Wednesday night: I'm done with class, sigh of relief. Off to dinner!
Phone rings: it's the lead Spanish teacher. Hola? (Her Spanish is very hard to understand, especially over the phone.) Long explanation of who another person is. I know: oh, it's a favor I need to do. Something about some presentation or something. Oh, sorry, tonight I am busy, and I can't tomorrow. I guess I can on Friday. (This is a person with a torturous explanation of who they are. Must mean I have to do this favor).
Thursday: I text the lead Spanish teacher: I can do it Friday morning at ten am. (Leaving for Beijing later in the day, need that time to prepare). Teacher texts me back: OK, he can be there, and he will pay you 200 yuan.
Thursday lunch: knowing I can't accept money, I ask Jenn what to do. She says take the money and use it for team purposes. (Easy for a team of one!! I guess it will pay me back for all the copies I make with my own money.)
Thursday night: lead spanish teacher calls. OK, He'll be there. Room 403 in Ming Li. 10am. OK.
Friday morning: teach recalcitrant class from 8-10. (Sidebar: My only truly recalcitrant class-yes China does have recalcitrant students). Rush from HouDe building to Ming Li building. Dash up 4 flight of stairs. Room 403 is a classroom. Lead teacher calls. They're in room 404. OK. Found them. Turns out it's an (important, wealthy) man whose (daughter?) is applying to postgrad studies and needs to pass her oral interview. Another Spanish teacher is on hand to translate between the man and me. So I speak in Spanish, while proofreading Chinglish into English, and after that I record it all into a handheld recorder in English so she can practice. At a few points we consult in Spanish/Chinese about the most culturally appropriate way to translate some of the Chinglish into English. After I record, the man asks me how much. I say, oh, no, no puedo recibir tu dinero. (translated into Chinese). Lo hago como un favor a la escuela y a Ud. (translated into Chinese). We softly argue for a few more moments, in Spanish and Chinese, until he shakes my hand and presses the (previously agreed on) 200 yuan into my palm.
So this is how people pass oral interviews into postgraduate studies. 200 yuan pressed into the hands of foreigners so that the Chinese person can learn to pronounce things based on the recording. I hate that I contributed to the corrupted system, but at the same time I couldn't find any way out. Debt and obligation, what is one to do?
