Carl Kalle Boozle

Hei everybody,

 

This will be my penultimate blog here in Macao. As my time counts down to returning to Europe, I thought I would just have some reflections, observations and general opinions. Normally, I usually have some idea of what I am going to write, but this time I thought I would just let it 'flow'.

 

Firstly, thanks to everyone who has bothered to read my words. I hope that this blog will serve as a great reminder for everything that has happened during my last 5 months here. My overall opinion is that it is has been a fantastic experience. In fact, it's quite difficult to put into words. I have to say that it was easier than I predicted; I thought there may be some difficulties sometimes, but they have only been minor ones. Macao is quite an easy compact place. Perfect for someone to visit for a short time. For such a small place, it is quite diverse. One minute you can be in a concrete jungle and the next minute in the tropical jungle. There are poorer areas which are like the mainland and the rich Casino areas... quite a contrast really within 2 miles.. Wealth and poor live side-by-side here. When deciding where to eat, the options are over-whelming... whichever food you want, you can get...and all at affordable prices (even for us poor students).  The weather changes so much, sun and rain in one hour.. The one thing that remains is the humidity which is always uncomfortable for an English guy like me ;) Luckily it has dropped to 25c at night which gives a little respite. I do dream of Winter! My time in Lapland is sorely missed sometimes!

 

As I expected, this experience would have a profound effect on me. It has allowed me the time to sit back and look at things from a slightly different perspective. I wouldn't say it has changed me, just give me a better understanding of how the other side works. I feel I lived some sort of luxury life here, able to enjoy everything Macao has to offer. I thought I would be out partying quite a lot, but it's not really the thing that people do here. We have a few nightclubs here and they are quite expensive in comparison to other activities here. My normal night would be spend time having a couple of beers with Olli on my balcony, enjoying the view and watching the world go past. Usually we've eaten some really great food at a Chinese place beforehand. It's fun to walk around Macao; there are always people around and the bustle makes one feel part of something. On the other hand, all the pollution isn't nice and has made me ill several times. Also, the weather changes and had some effect on my health. But, these things I can tolerate as part of life here.

 

Sharing my apartment with Ronnie, Jeong and Potato has been lots of fun. We've all got on really well and shared things. I'm going to miss all of them, especially Spud (potato). I sit for hours speaking with Spud about China and the West. He helps me with lots things here and I help him with his studies. Spud has such an enthusiasm for cooking that we sit and watch food programmes together and talk about them... he likes Gordon Ramsay (even if he can't say his name properly). I'm going to really miss him.  I move out on Thursday from the apartment...

 

At the moment my brother Liam is here. As I have exams, I haven't been able to spend so much time with him as I'd like. However, we (Liam, Daniel and Olli) all go to Shanghai on thursday morning; Zhuhai to Shanghai by plane (2.5 hours). We'll spend a few days there and then return by train (24 hours). On the 20th I fly back to England before going down to Bournemouth with Olli to join some friends from my class in Finland. I intend to go back to Finland in October to continue my studies. I'll upate my blog for the last time before returning to England.

 

I have 2 exams left on Wednesday; I completed the other 4 last week. It will feel like a relief on Wednesday evening .

 

To summarise, I recommend to everyone to visit Macao and China. There exists so much character and culture here. The food is excellent and the people are friendly. I can honestly say that I'm going to miss the place and am a little upset about leaving. I am lucky to have had the opportunity to come and study here. The IFT here have been fantastic. They are very well organised.

 

So bye for now an thanks for the fish

 

Carl

 

p.s.: By the way, I have now have my own personal website up and running. It's built from scratch and is for my future career in terms of getting work.. It was part of a project I did at the IFT. Enjoy at www.geocities.com/carl_bamford

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hello everyone,

 

To follow on from my 'rant' last week, I have decided to add also about my experience of the education here as this is part of the reason I came here to Macao. Th general idea of the exchange programme is to gain an insight into another country's culture whilst also learning similar subjects to what I would have been studying at my institution (Haaga University of Applied Sciences). Before I came here I had to agree with my head of year which subjects offered here can be subsitituted for ones I would be undertaking at Haaga. I initially selected 7 subjects (the points are 4.5 compared to 3 in Europe but are a semester long) but due to the system here i could only select 6 (clashed). My subjects here are:

 

Principles of Management

Financial Management

Computer Applications 2

Consumer Behaviour

Economics

Human Resources Management

 

The IFT (Institute of Tourism Studies) is a very nice institution, in the sense of the upkeep of the building and its surroundings. It is attached to the Hotel pousada, which is like a training Hotel (although it is very luxurious). I get the impression that the IFT has a lot of money; it is supported by both the govenment, tuition fees and the private sector. As the hotel and casino businesses are increasing with such rapidity, it seems obvious to me that the IFT benefits financially from investment from these businesses; the hotels need trained staff and where better in Macao to look than the IFT. I sense that some of the students know they are guaranteed a job in Macao as there is a skilled labour shortage here. I suppose this brings a certain amount of complacency from the students. All the large hotels are always trying to recruit from the school as we receive many emails regarding job opportunities at them.

 

The shcool itself is quite adequate, although there are a large amounts of students per class (30-50) which can be a burden on the resources available. There aren't enough computers at the school and most of them are quite old. They have a study room which is open 24 hours a day. It is a hive of activity for the insomniacs out there. There are nice sports facilities at the school, notably squash and badminton courts plus the court on the roof for tennis, football and basketball. The library is nice also, with lots of industry magazines and quiet study places.

 

The education itself is based on powerpoints made by the teacher which are available on the school intranet. The intranet itself is very workable and a good example to Haaga who seem to have messed it up through indecision about which programs to use. Despite the intranet operating a bilingual system, it still works. Haaga have always used the excuse of the two (or even three with Swedish) language system causing problems. It should be noted that the IFT learning is completely taught in English. It is forbidden to speak Cantonese or Mandarin in the class when speaking out, either to the teacher or in presentations. I must say that this is adhered to quite strictly; I was quite suprised when a teacher reprimanded one pupil for speaking Chinese. With regards to the language at the IFT, it seems that there is more emphasis on writing and reading English than speaking it. Fourth year students who will graduate soon still don't have what I would class as adequate oral skills. I think this can be said of most of Asia in their attitude towards language; writing is all very well, but one cannot communicate in a conversation with writing.... . Some teachers should really consider tuning their English skills in my opinion. Although some teachers I have, I will give credit to about both their teaching skills and language skills. (Chinese Bill Hicks; L.V)

 

As I have mentioned before, the lack of discipline in some of the classes is very disturbing. Regulararly there are people sleeping, watching their laptop (DVDs), playing games on their mobile, answering calls or leaving the class to answer the phone. This I think (am I being too traditional?) is very rude, disrespectful to both the other pupils and the teacher. However, the teachers (generally) allow this so who is to blame?.. I presented some topic last week and people were actually swapping seats during it which was very 'off-putting'. My only response to this was to 'grill' them when they presented... an eye for an eye in my opinion.

 

My personal opinion of the IFT is that there is too much emphasis on academic measures and expectations. The course grade is usually made up of two exams and one project. Therefore, people can just sit there quietly, not expressing any opinion or interaction and then just revise all keywords for the exams... Well, this is all very well until you go into the big world; the term my Dad uses which I agree with is 'intelligent idiot'. It may be an oxymoron but I believe that knowledge without application is useless. As someone who has been in a working environment for 12 years, I think I have some idea about what skills people need in order to be effective. Whilst I wouldn't consider myself so academically gifted, I do believe I have the capacity to apply ideas and theories effectively. I see this as a fundamental attribute in life. My experience of the people here is that they don't usually have the capacity to do this. I admire how studious the people at the school are; they really spend a lot of time studying (conversely to me) but I think somehow it is a little futile. I can imagine a manager here has to 'think' for people as they are unable to work off their own intuition. I don't want to appear negative about them, it is just my experience of them here. I have spoke with some mainland people, and they say that their school days were unhappy, too much emphasis on grades etc. There was a sacrifice of physical education for academic education... I appreciate the amount of people in China makes it important to do well due to the competition, but when one thinks of the Finnish (Scandinavian) system of children starting school at 7 years old and the level of education that Finns attain, one has to question whether the intensity of Chinas education system is both beneficial and good for the childs well-being. Pressure at an early age can never be healthy. Whilst I cannot change the system here, or indeed whether I am correct in my comments, it may be worth noting to them about application. I have one course of Financial Management which I think is generally quite interesting (to begin with anyway), the lesson is just uncomfortable and uneasy at times. The teachers knowledge of the subject is of a high standard, her language skills are very good too, but she has lost most of the class; the blank stares of the pupils say everything. I think the teacher needs to be aware of what the pupils understand and whether they are 'taking' what she says in. She keeps making parallels to the real world, but it is not the 'real world' I'm aware of... my real world contains Excel and analytical software.. Additionally, she seems to be 'against' us... she really gives an impression of a power gap between teacher and pupil; patronising pupils isn't what a teacher is all about.. I am using her as a bad example of a teacher, and have made a mental note of how not to be a teacher in the future. (Sorry if this is a little deep!)

 

The more positive aspects of the school and exchange programme are the people I've met. The pupils at the school always say hello and are friendly and helpful, despite them generally not wanting to work with Westerners in projects. They are very endearing and like to hang around and talk with you. It's possible to go out to eat with people without any innotation of the usual boy/girl stuff. I mean everything is purely platonic... which I feel is lost in the Western world these days...

 

Us exchange student are going for a dinner with the school exchange staff on Monday which is a very nice gesture. They are always polite at the registry and are quite supportive with us exchange students. I also have to mention the canteen staff; they hardly speak English but they are soo nice and helpful. I always joke around with them.. I really should buy them some kind of gift...  they always have a smile for you.

 

As you can see from my lastest photos, I've been eating some nice food. The hotpot is really spicy but it's my favourite food here. The Rabbit hotpot I had last saturday made my lips tingle... I mean talk about spicy! The Duck heart was quite nice.. it was like a toffee, liquorice in texture and a dark kind of taste.. lol, snacks in China... i 'em. The fish was out-of-this-world.. it was like a sweet and sour sauce poured over it, deep fried in a batter and presented with some nice herbs. We started with shrimps stir fried... they were the best shrimps I have ever tasted.

 

As for my future plans; we are planning (Me, Olli and Liam) to go to Shanghai. There is a budget airline that flys from Zhuhai to Shanghai. We're planning it after my last exam and before I go to back to Blighty.

 

This was a bit longer than I expected! Hope you've kept up with my spraffing...

 

Take care,

 

Carl

 

 

 

Hello everyone,

 

Well, in true Chinese style our participation in the film was cancelled at the last minute ... It's still uncertain about our participation; they were filming midweek which excludes us busy students.... My 15 minutes of fame beckon some other time I'm sure.

 

I have a bit of a rant which I would like to vent here and share with other people because I feel it's relevant to Macao and China etc.

 

As there are so many people living together,on top, underneath of each other in here Macao there is a need to be respective of other people, a kind of humanistic altrusim. Perhaps I'm being too idealistic here, but if everyone who lives here cared a little for their neighbour then everyone would have a better quality of life. Today for example is yet another case of 'every man for himself': being woke up at 0830 by the neighbour drilling and doing building work. They could at least notify us about it or least ask when it is the 'better time'. It shows disdain for anyone else in opinion. It seems at whatever period of the day there is knocking, drilling and tapping somewhere in the building. I have already noticed here that people are like the walking dead....pupils asleep in every class etc. I think I'm quite lucky in that my experience in Finland has been that people generally respect other peoples' space which makes it a nicer environment to live in and it's usually reciprocated. I think it is even more important in Macao due to the lack of space, that people do this. Another example is that the Macanese/Chinese people will happily leave their leave their used take away cartons, nut shells and empty beer bottles on the tables in the limited green areas we have.... it shows complete disregard for other people especially as they are sitting next to a rubbish bin. We all want to enjoy these places....free of all rubbish etc. Another example is the ambulances here: there is an ambulance station somewhere near my apartment and the sirens are going all night... surely at night they could just have the lights on instead...there isn't traffic at that time... My opinion is that they are either too stupid to realise this or that they are like children and like to play with the siren! Again, there are around 50,000+ people living within this 2 square mile area who it affects, especially the children.

 

In my economics class we have been discussing Macao and it's increasing GDP. Whilst money is pouring into Macao via the casino revenue, it seems that the quality of life of the average Macanese person doesn't rise...on the contrary, it decreases due to the cost of the land rising and prices increasing. This I feel this wouldn't happen with such an impact in a democracy as someone is answerable to the public... It seems there is no investment in the infrastructure with regards to the increasing influx of foreigners. There was a 'demonstration' a few weeks ago here in Macao about workers rights, foreigners and pensions... it turned nasty and there 'shots' fired into the air!  One motorcyclist was hit in the chest by a bullet too... Maybe it's too much to ask for people to have some kind of vote here. The life of the average Macanese in the future is uncertain with regards to progress. With all the construction going on in Taipa and the Cotai strip, the amount of people in Macao will increase again by about 10%...I just hope that the government have a plan for this. I will leave this subject with reference to a song by the Manic Street Preachers; "If you tolerate this, then your children will be next".

 

My school lectures are coming to an end as we prepare for our final exams. I have six altogether, the last one being on the 13th June. I've just a few projects and presentations left... my only despair is that I have to sit through other peoples presentations which can be woefully painful.. they rarely speak English as the education at the IFT only really requires them to write in English.. so the 'show' can be incoherant. I admire their effort, but really the teacher should put more emphasis on building confidence in the pupils with regards to speaking English. Well, I suppose that's where I will make my money in the future; teaching in this area.

 

My brother Liam is coming on the 2nd of June and then flying back on the same flight as me to Manchester on the 20th June. It should be a great experience for him here and great for me to see him and spend time with him. I still haven't decided if it is feasible to go to Taiwan on the 15th till the 19th June... the flights from Macao cost around 140€ (£100). Maybe the money is better spent in Zhuhai camping on one of islands... plus it would mean Potato can join us as he's not allowed to go to Taiwan. We'll see.

 

I'm going to miss the food so much here... the whole culture of eating here is great too. Last Saturday I was in a hotpot place in Macao... I ate congealed Duck's blood! It was actually really nice! I've been told that there is a place one can eat insects in Macao... that I think I have to try that. I'm still determined to eat Turtle before I leave too..

 

I've added a couple of photos to the Sunset over China gallery... me and Olli decided that the pow wangers should reach a larger audience...so we had a large banner made (5 euros) in Zhuhai! We intend to display it various places just for the infamy. As you can see from the photo, it is hanging over my balcony!

 

I found this picture which may give a better overview of this region of China. http://static.flickr.com/31/51175352_37c9bd36b1_o.jpg

 

I still have a few issues and discussions to put in my blog, which I will do in the near future. It would be nice for people to leave any comments or disagreements to my postings.

 

 

 

Thank you for listening

 

 

Carl