Big
news here is the arrival of the new teacher we have been waiting for. His
arrival meant that I could finally be given the additional class I needed to
satisfy Peace Corps’ expectations. So Peggie gave me a class on Monday.
Unfortunately, since Sigve, who is Norwegian and has a Chinese wife, was the
last to arrive and Peggie didn’t know that he would be commuting, his schedule
has early morning classes four days and he has no day without classes as the
rest of us do. I happened to be there when Peggie gave him his schedule. Nice Jackie offered to take his evening class instead of the Monday afternoon class
until I noticed that it is a chemistry class. Then outspoken Jackie took over
and made the observation that Dale had that class last term and had nothing
good to say about it. I also observed that teachers who had evening classes
last year said they were horrible. So Peggie called the department to see about
changing the time. The only time offered as available was Friday afternoon from
3:45 to 5:30, which doesn’t work for Sigve because he has to pick up his
daughter. So Peggie asked me about that time. Still being outspoken, I
responded that I don’t have classes on Friday and don’t want to add one at that
time and would prefer to have it Thursday evening. The situation was left to be settled later. I
was not proud of being outspoken, as it is considered rude here. But,
unfortunately, it happens sometimes. I emailed Peggie to apologize and say I
would take the Thursday evening class and it would be OK. If she had given me
that class initially, I wouldn’t have liked it, but I wouldn’t have liked it
privately, not publically. Monday she informed me that they had told Sigve that
he has to do the class on Friday, and they are trying to find a new time for
it.
So
Monday afternoon I went to my new class and no students were there. I texted
Peggie, knowing she has class all afternoon. She called me to tell me that the
department had changed the time of the class to Thursday afternoon without
telling her. They didn’t think about the fact that the teacher might not be
available then, which I’m not since I already have a class at that time.
Tuesday I learned that the class would be Wednesday morning. Again, no students
were there. Peggie said she had told the department to tell the students but
thought they probably didn’t do that. Maybe next week.
At
English Corner last week, there were only about 15 students. The classes
assigned now have electives that evening. When we divided into groups, for the
first time, I had more than the guys. It was fun to observe that. Afterwards,
Bennie, who had been in young Dan’s group, came over to walk out with May and
me. She told me that, although he is handsome and nice, I am special because
I’m a woman and some things can only be talked about with women. It was nice to
be appreciated and to have recognition that our Monday discussions are valuable
to them. I have enjoyed them.
Bennie
and May are part of the group of five girls who have been coming to my office
hours to talk. Grace and May came regularly last term, and Bennie and Olivia
came once. Now they have deepened the level of discussion and have spoken
openly about their ideas. Last week they started talking about the recent
missing plane and the sadness that so many people died in the crash. This
became a discussion about “What would you do if you know you will die
tomorrow?” Then the topic changed to my having told them what a lover is in class,
since our current topic is romance. Girls have often mentioned that they want
to find a lover when I know they mean a boyfriend. So I took the opportunity to
explain the difference. They were aghast. If they learn nothing more this term,
they will remember that. From this the discussion went to romance to divorce to
having an affair to the injustice of girls, and not boys, having to be virgins
when they marry to gay/lesbian love and marriage. I was surprised at some of
the topics as they came up.
This
week two girls from other classes joined the discussion. After a short general
discussion about their weekends, the topic of friendship and love was brought
up. Everyone participated. I was really pleased that they integrated the new
girls so well and that the discussion was student led. I only made a few
comments.
I have
noticed in general that students are more willing to participate in class this
term. Three of the classes had me last term. Since the other class had Dale, they
are used to having a foreign teacher who expects them to talk. During the
break, some students are chatting with me now, and more say “good-bye” at the
end of class. Students are also participating in class for the new teachers,
since they also had a foreign teacher last term. It’s nice that there is a
carry-over effect and they don’t need to be shy and hesitant to speak again
this term. And several have come to the office for assistance. I am meeting
with Grace and Eddy on Wednesday evening to work on speaking. They thought the
group would be larger, but no one else is interested.
The
other recent drama was about students who wanted to join the work-study program
to work in the U.S. this summer. Bennie, Olivia, and May came to talk with me
about that. Olivia was sure she would go, as her mother had agreed. The other
girls talked to their mothers while we were together, and both said “no.” May said
she is from a small town and no one has ever gone abroad. Although money is not
an issue, Bennie’s mother wanted her to focus on her studies and not work. Both
girls were very disappointed. Bennie’s mother came to have dinner with her that
night. On Monday she reported that her mother had agreed that she can join the
program next year. Olivia had discovered that she is not eligible this year
because her ID has her age as 17. She was born when her mother was 18 years
old, and, at that time, it was illegal to be married under age 18. (The new age
for legal marriage is 20.) So, when they registered her (which wasn’t done at
birth at that time) when she was five
years old, they recorded her age as being four so it would look like her mother
was an appropriate age for being married when she was born. Now she is legally
17 even though by birth she is 18. We laughed about that. So both girls plan to
participate in the program next year, and everyone is happy.
Saturday
I went with Grace to watch her play in a ping pong competition. Five of her
friends also went along. She was the only person on the team who had her
support group with her. It made her feel good to know that she has such good
friends, and she was very appreciative of my going. The event was at the
Communications University, about a half hour walk from here.
She played in the
singles competition in the morning, and, in the afternoon, she played in the
doubles competition even though she had never played doubles before. The school
team won second place. Although it was a long day, I was glad I went. In
addition to supporting Grace, I got to chat with the other students, most of
whom haven’t talked to me much. At the end of the day a couple of them asked
questions about things they didn’t understand about English, which was nice.
The
teachers’ classes started this week. When we were given the textbook and told
that it was the second half of the book we used last term, I observed that it
wasn’t because it starts with Unit 1 on page 1. It was frustrating. Later I
noticed that an activity told students to read the selection on page 86. Our
book goes to p. 75. So that was frustrating until I turned the page and there
was the reading on page 8. They had changed the unit numbers and all 75 page
numbers so that it looks like it is the beginning of a book. Only in China! I
have the intermediate class again, which I enjoy. However, the English level of
these teachers is overall lower than of those last term. Two men were in an
elementary level class last term and are clearly still at that level, but they
don’t want to go down to a lower level even though they can’t do much at this
level. I guess they think they finished that level and want a higher one.
The
yoga class has started again. I learned that there are three classes and 105
students. I hadn’t realized that there was more than one class last term. They
placed me in the class with the bilingual teacher, which is nice for me and
gives the girls practice listening to English. I’m happy to be back in class.
The
multi-media cabinet has been open in the Thursday afternoon class for two weeks
now. Peggie said they told the man to open it for me. So it’s ready to use when
I arrive, which is good.
Spring
is finally here. Temperatures have been in the 60s and even low 70s during the day
and in the 50s at night. Winter clothes have been put away. Magnolias have
bloomed.
Sunday
April and I rented bicycles and had an enjoyable ride around the area for two
hours.
No comments:
Post a Comment