Reflection

It’s been a week since the teaching program in Zhenfeng ended, but already it seems like a very long time ago.  Looking at the notes I made during those two weeks reminds me of what happened, but my feelings at the time are harder to remember.  I think overall, my coworker and I did a fantastic job as volunteer English teachers/ trainers.  We provided them with some new and interesting teaching methods, and even those teachers who don’t use the things we taught them in their own classrooms still had the opportunity to practice their own English with us and other classmates.  At the end of the two weeks, one of the teachers passed around a sheet for everyone to record their contact information.  I hope that they will all use each other as a resource in the future!!

If I could do the whole thing again, I would probably separate the teachers by level of English proficiency instead of the grade that they taught.  The groups would probably have been quite similar, but I think the students with lower proficiency would have been more engaged if they didn’t feel so overwhelmed by more advanced English speakers.  I also would have tried to assign more suitable homework and give both positive as well as constructive feedback for teachers’ various presentations (we mainly just praised them…).  The one lesson I’m really glad we did was a “talking about your own culture in English” day.  A couple of teachers had pointed out that they studied a lot about Christmas and other Western holidays along with their English materials, but didn’t know how to discuss their own culture with foreigners.  We mostly spent the day figuring out how to say a wide variety of foods in English (i.e. sticky rice, glutinous rice cakes…) and discussing the special characteristics of some of the main Chinese holidays (Chinese New Year, the Mid-Autumn Festival…).  Lots of fun.

For our very last day of class, we learned an English song, handed out special certificates for each student (e.g. most improved, best listener), and had them all fill out feedback sheets.  The comments were really interesting and made me wish that I had asked for feedback after the first week of classes until waiting until the end.  Most people said things like, I like playing games.  Some thought the course was too hard, others too easy.  A few students were more honest and eloquent in their responses.  One said, “Your classes are good but I don’t think their good for our students’ examinations.  We do hope to help out students get higher scores, and maybe they would be more interested in the class if we use them, but they won’t be able to get a high score which will make other teachers think we are not teaching well.”  Another said, “China’s education system is still test-oriented.  Even though we really want to integrate the activities you taught us, sadly, it might not be tested in an exam.  Therefore, we still can’t get rid of the habit of teaching dead rules.  We don’t want to, but we have to.”  It makes me sad.

After our class the Education Department, some government officials, and gold mine workers held a closing ceremony for the program.  I had someone in the audience take pictures for me so that you could see what an odd display it was, haha.  Essentially, a lot of people made speeches, and then each teacher’s name was called and they received a more official looking certificate indicating they had completed the program.  I’ll admit, I got a little teary eyed as they each came up to receive their certificate.  I miss them a lot.

 

For our last dinner together, the teachers from the education department and a number of employees from the gold mine (including the general manager) took us out to dinner at a restaurant in a small minority village.  The woman who owned it was Buyi and after a fantastic meal she disappeared to change into traditional garb.  When she came out, we took pictures together, and then she insisted on dressing both me and my coworker in her clothes, which resulted in more picture taking.  As soon as she started to dress me, it started to drizzle, and then pour, and pour harder.  We all ran back into the little hut we were eating in, but after 5 minutes or so, the rain started to leak through the roof.  We used our limited umbrellas in rotation to run indoors and then did what any Guizhou individual would do to pass the time: play Mahjong. My coworker and I (as a team) won the only game we played before the rain passed and we headed home.

Colored Sticky Rice, a local specialty

 

The next morning, my coworker and I said goodbye to Zhenfeng and took the bus back to Guiyang.  I didn’t stay there long before flying to Xi’an, only 2 days, but it was great to relax and explore a new city with my coworker without constant supervision.  We mostly just walked around, played badminton, and found interesting places to eat.  We also managed to find one of the largest statues of Mao still in existence. 

 

For our last dinner together, we went to a Dong minority restaurant that was recommended in my guidebook and close to our hotel.  The food was delicious; we ate grilled pumpkin, steamed duck, and these delicious veggie rolls.  When we were just about finished with dinner, two waitresses came around the corner followed by a number of men playing traditional instruments.  They said something briefly which I can no longer remember, then proceeded to take our chopsticks, pour a shot of alcohol into our mouths, and feed us a bite of food using our own chopsticks.  It all happened very quickly… then they asked if we would like them to sing a special song for us.  When we realize that it would cost money, we said, sorry, no thanks.  The group of wait staff then moved on to the next table and repeated the process.  It was interesting to watch.  I don’t think anyone asked to be sung to.

One of the Dong waitresses.

Leaving my coworker the next morning to go to Xi’an was bittersweet.  We had spent the last two weeks constantly in each other’s company.  At the same time, we knew we were both moving on to new and exciting things.  With a big hug, I got in my shuttle car to the airport.

The past few days have flown by, and this post is already so long, I’ll be brief in my description.  My boyfriend picked me up at the airport in Xi’an and helped me schlep all my luggage to our hotel.  Xi’an was very hot, dusty, and kind of smoggy.  We only stayed for a few days so that I could settle some affairs (i.e. get a bank account, get a cell phone) before heading to his home in the Gansu province.  It was a 7 hours bus ride from Xi’an to his hometown Zhangjiachuan, but the bus was nice and air conditioned.  When we arrived, his parents were waiting to pick us up, and we had a nice dinner at home together.  Nothing terribly exciting has happened since then, but I’ll give you some more information when you’re not already tired of reading very long posts.

Even though our bus was not a "Mercedes" it was still very nice.