Same day:
We had site placement interviews and it was the last day for Model School, which meant we were testing our students on what we taught.
I wore my Crocs around until it was time for my interview. I put on my socks and dress shoes, tucked in my shirt, and I was ready to go.
Alissa and several Site Managers were there to interview everyone. Gansu, Sichuan, and Guizhou were there. They asked these questions:
What is your greatest strength in teaching?
What did you enjoy most about model school?
What was the most challenging aspect of model school?
What expectations do you have about teaching in China?
Besides teaching, what other activities do you think you might like to implement?
What are 2 ways in which you hope to characterize your Peace Corps experience?
Anything else you want us to know?
I knew that the answers to these questions would determine, in a large part, where I would be placed for the next two years, thought it wasn't transparent. I had a good idea of what I could say to steer me toward one area or another. I could have really influenced them to put me at an urban site (which was my preference), but I decided not to. I was honest with my answers and left them open. I told them I was flexible.
When it comes down to it, I could do either rural or urban. I would adapt to either environment and there are pros and cons to both. Every area is different. I would rather be in a bigger city, but I know i would be giving up a more intimate community.
Nick and I collaborated again for the final day of Model School. Our class gave two group presentations. Dave watched and advised us that we should have had a rubric and written down our assessments while watching the groups present.
To be honest, I had kind of given up on that with this class. Throughout the two weeks, the students came and went as they felt like it. We had to constantly reshuffle the groups, the syllabus, and the lesson plans every day. We didn't know what to expect that last day. We seriously thought no one would show up at all. 5 students came, out of the 14 we started with.
At the very least, they presented with an introduction, body, and conclusion, like i taught them, and they split up the speaking parts fairly evenly. I suppose that's all I could ask for.
We handed out certificates of completion to the students, had some snacks and drinks, and we played hang man. Our site manager came in to watch and she even joined in on the hang man. All the students had to get pictures of us and tried to get us to go out with them to see pandas. We respectfully declined. And that was that.
It was Antoinette's birthday, so Sandor (her model school partner) bought her a little cake. She had had a rough week teaching for the first time. The candle was a complicated contraption in the shape of a lotus that spewed fire viciously at your face when you lit it. Then it played Happy Birthday apologetically and indefinitely until you smashed it to pieces to get it to shut up. Max had gotten Claire the same thing the week before for her birthday. a big group of us went to get drinks down the street to celebrate the end of Model School and Antoinette's birthday.
The rain continued to pour and the streets became rivers. It rained the entire day.
Friday, July 29, 2011
Flood
This week has been unbearably "menre" (hot-humid). Temps in the 90s and humidity you can choke on. Finally, it started to rain. then it rained more and more. It started to flood thursday and we had to take off our shoes and socks to get to and from class. The sewers overflowed and gushed up, pushing up the concrete and metal manhole covers.
yesterday was a big day, so I wore my nicer khakis and a dress shirt. I decided to roll up my khakis and wear the crocs my host father got me (beyond nice of him). It turned out to be an excellent decision.
I got on the bus and the bus driver was saying something. I just thought he was cursing the rain. A minute or so later, there was yelling on the bus and some people demanded to get off. Then I noticed we had passed the place the bus was supposed to turn at. The bus just kept going. I wanted to ask what was going on but knew I wouldn't be able to understand the driver's answer. I figured I'd ride it out. I thought maybe he was going to take a detour because of the rain and we'd go to the other side of campus. But the bus just kept going. It didn't make a stop until it got downtown and I knew I was screwed. I got my phone out to call Max to tell Luo Xin (our Chinese teacher) what the deal was, but my phone said "Invalid SIM." I couldn't make any calls or texts. I freaked a little then because I realized I couldn't call anyone to help me. I was lost. I couldn't read enough Chinese or speak enough.
I didn't want to take my chances getting off the bus without a decent plan, and I didn't want to get off somewhere and find a bus station that didn't have the 336 going back the where I came. I could get off and ask to borrow someone's phone and just look in my contacts on my phone. I could call Max and have Luo Xin tell me where to go... But I really didn't know where I was, so that would be hard to explain. For a minute I thought the bus was going to take me all the way to Sichuan University. I could just go to the Peace Corps office and ask for some help. Then I realized the bus was going in the opposite direction... so I just kept riding. I thought maybe I'd just ride the bus until it turned around and went the other way. After a while, I realized that would take all day, and today was too important to spend on a bus. Finally I decided I'd just get off at a station where I could physically see the other station on the other side of the road, so I knew where it was and I knew the 336 was going in the opposite direction.
I got off at a station downtown about half an hour away. I read the bus routes, but none of it made any sense to me. BUT I remembered that the station where my host family is at is Shang Dong. I know the character for Shang, and it just so happened it's the only station on the 336 route that has Shang in its name. So i went to the other side, found Shang, and took the 336 back in the opposite direction.
I finally got to school an hour late.
During class, it rained even harder and the streets flooded completely. We waded through shit and dirt and rotten vegetables. Later I found out someone somewhere in Sichuan died from this flood.
yesterday was a big day, so I wore my nicer khakis and a dress shirt. I decided to roll up my khakis and wear the crocs my host father got me (beyond nice of him). It turned out to be an excellent decision.
I got on the bus and the bus driver was saying something. I just thought he was cursing the rain. A minute or so later, there was yelling on the bus and some people demanded to get off. Then I noticed we had passed the place the bus was supposed to turn at. The bus just kept going. I wanted to ask what was going on but knew I wouldn't be able to understand the driver's answer. I figured I'd ride it out. I thought maybe he was going to take a detour because of the rain and we'd go to the other side of campus. But the bus just kept going. It didn't make a stop until it got downtown and I knew I was screwed. I got my phone out to call Max to tell Luo Xin (our Chinese teacher) what the deal was, but my phone said "Invalid SIM." I couldn't make any calls or texts. I freaked a little then because I realized I couldn't call anyone to help me. I was lost. I couldn't read enough Chinese or speak enough.
I didn't want to take my chances getting off the bus without a decent plan, and I didn't want to get off somewhere and find a bus station that didn't have the 336 going back the where I came. I could get off and ask to borrow someone's phone and just look in my contacts on my phone. I could call Max and have Luo Xin tell me where to go... But I really didn't know where I was, so that would be hard to explain. For a minute I thought the bus was going to take me all the way to Sichuan University. I could just go to the Peace Corps office and ask for some help. Then I realized the bus was going in the opposite direction... so I just kept riding. I thought maybe I'd just ride the bus until it turned around and went the other way. After a while, I realized that would take all day, and today was too important to spend on a bus. Finally I decided I'd just get off at a station where I could physically see the other station on the other side of the road, so I knew where it was and I knew the 336 was going in the opposite direction.
I got off at a station downtown about half an hour away. I read the bus routes, but none of it made any sense to me. BUT I remembered that the station where my host family is at is Shang Dong. I know the character for Shang, and it just so happened it's the only station on the 336 route that has Shang in its name. So i went to the other side, found Shang, and took the 336 back in the opposite direction.
I finally got to school an hour late.
During class, it rained even harder and the streets flooded completely. We waded through shit and dirt and rotten vegetables. Later I found out someone somewhere in Sichuan died from this flood.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
On friday, I will be interviewed about site placement. They will ask me questions about my skills and abilities and will decide where to put me by the end of next week. Rural and urban sites have their pros and cons, and ultimately I wouldn't mind either, but I have a preference for being in a bigger city.
It is very hot and humid in Chengdu. I'm convinced it never gets this bad in Bangkok. Chengdu lies in a basin where the pollution can't escape because the cooler air sinks into the basin and warmer air stays on top. The pollution clouds the air and makes it much more humid. Fortunately, Chengdu does have seasons, so it cools down in fall and winter, but pollution gets worse in the winter because more people are burning fuel for heat. We've been advised not to do much strenuous activity outside in the middle of the day. Exercise in the morning instead because the pollution has settled a bit over night.
It is very hot and humid in Chengdu. I'm convinced it never gets this bad in Bangkok. Chengdu lies in a basin where the pollution can't escape because the cooler air sinks into the basin and warmer air stays on top. The pollution clouds the air and makes it much more humid. Fortunately, Chengdu does have seasons, so it cools down in fall and winter, but pollution gets worse in the winter because more people are burning fuel for heat. We've been advised not to do much strenuous activity outside in the middle of the day. Exercise in the morning instead because the pollution has settled a bit over night.
Saturday, July 23, 2011
End of Model School
My teaching days for Model School are over. It was a stressful week and i got less sleep because of lesson planning. I still need to work with my partner to help him with his teaching for the last half of model school. And we need to collaborate on the final exam.
I have a lot of work to do on my teaching abilities. I really have to work on everything.
Many of us went out to celebrate the end of the week. I drank and danced.
I'm really looking forward to this week and next. I have a lot of reading i want to do, and sports I want to play.
We started playing ultimate frisbee after school. Probably the most exercise i've gotten in months. It would be great to play some soccer and ping pong. I've never been big on basketball, but the Chinese love it so much, I may have to learn to like it.
I have a lot of work to do on my teaching abilities. I really have to work on everything.
Many of us went out to celebrate the end of the week. I drank and danced.
I'm really looking forward to this week and next. I have a lot of reading i want to do, and sports I want to play.
We started playing ultimate frisbee after school. Probably the most exercise i've gotten in months. It would be great to play some soccer and ping pong. I've never been big on basketball, but the Chinese love it so much, I may have to learn to like it.
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Model School
Things have just gotten busier and busier. I've hardly caught a break since arriving in China. I thought it would calm down once we got to our host families, but it just got more intense. TEFL training became overwhelming as they tried to prepare us for Model School. There's just so much more information being thrown at us than we can possibly absorb right now, and we're supposed to use it within a few days to create a syllabus, write lesson plans, make homework assignments, a rubric, and a final assessment for a 2 week long course that we're supposed to just pull out of nowhere. Real students sign up for these and we get evaluated by several people while we teach. How we perform partially determines where we will get placed for our entire 2 years of service so... no pressure.
I've gotten pretty stressed out about it, even though the general message from our TEFL trainer is "don't stress out about it. just do your best. we know you're not going to know exactly what you're doing." The hard part is finding time to work on lesson plans and stuff. We are at the school from 8:30 (sometimes earlier) until 5:30 (sometimes later). If I go home, I'm bombarded with host family attention, which is really difficult to tear away from. By 10:00 I'm usually too tired to function anymore and I just go to sleep. I feel constantly behind in TEFL. It's kind of nice that Chinese isn't a challenge right now because it has completely taken a backseat to TEFL... as has everything else.
We partnered up to create the course and teach it. The first lesson, the two of us collaborate. Then the next 4 days one of us teaches. The next 4 days, the other teaches, and we collaborate again for the final. I opted to teach first so I could get all my stressing out of the way early.
After Model School, things will finally start to ease up. I'll actually have time to enjoy being here.
I've gotten pretty stressed out about it, even though the general message from our TEFL trainer is "don't stress out about it. just do your best. we know you're not going to know exactly what you're doing." The hard part is finding time to work on lesson plans and stuff. We are at the school from 8:30 (sometimes earlier) until 5:30 (sometimes later). If I go home, I'm bombarded with host family attention, which is really difficult to tear away from. By 10:00 I'm usually too tired to function anymore and I just go to sleep. I feel constantly behind in TEFL. It's kind of nice that Chinese isn't a challenge right now because it has completely taken a backseat to TEFL... as has everything else.
We partnered up to create the course and teach it. The first lesson, the two of us collaborate. Then the next 4 days one of us teaches. The next 4 days, the other teaches, and we collaborate again for the final. I opted to teach first so I could get all my stressing out of the way early.
After Model School, things will finally start to ease up. I'll actually have time to enjoy being here.
Friday, July 8, 2011
First Week in Chengdu
Things have been very busy. Between Chicago on June 29th and when I
moved to my host family's house, I've been dragging all my luggage
everywhere around hotels and airports. When we got to Chengdu there
were training events every day and we started language training. We'd
have to get up at 7 and finish everything by 4pm. I caught a pretty
bad cold on the second day I was at the hotel after getting several
vaccination shots, so I wasn't as alert and focused as I wanted to be.
And I didn't get to go out and explore Chengdu much. I'm just about
over my cold now, but I got another round of vaccinations yesterday,
so i'm afraid I might get sick again.
The whole group split up in to 4 groups and went to 4 different
universities in the area for training. I'm now at Sichuan Normal
University East, which is a bit further away from the center of
Chengdu where the hotel was. Moved in with my host family on Tuesday.
They're a nice young couple with a very nice apartment. I have air
conditioning in my room and wifi. The school is about a 15 minute
walk. I have to get there early to do language training and TEFL
English teacher training. I'm there from 8:00 to 6:00 and I've been
falling asleep around 10 because of the jet lag and just sheer
exhaustion. When I get back to my host family's apartment, they are
constantly talking to me. The woman speaks a little english but her
husband doesn't speak any. He has a very heavy Sichuan accent when he
speaks Mandarin, so I can't really understand him even when he's using
words I understand. We have been relying on Google Translate, which is
remarkably accurate. The woman speaks much clearer Mandarin, but
usually they just speak in the Sichuanese dialect, which I can't
understand at all.
Today is the first day off I've gotten from training. I think I'm
going somewhere later with my hosts. Not sure where.
The climate here is extremely humid. It's usually around 80 degrees,
but the humidity is almost unbearable when you're wearing dress
clothes. It feels about as bad as Bangkok, if not worse. The skies are
constantly cloudy from pollution, but we saw the sun yesterday for the
first time.
So far the language training has been easy. I haven't learned anything
new yet, but the training focuses on actively using the language
rather than studying it. And being forced to speaking Chinese at home,
wherever I go, and learning with the group has helped a lot.
I have a very good group. They are very interesting people. Most of
them are around my age. Many have the same ambitions as me and I feel like we can work together to prepare ourselves for what we're doing after Peace Corps.
Some are having more difficulty than others. Two people have already
decided to go home. Now there are 81 of us.
moved to my host family's house, I've been dragging all my luggage
everywhere around hotels and airports. When we got to Chengdu there
were training events every day and we started language training. We'd
have to get up at 7 and finish everything by 4pm. I caught a pretty
bad cold on the second day I was at the hotel after getting several
vaccination shots, so I wasn't as alert and focused as I wanted to be.
And I didn't get to go out and explore Chengdu much. I'm just about
over my cold now, but I got another round of vaccinations yesterday,
so i'm afraid I might get sick again.
The whole group split up in to 4 groups and went to 4 different
universities in the area for training. I'm now at Sichuan Normal
University East, which is a bit further away from the center of
Chengdu where the hotel was. Moved in with my host family on Tuesday.
They're a nice young couple with a very nice apartment. I have air
conditioning in my room and wifi. The school is about a 15 minute
walk. I have to get there early to do language training and TEFL
English teacher training. I'm there from 8:00 to 6:00 and I've been
falling asleep around 10 because of the jet lag and just sheer
exhaustion. When I get back to my host family's apartment, they are
constantly talking to me. The woman speaks a little english but her
husband doesn't speak any. He has a very heavy Sichuan accent when he
speaks Mandarin, so I can't really understand him even when he's using
words I understand. We have been relying on Google Translate, which is
remarkably accurate. The woman speaks much clearer Mandarin, but
usually they just speak in the Sichuanese dialect, which I can't
understand at all.
Today is the first day off I've gotten from training. I think I'm
going somewhere later with my hosts. Not sure where.
The climate here is extremely humid. It's usually around 80 degrees,
but the humidity is almost unbearable when you're wearing dress
clothes. It feels about as bad as Bangkok, if not worse. The skies are
constantly cloudy from pollution, but we saw the sun yesterday for the
first time.
So far the language training has been easy. I haven't learned anything
new yet, but the training focuses on actively using the language
rather than studying it. And being forced to speaking Chinese at home,
wherever I go, and learning with the group has helped a lot.
I have a very good group. They are very interesting people. Most of
them are around my age. Many have the same ambitions as me and I feel like we can work together to prepare ourselves for what we're doing after Peace Corps.
Some are having more difficulty than others. Two people have already
decided to go home. Now there are 81 of us.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
intense training
between the training, language learning, limited internet access, entertaining host family, jet lag, sickness, and sleeping, I haven't had time to make a serious update on here. Sooner or later things will calm down a bit and i'll have time to reflect and write, but right now i'm struggling just to get enough sleep, get up in time, make it to my next meeting/training session/language class.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)