Another Trilogy bites the dust

Well, I'm not ready as much as when I was in Senegal. I have a little less free time as well as a lot more distractions from TV, internet, and all the joys of the modern age.

But I recently just finished reading Robert Ludlum's Jason Bourne trilogy. It comes highly recommended as its full of action, plot twists, and bits and pieces of various languages. All around a very intelligently and interestingly written set of books.

A couple warnings: First, don't read these back to back. Their too intense and exciting for that. Also, don't be expecting it to be anything like the movies. The movies are really good, but as always - the books are incomparable.

Did you know that Jason Bourne speaks English, chinese, and French fluently?? Hmm, you know if this whole teaching English gig doesn't work out for me, I may be sending my resume and cover letter over to the CIA. I'm not sure how the interview process works to become a secret agent, but as soon as my Chinese gets better and I brush up on my kungfu, I'm pretty much a shoe-in.

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Byron Yee
TEFL English Teacher - Shenzhen, China

Happy Thanksgiving!

Seeing as how this holiday was created by and in remembrance of the "first" Americans, it's not widely celebrated by Chinese people.

I was still working and teaching on Thursday, but took the opportunity to teach my students the holiday and about thankfulness. I also had a "traditional" Thanksgiving dinner of Taiwanese food with my co-workers that night. It was their first Thanksgiving meal, so it was a special event for all of us.

Saturday afternoon was the REAL feast of turkey, cranberries, pie, and all those goodies a group of 100+ Americans can throw together in a potluck. It was delicious, filling, and that triptaphan kicked in full force on my hour long bus ride home.

The highlight of this year's festivities was teaching students the proper word for "turkey" and NOT "fire chicken" which is the literally translation in Chinese (火鸡). Although, I think fire chicken sounds way more awesome than turkey. Think about it - "Then the pilgrims sat down with the Indians and feasted on corn, fruits, and freshly slaughtered fire chicken. The first Thanksgiving."

And yes, the word "indian" was intentional. It's crucial to the politically incorrect and linguistic errors of the story...


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Byron Yee
TEFL English Teacher - Shenzhen, China

They're all growing up!

In China, when a student turns 18 years old, they become an official and legal adult. Well, there's absolutely no Chinese vs. American difference there at all, I know.

However, what is different is the ceremonial process they go through. Luckily, I did not have to witness or attend any circumcision ceremonies like I did while in Senegal. This ritual was more tame in comparison. It involved speeches, more speeches, and a proclamation or oath that all the students took on our school campus. As I know and teach many of these students, it was an honor and privilege to be a part of this exciting day.

This ceremony also marked the 200 day countdown from their very intense college entrance exam (yes, there's an official day for that too). So after the ceremony finished, all the students headed straight back to their classrooms to - you guessed it - more studying. Hey, at least they got a longer study break today, right?

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Byron Yee
TEFL English Teacher - Shenzhen, China

Speech Competition

Last week our school district had an English speech competition for all the local high schools. One of my students was selected to represent our school and so I worked with him over the past month. Our coaching included everything I learned including grammar, pronunciation, body language, expression, etc. However, the added challenge was that I had to coach him based on his level and comprehension of English.

He did very well. So well in fact, that he scored 2nd place in our district competition. That's the highest anyone has ever school for our school. So we were all very happy and proud of Chiho. Nice work kid! And thanks for giving me more of a purpose in life :)


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Byron Yee
TEFL English Teacher - Shenzhen, China

Blog Shout out

One of my friends keeps an awesome blog about cooking called Kitchen Dance Party.
http://kitchen-dance-party.blogspot.com/

I thought of them specifically the other day when I tried eating dog meat for the first time. So if you guys are looking for another new and creative recipe to try out at home, dog tastes best when cooked as a stew. Potatoes go really well with dog meat as well - it really helps balance out the color, taste, and textures.

Bon appetite everyone!

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Byron Yee
TEFL English Teacher - Shenzhen, China

Grassroots Vocab Lessons

Today on my way back from Chinese class, I learned how to say "make love" in Chinese. It's exactly the same in English (to make + to love + particle). How exactly did I stumble upon this new word?

Well, on the way to class, my driver and I were staring and commenting about a voluptuous women running down the street towards us a catch a taxi. I leave your imagination to what he may have said. Then on the way home, we passed by the sketchy street of town and collected a man's "business" card. Hence my lesson in how to say "make love."

Now, I know exactly where to find some scandalous women, as well as what to request from them if the depressingly desperate need arises. Ironically, I learned more on the ride to/from class than from sitting in my actual Chinese class.

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Byron Yee
TEFL English Teacher - Shenzhen, China

10km Midnight Charity Run

This Saturday, a local charity called Captivating International (http://captivating.org/) held their 3rd annual midnight charity run. Because I'm crazy and slowly getting into running, I chose to run the 10km race as the 5km option was "too fun" for me.

Aside from the fact that we were running at midnight (way past my bedtime), yet there were a surprising number of pedestrians and motobikes out, the race went rather well.

My time: 49min and a few seconds. That was my personal best and was also just 1 minute behind the fastest female. But to be wholly fare and depressing - 6 minutes behind the fastest male. The important thing was that I ran rather fast for myself. More importantly, I had a chance to participate in a charity event and am working with my school students and staff on collecting some donations as well.

The organization threw us an after-race party as well. Although I should warn you, beer after 10km is a really bad choice. Seriously, not a good idea guys...

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Byron Yee TEFL
English Teacher - Shenzhen, China

Super Singles Night!

In Chinese, the number 11 looks like bare sticks, which also translates close to the word "single." (光棍节）  So on November 11, all the single people in China celebrated at local clubs, bars, and restaurants.

This year was especially important as it fell on the 11th year of the 11th month, and the 11th day (11.11.11). Hence, the super single holiday of the century. I being one of the millions was invited to go to a local karaoke joint and mix with other cute singles. And that I did.

The girls were very surprised at my wonderful ability to sing English songs. They were even more surprised at my complete LACK of ability to speak Chinese. So, our flirting and mingling was limited to our bilingual skills. But anytime I can socialize and practice my Chinese, I consider this a successful outing. Throw some very cute girls into that mix and I consider this a VERY successful outing :)

Happy Singles Day world! The rest of you married people can shove it ;)

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Byron Yee
TEFL English Teacher - Shenzhen, China

More trouble reading signs

I was out and about the other afternoon and passed by what looked like a peculiar cyber cafe. It was strange looking because there was only one single computer in the entire room and also a full steering wheel and pedal set. Hmm, the owner must be a serious gamer.

I generally don't look at signs because my Chinese character vocabulary is very limited and therefore cannot read anything. But out of sheer curiosity, I decided to look this one time. This decision was met with immediate satisfaction and regret - painted on the sign in bright ENGLISH letters: "Driving School"

There are some days when my Chinese fails and I feel like an idiot. Then there are other days when my first and native language fail me and that's when I really feel stupid...

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Byron Yee
TEFL English Teacher - Shenzhen, China

Why Chinese Cars are Cooler

So, you may have already known that Karaoke is a really big thing in this and other Asian cultures. But allow me to give you a perspective on just how popular this is.

On almost every block in the big cities, there is a KTV or karaoke bar. And in every alley where there's a TV and a microphone, people set up their own personal shows. But it gets better...

The other night I was taking my evening walk for the purpose of people watching and entertainment. And sure enough, both of my evening walk goals were fulfilled. I passed by a sporty looking car blasting music - nothing unusual there. But what was interesting was the even louder and slightly off-key singing coming from inside the car. I personally never thought about this, but since cars already have an dash board display for gps and car maintenance, why not add a microphone and turn it into a mobile karaoke machine? Brilliant!

I was so excited, I almost knocked on the window to ask the dude if I could join him, but I didn't want to invade his personal privacy. Then again, if you have karaoke built into your car, I don't think these types of people are too self conscious...

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Byron Yee
TEFL English Teacher - Shenzhen, China

万圣节快乐

This country doesn't really celebrate All Hallows Eve, so things were rather uneventful here. But nonetheless, everyday is always an interesting adventure.

Over the weekend, my US buddies and I went to a childrens' theme park called Happy Valley to visit their Haunted House. Unfortunately, it wasn't so haunted - nor was it much of a house. It was more of a darkly lit long walk around Chinese zombies (yes, the employees were pretty much bored, living dead) and styrofoam graveyards. We then went to a bar where they played crappy karaoke after their one Lady Gaga CD played all the way through. Despite (or maybe in spite) of the sad attempts, we all had a rather fun and strange time.

Yesterday - actually Halloween, I brought candy for students. They had to visit me and sing an English song I taught them: "Trick or treat, smell my feet..." Needless to say, I spent the entire day handing out candy while students threatened in both Chinese and English to "pull down my underwear."

If you're confused by the reference, ask an elementary school kid to sing you the above song. Then all will click into place.

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Byron Yee
TEFL English Teacher - Shenzhen, China