The Relaxing Routine
The freshmen have finished their 10 required days of military training and the school year has finally settled into some semblance of a routine. In the past, I would get extremely restless after staying in one spot and doing the same thing day after day, but the Peace Corps is pretty much the opposite of that. When we have opportunities to travel, we load up our packs and move out. While I certainly have few regrets about the things I have seen and done while in China, I have found that I enjoy having periods of time where there is a simple routine to follow. It isn't necessarily a bad thing to know exactly how most things will work out on a given day. I think I better understand how tired business travelers while doing a job that, on the surface, seems pretty exciting.
I am teaching 4 two-hour Oral English classes to the third year students (this is a three-year college, so there is some debate as to whether we should call them juniors or seniors, so we mostly stick to ordinal numbers.) This is their final year and they'll have student teaching this year. Because of all of this they are busy, excited and a little scared of the future. Their spoken English is pretty good for the most part and I think many of them will make great teachers.
In addition, I am teaching "American Culture," for which I have been given a textbook that is mostly American history, (Woohoo!) with some government, (Yeah!) and other random things thrown in (sports, literature, music.) As far as I can tell, I'm pretty much creating some great Trivial Pursuit players. I must admit that it felt really good to teach history again, even if it is an abridged version and I have to go half-speed. Anyone in the States who has had me as a teacher knows I get speaking pretty fast when I talk about history. When I get the deer-in-the-headlights look here, I know it is my clue to slow down.
I also had to take on an extra two hours of Oral English as the VSO woman who was supposed to teach took a nasty spill on her bicycle and is in a toe-to-hip cast and can't walk. She teaches the first-year students, so I was the first foreign teacher they have ever had. If you ever want to see some scared kids, try teaching first-year college students in China. After a while they calmed down and I helped them pick out English names. They are still pretty frightened to talk to me. I assigned them to introduce themselves to one of the foreign teachers this week (excluding myself.) On Friday, Michelle had a student run by her and yell, "HelloMichellemynameisMelanienicetomeetyougoodbye!" Michelle called her back and made her have a real conversation for a few seconds. The ability is there, it is only a matter of courage.
Tomas, the English teacher from Sweden, and I have the film club underway again this year. We began with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I am curious to hear what they have to say about that one. They tend to enjoy musical movies and slapstick humor, so I'm anticipating good reviews. Next week we'll show The Bourne Identity. There isn't much to do here on the weekends, particularly lately as it has rained nearly every day for two or three weeks. This makes movie nights very popular, don't-stand-in-front-of-the-door-or-you'll-get-trampled-popular. Perhaps I'll film the stampede next week and upload it if we ever get internet in our house again.
Michelle and Rachel have the Book Nook up and going and the students are loving it. They are always over reading the magazines and today was the first day they could check out books. It is amazing how well-received this little room was. For those of you who have donated or are considering donating books, know that your donation is *definitely* not in vain. The students, most of whom have very little access to a large variety of English language books, are poring over them and enjoying them immensely.
We were promised internet on the 25th of August, 1st of September, 15th of September and none of those dates have produced a connection, so we still wait. As soon as I can, the pictures will return. Until then, you'll just have to live with boring ol' words.
My time in the wangba (internet bar) is almost up, and I'm trying not to asphyxiate from the cloud of cigarette smoke so I'd better go. Take care!
I am teaching 4 two-hour Oral English classes to the third year students (this is a three-year college, so there is some debate as to whether we should call them juniors or seniors, so we mostly stick to ordinal numbers.) This is their final year and they'll have student teaching this year. Because of all of this they are busy, excited and a little scared of the future. Their spoken English is pretty good for the most part and I think many of them will make great teachers.
In addition, I am teaching "American Culture," for which I have been given a textbook that is mostly American history, (Woohoo!) with some government, (Yeah!) and other random things thrown in (sports, literature, music.) As far as I can tell, I'm pretty much creating some great Trivial Pursuit players. I must admit that it felt really good to teach history again, even if it is an abridged version and I have to go half-speed. Anyone in the States who has had me as a teacher knows I get speaking pretty fast when I talk about history. When I get the deer-in-the-headlights look here, I know it is my clue to slow down.
I also had to take on an extra two hours of Oral English as the VSO woman who was supposed to teach took a nasty spill on her bicycle and is in a toe-to-hip cast and can't walk. She teaches the first-year students, so I was the first foreign teacher they have ever had. If you ever want to see some scared kids, try teaching first-year college students in China. After a while they calmed down and I helped them pick out English names. They are still pretty frightened to talk to me. I assigned them to introduce themselves to one of the foreign teachers this week (excluding myself.) On Friday, Michelle had a student run by her and yell, "HelloMichellemynameisMelanienicetomeetyougoodbye!" Michelle called her back and made her have a real conversation for a few seconds. The ability is there, it is only a matter of courage.
Tomas, the English teacher from Sweden, and I have the film club underway again this year. We began with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I am curious to hear what they have to say about that one. They tend to enjoy musical movies and slapstick humor, so I'm anticipating good reviews. Next week we'll show The Bourne Identity. There isn't much to do here on the weekends, particularly lately as it has rained nearly every day for two or three weeks. This makes movie nights very popular, don't-stand-in-front-of-the-door-or-you'll-get-trampled-popular. Perhaps I'll film the stampede next week and upload it if we ever get internet in our house again.
Michelle and Rachel have the Book Nook up and going and the students are loving it. They are always over reading the magazines and today was the first day they could check out books. It is amazing how well-received this little room was. For those of you who have donated or are considering donating books, know that your donation is *definitely* not in vain. The students, most of whom have very little access to a large variety of English language books, are poring over them and enjoying them immensely.
We were promised internet on the 25th of August, 1st of September, 15th of September and none of those dates have produced a connection, so we still wait. As soon as I can, the pictures will return. Until then, you'll just have to live with boring ol' words.
My time in the wangba (internet bar) is almost up, and I'm trying not to asphyxiate from the cloud of cigarette smoke so I'd better go. Take care!
posted by Thad at 8:06 AM
4 comments
