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March 2004
High-Points
I've received several emails asking about what it is like in China; the
school, the town, the people, etc. Let me try and describe some
things that Yanti & I do weekly.
The School
Let's start with the school and the students. This school
is one of the top rated schools in the area. The students must pass
a competitive exam to get into the first year and then again in two years
to continue here. So, they are both very smart AND very hard
working. Our apartment looks out onto one of the many classroom
buildings here and a place where the students park their bikes when they
arrive in the morning. Many students arrive before 6:30AM and by
7:15AM they are all here. Many students stay until 10PM at night, we
see them in their classroom! They also come on Saturdays (all day)
and many are here on Sundays. By the way, it is cold this time of
year in Nantong (maybe the same as St. Louis, MO) and the classrooms are
NOT heated. So they are in class most of the day wearing their coats
and gloves! (Well, ok, MY classroom, the language lab, is heated).
They have a break about 8AM when they go outside to do exercises like
jumping rope and again at 10AM they sit in their classrooms and do eye
exercises! Between classes the school plays music. Everything
from polkas (yes, polkas), to popular songs, and classical music.
It's very nice.
Nantong
The city and the school location- the city is quit beautiful
with many new, modern, and beautiful high-rises. There are many
canals that run thru town and when it gets warmer Yanti & I can rent
little boats and go around! The city is doing a huge urban renewal
project that is almost complete, it will complete the shore line of the
center of town's water area (look at the
map of Nantong to get an idea
(sorry, it's in Chinese but will give you a good idea anyway), note the
central area and the water. The school is within walking distance of
this center part of town. But, if it's too cold or we have lots of
groceries to bring back from shopping, a bus is only 4 stops and is 1 Yuan
(about US$.12); while a taxi is 7 Yuan (about US$.80).
My week
My week starts on Mondays and everyday I have an average of
four 40 minutes classes in the language lab. (I teach 13 Senior Two
classes and 16 Senior One classes over a two week period.) It's a
nice lab, but I only use the computer for PowerPoint presentations, and an
overhead projector. I start the class with some English words for
the students to repeat after me. Each time we meet I have a
different set of words that help them with a particular sound in English.
Then we discuss something like 'English Idioms'; I break them up into
groups of 2, 4 or 8 and they talk about the subject (in English); then I
call on a team or a student to read something their team has come up with.
(For instance, creating sentences using the idiom they have been
discussing). I assign homework only every 3-4 weeks because they
have so much other homework and because I teach 'Conversational English',
not grammar, written, etc, English. Yanti and I eat in the school
lunch room with the other teachers and the food is VERY good. Always
at least 4-5 entrees to choose from, rice, and soup! They pay me for
my lunch and I get a special 'charge' card that they reload each month.
But it's enough for Yanti & I to eat on! In the evenings Yanti will
cook something for us.
Yanti
Speaking of Yanti, she stays VERY busy. She has several Chinese
language classes per week and is picking up this very difficult language
pretty quickly (after 5 weeks, I have mastered 3 phrases :-0
She also cooks my breakfast, dinners, cleans the apartment, and does the
laundry! She works very hard. Yanti also helps me in my
classes. She sits in the back and will send me a 'secret' signal if
the kids back there are mis-behaving; she also helps me stay organized
with all my papers to grade, etc. I'm now applying for a summer job
in Beijing and a fall teaching position in the south of China and Yanti
(who has a really great memory) helps me with that as well. I don't
know how I would be able to doing all this if it weren't for her!
Week-ends
On Saturdays we do our shopping. Across the street is a
market with most of the things we need, but we like to get fresh veggies,
fruit, meat, etc., at the larger market down town. So we usually
walk there and take a bus back. On Sundays, each week, we take a
different bus to the end of its run to see different parts of the city.
Nantong is right on the Yangzi River, which is HUGE! You can just
barely see across!
The people
It's pretty amazing. Sometimes I feel like some celebrity
here. I think there are only 3-4 westerners in town and I may be the
tallest (ok, also the biggest). People are always staring at us and
I think Yanti & I have caused a few bike rear-enders as people look over
their shoulders at us. Then there are my students (almost 1,800) who
wave to us. The funniest thing happened last week when Yanti & I
were downtown. Some students from another school saw us and wanted
our autographs! We weren't sure if we should be embarrassed or what.
We chatted with them in English and then went on shopping.
We have learned enough Chinese to say 'hello', 'good morning', etc.
and people are very happy that we do that!
English Speech contest
Last week I judged an English Speech contest with one student
from each of the Senior One classes (16 in all). Most were very good and
a few were really sweet and touching. As they were totaling up the scores
they asked me to say a few words - me, say a few words - right! But, I
was actually a little nervous up on the stage with all the lights and
all. But I made it through it and enjoyed my few moments of fame!
In April, we'll get two weeks off (paid), because
all the students have a huge week long series of tests. So one week
they'll concentrate on preparation and the next the tests themselves.
Yanti & I will head via a fast ferry to Shanghai to meet up with some
friends and see the city along with two near-by towns. Suzhou, a city
of canals and beautiful traditional gardens and Zhouzhuang, a
beautifully preserved riverside village known as the new Venice of China
and recognized as a International Heritage site! We'll do shopping in
Shanghai - we hope to buy a Chinese-English electronic translator and a
new cell-phone for me. We'll let you know with stories and pictures,
next issue!
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Coming up....
This Summer we hope to teach and live and see Beijing and Xi'an. Beijing to see
the capital of course, and the Forbidden City and the Great Wall. Xi'an to see
the 6,000 full size terra-cotta soldiers!
In the Fall we are looking at a
teaching position in the south of China, near Macau or Hong Kong. That area has
much milder climate, much closer to San Francisco.
We both want to return to
California in the middle of December to help celebrate my parents 60th
Wedding Anniversary. The entire family of 5 children, 8 grand-children, and 2
great grand-children will be taking a cruise to Mexico to celebrate! Then Yanti
& I will head to Las Vegas to be married in the United States. No real reason
for us to do this, but it’ll be fun just the same. How many of you were married
in Vegas by Elvis? Then back to San Francisco for News Years Eve and more
celebrating!
We look forward to seeing
everyone!
.....Stay tuned!
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April 2004>> |
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One of my classes
Map of Nantong
Current China Date & Time
China
...Well, it's the HUGE country
above Vietnam and west of Japan!
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