount of pain and theyre just taking their precious time. I exasperatedly told them to hurry up. Then they brought me the wrong size. Twice. Finally we get it worked out. I want to give them back the cane I had bought prior to going to the hospital and they insisted on having the receipt which they didn't give me before. So now they've got me, my instructor (who speaks really good chinese) and my instructors assistant (who is Chinese) all yelling at these people. Finally we get it all worked out. I got my crutches and made it home safe and sound!

So thats the update of the last week of my life. I went to Thailand and paid guys to give me bruises and beat me up (oh yeah, and I burned myself on a motorbike) I make it home alive and in one piece. I'm in China a day and I fracture my ankle. The best part is, right before Muay Thai class, I was joking with the instructor because the medical store is right by our gym. I asked him if he wanted me to buy him a crutch from the medical supply store. Ah the irony. Karma is a pain in the ..ankle. Especially in China!

An Unlikely Ride

"We are going to Wuchang, near the university."

"Very good. What country are you from?"

"America."

"America, Americans. You don't respect China, and you love to go to war, no?"

I peered over at my Chinese friend, who began to sink into the back seat of the cab. My American friend in the front seat, who lay within strangling-range of our new friend, stared straight ahead and kept silent. After a day of hiking hills and beating the pavement, my compatriot lacked the energy to engage our apparent adversary.

Our driver took us on a long and winding diatribe, taking particular aim at Americans and the Japanese.

His voice was rusty but not very deep--the kind of voice one thinks older cab drivers should have. He articulated his words sharply, and he emphasized key words like "disrespect" and "Iraq" with extra high and extra low tones. His Chinese sounded authoritative and rhythmic--the kind I could only dream of speaking.

"You Americans disrespect China and seek to keep us weak," he exclaimed. According to his analysis, the United States has grown accustomed to dealing with a lesser adversary and considers this power dynamic inevitable. US policy towards Taiwan--a renegade Chinese province, according to the PRC--exemplifies this arrogance. The United States continues to supply arms to this law-violating government because the U.S. does not respect Chinese policy towards Taiwan. Furthermore, arming Taiwan allows the United States to keep China down.

But just you wait, the driver warned, China was growing fast and soon would overtake the United States.

In addition to disrespecting China, my friend and I also apparently support war--no nuance necessary. If not inherent belligerence, what else could explain our country's support for an unprovoked war and for a President who initiated it and remains unable to secure the attacked country's future?

And those loathsome Japanese. "Haven't you seen the movies and television episodes depicting the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression ( World War Two Japanese incursion into China)?" he asked our Chinese friend.

"Yes, yes," my reticent friend replied.

"You see, he knows what I mean!" Japanese and Americans are kindred spirits, he assured us, and the former love to fight just a much as they did during World War II. Japan's continued refusal to acknowledge its WW II atrocities were a harbinger of future aggression, for which China must be prepared.

I do not recount this episode to dispute the accuracy of our driver's information or the logic in his interpretations. In some cases, his facts were accurate. In other cases, they were not. His interpretations speak for themselves.

I cite this experience because it is unique in my interaction with China and because I fear the consequences of more similar episodes. Over the course of four years studying China, and approximately four months on the ground in the People's Republic, this cab ride has proven the only case of severe anti-Americanism that I have encountered. I obviously meet people all the time who find fault with U.S. foreign policy (I often find myself agreeing with them). But these Chinese simultaneously acknowledge the benefits of the American political system and the importance of U.S. engagement internationally. Whatever criticism leveled at China from abroad, we must be fair and acknowledge that anti-Americanism in China is low.

The prospect of ubiquitous anti-Americanism in China is troubling. Chinese popular opinion matters to the Chinese leadership, and anyone who disagrees need only examine student opposition to various Chinese government and foreign government policies in the 1980s and 1990s. Popular sentiment will continue to influence Chinese policy toward the United States and our allies. And whether we like it or not, China is relevant to a series of important U.S. interests at home and abroad, including intellectual property rights, U.S. manufacturing, nuclear proliferation, global warming, and Darfur. The list goes on.

I hardly pretend to provide insight into U.S. policy toward China--I am certainly not suggesting that the United States surrender our policy interests. Rather, my goal is to provide a simple peek into anti-Americanism in China, and to explain why we should care about it.

For further reading on anti-Americanism in China and relevant policy issues, see James Fallows: http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/postglobal/james_fallows/2007/10/ultimatums_wont_move_china.html.

Grape Picking in Karlovci

Shirley Larson is a native of Shreveport (30+ years there) and now lives in Novi Sad, Serbia. She has been there for about a year. She spends a lot of time visiting festivals in the towns and villages in the region and loves to share her travels and impressions with her home town friends.

Recently, I went to the "Grape Picking in Karlovci" festival held in Sremski Karlovci, in the region of Vojvodina (Voi-vo-deena) in Serbia. This annual event is held to celebrate the harvesting of grapes used to make wines in this region. Sremski Karlovci is about 12 killometers from Novi Sad, where I am living. It is located on the northern base of Fruška Gora (the "Holy" Mountain), home to 16 "hidden" Serbian Orthodox monasteries.

People have lived in this area since the 14th century. In the late 1600's it was the site of the peace congress between the victorious Hapsburg Empire of Austria and her allies and the Ottoman Turks that produced the Treaty of Karlowitz. Driving into the town, we passed the Orthodox Chapel of Peace where the Congress was held. Every year on the anniversary of this treaty, people walk from all over the area to this church on pilgrimage to mark the occasion.As is the normal practice at these festivals, booths were set up for wine & rakija (brandy) tasting and selling. The area is known for quality reds and white wines as well as a rosé known as Karlovci tovajn.

One variety of red that I found particularly delightful is "Bermet", more of a desert wine or aperitif. It is strong and sweet with mixture of spices and herbs in the taste. This wine was even served aboard the Titanic! The most famous wine from the area is "Karlovački rizling", a crisp white wine.

There are also booths selling food, T-shirts, souvenirs, etc. There was also an area set aside for a carnival with rides for kids. I felt quite at home, as if I were in Shreveport again at the Revel or at Mudbug Madness. I found these leather Serbian-style shoes particularly interesting with their upturned toes:

Several of the food booths were selling fresh roasted suckling pig. I just had to share this image with all of you. (PS - I wasn't the only one taking a picture of this!)


Dancers and musicians representing the many ethnic groups in the area (Serbs, Croatians, Macedonians, Hungarians and more) were present and performed on a large stage with live music which included accordion, tamburitza (a stringed instrument similar to a mandolin), guitar, violin, bass and drums. I had my picture taken with many of them. These young people are very talented, friendly and represent their country very well. Here's a couple of the pictures:

These are Serbian costumes:


These are Hungarian costumes:


Here's a group of Macedonian dancers getting ready to go onstage:


This is a group of Serbian dancers onstage:


Here in Serbia, these dancers learn their ethnic dances at dance schools. Reminded me of the wonderful dance schools in Shreveport/Bossier where our children learn ballet, tap and jazz.

This was my favorite costume and this is my favorite picture from the event. I call him "The Herder". The costume is Serbian. He holds a beautiful staff carved of very heavy wood and his cape is made of wool with rich embroidery. There are so many details on this costume that it was hard to take it all in. I had a great time at this festival and am looking forward to the next. It seems as is there is a new "manifestation" as they call these, every few weeks.

A different kind of election

With campaigning for the US Presidential election in sickeningly full swing, I´d like to draw some attention to another election that occured last week here in Ecuador.

Ecuador, a country the size of Nevada and only thirty-six years younger than the United States, is about to rewrite - for the nineteenth time - its constitution. That may sound a little strange to most of us, who are used to having the Constitution placed somewhere just below the Bible and Shakespeare. Ecuador, however, goes through constitutions almost as fast as it goes through Presidents (six in the last ten years).

Because I know Ecuadorian presidential politics may not be everyone´s favorite dish, I´ll sum up: The new Ecuadorian president, strongly reminiscent of one infamous Louisiana governer, called a snap referendum to write a new constitution. The referendum pass widely in a country fed up with a corrupt and self-serving Congress. Last week, again by a wide margin, President Correa´s troops won a majority of the seats in the new Constitutional Assembly. That assembly will rewrite Ecuador´s constitution over the next six months - and has the power to disband Congress and/or vacate the presidency if it sees fit.

A lot more interesting than which Repuclian candidates in the US are most monogamous, don´t you think?

For a more informed article about Ecuador´s recent election, see this Economist article.