December 18 - Informal attendance at a formal gala

Last weekend, I was asked to be a judge for the finals of the College of Foreign Studies English debating competition. I told you about judging the semi-finals in a previous post. Irene (she refuses to tell me her Chinese name) took me to the previous competition, which was held in an office building's conference room with maybe thirty people in attendance. The setting was really intimate and quite relaxed. That was, at least, until the debating teams really started ripping into each other.

When Irene asked me to be a judge in the finals, I had this previous experience in mind and was prepared for something similar. So Irene came to pick me up at about 6pm, which was about half an hour before showtime, and I was surprised to see she had another foreigner with her. Apparently, we were both scheduled to be judges for the finals. He introduced himself to me as Michael, which was immediately familiar to me even though we had not met before. I had previously met his wife, Cristal, in the stairwell of our apartment building. Cristal is a relatively young Chinese woman whose first language is English. She was born outside of China, but has since come back here to teach English. Michael is an older guy from Texas whose background is in clinical psychology. He first came to China several years ago to become the staff psychologist for foreigners at a private school in a city called Xinxiang, just north of Zhengzhou. That school apparently has the largest staff of foreign teachers in the province at 120. Anyway, he and Cristal met here in Zhengzhou and have been inseparable since then.

Cristal teaches English here, but Michael is essentially retired. He helps her now and then, but as far as I can tell, he doesn't have a job. He seems like a good guy though, and it was nice to have someone to talk with for the evening.

As Irene led us over to the competition, I asked her for details about the evening. First I asked her if it would take place in the same conference room as last time. She told me that it would be in the auditorium where I had previously watched my students singing. I was a little bit taken aback. I hadn't expected such a large audience to care about the competition. It would be difficult to fill a 400 person auditorium for an intramural, single-department debating contest in the universities that I attended. My next question, as I became increasingly self-conscious of my jeans and tshirt attire, was whether or not the competition would be formal.

Apparently, it was to be a black tie affair for the contestants. The judges were not expected to dress up, but I noticed that all the other judges were far more appropriately dressed than I was - especially the only female judge of the group, who was decked out in full business-wear and makeup. She turned out to be a really nice young lady, but she was a little bit nervous and uncomfortable with the whole thing, so she wasn't able to relax. It's a good thing they didn't ask her to do a speech, because I think she would have been a nervous wreck.

One thing I love about being a judge at all these competitions is that they always serve us unlimited quantities of really high-grade green tea. Green tea is one of my favourite things to drink, so it's possible that, should I ever get tired of being a judge, I may continue to show up just for the tea. Does that make me strange?

Okay, that's enough with the digressions. The contest started and it quickly became clear that this was not just a debating competition, but rather a full-on gala affair. There were two hostesses in suits who introduced everything to the audience in both Chinese and English, a DJ who played some really heart-warming videos created by the four teams (both first and third place were being contested that night), and then there were the debaters themselves. They were all dressed much more formally than previously - at least on the upper half. For some reason, the students seem to believe that business attire doesn't extend to one's pants. They were all wearing blazers, shirts and ties and... jeans. It made for an interesting sense of style. It wasn't entirely ugly, I guess, but very strange to me.

The first debate went pretty well. In fact, I think the first debate followed the traditional style of debating very closely. It was formal, respectful and each side made some very valid points about whether or not it was good to have extensive social interactions while attending university. As such, it was very well done and afterward, when Michael was asked to give a speech to talk about their accomplishments, he said as much. Michael isn't used to giving speeches, though. He spoke for about 10 minutes, which I think most would agree is really long for a congratulatory speech. One of the hostess's eyes glazed over and she had to shake herself out of her reverie when she finally realized he was finished. It wasn't a bad speech - he's an engaging speaker, it's just that he was holding up the intermission.

During the intermission, several beautiful girls came onto the stage to perform a couple of western-style dance numbers. They were really, really talented dancers and seemingly not shy at all about doing all the sexy, choreographed dance moves from western dance videos. I felt slightly uncomfortable, because it was so out of character for all the Chinese girls I have met here. I couldn't help but wonder what the people in the audience were thinking. Even more unnerving, all three of the girls had their eyes on me the entire time. It's pretty uncomfortable for me to watch girls doing a sexy dance as they stare at me straight in the eye. Anyway, it turns out that the audience was thrilled with the dance. It's not that Chinese people are all super-conservative really, it's that though there truly are a few very conservative people, the rest of the population fears rocking the boat. Thus, when someone does something like this, many of the more liberal people in Chinese society (students are usually more liberal than others), are very admiring and appreciative of their daring.

After the dance, we were treated to a Chinese poetry recital. The guy who did the reading had a wonderful reading voice. The volume, pitch and cadence were all perfect. The only problem for me is that I couldn't fully understand the meaning of the poem, since it was in Chinese. However, I was really appreciative of his reading style. I just wish I could understand better...

Finally, the debaters vying for first place filed out onto the dais and we plunged immediately into full-scale warfare. This debate was totally unlike the first debate's formal style. In fact, in terms of debate quality, the finals were simply not as good as the third place battle. However, the finals were a lot more entertaining. After opening statements were finished, questions started and both sides began to shout each other down and talk at the same time. One boy in particular, whose name I later found out was James, was acting really oddly and would continue to talk even when others were speaking. However, by the time that the free debate section started, all the members of both teams were engaged in a back and forth argument with no quarter given. Imagine, if you will, eight people arguing and yelling at each other all at the same time. The moderator, who was also one of the hostesses, didn't really do her job to keep the debate focused and on track. As such, the first debate was like a heated discussion at a wine and cheese event compared with the tavern brawl that was the second debate.

When it was finally over and we could all come up for air, the judges were asked to submit their scores and then leave to the backstage area for democratic deliberations on which debater was the best of the night. They all unanimously agreed on a girl from the second debate, with only myself to dissent by choosing a girl from the first debate. Somewhat ironically, as the prizes were being handed out, I was asked to give the girl her prize for best debater. Every one of the debaters got a book as a prize, with the relative importance of the standing of each team seemingly denoted by the size and thickness of the book they received.

After the debate, all the Chinese teachers invited me and Michael to come along for a celebratory dinner. We happily obliged, and were taken to a nearby hotpot place. Irene and her sister joined us along the way. Her sister was a little bit unhappy that evening, because she had traveled some distance to see Irene only to be ignored for virtually the entire day because Irene was so busy with organizing the competition. Once we got to the restaurant, her sister pretty much completely ignored us. I felt bad for her, because she didn't speak English very well. I tried to include her, but Irene misinterpreted my intentions and told me: "you've got to speak much better Chinese if you want to talk to a girl like that."

At the hotpot, we were joined by James, the erstwhile rowdy debater, and his friend Marco. Marco is American and he's here to learn Chinese. He and James have made friends because they seem to match each other pretty well. Marco is a more brash, open, liberal kind of guy, which is a style that doesn't usually go over too well in China. One learns to be discreet in public or you quickly find yourself becoming quite lonely as people don't want to associate with you. As such, Marco is a pretty lonely guy. James, on the other hand, is publicly a model student from a well-respected family. His father is a university bigwig and James works hard to live up to the family name. You can tell, however, that he isn't happy and satisfied with this existence. Inside, James is really as strongly liberal as Marco. This side of him only comes out when he is with Marco though. Irene told me she thinks: "This isn't the James I know. I don't like James when he is with Marco. They're always rude and talk about dirty things."

In a way, I feel a little bit sorry for James in particular. He's locked into a society that doesn't let him be himself. He really wants to go abroad and I don't blame him. Marco seems to be handling himself here quite well, even if he's lonely, and he's a really friendly guy even though a little bit immature, so his plight is not so bad. He also told me he likes it here.

It turns out that James' behaviour on-stage was not quite as haphazard as it appeared. James had been engaging in what we might call "consuming liquid courage" prior to the debate. Essentially, he was drunk. He still managed to sound coherent while speaking, but he was pretty inconsiderate and his mannerisms were really strange. Once I found out about the beers he had been drinking, it all made a little bit more sense.

After dinner, I walked Irene and her sister back to Irene's dormitory (which is a really short walk from my apartment). Irene talked with me animatedly about her dislike for James and Marco when they are together, and her sister was silent as usual. They had to convince the night guard of their dormitory that they were truly students and that they had a good reason to be out late. I guess having dinner with a foreign teacher was a good enough excuse, so they were let inside. I waved goodbye and headed home for the night.

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In a comment on my last blog, William asked me: 

"My name is William, and I'm thinking about moving to Zhengzhou to
teach English this coming February. What is life like there? How polluted is the city? Are foreigners abundant in Zhengzhou, or do the locals treat you like a rockstar? How cold is the winter compared to North America? Thanks for your time."

Life here is pretty good. I was a little bit overwhelmed in the first few days (okay, a lot overwhelmed), but once I found people to help me out, everything got a lot better. I'm usually a pretty independent guy. I don't like to ask others for help, but I've found that people here are extremely friendly and helpful to foreigners working here and once I started learning to rely on people, things got a lot better. The food is great - that's all I have to say about that. Some very helpful things: speaking basic Chinese phrases, learning to count in Chinese (for buying stuff), and learning how to ask for directions. Make friends with a Chinese person who speaks English as soon as possible - they will steer you through any number of minefields in your first month or so. Always be courteous and polite. As you can see from my posts, Chinese culture has some particular courtesy rules: never be overtly sexual or do any innuendo. However, you will also find that common courtesy is basically non-existent from people in the street. Also, be prepared for insane traffic, by which I mean there are no traffic rules that are observed except sometimes red lights for cars. The primary mode of transportation here is bike and electric scooter, and they cause traffic chaos.

The air in this city is very polluted. On a good day, it is comparable to a bad day in Los Angeles. The water is also polluted. Drinking brand-named bottled water from the supermarket is generally safe (though be aware that everything in China can be faked) and you can also boil water for a few minutes. Boiling water is very popular here. In general, Chinese people prefer to drink hot water rather than cold water. The food can be dirty. I've been sick four times since I got here a couple of months ago. Most people would tell you to be wary of street food, but I would say it is likely that no matter where you choose to eat, you will eventually get sick. It's just a natural part of the adjustment to your new surroundings, even if it's pretty uncomfortable. The streets are not very polluted because, in China, the government employs a gigantic army of street cleaners to clear away debris from city streets. It's a way to give poor people a job. On the other hand, many Chinese people are really fond of spitting up huge wads of phlegm everywhere and bathrooms can be absolutely disgusting. Hopefully your place will have decent plumbing so you can avoid going elsewhere as much as possible.

Foreigners are very rare here in Zhengzhou, especially white and black people. The official number of foreigners is 3000 in a city of 8 million. However, those three thousand are from all nationalities including a vast majority of Koreans and South and Central Asians. Islam is a very widely practiced minority religion here, with many restaurants serving halal food. Chinese Muslims in this city seem to be extremely peaceful and more like Buddhists than the malignant terrorist stereotypical caricatures seen in the West for the Arabic brand of Islam. Anyway, since I have been here, I've met about 12 foreigners, including 7 white people from various western nations, one foreign-born Chinese, 3 Koreans and a guy from Ghana. If you're really into meeting expats, you could also check out the Target Pub, a hotspot for foreigners apparently. I haven't been there yet though.

Zhengzhou's weather is extremely dry and relatively warm. Winter is very similar to the temperatures in  San Francisco, but much drier. Since I've been here, it's only rained once and only for a measly half hour. Apparently, it rains more during the summer, but according to the weather statistics, their rainy season in the summer is still less wet than an average summer month on the USA east coast. Winter is cold enough that you will need a warm jacket, but compared to where I come from in Canada, it is nothing.