28 March 2015

Gentlefolk,

Another week, another dollar.

Teachers at this university get a base pay of about $320 per month, plus $8 for every teaching hour.  This semester I have 5 classes a week or 10 hours = 40 hours per month x$8 = $320.  So I'm earning $640 per month. Plus free accommodation and utilities. (All dollars are US$).

Doesn't sound like much, and one wouldn't do this for the money.  But it's fun, and we get enough for Vera & me to live on.  Public transport is cheap, and food is also inexpensive, especially on campus.  An average meal in one of the student canteens is less than $2.  We eat out two or three times a week, and that costs more, up to $10 each depending on where we go, so still quite reasonable.

But when we travel, either inside or outside China, we have to dip into savings.

Gym

I mentioned that we joined the California Gym, a couple of km from the campus. Only $90 a year, but half the equipment is broken, and the place is a mess ....  you get what you pay for.  Anyway, it's convenient, and we try to go early to avoid the crowds.

Attitudes change quickly in China.  Three years ago a gym near here closed for lack of patronage.  Few students had heard of a gym then, let alone joined one ("What, pay to exercise - that's crazy!").  Now, this place is packed and I recognise many faces from our campus.

News class

This semester I have a new course 'English News'.  I was perplexed how to teach this subject.  The first couple of weeks I took in a number of articles from the China Daily and we discussed them.  But there was a subdued atmosphere so last week I asked 3 students to select articles and lead the discussion.  It seemed to work well.

The students selected the following articles:

"Nurses must be more patient" China Daily 20 March 2015.  The article describes a study undertaken by the Department of Health which found a high level of dissatisfaction amongst patients about the attitude of nurses (and doctors); and suggested some remedies.

"Twin sisters adopted from China reunited years later" (16 October 2014). In 2003 two couples, one from California, the other from Norway, adopted baby girls from an orphanage.  Although the babies looked alike, the orphanage said they were not sisters.  Later the parents did DNA tests which found that they are twins. The families met up in 2009, the twins got on well and now keep in regular touch through social media.

"Chinese farmer builds Lamborghini Reventon from scrap metal" (22 August 2012).  A young farmer/mechanic built a Lamborghini by using a small model car as his reference.  Took him 12 months, and cost $9,500. He couldn't afford to paint it, and in any case the police won't allow the car to be registered, so he just drives it around the village.

I took along the following articles:

"Crest fined $960,000 for false advertising" (CD 10 March 2015).  The government slapped Procter and Gamble with a huge fine for a TV advertisement which suggested that Crest toothpaste could whiten teeth quickly.

"Selfie sticks on way to being banned" (CD 19 March 2015).  Several museums have forbidden the use of "selfie sticks" as they could damage exhibits and also injure sightseers.  Some commentators suggest that they should still be allowed in outdoor areas.

"Tiny Times sweeps Golden Broom awards" (CD 17 March 2015). Hollywood has the "Golden Raspberry Awards" for worst films, and China has the "Golden Broom Awards".  A film called Tiny Times 3 scooped the field this year with "worst awards" for film, director, script, and actress.

Getting the students more involved made this a much livelier class.  I think I'll continue along that path.  It's interesting for me too, to see what articles the students choose.

Cricket World Cup

Tomorrow Australia meets New Zealand in the final of the 2015 Cricket World Cup.  The Kiwis regularly beat us in rugby - let's hope for a different result tomorrow.  Whatever happens, both teams deserve to be there and it should be a great game.

Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, oi oi oi!

In honour of that game I thought I would include the following little story.  Andrew & Caroline live on Wong Nai Chung Road in Hong Kong (on the border of Happy Valley and Causeway Bay), and their living-room windows look across to the Craigengower Cricket Club (CCC).  This is the background to the CCC.

Craigengower Cricket Club

The CCC was founded in Hong Kong in 1894, when Mr. W.D. Braidwood, the Headmaster of the Victoria English School, established a cricket field in Bonham Road near Breezy Point.  The name came from the building which housed his school - Craigengower. 

But the original site did not prove suitable so they moved to an area in the north-east corner of Happy Valley. At that time Happy Valley was a large area of open ground which was used for a variety of sporting activities, including horse racing. In fact, until the proper Jockey Club track was established, cricket games were often interrupted by horses galloping through the oval!

On 22 October 1903 Mr. Braidwood, then President of CCC, convened a meeting which led to the formation of the Hong Kong Cricket League.  A new local newspaper, the South China Morning Post, donated a shield and a League competition consisting of 8 teams Commenced. 

        

The first league game was played at Happy Valley on Saturday, October 24, 1903. CCC played the Civil Service Cricket Club (later known as the Centaurs).  The match was drawn, with the Civil Service scoring 100 (off 37 overs) and CCC 4 for 71 (off 13 overs) in reply. 

The CCC was closed in 1941 during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong and finally re-opened in 1947. 

In 1976 a major redevelopment took place, which saw the end of the cricket oval – land is such a premium in Hong Kong that more intensive use had to be found.  The Club had some practice nets, but they too have now gone the way of the oval.

Nowadays the CCC has a large modern clubhouse with lots facilities such as parking, dining, tennis, lawn bowls, badminton, gym, swimming pool, billiards, etc - but no cricket ground or nets.  The CCC cricket team leads a nomadic existence, playing on any public or private fields they can find.

I haven't been able to find out the cost of membership, but if the HK Football Club (just up the road) is anything to go by, membership of the CCC is probably well over $100,000 (with a long waiting list)!

Craigengower

I was intrigued by the name Craigengower (rolls off the tongue, doesn't it) and tried to find its origins.

It sounded Scottish, and I expected that it was some famous place in Scotland, but a google search came up with only one minor reference – a hill in South Ayrshire.  I thought I must have missed something, so asked Paul Milton to check it out but he came up with the same result.

Apparently Craigengower means “Hill of goats” in Gaelic.  It is a relatively small hill overlooking the town of Straiton which is about an hours drive south-west of Glasgow, along the M77. 

As this is the only reference we could find to this name, I have to assume that the name originated from this nondescript little hill near Straiton.

Oh, another bit of trivia: the Scottish Hill Running Club organises the Craigengower Hill Race every August.  The course is 3 km with a 200 m climb; the current record holder is P. Prasad who recorded a time of 16 min 11sec in 2008.

So, now you know all about the origins of the Craigengower Cricket Club, a cricket club with no cricket facilities!

...

That's it for this post folks.

Until the next time, keep well and keep smiling.

Alex & Vera Olah

English teachers at the China University of Petroleum, Qingdao

www.upc.edu.cn

Saturday 28 March 2015.