Xiaogan Restrospective

Today, students will spend a lot of time in the classroom, presenting who they are as well as talking/listening with English learners. They will also share the stage with a group of selected students from the university who will be singing and dancing for us. Our performance is, well, energetic and "American." We are performing a lip-sync to Bieber's "Baby," a few camp songs, and some "Whose Line is it Anyway" type of games with volunteers from the audience. We did this at the last city and it was a hit.

I will be visiting the classrooms here and watching/learning how the Teaching Abroad teachers approach education in China... It will help inform what I do in the classroom with ELL. I will be working with another teacher on guided instruction and the use of graphic organizers. 

Tomorrow, the students leave for HomeStays in the countryside. During our debriefing time, we talked about cultural awareness and how to navigate the indirectness of this culture. Lishan, our leader, friend, interpreter and cross-cultural communications guru said that the students should talk to their host student about how to navigate the home stays. It will be fun to see what each learns from the experience. Recently, the students told us that we say "thank you" too much. By doing so, we signal distance, not friendliness... friends don't say please and thank you... they just be and do. On the flip-side, they like our complements, complements on their English, their city, their kindness, their food, their university. They don't get much of that here. Their university is a lesser university and there is shame involved in that. Also, teachers are strict and don't complement and students are competitive and don't complement. So, along with our effusive apologies and politeness, we also bring praise, which Lishan thinks is received well. 

While the students are gone, I am staying back with the teachers here in Xiaogan. It should be a relaxing weekend here... I hope to catch-up on sleep and be able to explore in a smaller group. 

Off to start the day. I ate spicy street-noodles for breakfast -- they tasted a lot like Pad Thai. For dinner we had Hot Pot! Lunch was a type of foccacia bread that tasted a little like Nan. (YUM!) 

Off to get ready for the day. -Polly