Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Edinburgh, Scotland is the answer to the infamous question, “Where should we (Jean-Jacques and I) go for the Spring Festival vacation?” Yes, that’s right. Edinburgh, Scotland. Certainly the question marks and puzzled looks will begin at this point, but rest assured that we have not made this decision without much contemplation, research, and soul searching.
Every spare second of Monday and Tuesday (remember that Monday was a holiday without school) was spent on the time-staking process of eliminating possible destinations.
We considered Chiang Mai, Thailand, but it was too difficult to find flights. Also, we wanted a bit of a change from our pace here. Plus, an English speaking country would be wonderful.
At one point, we had narrowed our choices to Dublin, London, and Edinburgh. To help us made the final decision, we watched a episode of Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations and we were sold on Edinburgh. It just felt right. It’s not too big, is extremely romantic, has wonderful food, has many options of things to do, and is quite reasonably priced. Plus, we were able to find a five start hotel within our price range. I think it’s going to be a magnificent vacation and I can hardly wait for it! We’re leaving three weeks from today, so it’s going to be exciting.
In other news, the lesson has been going rather smoothly this past week. We’re learning about winter activities and the students seem to really enjoy the content. We watch some funny videos, learn some vocab words, look at pictures of winter around the world, we do a version of the word game where students try to make new words using the letters in “hot chocolate”, I tell some knock knock jokes, post a couple of riddles that I help the students understand, I explain some common mistakes that we see Chinese students make, and we play charades if there’s time. I’m happy that it’s going so smoothly.
I’ve officially decided that next week we’re going to have a “party” and watch High School Musical 2 to celebrate. Finals will be starting soon and the students are already nervous about things, so I’m going to give them a break.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
It’s 7:24 PM and Jean-Jacques and I are comfortably set up in bed, ready to fall asleep soon. Yes, it’s early, but we have had a long week filled with trip planning. Plus, it’s so cold here that the only place where you feel warm is in bed. We’re using three blankets at night and that keeps us comfortable.
As Thursdays go, it was a rather fantastic one. My morning class was terrific and so was my middle session of the afternoon. The section directly after lunch was also quite well behaved and we had a fun time together; the only unfortunate experience I had was with one of the worst group of kids I have here. I think they have a difficult time comprehending English, so it’s easy for them to get off task.
I did have some heart-warming experiences today, too. During one class, when I mentioned that Jean-Jacques and I were going to Scotland, some of the students got sad and one of them asked, “Will you come back after the holiday?” I responded affirmatively and he seemed relieved. Some of the female students volunteered to clean my classroom. They picked up the trash off the ground and straightened the desks. It was fun to see them help out so much and it made me feel good about my role here in China. The girls are so excited about the movie tomorrow that they can hardly wait. I think that it’s going to be a highlight of their week.
We had a date and ate dinner at the Muslim noodle shop. I ordered what I thought was going to be a beef noodle soup, but got a different concoction instead. It was delicious!
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Sorry about not writing yesterday, but we ended up staying up late with our Irish friend last night (who needed some counseling), so I didn’t have time to write up a quick entry.
Events from yesterday: I taught two classes and they went smoothly. I was thrilled to be finished with the week’s topic; yes it was a fun subject, but by the fourteenth time through a lesson, any content becomes repetitive.
Directly after class, I met Jean-Jacques at the travel agency so we could buy our plane tickets from Anqing to Shanghai for our trip to Scotland. Alice, the travel agent, was extremely kind and generous (I don’t think that she charged us a commission for the arrangements). We had to pay an exorbitant price for the airfare, because it’s so close to the Spring Festival, but it’s worth it to us and we’re thrilled for the vacation.
After the appointment at the travel agency, I had approximately an hour before my “movie lunch” so we returned to the apartment. I relaxed a bit before heading out again.
Unfortunately, I had some technical difficulties while trying to show the students the movie. Approximately eighteen of them showed up and I think that they were excited for the opportunity to see a cartoon movie. (I had originally planned to have The Emperor’s New Groove.) However, the words and pictures were out of synch and made it impossible to follow the plot. Panicking, I had to find something else for them to watch and I ended up choosing (partially because it was the only back-up movie I had) Prom Night in Mississippi. I think the students were interested in it, but it did have a picture of a lynching which was probably a bit much for them. Also, the southern accents made it practically impossible for them to comprehend the spoken English. In the future, I think I’m going to stick with cartoon movies since that was one of the best ways I learned Spanish.
This morning we met with the eight students we selected to tutor. It was a fun meeting and I think that the students are going to enjoy working with us. The group is composed of all girls and they are mostly in the “arts” track of school. Many of them have heart-wrenching stories and I’m extremely happy to be working with them. I think that I’m going to put a little more effort into preparing a bit more for the sessions, but it’s going to be an enjoyable group. Actually, I’m happy I’ve added the “movie lunches” and tutoring to my schedule because I feel great about giving more to the students than what I’m required to do. It feels good to do a little extra.
This evening we went out for hot pot with our Irish friend and some of her colleagues. I would have to say that hot pot is addicting and I think we’re going to have to make it in the States.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Yowling cats are serenading me as I write this entry. I think that some of them must be in heat right now because for the past three nights we’ve been graced with the nocturnal sounds of singing felines, and it’s not the most pleasant of sounds.
A girl couldn’t have asked for a better birthday. I slept in, my sweetie braved the cold to purchase me a bacon and egg Taiwanese pancake for breakfast and fried rice for lunch, I Skyped with my grandparents, the Têtus all sent me sweet e-cards, and I had a relaxing day. I managed to block my sweater arms in a minimal amount of time and I started Jean-Jacques’ weasel hat.
The only unfortunate portion of the day was from 6:15 PM to around 8:30 PM and that was due to the fact that we were invited out to a banquet. We discussed an exchange to an American school for the host's son, so hopefully that paid for our dinner, but we were asked to tutor the boy as well. Our school contact suggested that the boy attend our Saturday tutoring sessions, but we said no to that; we did offer the Friday movie lunch as a possible alternative, though. Hopefully that will pacify them.
That’s about all the news I have from today. As I mentioned, it was mostly a day of relaxing and regrouping. Amazingly enough, we’ve been rather busy this weekend, but it hasn’t felt like it. I feel rested for the new week and ready to tackle the final five days before our month-long vacation. I can hardly wait for the break and Scotland. Whoo hoo!
