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