Stuck in the Middle Kingdom with You
69 episodes - English - Latest episode: 6 months ago - ★★★★★ - 1 ratingThis 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
Homepage Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Episodes
#13 | Open Class
February 09, 2022 10:29 - 16 minutes - 30.5 MBBack 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. https://smkypodcast.blogspot.com
#12 | Random Impulse – The Bund, Sun Yatsen, Shanghai Massacre 1927
February 02, 2022 22:00 - 21 minutes - 40.3 MBPart 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. https://smkypodcast.blogspot.com
#11 | Getting Away – Shanghai, Colonialism, the French Concession and JG Ballard
January 26, 2022 08:00 - 22 minutes - 23.4 MBConflicting 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
#10 | The Kettle Boils
January 19, 2022 08:01 - 14 minutes - 13.4 MBMany challenges come with teaching English abroad: language barriers, cultural differences, unusual teas... and other teachers. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @SMKYPodcast
#9 | Easy Meat
January 12, 2022 15:28 - 24 minutes - 24.5 MB1) 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: [email protected] Twitter: @SMKYPodcast
#9 | Refusing to be Quiet
January 12, 2022 15:28 - 18 minutes - 33.8 MB1) 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… https://smkypodcast.blogspot.com
In Conversation: A Taiwanese view on life in China’s Shadow
January 05, 2022 09:37 - 30 minutes - 55.1 MBSummer 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
#8 | Dwelling in the Yushan Mountain
December 29, 2021 10:23 - 22 minutes - 23.7 MBA bit of a travelogue episode, finding Changshu's ancient district and the city's sole mountain. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @SMKYPodcast
#7 | Attention! A Day in the Life at the Cradle of Elites
December 21, 2021 11:04 - 21 minutes - 22.9 MBOn 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: [email protected] Twitter: @SMKYpodcast
#6 | Shajiabang – Peng Dehuai and Wu Han, the Start of the Cultural Revolution
December 13, 2021 10:54 - 22 minutes - 22.7 MBHi 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@...
#5 | The Nine Lives of Deng Xiaoping – with Liu Shaoqi, Xi Jinping, and China‘s State Capitalism
December 05, 2021 10:57 - 24 minutes - 25.4 MBToday 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 Commu...
#4 | Bubbles
November 28, 2021 13:24 - 12 minutes - 22.8 MBHi! 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. https://smkypodcast.blogspot.com
#4 | Settling In
November 28, 2021 13:24 - 12 minutes - 13.8 MBHi! 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: [email protected] Twitter @SMKYpodcast
#3 | Pumped and Deflated – e-bikes, atom bombs, propaganda, Mao Zedong and the Great Leap Forward
November 22, 2021 11:58 - 15 minutes - 15.5 MBThis episode introduces one of Changshu's best brains, Wang Ganchang, which leads into the Great Leap Forward. Yes, that Great Leap Forward. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @SMKYpodcast
#2 | ”You Don‘t Want a Grenade Blowin‘ up Beside Yer Face”
November 14, 2021 11:41 - 14 minutes - 15 MBHello 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: [email protected]
#1 | It‘s Not the Worst Punishment...
November 07, 2021 16:33 - 16 minutes - 15.9 MBHi! 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: [email protected]
#1 | It‘s Not the Worst Punishment
November 07, 2021 16:33 - 16 minutes - 30.3 MBHi! 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
On the Word ”Laowai”
November 01, 2021 10:39 - 15 minutes - 14.5 MBHi, 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....
Intro | Stuck in the Middle Kingdom with You
October 28, 2021 16:43 - 4 minutes - 4.19 MBThis 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 ...