picture a day… a little late.

I swore to myself to start posting one picture a day on this blog. So far I’ve succeeded in taking one picture a day… but posting them has been another story. Here is my life over the past few weeks.

Shanghai Summer… beautiful.

My students on the day we learned “SCARY.” They think they’re sooo funny.

Yes, I went to the Asian X-Games. No, I did not see Tony Hawk or Rob Dyrdek. Yes, I would like to learn how to skateboard now.

Learning to cook Chinese food. Inspired by Julie and Julia? Maybe. Check out the food blog for more.

Obama Mart. Products tested and approved by the man himself.

At the Shanghai Museum Monetary Exhibit, which has coins traded on the Silk Road. This coin has an inscription on the back which reads “made in the year 618 in Ghazna, the ruler of rulers… the grandest… the most rightful… Genghis Khan.” What a pimp.

After our 8 dollar massages. Heavenly.

Eating Zong Zi for the Dragon Boat Festival. Pork and glutinous rice lovingly cooked in bamboo leaves. Best paired with a 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon holding subtle cherry notes.

Season’s Greetings.

(Yes, I’m a little too obsessed with my students.)

The Daily Grind

The Daily Grind

Originally uploaded by betsy.gass

It is official. I am a teacher. Today was China’s annual Teacher Appreciation Day and I was loaded down with numerous presents from my new kiddies. No apples, lots of flowers and chocolate — one girl was so excited that she threw up on me. Twice.

Even though her stomach acid smelled ten times worse than Sarah Hargett’s (a pretty enviable feat — luvvvvyaaaaa), after looking into her adorable little sobbing eyes I couldn’t be angry. I changed into one of the Chinese teacher’s extra shirts and went on with my day of dancing, singing, and half-hearted lesson plans.

This is my life now. Last Monday, I arrived at my new school – Shanghai Wunan Kindergarten – prepared to give some young Chinese children the best English education I could possibly elicit from my little to no experience of teaching kids. Having worked hard to get my TEFL certificate this summer and having observed hours upon hours of English classes, I felt confident in the fact that I was really going to teach these children things. They were going to speak English. They were going to read English. They were going to watch Arthur and understand it. Oh yes, after being trained through my expertise, these kids would emerge the future Deng Xiaopings of their generation.

I was shocked to find out that I would be teaching what the principal called “The Baby Class” – 2 year olds. I’ve heard the saying Terrible Twos before. I knew these kids probably wouldn’t even speak Chinese well, let alone be able to produce the “TH” sound in English. Folks — I have traveled to China to become a babysitter.

But over the past two weeks, as these children have started to become more comfortable around me and I have warmed up to them, they’ve stopped crying every time their “mama” and “baba” leave and actually love to play with their “laoshi,” their teacher. I’ve discovered that yes, these kids still need some assistance peeing and eating, but they are really really quick learners! Every day I have about 15 minutes where the kids actually have a lesson – and it is incredible how much they have already picked up. They can now say Hello, Bye Bye, How are you?, My name is…, I’m a boy/girl, a lot of colors… in only 2 weeks. They may not remember them immediately but I’m thinking a constant amount of English brainwashing every day is just what the school wants. For them to be hearing the sounds of a different language and seeing a different face every day is education enough.

Plus I’m learning many beneficial Chinese phrases –
Zuo xia lai.: Sit down.
Bu ku le: Don’t cry.
Yao xiao bian ma?: Do you need to pee pee?

So far, my teaching career is going well. Living in China, I’ve learned not to expect the unexpected, but to try to not have any expectations at all. What you will get will constantly surprise you, no matter what you think you’re prepared for. 2 year old kids? Come on, China. You can do better than that.

I’ll put up some more pictures of my adorable little children and their funny English names later (in this picture, you can see one of my favorites, Johan Poon).

Off now to buy stickers for the kids!
BG

Peking Over

Voila. I’ve finally found a way to sufficiently navigate the Internet here. For a while I thought there was no hope and was beginning to cope with the fact that I’d have to do without Facebook, Twitter, WordPress, Picasa, and even Weather.com (why?). But slowly I have been able to find ways to peak over the firewall and reconnect. And that means… time to blog again!

So what have I been doing these past 2 weeks? Wow, it seems like months ago that I was anxiously waiting in the O’Hare airport, ready to board my inordinately delayed United flight to Shanghai. Well let’s go back. Back to the beginning…

Week One: CIEE Orientation

I was brought to China through an awesome program called the Council on International Educational Exchange. They do a ton of different programs, sending teachers to a handful of different countries around the world to teach English. Thanks to them, I got hooked up with a school in Shanghai and had all of the visa work done for me. Considering the massive amount of red tape you have to go through to get into China, that’s a big deal. So two weeks ago I joined about 35-40 other soon-to-be teachers in Shanghai and embarked upon what seemed like a very extreme version of O-Week. Lots of get-to-know-you games were played. Many an awkward group meal was shared. I’ve always loved orientations and getting to know new people, but I’m not gonna lie — I’ve never been good at telling “one interesting fact” about myself. In fact, instead of thinking of an interesting fact, I just lie. This time I stole Andrew Roberts’ interesting fact – “I used to have 6 toes.” Worked well enough. And who’s ever going to find out I’ve never had an extra phalanges? (Thanks, Andrew!)

Along with the icebreaker games, Chinese lessons, and teaching simulations, we also got to see all the fun touristy attractions Shanghai has to offer. We went up to the top of China’s tallest building which was incredible. Built last year, it was supposed to be the world’s tallest building, but I think it was beat by some Taiwanese monster before it was even finished. Now it lives a lowly existence as the third tallest building and what I’m convinced is actually the world’s largest bottle opener. I really enjoyed looking down upon the sprawling metropolis of Shanghai and pretending I was playing a colossal game of Monopoly. If only I had that B&O Railroad…

We also visited many other areas in Shanghai and even got a few nights to hit up the ever-changing club scene. Sadly the wait was too long at the karaoke bar, but I have sworn to myself that I will be using my Barn Grille skills here by the end of the month! Overall, orientation was a good chance to meet some fellow English teachers and relate over the fact that we’re probably crazy for having chosen to teach in China. Did we really choose to live in a place where we get woken up every morning by the shouts of Chinese construction workers and the pungent smell of sweet-and-sour fish drifting down our hallway? Do we really want to live in a city where gun-toting pseudo-homeless expats named Van Johncox try to befriend you on the Subway? Why are we doing this? Who really knows. At least we’ll all have some interesting cultural experiences to share when / if we meet again.

On Saturday we all said our goodbyes and head out to our respective new homes in China. Everyone is spread like butter across the country which is kind of sad — but at least that gives me a good excuse to visit some new places!

I’ll have to update about Week 2 later. If you want a sneak peek, it does involve me doing the Cupid Shuffle with a schoolful of Asian children…

Sorry for the lack of pictures. If you’re really interested you can see some here:  http://www.costcophotocenter.com/groups/betsy_in_china . Just email me and I’ll add you to the group!

Now I’m off to engage in my favorite way to explore a new city – a running tour! Wish my lungs luck.

BG