Meet My Students!

 

This is my Sophomore Writing class on the Benbu campus, where I live.  I taught them one semester of Freshman Oral last fall and tutored some of them in the spring.  They are Industrial Design majors that have the opportunity to go to the UK to study abroad their Junior and Senior years.

This is what campus looks like when it is raining on the way to class.

The majority of my classes are taught on the Jinchuan campus, a 30 minute bus ride from our apartment.  This is the main building on campus with one of the school buses that shuttles teachers.

Sophomore class one has 24 students.  I taught them Freshman Oral last year.  They like to laugh a lot and often ask "and you?" after I ask them what they did over the weekend.  I will teach them Oral and Writing classes this year. 

Sophomore class two has 24 students.  I taught them Freshman Oral last year.  This class has a lot of positive energy.  They are the ones who learned the Wisconsin Milk Cheer.  They always like to see pictures of my travels in China and all the food that I eat.  I will teach them Oral class this year.

Sophomore class three has 38 students.  They are double majors.  This is my first time teaching them Oral class.  They are very eager to improve their English.

Sophomore class four has 24 students.  This is my first time teaching them Oral class.  They have a lot of personality and are eager to ask a lot of questions.

I taught V and J Sophomore Oral last year.  It was fun to see them as Juniors now!

Every one of my classes is different and they each have a lot of character.  I am very blessed to have them in my life.

Our Deepest Fear

A good reminder for the start of the school year.

Our Deepest Fear

Marianne Williamson

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.

Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.

We ask ourselves, "Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?"

Actually, who are you not to be?

You are a child of God.

Your playing small does not serve the world.

There is nothing enlightened about shrinking

so that other people won't feel insecure around you.

We are all meant to shine, as children do.

We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.

It's not just in some of us, it's in all of us.

And as we let our own light shine,

we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.

Hohhot Year Two, Week One

Here is a recap in pictures of my first week back, before classes started on September 1.

Welcome to our apartment building!  Same as last year.  Foreign Affairs offices are on the first floor.  My apartment is on the second floor, last window on the right (corner apartment).

 This was the painting crew last fall.  Thankful it is not me up there...

This is C.  I taught her as a Sophomore last year.  She is dear to my heart as she is one of the first students that struck up a conversation with me before classes started last year.  It was fun to reconnect with her the day after I got back into town to have lunch and hear about her summer.  Lift her up as she is interested in Studying with me this year.  What is she eating?  Yuxiang rousi.  Literally translated it means "fish-flavored pork strips," but it doesn't taste like fish, and the veggies are excellent too.  On top of rice, of course!

Together again!  Our first team dinner back.  Fun to have space in our office in our building for all of us to gather.  On the menu?  Chicken curry over rice, biscuits, lettuce salad, carrots and chocolate cake for dessert.  I am thankful for teammates that enjoy cooking.  I do not go hungry around here!

 Ordering water is often one of the first things you do in your first year when you arrive in your city.  Fortunately for me, all of my teammates speak Chinese and were willing to order water for me last year, and I let them!  This year however, it was time to step it up.  So with notes and coaching from a teammate I had some success.  We rejoice in the small victories around here!  More entertaining language stories to come, I am sure.

 

  

One of the benefits of jet-lag was getting up with the sun to walk the track across the street.

 And catching the work that was starting down the street...

 ...how else do you get up on the roof??

We had team meetings and orientation with our city team, which includes another team of teachers on a different campus.  We always enjoy the fellowship that comes with sharing a meal together.

 Our team had a city outing, which included riding the bus around town, catching the Carnival at the mall (and some ice cream), stopping at the park along the river, and having lunch at Subway.

 

And here is a lesson in managing your time well...

I had set aside my day on Saturday to get my lesson plans in order for the week.  Rule #1 in China: when you have downtime during the week to get your work done, take advantage, because you never know who will come knocking on your door on the day you had otherwise set aside to get your work done!  E and J are two students that Deborah and I taught as Freshmen last year.  We were excited that they made the 30 minute bus ride from the other campus to visit, so we made an afternoon of it, with games and noodles for lunch.

And that, my friends, was my first week back in the Blue City!  Every day is different, and I am blessed to be a part of it all.  Here are a few more pictures from a walk around campus.