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| Dang...they so photogenic, aren't they ;) |
Today was a very interesting day. I went to (title teacher for a day”) . I kept bugging
my mom to ask her older sis, if I could go ahead and teach elementary kids some
English (since I’m seriously thinking that as my major-education ) and finally
I casually asked my aunt (the day before I actually started teaching) if I
could teach English to the kids of the her school that she runs (she is the
prinicipal of an elementary school in Guangzhou, China)
I was pretty excited, that’s why, the night before, as well
as the morning of my teaching assignment, I spent creating lesson plans for the
kids. Me and my sis are invited for teaching English, we find out that there
are four different classes that the teachers this in the morning, and then
three different classes that teachers in the afternoon, a total of seven
classes.
The next morning rolls in and we’re slow to get ready, as
well as my aunt(who IS PRINCIPAL of
(guang dongzhongxueyingxuedahuaxue). turns out my aunt’s husband was
sick, justifying her delay. The first two early classes has already been there
and done with, and now as we were on the road to the class, turns out the whole
elementary school was doing exercise (chao ke). The Chao ke lasts for one hour,
and that quality time is spent warming up muscles, and doing chao exercises.
When we arrive (aunt, sis, mom, and me) were witnessing them walking back
towards their classrooms as chao ke had ended.
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| Class grp photo, fourth grade, got the girls to join the pic too! |
Me and my sis parted ways (she wanted to teach middle
school, while I wanted to be in elementary), and I sauntered into the
classroom, I was welcomed with (lao shi hao), and lots of clapping to welcome
this visitor (I) for teaching them English; the teacher draws back, kicks back
and observes, and gives me room) and I’m introducing myself to the class, they are
delighted to have me (I can tell), and then I teach them some English
phrases/responses. After that, I begin playing Simon says with them~they follow
and are happily playing it and then the teacher resumes his normal teaching and
then class is dismissed. BUT the students don’t
leave, instead they are interested in learning more about mecoming from
America, they ask all these questions, and they treat me as I’m some sort of
celebrity (ah hee hmm…I’m not), and then they are showing me their drawings
that they have done that are hanging
around and outside the classroom. We end up playing that Chinese game (ASK
JIAAPPPOOOOOOO) as well. I managed to get a picture of most of the students
before I left. I was pleased. I was also pleased as well for the second class
(si jie ke) that I taught afterwards. It may be worth mentioning that when
class is over (yi jie ke wan chen yi hou), they would put on children’s songs over the
lastspeaker’s that if it weren’t for loud , large , booming volume that is displayed over a large intercom, you would
have mistaken it as a lullaby.
There’s this huge lunch break-Can you believe it? Its over
TWO HOURS long!-where my aunt/her husband/sis/mom spend at a restaurant and
looking at their property-me and my sis continue to teach.
I was assigned just then (di yi jie ke xia wu) to be with
second grade(which was outside my comfort zone because its only the 3rd
graders and up who are taught English) and it was an unexpected as well as
culture shock-like encounter: I was trying to carry out my lesson plans to
them, but they could not understand what I was saying and the very first few
rows, there was a group of chinese school children on my broken Chinese, which
I felt discouraged for a few seconds), and then the teacher said “Is ur parent’s
white or something” in chinese and then asked me to just stop teaching and sit
in the back of the classroom-I was really hurt all of a sudden~ and then that’s
when Satan decides to intrude on my
house of happiness and peace and was like “you know how God claimed that he
started a work on you and intends to complete it-well Satan kept repeating “God
will never finish the work that he started, and Im pretty crafty, so you must
believe me” and those lies for a good 15-minutes kept running through my head!
I finally got the nerve (and mind you, I said this aloud so I would be
convinced myself as I said “I refute you Satan and your lies!” And it just felt more freeing.
While I was making my way toward the back of the class and
sitting down, a couple of these second graders (which in comparison to U.S. ,
looked like kindergarten students and acted like them) stole a glance towards
me, and I just smiled and waved at them.
And some of them smile back and waved in return J My hope and prayer is that
they recognized that the spirit is in me (and isn’t repressed is the spirit of
Christ)-may be bit of a stretch, but impossible is just a prayer request.
Worth the experience.
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