The last few days have been fantastic and I thought that I would share them with you all. This week I had my students write pen pal letters. This was obviously an activity they had done before because they were all pretty lethargic about it at first. However, when I went on to explain that my friend in America was a teacher and that her kids would write us back they were really amped up. I figure that the previous teachers they had did not offer any responses to the letters they wrote. This is actually turning into a really cool project, especially if Jen would get on skype! I am also sending some of the letters to Maine. I figure this could be a good once a month activity along with my once monthly games day. At first I complained about having to see the kids more than once a week because it meant that I had to make many more lesson plans than my coworkers at Buckland. Now I love the fact that I actually get to connect with my kids. One of the little kids I have, who I was convinced was a mute, finally spoke in class this week. He said, "Today is Friday." If I only saw this kid once a week he never would have said that to me. Never mind that it was Thursday... He spoke!
Thursday night was fantastic. I played some basketball with my teammates which is always fun. The talent level is varied on the team but we have a great starting line. A couple of weeks ago we had our first actual game against another school. It was about an hour into the countryside from Liuyang, so it was pretty far out there. I would guess that I was the first white guy to ever play basketball there. It was an incredibly close game. Unfortunately, because of the language barrier, I know none of the plays. Towards the end of the game I was subbed out so that one of the Chinese teachers could help run the plays. At first I was very disappointed, but as I began to look around that feeling faded quickly. It seemed that the entire town had come out to watch the 'lao wei' play. Even though I was on the other team they cheered for me when I left the court. It was also a beautiful setting. Rows of steep tile roofs created the horizon, the blond setting sun gave an odd sense of eeriness to the thankfully fresh air, and old Maoist slogans were plastered all over the school's walls. I was suddenly hit with a serving of humble pie at my situation here in China. I am really lucky to be here.
It is finally fall here and it reminds me so much of winter in Florida. The air is fresh-ish but certainly crisp and just a little bit chilly. After bball practice I did some cardio on the school's track. Dinner had just finished and all of the students were out playing on the soccer field. After soccer practice the soccer coach busted out this awesome R/C airplane. He would swoop the plane down on groups of students and then have the plane climb back into the sky. I suppose that would be considered abuse in the US. After my workout I just sat there for about an hour. It was fantastic. As the sun set the students headed back to class and I headed home.
Fridays are half days here at Xin Wen (which means the students get out at 2:30) and many of the kids go home. Some live too far and so they stay at school, while the parents of others pay teachers to take care of their kids on the weekends. On any given weekend my friend Salina (who often invites us to weekend dinners) is sure to have a student at her home. I was playing a particularly dangerous game my last period on Friday when the parents showed up. I wanted to stop but the score was 10-10 so we had to finish. When team 1 won they went insane and I was worried that the parents, who were very interested in what the foreigner (who they pay a lot of money to teach their children), would disapprove. Instead they were all very impressed by their children's English ability.
After classes Aimee and I went to Shi Fu mountain. You can see all of Liuyang from up there. I will send my mom a picture to post. This is getting lengthy so lemme just say that it was great. The trail down the mountain leads into a little neighborhood that I had never seen before. It was great to explore our town during the day since normally we work or at least have stuff to do until dark. This weekend I am going to work on getting a motorcycle license. Don't worry mom, I'll be safe.
C. Johnson
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