Back to School!

Hey Yall-
I have been back in Guiyang for about 2 weeks now from vacation and I have been waiting for that feeling to start writing again and I finally got it about 5 minutes ago as I was hanging my laundry to dry.

After my trip to Yunnan, I had one day to rest and then it was off to Thailand for about 16 days. Overall it was a great trip (check out the pics)...beaches, warm weather, good food, and overall really relaxing. The highlights included swimming in warm ocean water, riding an elephant, visiting the Peace Corps Thailand office and meeting the volunteers, and getting to know more about the Thai culture and people.

The last one had its difficulties because Thailand, well at least the places we went, were very touristy. Seeing a lot of foreigners was a big change from the last 8 months. Most of the time if I see a foreigner in China, it is another volunteer, or at least another teacher working here. One girl in our group made a comment while we were riding a train that she was getting culture shock because of all the foreigners. This feeling never really hit me, but it did take a little bit to get used to no one staring at you and making comments to their friends as you walk by. It was nice in a way, but at the same time, there were times in Thailand that I really missed China and the people. The Thai people were very friendly and welcoming, but at the same time I am sure that none of the Thai people will remember meeting or talking with me. Doesn't matter now though because I am back and doing what I love..teaching.

I just finished my second week and so far so good. I am teaching 6 classes of freshmen Oral English and 2 classes or Sophomore Writing. My students are doing well, but I don't think they studied a lot of English during their break. When I spoke with some of my students last week I saw some of those same funny expressions that I saw when I first met them last year..and that face means: "Who is this crazy foreigner and why is he speaking to me? And what is he saying?" It's a great face and always makes me laugh..But I think most of them are over it, now that we finished our second week and everyone is getting used to being back.

This semester I am really going to push my students hard. Last semester we had a lot of interruptions throughout the year that made it difficult to consistently keep my students working hard and speaking a lot of English. The biggest thing was changing campuses, which I have written about earlier..but that's over with and this semester has a lot of potential. One thing I'm really excited about is my Secondary Project with my students. All volunteers have secondary projects with their students. Some examples are: English Corner, Movie Night, Weekly Dinners, Sports/Outdoor Clubs, Women's Clubs, Drama Performances..the list goes on. Each volunteer has different ones depending on their preferences, students, and schools. Most volunteers examine what their students need/want and then go from there..also what their schools allow them to do..My secondary project for this semester will be a club called the Oral English Council (OEC). I'm just as excited about the cool name as I am about forming the group..The group's goal will be to find as many ways as possible to improve students' Oral English and give them more opportunities to speak English. I had my students elect one student from each class (8 students and me form the group) and they will work together with me to meet these goals. The students were of course really shy to elect this person, but they finally did it after lots of encouragement and I am really happy with the 8 students I have. This past Friday during my last class I had to really encourage one of my boy students to do it because I had 7 girls already and we really needed a boy. He finally said yes, so as of now the OEC's members are: Lily, Peggy, Ally, Ashley, Crystal, Becky, Missie, and of course Zach. Our first meeting is tomorrow afternoon and the number one thing on the agenda is getting English Corner started again. I will keep you updated on how this group does..

As I said before, some of my students obviously did not spend much time studying English over the break..and one example stands out the most..I ran into one of my 3rd year students from last semester (not teaching them now) and I started by asking how her break was, how is her family, etc...And she had a really difficult time during the conversation. She had really good English last semester, but after two months of no English she needed some practice to help her remember. The funniest was when she asked me, in Chinese, "How to say 'yesterday' in English?" I am sure she knows all of the words and how to say them..she was just nervous because we hadn't talked in a while..The bad part is, because she is a 3rd year student, she is not going to get many chances to study and practice English. Our 3rd year students will graduate this semester and then they will start working (hopefully). So this semester is mainly spent looking for jobs.

I had been in contact through email with one of these students during the winter break and just this past week he asked me if I wanted to come with him and his classmates to a job fair on March 25th. I of course said yes because I am really interested how these students do as they look for jobs and eventually start teaching. I don't know their chances, but from what I've heard, most of these students will end up going back to their hometowns in the countryside to teach.

I also got a call from a different 3rd student as I was starting to write this entry and we talked about her looking for a job. She hasn't had any luck yet..she had visited a job fair a couple of weeks ago and she said: "No one wanted to hire me." I don't know if she's going to the one in a couple of weeks, but she seems pretty set on returning to her hometown to teach. I am really interested in these students' futures because it is my goal next year to visit these rural elementary and middle schools next semester and see where it all starts..because these places are where almost all of my students started out learning English..Additional side note..shortly after I got off the phone with this student, one of my funny freshmen students called me..and the first thing she said was, "What are you doing?" It was actually a little accusatory..but still funny..she just wanted to say hi and tell me that she'd just ridden by on a bus near where my home is..she felt like sharing..total time of conversation: about 20 seconds..

Alright..that's all for now..time to get the laundry down and go and search for some dinner. Take care.