My First Week of School!

I finished my first week of school teaching--successfully exhausted! It was such a wonderful experience. Most likely, due to the fact that everything leading up to the first day was stressful (preparation from furniture and unpacking boxes that contained a lot of things that I had to figure out what they were...), I felt pretty at ease the first day. Things did not go exactly as planned, but for the most part, they worked out well. A bunch of teachers ended the day by going to McDonalds, which to us is a big treat!

I share a classroom with a woman named Martha. She is such an awesome woman, who loves the Father. It is so great to be able to collaborate with her and bounce ideas back and forth throughout the day. She's very supportive and easygoing. Most teachers are very possessive of their classroom, their students, their time etc...but she is not at all. I enjoy going to work everyday! It's so nice to start off my career like this.

Martha and I go into the 1st and 2nd grade classrooms during Reading and Writing times, and then for 30 minutes in the afternoon, we pull out 14 kids total from both classes and provide more content literacy support. The kids love coming to the class, which makes it a fun time to be with them, and have a bit of my own classroom. It is such a short time though, so it is hard to be productive and get much done.

Most of the children I'm working with are Korean. I have one Japanese student, and one Chinese student...and a few from Hong Kong. One of my favorite little boys (I know, I shouldn't have a favorite already!) is from Japan. His family owns 3 restaurants in Kunming. His mom comes to eat lunch with him sometimes too. He is such a chatter box, and he makes me crack up. It's hard to be serious when kids say some of the funniest things. For example, this particular little kid was in our CLS class (where we pull them out for 30 minutes), and he looked at the fruit of the Spirit poster and said, "Oh! The fruit of the Spirit! I know all those. (pause as he walks toward the door to leave) Self-control." Haha... Martha asked him if that was one he needed to work on. Another little first grader was in my class on Friday. I pulled him out because he can't hear the sounds yet. He knows most of the letters, but not all of the sounds that match them. He cracked me up on Friday when we got to the letter 'I'. He looked at the picture card with the letter on it and pinched his nose up like he was thinking real hard. After waiting for him for a bit, I asked if he needed help. He shook his head no, so I waited a little bit longer. He finally said the letter I. Then I asked him if he knew what the picture was. He didn't really respond, and his eyes were all squinted...he was thinkin' real hard. So I waited for him, and finally he said, "ICE HOUSE!" I busted out laughing. He got this huge grin on his face and started laughing too. I affirmed that it was an ice house, but that we called it an igloo. He laughed and repeated the word igloo. ...Today I had him again, and he was doing a lot of the squinting, and pinching his nose up, so he could think better. haha. I love working with kids!
It's so great when they finally understand something too. Last week, I had a second grade student that is fairly low...beginner english level. We were on the mat in the back of the classroom reading Arthur's Reading Race, and Arthur challenges D.W. He has her prove that she can read 10 words, and if she does, he'll buy her ice cream. She does, and at the end, she teaches Arthur a word: WET PAINT! This is after the fact that Arthur sat down on a bench that was just painted. One of my students was not really comprehending what had just happened. I took a moment to lean over and point to the picture where Arthur is sitting on the bench, then turned the page to where Arthur's pants are all white, and I pointed to the words Wet Paint. This little boy started laughing and saying "wet paint! haha. wet paint!" Oh I love learning and little kids. So much fun!

Thank you, Father for confirming over and over that this is where I'm supposed to be and this is what I'm supposed to be doing!

Rice or Noodles?!

I spent last weekend working in the classroom. We finally got cabinets Friday afternoon, so Saturday and Sunday we unpacked and cleaned everything we could in the short period of time. There was a layer of dust on everything when we came back the next day. It's jsut a part of living in China, I suppose.

All of the Elementary teachers were at the school until about 9 or 10 on Saturday night (with the exception of one, that happened to be there until 2am!). We took a quick break once Kim came back with dinner from the rice and noodle shop. Well, I opted out of getting dinner when she offered. I should have taken her up on the offer, because I ended up fairing the weather too and walking down the street to the rice and noodle shop. They were closing up shop, and cleaning the kitchen. I felt bad, but I was hungry, and knew that had to have something in there for me to eat for 5 kuai (or 80 cents). I tried to motion to her to pull out the Chinese/ English menu by practicing my "interpersonal dance" skills. She wouldn't give it to me though. Thankfully, this older guy stepped up and translated for me. He asked if I wanted rice or noodles. I told him rice. He said ____ fan (which is some kind of rice). She said _____fan mayo _____ mien (which is noodles). I sensed that she was saying somehting like, "no...she's not getting rice tonight! I already cleaned up the rice, and all I have left is noodle soup with lamb. If she's hungry, she'll eat it." (The rice or noodle dishes come with meat and veggies too...and you can get it served as a soup, steamed or pan fried. Well, I wanted fried rice with pork and veggies. Sounds good, right? (Especially for only 80 cents!)

I sat down, after thanking the kind man for ordering for me. A few seconds later, I was shouted at from behind the counter. The lady was motioning that the noodle soup was for me. It smelled alright, but it was not what I ordered. I didn't feel like protesting though. I asked for a to go box, and left the little shop.

I had another similar scenario last night with Tonya. We rode our bikes about 40 minutes west to go to Chicago Coffee. On Tuesday nights, they have English Corner, where the locals and English speakers come for English Conversation. We had not had dinner yet, so we decided to walk around and see what we could find. There were a few bakeries, but we needed/ wanted substance. The other coffee shop we had it said they had food, but their menu was completely Chinese...and that was just not going to do! I didn't want to just randomly pick a dish! (You're thinking, com'mon! where is your sense of adventure, right?) We walked around the block, and upon coming back to Chicago Coffee, we passed a humble little restaurant, but the food smelled good, and it looked appetizing. We walked up to the window, where we could see what they were cooking. Someone started to tell us to go back and pay first (which is usually not the case here...most of the time you pay after you've eaten). They told us it would be "ba kuai," which is 8 kuai, or about $1.20. We said "dui" to everything, which means correct...and once again, set ourselves up for an adventure. We sat down and waited for our food. This sweet elderly woman working at this restaurant spoke to us in Chinese, and almost mothered us. She for sure was having compassion on us, and just wanted to see us fed. From the little Chinese I do know, I could tell that she was telling us what everything was, and why she was mixing it all in this boiling bowl of water. We had (we think) raw chicken, maybe some kind of fish and bacon (?! who knows!) and some herbs and some veggies. Then we poured the rice noodles into the bowl. Everything cooked, and then we ate it. It was amazing! I might just have to go back there and eat it again. The Chinese brag about how delicious their food is. I like lots of foods, but I can understand why they brag. They have so much flavor in every dish. They use mint, cilantro, ginger and peppers. Tonya and I ended the meal by saying "hao chi" (you actually say chur for chi...so I wonder if the straighteners are really suppposed to be called chur's not chi's?!), which means it is "delicious!" I could tell she was telling us to come back more. She liked having us and wanted us to try more of their food. I might have to take her up on it.

I do have to say though, these two experiences (among many, many others), is making me realize how much I really need to learn Chinese pronto!