We set up our main classroom and organized all our supplies. It was lots of fun to make that classroom ours. A lot of Chinese students came in to see what we were doing and visit with us. They love to be around us and speak English. There were three young boys standing outside the classroom door talking to me. One boy said “teacher you are beautiful” and then they all ran away. They are so adorable. A few little boys were going through the supplies we brought and found some balls. They wanted to play catch with me so we stood in a triangle and began to toss the ball. I wasn’t looking for one second and the ball hit me straight in the face. It didn’t hurt too badly but when I looked back at the small boy who had thrown the ball he was in a panic. He just kept saying “sorry teacher, sorry teacher.” He felt bad and I tried as best I could to let him know that it was ok. At this point if it weren’t for the children I think I’d go home.
One of the most rewarding things so far has been to sit and visit with the Chinese children. They’re so kind and enjoy us being around. They have such a strong desire to learn English and take every opportunity to come learn from us. People around campus are constantly asking us to teach them English. I wish I could teach them all.
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
I HATE ANIMALS
There’s one thing I really hate about China and that is the animals. Everyone stares at me here including the dogs! How do they know I look different? Today we went up to the little market above the Canteen (our cafeteria) and there was a little while fuzzy puppy in there. At first it was just walking around minding its own business until it discovered me! The little runt kept trying to lick my legs and I didn’t like that so I’d back away. Next thing I know it’s growling and snapping at my ankles! I did not enjoy that! When we were leaving the store it even followed me out and continued to grunt. I hated every second.
We went into a small city just 5 minutes away from our school and boy were there dogs! Gross disgusting street dogs everywhere. There were all different sizes from big wolf ones to small little Chihuahuas. I really don’t mind dogs but I don’t like dirty gross ones in China that snap at my ankles.
If you go outside after dark you really need to watch out and dodge the bugs! There are so many bugs on the ground you can’t even count them. The school we’re at is famous for its crickets, I’d say. These jumping, flying, disgusting creatures are all over. You never know which way they’re going to go and they’ll cling to anything that walks in their path. The little Chinese children think it’s hilarious to watch us walk through the school grounds at night. Let’s just say there’s lots of screaming and jumping going on, mostly done by me. Oops!
We went into a small city just 5 minutes away from our school and boy were there dogs! Gross disgusting street dogs everywhere. There were all different sizes from big wolf ones to small little Chihuahuas. I really don’t mind dogs but I don’t like dirty gross ones in China that snap at my ankles.
If you go outside after dark you really need to watch out and dodge the bugs! There are so many bugs on the ground you can’t even count them. The school we’re at is famous for its crickets, I’d say. These jumping, flying, disgusting creatures are all over. You never know which way they’re going to go and they’ll cling to anything that walks in their path. The little Chinese children think it’s hilarious to watch us walk through the school grounds at night. Let’s just say there’s lots of screaming and jumping going on, mostly done by me. Oops!
sleeping
My bed is still hard but it will do. This past week I've been tired and ready for bed by 7:30 pm because I wake up at 5:10 am. All of us girls have set a goal to do P90X every single morning while we’re here in China
i love fireworks, except when i'm trying to fall asleep
Each night when I get into bed I hear fireworks going off. We’re not quite sure why? But without a doubt every night we can hear them. Mary told us that whenever a family moves into a new house they’ll have a celebration and do fireworks. People must be moving all the time!
my first sunday in China
Sunday’s are going to be different here in China. We’re 2 hours away from the nearest LDS branch and due to all our traveling to get here we were unable to go to church. Usually when we’re unable to go to church we get to watch church on Skype but since our internet wasn’t working we couldn’t do that either. Instead we had our own devotional. It was really good. We still felt the spirit as us 7 girls gathered together. Later on that day we were able to use one of the pianos in a classroom and sang hymns together. It was fun to do that.
Sundays are not a day of rest for the people here. The children still go to school on Sunday’s. They have the same routine every day. On our way back to our rooms a bunch of children stopped us. They all have been so excited to have us there. They yell “Hello Teacher” whenever they see us. Most of the older kids know a little English and try and communicate with us. We played ping pong and badminton with them for a while. As bad as I was they still loved it. One of the boys would stand next to me and even when I’d mess up he’d give me a big thumbs up and smile. He was darling.
Sundays are not a day of rest for the people here. The children still go to school on Sunday’s. They have the same routine every day. On our way back to our rooms a bunch of children stopped us. They all have been so excited to have us there. They yell “Hello Teacher” whenever they see us. Most of the older kids know a little English and try and communicate with us. We played ping pong and badminton with them for a while. As bad as I was they still loved it. One of the boys would stand next to me and even when I’d mess up he’d give me a big thumbs up and smile. He was darling.
our first time to Bengbu
I’m actually not living in Bengbu City. Bengbu is about 30 minutes away. Mary our native coordinator and Jeff one of the other foreigner teachers from the Philippines took us in to town for the first time. We took 3 different buses to get there. Jeff was so cute and reminded us quite a few times throughout the trip that we were in China now so we needed to keep out bags and money close to us.
When we got to the City they helped us trade out American money to Chinese. The bank was crowded and we had such a long wait but because Mary “knows people” she got us to the front of the line and we didn’t have to wait long at all. Thank goodness for her! At this point all eyes were on us and people were getting super close to my face, kind of invading my personal space. I think most of them had never seen an American. My blonde hair was sure a hit. I’m trying to get used to all the attention but it’s not my most favorite thing. I can’t do much about it though, I stand out here.
Next we went to the market. This market had everything. It’s an indoor market and has many floors. You can find pretty much anything you would like but don’t count on the food tasting anything like American food. We spent a few hours there. We 7 girls sure like to shop!
It was lunchtime and we decided to try out a little dumpling place that was just outside of the market. The whole menu was in Chinese of course so Mary helped us each individually order. My first choice was vegetable dumplings because I have a hard time eating the meat here but they didn’t have those. Then I decided to try chicken noodles, they didn’t have those. So Mary just decided to order for me and got me Beef Noodles and pork dumplings. They weren’t bad but it’s going to take some time for me to get used to all the new tastes of China.
We took our fist taxi ride back to the school because we had so many bags from shopping. We had a girl taxi driver and Jeff came with Cami, Rachel, and I to help communicate. The driving here in China just makes me laugh!
When we got to the City they helped us trade out American money to Chinese. The bank was crowded and we had such a long wait but because Mary “knows people” she got us to the front of the line and we didn’t have to wait long at all. Thank goodness for her! At this point all eyes were on us and people were getting super close to my face, kind of invading my personal space. I think most of them had never seen an American. My blonde hair was sure a hit. I’m trying to get used to all the attention but it’s not my most favorite thing. I can’t do much about it though, I stand out here.
Next we went to the market. This market had everything. It’s an indoor market and has many floors. You can find pretty much anything you would like but don’t count on the food tasting anything like American food. We spent a few hours there. We 7 girls sure like to shop!
It was lunchtime and we decided to try out a little dumpling place that was just outside of the market. The whole menu was in Chinese of course so Mary helped us each individually order. My first choice was vegetable dumplings because I have a hard time eating the meat here but they didn’t have those. Then I decided to try chicken noodles, they didn’t have those. So Mary just decided to order for me and got me Beef Noodles and pork dumplings. They weren’t bad but it’s going to take some time for me to get used to all the new tastes of China.
We took our fist taxi ride back to the school because we had so many bags from shopping. We had a girl taxi driver and Jeff came with Cami, Rachel, and I to help communicate. The driving here in China just makes me laugh!
mayflora international school
I live on the 6th floor of our building. When we arrived some very kind Chinese men would not allow us to carry up our luggage. We watched them climb multiple times up all the stairs to the 6th floor carrying our bags for us. We felt so bad. It’s quite nice being that high up because there aren’t too many bugs up here and people don’t bother us much but I do have to climb the 12 flights of stairs each time I come and go. I do that climb at least 8 times a day and most of the time more.
We eat in the Canteen at our school. Well actually we ate every meal in the canteen for the first 2 weeks but don't anymore. I wanted to come home because I was starving. The canteen is the lunchroom where all the students eat. We are able to eat there for free, but it’s not that great. I can’t wait to find some other Chinese food. Most of the time the food we’re served frightens me.
By the time we got our things unpacked and organized it was 3:30 am. We were tired even though we had slept a lot while traveling. China is 14 hours ahead of Utah so the time difference was interfering with our bodies as well. After being asleep for only 3 hours Cam and I were awakened to pounding on our door! I half woke up and was wondering where the noise was coming from. I couldn’t figure out why someone would be pounding on our door at 6:00 am. I jumped up to check the peep hole when I realized I was standing in an inch of water. We had a flood in our apartment, the first day! It was coming out of our bathroom…GROSS. Apparently the shower had turned on automatically and water was roaming everywhere. Water had leaked into Hannah and Hailee’s room next door and that’s why they pounded on our door to let us know since we were still sound asleep. Cami and I swept the water to our drain and eventually it was all gone. Thank goodness! I wish I had taken pictures. I was so shocked and it was so early I didn’t even think to grab the camera. Darn!
My apartment at the school is nice. It was just finished right before I got here so everything is new. The apartment building is older but the rooms on the 6th floor have never been finished until now. We are pretty spoiled, our rooms are a lot nicer than the Chinese teachers, and we feel bad when they see where we live. Cami and I are roommates again and we love it. We went into a small city one of our first days here and bought matching comforters and pillows to help make our room feel homier. Our bathrooms are quite nice surprisingly. We got lucky and get normal toilets like home instead of squatters. I was expecting the worst but they’re a lot nicer. Everything is new and very nice.
By the time we got our things unpacked and organized it was 3:30 am. We were tired even though we had slept a lot while traveling. China is 14 hours ahead of Utah so the time difference was interfering with our bodies as well. After being asleep for only 3 hours Cam and I were awakened to pounding on our door! I half woke up and was wondering where the noise was coming from. I couldn’t figure out why someone would be pounding on our door at 6:00 am. I jumped up to check the peep hole when I realized I was standing in an inch of water. We had a flood in our apartment, the first day! It was coming out of our bathroom…GROSS. Apparently the shower had turned on automatically and water was roaming everywhere. Water had leaked into Hannah and Hailee’s room next door and that’s why they pounded on our door to let us know since we were still sound asleep. Cami and I swept the water to our drain and eventually it was all gone. Thank goodness! I wish I had taken pictures. I was so shocked and it was so early I didn’t even think to grab the camera. Darn!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)