culture! the laundry list

• Throughout China, babies don't wear diapers; instead, they have no crotch in their pants. Parents hold up their children whenever and wherever they need to relieve themselves, and they just let it all out right there. And yes, I really mean "wherever": sidewalks, streets, buses, banks, shopping centers...

• Manners and politeness here are totally different than anywhere I have visited. It goes beyond spitting in hallways of public establishments, slurping noodles, and burping loudly (which I personally find to be quite liberating); it also carries through to everyday conversation. I learned the word for "please" in my elementary Chinese course, but literally have not heard it since my arrival. In fact, I'm not exactly how to use it in context, and was told to "just forget it" because people here don't say please, anyway. Same goes for "thank you," and although my Midwestern upbringing demands that I thank everyone anyway, I have only once heard the Chinese phrase for "you're welcome."
  

• The book I'm reading says that Chinese are motivated primarily by shame and not by guilt. Understanding that concept has gone a long way for me in classroom management. In general, students do not feel bad for not doing their work unless they are caught, and even then only if their peers are made aware of their laziness. Test grades are almost always public information, and it is common here to publicly shame students as punishment. One high school girl who would leave class early had to stand before an auditorium filled with her peers as her truancies were explained and ridiculed. The same goes for Chinese teachers who are late to class, although supposedly I'm saved from that by being a foreigner. (Still am going to try to be on time, though...)

• There is definitely a limit to what can be publicly discussed/read. I may have already pushed some limits in my blog so I will leave it at that.

• Classes, and life in general, seem more patterned and ritualistic than at home. For example, my classes all must begin:

Me: Class begins!
Class: (standing up) Stand up!
Me: Good morning, class!
Class: Good morning, teacher!

A funny story relating to that: Yesterday morning I forgot my routine, and warmly greeted my students, "Good morning, class!" They stood up automatically and barked in unison, "Good morning, teacher!" I immediately realized my mistake, and tried to salvage it by saying, "Stand up!" To which the students replied hesitantly, "Stand up!" (even though they were already standing) and looked at me and each other in obvious confusion. I think I said something like "Sit down...?" and just started cracking up. Better luck next time, foreigner.