Happy Children's Day
on Tina's Journal (China), 01/Jun/2009 08:42, 34 days ago
I have been in Jingdong just over a week now. Since Friday we have had constant rain which has brought the temperature down a few degrees. I came here without a warm jacket too, but I am coping!! It has warmed up slightly today though. Because of the rain I haven't had much chance to do any exploring on the few days I haven't been working....not a problem though as I'm sure I'll be back again.Yesterday evening I headed out to Wenjing, which is an half hour drive from Jingdong town, to meet the teachers and students fromSi Zhongmiddle school in preparation for today's model lesson, observations and meeting. After having dinner with the teachers and settling into my hotel room I met the kids I'd be teaching the following morning. I was so pleased to meet outgoing (for Chinese standards that is!) students who were able to interact with me and ask questions. As you can see in the photo they were happy and excited to meet me. This morning was really productive. The two teachers I observed were using student-centred methods of teaching and the other English Teachers who haven't been exposed to any training were really keen to ask questions and possibly try new methods. But you always hear the same excuses for not doing one thing or another, for example"we don't have time to let the students practice because we have to finish the book".Well, yes, they could finish the book and NOT SPEAK A WORD OF ENGLISH! Even if you finish the book they still won't pass the exams. Trying to make them understand that once the kids start practicing and speaking more they will get through the book more quickly and actually learn something. It is amazing how much time I can spend just talking about basic simple stuff that many teachers seem to be totally unaware of. At the end of meetings I always get the same comments"Thank you for your wonderful advice and help, we can learn from you"But honestly the kind of things I am telling them is always just simple knowledge.The other photo shows Mr Lou on the left and our Driver Mr Xu. Mr Lou has been accompanying me on my recent visits as he's from Jingdong Education Bureau and speaks a little English. Mr Xu I communicate with in my very basic Chinese and sign/body language. He's really jolly and looks after me at lunch and dinner. I told him today he's behaving like a mother! He can't believe it when I tell him that I can drive, he's incredulous at this piece of information. I did offer to drive the jeep back yesterday evening but he said"in England they drive on the other side of the road, how can you"I then had to explain to him with Mr Lou's help, that I have had experience in other countries driving on both sides of the road. The people I am spending a lot of time with don't really get to know me as a person, about my life and experiences and that I am quite capable of doing many things. This is probably because I have been reliant on them in some ways to get me from one place to another and not being able to communicate properly. I think therefore they have an impression of me that may not be correct. A recent comment I had from one girl at the college was,"How can you go to Jingdong on your own on the bus, you don't speak Chinese"I think this also shows that they think that we just can't think for ourselves. I see it all the time in the classroom where they don't let the kids think, the teachers often do it for them! I have also found that Chinese people don't tend to ask you questions about yourself, about your life, people are really closed to each other in some ways. Yet they can be so friendly and helpful, I do find it odd at times.Because of the rainy weather over the last few days the scenery has been beautiful with low cloud over the mountains. It feels quite mystical driving around taking in the views. Some of the road conditions though have started to deteriorate and so can on occasion be rather bumpy.Today is Children's day here in China. So Happy Children Day!!