Saturday, March 12, 2011

Back in China

The Return to China


At the airport we were sad to leave the delicious food and warm weather and to return to China. The good news was that we were having training and would see many friends again. In-service Training (IST) lasted 2 weeks in Chengdu. We stayed in a hotel near Sichuan University Campus which is where the PC China office is located. Every day from 830-5 we had teacher training, information, and Chinese lessons. There was also a visit from Rob Gifford, former NPR Beijing correspondent and currently London correspondent and also the author of the book China Road. The vice-president of Sichuan University also came to talk to us about the Chinese education system and the Ministry of Education’s push for reform, of which we are apart. It was a good transition between vacation and getting back to site and teaching. I was able to get some much needed work done during this time to get the ball rolling for the semester. I was getting slightly more motivated and excited to return to teaching after such a long vacation.

Back at my site I have an overwhelming feeling of lack of motivation, but I am quickly slapped back into things when I start my teaching on Monday. I am teaching the same students with the exception of one class that I will only be teaching for 2 weeks and then they are off to practice teach. For that class I am just teaching them useful things they can use in their classrooms, such as English Children’s Songs and games. The songs are the same that I taught Vivi’s class last semester. The games are: duck, duck goose; simon says; red light green light; red rover; hangman; I spy; Pictionary; charades; jeopardy; Bingo; and board competitions. For my freshmen non-English majors:
In other news, my Chinese friend/colleague Allie told me that she is pregnant and due in September. Very exciting. It is also interesting to learn what Chinese woman can and cannot do when they are pregnant. They cannot do any sports. They cannot carry their cell phones. They must eat eggs. That’s all I’ve learned so far but I am sure to learn more the bigger Allie gets.

Sorry it was such a long time between posts but I will try and be more regular now that I have returned to my site. Oh and check out the pictures from Yunnan and Vietnam on the Windows Live Account.

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