I am going to do a special lesson on culture for my students. I have no idea how it will go because my student’s exposure to foreign culture consists of their (eccentric) teacher and stereotypical American movies. You can look at my lesson plan here

. Before I get a mass of complaints, I realise that my lesson plan is missing some fundamentals:

1. Statement of aims
2. No target grammar being taught
3. No timings on the plan

Whilst browsing for some material for the lesson I found a youtube video about being British-born Chinese.

There is a lot that I sympathise with. The long evenings spent by myself whilst my parents worked; acting as a translator; the feeling of isolation; episodes of racism (though it hasn’t been a problem for me for years); the long hours studying. Even my parents like to play Mahjong!

Well, I’m not completely like Susan. My parents are from mainland China, I never had to work that much in the takeaway and I decided to run off to China after university, just to confuse myself even more. Actually, my experience in China has taught me that I am British at heart. However, the more important lesson for me was to rise about the paradigm of culture. It is too easy to say that all actions and attitudes are caused by culture. I’m trying to look beyond and see the person underneath. Realising this, culture does not seem to matter so much anymore.

Actually, it does matter because it gives me an easy lesson to teach.

I tried to find an ironic slogan for the title to my blog post about banking in China. The Abbey National Bank’s old slogan was perfect.

I’ve recently opened a current (checking) account in China and I was pleased with how quick and easy it was. The only difficulty was the language for which I bought along a Chinese friend for help. If you don’t have any Chinese or any friends then you can refer to this comprehensive guide.

Requirements to open a Chinese bank account:

1. 1 form of ID
2. £1 processing fee.
3. Yearly £0.70 for the privilege of a debit card.
4. Receive your debit card and PIN number at the same time

The only downside is that you don’t get a chequebook, but no-one really uses them in China. The bank clerk laughed at me when I asked for one. You don’t get a £1000 interest free student overdraft either – but they’re not so useful.

Compare this with the requirements to open a British bank account:

1. 2 forms of ID
2. Proof of address
3. Credit check
4. Zero pounds
5. Wait a week to receive your debit card and PIN number

Bear in mind that these requirements of British citizen. Good luck to those who don’t pledge allegiance to the queen. Why do the rules need to be so complicated? And thanks to a minor financial crisis, even the share price performance of the Chinese banks has been better than the British banks.

To be fair to the British banks, the rules are there to protect me from money-laundering. I’ve also taken for granted the free current accounts that they offer. What I appreciate most is the polite, pleasant and efficient service of the British bank teller. A kind of service that is only found in the English gentlemen. A kind of service that is envied by every other nation on the Earth. Indeed, let us celebrate the British bank teller!

OK, I’ll stop looking through my Union Jack tinted glasses.

I got to fly out of Tianjin’s new airport last week. The airport has a striking glass front. The airport is a large sweeping open hall.

I had a very smooth experience. I got through check in, immigrations and customs very quickly. Everything had a nice new shine to it.

Contrast this to the absolute chaos at the opening of Heathrow Terminal 5. Beijing Capital Airport has also recently opened a new terminal. Then I realised it would be interesting to compare them.

I guess it would be unfair to compare the airports. Beijing Airport is massive but it needs to be in order to serve millions of Olympic visitors. Tianjin’s new airport was a smaller project on the outskirts of the city. Heathrow is blessed with one of the worst possible locations for an airport and locals who are unfortunate enough to be harassed by the daily noise.

In time, Heathrow Terminal 5 will become a good and efficient terminal, and in time Beijing and Tianjin will need to build yet another airport to cope with its growth. If you think I am kidding, an article from The Economist claims that Beijing is already planning a second airport.

But it would be nice if Britain’s construction projects were not not a laughing stock.