From Margaret Curtis - A Foreign Expert

From Chongqing Technical and Business University, Sichuan Province, China
November2, 2008 Margaret Curtis

We the foreign experts…

I was summoned to the Foreign Advisors Office a while back, and was presented with a small red book, not unlike a passport. It bears the gold insignia of the People’s Republic of China and it is imprinted with the words “Foreign Experts Certificate” in gold lettering. My photo and name are inside, so I guess that’s what I must be – a Foreign Expert. I seem to have achieved this status by virtue of the fact that I speak English. It is gratifying to receive such a high honor when one has exerted so little effort.

I remember that first stifling hot week being directed to a small photographic studio on campus. I sat on a metal stool and was photographed several times. My wan smile and damp hair attest to the 100F temperature. The picture was processed through some government office and now here it is, embossed in gold. The document is set to expire on January 31, 2009, the date my CTBU contract ends, so I guess after that time I will no longer hold this exalted status. In the meantime, that’s who I am – a foreign expert.

I’m not the only foreign expert, I hasten to add. Living in the apartment below me is Tony, an oriental person raised in Singapore but long since settled in Perth, Australia, where he worked as an aircraft engineer for Quantas, and where he raised his family. Then there is Hugh from California. He is also oriental ethnically, and speaks very good Mandarin. He is here to perfect the Chongqin dialect, after which he is headed towards a splendid career with the UN. He is very good looking, tall and thin and becoming thinner. At twenty five years, he is the youngest among us. He lives at the top of the mountain in the Foreign Experts Building. Three young Dutchmen live up there also. They seem like a jolly trio, but unfortunately our paths rarely cross. Gordon is an African American, a big cheerful guy. He has been here a year or two, so he has a life.

If you can believe it, we are the outer rim of the Peace Corps operation. Peace Corps workers regard this as the crème de la crème of a placement because they get to live in apartments, and drinking water is provided. The two Peace Corps people here are well qualified and do a great job. They are not paid by the university. The U.S. Government pays their travel expenses and living allowance. They have a two year contract and are known as “the volunteers”.

I forgot about Bill Hong. His ethnicity is Chinese but he was born and raised in San Francisco and doesn’t speak Mandarin. The Chinese people look on him with disbelief. He is a computer whiz, and in real life solves computer problems by phone for huge amounts of money. And then there is Triona, an Irish woman who has returned for her fifth year at CTBU. I call her Mother Theresa of Chongqing. It was she that brought me pumpkin soup and a cheese sandwich (on very dry bread) when I was down and out with Mao’s revenge….She quietly distributes her meager earnings to poor students that otherwise could not afford food or textbooks.

From Margaret Curtis in China - What's In A Name

From Chongqing Technical and Business University, Sichuan Province, China,

October 26, 2008 Margaret Curtis

What’s in a name?

Quite a lot, apparently. It is mid-semester and I am reviewing endless lists. Each student has a 10 digit number that seems to bear his or her academic DNA. This is followed by a Chinese name, written in Chinese characters, and then written again in pin yin which is English letters. Finally each student has an English name, chosen, after much thought, because the student likes the sound, the supposed meaning, or the association of ideas.

If these names appeared in some kind or order it would be helpful, but as many English classes are comprised of students from a variety of areas, the groupings are not what they call “natural classes”. So the numbers are all over the place, and confusing to say the least. Alphabetical order cannot really be applied, there being no Chinese alphabet, so one handles an amorphous mass of information that struggles to find a niche in the teacher’s mind.

As the “foreign expert” it is my job to advise the student as to whether the name is suitable, whether it will “ring true” in the western world, whether it is dignified and pleasing. Occasionally, as a result of such input, a student will decide to change the name. I then have another challenge – to remember what the first English name was, and now what the new English name is, so that appropriate credit can be assigned to the student’s work.

Dupont says he is a great admirer of that company. Kiddy refuses to change to Kitty. Lychee likes the fruit, so why not the name? Angelling, Icy, and Margin, have no particular rationale in mind, but insist on keeping their names. Formula has changed to Bell, which doesn’t seem much of an improvement to me. Moon is now Thomas. Superman has changed to Duncan. Sunny and Smile are happy people, they say, so they want happy names. Water eventually changed to something, but I don’t recall what. Sofen told me today that he is now Daniel, and Hilary has changed to William, thank goodness.

One young lady announced that she had finally found the perfect name and from now on wants to be called Pota. Why? Well, she had just come from a Chemistry class in which they were introduced to the chemical element potassium. She admires it so much, she says, she wants to be named after it. Hamlet, Romeo, and Juliet, are favorites. Nomad still sounds a little odd to me. Michael says he is to be called Michael Jordan, but he really wants to be Michael Jackson. Fish argued that the fish is a symbol of plenty and prosperity in China, and that it is an honor to bear this name. She relented in the end, and is now Faye.