3 December 2015

Gentlefolk,

This post is about an activity we did with my English Major students.  Also the school schedule of a Middle School student.

Is English crazy?

The web is full of interesting stuff.  Recently I found a couple of odd things relating to English, which I discussed with my two English Major classes.

The first was titled “Who could have invented the English language?”

The author cleverly highlights the inconsistencies in English, over 43-almost-rhyming lines.
Here are some extracts:

There is no egg in eggplant or ham in hamburger; Neither apple nor pine in pineapple

Quicksand works slowly; boxing rings are square; and a guinea pig isn’t from Guinea or a pig

In what other language do people recite at a play and play at a recital?

We have noses that run and feet that smell

We park in a driveway and drive on a parkway

And how can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same; While a wise man and a wise guy are opposite?

If one fowl is a goose, and two are called geese; Why isn't the plural of moose, meese?

If the plural of mouse is mice; The plural of house should be hice.

If the plural of man is men; Shouldn’t the plural of pan be pen?

If teachers taught, why don’t preachers praught?

If vegetarians eat vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat?

...

Yes, on the evidence, English is a crazy language!

Clever stuff.  Makes me want to know more about linguistics and how English developed into the language it is today … maybe one day …

English has had many external influences: from the Celts, to the Vikings, the Saxons, and of course the Normans.  French was the language of the ruling class for several hundred years following the successful Norman invasion in 1066.

My colleague, Gautier Plassais, says that more than 25% of English words come from French.

I have often wondered about English spelling.  Wonder no more: according to Gautier the reason why the English spell 'metre' with an 're' instead of 'meter' (which is much closer to the actual pronunciation) is that it comes from French.  Similarly words like 'centre' and 'theatre'.

And why is a 'q' always (and often 'o') followed by 'u'?  The 'u' seems quite superfluous.  Again, the villain is French.

Personally, I'd like to see spelling simplified.  The purists won't agree, but don't you think American spelling makes more sense? meter, center, color, behavior, neighbor, humor, favorite, etc.

At this stage I'm glad that I don't have to teach English grammar - I just focus on oral and reading English, and Western Culture.  I am happy to leave English grammar with all its nuances and paradoxes (two more French words) to real experts!

...

The other article was titled “The amazing little word UP”

Here’s a good Trivial Pursuit question: Which two-letter word has the most meanings?

The answer is UP.  Apparently it can be an adverb, a preposition, an adjective, a noun, and a verb.

UP sure is mixed-UP!

We usually think of UP as “move higher” but why do we wake UP from sleep? We lock UP the house; fix UP the car; stir Up trouble; line UP for tickets; work UP an appetite; think Up excuses.

A drain must be opened UP because it’s blocked UP.

We open UP a shop in the morning and close it UP at night.

The sky clouds UP and then it clears UP.

My time is UP, so I’ll wrap it UP, and shut Up.

...

We had some fun discussing the oddities of English which these students will study for the next 4 years.

At the end I challenged the students to compose a sentence (maximum 20 words) using UP as often as possible. Here are some of their contributions, produced the following week:

Name	Sentence of maximum 20 words, using UP as often as possible Selected students from EM1502 and EM1503, December 2015
Leighton	I got up, freshened up, cleaned up the room and then met up with my friends.
Sylvia	I woke up but it was too cold to get up so I gave up and went back to sleep.
Ivana	I get up, eat up my breakfast, wash up, and clean up my room.
Sabrina	I woke up, got up, made up some breakfast, ate it all up, then dressed up to go up the street.
Carol	I woke up, got up, cleaned up, and met up with my boyfriend who I look up to.
Iris	When he showed up, she went up to him and told him that she would always look up to him.
Violet	He came up with the idea of setting up special schools for kids to pick up knowledge.
Sally	Keep moving up and never give up standing up for your principles.
Sunny	I woke up, got up, tidied up, ordered up some food, and locked up.
Claire	She told him she would make up if he cleaned up the floor and fixed up the walls.
Ink	I told her to catch up, warm up, cheer up, and never give up.
Heidi	She got up, ordered up some food, ate it up, dressed up, then called up her friends to meet up.

Not a bad effort for Freshman students, don’t you think?

...

Middle School schedule

Every Saturday morning, from 8.45 to 9.45am, Vera meets with a young girl who wants to practice her oral English. Actually, she is the daughter of Professor Liu Bao (Electrical Engineering Department of UPC), and it might be more accurate to say that her parents are keen for her to take advantage of Vera’s offer to chat with their daughter.

Her name is Liu Si Qi (English name Scarlett).  She is in 3^rd year of Middle School (also called Junior High School). Next June she will sit the Zhong Kao exam which will determine her progression to Senior High School (Grades 10, 11 & 12).

Vera and Scarlett Liu Si Qi, December 2015.

Vera asked her to describe a typical school day.  This was what she outlined for Tuesdays:

Time	Scarlett’s Tuesdays @ school
7.05am	Arrive at school
7.15	Chinese
8.10	Chinese (cont.)
9.00	Physics
Break	All students run around the oval twice
10.10	Chemistry
11.10	Lunch
11.40	Supervised self-study
12.35pm	Rest/sleep
1.15	Govt / Politics / Marxism
2.10	English
Break	All students run around the oval 3 times
3.30	Math
4.25	Supervised homework or class
5.25	Go home; home, sweet home

Lessons are 45 minutes long and there is a short break between classes, when they go to the bathroom, etc.

She said that after dinner she normally does two or three hours of homework, and goes to bed around 10pm.

Long day, isn’t it, for a 14 year-old?

School days were shorter last year, but now she is in the final year of Middle School with an important exam next June, so study is much busier.

We asked her what she does on weekends.

Saturdays: Scarlett starts the day at 8.45am, chatting with Vera.  Then she goes to a private school for special tutoring in physics (10 - 12noon) and maths (1 - 3pm). In the late afternoon and evening  she'll do homework and maybe watch some TV.

Sundays: mornings Scarlett will do homework and review last week's classes.  Afternoons she normally meets up with school friends and they go shopping or take in a movie.  She used to take Latin Dance lessons on Sundays, but stopped in August so that she can focus on her studies.

Scarlett is smart and is regularly in the top 10% of her class.  But her parents think that's not good enough - they want her in the top 5%!  China is a super-competitive society ... how different are the lives of our grandsons back in Australia.

No wonder Chinese students do so well academically when they go abroad – they are often at the top of their college classes.  From an early age they get used to putting in long hours, and just work much harder than most Western students.

...

That's it for this post.

Remember, only 20 shopping days left till Xmas!!!

Best wishes, keep well and keep smiling.

Alex & Vera Olah

English teachers at the China University of Petroleum, Qingdao

www.upc.edu.cn

Qingdao, Thursday 3 December 2015

Last year Qingdao TV made a series on foreigners working and living in Qingdao.  One of the programs featured two university teachers: Laxmisha Rai and myself.  The program can be seen on on YouTube and Youku (search both "Alex Olah").  For YouTube click HERE.  The program is in Chinese but with quite a bit of English,

15 November 2015

Gentlefolk,

This post describes the China University of Petroleum (East China) where we live and work.

In Chinese: 中国石油大学; pinyin: Zhōngguó Shíyóu Dàxué; short name: Shi Da (石大) or just UPC.

Website: www.upc.edu.cn (English version available)

Background

UPC started life in 1953 as the Beijing Petroleum Institute, which in the early days was affiliated with Tsinghua University.

In 1969 some staff moved to Dongying, in Shandong Province, and and established the Huadong (East China) Petroleum Institute.  Dongying was the site of the big Sheng Li Oil Field which was being developed and they needed academic experts close by.

In 1988 it was renamed the 'University of Petroleum', with campuses in Beijing and Dongying. Later two separate entities were created: the China University of Petroleum in Beijing (which uses the abbreviation CUP) and China University of Petroleum (Huadong 'East China') in Dongying (UPC).

In 2004 UPC started construction of a new campus located in the Huangdao District of Qingdao (about 4 hours by car from Dongying), and over the next 10 years most teaching transferred to the new campus.  The Dongying campus is still used for practical teaching, as working oil fields and refineries are there.

UPC is one of three universities in Shandong Province which come directly under the Ministry of Education; the others are: Shandong University in Jinan and Ocean University in Qingdao.  These three universities are part of the national government's strategy to develop 100 world-class teaching and research institutions (China has 2,000 universities and colleges).

UPC has about 20,000 under-graduate and 5,000 post-graduate students (plus 900 foreign students). It has 1,600 teaching staff.

While its key focus is oil-and-gas related subjects (eg Petroleum Engineering; Chemical Engineering; Geology; Storage & Transportation; etc) UPC also offers other courses such as languages, finance and business.

UPC's motto is "Sincerity and Truth".

Here are some photos which I found on various websites today:

UPC is located in Shandong Province, on the East coast of China.

A more detailed map, showing Qingdao located on the coast of Shandong and about mid-way between Beijing and Shanghai (the two red dots on the map).  Seoul in South Korea is just over an hour's flight away.

A map of Shandong Province, showing the major urban centers. Jinan is the capital.  Dongying is in the north of Shandong, while Qingdao is on the east coast; UPC has campuses in both locations.

Another map of Shandong Province showing the main rivers.  Jinan is the provincial capital, although Qingdao is the largest urban center. Dongying is near the estuary of the Yellow River, where it flows into the Bohai Sea.

A view of the "old" part of Qingdao city. In the center of the photo is the Lutheran Church built in 1908 when Qingdao was a German colony. The Germans had Qingdao for just 16 years, until 1914 (when they were defeated by a joint Japanese-British force during WW1) but they had a profound impact on the city. 

Another view of the old section of Qingdao city.  This area has a distinct European feel, a legacy of the German time.  I first visited Qingdao in 1984 when I worked at the Australian Embassy in Beijing.  It appealed to me from the start as it was very different from other Chinese cities which had mainly drab, Soviet-style architecture.

A map showing Qingdao. Our campus is located in a suburb called Huangdao on the southern side of Jiaozhou Bay.   The Bay is the headquarters for China's northern fleet (Navy). About 20 years ago Huangdao was designated Qingdao's "Economic Development Zone" and has seen massive growth.  Three internationally-known companies are based in the Qingdao area: Tsingtao Beer (started by Germans in 1903); Haier Group (white-goods); and Hisense Group (TVs etc). 

This map shows the areas around Jiaozhou Bay.  Qingdao city is on the northern shore of the bay, while our campus is in Huangdao, on the southern shore.  A highway goes around the Bay.  Previously people took ferries between Qingdao and Huangdao. In 2011 two important infrastructure developments were completed to coincide with the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China: a 9 km under-sea tunnel, and also the 42 km cross-bay bridge.  The tunnel, especially, has made a huge difference - connections are now much more convenient.

Another map of the areas around Jiaozhou Bay.  Qingdao has some beaches, but not as good as Huangdao's Golden Sand Beach and Silver Sand Beach. The Kempinsky Hotel overlooking Silver Sand Beach is now managed by the Wyndham Group.

The impressive Hilton Hotel opened in 2014. It is located near Golden Sand Beach, but is altogether too big and fancy for our town at this stage, I think.

A map of Tang Dao Wan Bay.  The UPC campus is across the road from the Bay.  I often cycle around the Bay and the peninsula - great because there is relatively little traffic.  The circuit is about 20 km and takes a bit over an hour.

The view of Tang Dao Wan Bay from our apartment on the UPC campus. A wonderful view to wake up to each day!

The Municipal Govt of Huangdao spent millions building a lovely esplanade around the perimeter of Tang Dao Wan Bay.  Great for walking, jogging and biking. It gets pretty busy during Summer weekends, but not too bad otherwise. I can't believe how lucky we were to end up in this place! 

A view of the UPC campus looking east towards Tang Dao Wan Bay and the Yellow Sea in the distance. The Wyndham Hotel (formerly Kempinsky) is the white building on the peninsula.  The building in the foreground with the curved roof is the University's gymnasium/ hall.  The residential buildings are orange, and the teaching buildings have a white façade.  The tall building in the center (behind the gymnasium) is the Admin Building.

A view of the UPC campus looking north-west.  The white buildings in the foreground are the Engineering teaching buildings while the orange-tiled buildings to the left are student residential buildings.  There are now many 20 - 30 storey apartment and office buildings in Huangdao - hard to believe that just 10 years ago the tallest building was only 10 storeys!

The emblem of the China University of Petroleum (East China) featuring the Goddess of the Sun (see below).

The symbol of UPC depicts the "Goddess of the Sun" with oil-type piping.  The Goddess is the provider of nature's bounty, in this case, oil and gas resources. New students come here and pledge to do their utmost to use Her resources for the benefit of China.

The North Gate of UPC, on Chang Jiang Avenue.  This is the main entry point into the University.  The tall building in the background is the Administration Building.  The building on the left behind the gate is the "Ring" Teaching Building.  A major shopping and commercial area is about one km east of this gate - there are frequent buses.

Some of the residential buildings for undergraduates.  Residential buildings have an orange-tile façade. All students live on campus (except for some of the foreign students).  Undergraduates are six to a room, while post-graduates are four to a room (and, fortunately, have their own bathroom).

Another view of the undergraduate residential buildings on campus. 

The UPC campus has many sporting facilities. Basketball is most popular, followed by table tennis, volleyball, and soccer. This photo shows the main oval which is used for sporting events and big assemblies like the Freshmen's military parade. In 2013 UPC celebrated its 60th anniversary - a major milestone. The university's iconic gymnasium is in the background; large gatherings such as graduation ceremonies are held there.

UPC has three large student canteens.  Feeding 25,000 hungry young students three times a day is a huge task. The food is good and cheap - you can eat well for $2. Now that we have a kitchen, Vera cooks more often or buys "take-away" to heat up in the comfort of our home.

Some of the friendly canteen staff.

A bust of Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955). He is greatly admired in China. In the background is the Nan Tang Teaching Building, where I have most of my classes.

A photo of part of the Administration Building.  On the right, and attached to the Admin Building, is the main Library.

The interior of the "Ring" Teaching Building, next to Nan Tang. 

On a website I found this picture of me writing poems on the black board.  For link to this story, click HERE

We have enjoyed working and living on this campus, and can recommend it to others.
For information on employment as English & Russian teachers see UPC website or click HERE 


...

Well folks, that's it for this post.

Dreadful news yesterday about the bombings in Paris - estimated 129 dead and 350 injured.  We feel so sorry for those innocent and blameless people.  Madness!!!

Best wishes,

Alex & Vera Olah
English teachers at the China University of Petroleum, Qingdao
www.upc.edu.cn
Sunday, 15 November 2015

8 November 2015

Gentlefolk,

This post covers some of the things we have been doing over the last 2 weeks.

Weather

Well, colder weather has finally caught up with us here.

We had a brilliant autumn - bright and clear days, maximum temperature in the mid-20sC.  I swam in the Yellow Sea near our campus since returning to Qingdao in early September until late October.  On 26 October a cooler change came through, and temperatures have been falling ever since. Yesterday was our first really unpleasant day, showers and maximum of 9C, but a nasty wind made it feel colder.

It snowed in Beijing yesterday, which means still colder temperatures are definitely on their way.

Time to dig out the long-johns.

In this area the central heating (hot water) normally starts on 15 November. It is an effective system, and our apartment is quite comfortable.

Visit to Rizhao

On Sunday 25 October 2015, with colleague Gautier and his wife Hao Yu, we visited a city called Rizhao, about 100 km south-west of Huangdao, the suburb of Qingdao where our campus is located.

Map of Shandong Province, showing Qingdao and Rizhao. 

Enroute to Rizhao we stopped at "Movie Metropolis" a new development about 10 km south of Huangdao, a project by property-tycoon Wang Jian Lin, China's richest man.  Leonardo Di Caprio and Cate Blanchett attended the launch about 18 months ago.  Several movie studios are already operating.  Five months ago I met two Aussie cameramen who were filming a joint US-China movie - they were based here for 3 months and were full of praise for the facilities.  

Gautier, Vera and Hao Yu at "Movie Metropolis". 

The new area of Rizhao has parks, high-rise buildings and wide avenues.  We were impressed; it has a good feel.

Rizhao is a coastal city, with nice beaches.  They have developed a kind of eco-park between the coast and the city itself.

Hao Yu, Gautier and Vera at the main beach.  It was a cool, overcast day. Gautier felt right at home - said it reminded him of beaches in Brittany!

As we walked along the esplanade, a guy was flying a beautiful kite - very skilful.

Part of the large bay and marina just behind the main beach.

Lunch and tea ceremony

We were walking in a park in Rizhao.  It was 12.15 and time for lunch.  We saw some people go into a building and followed them, thinking it might be a restaurant.  It was, but only banquet-style for large groups.  We were leaving when a man called us over. He indicated some spare places and invited us to join them - he said there would be no charge (in fact, he quoted a saying from Confucius: "Guests from afar should be shown proper courtesy").  

We were touched by this generous and friendly gesture.

It turned out that the group was participating in a course to learn traditional tea-ceremony.

After lunch the organiser invited us to participate in the next session.  Gautier, Hao Yu and Vera took up the offer, squatted at the back of the room and tried to follow the intricate sequence of actions by the instructor at the front. See photos below.

It was all very serious and focussed. The session lasted about 30 minutes.

As we were saying our goodbyes, the organiser asked us to pay for the lunch ($6.50 each).  We protested, but without great conviction, that we had been invited,  We had had an interesting time, so we didn't really mind paying.  

We reflected afterwards on the truth of the old saying: "there's nothing like a free lunch"!

We were invited to join this table for a "free lunch".

After lunch we were invited to watch and participate in a segment of the tea-ceremony course.

A view of the tea-ceremony class, from the back of the room. The students were emulating the motions of the teacher sitting on the stage at the front of the room. Gautier (left) took part.

Freshmen student's welcome concert

Freshmen students in the College of Arts (English, Russian and Music Majors) put on a 'welcome concert'. 

Two of the 'hosts' of the welcome concert who introduced the acts.  Hosts are older, more experienced students. The boy, Jason, is in my Thursday night Oral English class. 

The Music Majors played some lovely music. The girls looked stunning in their long white gowns.

Some of the students in my class English Major 1503 put on a short play.

They all came on the stage for the finale.

Carol

Carol Zhang Qi, my 'liaison teacher' spoke to my Western Culture class about her experiences in the US. She recently spent a year on an exchange program at a private college in Portland, Oregon. 

Carol addressing my Western Culture class.

Carol was amazing. She spoke for 40 minutes, without notes, and then answered questions.  Impressive performance. 

Sunday

Sunday Fu Xiao was my "Liaison Teacher" when we arrived in Dongying back in August 2009 at the beginning of our teaching in China.

The first time we met she wore a tiny mini-skirt and I mistook her for a student! 

She's a lovely person and helped me find my feet during the first few months, when everything was so strange. We've kept in touch.

Sunday got married about 3 years ago and is now expecting a baby (for late-December).   Her husband and parents live in Dongying, so she has gone there to wait for the baby's arrival. She will have 6 months maternity leave, and will return to teaching duties in May 2016.

Vera saying goodbye to Sunday (Fu Xiao) who has gone to Dongying for the birth. 

Speech contest

The China University of Petroleum has about 1,000 foreign students.  The biggest contingents come from Pakistan and Kazakhstan; there are many students from Africa, and some even from South America.  There are 6 students, 3 girls and 3 boys, from Papua New Guinea.

The International Students Union's annual English Speech Contest was held last night and I was one of the judges.  

There were 16 finalists: 4 China; 2 Tanzania; 2 Zimbabwe; 2 Pakistan; 2 South Sudan; and 1 each from Somalia, Ghana, Ecuador, and PNG.

There were four topics, and they chose one from a hat. The topics were:

• What it means to be a hero.
• It is better to die on your feet than live on your knees.
• Experience is the best teacher.
• Equality is a myth.

They were given two days to prepare a four-minute speech.

There were four judges: Gautier Plassais, Liu Cheng Jiang, Liu Da Peng, and myself.  We had to give points based on content, fluency, and presentation.

It turned out to be an interesting and enjoyable night.

The winner was Tatenda Marapira from Zimbabwe.  Brilliant speaker.

The runners-up were Felix Doku from Ghana and Resala Gol from South Sudan.  Resala was amazing - spoke like a rap singer - the crowd favorite.

The contestant from PNG, Tessie Tanda, performed very well and was ranked just outside the top three. 

The ISU's annual English Speech contest last night.  Gautier and I were judges, as were two Chinese lecturers.

The top performers: from left, Felix, Resala, Tatenda, and the Guest of Honour Vice Dean Zhang Zhi Yin.

Some of the contestants in the English Speech contest. 

...

That's it for anther post.

Best wishes, keep well and keep smiling.

Vera & Alex Olah
English teachers at the China University of Petroleum, Qingdao
www.upc.edu.cn
Qingdao, Sunday 8 November 2015