Training in Provo #1

Both Anne and Clyde contribute to this blog.

Monday, 08/04/2014

For the first day only, we were offered breakfast before our training began at 8AM.  I think there are about 72 teachers this year.  Maybe 10 are return teachers (who don’t have to show up for this training session again) and a handful are single men or women.  Even though we are not set apart like regular missionaries, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland oversees us.  We are legally forbidden to talk about the Church to anyone with a Chinese passport

Our purposes in the program are to:

1) Provide a professional service by giving Chinese students exposure to native English speakers

2) Promote understanding and establish a presence in China for BYU (and the Church)

3) Expand our cultural experience and awareness of the People’s Republic of China.

Our training runs from 8AM to 5PM every day with some evening activities.  We have a daily 45 minute lesson of survival Chinese.  I’m not sure I (we) will survive.  Their language has four major tones and one neutral one ((kind of like singing).  One is high and flat, two is ascending, three swoops down and then up, four goes down sharply, and the fifth is short and neutral. The same word can have five completely different meanings, depending on which tone you use.

Just because we can speak English, doesn’t necessarily mean we can be good at teaching it.  It might be like saying, “I have teeth, therefore I can do your dental work.”  But English is the international language of competition, and China is all about competition.  They start teaching their children English at age 2.  But even after years of schooling continuing through college, they still have a problem holding conversations in English so that is where we come in. 

Other subjects of the day were lesson plans, travel plans (only one suitcase each!!! - but we can take two if we want to pay $100 per person/per suitcase/per trip), tours we can take while over there, and Chinese History and major philosophies.  That evening we all went to a home in Springville for a “BB-Q” of grilled turkey breast.  A young Chinese man temporally working at a McDonald’s in Orem was our FHE speaker.  He had been an interpreter for a teacher last year.  He said that in China their slang for Americans is “big nose”.

Tuesday, 08/05/2014

In referring to our Chinese students, our program director, Brother Ballentine said, “They learn English by speaking English”.  Today we were given ideas for setting up our first day of class (we teach 2 hour blocks per class) and how to get the students to interact. 

We learned to count in Chinese (but not very well).  They sent in several IT BYU studenst to teach beginners how to do Power Point on our computers.  A health nurse talked about immunizations.  Anne has one left to get when we return to Houston, but several people were surprisingly unprepared.  A former China teacher talked about technology and what we would need over there.  Clyde learned a thing or two.  We returned to Orem to visit with Clyde's sister's family (where we are staying) for a short time before crashing in bed.

Going to China!

Dear family and friends,

Many of you may have already heard that Anne and I are going to live in China for a year, starting this fall.  We will be teaching English at the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (UESTC) in Chengdu.  We are going as part of the BYU China Teachers Program.  My cousin and his wife, Robert and Janet Burside, did the same thing a few years ago; that is how we heard about the program. 

Chengdu is the fourth largest city in China – only 14 million people.

Unfortunately, Chengdu is not close to any of the better known cities or tourist sites in China.  But it is regarded as the home of the Giant Panda Bears.  (I was told that Chinese people think their country resembles the shape of a chicken – do you see it?  Chengdu is right in the middle of the gut – where the eggs originate.)  We hear it is hot/humid in the summer and cold in the winter.  Our apartment has a AC/heating unit, but the classrooms are not heated or air conditioned.

We are at BYU for two weeks of training the first of August.  Shortly thereafter, we will fly off to China.  There will be one other couple going with us to Chengdu.  They currently live near Bear Lake in one of the little towns around there.

We will teach two semesters, each 15 weeks long.  During the off-time and holidays (like Chinese New Year), we will have the ability to tour, but at our own expense.  The University will pay for our transportation to/from China, provide us with an apartment, and pay us enough to cover our food and other incidentals.  In January, all the BYU-sponsored teachers will meet in Hong Kong for a conference and to go to the temple.  There are about 80 people in the China Teachers Program (CTP).  You can check out the CTP program at /http://kennedy.byu.edu/chinateachers/#.

We have traded emails and have Skyped with the couple we will be replacing in Chengdu.  They have provided us with some pictures of where we will live.  I don’t think it is all that bad – much better than what we think Robert and Janet had.

We will live in the apartment in the building in the back, 2^nd story.

  Our bedroom, queen size bed (very hard, they tell us.)  

  Front room – all the comforts of home.

 

Kitchen – I understand we have to wash all our fruits and veggies in a Clorox solution.  We also drink bottled water – or suffer the consequences!

Bathroom with western-style toilet!  WooHoo!  Anne was worried we’d have a squat toilet, which is normal for most of China.

By the way, we were told that we could have visitors stay with us in our apartment for up to 30 days in case anyone wants to come visit us.  J

We have been busy filling out all the forms, contracts and other things necessary to get our visas.  Still, we have a problem with my visa.  I'm  listed as an "Accompanying Spouse".  Think of that - I'm a kept man! The problem is, I can't be paid with that type of visa. (BYU is actively working this problem.)

 We will have a young couple we know (no kids, no pets) live in our home while we are gone.  It is a win-win for everyone as we’ll have someone in our house taking care of it; they get cheaper housing than normal, and both their parents live in our ward.

We start tomorrow at 7:30 AM.  Pray for us, we'll need it! 

Clyde and Anne