TEACHING ENGLISH IN A MUSLIM SCHOOL IN CHINA.

The year is 2003, and destination is Kaifeng, China. Having spent a lovely 2-3 days in Nanjing i got on the train and made my way to the Henan Province, Northern China. Kaifeng, is the ancient capital of China many hundreds of years ago, and was buried by a flood from the mighty Yellow River three times from what the locals were telling me on the train. Therefore Kaifeng is a truly ancient city and was rebuilt three times on-top of the ruins of the silt laden ruins.

What is really fascinating about Kaifeng is its truly diverse clash of cultures between the Muslim faiths and the Jewish faiths and Chinese Buddhist religions. Its a bit like a clash of religious fervor, and its not uncommon to see demonstrations in small numbers of white capped youngsters going through there noisy rituals of letting the locals know of there quiet discontent. The Chinese population walk past not taking notice while the morals police and police in general keep a watchful eye on the proceedings. There is a quiet discontent among the Chinese population about the Muslims ability to demonstrate their issues, whereas to the ordinary Chinese citizen in Kaifeng, despite the hardships they have to put up with, they rarely make any complaints.

What is even more intriguing is the segregation between what is traditionally Chinese and what is Muslim within the school environment. Having spent 6 months teaching at one of Kaifengs Intermediate schools teaching English, many of the Muslim children will sit together in their run down concrete enclaves called classrooms, yet will separate themselves when it comes time to eat. The local school cafeteria is divided between Muslim children and traditional Chinese children. It is obvious by picking out the subtleties despite the school uniforms you can see what the children are allowed to eat and what others don't eat at the canteen. CCTV blares up on high suspended TV screens and gives each of the students China's account of the news every lunch time. Then there is roll call mid morning where the students display there ability to follow the rules of the school and to chant mind building rantings that reflect the educational way of the school, and this involves flag waving and marching.

However, after spending 6 months at my Chinese-Muslim School in Kaifeng i realized that i wasn't dealing with any ordinary Chinese College or educational institution but one that required some diplomacy and

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