Migrant School

To follow up on my last blog, my speech went well (even though I was a little nervous) and both of my Chinese teachers were happy, which was nice. On wednesday, A few classmates and I went to a migrant school (a school for the children of migrant workers) on the outskirts of Beijing. The migrant school is extremely poor and classes usually have over 40 students in them. It was my second time going, and both times I have gone, I have "taught" first grade. I put taught in quotations because I'm nearly positive the first graders absorb absolutely nothing of what we teach them, but they sure do enjoy having foreign teachers. Our kids happen to be the most raucous and worst-behaved in the school, but the experience is enjoyable nonetheless. Basically what we do for 40 minutes is stand at the blackboard and scream english words (and their Chinese translations) such as train, car, plane, friend, home, etc. at the top of our lungs (as to be heard over the extremely loud students). If we're lucky, the students will repeat the words after us, but most of the time, they simply ignore us and keep on talking to their fellow classmates. Because none of their Chinese teachers are in the room when we teach them, they feel a bit freer to do what they please, which makes our job a little harder. In the upcoming weeks we are planning to try to get the students to be a little more focused :) When class is over, they all yell "下课!!!" ("class is over!!!") and run out of the room like bats out of hell. A few stuck around to give me pictures they had drawn during class, and many of them asked if we would play with them in the recess yard. They get extremely excited to have their 外国的老师 (foreign teachers) run around with them and dance like fools. 

Although teaching them is utter chaos 95% of the time, it is one of my favorite things to do, and brightens my wednesdays immensely. Also, I saw snow in China for the first time on our way to the school. There were flurries! Which is exciting for Beijing since the weather can't seem to get below freezing here. It reminded me of Christmas and lovely Iowa winters. 

苏娥俐

Life for the past two weeks

I apologize profusely for not posting a blog in so long! Last week (on Thanksgiving day) I was hospitalized because apparently something "collapsed" in my throat, making it extremely hard for me to breath. I was wheezing and coughing excessively, and eventually they decided that I had a bad case of laryngitis. The nurses were extremely nice and my hospital room was very hotel-esque, which was impressive. My friends Sam and Ian came to visit me, and for the most part, the whole experience wasn't too terrible. It was actually kind of relaxing. After a day and a half of being on a nebulizer and IV, I was released. I was given a portable nebulizer and continued to use it for a week at home. I was extremely lucky that my Chinese class studied medical words literally a day before I went to the hospital, and was able to use my newly acquired vocabulary when speaking to the doctors. If things got too complicated I just spoke English because every single nurse and doctor spoke English. Anyway, two hours after I was discharged from the hospital, my mom, sister, and I left for a two day spa and golf resort a little ways outside of Beijing. It was extremely relaxing and enjoyable, and although I got practically no homework done, it was worth it. Last week was very busy with catch-up work and tests, and next week we have a speech festival. Every student must prepare a memorized speech of a specified length (which varies from 2 to 4 minutes depending on class) in Chinese, and present it in front of all students, faculty, and host parents. It will quite possibly be the most nerve racking experience of my life. My topic is Chinoiserie, or in Chinese, 中国艺术风格 (zhong guo yi shu feng ge, literally "Chinese art style". 

The pictures I have included are of my sister and me in a salt bed at the spa resort, me in the lobby, us in a little kid's play thing in one of my sister's co-workers rooms house, and a sign I saw in rural fujian on our trip a few weeks ago. The sign reads "loving and taking care of girls starts with me". It is the government's attempt to make rural families appreciate and love girls as much as boys. 

I'll write more when I have time- hopefully this week.