Sorry it has been awhile since I have posted. I should have posted last week instead because last week was great. The weather was mostly warm up to the low 70's. Since I have so many breaks throughout my day, I started going outside to play with the kids. A normal day's schedule goes like this:


6:30-6:45 – Wake up

7:00-7:15 – Leave home

7:30-745 – Arrive at school

8:25-8:50 – Dolphin Class

8:50-9:20 – Play with kids on my break

9:25-9:50 – Seahorse Class

9:55-10:20 – Anemone Class

10:20-10:55 – Play with kids again on my break

11:00-11:25 – Conch Class

11:25-11:50 – Seagull Class

11:50-12:15 – Sea lion Class

12:15-2:30 – Lunch/Nap/Walk around neighborhood

2:30- 2:50 – Coral Class

2:55-3:15 – Jellyfish Class

3:30-3:50 – Starfish Class

3:50 – Go Home!


My day generally plays out roughly like this. Someone is currently sick in my Sea lion class so it is now my last class for the next two weeks. The kids have mostly been great. Last week I started playing with them a lot and they really like that. They like to race me, chase me, have me chase them, etc. They sometimes make me race them while carrying one on my back. This is the same for when they chase me. Today I played tug-o-war with the boys from my Dolphin Class. Since I am out of shape and last week was really warm, I got tired really quickly. So I would sit down on the ground and the kids would tackle me. They were really cute because they knew I was hot and tired, so started rubbing my back and saying “massage” in Chinese. Others would blow on my neck to try to cool me down.


Both this weekend and the previous weekend, we wandered the area quite a bit. There is no shortage of things to see. We have probably spent about 9 or 10 hours just adventuring around the area. I also asked one of the teachers I work with about a movie theater near me so she found one for me. Last Thursday, Cheryl and I went to see Avatar (阿凡达) because Cheryl had not yet seen it and it was leaving theaters. It was good, however, the parts that are subtitled in English in America were subtitled in Chinese here. Luckily, it was easy enough to understand what was going on.


Today was probably the most frustrating day I have had since I started. Normally, most of the classes are well behaved besides maybe a couple of students. Today, however, more kids were not listening, talking, not sitting down, or just generally being disruptive than normal. I almost lost it. Only two of my six morning classes went smoothly. My afternoon classes were great as usual, but my mood was already set for the day. That is why I said I should have posted last week and not today. Today is cloudy and a Monday, while last week was perfect.


This last weekend we had two other teachers come visit. They are from CIEE, but teach roughly 20 km away. Though, it takes them about two hours to get here by bus. They stayed one night because one of their cousins was in town. It was nice to see friendly faces besides the ones we usually see. We went out for a little while to a bar with them. On Sunday, we wandered for about five hours and ended up going with some other teachers (Lenore, Rachel, and Elisabeth) to a small traditional music show. They played three different instruments. They played the erhu (the only one I knew the name of), one that was practically a flute, and another that was played like a drum and a harp. The erhu was my favorite. Er means two and I am guessing that hu means string because that is all it is. It is similar to a guitar but with two strings and a cup on the end. It was very difficult to find and the area was a little scary, but I was glad I went.


I also wanted to talk a little about the Chinese teachers that I work with. I was initially nervous about working with them because many of them do not speak much English or choose not to. For my first few days they were not too friendly to me. That does not mean they were mean, they just didn't really talk to me because they assumed I could not speak Chinese. But I started talking with them a little in Chinese and now they are very kind to me. If I am in my office in the morning, they always ask if I have had breakfast and try to make me go eat. My school provides breakfast and lunch for me. At first I did not go because I was to nervous about preparing for class. But they began to bring me back food to eat every morning. I felt bad so now I go eat every morning with them. I also brought in candy to get on their good side. They told me the teacher before was not as social as I am. The previous teacher did not speak any Chinese so she read a lot. In the classroom, they mostly just watch from a distance and translate only if I ask them to. Sometimes they are not even in the room. It was a little intimidating at first when they would watch over me. But now I feel more comfortable. They are really helpful when the kids are misbehaving. Other teachers are having a problem with disciplining the kids too, so it is not me. I should also mention that there are about 2 or 3 Chinese teachers per class.


P.S. Our TV randomly decided to start working again. I am not sure why, but I am happy!

These are some pictures from two of my classes. The ones with me teaching are taken by the classroom teacher Joanna. They are my Coral Class. The two with me posing with them are from my last class, which is my Starfish Class. I also wanted to mention the wonderful names my students have. My most popular name is Dora from Dora the Explorer. I also have several kids named Nemo. I have one named Hunk, which is the biggest boy in my Starfish Class below. Yvonne, Yolanda, Jerry, Tommy (or variation of), Ada, and Shark are also names that came up. I am sure I have others that I just can't remember at the moment. I'll post more names and pictures as I remember or when I have them. Take care.

I am sorry that I haven't posted in over a week! I should begin by addressing some of the questions people have asked:

1. Training period for teaching: All last week the new CIEE teachers in China had an orientation. I wouldn't really call this teacher training but some things were useful to know. For my school, we were only given about a day and a half of training, which I will get to later.
   
   
2. I also wanted to let Gabe know that I have been to the Great Wall twice. Although, both of those times were during my last visit to China.
   
   

Last Friday, instead of going to the Bund and the World Financial Center with the rest of the orientation group, people from our company came to take us for a short orientation. Chris, a teacher from Georgia, and Touba, our waiban, came to pick us up and we went to the New Beat club house. Chris and a Chinese teacher (Stephanie) led the orientation where we learned about the organization that we work for. We also learned that we were to begin teaching on the following Monday. The four other girls were given desks at the Club House, and Cheryl and I were told that our desks and books were already at our schools. The other girls teach at various schools throughout the week, sometimes two or three a day. Cheryl and I only teach at one school all week, though we do not teach at the same schools. Touba, Stephanie, and two other teachers took us all to dinner at a vegetarian restaurant. The also told us where we would be living at dinner. The girls chose between apartments, but Cheryl and I had been placed in one apartment already. This was a bit of a surprise because we thought we would have separate apartments.

The next day we had practice lessons to present to our group. I felt pretty dumb teaching a kindergarten lesson to a bunch of English speaking adults so I didn't make mine very long. Later, we went to a place called Tianzifang. This area is made up of many small alleys with art galleries, stores, and small restaurants. It was very pretty, but they gave us a little too much time to look around. Once we were finished looking around, we went back to the hotel. We had our farewell dinner and then we all sang karaoke. It was fun, especially when Joe (one of our Chinese teachers) was dancing.
Sunday morning our school picked us up to move into our apartments. All of our apartments are very nice. However, our apartment happens to be on the first floor so it is very humid and there was a lot of mold. Even after bleaching everything, there is still mold, but it is getting better. We also have a very large TV, but when I finally tried to turn it on a few days ago I discovered it doesn't turn on. Hopefully we can get that fixed too. We went to the Club House for more orientation on Sunday as well. While everyone else besides Cheryl and me had received their books and CD's to begin planning lessons, Cheryl and I would not get ours until we arrived at school. However, some of the teachers made copies for Cheryl. All of the other teachers, including Cheryl, received their teaching schedules which told what age each class was and when those classes were. I was told that I would receive my schedule on Monday morning when I arrive at school. As you can imagine Sunday was not a very happy day for me. While I had to listen to all the other teachers complain about how stressed they were because they didn't have time to prepare, it took all my effort not to snap at them because I had no schedule, books, or anything to prepare. Additionally, I got placed at the school that was the hardest to teach. All of my classes are mixed ages from 2 and a half to 6 years old.

Monday morning, Touba met me at my apartment and we took the bus to my school. Touba told me not to worry and that she would help me through my first day. All of my classes are named after sea animals. I teach nine classes everyday. The six classes before lunch are 25 minutes long. The order is dolphin, seahorse, anemone, conch, seagull, and sea lion in the morning. My three afternoon classes seem a bit younger and are only 20 minutes each. Those three are coral, jellyfish, and starfish. The first day we just introduced ourselves and we asked them simple questions like favorite color, animal, etc. Angela, another Chinese teacher, helped me Tuesday through Thursday.

Friday was the first day I taught the whole day on my own. Although I had already taught on my own Thursday afternoon, I must admit that I am quite bad at it. I am not really a kid person so it is taking some adjusting. However, all of the teachers tell me that I am improving a lot already.

I have my own desk and the classrooms are very nice and large. It is not what I was expecting at all. My school also provides breakfast and lunch for me. The other teachers were a little cold at first, but after talking to them in Chinese and bringing them candy, they have warmed up to me. Now I am practicing my Chinese with them and they are slowly teaching me the Shanghai dialect.

If anyone has any advice or game ideas that could help in my class please send it my way. I am discovering it is difficult to teach only to the older students or only to the younger students because the opposite group gets bored and disruptive. Most of my students are well behaved. Some baffle me at how smart they are. I have learned that I cannot walk down the hallways because every class has windows to the hall and all the kids begin screaming Cary or Cary Laoshi (Teacher). They love giving me high fives too. They also like to tackle me with hugs now. Some of the girls kiss my hands or tell me they love me. One even told me, “Goodbye my love” on Friday. Even though I know I have a lot of improvement to do, these small gestures make me feel a little better. One girl even made me a card.

Cheryl and I work Monday to Friday while the other teachers teach Sunday to Thursday. This week has been very rainy and cold so we have mostly stayed in during our free time. Even though it is in the 40s, the weather is humid so it pierces right through your clothing. The area I live in has many small restaurants, a produce market, and a small store for groceries. I can usually eat for about 6 to 10 yuan for a meal. Seven yuan is about a US dollar.

That is all for now. Take care everyone.