Teaching

We started teaching this week! The kids are incredibly cute! We teach for about 25 minutes and then the groups rotate and we get a different group of 5 kids. There are four rotations. My friend, Bri and I have 4 kids, and we were able to name them. We were tempted to think of funny names, but we didn't have the guts. However, someone in our group named one kid, Panda, and another, Happy. Haha! I know I am not supposed to have favorites, but Panda is a g! He always knows the answer, and he is eager to learn more. The kids are about 6- years- old. They know the alphabet, all the colors, various songs, and we wanted to see how far they could count. The kids continued to count past 70 and then Bri and I said that was sufficient, haha. At dinner, we teachers sit around and discuss the kids and all of the funny/clever/wity/ridiculous things they do and say! After we realized what we were doing we assumed we were doing what the stereotypical teachers do at recess and lunch in the teacher's lounge.

It has been a great week! We went to pizza hut and it was definitely not fast food. There were waitresses and elegant lighting and about a ten page menu! They had chocolate shakes, waffles fries, buffalo wings, pizza, pasta, desserts.. it was delicious! The desserts are not nearly sweet enough here, but it was still great. Then we walked along the ocean downtown and saw people doing Tai-chi to the accompaniment of the violin over the speakers.

I have learned quite a bit after walking around the campus. Last night, my group and I returned to the school at 10 p.m. As we were ascending up the millions of stairs to our rooms, we looked in on a building with the lights on. There were two whole floors filled with students in their desks, as a teacher was lecturing in front. We could not believe that the students were still on campus at 10 p.m.! The next day I asked Bobby why we never see him anymore. He said he is always studying. I asked what he does when he is not studying, he said he is in class. I am so envious of the brains and talents that the students at this school acquire, but I am not in the slightest bit jealous of what type of discipline and how long it takes to become they way they are. In the future, if I find myself getting frustrated with the children, I have to remember that they are only between four and seven years old, they live away from their families, they don't have a playground, they are in school all day, and they have high expectations weighing down on them.

We are going to Beijing tomorrow after class! We are taking the train straight there, and sleeping on "hard beds" which will be similar to the slab of wood we have at the school. We are going to see the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, and do some shopping at the Silk Market. We are staying at a hostel for like $5 each. I can't wait!

I'm going to go to my mandarin class now. Zeijian! (Bye)