We spent an
hour this morning “learning” survival Chinese with a young lady from Taiwan. Some of us just aren't getting it. It is our least favorite section. For example, they spent a lot of time teaching
us the phrase which means, “Do you speak English?” Why would I ever say that?! I’d just say it in English and see who answers me. Daaah! Two more hours of ideas on teaching ESL
classes followed by a break for lunch.
After lunch
we had a two hour lesson on teaching writing as ESL. We hope to only be teaching oral English, but
the training in writing will be good for us too. Some of our instructors are really
great. We wish we could hold all their
ideas in our heads.
Next we had
what we all felt was the best help so far.
Former China teachers who worked in different cities and just got back
in June/July came to tell us what it is really like. We split up in small groups and got to spend
a half hour with each couple. More
couples will come next week. They gave
us practical ideas on what to bring and what to teach. Mostly each one said how much they enjoyed it
and loved their students. It really
helped us to hear that. I also liked
hearing from someone who is going back for a 3rd tour of duty that
she hasn’t learned how to speak Chinese and is doing quite well. For example, she said she had only
learned to count to 10 in Chinese. (WooHoo – we can do that already!) In her last city she was named volunteer of
the year! She joined a dance team and
held babies in orphanages. She even went door to door with members of the communist party to teach people about earthquake emergency preparation. She talked to the English speakers.
Afterwards
we met at the Cougar Eat for dinner with the teachers that served in the school where we will be teaching. Four of us from
this year will be replacing six of them from last year. They filled us in on the accommodations and
people we will be working with. The
classrooms we will be teaching in have no clocks, no heat, no air conditioning,
and no garbage cans. They also brought
us some maps, booklets, and lists of things left in the apartment for us. They are a great support team!
I forgot to
mention the other couple who will be teaching with us: Jerry and Marilyn Hadd from Montpelier,
Idaho, where they raise alpacas. He has
a PhD and she just retired as an English teacher. I’m glad they will be on our side!
Thursday: Day Four.
Group photos this morning. Then
the usual Chinese lessons and teaching ideas, lunch followed by writing
training. In the afternoon we learned
more about technology that might help us over there. We had a lecture about the politics in China. Interesting fact, only 5% of the
population in China belong to the communist party. But that 5% run everything. We had an activity with all the CTP teachers
in the evening, making it a long day.
Friday: Today’s quote about leaving our grandchildren
behind: “Grandchildren have a
gravitational pull disproportionate to their size”. We miss our grandchildren already (Oh - and the
other family members too.)
Same
schedule as the prior days. We were
supposed to have a guest lecturer come and talk to us in person about China in
the afternoon, but he was still in China on business. So the tech people set up a Skype with him
and he shared with us updates about BYU and the expat church in China. I thought it was very interesting.
After his address, we were treated to a Chinese dinner,
complements of Panda Express. We were
told that real Chinese food will not taste like that. We get Saturday off, yea! We hope to be able to get some much needed sleep,
do laundry, and walk in the mountains.
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