(I wrote some notes for the 4th that evening, and it's a good thing I did- I definitely didn't have time the next day to write a blog post, as you'll soon hear about. I'm only just now getting to fill in the blanks on the 10th)
As anticipated, my '100 Jokes that Shaped Modern Comedy' was a train wreck of an english corner. The most successful portions of which were the 30 second clip of the silent(!) Buster Keaton film "The General" where he sits on the front of a train and throws a piece of lumber to dislodge another piece of lumber (in fact an incredible stunt) and the running through of "Who's On First" with Bradley taking the Costella part. I told him the part required he didn't understand and that he had to feel a little angry about it. Yeah, the readthrough went great, except the audience didn't have the patience to get through the whole thing- unfortunate for me.
Other than that, the majority of the time was spent with me giving mostly contextless explanations for the things talked about on this list. Oof it was rough. Well, I'll see everyone tomorrow for part two! (You'll be happy to hear I got out of it, you'll see how shortly)
I think it was here that Leo told me I was flying to another city tomorrow. Yeesh, give a guy some warning why don't ya.
Picked up some water and oatmeal from Carrefour, not exactly riveting stuff, I know.
Sitting at my desk, a new student passed by. She participated a lot in my English Corner, answering questions and knowing about circumscision(sp?)- hey, don't blame me, that was Johnny Carson's bit- so I introduced myself, and that was how I met country singer enthusiast Amy- she of the dimples and rub on tattoos, and with a firm, confident finger snap (I wonder if, had I not immediately commented on how awesome it was, she would have kept doing it...). She studies business English in university (and doesn't like it), her mom freaks out about her rub on tattoos (which is hilarious, and she says that oh, she'd never get a real one)- were I to see her in the summer she's planning to be wearing a coyboy hat and boots combo, and we listened to some country songs and I got her to listen to some of my music- she called it rock, okay, I guess, I'm not into labels on account of how cool I am. I also played off the youtubes Johnny Cash's cover of 'Hurt' because it's awesome.
So I pretty much wasted a ton of time instead of doing a proper job photocopying and reviewing what my upcoming lessons were about. I zipped around with just over 5 minutes left (ee, maybe I gave my self that much time) doing last minute photocopying, and a quick review of the lesson plans themselves.
First there was a business class with Jack and Cici, and they were not feeling it. We were constructing a fictional translation business, but had nothing even remotely like actual data, which the lesson plan kept sort of asking us to have. I did eventually move on to a simpler business strategy- the lemonade stand. All the raw materials are supplied by your parents, making each sale pure profit. It's a no-lose business! I drew a little lemonade stand on the board for reference, but even with that bit of excitement we called it quits a few minutes early. Cici was nice enough to say it was the lesson plans fault for being boring.
Next was a class where I quickly explain the suits and uh, royalty of a deck of cards (I've talked about this lesson before)- Badminton player Ruby wasn't on the class list, so I wasted time checking in with the reception desk... reception was on break... Stella got me to ask tiny what'shername to check the info... and this is why last time I just taught the class and didn't worry about it, this REALLY eats into my time.
And then I forgot to grab the decks of cards, but that was on me. Quick fix to that problem though. Just, you know, pick up the cards. Takes 30 seconds, not even.
So, yes, after explaining the parts of the cards the class is divided and they pick a card which corresponds to a question on the handout sheet which the students then have to answer. Judy (I think that's her name), when asked what she would do if she could do anything, said she would always eat and stay thin, never die, and have a lot of boyfriends. Considering the male/female ratio in this country, that last one may be do-able. On a later turn, Judy then was asked to "describe a dragon"- and the first thing she said, I kid you not, was "very beautiful". Amazing! If I never needed an example of how people in China are different from those in the west, that right there is perfect.
Beyond "beautiful" she was having some trouble with the description. Now, wanting to avoid rushing headlong into offence, I've often downplayed the "knowledge" or impressions/beliefs I have about China- so I attempted to draw on the board what Judy was describing, but it didn't work out. So I stopped, erased, and took charge, drawing the Chinese-iest dragon that ever balled (aw man, I just now realized I didn't give it an epic moustache)- basically I just went crazy with the eyebrows. Antlers. Snake body. Had to ditch arms and legs, I couldn't figure out how to add them.
And the result? "Was drawing your major?" They thought it looked great.
I took a picture with my flip phone, but it costs so much to message it to myself...
The last class was on persuasion, starring: Tyler, Rain, "Goliath", Nicole, Haven, May, Doris, and Grace. Grace was also not on the class list, so there was a further delay in checking that out. The students had to try and pursuade the others to buy some fictional item- maybe I should have told them they had fictional money to go along with everything, because it was rough going, not, in general, a very pursuasive bunch. But that's likely a fault with the teacher. I don't think I even gave May or Doris a chance to sell their items, I ran out of time. Yeesh.
I mean, they didn't care, I always had to force people to do this (except for Tyler, who erroneously thought it was easy and that he had it, who went first)... you know what, I'm letting myself off the hook for this one, it took forever to get through everyone because it was so difficult to get each person to give their demonstration.
Christina, one of the Chinese teachers, gave me back my passport in preparation for tomorrow's trip. Dany was NOT given his passport. It will probably be okay? I left with Dany so we could discuss where to meet the next day- 5:50 am to try to take the cheapo subway to the airport for 6:30. No guarantees on this one, may have to take a last minute cab.
I stopped by Aiman's door (at this point I thought his name was spelled "Iman", I didn't learn differently until Monday the 8th) to let him know I probably won't be by tomorrow evening, but no answer. I'll leave a note in the morning maybe. (I didn't)
Final reckoning of assets the day before pay day: eight 1 yuan bills, one 10 yuan bill, one 100 yuan bill, two yi jiao bills- 2/10's of a yuan, 13 yi jiao coins equaling 1.3 yuan (three of the coins are of an older style, they feel more like Chuck E. Cheese arcade coins than the others. seven wu jiao coins, each is worth 50% of a yuan, so 3.5 yuan, and 15 yuan coins. Plus the 13.30 yuan still on my food card.
So I've got 151.3 Yuan to spare. Cut it kind of close, but it could have been worse. Thanks go to Jordan for sending me apartment and living money, and all those free meals- they helped me out, for sure.
It was about 10:30 in the evening when I was getting set to grab some sleep in preparation for what was bound to be a long day tomorrow. However, a friend had sent me the link to the Queen vs. Elliott ruling which I copied onto my USB for later reading and I thought "oh, I'll just read a few pages and then go to bed"... right. So, cut to 1:50 am where I've now read the entire thing (65 word document pages). I basically screwed myself for the next day, however, it did make me feel smart to read the thing. Long story short, I agree with the judge's ruling- I'm sure he'll be thrilled to hear it.
Below are a couple of notes I copied from the document in question that I feel capture my particular world view on freedom of expression and how one can make a judgement on something outside of their personal experience. I'll let the quotes speak for themselves.
"Sharpe and Roach succinctly summarize the scope of freedom of expression in their book The Charter of Rights and Freedoms,:[27]
Artists and writers often push the limits of conventional values. Scholars question “sacred cows” and accepted wisdom. Freedom of expression represents society’s commitment to tolerate the annoyance of being confronted by unacceptable views. As stated by the Ontario Court of Appeal in an early Charter case “[T]he constitutional guarantee extends not only to that which is pleasing but also to that which to many may be aesthetically distasteful or morally offensive: it is indeed often true that “one man’s vulgarity is another man’s lyric”. More recently, the Supreme Court of Canada emphasized that freedom of expression must include the “right to express outrageous and ridiculous opinions” and that as “[p]ublic controversy can be a rough trade…the law needs to accommodate its requirements.”"
"Professor Jennifer Nedelsky's "Embodied Diversity and the Challenges to Law" (1997), 42 McGill L.J. 91, at p. 107, offers the following comment:
• What makes it possible for us to genuinely judge, to move beyond our private idiosyncracies and preferences, is our capacity to achieve an "enlarge ment of mind". We do this by taking different perspectives into account. This is the path out of the blindness of our subjective private con ditions. The more views we are able to take into account, the less likely we are to be locked into one perspective .... It is the capacity for "enlarge ment of mind" that makes autonomous, impartial judgment possible."
And that was that day. It's 12 noon now on the 10th.
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