Early Morning Madness!

My favorite sporting event of the year, March Madness, is upon us and I wasn't going to let a 12 hour time difference or a lack of American TV get me down. Quite the contrary, in fact. Armed with CBS' free online live streams of every game and the company of equally enthusiastic college basketball fans, this might be my most closely watched NCAA Tournament ever. It doesn't hurt that Michigan is playing in the tournament for the first time in almost half my life.

At 4:55 am on Friday morning my alarm went off and I quietly left our apartment and jogged up three flights of stairs to our 5th floor neighbor Kerstan's apartment. When I knocked on the door he already had his laptop set up to a projector preparing for the 5:00 am start of the Washington/Mississippi St. game. With both Kerstan and Karen being Washington alums the game was of greater interest to me than it usually would have been.

The CBS online stream of the game was flawless, and we were able to watch the game at the highest quality settings. It was at least as good as watching the game on TV in the States.

Watching the first half of the Washington/Mississippi St. game projected on the wall. It was still dark outside so the picture wasn't compromised by encroaching sunlight.

Karen and Kerstan cheering on the UW Huskies with coffee in hand around 5:30 am.

Fortunately, Washington ran away with their game and were ahead by double digits for most of the second half. That game finished around 6:55 am, giving me 15 minutes until the 7:10 am tipoff of the Michigan/Clemson game. I ran back downstairs and woke up Megan to see if she was interested in watching the game. She mumbled that I should try again at halftime. Back upstairs Kerstan, Karen, and I checked through scores to see the hits our brackets had taken so far in the early stages of the tournament. Finally, Michigan and Clemson tipped off!

The tipoff of the Michigan/Clemson game! Go Blue! Despite 3 layers of curtains, the sunlight was starting to dim the picture projected on the wall.

About 15 minutes into the first half, Kerstan had to go teach his 8 a.m. class so I was sending text messages to him throughout the rest of the game updating him on the score of both the Michigan game and the American/Villanova game, where Villanova narrowly escaped an upset. He told me later that as I updated him he was writing the scores on the board for his students, who he (like me) made fill out NCAA tournament brackets.

At halftime, with Michigan leading by 3, I went downstairs and this time successfully woke up Megan. I started a pot of coffee for her and ran back upstairs so I would not miss the start of the second half. Megan followed 5 minutes later, just when halftime was wrapping up.

Megan and Karen watching the Michigan/Clemson game and the Villanova/American game. This is around 8:30 am. Notice the shorter curtain in the background - that is actually Kerstan's bedsheet that we used to try to block the light.

Around 10:15 Kerstan returned from class and I had had time to shower and change after the Michigan win and we met back in his apartment to catch the later games. We ended up watching UCLA/VCU and Illinois/W. Kentucky side by side, which both turned out to be pretty exciting, until about 12:30. With that, I went and ate lunch and prepared to teach my 2:00 pm class, my only class on Fridays. All in all, one of my most enjoyable March Madness watching experiences ever.

Watching the UCLA/VCU and Illinois/W. Kentucky games side by side on laptops with a big bag of sunflower seeds, center.

Impromptu Life

In my classes I have organized an activity to improve the students' oral English by having them give impromptu speeches. I spent a lesson teaching tips and strategies for the speeches and then gave an example impromptu speech of my own by selecting a topic out of a hat and delivering a short speech for the class. Now each class 5 students give impromptu speeches of their own. I told the students that this activity will help their confidence to use their English when they do not have a lot of time to prepare; to think on their feet.

Similarly, everything in life here seems impromptu and I had a good example of that today.

Last night one of Megan's students texted her to ask if she could give a speech at the opening ceremony of a Foreign Languages Festival today. Unfortunately (or fortunately), Megan had a class at the time of the event so she had to decline. I mentioned that if they could not find anyone else, I'd offer to speak. I have Wednesdays off so I figured I should do something. The students immediately texted back and said it would be great if I could do it (they sure spent a long time looking for a replacement for Megan). They did not give much information other than that I would have to give some opening remarks for about 5 minutes to students who are interested in participating in the events of the Foreign Languages Festival. The students suggested we meet at 4:15 for the ceremony which started at 4:30.

I did not think much about the event today and I went about my normal business of lesson planning. At 4:15 I met the students and they led me over to where the opening ceremony for this festival was held. As we walked, I was told the festival held English speaking and debate contests, drama contests, and showed some English movies. Anyone could sign up for these events and my job was to encourage the students to do this and join their "English Corner" clubs.

I expected this would be a casual event, like a club fair at an American college, so I didn't really plan my speech. However, like most things since I've arrived in China my expectation did not meet reality. We walked into an auditorium with roughly 500 students sitting in the audience and a panel of ten "distinguished guests" on the stage. To the left of the panel was a podium with the university crest on it and flowers surrounding it. I saw several photographers and one guy filming the event with a large camera. The students who brought me to the event sat me down in the front row of the audience, nearest the podium, and said that two people would say some things in Chinese and then I would be the third person to speak. A REAL LIFE IMPROMPTU SPEECH!

Next to me sat an older Japanese man in a suit (thank goodness I threw on some khakis!) who was reviewing his prepared speech for the students who were studying Japanese. I said a brief "konnichiwa" and "hajimemashite" (hooray 4 years of Japanese study!) and then starting thinking about what I would say. At that time the event started and a few of the panel members spoke for about 5 minutes each and towards the end of the second speech I heard "....Jordan..." and the speaker was motioning me to the stage. 

I got up there and spoke for a few minutes about the importance of learning foreign languages and how this Festival is such a good opportunity to practice and everyone who can should sign up for the events. It was a poor speech, definitely not my best.

After me the Japanese guy got up and spoke for about 10 minutes, pausing for translation to Chinese. I've rarely seen a 5'2", 120 pound Japanese man so animated. His speech reminded me of one of my favorite episodes of "The Office" where Dwight gives a speech at a sales conference and, following Jim's advice, speaks very passionately: shouting and hitting the podium in the style of history's greatest dictators. It was very intense. Of what little Japanese I could understand he was repeatedly emphasizing the importance of studying.

Once the Japanese guy was done, a few more speeches were given in Chinese for the next 15 or 20 minutes and then everyone got up to leave. On the way out I asked the students who brought me there if what I said was appropriate and if they thought everyone understood. They said that the students understood and that my speech was perfect. I'm sure they were just being polite, but I suppose an ESL audience is very forgiving.

Homework

The following is a homework assignment that I have given all my classes to read between today and Thursday. I've also given a few questions for them to answer to check their comprehension. I'm using the assignment for selfish purposes: I want them all to understand March Madness so that next week I can have them all fill out brackets. The educational benefit? Minimal. Fun for me? Great.

March Madness is a phenomenon that grips American sports fans and non-fans alike from the first week of March through the first week of April. March Madness is the nickname that is given to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Men's and Women's Basketball Tournaments. These tournaments determine the National Champions of college basketball and are more popular in America than the NBA Playoffs.

The NCAA tournaments are an American tradition that sends millions of fans into a synchronized frenzy each year. It is this craziness that gives the tournament its nickname: “March Madness.” March Madness is the excitement of 65 teams competing for college basketball's biggest prize. It's the last-second baskets, the joy of winning to play another day, and the agony of losing and going home.

In this article, we will discuss the brackets of the NCAA Basketball Tournament and look at how teams are selected and how the champions of college basketball are determined.

There are 327 college basketball teams, and each one begins every basketball season with one dream -- winning the National Championship. But before these teams can win the championship, they must qualify to be invited to the tournament. Sixty-five teams are granted invitations.

Teams for both the men's and women's tournament are chosen by a selection committee, which is made up of select university athletic directors and conference commissioners. The selection committee meets to choose the teams deserving of an invitation. Most teams have played between 30 and 35 games in the season. The results of these games are used to determine who are the best 65 teams in America. These 65 teams are selected to play in the tournament. The decisions are always announced on television on a Sunday called Selection Sunday.

The field of 65 teams is divided into four geographical regions. Each region has teams that are assigned a seed number of 1 through 16, with the best team in the region awarded the 1 seed. One region of the men's tournament actually includes 17 teams, with the two lowest-ranked teams playing an opening-round game to gain the No. 16 seed (the worst seed) in that region. The tournament is single-elimination, meaning if you lose one game, you are out of the tournament.

In the first round of the tournament, the number 1 seed plays the number 16 seed, the number 2 seed plays the number 15 seed, the number 3 seed plays the number 14 seed and so on until the number 8 seed plays the number 9 seed.

Traditionally, the highest seeds (1 through 8) have enjoyed more success than the lower seeds (9 through 16) because they are the better teams. Sometimes a lower seed (a worse team) beats a higher seed (a better team) and when that happens it is called an upset. Upsets are very exciting because a team that few people expected to win actually won. For example, if a number 12 seed beat a number 5 seed, that would be called an “upset.”

While it sounds complicated, the NCAA tournament is actually pretty simple. The tournament keeps subtracting teams until there is only one. That team is the champion of college basketball.

The NCAA tournament often displays the skills of players hoping to play in the NBA in the future. Most famous American NBA players have played in the NCAA Tournament. For example, Shaquille O’Neal, Allen Iverson, Carmelo Anthony, Dwayne Wade, and Tim Duncan all played in March Madness.

Blueberry Lay's: Natural & Cool

Last weekend Megan and I were invited by our new friends and colleagues, Kerstan and Karen, to go to a popular foreigner's bar in Huangdao called Catch 22. The bar reminded me of some bars I have been to in the States, with a pool table and foosball table, American music on the speakers, and several TVs playing sports (although the sports were usually soccer or rugby). 

Kerstan is volunteering as an intern of sorts for the bar, helping with some marketing research, so we got to meet the owner Kyle. Kyle was maybe 30 years old or so and had been living in China for about 5 years. His primary business was that he owned and operated an English language school and he opened the bar about 2 years ago as a side project for fun. He was a really friendly guy, and not the type of person who you would expect to meet owning a bar in China (my stereotype for a foreign bar owner in Asia is not positive). He quasi-offered us to work at his English language school if we had some time and wanted some supplemental income. Good guy to know.

Megan and Karen at Catch 22.

Kyle (bar owner), Karen, Kerstan, me.

A bar down the road from Catch 22. This one is for all the Ron Paul fans out there.

Week 2 of teaching is in the books. We're starting to get the hang of teaching and we're finding it a bit more enjoyable now that we're getting to know the students a little bit. We still have a lot to learn, but it feels nice to be in a routine again. 

The students are great, and they often write or say unintentionally hilarious comments. This might actually be my favorite part of teaching. Megan taught a class on Western wedding traditions (a natural topic since we have thousands of wedding photos to show off) and asked some of her students to compare and contrast Chinese and Western weddings. Some of the best responses:

• "In China, guests should can drink as much as he can, if you say you can't drink too much, this will make the master unhappy."
• "Chicken and attack cock are necessary in China. There are few animals in Western weddings."
• "The bride will be droven by the car the groom arranged to the groom's, and the groom will come to welcome her. The car line is quite long, the more car means the more rich you are. Of course the car should be B.M.W. Benze and so on."

We agree there are too few animals at Western weddings. The next person who invites Megan and I to a wedding should expect that we will show up in a Benze with both a chicken and a cock. Also, we will drink as much as we can so the master will not be unhappy.

Also, I asked a student about what sports he liked and he responded: "I like all the balls, basket, volley, ping-pong." Good stuff.

Another interesting tid-bit is how much the Chinese students love the American TV show Prison Break. I have a student whose English name is "Scorfield," which I guess is the last name of the main character in the show. Another student asked me during a break in class if I knew why one of the characters in Prison Break was named "T-Bag." I didn't know (although I had some theories), but then I asked what he thought and he gave me a very sexually explicit answer. Fortunately, he is a fairly poor student most of his explanation was lost in translation.

Finally, Megan and I found blueberry flavor Lay's potato chips this week and had to give them a try. When we opened the bag it smelled of blueberry muffins. Unfortunately, the taste wasn't quite as pleasant. It was the type of food where we couldn't decide if we liked it or not. The first taste was sweet, like artificial blueberry, but once that flavor dissolved on your tongue the saltiness of a potato chips appeared. After having about 5 chips each we decided that we did not like them after all. Another culinary adventure!

Natural & Cool!

Initial excitement (followed by disappointment).