In the autumn of 1994, the leader group of Pengda was reorganized. Shuo Wu, my neighbor, was promoted to the vice-president in charge of teaching affairs, who wanted me to hold the position of the dean of the teaching affairs. He came to my home and talked with me about his intention, which put me in an awkward situation. Early in the Zhengji Middle School the headmaster Mingde Zhang asked me to hold the position of the dean in charge of teaching affairs, which I refused, because in my eyes, the dean of teaching affairs was busy every day with affairs, which would interfere with my scholarly research. Shuo Wu helped me in getting the excellent teaching achievement prize of the provincial level. The dean position of the teaching affairs attracted a lot of people and made their mouth water flowing down. My refusal of the position was a typical failure in appreciating him. After thinking and thinking, I didn’t grant the request. I hated the cadre system of our country. If I were asked to hold a position for a period of time and then gave it up normally, I would have accepted it. The problem was that once you held a position, you would continue to work until your age was qualified to resign from the leading post, or you would be promoted to a higher position, or you would be removed to another position of the same level you did not like at all. In a word, if you held a position, you would become a professional cadre. If someone retreated from a position, s/he was sure to have made a mistake. Accordingly, I decided to refuse his kindness politely in order to reduce the future trouble so that my mind would not be interfered with and I could do my research well.
In the winter of 1994, when the term was soon ending, Pengda decided to divide the management department into two units, one is the financial department and the other is the social society department and I was asked to take charge of the Financial Department, holding the position of the dean and the Party secretary. The English Teaching and Research Group also belonged to the Financial Department. I had some interest in such a duty because I could still take charge of the English teaching of the whole university. In order that I could go all out to do the department work well Pengda’s president Henjin Jiang decided to let Meilan Zhang to work in Pengda, which showed enough respect for my feelings. Without trial lecture, Meilan Zhang began to teach in Pengda and all the procedures were handled by the personnel department. I became the head of the Financial Department officially.
There was a courtyard in the campus of Old Pengda, called “Yuanlaiyuan (Original Courtyard)”, which was built in 1988. Yuanlaiyuan had the taste of the Jiangnan Park (the south of the Yangzi River). It was a quadrangle surrounded by buildings, of antique beauty, with black tiles and white walls. The round corridor was supported by the red wood poles, with the front face a two-storey building. In the yard the winding path was paved with cobblestones and there were also a small bridge and running stream. Varieties of grasses and flowers were growing flourishingly. You could enjoy seeing peach blossom in the spring, lotus buds in the summer, chrysanthemum in the autumn and calyx canthus in the winter. The municipal government constructed the building, intending to run TOEFL training classes and invite American English native speakers to come to teach. The campus upheaval in 1989 made the plan go by the board. As a result, the beautiful yard was of no use.
As the policy of reforming and opening to the outside world continued, foreign merchants came once in a while to talk about the cooperation，but none succeeded. In the autumn of 1996, the Caterpillar Inc. of the US, which was cooperating with XCMG (Xuzhou Construction Machinery Group), prepared a training program, which made the municipal government remind of Yuanlaiyuan in Pengda. One afternoon a vice mayor, assigned to take charge of the education, board chairman of XCMG, president of Caterpillar China Corp. from Hongkong came together to Pengda, telling us the program of running an English training class by Caterpillar Corp. As a dean in charge of English teaching, I attended the meeting. At the meeting the president of Caterpillar China Inc. introduced the program to run an English training centre in Xuzhou, which could enroll the employees of XCMG, CXL (Caterpillar Xuzhou Limited) and other persons wanting to improve their English. We didn’t get to know their real intention and the way of cooperation. During the dinner party I asked the president, who replied that a person would come from the headquarters in Peoria of the US and talked with us in detail.
Caterpillar Corp is the world's largest maker of construction and mining equipment and its headquarters are located in Peoria, Illinois, United States. It was ranked number one in its industry and within 50 overall in Fortune 500. The common meaning of “caterpillar” is the wormlike larva of butterflies and moths and then the word was used on the track-type tractor, which was named caterpillar tractor. A photographer of the Incorporation saw their product, the track-type tractor, and said that it moved just as a caterpillar. The head of the Incorporation heard it and decided to name their incorporation “Caterpillar Incorporation”. On the products of the Caterpillar Inc., excavator or bulldozer, was painted “CAT”.
I was passionate about it and waited anxiously for the man from the quarters of Caterpillar Inc. The negotiator came finally in the end of April, 1997, whose name was David Henson, nearly 50 years old. We called him Mr. Henson. The head of Pengda thought he himself should be matched with the president of Caterpillar China Inc or at least of CXL, so he appointed vice-president Zhu as the negotiator. Zhu didn’t know English and he shifted the duty onto Lao Song, who could shift the duty on nobody. Accordingly, I led the head of the English Teaching and Research section and began to talk with Mr. Henson. This American seemed rather gentle and told us the program they had thought. What I concerned was that nothing would cost Pengda except Yuanlaiyuan, or the program would not be approved by our head. Yuanlaiyuan was put into use, which could bring some reputation for Pengda. If possible, I would try to make some money for our university. My viewpoint was that Pengda invested real estate and the Caterpillar side invested fund. We established a separate account and managed by both of us. What made me delighted was that Mr. Henson was generous than I expected. Not only did he promise to invest all the money the program needed, but also agreed to collect tuition fee, which was under our management without any interfere from CAT. I was confident that the head of Pengda would be definitely satisfied. I reported to our head, got touch with Mr. Henson again and thought the agreement would soon be reached. However, the trouble was standing ahead of us.
The problem rose in the title sponsorship. Mr. Henson put forward his opinion that the name should be “The Caterpillar English training Centre in/at Pengcheng University” and when it was put into Chinese, “Caterpillar” should also occupy the first position of the title. I didn’t agree and told him that the place where the center was should appear in the first place. He added, “CXL, i.e. Caterpillar Xuzhou Limited, was an example. “Caterpillar stands in the front.” I reported the problem to our head, who came from another school and held the position not long ago. He refused the name with “Caterpillar” in the front, and held firmly the view that the name should be “彭城大学卡特比勒英语培训中心”. My mind was empty and I had no idea for a while. The title sponsorship would kill the program, which was too regretful. As Lao Song frowned thoughtfully, an idea stroked me. I discussed with the head, who was 12 years younger than Me, whether it was possible or not that the name in English satisfied the foreign devil and the name in Chinese satisfied us. The head replied briskly, saying he didn’t care about the English name and asking me to bargain with the devil again.
Mr. Henson negotiated with me on the daytime and rested in CXL in the night. When we met again, I told him that we agreed the English name he had put forward, and The Chinese name should be in conformity with the Chinese custom and put the place in the front. Mr. Henson needed to ask the instruction from his head and I waited. It was not long before he told me that they agreed my request. The negotiation succeeded in the end, and both of us felt a sense of relief. I led him to my office and let him to type an agreement in English about establishing the Caterpillar English Training Centre in Pengcheng University by Caterpillar Inc. and Pengda. I picked the relay baton, put it into Chinese without stop and handed to my head. The main content was as follows:
1. The Caterpillar Inc. and Pengcheng University agreed to run “the Caterpillar English Training Center at Pengcheng University” after friendly negotiation.
2. Pengda provides real estate for the center.
3. Pengda is responsible for all the formalities to establish the centre and coordinate with the local and provincial government.
4. When the application was approved by the government, Caterpillar Inc. is to take the charge of repairing and decorating the real estate to get ready for the opening date.
5. Both work hard to invite the qualified English teachers from America, Canada or Britain.
6. Pengda is in charge of enrollment and routine management. The tuition fee enters in Pengda’s account and it is used to pay daily cost.
7. Caterpillar Inc. pays the foreign English teachers all the salaries.
8. Both endeavor to enroll the students in the next term, namely in August and the center opens on the first of September.
The date was easy to remember, because it was just May 1, and the head, Party secretary, and the vice president Zhu were both staying in their offices, waiting for the result of the negotiation. When both got ready to sign on the agreement, Mr. Henson said that he could only sign on the English version, not on the Chinese one, which should be read by the translator of their incorporation. Our Party secretary agreed and asked Zhu to represent Pengda to affix his signature. Mr. Henson drew his signature which I recognized only after I had a very careful look. The night screen hung down when our head invited Mr. Henson to a dinner party. The head of our president’s office had prepared some presents and the atmosphere was very harmonious. When Mr. Henson was going to leave I asked him when he would fly to the US. To my surprise, he would leave Xuzhou the next day, coming and going in haste. It was good that he has finished his work well and I wished him a happy voyage.
Now the ball was kicked to our side. Only when we went through all the formalities, the plan could be put forward. It was very troublesome to go through all the formalities. I first helped to draft an application and then inquired about which authorities I should visit. I first went to the Office of Foreign Affairs (OFA) of the Provincial Education Committee (PEC). The office clerk, Xiao-He, accepted our application and asked me to go to the OFA of the provincial government. He added that he would make an appointment with the clerk there to go to Pengda to carry out an inspection. Xiao-He said when they arrived at Pengda, persons from Xuzhou City’s OFA, Public Securities, Security Bureau should be present so that the program could be recognized by all of them. When I came from Nanjing, I reported to our head and he assigned the vice dean of the president office to help me to finish what we should do.
After doing all the jobs mentioned above, I was waiting patiently for the call from Xiao-He. Mr. Henson faxed me sometimes asking the progress of the formalities. I replied to him politely and timely, asking him also to wait patiently. At the beginning of June, the news came that the date of the officials’ coming was decided from the OFA of the Provincial Government and Education Committee. The vice dean of our president’s office began to arrange for their accommodation and tell the officials of the city’s relative authorities. On the inspection date, there were a lot of people and three tables in the restaurant for the dinner. We desired the leaders from the provincial level to approve our application as soon as possible in order that the centre could open in September.
The officials of the inspection went back just as the clay oxen went into the sea—never to return. The translator from the CXL called me several times, inquiring about the news. I had no choice but ask her to wait patiently. I began to have a feeling that it was impossible for the centre to open in September. No step moved forward about employing foreign English teachers. I had no idea how to do the job. The document approving to establish the centre didn’t come until the middle of July. At once I reported to Mr. Henson by fax and went to CXL to hand the document to the head of the general manager’s office. The ball was finally kicked to the other side and we were waiting for their action.
Their response was quite prompt. In the summer vacation came a tall white man, whose surname was Smith. He seemed very friendly and looked at you smiling. He said that he was an engineer and took charge of decoration of the house. It would take a quite long time to decorate so many rooms. I asked Mr. Smith to convey my thought that the centre could not open as planned, and we should postpone half a year so that we had enough time to get everything ready. A gentleman called Spencer came, whose nose was esp. high. Mr. Spencer was a typical “Patskiy”, who was used to patting my shoulder while he was talking with me. He agreed to my proposal to postpone the opening time until the next February.
The Spencers are in the front
The decoration work was progressing slowly and it took almost three months to complete all the work. The centre gained a completely new outlook. In the classroom new and unconventional desks and chairs were placed in five lines. The floor was covered with a large carpet and there was a white board on the front wall instead of a blackboard. On the back wall were two maps, one of the US and the other of the world. All the living rooms of the students were equipped with water heater and the floor was paved with tiles. In the living room of the teachers there was a floor stand air-conditioner and sanitary fittings were shining, which were of top quality. The front hall in the first floor was used as reception room and a set of oak sofa increased the taste. The floor in the corridor was paved with a small square of tiles, which looked like real stones. All the poles were painted fresh red. There was a period of time left before the centre was open, so I was wondering why everything was already ready. After two days, the answer to the riddle was emerging that a vice president of Caterpillar Inc. from the quarters would come to Xuzhou and would inspect the centre as well. At that day of the inspection, a group of “devils” came, and among them there were several VIPs, whom I didn’t know. A few gold fish were swimming in the small pond in the court, where there used to be no water. Some Chinese teachers of our school present played an international trick that Americans were also good at sucking up to their superiors, just like us Chinese.
The Chinese called building the classroom for a school making a cage. When the cage is made, it must be resided in, i.e. there must be teachers and students. Employing English teachers from abroad was my early concern when I visited the office for Foreign Affairs of the Province Government, where I got a list from the State Foreign Expert Bureau, on which were written intermediaries abroad registered in the Bureau. I chose one of them, which was located in San Francisco and run by a Taiwanese lady. She faxed me, saying that they would try their best to seek qualified teachers for our centre. The Caterpillar promised to pay the foreign teachers, so I told the contact details to both of them, letting themselves communicate with each other. But, when the two employed American teachers went to the Chinese consulate to get the visa they were told that they must get approved by the provincial relative authority. Our Centre was soon open and it was so urgent just like fire catching the eye-brows. We had no choice but ask them to apply a travel visa so that they could first come and then we tried to make their stay here for one year legal. I reported it to the Office of the Foreign Affairs of the Provincial Government and was asked first to apply for the qualification of the centre to employ foreign teachers. How could I think of such a thing! No matter how it was, the two American teachers, the Petersons, were coming. The Centre was open as scheduled. My hanging heart dropped in the end.
I didn’t know how the news that the Petersons came to our centre with the travel visa had passed to the ears of a vice head of the OFA of the City Government. One day I and the vice dean of the office of our president were asked to go to the OFA. The vice head there was very solemn and said that we had gone against the diplomatic principles. It was illegal to let foreign employees come to China with a travel visa. I had such feeling that we were suffering wrong. If it were illegal, the consulate in America should have banned, why we were to blame. We had no choice but to be forced to listen to his lecture. We expressed that it was the first time for us to deal with external affairs and later we were sure not to make such a mistake. After this accident, I thought that the centre’s routine should be managed by a special person. As a dean of a department, I had a lot of other things to deal with, and my enthusiasm was watered a little. Generally speaking, a college or university should also have an OFA. I should not take on everything. The Party secretary of Pengda agreed my opinion and asked me to choose an English teacher from my department. I decided to ask Kuan Zhou to take the responsibility so that I could be liberated from the Centre. The Caterpillar English Training Centre was entering the period of normal operation.
The Centre enrolled the trainees once every term. One batch of students after another were trained and improved in oral and listening ability. A lot of them were since employed in the trade of foreign affairs, foreign trade or English teaching post. Some of them became immigrants to Canada, Australia, New Zealand and etc. And others went abroad to study, to invest or to seek jobs. Liangliang Song, my second son, got the bachelor degree in the summer of 1997 and because he failed in the master degree enrollment, he reviewed in the autumn and winter of that year. He used the first half of 1998 to accept the training in the Centre and went to Beijing to study for a master’s degree. The 5-month training in oral and listening English had a very good effect on his TOFEL and GRE. In order to meet the need of the office workers to improve their English, the Centre enrolled the students who could only come in the evening and on weekends. Li Song, my first son, who was an official in the City Security Bureau, also became a trainee in the Centre and got ready to pass the IELTS. The Centre had made brilliant achievements and was a double-edged sword as well. It sent two of my sons to go abroad, letting me and my wife at home in China, going too far. At the beginning of running the Centre, I had never thought of such effects made upon my family.
Notes:
1. “Devil”: During the Anti-Japanese War, the Chinese people called the Japanese aggressors “Japanese devils”, shortened “devil” and during the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, we called the American army men “American devils”. After reforming and opening to the outside world, when we saw Japanese or Americans, we made fun and called them still “devils”.
2. “Patskiy”: A lot of Russian male names have “-skiy” as the end. In the fifties and sixties of 1900, the former Soviet Union was the elder brother of China, almost all the middle school students studied Russian instead of English, a lot of intellectuals were familiar with the ending of Russian names. Some people who liked to pat the other’s shoulder when they talked with him or her were called “Patskiy” and those who were talkative, esp. some women, were called “prolixityskiy”.
Nov. 12, 2010 in Xuzhou
Proofreading on March 1, 2012 in Chicago
Uploading on Aug. 6, 2023 in Xuzhou
