Flying Solo 单飞 - A Chinese Tennis Lesson

Yesterday my tutor and I headed to the park with our ice cream (me with my coffee) and started talking about whatever came to mind in Chinese. Parks, water fountains, names of popular American Restaurants which lead to the different between a king (wang 王) and an emperor (Huang Di 皇帝). Then this brought us to other titles such as president and chairman and the differences. We touched a little bit of the history of the Kuomintang (Guo min dang 国民党) The Nationalist Party and The Gong Dong （中共）Communist Party the current leaders of the People's Republic of China. We talked a little bit about how some of the leaders' names are pronounced different in China than in the US. But neither one of us wanted to delve too far in to this history today. I remembered I left my tennis bag in the back of my truck with some valuables inside, so I excused myself to retrieve it. Before I knew it after a suggestion by my friend we were off to the tennis courts to resume our lessons on the court.

Although I wasn't anticipating a rousing match. I was excited to learn a few Chinese vocabulary words. As my Quizlet Account will verify, I learned several words like , forehand (正手 zhènɡ shǒu) , backhand (反手击球 fǎnshǒujīqiú), serve (发球 fā qiú), and a few others. The learning style was fun. Every time I hit a forehand I would yell, "Zheng Shou!" Of course my tones were terrible but as a kinetic learner I felt I was improving. Everytime the ball bounced out I would yell, "Jie Wai!" in, "Jie Nei" net, "Qu Wang!" ect. The lesson went well I thought and we got a little blood pumping in the mean time. We then finished up our lesson, me by heading to the rock wall on campus and my buddy heading home. 

Tennis is a funny sport in a collectivist society. While China thrives in similar individual sports such as ping-pong and badminton, until recently China had not had much luck producing a high quality tennis player to compete at the highest level. There were a couple double teams to make an impact in the early 2000s but recently the Chinese tennis and sports world has been rocked by Li Na. Li Na is the first Chinese national to win a Grand Slam. (Well Michael Chang did but he is Chinese American. He won the French Open in 1989 at 17 years old) 

Li Na has started a new program which has been named "Flying Solo" 单飞. What this means is that Li Na along with other Chinese tennis players were able to break away from the normal standard from what is the norm for professional Chinese professional athletes. This means first off, instead of giving 65% of her winnings to China she gives less than 10%. This also means she no longer goes through the normal path of a Chinese Athlete which is through the Chinese system which is similar to the Soviet Union. When they spot a talented athlete as a child they start them in a regimented program in special schools designated for athletes.  Li Na also started this way. But she was part of the first group to "fly solo." And has been criticized and praised for this fact.

When she won the French Open she was praised, when she lost in the olympics she was called selfish for only succeeding in an event that promotes herself rather than her country. She has a tattoo in an ever changing but still relatively conservative in their view towards tattoos. She talks about "playing for herself." rather than for her country. She is independent but from a collectivist country, she is considered cool yet selfish. She flying solo... with 1.4 billion fans cheering her on because she's Chinese. Li Na has changed the idea of what it means to be a Chinese professional athlete.

Check out her interviews. She's funny. She's outgoing. She just wants to be herself. Yet being yourself is so much more complicated when you represent so many.


Good news, her autobiography has been released in English. 

Chinese Corner? (Or stories from English Corner pt. 1)

In China I often attended what was called "English Corner." English Corner is a concept that originated and can only be found in China (and online). The story that I found is that a man was reading an English book in Shenyang in Liaoning province when another man noticed and struck up a conversation in English. Since then they decided to meet up each week at the corner and speak in English. Since then "English Corner" has been a regular phenomenon at almost every university in China. There is even a wikipedia article about it.

 At my first university I taught at there was an English corner on the second floor of the main building. As you walked in it the building you did you best to not slip on the marble floor. You were greeted by a large red sign with stylized Chinese characters. Above you was a large chandelier and surrounding the chandelier was the clamoring of the above "English Corner" from the second floor balcony which peered directly over the first floor entrance. And when I say English Corner what I really mean is you read your English speech as loud as you can to yourself while everyone does likewise creating a deifying effect when you enter the area. For learning something that is supposed to be an aid to communication there was very little communication going on. When I or my fellow foreign teachers would visit these English gatherings the atmosphere would change considerably. Instead of seeing who could read louder to themselves the new game was to see who could get the most questions answered by the Wai Jiao (Foreign teacher). These questions rarely varied. I got the usual, "Do you like China?" "Do you like Chinese food?" "Can you use chopsticks" sometimes a bold young man or women would ask if I like Chinese girls or if I thought Chinese girls were beautiful. 

(Side story... Being in my early 20s and single when I first came to China I was often asked about whether I was going to marry a Chinese girl or a western girl to which I would always defer saying something to the effect, "Where they are from isn't as important and what they believe, what their character is like and whether or not we are attracted to each other." I would then go on about the the possible cultural difficulties an American and Chinese couple could pose then take the next opportunity to change the subject. But in this environment I would often be told by my students that I was handsome, usually by the male more than the female because of the cultural desire for girls modesty. But my favorite conversation was from a girl I had later in class I will forever remember. I am still a little confused by it. 

She started out, 

"Mr. Halligan I do not know if you are handsome or not."

I instantly started laughing, and wanted her to elaborate. "Ok..." I said because nothing else seemed appropriate. 

"Well, I hear my classmates say you are very handsome but I really am not sure. You see you are the first foreigner I have met and I really don't have anyone to compare you to."

I am still laughing and overjoyed by her honesty. 

"I mean you are very nice, but I just don't know."She tried to backtrack. 

"Hey, at least you are honest." I assured her.)

As English corners usually ended I found myself thinking, Was that really useful?  What did people get out of that? Well at least they communicated with a foreigner and had the opportunity. Well fast forward 7 or so years I find myself in the US and desiring more Chinese practice. Then I wondered, "Does the US have Chinese Corner?" I could really use a situation if I could ask a Chinese teacher if they liked America, or if they like American food and girls... Then I realized my ridiculous thoughts and figured I'd just call up my buddy Lance from Xi'an and start speaking Chinese with him once a week. More stories to come from those conversations later. 

Lost in America

I have now been an American living in America for almost 3 years now. Now longer a foreigner living in a foreign land. My international experiences are now removed yet still present in the way I think  and process.

today i starting back into my exploration of Chinese culture and language. My buddy Lance (not his real Chinese name) and I started coffee and Chinese on sunday afternoon. and now I am realizing I have fallen behind in what's going on in the middle kingdom. So... time for me to jump back in.

Starting watching documentaries and reading the latest books on modern China.

A book that has been especially engaging thus far has been the book entitled China in 10 Words by Yu Hua and translated by Allan H Barr. I realized I have read many books from the western perspective about China but not many from a local view. This book has been refreshing in its tone, truthfulness and ownership of the culture and country which it is describing.

Yu Hua lived through the toughest time in China in the last century. He takes 10 words to describe his experiences which in turn gives the reader (or listener, in my case) a picture of China. So far I have gotten through "The People"人民 "Leader" 领袖 "Reading" 阅读 and now "Writing" 写作.

And the writing struck me. To be a good writer one must write. profound, obvious... so why am I not doing it? So why not get my blog going again? okay. done.

starting it up again, again. lets get better at this writing thing! One blog post at a time.

A time before blogger. (or...When Xanga ruled)

Although it may not seem like it, this is my #1 blog at the moment. I am also an occasional tweeter and facebook...er? And every few weeks I'll check my Chinese counterparts renren and weibo.

I was an active blogger before blogspot. Not daily or anything but I definitely spent a fair bit of time updating.

So to see the beginning of my online story you can visit my Xanga site. This documents I first 3-4 years in China. I had a little fun this morning looking back on memories from around 2004-2008. A lot has happened in the last 7 years and I feel blessed to see a little more of the Father's incredible creation.

Here is the link to my life circa 2004-2008:

http://vanhalligan.xanga.com/

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Year.

This year was the first home in a long time. It was great spending time with friends and family. Seeing all my nieces and cousins kids was a blast. Favorite moments would have to be the Christmas Eve service when my nieces and their cousins were running around and the white elephant gift exchange at my parents house. It was a lot of fun just being around for the holidays. Being able to see these guys during holidays was a true gift.

Everything you need to know about China in 10 minutes

Here is good video giving a general introduction of what is China. It is hard to understand everything the narrator is saying so here is a link with subtitles.

It covers a large spectrum of Chinese culture, history and everyday life.

Sonny posted it on his renren acount (The Chinese version of facebook)

Hope you enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMuKxxY774g

The Ugly Christmas Sweaters of Coffee

It is that time of year again. Not just for wearing the ugliest possible Christmas sweater you can find, but time to bust out your Christmas mugs! That's right, the ones you've been storing in the back of the pantry all year taking up valuable can vegetable space. It's finally time, bring them to the kitchen and force them into the cupboard with the rest of daily coffee and tea receptacles.

Now I am excited to finally use these wonders of art (usually imported... from China, where else?). Any excuse to use and be seen with the ugliest of ugly is okay by me. And what better way to celebrate this season then to be seen with your own Christmas mug. Merry Christmas everyone and Happy beverage  drinking in the christmas sweaters of coffee.

My sermon notes blog

I decided to start taking my notes from sermons and posting them on my wordpress site.  I find it gives me a way to review what I have been taught. and who knows, maybe someone who stumbles across it will be encouraged or spurred on to live a life which Christ has called them to through my unworthy and poorly written posts. http://vanhalligan.wordpress.com/

Livin in America...

I am back!  Well, it has been about 3 months. But I am back living in America, cue up the James Brown song... (or watch the youtube video you won't be disappointed.)

As I just finished the first holiday weekend, I am grateful to be back at my home with my family and friends. As I look to what is next, i want to first enjoy the time I do have here back home. Being here for the arrival of my new niece is something I will always be grateful for. I look forward to what this crazy land called America has in store for me in the upcoming months. And I excited to reconnect with friends and family.

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Harbin... land of ligers, the wheel of death and quality time

Last weekend our team of teachers took a trip to Harbin. It was a time of R&R and time to reflect and just spend another outing together. All in all it was a wonderful trip.

A few notable experiences include but are not limited to:

1. The Manchurian Tiger Park.

With a caged car and two sets of gates the open and close as you enter the different parts of the park you can't but help thinking of the first Jurassic Park. While many groups probably don't approve of buying live animals being sold merely to be eaten in front of a live audience the chance to be close to these incredible creatures is remarkable.

2. Caught in the rain.

Harbin has a great walking street that has a mix of new shopping malls that feature brands such as Gucci, Nike and bubble tea to older restaurants that feature Russian cuisine. It is a cool area to just shop and people walk. It also has 2 or 3 McDonald's to fill my American junk food needs. After an nice afternoon stroll that included many russian junk stops... i mean souvenir shops, we decided it was time to catch a taxi back to the hotel. So of course, the wind and rain started. And it just poured! Of course many of us were not prepared for the weather and of course... there was no taxis to be found. It is also common phenomenon that whenever rain starts, taxis are not available. So 12 people of the group were huddled under an awning while the other 2 tried to hail taxis. After a few large branches of nearby trees fell down near us, the group decided it was maybe this would be a good time for a meeting at the corner Mcdonalds.

3. Wheel of death.

If you have ever been in China you are familiar with the out door playgrounds for adults. While at first glance they may seem like a playground we have in the states you'll notice that most of the playgrounds in China cliental consist of the elderly. And the equipment ranges from your standard monkey bars to some strange back stretching device. My favorite grown-ups playground so far is located at the Northeast Forestry Institute in Harbin. This one is like the x-games of playgrounds. You can climb up 2 story ladders and poles, dangle on olympic sized rings, climb up military-esque nets, and ... the wheel of death. On this device you hold on to one of the ends a steel ladder that has a fulcrum in the middle so you can swing yourself upside down! It is actually kind of difficult and a bit scary. After a good minute and a half I managed to swing myself completely around. I felt sick for a little white after, but hope I get a chance to return one day.

Those are the top three events of this past Harbin trip. It was a great end of year trip to reminisce on all that we have experienced in the past year.

Neglect

Dear blogspot,

I know I haven't updated you in a while. I've been seeing more of facebook, twitter, renren and weibo lately. It doesn't mean that I am gone forever, I have been just using other sites. But they can't update like you can. You just take a lot more time to update. Hopefully I won't stay away as long this time.

Sincerely,

The Slow Updater

the hike

the hike
Originally uploaded by vanhalligan

Just for the record, I went hiking near Siping. It wasn't too long but it wasn't too easy either. Our foreign affairs office took us out for a weekend getaway just 45 minutes outside of the city. It was very relaxing and refreshing. Who knew a good hike was such a short distance away?

Happy Easter from Siping!

Happy Easter from Siping!
Originally uploaded by vanhalligan

Easter has come and gone. Although we didn't have a ham our KFC friend chicken served as a nice replacement. We had some of the new teachers over for a little piece of home for Easter dinner. Afterwards the Easter Bunny (played by Wu and myself) hid some eggs in the park for Sam and Matty to find. Since Matty can't quite walk yet... Sam had the upper hand. It was a very nice and quiet Easter.

As we remembered the sacrifice of the Son I can’t help but notice the changing seasons all around me. The weather has had its flashes of both cool and warm days but has been generally a very nice beginning to the Spring. Flowers are blooming, what little grass we have is now green and whatever tree hasn’t been pruned to within an inch of its life is starting to sprout flowers. There is a general feel of optimism and change in the air. But with this new change will undoubtedly bring a new understanding of the word busy. As this week marks our mid-way point through semester I know that the school year will be over before I know it. So with that in mind… I am off to enjoy the rest of my semester in Siping! Spring, I’ve missed you. I can’t wait to spend time together outside on blacktops and artificial turf and pavement. Winter I am not sad to see you go, but am sure we will see each other before we know it.

Top 5 Flags

Top 5 Flags
Originally uploaded by vanhalligan

Oh yeah I forgot to show the winners of the flag competition. These five students get to go out to pizza with the foreign teachers! (I think they are excited...not sure)

Soccer tourney

The Action!
Originally uploaded by vanhalligan

Well basketball got canceled, but fear not I am still getting up at 5:45 to help coach. Although I am just assisting head coach Wu, so the pressure is off. (not that the pressure was ever really on) I am getting a flashback of those early morning practices at HIU. I remember just being exhausted in my classes, which is kind of how I feel now, but more people notice when I fall asleep in class.

In other news the building behind my apartment is being torn apart, which provides plenty of distractions from grading and lesson planning. Although I am about sick of the dust that has been constantly swarming out apartment building. Today's rain was definitely a relief from the constant dust cloud.

As this week of remembrance comes up i think of the passage in John:

Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion;
see, your king is coming...

The Flags

The Flags
Originally uploaded by vanhalligan

13 colonies, 50 states... I remember the US flag lessons that included Betsy Ross and the Star Spangled Banner. Yet here i find myself teaching lessons about not only the US flag but also the Mexican, Spanish, French and of course Chinese flag. As we teach the meanings of the symbols, colors and shapes of the flags we have our students take that knowledge and develop a flag of their own that represents China in their eyes. The results are as varied as one could imagine. The most popular color is of course red, and the most common symbol is a star yet I am always impressed by the creativity year after year.

Now to add a little intrigue we have students (and teachers) vote for the best flags in the class. The top 3 flags will be hung in the foreign teachers' Library. After all the top flags are narrowed down to a top 10, all of the foreign teachers vote on the best one.

The top 10 have been chosen; all that remains is choosing a winner.

I haven't voted yet and I am always up for suggestions. Feel free to tell me which flag you think is the best. I will let you know the final winner very soon...

3 day "Holiday"

Yesterday was Saturday. Yet it was Monday... class wise. Over the last few years China has been pushing more Nationalistic Holidays. Qing Ming Jie 清明节 has always been celebrated in China yet in the last 3 or 4 years it has been instituted to have a national holiday. Now... the funny thing is that national holidays are not quite what they seem.

I was told we would have a 3-day holiday.

My response: "oh cool, when?"

Their response: "Sunday, Monday and Tuesday."

Me: "Who teaches on Sunday?"

Them: "Well we will teach Monday's class on Saturday."

Me: (no response)

So there you have it. Our 3-day "holiday."

So basically we get Tuesday off. And our weekend is messed up. Also... Tuesday classes are now a week behind the rest of the week. I am not sure the logic behind it, but I am going to wait until the next national holiday before trying to get my classes to realign.

In other news, the weather has been getting a lot nicer and the basketball courts and soccer fields have been filling up. However spring is also the time of insane winds in Siping. There is a saying in Siping, "The wind only blows two times a year. But each time it blows it lasts for half a year." Well, our Chinese version of the windy city has unleashed the wind's spring session. Yet despite the wind finally being able to say goodbye to the ice and snow has been warmly welcomed. (pun not really intended...)

Pandas are delicious...or back row Americans studying Chinese

Tuesday and Wednesday mornings are very similar. The order varies only a little. On Tuesday my day starts with a Chinese class and is quickly followed by me teaching a listening class across campus. Wednesday starts with listening class and finishes the morning with Chinese class. It is kind of fun changing from teacher to student in a manner of 15 minutes, and it does help me empathize with my students more, but for some reason it doesn't motivate me to be a better student... hmm, ironic.

This is my first semester actually taking a formal Chinese class. Although I have had years of tutors who come over and taught me Chinese one-on-one, there is nothing quite like learning in a real classroom. My classroom consists of students from Korea, Russia and Mongolia. On Tuesdays I sit in the back row with fellow American Sonny. Sonny's love for the Chinese language is most apparent when he gets to break down the different parts of a character to come to the "logical" definition. (actually, I joke about this, but it is actually very interesting). As our fairly short, energetic 30 something teacher jokes with the class and asks the if we understand Sonny is giving me 23 other possible uses of the new vocabulary word that he has found on his ipad while the teacher was talking.

Wednesday add another element of fun because Johnny joins Sonny and me in the back row of the classroom. Now, I have to admit my Chinese is the lowest of the 3, so I have to pay close attention to what the teacher is saying. In the meantime Jon and Sonny are using the new grammar structures to make various jokes usually involving pandas. So for example today's grammar pattern was: "not only (A) but also (B)." Which of course became; “Not only are Pandas (cute) but they are also (delicious).” （不但熊猫可爱而且好吃）Or the pattern; "A compared to B, A is adj adv." So naturally this became, "Panda meat compared to pork, Panda is much better." (熊猫肉比猪肉很好吃）And finally the structure; "You shouldn't just (verb) (noun) without (verb) (noun)." Which could likely became, you shouldn't just drink tiger blood but also eat panda. （不要光喝老虎血不吃熊猫肉）Okay... maybe they didn't come up with that last one.

Either way my first introduction to a formal Chinese classroom has been a positive experience. And although joking about eating one of the national treasures may not be found in the next Chinese textbook I buy anytime soon, it is sure helping remember grammar structures!

my alternative (online) universe.

For those who don't know about China's online world there are basically 3 things things you need to know.

1. China has about as many people online as the US has people.

2. China has a firewall. And it blocks pretty much everything we use on an everyday basis in the states. Okay that might be an exaggeration, but basically no facebook, twitter, youtube and most blogs. If you want to see what is blocked, check here.

3. Yet how has China appeased all of it's netizens? China has a pretty much all the same stuff that the US has... kind of. China has a copy of each popular program that the US has.

For example:

a. They blocked facebook, and then suddenly this website called Xiao Nei 校内网 appeared. (now called Ren Ren 人人网).

b. Youtube was blocked and then I learned about Youku.

c. Tweeting in China? Forget it. But you can always micro blog! 微博 (wēi bó)

d. Did I mention Google?? yeah they have Baidu.

So what is an American in China to do? Fight it with VPNs or proxies? Or... just join them?

Here is my renren and microblog accounts. Now I just have to find a way to link my facebook with my renren and my twitter with my microblog...

The Madness of March

I am pretty sure the biggest contribution I made to the Central High School Panthers' basketball team was a hole in the wall. I was a overanxious short 5'7" kid who was quick to pick up on "D" and foul out. (3 fouls in under a minute was my record if I recall.) I really do love basketball and I think I have good looking form when I shot... however, the ball rarely went in if I recall most of my high school basketball career. So I will probably be most remembered for the day I got kicked out of practice for attempting a flip off the wall over Sean Deadorff on the new gym wall.

The whole thing was going so well. I got plenty of height on my lift off, Sean was right behind me as I was running. How was I to know the wall was made out of just plaster? My size 12 foot went right through it. On the upside I still made it over Sean with no injury to neither him nor me. The bad news... coach walked in immediately after that. He wasn't too pleased. (did I mention that I may or may not have accidentally kicked a hole in the Library wall messing around with the team earlier that week? Seriously why the thin walls for new school buildings?) So i got kicked out of practice and that is pretty much where my basketball legacy ended. Sure I still played a lot, but I think that was my "highlight" of playing high school basketball.

Which brings me to today, I just started coaching my third men's basketball team in China. Who knew all those drills I did for hours after school would actually come in handy 13 years later? I have been going over plays and of course my Chinese Vocabulary for basketball terms. Go figure that the best website for college term was done by Kansas University. Now lets see if those Jayhawks can live up to their #1 seed this year. So as you follow your brackets for March Madness know that Coach "hole in the wall" Halligan will be running his boys at the wee hours of the morning getting ready for the school wide tourney next month.