Rain, rain, rain!
on Tina's Journal (China), 04/Jul/2009 06:51, 34 days ago
We finally have a reprieve from the rain after six days of ceaseless downpours. I am getting used to sodden foot ware and the bottom end of my trousers. I am so pleased for us to get some sunshine in the last two days as the water on campus is heated with solar power so I have been showering in cool water. However, I am pleased to say that even from the little bit of sun we have had over the last day, it has been enough to heat the water!The week has been quiet, the rain has put me off doing much so I have been planning what to do during the summer hols. The plan at the moment is to go to Chengdu in Sichuan Province, see the Pandas there and head out to the West where Tibet begins despite being in Sichuan Province, this is what my guide book informs me and speaking to other seasoned travellers the Western part of Sichuan is similar to Tibet. I have been told though, by some locals here, to be careful of the water as it will be polluted from all the dead bodies from last year's earthquake in that area..make what you will of that comment! Trying to get hold of train tickets though isn't such an easy thing to do. We can't book them on line so a friend in Kunming (thanks Paul) is going to try and purchase them there in advance as it will be too risky to try and buy them on the day. I'm pleased to have a travel companion, Jiang Yun Qin who teaches here at Simao College and she is eager to do some travelling too. I happily gave a couple of lessons this week to the grade 2 students who will be doing their teaching practice next term for two months in rural Middle Schools. These students haven't done any teaching before so it is a good opportunity to get some experience and but into practice what they have been learning especially from their Teaching Methodology course. The course is run by Hou Wan Xia and was set up by Lesley so it is focused on student-centred teaching. Some of the concerns raised to me by the students during the lessons were things such as:What do I do if the students don't understand me/my methods? What about the reactions from other Teachers who use traditional methods of teaching? How do I deal with naughty children?It was an ideal opportunity therefore to give them advice, help and encouragement before they set off for the summer hols.We had a sort of'Goodbye' celebration last night for Jayne who's heading off to the UK and Spain for the summer holidays (she'll be back here for the new term), so a few of us went to KTV. When I wasn't giggling at the videos which didn't match up with any of the songs at all, I managed to screech out a few songs..I think my singing is getting worse!! The photo is the view from the top floor of my building looking down to the east of the campus.