Job Discussion Forums

tw · Joined: 04 Jun 2005 Posts: 3898

Uhmmm...in case everyone has forgotten what he said, he is to give a lecture on WESTERN CULTURE, *NOT* POLITICS nor RELIGION. USA Today and World Street Journal? My God! You may as well be giving a copy of One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest to a group of apes! Some of the topics are just TOO deep.

When they say "Western Culture", they want to know about things like the difference between Chinese students and Western students, Western table manners, what people in the West do during their spare time. They don't want to know (nor can they understand) anything heavy-duty.

Unless requested and asked for, keep everything simple!

dajiang · Joined: 13 May 2004 Posts: 663 Location: Guilin!

Tessio · Posted: Sun Jun 05, 2005 2:09 pm Post subject:

I appreciate everyones input and will heed your advice wisely, hopefully. I do agree that I need to focus on simple topics and then, if warranted, go from there.

I do like the Chinese in America topic, in particular the studying abroad idea. What I wonder about, though, is how to explain a typical US college freshmans ability to juggle school and frat parties.

I have a funny feeling that the students there enjoy different extracurricular activities. I wonder if they drink Tea Bongs?

Tessio · Posted: Sun Jun 05, 2005 2:28 pm Post subject:

Please excuse my lame attempt at humor. I am truly looking forward to this exciting opportunity to help others learn about my culture and our language.

I believe that in time my and the students expectations will be more than fulfilled. Ideally, I will establish a rapport with the students and satisfy their language needs and cultural curiosities.

Thanks for everyones suggestions.

Mr D Improbably · Joined: 23 May 2005 Posts: 468

I saw it as a light-hearted closing remark, rather than an unsuccessful attempt at genuine hilarity. Thus no apology is necessary. Bear in mind that, in China, to apologise for an attempt at humour, however lame, is a sign of weakness. Instead, one should either pretend it never happened, or burst into laughter at one's own joke in the hope that others will support one.

I'm not sure you've mentioned which university you will teach at. This seems fairly relevant- there's been a lot of cynicism here about the students' ability and motivation, but this will vary greatly. I hope that there are SOME good students at Qinghua University, for example... Taking both sets on board seems best- some students will be unable to understand, some will not want to listen, many might appreciate something simple, but others might be able/willing to tackle something bigger. Some crowd-pleasing, fairly simple stuff could lead into deeper issues, or even vice versa...