My classes are going well and I love teaching in the senior school. My students are so receptive and animated…their enthusiasm is contagious. I have started Mandarin lessons twice a week with a teacher in the primary school and I love it! But, learning Chinese is SO hard. I’ve caught myself getting upset and frustrated while trying to write the Chinese characters but I calmed myself down and remembered that I’VE ONLY BEEN HERE FOR ONE MONTH!! I’m not superwoman. It’s going to come, I just need to be patient and keep working hard.
We have made such great friends already. One of my colleagues at the South Campus, Marcia, has become one of my best friends. Her English is phenomenal and she has a wit that is comical. She has been helping Julianne and I get accustomed to life in the city by taking us shopping, teaching us the very important skill of bargaining, and showing us great ‘hole in the wall’ shops that are hidden treasures.
The group is clicking so well. We are all a little different but each person adds something special to the group. It’s amazing how fast seven people can grow into a family. We all know that the holidays are going to be particularly tough, but I could not ask for better people to be with if I’m not with my family.
Kim was given the kindergarten English teacher job and a part of her job is to hold a weekly “salon” for all the grade 1 kindergarten students. This weekly “salon” is an hour long American culture lesson. What’s great about the salon is that the six of us can go help Kim and spend time with the cutest kids on this campus. This weekend, Kim’s salon was about HALLOWEEN!
(This is Neil...he is my absolute favorite. Mom-I'm bringing him home!!!)
We all got dressed up in costumes, decorated the kindergarten with Halloween decorations and taught students how to mummify someone, bob for apples, and play some donut game that apparently is a Halloween game??? Every student was wide-eyed and beyond ecstatic.
A.J. is demonstrating the donut game.
I still can’t believe these students live here on campus. They are so young and only see their parents once a month. Their teachers really have become their family. I was so happy to spend this time with them on Saturday morning.
That night we threw a traditional American party for all of our Chinese friends! Julianne made invitations, the guys bought the booze, and we decorated the apartment with handmade Halloween decorations. (Tongliao doesn’t sell anything remotely close to Halloween decorations!) Finding costumes was also impossible! Some of the teachers were creative. I was impressed with some of the costumes that they came up with…one teacher was Pinocchio, others were angels, princesses, and one wore a creepy green wig.
The seven of us went all out with this party and were so excited about celebrating one of our holidays with people who have never even heard of it before! (I was J.J. Redick, Julianne was a soldier, Kim was a princess, Cait was a cat, A.J. was a superhero, Mike was Kevin Federline, and Ian was a bank robber!) The teachers LOVED our costumes and we had a blast.
(The picture below are the four girls...Kim is a princess, Julianne is a soldier, I am J.J. Redick, and Cait is a cat) I know my costume is SO NOT creative but it was impossible to find a costume here. So I borrowed one of the guys' shirts.
We had teachers from the primary school, middle school, and senior school in our apartment for our party and it was a great way to get to know all of them. Our crazy boss, Mr. Zheng made an appearance as well. He is a chain-smoking, baijiu (Chinese spirit) obsessed man who destroyed all of us in beiruit and made us “Ganbei!” (Cheers!) every five seconds.
So that’s a short update about this weekend but I am going to try to write another entry this week. I have a full week of work and then have a five day vacation starting Saturday! We are finalizing our itinerary now but expect an update later this week before I leave! I miss you all and hope all is well!
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