66 episodes
Stuck in the Middle Kingdom with You AdamSMKY
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- History
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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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
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On the Word ”Laowai”
Hi, 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.blogspot.com
Email: SMKYPodcast@gmx.com
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#1 | It‘s Not the Worst Punishment...
Hi! 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: SMKYPodcast@gmx.com
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#2 | ”You Don‘t Want a Grenade Blowin‘ up Beside Yer Face”
Hello 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: SMKYPodcast@gmx.com
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#3 | Pumped and Deflated – e-bikes, atom bombs, propaganda, Mao Zedong and the Great Leap Forward
This episode introduces one of Changshu's best brains, Wang Ganchang, which leads into the Great Leap Forward. Yes, that Great Leap Forward.
Email: SMKYpodcast@gmx.com
Twitter: @SMKYpodcast
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#4 | Settling In
Hi! 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: SMKYpodcast@gmx.com
Twitter @SMKYpodcast
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#5 | The Nine Lives of Deng Xiaoping – with Liu Shaoqi, Xi Jinping, and China‘s State Capitalism
Today 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 Communist propaganda song "Without the Communist Party, There Would be No New China", and a Xi Jinping propaganda song called "How Should I Address you?" where poor people declare their love for Xi as he visits their village.
Want to say hi? Email: SMKYPodcast@gmx.com
Customer Reviews
Riveting Narrative
I love the ‘voice’ of the narrator whose bemused quest to understand and navigate life as an english teacher in China. Blending sometimes snippy comments with keen observations and historical footnotes I feel I am along for the ride of discovery that makes living in another culture so enriching.