On our bikes
on Tina's Journal (China), 10/Nov/2009 12:49, 34 days ago
I thought it would be nice this afternoon to go for a cycle as I hadn't been out on the bike for a while. Andy was eager to get out too, so we set off to enjoy the local countryside. We slogged it up tea mountain and then cycled around and down to Xin Fan lake. It was a glorious, sunny day as seems to be the norm these days!  On arriving at the lake we had a stroll around and watched  some young teenagers hurl themselves into the bushes on sledges they couldn't control! They seemed to be having fun. The lake is just on the outskirts of Simao and a popular location for a family trip out. One of the joys about cycling up and around tea mountain, is the peace and quiet and the stunning scenery over the tea hills. Getting away from the noise of the town and campus is bliss. I went to visit Pu'er number two school on Sunday, a special invite from the headmaster. I know him and his daughter, he wants her to practice her English with me. I had a tour around, met some students and teachers and said I would go and give a lesson there sometime soon. I then had dinner with a group of his friends, teachers from Kunming, and had to rely on the daughter to translate. It is at thesetimes, when there are no English speakers, I find it very hard to socialize and completely feel like a fish out of water! Because I am leaving China in two months, I feel less motivated to study the language, which I know is a lazy attitude. As I am writing this, I am thinking to make more of an effort.....The last couple of days I have been writing up a brief report for VSO about the TLT training and I also observed a teacher form the college English department who wanted help with how to self reflect after teaching a lesson. I have tried to encourage her to do some co-teaching with Jayne as she seems very keen to try out new methods. It is always encouraging when teachers from the college ask for help/guidance/advice etc...