Daliances: Doctor Bill Goes to China

Dr. C. William 'Bill' Anderson
Elliott Professor of Chemistry
on Sabbatical in Dalian, China
2008-09

Hello! Ni hao ma? Wo hen hao.

At the heart of a sabbatical is the opportunity for refreshing change of perspective that will allow us to have improved insight for students and intellect.  For those of you who were not here for my last sabbatical in the US Virgin Islands, I like to send home little anecdotes and observations that can only happen in far away lands.  This comes from years of listening to Alistair Cooke's "Letter from America" on the BBC.  While raised in the UK, he spent much of his adult life in the US.  He would regularly send home comments about the way things were done in the US.  His insights were always slightly amusing from a different culture, but were always "friend of the court" briefs.  A few times this year, I will email some of my incredibly perceptive insights.  Or maybe just some limericks.  This is the first installment of "Daliances: Doctor Bill Goes to China".  I bet they don't make an opera out of this, though.

Things started with the 16 hour flight to the new Beijing airport, where 43% of the human population was coming or going as the Olympics were in full bloom.  We had a travel agent meet us (5 fresh Americans for the amusement of everyone) and successfully got us to "the other terminal" after a half hour bus ride.  Arrival in Dalian was late, but people with English skills met us and we were brought to our apartments for the 2 hours of sleep I was able to muster.  Everyone will be happy to learn that I passed the mandatory complete physical required of all us foreign experts.  I even had my first ultrasound.  They couldn't tell me if I was pregnant or not, but I liked the part where they rubbed jelly on my lower back.  That was actually a good two hour exam: X-rays, reading eye charts, the usual array of bodily fluids, and so on.  Every door was clearly identified with characters and English like phrases, so my lack of sleep likely gave rise to inappropriate giggles.  Now...time for academics!  

At our first meeting of the faculty, we were assured that dates for several of the holidays for this term were actually known.  We would, of course, be able to adjust our syllabus as needed.  Thursday of the second week, I was told that my Friday classes were canceled so the second-year student could welcome the incoming first year students.  It hadn't occurred to me that there would be different semester dates ( and class times) for different students.  Some of this appears to be an arrangement with the national service requirement, so the students can actually get to the campus before November.  When the first year students got here, they started learning how to march.  Ten rows of 15 students all over campus.  The unison counting to four was resonant during lectures.

Well, here it is 5:15 in the morning and I'm...you guessed it: ironing clothes.  For some reason, my apartment has three washing machines.  Dryers are not widely in use.  While the washers are efficient and functional, apparently there is one setting on mine that turns each piece of clothing into what looks like sisal rope for tying up ships.  Every shirt comes out like it was sprayed with "Perma-Wrinkle".  I successfully ventured out to purchase an iron.  I am getting good at reading the characters on appliances, anyway.  This will continue as my students show up for class all wrinkle-free and proper.  I refuse to look like lint.

Students live 6-8 per dorm room, w/one bathroom.  No showers.  Showers are in separate buildings.  The electricity is turned off at 10:30 every night.  Who would ever want it on at night?  I was told that students will go in together on a hotel room during exam times so they can study later than that.

On my first quiz, I asked students for where they were from and what hobbies or interests they had.  There were some popular hobbies like "sleeping" and "eating" which I hadn't thought of as hobbies, but I lump into the category of "English words I remember at the beginning of the semester that describe pleasant activities."  There were actually several who said they liked "taking showers with friends after 9 pm."  Once you see the living arrangements, that makes sense.  I'm pretty sure that most H-SC students wouldn't take that hobby at the intended face value.  I love the slight twists of daily life.

I should say "hello" to Professor Li.  We just missed each other by hours.  I only hope you are enjoying the variations on day-to-day life H-SC is providing as much as I am enjoying the  nuances of China.

Busses here are clean, frequent and 17 cents per ride.  You do need to have some understanding about when to take them, though.  They can be spacious or packed.  Taxis are $1-3 per local ride and not for the faint of heart.  I will not be buying auto or motorcycle.  There are vitrually no bicycles here.  I think the terrain has a lot to do with it.  They had better mass transit development here.

My students are majoring in International Commerce.  Chemistry is a bit of a stretch for many.  However, since the professional tracks split in high school, several had chemistry and even liked it.  I am having some success in showing them the importance of chemical trade internationally.  There are some built-in opportunities for relevance with these students, though.  This whole week, there have been stories all over the TV, newspaper and radio about the SunLu infant formula tainting.  It is the same problem as the dog food in the US last year:
melamine doping of soy protein powder.  There will be executions over this pretty soon.  There is history of a previous case where infant formula was loaded with non-nutritive things like chalk.  The kids starved.  The government swore it wouldn't happen again.  Welcome to again.

"Sports Games".  We marched in the Opening ceremonies of Sports Games, today.  Every acaemic unit or department fields a team for an Olympics style competition.  The stadium was full as we marched in (faculty uncharacteristically behind students) and the infield was filled with student participants.  The only thing I have a question about is why they scheduled it for the Sat and Sun of fall break.  Lots of student absences, as you might imagine.  Students compete for their majors.  Most everyone takes the competition very serious.  One of the artists participating in designing the Olympic opening ceremonies is an alum and present for our opening.

There is one student here that I can actually imagine sitting in classes at H-SC.  He always shows up, has a clue and one class he forgot to do his homework but made no excuses, just owned up to it.  It was not behavior of the rest of the student body.  I had a breakthrough moment in the class (according to the other faculty.) I simply asked "How many of you are going home for the holiday?" and almost everyone rasied their hand.  The other instructors were slack-jawed.  You mean they actually put their hands up in response to a question?  yep.

The "er kuai" store.  Well, Dalian has its version of the "Dollar Store", too.  Except everything is er kuai.  (two yuan or = 31 cents) When everything you sell is 31 cents, there some economies you make in your store.  Like lights.  However, the location is superb, one block from a major city square and at the bus stop for about 12 different routes.  I made sure I got all my dollar store necessities there.  They also have live plants and some plastic kitchen/bath items that are almost 70 cents each.

At first blush, you could imagine that recycling is not practiced here.  I had to ask about trash, etc. "You just put it outside your door and when you return, it is gone."  That is true.  Once, I made it 100 meters (That is yards for you Mei guo ren) before returning to the apartment for a forgotten book.  When I returned, the trash I left was gone and there was no evidence of human activity.  There is govt run trash removal, but there is also an army of sievers who remove all metals, glass, plastic paper, cloth and so forth.  It is very resource involved and impresses me when I look at our comparative systems.  Now, they have the manpower, to be sure, but we could, too.

My language skills are almost up to "poor".  I can readily be understood with the polite speech of "Please, excuse me, sorry, thank you", an so on.  It only becomes a problem when I do something like trying to check out of the grocery store with a squeegee that has no bar code on it.  I think the line of 15 people behind me was thoroughly entertained as the cashier yelled at me louder every time I said "I'm sorry, I don't understand" (dui bu qi, wo bu ming bai).  Please consider learning some Chinese language.  Everyone here is just dying to practice their English, but that is sure a one-way street...

I might have an opportunity to visit North Korea.  I'm not entirely sure how legit this is.  The Dean's wife said something about "bringing enough cash to bribe the guards."  ( not kidding)  I would like to go, but the thought of a cozy prison is troublesome. 

Well, there are the inevitable moments when away from home that I can do without.  Our lumbering protector of 14 years, Reeses, died soon after I left.  Yes, I cried.  I don't like not being able to help family and friends in a more direct way.  I am glad I got webcams for my family and it is a highlight to be able to call home on the computer and see Katy.  It is a little odd being 12 hours ahead so I'm getting up Wed morning when you are going to sleep Tuesday night.  I am working on a scam to buy winning lottery tickets for tomorrow's drawing, though.

I think I'll draw this installment to a close.  I have many other snippets to share in a couple of weeks.  Good luck to all from the land of yestermorrow.

September 28, 2008