A Midpoint Critique, and Harmonious Bureaucracy

Note: This entry has two separate components that are independent of each other.

A Midpoint Critique
As I'm more than halfway through my stay in China, I thought it would be fitting to review my experience at the Beijing Language and Culture University. My first four-week language program is completed and the second has begun so I have a decent perspective on how the university works.

Although there is nothing particularly wrong with BLCU, my opinion of BLCU is that its reputation is inflated. The tuition is overpriced for the teaching that we receive especially since I consider its status as a university (at least for the short-term summer programs) to be questionable. A four-week program of 20 hours a week costs 3500 RMB equal to US$512 at current currency exchange rates. Although that is not overly expensive, my qualms lie in the fact that our classes are too large - my previous class had 23 students while my current one is considered small with 18. Twenty-some students may not sound like a lot, but it significantly compromises the learning experience. Every hour of class (really only 50 minutes when the break is factored in) allows for each student to have two minutes of speaking - that is, if the students talked the entire time. Unfortunately, that's not even the case, as most of the time we are simply being lectured at -- which is really no way to learn a language. Experience has made me realize that it is all too easy to be physically present in class but mentally somewhere else without the teacher ever noticing. A simple reduction in class size would make a considerable difference in allowing us to have an interactive learning experience with frequent participation and constant practice, rather than the lecture-style that is most commonly used.

And although some of my teachers are very good at explaining concepts without the use of English, we are not taught by professors. Our teachers are not linguistic specialists with any sort of special educational degree, and come as young as twenty-two years old - although age is no guarantee of capability.

The teaching materials are passable although many of the textbooks are not even published by BLCU. The English explanations are often confusing and misleading, and the facilities leave much to be desired. Our listening class consists of listening to cassette tapes that must be rewound and replayed multiple times. As one can imagine, a lot of time is wasted on rewinding and fastforwarding cassettes to the right place. Our classrooms are clean, but the audio capabilities are not first-rate either.

In point, my criticism is that my university courses are not taught by expert faculty members; the university does not appear to be engaging in the research and development of groundbreaking ways to teach Mandarin to foreigners, otherwise our materials would not be taken from other universities and printing presses; our tuition fees do not appear to be contributing to improving the facilities; and the teaching methods border on substandard.

Case in point depicted through this common scene in my reading class: We often read a passage silently and then get called upon to answer multiple choice questions. Most of the time we students were utterly lost and did not receive much help.

Scene 1: (the following conversation would normally be conducted in Mandarin)
Reading teacher: Question number 1, John Smith, what is the answer?
John Smith: Um, C?
Reading teacher: C? No, that is not correct.
John Smith: Then I guess that it is B.
Reading teacher: Why do you think it is B?
John Smith: Because, well, I'm not too sure.
Reading teacher: Try again.
John Smith: Then perhaps it is D.
Reading teacher: Correct!
(Repeat)

In recent weeks there’s been a large influx of teenagers, not that I’m opposed to adolescents but our classes feel more like high school than university, and the occasional prepubescent students give the campus a summer camp feel rather than one of a research institute.

That being said, my courses are not an entire waste of time – my previous conversational teacher was exceptionally good at explaining concepts and words without resorting to charades or English translation. She used examples that were not only relevant but also informed us about Chinese culture and society. I’ve made considerable progress in my speaking abilities, although I partially credit that to my willingness to interrogate every Chinese person I encounter and to the survival necessity to be aggressively demanding in Beijing.

Still, my course hardly amounts to the standards of a university. Although I recognize that my views are clearly uninformed as I’m merely a short-term student.

* * * * * *

Harmonious Bureaucracy
As for observations of the harmonious society which surrounds me, they have unfortunately been limited by my foreigner bubble life and a lack of relationship with locals.

However, it seems that the $586 billion stimulus package has at least made significant contributions to creating unemployment – it seems as though everywhere I go, there is overemployment: people employed without task or function. Three workers pose when one would more than suffice: the guards standing outside my dorm who choose randomly but very rarely to ask for identification; the large number of idle waiters and waitresses at every eating establishment; subway workers employed to discourage passengers from dashing into the doors of a departing subway train; the army of street cleaners and sidewalk sleepers who clear mountains of garbage every night; facade security guards at the entrance of the campus; greeters at every store fiddling with their cellphones. Jobs created for nonexistent tasks. People hired to do jobs when compotent machines already exis. We foreigners often cannot comprehend why on earth these workers even exist except for the purpose of creating employment. In China, bureaucratic and nonsystematic ways of complicating simple procedures is ubiquitous.

A description of the process to make a purchase:
1) You select a bottle of shampoo at a supermarket or grocery store.
2) You then proceed to the shampoo or respective counter with your selection. If you try to pay at the regular counter, you will encounter genuine surprise. "How could one attempt to pay for shampoo except at the designated counter?"
3) The retail clerk at the shampoo counter takes the shampoo and handwrites a receipt of sorts. You attempt to pay and he/she is bewildered that you would pay at the receipt counter which is not equipped with a cash register.
4) He/she points you towards another counter across the store. This is not the main counter near the exit. After walking there, you present your receipt and pay.
5) Then you return to the original shampoo counter and upon presenting your paid receipt the clerk gives you your purchase.
6) Follow the appropriate steps for each item you wish to purchase.

It is worthy to note that the Chinese invented bureaucracy (I think).

My attempts at gaging the local view towards the government's response to the curent economic situation has been severely frustrated by my limited Mandarin.

I wish that I had the ability to ask locals if they thought that the stimulus package to boost the economy was making a difference. In a conversation with two retail workers, I mentioned that my classmate was on a Chinese government scholarship that included tuition, accommodation, and even a food allowance. They responded that it was unfair that their government would give money to foreigners but not to them. Not only is "stimulus" definitely not within my vocabulary, I wouldn't be able to understand their response even if I found the word in the dictionary.

Based on my interrogation with service industry workers, who do not fall into the middle class most likely to express discontent with the government, there seems to be no complaints or concerns about the way the economy is managed. I cannot tell if it is passive acceptance, indifference, or satisfaction.

What do they think about the government's efforts to boost domestic spending? Have their spending/saving habits changed? Are they effected by the economic downturn? Are they aware of alternate methods to combat the global recession?(The CCP has received international approval for its response, so this is probably unlikely.) What about the urban/rural divide? Nearly all these workers are rural migrants from other provinces. Do they think the stimulus is being well spent? What about (the lack of) social services and welfare?

My questions remain largely unanswered, although my conversations have provided a tiny peek into the views, values and lifestyles of several retail workers. But I have rambled for long enough, and i will save their stories for another.