the rocking of class 9B

ah the fickle crowd. at the beginning of class, i was handed a note, nay, a letter, by my rebellious student about how to make my classes better. turns out i didn't need it.

i rocked them hardcore...with a lesson plan i borrowed from patrick. it occurs to me that preparation is a huge part of teaching and preparation is not my strong suit. now the fact that it's taken me well into my 2nd year of teaching to realize this says something. luckily, it seems that at least one of patrick's strong suits is preparation, so for the rest of the semester, i'll be appropriating as much of his preparation as i can for myself.

i think 9B should be my litmus test. i think my other classes, while they might feel the same as 9B--that the lessons are boring, they don't like what we're doing, etc--they are too frightened or polite to say anything. 9B has no such compunctions. if they don't like it, they ignore me, or stand up in class and berate me.

just what i needed.

quote

before class.

boy 1: something indecipherable in chinese.
boy 2: he says you are fatter than before.
me: oh.

pretty straight forward. no offense meant, no negative connotation--i've just added some meat to the bones.

does make me want to start running again though.

the revolt of class 9B

this new semester has been going well. i'm energized, the students have been energized, i had a good lesson plan...and then 9B happened. with a vengeance.

they are my toughest class, and i have them monday mornings. i have two students i think who are on a listening comprehension of the rest of my 8th grade classes. the rest tune out immediately, chatting with each other, reading chinese books, and working on other homework. i try to get them chatting with each other to explain to me the traditions associated with chinese new year. in past classes, they have fallen right into it, excited to explain to the laowai about their culture.

here, they sit dejected in their seats. after five minutes of chatting in chinese, i ask for some answers. blank stares. one girl raises her hand and starts speaking to me in chinese. i ignore her, and sigh with relief when one of my two students prepared for my class puts his hand up. i call on him, and he tells me, with defiance, that this plan is boring.

not what i expected. luckily, the second half of my lesson plan is a survey trying to figure out what my students want to learn this coming semester. i explain this in simple terms to the class and to my defiant student who is still standing. i hand out the survey, emphasizing that this will make class less boring, and more about what they want to learn.

my defiant student finally sits down, luckily, they did not applaud him, and i tell him if he thinks this class is boring, i need his help to make it more exciting. his solution is that he acts as my interpreter, translating my english instructions into chinese. i explain to him he may be missing the point of having a foreign teacher.

the bell finally rings, and i collect the surveys. a collection of poignant insights to help the class be more enjoyable they are not.

what would you like to learn about american culture?
i don't want to learn. i love china.

i'm afraid what we have here is a classic case of miscommunication. i gotta figure out how to bridge this gap. i know they can do this, i just got to get to them somehow.

luckily, i'm optimistic.

chengdu rediscovered

it's good to be back in chengdu. cdfls (my school) has hired a new teacher to take rachel's place, brian, and the new blood has invigorated both patrick and i. tian fu square which has been closed for renovations since i've been here is now open as well. from a bird's-eye-view, the square is giant yin-yang symbol, with two fountains for the dots. patrick says that now the mao statue is much more imposing, and i agree.

but the new semester is going well. i'm rejuvenated, and so are my students. only 4 more months teaching.

we also ventured into the city to an ex-pat bar, something that i have been wary of doing. it was interesting to see how many foreigners there are. the next night, we met nadia and one of her friends at a turkish restaurant, and lo and behold, many of the faces from the ex-pat club were there. i just don't want to fall into a habit of hanging out exclusively with non-chinese. luckily, living an hour by bus away, that is not likely to happen.

but it's nice to be back in chengdu, even if i don't feel as strongly as zhang yimou.

final tally

so using my trusty memory, i kept track of all the laowai i met over the time of my trip. interestingly enough, americans came in the lead with an astonishing 14. even more interesting is that i did not meet an american until the last leg of my trip in guilin. the next runners-up were the germans with an amazing showing of 12. third were the english with 8. the rest of the totals were as follows:

scots: 2
canadian: 7
swiss: 1
dutch: 1
indian: 2
french: 2
kiwis: 2
italian: 1
danish: 2
brazilian: 1
irish: 1
israeli: 2
belgian: 1
czech: 2
australian: 2

yangshuo

after a somewhat disappointing beginning to spring festival, things picked up yesterday. taking a boat down the li river, from guilin to yangshuo, i was able to see some of the most spectacular scenery this country has to offer.

yangshuo is a pretty interesting place. a small town with a huge tourist industry, yangshuo is a haven for both chinese and western tourists alike. there are a few streets packed with hostels and cafes, as well as tourists. for me, seeing so many westerners makes me feel a bit self-conscious. luckily, by walking a few thousand meters northeast, i was able to find myself back in china, where i felt much more comfortable.

i spent the whole day exploring. in yangshuo there's book exchanges in the cafes, so i set out with two highly valued books--both literately and monetarily--and set out to find a few good books. the first place had a big sign advertising books for sale, selling, and trading. i stopped there, and it was stocked to the gills with books, but mostly airport novels. i set out from there, hoping to find cafe too, the place my rough guide said had by far the best selection. after three hours meticulously combing the tourist part of town, i gave up and headed back to the first place to settle. this time, checking above the shopfront. sure enough...cafe too. i should have seen it coming. i found a copy of absalom, absalom by faulkner, and because of stupid rules, i had to trade two great books for it. i just hope the travelers who get my books appreciate my sacrifice.

last night, the streets were packed with people...i'm wondering if guilin might have been similar had it not been raining. dragons were running around, beating at doors of shops, hostels and restaurants, demanding sacrifice. the shopkeepers would hang a offering out the second-story window, with a red envelope surreptitiously attached. a human pyramid is built, and the dragon climbs up and eats the offering. everyone claps, and the store gets a bit of publicity. what a wonderful tradition.

so i'll be chilling here and in guilin for the rest of my trip, so unless something wicked cool happens, i'll update next from chengdu.

pictures

when i get back on the 24th, i plan to update all my previous posts with pictures, so be sure to check back.