Cultural inundation

What a thrilling past couple of days! Yesterday started with a phone call from a friend explaining that the head of all the Senior 1 teachers was a bit unhappy that there were students playing basketball during my classes. At first the teachers here thought that I had been asking large numbers of students to leave my classroom; however, this hasn’t been the case. Instead, many of the teens have been skipping my class. Since I don’t have class rosters and no one communicates with me about excused absences, there has been an attendance loophole that many of the children have used to their benefit. However, the practice has now become an issue because people have been visiting the campus and No. 1 Middle School wants to impress everyone. I understand this, but it would have been helpful if the problem had been discussed sooner. We have now worked out a system -- if I need to ask a student to leave the room, I will send him or her to the hall or an empty classroom next door. (Before now, no one had mentioned how I should handle discipline; the school has gate guards, so I assumed that no one would get into that much trouble if I sent the individual out. Plus, I’ve been using this system for about two months now.) Class monitors will begin taking attendance and I should be given class lists; no, I won’t understand the names, but at least I’ll know how many bodies should be sitting in my room during each meeting. Hopefully, this new arrangement will make everyone happy. (Actually, my classroom management issues have drastically reduced now that we’re watching movies for half of the period. I think it helps the students blow off some steam.)


So today was an “open campus” day where teachers from other cities, parents, and the greater Anqing public can attend classes and observe the instructors at No. 1 Middle School. I was vaguely aware that this was happening, but no one explained exactly what it meant. I knew extra people would be wandering around campus, but I didn’t think they’d want to observe me. When I woke up this morning, I was in Friday mode and almost wore jeans -- thankfully, I didn’t. As I arrived at my classroom door to set up for the day, a teeny bit later than usual, I discovered about five people waiting for me. I was slightly surprised, but began the process of readying my teaching materials. The students even arrived earlier than normal and soon there wasn’t enough room for all my guests (which had swarmed to a total of about ten). Not knowing what to do, I apologized to the visitors, but plugged through the lesson. (Some workers at the school eventually located some extra chairs and added them to my room.) Many of the visiting teachers enjoyed it so much that they asked for a copy of the presentation. 


My second class of the day only had three visitors, but I think they (mostly) enjoyed watching me.


After teaching, I had been planning to observe a friend’s history class, but I couldn’t find the room so I visited an English class instead. What a fascinating and insightful experience; it helped explain much about the Chinese education system, culture, and students’ behavior. In many ways, the lesson was well planned out and contained many aspects of the forward-thinking pedagogical practices that we learned about in our MAT program. Remember the similar-in-appearance-only concept that I’ve mentioned before? That rule also applied to the class I watched today. The teacher did a great job of introducing the content, asking questions, and supporting the students, but the essence of discovery that’s common in American-style teaching was missing. The educator introduced the topic by asking students the benefits of bicycles; she then had students read aloud a passage about Amsterdam and explain the main points of each paragraph. The students listened to a British person read the passage and paraphrased the content with specific prompts to assist them (most used exactly the same words that they had read). As I was observing, I wondered if the students truly understood what they were doing, or if they were simply parroting lines they had memorized. Sure, they had a shallow comprehension of the text and were even able to talk about if they thought that more people should ride bicycles in Anqing, but I was left feeling that something was missing. Like some deep connection hadn’t been made.


Seeing the class helped me further realize that my students lead tough lives. They may have a difficult time restraining themselves in my class or get frustrated with me that I ask so many questions. However, in the end, I’m showing them a little slice of a world outside of China and that’s worth it to me. Thanks to my time here, I’ve seen a side of life I didn’t think existed and I would like to share that feeling of discovery with my students here. 


I held another Friday Movie Lunch today. We finished A Bug’s Life and started Mulan. It was fascinating for me to observe the students’ faces as they watched the movie. One girl couldn’t stop giggling and another said, with a confused look on her face,“It’s so strange to hear ancient Chinese talking in English.”


Another girl said, “The people are too white.”


Occasionally, I would stop the film to ask the students if something portrayed in the movie was culturally “accurate”. They had fun explaining things to me and it was interesting for them to see how we view Chinese culture. 

Presents

It was a great day, filled with many joys. Recently, a number of students have been giving me small gifts of candies or cookies before class. Today I received an orange from a boy and two pieces of Almond Rocca from a girl. The Almond Rocca was extra special because it had been a gift from the girl’s elder sister after she, the older sibling, returned from a trip to the United States. I felt honored when the student gave it to me and said, “I hope it reminds you of home.” 


I received applause from a class when I was passionately explaining that American history is important and that it’s impossible to understand American culture if you don’t learn about the country’s past. I had just finished saying, “You know, American students are just like you guys. When I was teaching them about Chinese history they didn’t care. They said, ‘I’m never going to China. Why should I care? China’s not important.’ I got mad at them just like I’m getting mad at you. This stuff is important! You can’t understand America without understanding its past!” As I was pausing to take a mid-rant breath, one student started clapping and the action quickly spread throughout the room. The response was shocking, but it made my day because it showed me that the message had broken through the language and cultural barriers.


This may sound strange considering the fact that my needles have been furiously productive during my time here, but I miss knitting. I miss my knitting books, the semi-completed projects that are stored in plastic boxes, and my special crafting tools. I miss being able to read a yarn label or knowing the yarn’s content and weight. I miss placing an online order for supplies at KnitPicks.com and anxiously waiting a week for the shipment to arrive. To keep things in perspective, I keep reminding myself that I will be back to my comforts soon and that I have years to enjoy it all; now I must savor my time in China because we will be leaving shortly. We’re almost able to count our remaining weeks on our two hands. Strange, isn’t it?

Photo Tuesday!

Dragon!

Stairs and building!

Birdies!

A brave and crazy man!

A rollercoaster Monday

New leaves!

Man was today a Monday! It started out rosy and happy, but at around ten o’clock this morning, it took a sharp downward turn. We were in the middle of a Skype conversation with the elder Têtus when our internet decided to die. We’ve been experiencing some issues lately with speed (that we now think was caused by defective hardware), but didn’t think we could be completely cut off from our only connection to the outside world. (Yes, I’m addicted to the internet, but you try to live in a foreign country where you don’t speak the language and see if you could survive without the comforts that the “net” provides; it’s exactly that -- a safety net that keeps me sane.) Since Jean-Jacques’ attempts at fixing the problem failed, we decided to call my helper for assistance. At first he said that he probably wouldn’t be able to schedule the computer guy (who needed to visit the apartment to see the problem) until tomorrow. After a few calls (and an insistance on our part that we need the internet for our job search), we managed to get the school’s computer dude to visit a little while later. 


After blindly fiddling with Jean-Jacques’ computer for about five minutes, the computer guy finally accepted help from Jean-Jacques. (Not only was everything in English, but the man had probably never seen a Mac before, so it wasn’t surprising that he was lost. He messed with the computer’s background for a few minutes before Jean-Jacques navigated to the internet connection section of the laptop.)


To shorten this lengthy story, two guys from the Post Office (yes, the internet providers are controlled by the Post Office and therefore, the government) came to our apartment to look at the modem and replace it with a “temporary” one. They’ll be back in a few days with a new “official” one. 


So all of this excitement happened before I taught my first class. However, I would like to note that our experience with the downed-but-recently-fixed internet is typical here. We’re told that something absolutely cannot be done, but then, a little while later, the impossible becomes unceremoniously completed. At first it’s a little disconcerting, but with time, you learn to trust that everything will get done faster than you expect.

Spring!

Back to the story about my classes. This week I’m teaching about African Americans, the history of slavery and the Civil Rights Movement, Ebonics, African American celebrities, and black music. Remember, I’m only spending about twenty-five minutes of class on the topic and during the rest of the time we watch a movie. Unfortunately, today I had the luxury of teaching my two classes before a large math test. Most of the students were either too exhausted to pay much attention to me or were quietly discussing math problems with their neighbor. 


Though it was frustrating to continually fight for attention (and feel like I was standing in front of fifty-five squirmy kindergarteners), I did the best I could to keep the masses interested. Since it’s the beginning of the week and I’m new to the content, I still have to work out some bugs and this often negatively impacts the quality of my instruction. In other words, I haven’t figured out my “groove” yet (that usually happens on the fourth or fifth run-though), but I have some good ideas that I’ll try tomorrow. I’m learning a lot about teaching this year. 


This evening Jean-Jacques and I had fun eating Pala while watching The Amazing Race. I processed a number of photos I took today after class and I’m about to get in bed early to read more of The Restaurant and the End of the Universe. Those of you who know Jean-Jacques well will wonder how his wife has lived twenty-seven years (and been married to said gentleman for eight years) without having read the entire Hitchhiker’s series; all I can say is that I’m currently righting this wrong and loving every word of the journey.


Hugs to all!

Katie and the art of relaxing

This is a wall hanging someone left behind in the apartment.

Yes, it has been quite a long time since I last wrote but because there wasn’t much to report, I didn’t think it was essential that I post an entry this weekend. Friday’s classes went well, only three students attended the movie lunch, our Saturday tutoring session was enjoyable, I lesson planned, corrected a student’s essay, and have taken many naps since Thursday. See, nothing terribly earth-shattering has occurred. 


I’m making considerable progress on the baby blanket that I’m knitting for our friends. I designed the project myself and the pattern is extremely easy, so I don’t have to concentrate on it much while I’m knitting. If an item needs to be quickly made, I’ve found that it will get finished faster if the stitch pattern is simple. 


Today I’ve been planning some upcoming fiber projects. I’ve outlined patterns for a couple of garments: a robe and a pair of shorts. I’m not sure my ideas will work, but I’m excited to try them even though I might have to rip everything out. That’s the useful thing about knitting -- if you make a mistake, you can easily correct it by frogging (or undoing) all the work.


Last night we watched Practical Magic. It was a terrible movie, but I enjoyed it because I had fun knitting and talking with Jean-Jacques. Plus, it was fun to see island scenery again. I’m not sure what we’re going to watch this evening; I’m sure it will be entertaining, though.

Real English

How could I possibly have forgotten all the joys of filling out job applications? The long hours of staring at a computer screen; the mind-numbing strain of carefully reading through multiple drafts of resumés and district applications to correct all the teeny mistakes; and the near-hysterical laughter caused by sarcastic jokes that Jean-Jacques and I make with one another to keep from ripping out our hair in frustration because we miss a few typos and we have to remake the entire PDF to include the corrected version. The process is often long and can be a bit painful, but we have fun and feel satisfied when we turn in a completed packet. Sure, it probably sounds like I’m complaining, but I’m really not; I’m simply being realistic. The process isn’t always fun, but it’s completely worth it in the end when work is secured. I’m crossing my fingers that we won’t continue our current trend of going through a job search every year like we have done for the past five years. (Although, I have to admit that I do get a sick pleasure out of turning in a completed application. It just feels like I’ve accomplished something orderly and I enjoy it.)


It was an entertaining Thursday. Lately, I’ve been explaining (rather passionately) in class that English is a living language and that it exists outside of books. To fully demonstrate my point, I hold up a newspaper that the students fill out for grammar practice; the assignment written on the paper is a typical fill-in-the-blank exercise. I say, “This isn’t real English. I, along with millions of other people, use real English every day. I need it to communicate with people.” The students get so fired up about my words that they usually all start clapping for me. I’m often surprised by their reaction, but it’s heartening because it helps me feel that my job here is worthwhile. Sometimes I feel like an accessory whose purpose is to improve the school’s reputation, not help students improve their English skills. However, today I realized that I am making a difference. I’m showing a few hundred Chinese students that the world goes far beyond Anqing’s doorstep and that English is more than a subject they will be tested on in a couple of years. Many of the students here don’t see how the topics they learn about in school connect to the real world, but I’ve been trying to change that these past couple of days. Judging by the students’ reactions, I think they’re grateful for my words.

Seventy-two steps to our apartment...

that I climb about three to five times a day. 

Thankfully, today’s classes went a bit more smoothly than the two from yesterday. Before we started watching Stardust, I carefully explained to the students that they probably would feel lost during the film, but that it was OK and I would pause the movie to help them understand the plot. This seemed to put them at ease and they seemed to enjoy class a lot more. Also, I think it helped that I mentioned that English is a real world language that real people use. In many ways this message was something new to them.

Here’s my favorite quote from the day:

When I asked a student how she was doing, she responded, “Wonderful! There’s a fire in me.” And she bounced into the classroom.