Nabble - TEFLChina (life)

(life) climate change and its potential social impact in China

2009-12-20T18:19:45Z

>The result is that India and China face
>enormous pressure to think like the Western great powers of 2009 and,

>It looks, as well, at how efforts to "leapfrog" into the thinking and
>attitude of developed countries has an impact on family/generational
relationships.

ummh I don't have time to read it but so many uni grads are heading home
to mummy and daddy so they can be 'close', which seems a Confucian
thing...so the last 60-70 years have had little effect there... ?
and so many are heading abroad...
and even Beijing grads have problems with hukou...if they want to stay in BJ
or Shanghai? (I don't know about Shanghai)

which leaves 1% ? suffering any impact of family relationships. 1% of uni
grads..

Dave Nevin

(life) Christmas Pudding?

2009-12-20T03:16:33Z

Has anyone sighted a Christmas pudding for sale in Beijing?

7-11 is selling something that purports to be a Christmas cake, but I'm not sure of the contents.

Terence Egan

(life) climate change and its potential social impact in China

2009-12-19T02:51:34Z

From:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/19/world/asia/19iht-currents.html?emc=tnt&tntemail1=y

This is an interesting article that looks at the disparity, particularly in India and China, between national wealth and individual lack of wealth and how this affects the politics of environmental change.

excerpt:
------------------
Together, that is $11.3 trillion worth of power being steered, if you divide income by population, by a $4,500-a-year mentality. The result is that India and China face enormous pressure to think like the Western great powers of 2009 and, simultaneously, like those great powers did 100 years ago, when they were focused on economic development and less interested in global justice.
------------------

It looks, as well, at how efforts to "leapfrog" into the thinking and attitude of developed countries has an impact on family/generational relationships.

Karen

(life) I need Teacher Help with my stories

2009-12-18T08:09:31Z

Dear Teachers,

I'm taking GCE O-Level Edexcel English Language Exam in the first week of January. I've written some stories, I would like to invite your comments on them. Although my teacher has graded them, I need more impartial and tough evaluation. I will appreciate if you take some time out of your busy schedule to check and grade them according to the Edexcel standards. Please capitalize the changes.

Interested teachers may reply to the following address so I can send the stories.

Please reply to: office@...
A little urgent. =)
Thank you!!
Rumeng.

(life) website with some free resources for learning Chinese

2009-12-17T19:11:14Z

http://www.echineselearning.com/free-trial/index.html

is primarily a commercial website for learning Chinese, but it does have a few free resources under "Chinese Learning Resources" in the lower right-hand corner of the website. This might be useful for list members who are trying to improve their Chinese.

An example:

eChineseLearning Newsletter (December 16, 2009)

Highlights in This Issue

1. Chinese Mini-Test---汉语迷你测试
[http://cts.vresp.com/c/?eChineseLearning/f15c57d814/TEST/fe7b93563f/p=642?ecl=emEEEEEE32hl01-1218]
hànyǔ mínǐ cèshì Chinese Mini-Test

2. Chinese Idiom Story for Kids---磨杵成针
[http://cts.vresp.com/c/?eChineseLearning/f15c57d814/TEST/07d0b8e9f2/p=412?ecl=emEEEEEE32hl02-1218]
móchǔchéngzhēn Grinding an Iron Pestle into a Needle

3. Chinese Song for Teens---隐形的翅膀
[http://cts.vresp.com/c/?eChineseLearning/f15c57d814/TEST/f267e5a526/p=452?ecl=emEEEEEE32hl03-1218]
Yǐnxíng De Chìbǎng Invisible Wings

4. New Movie--花木兰
[http://cts.vresp.com/c/?eChineseLearning/f15c57d814/TEST/8b37547629/p=633?ecl=emEEEEEE32hl04-1218]
Huā Mùlán Hua Mulan

5.
[http://cts.vresp.com/c/?eChineseLearning/f15c57d814/TEST/800d3d34cd/p=522ecl=emEEEEEE31hl05-1218]
Business---China's Most Valuable Brand
[http://cts.vresp.com/c/?eChineseLearning/f15c57d814/TEST/82deba8693/p=434?ecl=emEEEEEE32hl05-1218]

Han Rita

(life) Medicals in Henan

2009-12-17T18:58:31Z

Hello everyone,

I am working for a state university in Luoyang and with every contract renewal, I am forced to endure a complete physical, including the x-ray. Knowing how my risks of breast and lung cancer increase with every unnecessary x-ray, I have expressed concern to my waibans. They do not seem interested in assisting me, nor in the fact that they are aiding in increasing my cancer risk. Originally, they informed me that a complete physical is mandatory each year to renew my Foreign Expert's Certificate in Zhengzhou. This contradicts what I experienced in Beijing and it also contradicts what I know of other foreign teacher's experiences in other provinces. They have since made statements that I now doubt the original statement - that it is Zhengzhou who requires it.

I requested to speak to the Zhengzhou Foreign Expert's office. This was ignored. I asked if I could take the physical in Zhengzhou or Beijing. I was advised that this was not possible, but I suspect that my waiban never bothered to ask the question, because I know other foreign experts who have done their physical in Beijing for other provinces's documents.

I requested to speak to the doctor signing off on the physical here in Luoyang and got to speak to the bureaucrat who does the signing. She is not a doctor and advised me that "an x-ray is just like taking a photograph." When I inquired as to why the TB skin test could not be done instead, she simply replied, "Not possible." I loved this, as when one of my students actually did develop TB, they tested him with the skin test first, before giving him the x-ray.

So what I would like to know from teachers who have worked on a Z visa in Henan for more than 1 year, or from teachers who are knowledgeable regarding the regulations for the physical, is: a) do you require a physical every year and b) does that physical include the x-ray? c) what, if any options are open to me?

Thanks in advance and happy holidays to all.

Michelle

(life) one effect of China's economic growth

2009-12-12T05:54:58Z

An article that looks at "a sense of disquiet, even in developing Asian nations in Beijing's orbit, over the implications of China's swift, seemingly boundless economic growth."

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/10/world/asia/10jakarta.html?emc=tnt&tntemail1=y

Karen

Re: (life) Re: An FET in Yushu

2009-12-07T11:14:49Z

I asked Dave to tell us about life in the Boonies, but after his report I admire what his doing but don't think I could handle it.

I smiled at having to buy the chalk.

Alan Simpson

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

(life) An FET in Yushu

2009-12-07T06:20:16Z

>truely beyond nowhere ... how on earth did you find that job?

Twas advertised on Dave's ESLCafe...so check about March/April.

>Am I right in thinking David Nevin is engaged in a religious
>calling?

based on what I see here and what I experienced in Macau I do have
'callings on religious' but this is not a forum for that:-) Watch 'The
Life of Brian' or 'The Meaning of Life'.

Yes a taste of reality, sometimes a little too tasty?

Dave Nevin

(life) Re: An FET in Yushu

2009-12-07T04:07:11Z

Wonderful report, Dave! Thanks for sharing. I think many of us have been wondering about your job way out there in Qinghai.

Nancy way down south in Nanning

(life) FET in Yushu

2009-12-06T16:25:33Z

Isn't it incredible. Am I right in thinking David Nevin is engaged in a religious calling? Is that near to where I might have been? I am saving the letter for my colloquium. A taste of reality! If only I were young again.......It is a truly amazing letter.

Margaret Curtis

Re: (life) An FET in Yushu

2009-12-06T15:43:33Z

Hi Dave, Hang in there. I enjoyed your perspective. When you contract is up where will you go?
Mary

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

(life) Re: An FET in Yushu

2009-12-06T14:56:02Z

--- In TEFLChinaLife@..., "Dave" <nevin@...> wrote:
>
> An FET in Yushu, Qinghai
>
We're 18 hours by bus from Xining, or an hour by air

Fascinating Dave. I've been to Xining and had it not been for my Chinese perceived old age, I thought that would be the ultimate experience for teaching. You are truely beyond nowhere ... how on earth did you find that job?

Nancy, US

(life) An FET in Yushu

2009-12-05T17:47:49Z

An FET in Yushu, Qinghai

There probably aren't many places in China where an FET can sit in his
doorway at lunchtime, a brilliant blue sky with a hot sun, watching
vultures soaring over grassy hills looking for something they can practise
SkyBurial101 on. And watch yaks mooching across the hillsides, 500m away.

Where 'running water' is something in the river. Household water comes
from a well, pumped into a bucket and carried inside, til it's scooped
into pots/kettles or whatever. Some don't have a pump, have a bucket on a
rope. And my pump/hose freezes now if I leave water in the hose.

Where a 'shower' is rain and if you want to soak in hot water, you go
downtown (bus 1rmb) to a Japanese style bathhouse, which has a hot pool
and steam room. Or you can go to a shower house, with cubicles..

Where going to the toilet involves crossing the yard to the short-drop WC.
3 steps up to a slot in the floor, in a little hut thing, a shortdrop,
compared to New Zealand's traditional longdrops.

Traditional Tibetan houses are adobe/mud brick with a 'flat' roof, in a
corner of a courtyard which invariably includes a Tibetan Mastiff,
permanently chained up :-((, as watch-dog. The WC is built against the
exterior courtyard wall, with a little door at street level.. We're told
farmers used to buy townies' sh*t, clean out the shortdrop WCs. Now the
farmers buy fertilizer and townies have to pay to have their WCs emptied.
They don't pay. They don't empty. Hence the pong, and I suspect, hence the
diarrhea in the NGO's bog. One local tells me flies don't spread disease
:-) First week in October is cool enough the flies have mostly gone, or
it's too cold for them to wake up.
Old town was built on gentle slopes on the north side of the valley.
Houses all face the sun, south. Modern town spread onto the flat valley
floor, which did have trees and grass. Old town has waterstands which the
locals carry buckets to and from. The school lights fires around it's
waterstands to melt the ice (December) so the kids can mop the floors..

There's a 'modern Chinese' house, with a tiled gabled roof, which I
suspect must be colder than the 40cm of earth/timber of the flat roof.
These look 1950s/60s and some are quiet fancy inside, panelling and
suchlike. Mine has a glasshouse attached, which gets pretty warm when the
sun's out. 2 rooms, 6x6 metres, a kitchen and a brm.

And there's really modern, 2 or 3 years old, 2 storied, big double glazed
windows, but with the same pumped water. Waste disposal? throw it out the
door..some houses have a little drain to take it out to the street. And
the WC is still across the yard...with a little drain to the street.

Kitchen is a 2 burner CNG gas cooker, and I borrowed an electric oven.
Heating is the 'traditional' electric element, exposed wires, which would
horrify an NZ electrician, but does work. I've got a 'Chinese' coal
burning stove which was to be replaced with a Tibetan design, and I was
supposed to get a load of dried yak dung but neither happened. (It's not
cold yet). Yak dung burns pretty fast. It wasn't cold yet....

Food is what you like, especially very large lumps of yak, or goats (they
roam semi-wild through town/school) or fresh pork or chickens /frozen and
some fish. Peanut butter, Dove chocolate, most veges and fruit. Potatoes,
kumara, squash, greens (hothouses on edge of town), cilantro!
A bunch of ladies sell yak milk, yak yoghurt in 3.5kgbuckets, and butter.
Lots of Angel yeast for sale, bicarb and something I have to check on the
'net - Mono-carb which is the local version of baking powder.
The locals like moon cakes of the 5 Nuts/Wu ren variety so they're
available all year, a good alternative for muesli bars/biscuits. They even
add dates !
Today I found cartons of frozen New Zealand mutton, which is pretty funny
considering where this place is. It was enormously fatty...I'll try
roasting some. The same guy has lumps of yak and a mincer, so I bought 2
pounds of minced yak/ground beef to you'se Americans.

So living here is a bit like holidays in a cabin/bach/mountain hut back in
the '50s.
We're 18 hours by bus from Xining, or an hour by air, 1300rmb. Town is
3700m asl and the hills up to 5,000m, so it's not a huge mountain
landscape, just high up. Trees will grow if nothing eats them, there's a
few protected copse and woodlots I imagine belong to temples so they can
rebuild. And a few cypress sp. on cliffs where the goats can't get them,
but otherwise it's all grass, for about 500 miles west, or further.

The local drivers still think they're riding a horse. Consequently if they
do a U-turn in traffic, the other horses will notice and give way. So far,
in a month, I've only seen one bump! Yesterday one of the Black Car
People, in a Cadillac(but a small one) decided to join traffic in front of
our taxi. Our taxi had a CD holder on the back of the sun visor and a
small screen on the rear-vision mirror, but he wasnt' giving way to a
Cadillac. Trucks and big buses tend to think they're a bigger horse, hence
a lot of loud honking. I doubt a loaded truck stops very quickly.... Down
town has little sandwich boards in the middle of the street, No Honking!
But the horses' owners are pretty tolerant of sudden u-turns, and of
cars/bikes/3wheelers/goats/yaks/people blocking half the street. Some
wait, some just drive on the other side of the road.
Some don't wanta tire their horse, so they drive along happily at
20m/h...and the guy who bought us back to town last week, 50-60km/h, but
in the dark. His Landcruiser never gonna wear out, at that speed. But
younger guys tend to drive faster and some taxi-vans go pretty fast, at
least on the flat.
Incidentally I haven't seen anyone rding a horse, it's all 150 and 200cc
motorbikes..

School? This is an ETP program, accelerated to get kids through 6 years of
middle/junior and high/senior school English in 3 years. So we're doing 2
books a semester, at 2 units a week. These are supposed to be bright kids
and the better third of the class are doing well. The middle third keep up
just, and the bottom third should be sent back to ordinary school, but
that's not on the NGO's agenda.

My kids had G-T teaching last year, (Peace Corp tefl trained teacher) but
this year its collaborative and communicative. Last year's tests were, use
the past continuous perfect (whatever) to fill the gaps. This year, answer
the question - what were you doing last Sunday? (Maybe G-T teach is okay
for first year, those that paid attention can write a coherent paragraph,
and I'm using Murphy/Azar to review the gaps)

Arts stream will sit Chinese Gaokao/CEE and science stream will sit
Tibetan CEE. So the science kids don't officially have English class but I
tutor them for an hour or so 3 evenings a week. Arts get 13 lessons a week
of English and a movie, if they come.

Kids are from all over Yushu prefecture, which might be the size of NZ.
They take 30 a year but the selection process is not obvious...They are
supposed to be the brightest and best but that isn't obvious either.

Classrooms have a blackboard. And a CD player, which I haven't used. The
local NGO has a large room, with a big TV so we can play a movie on
Saturday - that's the extent of their listening :-( apart from listening
to us... There's a report of a large room with a projector/AV and I must
see if I can use it. Dunno if it has sound.
We buy our own chalk at 1rmb a box.

I was interested to come here partly cos they're Buddhist and hence have
avoided the Confucian Heritage Culture which leads to rote learning,
copying, and learning about a subject without learning to use it. I
suspect Buddhist learning may in fact be similar to Confucian but I won't
comment til I've been here longer. The kids do have an openness/eagerness
that I don't recall from Changsha or Macau. Some were, but more of these
are so. They have a laziness too....but if they can sell a mastiff for
500,000rmb, who needs schooling??? Or get a year's income from one month
digging caterpillar fungus...

There's an ETP program in Xining, at Xining Normal U. The results I've
talked to, are very good. There's also a surprising number of adults who
have been to India and learnt English there. Taxi drivers, security
guards, others, monks, a variety have done the Indian thing.

We have weekly meetings, 3 FETs, the NGO, 3 class teachers and 2-3
students from each class. Very democratic except the school doesn't tell
us anything, like the last 4 Saturdays they've have other activities and
classes were cancelled. This last Saturday, we said there's a test. No
result, Fail. All of mine turned up. As there was no electriticity that
morning, I wrote it on the board... and as they'd been square bashing from
9am-1230 (in brilliant sunshine at minus 5 celsius) and the test was at
1pm, I only wrote 2/3 and scored it out of 20.

The school is an attached high school to a vocational school. It's lazy.
The last 5 Saturday's classes have been cancelled for disinfection, drama
show, marching, concert and this week's excuse - dancing. While I disliked
the Hunan schools' fixation with study, study, and exam results, the
opposite is equally damaging to student's chances of getting to
university. However the chatty S3 student thinks having a life is more
important than getting square eyes. Incidentally very few wear glasses -
an indication of lack of study?
And they all have light brown eyes.

They don't think ! They are suffering from Chinese trained teachers, just
do the exercises, learn the answers, so I spend "half my time" getting
them to think what they're doing, read the instructions.... .. more on
that later..and the outgoing S2 who comes to English Corner tells me her
English class, in another high school, is non-speaking :-((

Dave Nevin

(life) Taishan: old "western-inspired" homes

2009-12-05T14:58:46Z

This article about crumbling old homes modeled to some extent after western fortresses/towers has interesting photos.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/04/world/asia/04taishan.html?emc=tnt&tntemail1=y
or
http://tinyurl.com/yguab7n

excerpt:
----------------
Most were built in the early 20th century by overseas Chinese who returned from abroad with newfound wealth and an abiding fear of being parted from that wealth by bandits. So up went the fortress towers, an architectural amalgamation of Chinese mansion and European medieval castle.
----------------

It appears, as the houses age and many of the owners have left, the structures are falling into ruin.

Karen

(life) Shanghai Automotive (SAIC) and General Motors (GM)

2009-12-05T07:12:38Z

General Motors sold an additional 1% of its China operation to Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation, giving SAIC 51% (a controlling interest).

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/05/business/global/05gm.html?emc=tnt&tntemail1=y
or
http://tinyurl.com/yj9jxg2

In addition, GM and SAIC have a set up a separate joint venture. Since GM is contributing its India operations to that venture, it means that SAIC will essentially have a 50% interest in GM operations in India.

Karen

Re: (life) EnglishUK E-petition - if you agree please sign

2009-12-04T07:29:18Z

Moderator Note:
I think there's room for some debate on this, but if it begins to go on too long, gets too far afield, or becomes too heated, I may politely bring it to an end.
Karen
--------------------------------------
I just read that one in four people in the entire population of England is now in education or training, according to a BBC report.
The figures mean that for every two people in work, there are more than one person in education.
Hardly sustainable.
Alan Simpson

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Re: (life) EnglishUK E-petition

2009-12-04T02:55:34Z

As I am not based in UK, I checked with some experienced professionals and good friends in the industry in UK, and according to them, there are good points in the new Tier 4 legislation (only approved schools, students have to show they have sufficient funds to cover living expenses) but it does exclude new entrants who are not approved (do not have premises, accreditation, are sole traders, ...). It will also exclude some students who do not have sufficient funds to cover the proscribed living expenses (set at 600 GBP per month outside London and 800 GBP per month in London). If this reduces the number of students coming in, it could be difficult in the industry. There may be other reasons but these are the main two we identified.
Stephanie

> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Marc Anthony" <amitofo2006@...>
>>
> I cannot tell from the petition's rhetoric how this legislation threatens
> the "English language teaching sector." Perhaps the poster would explain
> why this legislation would restrict "bona-fide students" and threaten the
> ESL industry in the UK.
> What are these changes exactly?
>

Re: (life) Santa's New Elves: A Politically Incorrect Christmas

2009-12-03T12:30:44Z

Jada,
Thanks for the reminder.
Sheila

So the next time you shop
At big box retail
Stores like Wal*mart or Kmart
That have a big sale

Remember the girls
Who made your toys
Cause they work for so little
For us big boys

Merry Christmas to all on the boards!

Jada Rufo

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Re: (life) EnglishUK E-petition - if you agree please sign

2009-12-02T07:45:05Z

I cannot tell from the petition's rhetoric how this legislation threatens
the "English language teaching sector." Perhaps the poster would explain
why this legislation would restrict "bona-fide students" and threaten the
ESL industry in the UK.
What are these changes exactly?

M. Anthony
Taiwan

Hi!
Forgive me for sending this to a China list, but English teaching in
UK is under threat and needs all the help it can get. If you are a
British citizen or resident and care about the English Teaching
"industry" surviving in UK, please check this out and sign it.
Stephanie

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

(life) EnglishUK E-petition - if you agree please sign

2009-12-02T04:06:33Z

Happy UAE National Day!
Further to my earlier message, unfortunately the link to the petition was missing. Here is the original message with the link plus details again from the petiion creator. If you agree and are eligible, please sign. Thanks.
Stephanie

Hi!
Forgive me for sending this to a China list, but English teaching in
UK is under threat and needs all the help it can get. If you are a
British citizen or resident and care about the English Teaching
"industry" surviving in UK, please check this out and sign it.
Stephanie

Below are details from petition creator:

"The Government is on the threshold of destroying one of its
strongest export industries, the English language teaching sector,
worth billions of pounds annually to the UK in visible and
invisible exports. Tier 4 of The PBS, launched in April, brought
sweeping changes to the intl education sector. The govts aim was
to rid the UK of bogus colleges, which were not just a security
threat but also a blot on the UKs unassailable reputation in
education. This work has not been completed. A further aim was to
streamline the issuing of study visas. Some changes were welcome,
others serve only to turn bona fide students away from the UK. The
govt now aims to further restrict intl students from studying in
the UK. That will devastate this vibrant and highly professional
industry, leading to mass redundancies in language schools,
secondary schools, colleges & universities, with huge losses to the
economy and Treasury. The English language is a crown Jewel lets
protect and nurture it!"

------------------------------------------------------------------------

From:EnglishUK@... [mailto:EnglishUK@...]
On Behalf Of Shane Wilkinson
Sent: 23 November 2009 17:10
To: EnglishUK@...
Subject: [EnglishUK] E-petition PLEASE SIGN!! [Scanned]



The Petition is now live at http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/PBSReview/



Please send to everyone (staff, suppliers, homestay providers and anyone
else you can think of) so we can build a volume of signature. Otherwise
it will not be noticed. We need to get it to the top 5.

Best wishes

Shane

SHANE WILKINSON
Managing Director
Bournemouth Business School International
Avon House, 26 St Peters Road, Bournemouth, BH1 2LW, England
Accreditations & Memberships: British Council, ISO 9000, English UK,
Business English UK, IALC, NCFE, CMI
Tel: (Overseas + 44 1202) 780777; Mobile: (Overseas + 44 7793) 528428
Direct Tel: (Overseas + 44 1202) 438962
Fax: (Overseas + 44 1202) 780888; Skype: Shane6365
E-mail: s.wilkinson@...; Internet: http://www.bbsi.co.uk

Join us at IALC 2010 in Galway City, 29 April - 2 May

This email is from Bournemouth Business School International Ltd,
registered in England, no. 2692399 at Suite 8 Bourne Gate, 25 Bourne
Valley Road, Poole, BH12 1DY. It is intended only for the above
addressee. It may contain confidential or privileged information. If you
are not the addressee you must not copy, distribute, disclose or use any
of the information in this email. If you have received it in error please
delete it and immediately notify the sender of the email.



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

(life) File - List Help and Rules

2009-12-01T05:44:47Z

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Re: (life) Santa's New Elves: A Politically Incorrect Christmas

2009-11-29T17:03:00Z

Jada wrote:

So the next time you shop
At big box retail
Stores like Wal*mart or Kmart
That have a big sale...

I found myself in Kmart yesterday. Could bring myself to purchase a damn thing! Guess my conscious got the better of me.

Jada

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

(life) EnglishUK E-petition

2009-11-29T10:26:50Z

Hi!
Forgive me for sending this to a China list, but English teaching in
UK is under threat and needs all the help it can get. If you are a
British citizen or resident and care about the English Teaching
"industry" surviving in UK, please check this out and sign it.

Stephanie

Below are details from petition creator:

"The Government is on the threshold of destroying one of its
strongest export industries, the English language teaching sector,
worth billions of pounds annually to the UK in visible and
invisible exports. Tier 4 of The PBS, launched in April, brought
sweeping changes to the intl education sector. The govts aim was
to rid the UK of bogus colleges, which were not just a security
threat but also a blot on the UKs unassailable reputation in
education. This work has not been completed. A further aim was to
streamline the issuing of study visas. Some changes were welcome,
others serve only to turn bona fide students away from the UK. The
govt now aims to further restrict intl students from studying in
the UK. That will devastate this vibrant and highly professional
industry, leading to mass redundancies in language schools,
secondary schools, colleges & universities, with huge losses to the
economy and Treasury. The English language is a crown Jewel lets
protect and nurture it!"

Re: (life) Santa's New Elves: A Politically Incorrect Christmas

2009-11-28T22:04:57Z

Jada, I love it. Do I have your permission to send it to some other people who will or who need to appreciate it? I will credit it to you of course.
Stephanie

>>
>
> Here's a parody that I wrote to get us into the holiday spirit.
>
> Santa's New Elves: A Politically Incorrect Christmas
>
> By Jada Rufo
> With apologies to Clement Clark Moore
>
> Twas the night before the holiday
> When all through the dorm
> Every factory girl was up
> Working up a storm
>
>>
> Merry Christmas to all on the boards!
>
> Jada Rufo
>
>

(life) Santa's New Elves: A Politically Incorrect Christmas

2009-11-28T16:51:26Z

Here's a parody that I wrote to get us into the holiday spirit.

Santa's New Elves: A Politically Incorrect Christmas

By Jada Rufo
With apologies to Clement Clark Moore

Twas the night before the holiday
When all through the dorm
Every factory girl was up
Working up a storm

They¡¯re not from the North Pole
As many would believe
But from places like Hunan,
Henan, and Jiangxi

Their faces are not
Cream color white
But rather more yellow
And Asian in fright

They don¡¯t have names
Like Sunny or Lisa
But names like Xiao Mi,
Xiao Hong, or Xiao Da

Their families are poor
With just enough to eat
Yet they somehow manage
To make toys on the cheap

They work in factories
In dire conditions
And they have to get by
On poor nutrition

They work 17 hours
That¡¯s 17 straight
On a long assembly line
And one bathroom break

They crank out the Tonkas
The Barbies and Wiis
They sew up your sneakers
And stuff your plushies

They crank out their quotas
Because if they don¡¯t
Their bosses will beat them
And pay them they won¡¯t

So the next time you shop
At big box retail
Stores like Wal*mart or Kmart
That have a big sale

Remember the girls
Who made your toys
Cause they work for so little
For us big boys

Merry Christmas to all on the boards!

Jada Rufo

(life) Chinese Artist - AI WEIWEI

2009-11-28T15:45:26Z

This is an article about a very interesting Chinese artist who has produced controversial art and voiced controversial opinions:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/28/world/asia/28weiwei.html?emc=tnt&tntemail1=y
or
http://tinyurl.com/yjnch8c

excerpt:
---------------------
At 52, Mr. Ai, a beefy, bearded man with an air of almost monastic composure, is an international figure in the art world, successful beyond what anyone might have predicted even a decade ago. He is a celebrated architect, a co-designer of Beijing's landmark Bird's Nest Olympic stadium, an installation artist and a documentary filmmaker with a 100-member staff.
---------------------

Karen

Re: (life) for those celebrating Thanksgiving

2009-11-26T17:59:28Z

--- On Wed, 11/25/09, Philip VanZandt <vansos@...> wrote:

HAVE A REALLY GREAT THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY!
Phil VanZandt

Thank you, Phil. For any Yank in Beijing who wants to celebrate Thanksgiving, the German deli in the Lido Hotel takes orders for turkeys and does the cooking too. I introduced my Chinese and Australian colleagues to a Thanksgiving dinner this way. It cost 535 rmb a few years ago for a 15-pound bird. It was worth it. Happy Thanksgiving to all.

Tom K.

(life) for those celebrating Thanksgiving

2009-11-25T09:33:29Z

HAVE A REALLY GREAT THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY!
Phil VanZandt

Re: (life) EMS (was Slow Boat FROM China)

2009-11-24T22:20:40Z

I used EMS from HeBei (live 2 hrs. south of Beijing) to my mom in Wisconsin to send her my tax papers since I couldn't file online. I'm thinking it was about 160 or 180 yuan and took just under a week.

I was happy with the service. Even at the post office the papers were easy to fill out and I was there for just a few minutes.

However my mom's mail carrier was unhappy since it messed up her route for the day. She told my mom that EMS packages must be delievered before 11am and my mom usually gets her mail at 2 or 3 pm.

Charlotte

Re: (life) Slow Boat FROM China

2009-11-24T18:52:56Z

Hi Jada - Why are you changing locations again? How many different places have you been over all these years? Are you just trying many different schools for a special purpose?

john Life's a journey not a destination, help others along the way.

(life) EMS (was Slow Boat FROM China)

2009-11-24T10:55:08Z

Aloha,

Thanks to all who have responded to my question about snail mail from China.

I have another question. An American friend of mine had a document sent to her in Oregon from China by her Chinese husband through EMS. He had to pay an arm and a leg for it to be expressed to her within one week; about 200 RMB.

I've never used EMS and I was wondering about their services. Are they reliable as my friend has told me?

Jada

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Re: (life) getting chinese wife out of china

2009-11-22T20:06:01Z

I know my wife does not expect to ever get anything as she is now an American Citizen and the Chinese passport was never returned to us. In fact all of her possessions that were left in her apartment located in the Hospital dormitory disappeared. Fat chance anything will come her way from the government.

john Life's a journey not a destination, help others along the way.

>Does you wife get anything for retirement after moving to another country?
>
> thanks
> Ron

(life) Re: Blogs Blocked

2009-11-22T19:07:02Z

Or you could use a VPN service. I use ExpressVPN (www.expressvpn.com) ... $12.95 amonth/$69.95 for 6. Money back guarantee; AND the IP address says you're in the U.S., so you can view a lot of the sites that don't work outside the U.S.

KTF
RAY

Re: (life) Slow Boat FROM China

2009-11-22T17:57:10Z

Sheila wrote:

Hopefully you'll get it soon, or a resend.....
>
>
I've asked my invitation to be re-sent so many times and I've asked it to be sent via Fedex or UPS because I have seen their vehicles several times rolling through my hometown.

I'm thinking maybe my letter is somewhere on the US mainland since it is cheaper to send stuff to Hawaii from Shanghai via New York? Go figure that one out!

Jada

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]