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This podcast tells the story of a year of an English teacher in China, working in an international school in Changshu, Jiangsu. 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. Blog: SMKYpodcast.blogspot.com
Episodes
Jan 5, 2022
Jan 5, 2022
30 min
Summer is a journalist in Taipei. We discuss journalism and press freedom in taiwan, emotional connections with China, lessons from Hong Kong, chances of war, traveling between Taiwan and China, competition between democratic and Chinese systems, voting in Taiwan
Jan 12, 2022
Jan 12, 2022
24 min
1) Salaries, savings, visa requirements and a few tips for the budding ESL teacher in China.
2) Classroom discipline, getting to know students, and another tricky meeting with the management.
3) Indecent proposal.
Email: SMKYPodcast@gmx.com
Twitter: @SMKYPodcast
Jan 19, 2022
Jan 19, 2022
14 min
Many challenges come with teaching English abroad: language barriers, cultural differences, unusual teas... and other teachers.
Email: SMKYpodcast@gmx.com
Twitter: @SMKYPodcast
Jan 26, 2022
Jan 26, 2022
22 min
Conflicting personalities in the school combined with some irritating school scheduling crap led to me seeking the city lights of Shanghai. In part one of a two-part extravaganza about the great city, we visit the bars of the French Concession and track down JG Ballard's old home.
Some nice pics here: https://smkypodcast.blogspot.com
Feb 2, 2022
Feb 2, 2022
21 min
Part two in Shanghai, finding the city's shiny financial centre, the colonial hangover which is the Bund, and one of the city's darkest hours.
Feb 9, 2022
Feb 9, 2022
16 min
Back in school, we laowai suffer the stress of an open class. For those unlucky enough to be faced with such a challenge, here are some games and stuff that require minimum planning and are fairly fun too.
Feb 17, 2022
Feb 17, 2022
15 min
Penny rocks up to drag me away from the safety of my apartment, and we go back into Changshu City to find sweatshops, green tea, and an illegal swimmer.
Feb 24, 2022
Feb 24, 2022
26 min
A chat today with Manzhou from Shanghai about Confucianism. And stick around to the end for an email from Teacher Kelly, as some of the staff make a move against the school management.
Mar 5, 2022
Mar 5, 2022
19 min
Instead of a regular episode, a few reflections on the way counternarrative-inclined westerners have responded to Russia's aggression, mostly on Twitter.
My twitter @SMKYpodcast
Mar 20, 2022