My first 4 weeks in China

I arrived four weeks ago.  It has been more than I could have ever imagined.  I have learned so much already, I can hardly believe I am able to have this amazing experience.  The time is passing so quickly.  So many things are going on, everything is new, and there is so much to learn.  I was expecting the language barrier to make daily living much harder.  Don't get me wrong, I continually catch myself wishing I just knew Chinese, but it is much different than I thought. I do not know how to explain it but the important thing is I am able to get around better than I expected.  I am starting to learn my surroundings and becoming more comfortable.  

As you could probably guess, there is a lot going on here.  Everyday is an adventure and in case you are wondering, yes, I’m loving it.  Today I will highlight a few of my recent adventures.  Since my last post, I have been given 5 free Paralympic tickets, attended two Paralympic events (one of which was FREE!), gone to the Bird’s nest, gone to a historic Chinese museum (more free tickets), gone to the zoo & aquarium, started Chinese lessons, received 2 Chinese names, and gone shopping and out to eat by myself.

Random but sweet, last Thursday a student gave me 5 tickets to the Paralympics for Friday morning.  Just like that.  She was in earlier in the week and we were making small talk and Olympics came up and I told her we had tried to get tickets to the Opening of the Paralympics but were unable to but it looked like we were going to be able to go that Sunday (14^th) and I had a great time at handball and was hoping I would be able to go to a Paralympics event.  So back to Thursday (11^th) she comes in and tells me it is my lucky day and whips out the 5 tickets and says happy teacher’s day even though it was yesterday.  So, as you can imagine, I was able to scrounge up four other teachers that at least said they ‘didn’t have class’ during the scheduled time and off we went Friday morning to the Paralympics.  (No teachers missed class because they were attending the Paralympics.  If they did, I wouldn’t tell you about it.) 

So after using our amazing free soccer tickets on Friday I was able to go with a group to see Athletics in the Bird’s Nest on Sunday (14^th).  It’s a lot bigger in person.  It looks sweet on TV but when you see it in person it takes your breath away.  It is really big and just awesome.  I had a great time and am glad I was able to go.  I could only think of how crazy it would have been during the Opening Ceremonies.  Wow.

In between my weekend of Paralympics I was able to squeeze in a visit to a museum of various Chinese artifacts.  It was a little difficult to take in between I am don’t know any Chinese history and all of the descriptions are obviously in Chinese.  A student took us and explained some but there is only so much he could do because we had a tour guide and she kept us moving at a good clip.  It was fun to spend time with a student and learn more about Chinese history and culture.

I have been having a lot of fun trying to communicate in my very broken (which is being generous) Chinese.  On the way home from the museum I had a blast trying to talk with our taxi driver.  We named him Gus.  He didn’t seem to be feeling it much at first but after a little coxing he warmed up to it.  I tried talking to him some but wasn’t able to say very much.  He understood some English but couldn’t speak very much and I cannot understand or speak Chinese, so we had a good time.  I had Julie, a veteran on the team, help me tell Gus that my Chinese is very good.  (I have been trying telling people that I am fluent but since we do not know how to say that, we just say my Chinese is very good.  It seems to get the point across.)  So I gave Gus a good laugh.  Most people really like it when you try to speak and learn and will help you.  We helped each other practice saying our numbers.  It is easier than I thought.  You can use the time or fair for the taxi or signs you see.  We tried to learn each other’s names.  I also told him I was from China, but for some reason, he didn’t buy it.  Maybe it was my good Chinese.

This was only a four-day week because Monday was mid-autumn festival.  A student took us to the zoo and aquarium.  I got the see the pandas, which was quite exciting.  They gave them a large slice of watermelon and panda picked it up and leaned against a big rock and put the watermelon on his belly and then picked it up and took a bite out of it.  It was funny to watch them eat watermelon.  There was a rocking chair and slide in the pen and I was really hoping he would hurry and finish the watermelon and do some tricks but that was not on his agenda.  We walked around the corner and there were some Chinese brown bears.  They do not have fences but a little wall you walk up to and then basically look over a 20/25’ cliff that then slowly slopes up away from you into a little hill, which is still about 10’ below you.  (hope that makes sense)  That said, one of the bears came right up against the little cliff and was fully extended leaning up on the wall/cliff and people were pouring their drinks down to him and he was really good at catch all of it.  I think he had some practice.  Some people had some fun and would move the drink while they were pouring it down but the bear caught it all.  I found it funny to watch.  How often to you see a big brown bear catching Coke in his mouth? 

Thanks for remembering me and visiting my blog!

Happy Teacher's Day!

I am finding many things are different here than what I have been exposed to. Different does not mean bad by any means: if anything, exciting. Today was Teacher’s Day and my students, which let me say, I have had for less than two weeks, made me feel exceptionally special. I received a card, a fountain pen, and a warm welcome to class. By warm welcome, I mean, I walk into class 15 minutes early only to hear one student whisper, “one, two, three” and everyone yells in unison, “Happy Teacher’s Day!” while they are all clapping wildly. If that doesn’t brighten your day, then you’re a grouch. I have three classes on Wednesday, all Junior 1 (7th grade) Oral English classes. I have first, second, and third period but in-between second and third period are ‘exercises.’ They all go out on the center of the track and make amazingly long, straight lines and go through a semi-dance/exercise routine. So this translates into a thirty-minute break for me between my second and third class. I normally eat something small and get back to class fairly early. Today, for whatever reason, my Juniors did not have exercises and were just sitting waiting for me when I came down at my normal time and surprised me. It was so good to be able to just play some music and walk around class and talk with them.
Although I am having a great time, it has had its challenges. I have so many students it has been slightly overwhelming attempting to learn their names, and to further add to it, I only have them in class once a week. I am searching for a way to make my Olympics class interesting and moving because it is not a difficult subject but is almost solid vocabulary. It is hard to lecture/teach vocab for forty minutes twice a week to three classes and keep it interesting. I am trying to find the balance of how much to teach on each sport and how vocab heavy to go, but overall, I was expecting more difficulties so maybe they are on their way. I am hoping things continue to go well because I am really enjoying teaching. I have a having a blast in class. I have a sweet job. Thanks for thinking of me and checking my blog!

I am in Beijing, China

It is amazing but sometimes funny how quickly things change and time rushes by us. It has been a little while since my last post. The main reason for the gap was due to my inability to read Chinese. For real. Several web pages thought it was funny to load in Chinese and for a while, they were winning. But have no fear, I have been able to switch the characters to English which, big surprise, is much easier for me to read. After several failed attempts, it appears as if I have found a solution and hope it is here to stay.

So if you do not know, I made it to China on August 22 with no trouble. I have enjoying myself and just finished my first week of teaching. In the short time I have been here, I have been able to do so many awesome things, I am loving it. To give you a quick list, I have
-gone to the Olympics (women's handball)
-eaten more Chinese food than I ever had before
-survived and enjoyed my first week as a teacher
-many exciting trips on my bike
-buying food and things for my apartment

Let me explain. First, even though the only ticket I could get was to women’s handball, don’t be fooled. It was crazy and honestly, quite intense. I didn’t know anything about handball—I had never heard of it and didn’t have a clue but wanted to go the Olympics. The best way I can think of to describe handball is a combination of several sports. Take a few things from basketball, football, ultimate frisbee, and soccer and let that cook for 20 minutes at 350 and out comes handball. They dribble as you would in basketball, but only for 2 steps such as in ultimate frisbee, and the goals are similar to soccer but play as if you would in tackle football. I witnessed several take downs, we are talking take the lady to the ground. One takedown had particular style. I like to call it: the clothesline. If you ever have a change to witness handball, go. It is an amazing game and quite entertaining.
I have many other stories, which I could share but will close up shop for today. Thanks for checking my blog!