Orientation Lesson Plan: Session 1 Part 1 - Living In China

Lesson Level:  Trainee Teacher  s                    Duration:  One Hour

Lesson Title:     Life In China

Lesson Objectives

To introduce the trainees to the problems/situations they may face living in China.

Materials Required

Slide show (Power Point or other format)¹

Preparation

Prepare slide show. Check computer available. Check computer set up and software working.

Procedure

1 (5 Minutes/5 Minutes)

Introduce yourself. Write name on board. Tell students how long  that you have been teaching in China and where you have taught.

Show ball². Tell students to buy a couple.

Ball toss game³.

                                                When you get the ball

                                                            stand up

                                                            tell class your name, you country,

                                                                                    and something you know about China

                                                            throw ball to a new student

Double ball toss game

                                                Whoever has GREEN must say the name and country

                                                of whoever has BLUE.

2 (2 Minutes/7 Minutes)

Tell students that this session is mainly you talking.

Tell students they can stop you and ask questions whenever they like.

Start Power Point (or write list on board⁴)

Run through headings.

3 (5 Minutes/12 Minutes)

One Housing

Tell students about getting posted to Baiyin⁵

SLIDE 1: APARTMENT EXTERIOR

SLIDE 2: STAIRWELL

Tell students how you felt.

SLIDES 3-6: APARTMENT INTERIOR

Explain about showers, toilets etc

                        showers may not be great, low pressure, not very hot

                        toilets in apartments usually western

                        elsewhere usually not

                        BROKEN LEG STORY⁶

Explain about apartments on campus/off campus

                        Advantages

                                    Very secure

                                    Very close to workplace

                                    Easier to get problems sorted out

                        Disadvantages

                                    Not as easy to have visitors or private students

                                    Lack of privacy

                                    Need to get past security if returning late at night

4 (8/20)

Two: Food

WARN FIRST THAT NOT FOR SQUEAMISH

Ask if any vegetarians.

SLIDES 5-12: WEIRD FOODS

Tell students Chinese eat out much more than westerners. Most cities will have hundreds of restaurants. Within two minutes walk of my apartment in Baiyin  there were fourteen

Unfortunately not usuaslly manywestern restaurants. May be a McDonald’s or KFC.

Likely to be invited to dinner a lot. Very hard to pay. How to pay.

Tell Megan's birthday story.⁷

Wash or peel all food at home. Standards of hygiene are low. Use iodine if you have it. At very least wash in boiling water.

Western food depends on where you are. Bigger city supermarkets often have some.

Very unlikely to get cheese. Butter and yoghurt usually available.

Western style packaged foods not usually.

Street food:

At your own risk. I eat it and haven't had problems. Other people have had real problems – even had to go to hospital.

Bottom Line:YOU WILL GET SICK SOMETIMES – do what you would do at home. Stop eating and drink only bottled water for a couple of days.

Which brings us to

5.(8/28)

Part 3: Medicine.

You can get western medicine if you try. Lots of pharmacies.

Chinese friends will try to insist Chinese TCM/ acupuncture etc. is better.

Personally I like proven evidenced remedies but it's up to you.

By all means use the Chinese medicines if you trust them.

If you do have to go to hospital don't worry – standards are usually good :

Medicines often given using intravenous drip rather than injections.

Chinese friends will try to take you to hospital for every little thing. Sneeze once and they will want you to go on a drip.

The drips are often just antibiotics which are not only ineffective but in the long run counterproductive.

6 (8/36)

Part 4: Dangers and annoyances

SLIDES 13-18

                        Just list, show talk about

                                                Health and Safety⁸

                                                Electrical standards⁹

                                                Manhole covers¹⁰

                                                Traffic¹¹

                                                Noise¹²

                                                Spitting/ Public Urination¹³

                                                Polution

 7 (5/41)

Part 5: Difficulties For Women (had to consult colleagues)

                        Just getting hit on¹⁴

                        Marriage proposals from lots of men, often from married men

                        Getting clothes – especially underwear –  to fit¹⁵

                        Getting hair dye

                        Getting cosmetics that don't have whitening agents

                        Getting unscented sanitary products

                        Smoking in public by women is frowned upon in most places¹⁶

8 (4/45)

Part 6: Getting about

SLIDES 19-21

                        Polution is the big problem

                        Taxis cheap

                        Buses even cheaper.

9. Good things. Show and describe the slides illustrating Chinese parks, markets, hosptality and KTV.

10 (10/55)

Allow time at end of session for any questions and answers about living in China.

Questions about working and schools will be dealt with in the next session.

Notes

1. See below for all slides used during the presentation.

2. See blog entry on “Squishy-throwy things”

3. See blog entry on “Ball Toss Activities”

4. Housing, Food, Medicine and Health, Dangers and Annoyances, Problems For Women, Getting About

5. See blog entry on ”Give it a chance”.

6. I had my leg in plaster for six weeks. With your leg in plaster ankle to hip it’s damned near impossible to use a western toilet. Chinese ones are a torture devised for Dante’s Inferno.

7. See blog entry on “Eating with friends”

8. The Chinese approach to Health and Safety is not to have any. Your safety is your responsibility. It can be very scary at first. Whether you are crossing the road, changing a fuse or trying not to fall down open manholes it’s up to you to be careful.

9. See “A morning walk in my underwear” blog entry.

10.  Open manholes and drains are pretty common. Even in unlit alleys at night. Always use a flashlight and always take care to look where you are going. Even where there are no holes in the ground the pavements can be very uneven. If you fall into one and wonder who you can sue, see 8 above.

11.  See blog entry on “Driving In China”

12.  It won’t take you long to realize that China is a noisy country, a very noisy country. Get used to it. It isn’t going to change.

13.  And the same goes for spitting and public urination. It won’t stop so you just have to learn to ignore it. (Or join in!)

14.  I am assured that western women often get pestered by Chinese men. I have no advice to offer other than do whatever you would do back home if someone was bothering you. You should be aware that pepper spray and similar deterrents are illegal here. As for marriage proposals, I know one teacher who received about a dozen in her first year here. Some from married men and one from a man’s mother on behalf of her son.

15.  Applies to men generally in terms of clothing (and especially shoe) sizes but I am told that getting bras that are the correct fit can be very difficult for women.

16.  Women do smoke in bars and coffee shops but, apart from in the big tourist centres, rarely on the street. With that said, you won’t have a problem as contrary to some things you may here, nowadays people don’t consider it to indicate loose morals, just to be something you don’t do. If you smoke, just don’t do it in the school and it will be fine.

Power Point Slides