March 21, 2010
Wow, how amazing it is to be around these people! The people here are so amazing and I'm so glad I get to associate myself with them. This week I finally got to teach again so I had the opportunity to meet new students and see the ones I already have begun to remember. As I've gone through the week, I've had students give me suggestions on how to help the students understand better. That was something I didn't expect, but I definitely appreciate. See, at the beginning of the week my students would understand on a slightly higher level and toward the end it was a struggle for them; now I know that I need to adjust it throughout the week to make it easier for those who struggle while still not be so easy that those who are better learners in English don't get too bored and just want to sleep or study. I've also had to realize that maybe some of the students that seem to really be attentive and interested at the beginning or end of class don't necessarily pay attention during class. Also, in almost all of my classes there's at least a few, if not a lot, of kids who just don't care about spoken English class and though I have to try to get them involved, I can't spend the entire time on them because that's not fair to those who do pay attention- the fact that they don't get grades for my class probably doesn't help them want to pay attention either. Yet I love those kids- even the ones that are kind of the more "punk" kids in the back because they're all so unique and I just wish that I could remember them all individually. Maybe if I had a few years with them I could manage to learn all of their English and Chinese names as well as something about them, but I only have a few months so I'll just have to do the best that I can. At English Corner 2 of my students gave me these 3 leaf clovers because I had taught about St. Patrick's Day and it really made me feel good that they remembered what I had taught and that they wanted to give me something. Every now and then I have a student give me a little something- most often it's a snack of some kind, and it always makes me feel so happy to know that they want to do that for me; even if it doesn't seem like that big of a thing, for them it is and it makes me appreciate it that much more. I love my students so much already and it's just the beginning!
Nikki and I had a few awesome adventures this week. First of all, we made jiaozi (dumplings) and it was awesome. We tried making the dough part by hand because we couldn't find it premade in the grocery store we usually go to, and that turned out to be utterly horrible. We even had a student, Albert, who had come to visit and he laughed at our attempt, but he told us that they sold them in the basement of BuBu Gao (the grocery store we go to). Well, on Wednesday Nikki and I finally made it out to go look for this mysterious basement. Turns out it's actually accessed from the street rather than inside the store, and this basement was truly a place where someone could get culture shock. Honestly. There were a few sections down there; right in front of where you walk in you have some spices to the right, and some other things on the left… and this went on for a little while. Then if you keep walking straight you would find some more spices (many of these were actually packaged) with vegetables off to the right a little ways. Now on the far right of where you enter was the meat department where there are slabs of meat sitting on a bunch of different tables with people at each table trying to get you to buy their meat. Also there would be skinned cow legs hanging upside down from the ceiling. On the far left of where you walk in there were cages after cages of live animals; chickens, ducks, anything. We didn't actually look too close at that section, only enough to know that there were a lot of animals over there and we didn't really want them to think that we were there to buy any of them. Honestly it shouldn't have surprised me really because I see snakes, chickens, fish, eels, etc sold on the side of the road all the time, but I just wasn't expecting the amount of animals I saw there; it was kind of sad almost. With that said though, there's absolutely no way I'll stop eating meat though- even if I do see the animals before they're cooked.
Later on, Nikki and I took some pictures of the school then went exploring on this forest-covered hill by the lake here. It was pretty awesome! As we were going into the forest, 2 girls came up to us and wanted to talk to us and come with us. It was really cool- they're adorable! When we came out again, they actually found us and brought an older guy with them to take a picture of the four of us together. These students are beautiful- inside and out! :) (I had to use beautiful because that's one of 2 adjectives that they seem to know…. And they use them for everything!)
Life here is so simple and so beautiful in its simplicity. People don't have a billion and a half things they "have" to get done before the day is over so they have to run, run, run to try and finish everything. Instead there's just a slower-paced groove like people know that they have things to do and they'll get them done, but it doesn't need to be done right now- everything will work out just fine. For me, I have to prepare and teach my lessons and maybe have to travel for church on the weekend. Other than that, my time can be used how I want, when I want; that is a good feeling. It's almost even more satisfying when I get something done here because I know that I took the time to do it even though I could've done any number of other things. Truly, I think that people in America are just too busy with extra things. I used to like having things to do all the time so that I wouldn't ever be bored or feel like there was nothing to do, but now I've realized that yes those things are fun and enjoyable, but there's really no need for me to try to cram all of it in at once. Whatever happens is what's supposed to happen and as long as I prepare myself the best I can there's no need to stress out about getting a lot of extra things done that may not actually need to be done. Yes I need to make sure I use my time wisely and do things that are productive, good, etc but that doesn't mean I always have to be doing something.
Well, I'm gonna go read Les Miserables now (a most excellent book, by the way) so until next week, xìngyùn! Wǒ ài nǐmen! (Good luck! I love you!
