Stuck in the Middle Kingdom with You

Intro | Stuck in the Middle Kingdom with You

This podcast tells the story of a year of an English teacher in China, working in an international school in Changshu, Jiangsu.

Click here for extra info: https://smkypodcast.blogspot.com/2021/10/stuck-in-middle-kingdom-with-you.html

It's also full of history and culture. We'll go back to the imperial days, the revolutionary days, the days of triumph and the days of humiliation. Mostly though, it's modern China that I'll focus on, as it is the most relevant to understanding China now. China is super fascinating, and it's also probably the most important country in the world to understand right now, so this is my contribution to that. It's not a chronological history; instead, it kind of matches up to the things that were occuring in my roller-coaster of a year living in Changshu.

I've changed the names of the people I that I met when I was in China, except Jess of course. You'll meet Jess later. She's awesome.

Click here for the blog.

On the Word ”Laowai”

Hi, you've made it to the Stuck in the Middle Kingdom With You podcast, a story of teaching English in China peppered with tales from Chinese history and culture. This is a preface of sorts. 

Laowai: rude and offensive or friendly or neutral? I'll spell it out here, 'cos this word is going to come up a few times.

In this episode, we also mention the foreign tutors of China's last emperor and empress. Now that's a job! Shame that it was under such doomed circumstances.

https://smkypodcast.blogspot.com

Email: SMKYPodcast@gmx.com

 

#1 | It‘s Not the Worst Punishment...

Hi! Thanks for listening to the SMKY podcast, which is my account of living in China and exploring its history and culture. In this episode I settle into my new apartment which is literally inside the school gates, and talk about the region and the river.

https://smkypodcast.blogspot.com

Email: SMKYPodcast@gmx.com

 

#2 | ”You Don‘t Want a Grenade Blowin‘ up Beside Yer Face”

Hello and thanks for listening to the SMKY podcast. In this episode, I meet most of the other foreign teachers who were to be my colleagues for that year. It was also out first meeting with the Chinese management, and we laowai were ill-prepared for the cultural expectations of such a situation – and it showed. 

https://smkypodcast.blogspot.com

Email: SMKYPodcast@gmx.com

 

#3 | Pumped and Deflated – e-bikes, atom bombs, propaganda, Mao Zedong and the Great Leap Forward

This episode introduces one of Changshu's best brains, Wang Ganchang, which leads into the Great Leap Forward. Yes, that Great Leap Forward.

Email: SMKYpodcast@gmx.com

Twitter: @SMKYpodcast

 

#4 | Settling In

Hi! Thanks for listening to the SMKY podcast, where we delve into all things China, including living and working there.

This little episode picks up after the slightly explosive meeting we laowai had with the Chinese management team. We get to know some colleagues a bit better and take a group trip into town and get hot pot.

Email: SMKYpodcast@gmx.com

Twitter @SMKYpodcast

 

#5 | The Nine Lives of Deng Xiaoping – with Liu Shaoqi, Xi Jinping, and China‘s State Capitalism

Today we look at the fall of Deng Xiaoping and Liu Shaoqi, and then the rise of Deng Xiaoping and capitalism in China. This covers some of the Cultural Revolution, a topic that we'll come back to next time.

Some nice pics to accompany this episode, found on https://smkypodcast.blogspot.com

For anyone interested in the music, this episode featured the Chinese National Anthem, the Mao propaganda song "The East is Red", another Mao propaganda song "Red Sun in the Sky", the 1940s Chinese Communist propaganda song "Without the Communist Party, There Would be No New China", and a Xi Jinping propaganda song called "How Should I Address you?" where poor people declare their love for Xi as he visits their village.

Want to say hi? Email: SMKYPodcast@gmx.com

 

#6 | Shajiabang – Peng Dehuai and Wu Han, the Start of the Cultural Revolution

Hi and welcome back to Stuck in the Middle Kingdom with You, the show about teaching in China and Chinese history. Last time, we touched on the Cultural Revolution in relation to one of its victims, Deng Xiaoping, who would later claw his way back into power and remake China. This time, I find myself in the village of Shajiabang, which was the setting of one of the Cultural Revolution's model operas. So that means we're going back to the 60s, for peak crazy, China-style.

Email: SMKYPodcast@gmx.com

Twitter: SMKYPodcast

#7 | Attention! A Day in the Life at the Cradle of Elites

On today's podcast, a day in the life at the international school. And the symbols of modern China – flag and anthem – and Mao's tricky Hundred Flowers Campaign.

Email: SMKYpodcast@gmx.com

Twitter: @SMKYpodcast

#8 | Dwelling in the Yushan Mountain

A bit of a travelogue episode, finding Changshu's ancient district and the city's sole mountain. 

Email: SMKYpodcast@gmx.com

Twitter: @SMKYPodcast