SIMPLY SHIMEN
I was asked to write about my impressions in Shimen... My teacher assistant was kind enough to translate this to Chinese. Thanks to Allen for doing the job.
淳 朴 的 橘 乡
石门一中 Alfred A. Cabanglan
坐火车从广州出发到这块土地需要12个小时车程。与从马尼拉（菲律宾）到中国广州2小时航程相比，这已经是一个很长的旅途了。 开始还担心找不到这个地方，后来从Gemmy（之后成了我的助理）那里得知途中的路线。望着窗外蜿蜒崎岖的乡间小道，不知不觉火车已经穿过了一座又一座的城镇，跨过了连绵起伏的山脉和峡谷，感觉前方的路是那样的遥远。幸好，在之后彼此结成深厚友谊的朋友们的帮助下，最终到达了被人们称之为“中国橘子之乡”的湖南省石门县。身处此地，开始对自己未来生活感到茫然。之后成了石门县一中的一名外籍教师。
石门县城是一座单纯的小城镇。但在我看来，她又是一个有故事的地方。她不像这个国家其他城市那样，拥有发达的工业，林立的高楼大厦，更没有繁忙的交通。她处于群山环抱、绿树红花的围绕之中，的确是一块毫不矫饰的、安逸的地方。刚踏上这块土地，橘子树上挂着的火红的橘子映入眼帘，与这个时节的色调形成了鲜明的对比。虽处隆冬，我却感受到了这里阳光和乡情的温暖。远处的阵阵橘香迎面扑来，显得那么清淡、那么怡人，仿佛是对我这样的初来乍到者的欢迎。头一天清晨的空气闻起来是那么的清香，就如同树上挂满的那黄灿灿的橘子味道一样。这使我仿佛又回到了阔别了的故乡，我想，这种归属感不仅是现在就有，而且将会在以后的几年时间里延续。
石门人就像似火的橘色那么热情。如果真的要用一个什么词来形容的话，我觉得“友善”这个词用得再贴切不过了。这块土地胜过传说中亚瑟王宫殿那般的灿烂与繁华。在这里，语言已不再是束缚我的基石。它反而是对我的一种挑战，给我提供了一种融入这个小社会的机会，同时也成了一种自己向当地人学习的方式。有时候在与当地人用方言交流时，我为自己的汉语表达感到困惑。但是值得欣慰的是这种交流让我学会了怎样突破与当地人在国籍、文化乃至风俗传统方面的隔阂。慢慢的，我已经学会用比较简单的字词表达与他们交流，但更多时候还是依赖手势。在这里，无论是彼此见面时的一个温暖的微笑，一个肯定的点头，还是肩膀上那轻轻的一拍，一次真诚的握手，一个热情的拥抱，都增添了一份友好的气氛，让人找到家的感觉。因此，每当听到这里的人们用方言交流的时候，总觉得那么的动听；他们的谦让与真诚又是那么出自肺腑而感人；尤其是他们对辣椒的热衷以及与他们进餐时如同享受友谊般的感觉深深地吸引了我。
在石门一中工作是我从教生涯中一次宝贵的经历。因为在这个地方，我更深层次的感觉到了教师这份职业的崇高。更重要的是，我从教学中真正体会到了什么叫学无止境。有时候，当你面对那些学生，为了考上大学改变自己命运，持之以恒地努力奋斗，你会觉得自己是何等渺小。甚至有时你会不忍心去看那些学生们挑破黎明的曙光，埋头书本之中直到月亮挂上树梢的疲惫的面容。突然之间，这里的孩子们那勤奋刻苦的精神和严谨治学的态度，让我意识到了自己国家的那些孩子们，他们要做的还有许多。曾几何时，我一直认为这里的学生努力地学习只是为了取得好成绩，考上一所理想的大学以至能过上一辈子的幸福生活，但后来发现我的观点错了，因为他们告诉我他们要为中国的强盛而读书！ 孩子们对英语学习的狂热让我感动，而他们骨子里面透露出来的那种负责任的态度也是世界上其他国家的青少年身上所罕见的！
身处异国他乡，与自己在菲律宾工作截然不同，我感觉这里的环境是那么的陌生，具有挑战性。除了言语障碍之外，文化的不同以及风俗习惯的差异等问题在我的教学活动中都涌现了出来。幸运的是这些障碍却激发了学生们对言语技能掌握的兴趣，提高了他们的交流水平。在教学中，我们彼此交流生活中一些现实的东西。我认为教书不仅仅是灌输给学生书本上的知识，更重要的是教他们如何去思考，怎样去实践。我一直信奉中国一句古谚语：授人以鱼，不如授人以渔。意思就是给别人送鱼吃，还不如教会别人怎么去打鱼，以便获得生存之道。这个道理与教书应该是相通的。人常说万丈高楼平地起，我偏重学生们的实践能力，注重他们在语言学习中的每一个基本步骤以及学生掌握整个语言学习的过程。同时，准备好的、丰富的话题使我能将每天的授课当成一种享受。然而，每一堂课的时间总是那么短暂，但可以毫不夸张的说每次下课，学生们总是带着期盼的眼神目送我的离开。他们对学英语以及提高英语水平的热情是那么的难以阻挡，这也给我注入了无限的动力，让我觉得每一天都是崭新的。因为那就意味我又多拥有了一次和我的学生们相处的机会。
春华秋实，人来人往。送走了学生一届又一届，但是石门——这样一个被人们称作橘子之乡的地方，以及那片热土上养育着的淳朴的、热情的、友好的石门人将深藏在我的记忆里。石门县第一中学———这样一座在我教书生涯中最最美好的殿堂将永难忘却！
SIMPLY SHIMEN
By Alfred A. Cabanglan
No. 1 Middle School of
Shimen, Hunan PRC 415300
It was a long, 12-hour trip by train, contrary to the 2-hour trip I had from my country to Guangzhou. I did not know the place I was heading to, but I took instructions from Gemmy, my supposedly assistant as a foreign teacher. I passed by towns and cities, mountains and valleys, long and winding roads. It was an adventure for me – a trip I had just by trusting people who, later on, would become my colleagues. All I knew was that I am going to the Orange county of Hunan, in a place called Shimen… and I was totally clueless what was in store for me. I was only told that I would be teaching in the No. 1 Middle School of Shimen. The rest was a story. And this, I want to tell.
Shimen is a simple town, not yet infiltrated with monstrous industries, towering skyscrapers, and traffic jams like other big cities in China. It’s a relaxed, unpretentious place, surrounded with mountain ranges and flourishing trees… and the first time I set foot on it, oranges were in bloom. It was a sight to behold, a warm contrast of hues amidst the cold weather of a late winter. I could feel warmth, sunshine and cheer — all the good things I was in dire need of that time. The scent of the oranges was a refreshing fragrance to a tired traveler and a welcoming ambience for a newcomer like me. The first morning I had when I first arrived in Shimen was as fragrant like oranges when in bloom. It was a hint that this place would be my home away from home… not just for awhile but maybe even for years.
Warm as the color of the oranges are the people of Shimen. If there’s one word that describes best the locales, friendly would be overrated but most appropriate. For me, it was a perfect Camelot – a more-than-the-ideal fictional world in King Arthur’s “most congenial place”. Language is never a barrier. For me, it serves more as a challenge, an opportunity to meet more people and make friends and an exciting way to learn from them. Conversing with them in their vernacular confused my little knowledge of Mandarin at first, but gradually becoming a learning experience of breaking barriers – of nationality, culture and tradition. I’ve learned to communicate with them simple phrases and expressions, but most of the times, gestures. A warm smile, a gentle tap on the shoulder, a sincere handshake, an affirming nod, a cordial hug… they all add up to a friendly environment, a very homey place. The way they speak their local dialect is musical to the ears; and their modesty and sincerity is heart-warming. Their passion for hot and spicy food is interesting and dining with them means sharing friendship and culture.
Working at the Number 1 Middle School of Shimen is one rewarding experience in my career as a teacher. It gives me a deeper realization of the popular adage that teaching is a noble profession. More importantly, it keeps my feet on the ground with the idea that learning is a continuous process. I learn best from teaching. It is a humbling experience to see how the students persevere in their studies just so they can enroll in better universities and land into a better job to have a better life in the future. It pierced my heart though at the start to see them waking up too early, beating the chill of dawn and still burying their heads on books until the later part of the evening! But I see in them the diligence, hard work and the discipline of a learner – the attitudes that I seldom would see from the students in my country. I’m optimistic with the thought that they do these not just to have good grades so they can enter more prestigious universities in college, but more so, to have a better life in the future. When I asked them, they would sincerely answer “to have a more progressive China”! I see in them the passion to learn English and the sense of responsibility – an attitude not most youngsters of the world have!
Teaching foreign students is a totally different experience, more challenging than teaching students in my country. Aside from the language barrier, cultural differences, customs and practices also come as a learning interference in the teaching-learning process. But these become avenues of bringing out from my students their language skills, boosting their communicative competence. We talk about the practical things in life… we talk about LIFE practically. Teaching is not only about SAYING WHAT but SHOWING HOW. It’s not just about imparting them knowledge but teaching them how to think. As the popular Chinese proverb, which I had long cherished, says “Give a man a fish, and he will live for a day; teach a man how to fish, and he will live for a lifetime”. It’s not about giving them a fish, but teaching them how to fish. It is targeting the whole to see the parts. I teach the totality of language acquisition through its actual use and pick up the pieces in the process to teach them the rudiments – the basic rules. The thought of having so many things to talk about with them makes me more enthusiastic to look forward to teaching them every day. Time has always been not enough in my classes. And it is also overwhelming to note that my students always look forward to having their Oral English class again. Their passion to learn and improve their English is interestingly commendable. It gives me the energy to look forward to every new day because it would mean exciting experiences interacting with my students.
Seasons change. People come and go. Students leave the school for a higher level of learning. But Shimen would always be remembered as a county of oranges with simple, warm and friendly people and the No. 1 Middle School of Shimen would probably be one of the best things that ever happened in my profession yet.
. And yes, we were O.K.