Name: MBE (jason)
After living in China for over 6 years, my life back stateside...
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(since 5.14.04)
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At the beginning of the school year I made a CD of music that I thought the students of this age might like. Based on Howard Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences I knew that many students are 'musical.' So I have always included some form of music in all of my classes. On this CD I included some Enya, Sting, Phil Collins, etc. I also put the first song from the "Fiddler on the Roof," Tradition. Well, after about two weeks of listening to the same CD, my students started to anticipate the next song by singing the first few notes. One student from Japan really enjoys music (apparent in his feet and head movement during the music). He used to sing the first notes of TRADITION all the time! I felt it was best to use some other music for a while. Just recently, I started playing the CD again and everytime the song from Fiddler comes on, EVERY student in the class looks to this student to see his reaction.
It may not be the English that they are learning, but they are learning the connections and patterns in life and it is so nice to see the progress of the students. Just by adding music I notice a more relaxed environment for the students and see it reflected in better work. I have not done research on this subject and the connections to learning and music, but I know that I enjoy 'jamming out' while I write or study. I am sure that is also true for most people out there!
Well, the article that I wrote in April of this year just keeps poping up. This time on a site that was created for the NECC2004 Conference. Anne Davis, has included my article on this list of articles about blogging in education. I am really taken back and honored.
Also, earlier I was trying to cut and paste in the article below about the Chinese TV actor who ran over a lighting tech, but the template was really messed up. I hope this problem has been fixed.
When I was at Starbuck's this past weekend, I picked up a copy of "City Weekend." In it I read this rather interesting piece about a Chinese TV actor who was involved in an 'accident' last year. Here is it:
Gao Hu is arrested for murder in connection with a stunt accident on a TV set
Stunt accidents are a rarity in China, but as television programs and feature films increasingly become higher budget, the limits are being pushed. But last year, on the set of a television series "Wrong Love", things went too far.
Gao Hu rose to fame in 1999 in his role as a teenage heart-throb on a popular day time soap. A different sort of fame has kept him in the spotlight this past year though - in Qingdao on March 22, 2003, while filming a scene that required him to drive a white Toyota mini-bus down a steep hill, he lost control, and crushed lighting engineer Feng Ziyong against a fence. Feng died the following day of internal bleeding.
Gao has been under investigation for the incident for almost a year, and finally, this June, he was arrested for the murder of Feng.
Qingdao police officers find the case a tad perplexing. They can't charge him for normal reckless driving because the "traffic" accident as the incident occurred on private property, and was staged. But Feng's wife has been adamant in pushing the police force to establish grounds on which to charge Gao, claiming he owes her Y640,000 in compensation. Reports indicate that she appealed to Gao privately for a smaller sum, to which he refused.
Gao Hu has remained silent through the investigation. He terminated his contract with the television series and returned to his family home in Qingdao. His current line of defense: "The car had always been an automatic one, and suddenly they changed it to a standard, and I just wasn't used to it" (sina.com).
But for Feng's wife, this is not enough. "I have no answer as to what happened, it is not enough," she says (sina.com).
"I was enthralled with the story, according to the director's request," claims Gao. "The tragedy was that the car had a problem and it was not my job to check it before I drove" (sina.com).
All signs pointed to Gao going unreprimanded for the accident, when, suddenly on June 14, 2004, police arrived at his home and arrested him for murder. Gao and his lawyer were shocked, while Feng's wife spoke satisfyingly to the media. Gao's lawyer claims that the courts have no right to arrest him and put him on trial, and that the only explanation could be that the case has become too high profile.
Law experts look pessimistically at Gao's future - the fact that he is being detained is not just, and therefore, they can only anticipate an equally unjust sentence.
I have just visited a few sites that are very helpful and full of information about various aspects of life in China:
1. Shanghai Expats - Welcome to Shanghaiexpat.com, a place for finding good info on moving to, living, and working in Shanghai.
There is a lot of information here. Browse through the articles, use the search tools, visit the forums, and become a part of a great online community by getting a free login.
2. China Search/Directory & China Window - Sister sites that have tons of listing and stuff...
3. Tales of Asia - Similar to my 123travel blog, but more information (for now
)!
Within one hour of posting about having gmail invites, they are both gone! When I get more I will let you know...
I guess that I have really been out of the loop for a while, but obviously this 'gmail' thing is really heating up. I assume that when I go home to the states this summer I will find out how crazy everyone really is for gmail. I can understand how 1000mb of space can make people go nuts. I like my account and now that I am used to using it, I prefer it. On a couple of blogs that I read (blinger.org who I go this idea from and some others) it mentions giving away Gmail accounts. Since I have two invites, so the first two comments that I get will get the invite. Please remember to leave your current name and e-mail to send the invite to.
I am a member of several ESL/EFL professional organizations like TESOL, IATEFL, and a few others. On average each association will publish a journal at least bi-monthly, but sometimes once a month. It is very 'hit or miss' with their journals. One month I would read the journals two or three times, but then other times I will not find a single item of interest. This month would be one of those 'non-interest' months. I am very disappointed with what that have printed. It follows my disappointment with the conference that I went to in Beijing in May. It would not really matter to me, but becuase of living away from my home country, it is nice to get print in English. However, when the print is boring or just not interesting, I have to ask myself, "why am I spending my money on this membership if I am not professionally growing through them?" I realize that at the end of the school year the writers for the journals are all about to go on vacation or start teaching summer school, but is that a good reason to print a 'crap' journal. I would think that they would be more interested in upholding their name as an association than to just print to print. Anyway, I am just really disappointed and I know that I have not the right to complain if I am not adding my own articles, but I am not sure that I would want my article included in such an unpredictable publication! 
As you can see, I have been playing around with the CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) of this site. I think that I have finally gotten it to a point that I am happy with. There may be a few 'minor' changes, but overall I am very pleased. I welcome any comments/suggestions you might have! 
My wife and I are off to the states in 15 days. We are really excited about this trip. This will be the first time my wife has been to the states and met my family. I am really looking forward to a little rest. I am also going to have some extra time to begin planning my 'blog' integration into my classes for next year. I will be posting on this blog for the entire process. I will appreciate any feedback I can get during the planning stages.
Today, the 3 year old students at my school had their 'splish and splash' day. It was a good day to have it with 88/31 degree weather and 95% humidity. It was so refreshing to see the little ones running and splashing. Although, the children come from very different countries, cultures, backgrounds, family structures, they just enjoyed being kids. They threw water all over each other and the teachers. They did not care that others were watching, what they were wearing, how they sounded, they only cared about having fun. Makes me put everything into a different perspective. 
Yesterday was the 5th day of the 5th month on the Chinese Lunar Calender. And this matters because...well, it means "Dragon Boat Festival."
At the end of the Zhou Dynasty, the area we now know as China had fallen into a state of fragmentation and conflict. While the Zhou dynasty had ruled for several centuries, several other states, originally feudal domains, tried to carve out their own kingdoms. The state of Qin would eventually emerge the victor and unify all of China under one rule for the first time in history.
Qu Yuan served as minister to the Zhou Emperor. A wise and articulate man, he was loved by the common people. He did much to fight against the rampant corruption that plagued the court-- thereby earning the envy and fear of other officials. Therefore, when he urged the emperor to avoid conflict with the Qin Kingdom, the officials pressured the Emperor to have him removed from service. In exile, he traveled, taught and wrote for several years. Hearing that the Zhou had been defeated by the Qin, he fell into despair and threw himself into the Milou River. His last poem reads:
Many a heavy sigh I have in my despair,
Grieving that I was born in such an unlucky time.
I yoked a team of jade dragons to a phoenix chariot,
And waited for the wind to come,
to sour up on my journeyNow, what does this mean to me and you? Well, if you are really lucky you can take part in a dragon boat race. But most people just eat "sticky rice" which is rice that has been cooked and then wrapped in a corn/banana leaf with red beans, bean curd, or meat and then steamed. (the sticky rice represents the rice balls the people threw in the river to keep the fish from feeding on Qu Yuan) We ate the sticky rice with red beans and I must say it is starting to taste better to me each time. So mark next year's calender on the 5th day of the 5th month on the Chinese Lunar Calender!
I am trying a different RSS/ATOM feed service called 'Feedburner.' It allows me to publish my feed in many different versions and types. I am hoping that this will be a little easier than the feed service I have been using. If you are using my RSS feed let me know what you think. You can change the feed address on the sidebar or click here.
This past weekend my wife and I visited some of my fellow teachers. One of the teachers is from Scotland and I was always asking her about 'Haggis.' Haggis was brought to my attention in the Mike Myer's movie "So I Married An Axe Murderer." Since then I have heard it a few times here and there, but never thought that I would have a chance to try it. Well, my Scottish teaching friend prepared a Haggis for my wife and I. It was actually very tasty, even after they told us what was in it. It reminded me of a big sausage with extra stuffing in it. We were informed that it can be made from all kinds of thing. The one we had was dished out over a pile of mashed potatoes and tunips. (again, it tastes better than it sounds) I got on the internet and found all kinds of things about haggis. The main thing that I found really interesting was the poem "To A Haggis" that my host spoke to us before we ate. The first part says:
Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face,
Great chieftain o the puddin'-race!
Aboon them a' ye tak your place,
Painch, tripe, or thairm:
Weel are ye wordy of a grace
As lang's my arm.
The groaning trencher there ye fill,
Your hurdies like a distant hill,
Your pin wad help to mend a mill
In time o need,
While thro your pores the dews distil
Like amber bead.
His knife see rustic Labour dight,
An cut you up wi ready slight,
Trenching your gushing entrails bright,
Like onie ditch;
And then, O what a glorious sight,
Warm-reekin, rich!
Some of the ingredients are: 1 sheep's paunch heart, lung and liver of sheep, salt, white pepper, hot red pepper (cayenne preferred), 1 pound beef suet, 1/8 tsp. nutmeg (or less to taste), 2 onions, chopped, 6 oz. oatmeal, toasted, 3/4 pint beef stock.
For cooking instructions here and here are good sites. If you ever have the chance, give it a taste! 
In my June 10th entry I wrote about a presentation that I was giving my fellow teachers at my school. Since then I have compiled a list of links for the teachers of free blog hosting sites. (mostly taken from Weblogs Compendium) There has been a lot of feedback. Many of the teachers from other areas of the school (not present at my presentation) have come to me asking many questions about blogging. I am very excited by the replies I have gotten on this site and my TRAVEL BLOG. I am planning to do a follow-up session with all the teachers at my school at the start of next school year (August). I have learned a lot by working with this blog everyday. I mostly have learned things I hope not to do in the future, but I have also had a number of positive things happen. One of the biggest drawbacks has been the speed issue for editing and posting. Using servers based in China have proven to be quite time-consuming. Often content is 'not found.'
I have added this site and my travel blog site to several 'rings' (they can be found on the sidebar) I am still working with the formatting to make them look nice and fit into my current scheme. Please let me know what you think. I am just trying out different ways to 'get the word out' about my site. I want to share my 'experiences' with my students next year. They will want to know the 'ins-and-outs' of blogging, so I want to try it all myself first. Comments are welcome! If you are already using blogs in a class or have told others 'how' to blog your feedback is much appreciated...
I took this picture from my window this morning. This is what wakes me up at 4:30 everyday. The workers working, hammering, and most of all, YELLING! It is like they have never heard of CBs, Walkie-Talkies, or even mobile phones. I know they have them. I have seen EVERYONE with one, but I guess they only use them when they are not working. Oh well, three weeks to vacation...
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