Day 10 - The "n" word and a gift

Saturday, July 12

5th day of teaching


Today was a pretty uneventful day. Here is what we did:

• morning interviews to get in the door (it's our new morning routine and we love it!)
• Basketball tournament. One of the other classes challenged my class to a basketball game. I told my class and they were super excited to compete. I'm not sure if they knew it or not, but it turns out that Gayna's class somehow got all of the talented athletes. They won 50-something to like 8. It was that bad. Really really bad. I quit watching after awhile and played frisbee with the girls. It was too painful.
• practiced words with "TH". This is a sound that doesn't exist in the Chinese language. The students have such difficulty saying it. We practice and practiced. The students made lists of words that have the TH to practice on their own. I gave them homework for tomorrow: learn to correctly pronounce "nothing". I told them that there would be a very important examination on ONLY this word.
• Song study: "Sing" by Ed Sheeran
• "Happy" practice
• had a very interesting discussion with my assistant (see below)
• recieved a very thoughtful gift (see below)

The interesting discussion:

Since the first day in China I have noticed many people saying some word that is very offensive to my ears. I literally heard it in the airport in Beijing upon landing and a million times since. I've been trying to ignore it, but finally I just had to ask. I hear EVERYONE saying some word that sounds an awful lot like "the 'n' word" in English. You know the one. They are saying the slang version -the one with no 'r' that ends in 'a'.

Every time I hear it I cringe, without even meaning to. So during one of our breaks I asked my assistant: What is the word I hear so much that sounds like ______?

She was a little confused at first but she figured out what word I meant. She was having difficulty explaining it's meaning. She first said it's not a real word, but more like a noise or a pause. She said it's poor Chinese and shouldn't be used when trying to speak properly. The best I could figure was that it is like our "um" and so I asked if it was and she said yes. I'm still not sure exactly what it means, but it's slang, and not a real word, and has no real meaning. Much like "um".

So then I told her why I was asking. As best as I could, I explained about the "n" word in English. I told her what it meant and how it should never be spoken or said, even if you hear others use it. I explained where it came from and why it is so offensive.

When I was done she sort of laughed/had an aha moment. She said that there was another foreign teacher visiting the school awhile ago who seemed to get very upset by that word, but no one could ever figure out what the problem was. She said she finally understands. I explained to her how shocked I was to hear it and how it's taking some getting used to, to not be shocked when I do hear it. I think this was an interesting cultural learning moment for us both. I wanted to ask, "Please don't use this word around me or other Americans. We find it very offensive." But, how could I even think that they shouldn't use a word that is part of their language, just because it sounds like something in my language? Of course, I couldn't and didn't. But I wanted to.

A gift

I've been wanting to buy a set of Baoding balls since I got here. You've seen them before, but perhaps don't know them by name. Here's a picture:



They originate in Baoding and I've been seeing them everywhere. However, they are expensive (sometimes) and heavy and I just wasn't sure. And honestly, I was hoping to get a set as a gift from the school (the teachers in another group did) and didn't want to buy some and then get more. So I was waiting it out.

Then today, one of my sweet little girls, Sunny, brought me a set. She wrote me a sweet note explaining where they come from and how to use them and stuck it inside the box.

not the best picture, but it's me and Sunny and the gift she gave me :)

I am constantly impressed with how kind and thoughtful the Chinese people are. I never gave random gifts to my teachers and none of my American students do either. At least, they aren't giving gifts to me. (Yes I know, there are probably other contributing factors to that, like how mean I am, etc. But still.)

Tomorrow we are trick-or-treating. We're excited!

The Best Night (so far).

Friday, July 11

So we were told months before that part of working at the schools would mean accepting invitations from students' families to visit their homes or go out to dinner etc. We were explicitly told that we could not refuse, as it was disrespectful to the family and their culture. I was incredibly nervous about this, for several reasons. First, after a full day of teaching I am exhausted. It's very difficult for me to be polite and fun and nice when I'm so tired. I was worried it might not go well. Secondly, since I don't speak ANY Chinese I couldn't imagine how I could get through the night very easily. My students speak decent english, but we've been told that their parents probably speak almost none. AND finally, in the USA we don't socialize with our students and their families. It's not professional and would actually be frowned upon, not encouraged. It felt awkward. However, little did I know that I would have the most amazing time! It was such a great night :)

I was invited to go out with Alinda and her father, as well as Cherry. (Aren't these awesome "English" names?) These two girls are super sweet and precious and I was really happy to go out with them. Here we are later in the evening:

Cherry, me, and Alinda

Right after school was over, I gathered my things and headed downstairs to find the girls. Alinda introduced me to her father - which was quite interesting. First, he obviously works-out regularly. He was pretty muscular and fit. I only really noticed because this is so weird in China. It is trendy and "desirable" for men to be thin and pale and lanky. Almost exactly what we don't like in the USA. So this caught my attention right away. Secondly, he was dressed to show it off. He was wearing a VERY tight Armani Exchange t-shirt with aviator sunglasses. He was trying really hard :) Not what you expect from some cute little Chinese girl's dad. We said our hellos, although he didn't speak English and I don't speak Chinese. Then we loaded up in his car, a brand new Mercedes SUV. It was super nice and not at all what I was expecting. You know, a fancy expensive car is not what I had in my mind when I thought of China. Turns out he is a very successful businessman who works in construction and building development.

He drove us a few minutes down the road to a famous lotus pond and garden in Baoding (http://www.chinahighlights.com/baoding/attraction/ancient-lotus-flower-pond.htm). He dropped me and the girls off and we went inside. Right away we saw a couple taking engagement photos in traditional Chinese clothing :

Me interrupting the couple as they take their engagement photos. Most Chinese couples take engagement photos in traditional Chinese clothing (in red) instead of modern clothing.

Next we walked around the pond. Here are the pics: 

Me and Alinda

Me and Cherry

The view across the pond. All that green in the foreground are Lotus plants/flowers growing on top of the water from the pond. It is quite amazing.

After the ponds and garden, we headed to dinner. Alinda's dad took us to a very fancy and expensive Chinese restaurant. He insisted I sit in the seat of honor - which is the one facing the door. Next was the most stressful part of the night: I was handed a huge menu and asked to order for everyone. I immediately went into a panic. Chinese food can be kind of strange. It's so hard to tell what you're ordering. And, it almost never tastes how I expected it would. I was overwhelmed and panicking. I chose a few dishes and then the dad told the translator that I shouldn't pick all the inexpensive dishes and that I should order whatever I would like. Normally this would be so nice - but instead this made my situation worse. I would love to order whatever I like - but I can't. I have no idea what this stuff is. I can't read the menu. I begged him, the translator, and the girls to help me decide, to no avail. Finally I just picked stuff and hoped for the best. We got some weird food, like a soup with a whole fish floating in it. And WHOLE friend shrimp - legs, eyes and all. But I found some things to eat and all was good.

After dinner, we stopped at a "square". This is where the night got good! Alinda's dad parked and we all got out. It was dark, so we couldn't see much, but I could hear all the people and music and fun. It was exhilarating. Alinda stopped and bought herself and Cherry and me some glow-in-the-dark bracelets and necklaces. Then we went over to a large group of dancers.

If I haven't already, let me tell you about this Chinese group dancing: In almost every open public area Chinese men and women will gather to dance, in the evenings, when it's cool. There are a couple leaders who bring music and speakers and who teach the dance. I've seen groups as small as 5-6 people, and as a large as more than 100 people. They do a line dance for recreation and exercise and anyone is allowed to jump in and try. And so I did!

After an attempt at Chinese line dancing, we walked a little further into the square and found a group of old men playing traditional Chinese music.

When they stopped I asked the translator if she would ask the old man playing the drums to take a picture with me:

me and the old man drummer

And then it got crazy.

As soon as I stepped out to take my picture with the drummer a crowd started to form around me. It felt like hundreds of people, but probably only 50 or so. They were watching, and taking pictures of me. I was the center of attention. Before I realized what was happening, the drummer handed me his drumsticks and was gesturing for me to play. I tried to refuse, but couldn't get out of it. So I beat on the drum a few times and but the sticks down. As I was trying to get away, the cymbal player next to him handed me his cymbals and tried to show me the proper way to hold them. But it was hard. I did my best. By this time a huge crowd had gathered around me. It was kinda scary.

getting a lesson on how to hold the cymbals

me trying to playing the cymbals and not doing very well.

I quickly handed them back and got away. The attention is nice but it's a lot to handle. I'm not used to people noticing me at all. It's hard to be the center of attention - especially since I don't usually like drawing lots of attention to myself. What a fun experience, though!

On our way out of the square we stopped to watch a group of Latin dancers. Apparently Latin ballroom dance is becoming very popular in China, as we saw it several times, in several places. The dancers were quite good. During one of their breaks the girls got the instructor to take a picture with me.

So far, this is the most fun time I've had in China. I really felt like a got a feel of local culture, interacted with the locals, and did some things WAY out of my comfort zone. I came back to our hotel exhausted, but so happy. This is the trip of a lifetime and I'm so happy I came!

Now off to bed - another day of teaching tomorrow!!!

Day 9 - Lovers and Followers

Day 9

Friday, July 11

Here is what we did today:

• morning interviews: students lined up outside and had a brief conversation with me before entering the classroom. The students LOVE this activity and are running, pushing, and shoving each other to get their place in line. I wish my American students showed this much enthusiasm about, well, anything at all.
• Today is, yesterday was, tomorrow will be practice with a partner
• shopping:  "How much does this cost?" 
• conversation cards with speed dating (see very funny story below)
• Halloween lesson
• Cha-Cha slide
• "Am I Wrong" song study
• "Happy" performance practice 

Two very funny things happened today. One at school, and one outside of school:

1)  For the speed dating activity, I had an odd number of students - so one student was always sitting alone. Just like in my classroom, I used this as an opportunity to give individual attention to whichever student is alone for that round. Today, I sat with many students talking about favorites, important people, opinions and ideas. During one of the rounds I sat with Vista, one of my most interesting students. Vista's card had the following question: What is the most important thing in your life? Why is this thing important?

So I asked Vista this question. Here's how the convo went:

• Me: Vista, what is the most important thing in your life?  and why?
• Vista: The most important thing in my life is my lover.
• Me: Your what?! I don't understand what you said.
• Vista: My lover.
• Me: What?!
• Vista: My lover. L-O-V-E-R
• Me: Do you mean your girlfriend?
• Vista: yes
• Me: So you have a girlfriend. What's her name?
• Vista: I don't have a girlfriend.
• Me: VISTA! I don't understand!
• Vista: My girlfriend is the most important thing I will have in my life.
• Me: Are you talking about a girlfriend you might have in the future?
• Vista: yes
• Me: OKAY! Well that's very nice of you to say. I'm glad that you already think that your future girlfriend is so important and special. But, this question is really asking about right now. Your life right now.
• Vista: oooohhhhh
• Me: But on the topic, let me give me some advice about girls. Girls like compliments. They like to know how smart they are, how pretty they are. They like gifts. Keep these things in mind moving forward. 

I don't know what he's been watching on tv, but he's apparently very girl crazy. Enough to tell his teacher about it. Further, his use of the word "lover" was TOO MUCH. He was a weird kid. Super sweet and kind and thoughtful. and smart too. but weird.

2) I went out with An Meng, one of our handlers, to get lunch today. We were walking through the busy street when I noticed two young girls (probably 12 or 13) noticing me. They were stopped and staring. By now this is not surprising, an although I notice it, it doesn't bother me. I usually just say hello and keep walking. This is what I did this time. An Meng and I kept walking. The girls followed. We went inside KFC to get lunch. The girls followed. We got in line to order. The girls sat down and waited.

We got our food and left. The girls followed. We walked a few blocks back towards the school, the girls were still in pursuit. FINALLY, one of them stopped me and said  hello. She told me she was a middle school student at a different school and that she and her friend were out shopping for the day. She said she really wanted to talk to me to practice her English. So we walked and talked the whole way back to the school.

Once we got to school she asked for my info so that she could practice her English some more. I gave her my email. I already had an email waiting for me when I got back to the hotel.

It was very interesting being followed on the streets, but even more interesting to be followed for my highly valued English Language fluency. It's so strange to be so desired for something I possess without even trying. I didn't do anything to learn or know English. Just was born to American parents in an English speaking country. I cannot imagine my students getting excited to speak with native speakers of the language they study. and they certainly wouldn't stalk them down on the street. These Chinese kids are something impressive. American students need to watch their backs - the Chinese kids are gonna take over.

Here are a few pics from the day:

I love this picture! It captures me and my interactions with my students so well :) LOL

The students made Halloween masks after our Halloween lesson, to wear for Trick-or-treating tomorrow.

Funny story about this pic: Fellow teacher, Gayna, did a lesson on money. To reinforce the topic, the students had a pretend bookstore, where they could buy and sell books. She told a hilarious story about the "salesman". He was trying to "sell" his book by describing its advantages and so he says, "Very nice book. High quality. Not made in China!"  I am still laughing about this statement. Even they know that China is known for making inexpensive items of less than the best quality :)

Day 8 - 3rd Day of Teaching

Day 8 - 3rd Day of Teaching

Baoding, China
No. 17 Middle School

Thursday, July 10

So I tried something new with the students today. First thing this morning I lined the students up outside of the classroom door. I did a brief, 1-2 minute, interview with them each, individually as they came inside. We shook hands, I asked them "How are you?", "What did you do last night?", "What did you have for dinner?" and any appropriate follow up questions that results from the information they gave me about their lives outsides of school. I really enjoyed the individual time with each of them. Most importantly, I got a really good assessment of each student's speaking ability. Much like in my math classroom, I used this information to decide how to group and pair students, as well as to know which students I should focus more attention on during the course of this summer camp.

You would not believe how impressive their speaking ability is, even the worst of them. Not to say that it's perfect, because its far from it. But I'm constantly in awe of their ability to communicate so effectively in a second language. So few Americans can do the same. I know that I can't. I can have a very basic conversation, in the present tense only, in Spanish. It's kind of embarrassing. We Americans need to take our foreign language studies more seriously. The rest of the world is showing us up.

Anyway, here are a few pictures of my "morning interviews":

Yesterday we did a money lesson, where I showed and gave the students US coins and we talked about the value of each. We counted coins and did conversions into Chinese currency, known as either RMB or Yuan. Today, one of my students brought me one of each Chinese coin. He put them in a little bag and brought them to me during one of our breaks. I was so touched. His thoughtfulness was really impressive, and honestly, it was one of the best gifts ever. Of course, I wanted some Chinese coins to bring home - and he set me up with what I needed. No need to search and hoard coins every time I make a purchase. During one of the breaks several students sat with me and explained each coins value and it's name. I taught them and they taught me - what fun!

Later in the day I broke out the conversation dice I bought at the teacher supply store in Columbia. It's a set of 6 large foam dice with conversation starter questions. They are designed for ESOL classrooms and ice breaker activities. I put the students in groups and asked each student to take a turn with the dice. He or she rolled and then asked her person in his group the question - and they answered in a complete sentence. Then the next person took a turn. After a few minutes the groups traded dice with another group and started again (each di had a different set of questions). As the groups talked, I walked around and listened to conversations. I stopped and took a turn with a group to assess how it was going. I answered questions about myself. I answered questions about vocabulary and unknown words. The students enjoyed it. They learn english out of a textbook and very rarely get to play games or have real conversations. They love the change of pace. With that said - what they are doing is working. It may be boring and probably wouldn't be allowed in most US schools, the students are learning. They enjoyed the break from the norm, though. I was happy to provide it :)

me with the class

me talking to a small group of precious girls. Sarah is facing the camera, and we see Yuki from behind 

My class and amazing assistant teacher, Mrs. Deng.

Yuki and me.

Me doing my teaching thing :)

One of the most important things about this teaching experience to me was to provide the students with meaningful, enriching, learning experiences that are fun, engaging, and memorable. But I also wanted to show my students some western food and culture. These are the things that students enjoy. So, today I did a lesson on descriptive words and opposites using Fruit Roll-Ups as my motivator.

I gave each student a fruit roll-up. Before I allowed them to open it we studied it's package. We looked at unknown words, colors, pictures, and even the nutrition facts. MANY students were shocked that the fruit roll-up didn't have any protein. This made me laugh. Why on earth would they think that candy has protein? Does Chinese candy have protein in it? Why do middle schoolers even care about protein content of food? (we all know American middle schoolers don't.) We made a list of descriptive words. We then opened the fruit roll-ups. Students tasted a small piece and listed descriptive words. THEN,  I showed them the tongue tattoo. I walked from group to group, placing a small piece of fruit roll-up with a picture on my tongue for a few seconds, then showing them the "tattoo". You would have thought I made someone disappear; they were so impressed! They had fun doing this themselves for awhile. 

After a few minutes,we wrapped up the tasting session. What stood out to me most about this lesson was that about 5 students chose not to eat theirs. I thought perhaps they were picky eaters and were nervous to try new foods. (I can relate as I am so scared to try new foods. especially foreign ones.) However, when I asked about it, they all explained that they wanted to take it home to share with their parents and grandparents. None of them have siblings. They participated in the observation part of the lesson, but not the tasting. I was so impressed with their thoughtfulness and kindness towards their families. I can't imagine US students doing the same thing -they'd eat it right up without a second thought. 

At the end of the lesson we took our list of describing words and listed the opposites - looking them up as necessary.

After lunch we ( my fellow teachers and I) taught the students foursquare and then let them play other outdoor games:

After outside time, we did a song study of Sam Smith's "Stay With Me" and then worked on our performance of Pharrell's "Happy". 

Here are a few pics taken around the school (by Mark). Everyone was taking pictures of the sky today because they NEVER see blue sky. Because of the big pollution problem in China, they mostly see foggy smoggy sky. After about a week and a half I was starting to feeling like I was living in a bubble, or "under the dome". This beautiful blue sky was such a welcomed surprise. They told us it had literally been months seen they'd last seen a blue sky. It's weird to imagine. I'll never take it  for granted again :)