Today we walked to the elementary school to teach for the second time, but for the first time not walking from the hotel. We walked the path to school from our apartment last night. Lauren had borrowed and misplaced my map to the school, it was dark, and we had no idea what street it was on. Never fear though, I find more and more that our ETA group is like a super hero team (in other words, we found it). Armed with my direction skills, sarcasm and sass; Ray's Cantonese, Beyonce dance moves and magnetic pull of 17 year old girls; Lauren's Mandarin, world travel experience, and childlike excitement; and Athena's back up laughter to make us all feel like we have a clever sense of humor, we are pretty much unstoppable. Come rain or shine, elevator doors without sensors, or buses that stop in the middle of the city, we will thrive.
So this morning (how did I get so off track!?) we went back to the elementary school, and I taught my lovely 5th graders. I counted wrong last time. I actually have 103 students across 3 classes. I'm not going to lie--I'm a horrible teacher because I'm completely partial toward my one girl, Joyce. She admires me, what can I say? And she's smart, she's joyous (kind like Joyce with an extra syllable), she listens, she speaks logically and with poise--she embodies all things a woman should. :)
Because I underestimated the number of students I had, I also had too few worksheets. I am now the mean teacher that assigns homework; at least it was fairytale themed. I didn't get through half of my lesson--which is good for me because I can use it next week and focus on preparing to teach 1st and second grade.
After those classes, we came back to lead English Corner. English Corner is an English only lunch table in the canteen that spans the entire lunch period. This means we got to mingle with a variety of people during the time. I'm noticing an overlap in the participants for many of the MPI campus activities. The good news with this is that I get to know the students better. The bad news is that most of them are Chinese-English translation majors, so no other majors are really getting experience with English. At least the ones that come are enthusiastic about learning. One of the girls invited me to visit her family and have dinner next time I'm in Beijing. How sweet of her!
Debate came last today. We are doing a new style of debate and I'm still getting my bearings while trying to help teach the new students the things I barely know. This was not my most favorite part of the day since student enthusiasm was low, participation was low because the students I work with are 1st year with a low level of English, and all I could think of was 'me want food' in some sort of grizzly-esque inner stomach voice.
Thus concludes at least this portion of the day. We are about to go grab dinner and head home again.
Highlight of the day today: Blueberry Swiss Yogurt.
Fact of the day: Chinese people think that the number 4 is bad luck, and so there was no floor 4 or 14 at our hotel. They also believe 8 is a lucky number, so casinos here have phone numbers like 2888-8888 (and yes, they have 8 digits in them, though I'm not sure if the lucky part is why). I was born on the 18th in the 80s. Coincidence? I think not...I am my maternal grandparents' favorite granddaughter after all. (Insignificant side note: I'm their only granddaughter).
Feliz miércoles
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