Personal Memoir
Wendy Ho's Memoir
Walking into the classroom, we, as Team 4, felt more prepared than yesterday, but as typical for our group, all our plans fell flat. However, we learned from our first day and the class as a whole proceeded better than our first day. We started today by talking about our high school life in America, and then moved into small group discussions. Some small group discussions went well and we taught them common phrases like how to ask people out to eat, while some group discussions didn’t work out and the students strayed. We went back to the classroom and found that playing games like Hangman and Pictionary with the promise of American candy as a prize had the students more engaged. However, after a while, the students became bored again, but it was time for lunch anyway. In the afternoon, we had nothing planned, so we just passed around American money and talked more about our lives. We realized that the textbook that was provided to us was ineffective, so we had to put our minds together and think for creative solutions. While today was not as successful as we had hoped, we will try to improve tomorrow by finding ways to improve engagement, preparing topics to talk about beforehand, and playing more games on the blackboard.
Kevin Xu's Memoir
Teaching Blog
First part of our program entailed visiting a Chinese technical school in Mianyang, Sichuan and teaching American language and culture. Not only did we strengthen our Chinese speaking and understanding of the lives of same-aged Chinese students, but more importantly, we improved the Chinese students' understanding of American language and culture. From a personal standpoint, I found the experience to be a fun and character-building one. We enjoyed the food, the games that we played with the students, and most importantly we liked exchanging details about our respective cultures and backgrounds. Although it was not easy to handle a class of more than fifty students, both us and the students were extremely sad to see us go. For me, the teaching experience helped me with public speaking, confidence and other character skills. Even though we were only there for a few days, we loved every moment of the opportunity to help students' future by using a strength of ours and filling a weakness of theirs.
Earthquake blog
Today we visited the earthquake site in the old city of Beichuan. I vaguely remember hearing news of the 5.12.2008 earthquake on TV in America, but I never realized the extent of the disaster until we saw the 20th most deadliest natural disaster firsthand. When we walked in, we were absolutely shocked to find out that tens of thousands of people had fallen victim to the earthquake. We saw cases where floors fell on the one below it, places where the ground simply cracked open, and some cases where structures were totally demolished. It pulled on my heartstrings even more to receive messages from students at the school we were teaching at informing us that their family was affected by this disaster. Besides the economic and human impacts of the disaster, there were environmental effects and other effects, such as the panda shelter needing to be relocated. All in all, the couple hours of walking were well worth the shocking experience of seeing the aftermath of such an event firsthand. After visiting Beichuan, I truly believe that this is a place that everyone who has the opportunity should witness.
Isla Shi's Memoir
Earthquake Memorial
I was not expecting the 2008 Earthquake memorial site to be so large. It didn’t even occur to me that there would be collapsed buildings. I was pretty overwhelmed by the memorial at first. It was interesting to see the damage on the buildings, but it was also haunting and borderline disturbing.
At first I thought it was pretty cool to see everyday items abandoned along with the broken buildings. I saw a flipped mattress hanging out a window, some posters, and even a painting or two.
I don’t mean to offend anybody who was injured or killed by the earthquake, but I felt really uncomfortable. I have unlimited respect for the victims of the earthquake, I really do. I feel really guilty for saying this, but all I could think was the terror of the earthquake instead of sorrow for those who passed away from the earthquake.
I found some pretty interesting things about the earthquake. There were some stories about the disaster that were interesting and heartwarming. Like “Cola Boy”. Or the when a man searched and waited for his injured girlfriend under earthquake debris. I wouldn’t say these stories were uplifting, but I definitely won’t regret reading about them.
Mianyang
In MianYang, there were a lot of kids who would ditch class and misbehave. One girl had asked to use the restroom. We allowed her to do so, but we realized 10 minutes later that she was gone. I saw her walking down the hall with other kids, who were presumably ditching class too.
Lots of kids would not pay attention or plainly refused to participate (one girl wrote, “I don’t want to talk” on a notepad when I was asking these kids English questions to test their skills). Wenbo (our team leader) would often have to confiscate phones for.
But, despite this, I think there are lots of great kids from MianYang. A lot of them were nice enough to give candy to us. I spoke with some kids. They had ambitions and you could tell they would try hard in class.
Christopher Ma's Memoir
Mianyang School
I was given the opportunity to teach high school students in the city Mianyang. It was a wonderful experience and my favorite part of the trip so far. On our first day, I expected walking into a classroom full of shy kids who weren't very good at speaking English. Instead, as my group and I walked into the classroom, the students were all clapping and shouting for us. I was very surprised how well the kids could speak. They had trouble pronouncing words, but it was still good enough so that I could understand them. It really amazed me how the kids were able to learn the topics and vocabulary we taught so quickly. We played a lot of games with them. They had a lot of fun, but some of the students were confused with the rules to play and others didn't participate. During the few days we taught at the school, I became close friends with one of the boys in our class. He helped us around the school and told me about Chinese culture. He also brought me to his dorm and showed me how he lived with his roommates. The dorm was a very small with four other people living there. The bathroom was highly unsanitary and much different than bathrooms in America. The student told me that he got to leave the school once a year to visit his family. Now that I have seen the conditions the kids in China have to live through, I really appreciate everything in America much more now. Overall, my experience at the school was a great experience.
Earthquake Site
The site of the earthquake was a very shocking display for me to see. The houses and streets in the city had all been destroyed. The furniture, paintings, and everything else in the homes were all destroyed. Seeing the ruins gave me a great feeling of sadness. Visiting the site of this earthquake helped me realize many things. First of all, I am very thankful that I have never had to live any natural disasters like this one. The people involved with the earthquake lost their homes and many were killed, or severely injured. The survivors had to rebuild their homes and start new lives in another city. Thinking about what happened to these people also made me more appreciate what I have right now. If something like this were to happen to me, I wouldn't know what to do and I would lose the luxurious conditions that I currently have. At the end of the tour, we visited the memorial garden to remember the victims of the earthquake. Even though I am not religious, I made a prayer to bless the souls of these poor citizens and wish them happiness in their afterlife.
Elementary School
After we left the school in Mianyang, we went to an elementary school called Long Quan 19th Elementary School. The kids were really well behaved and communicated well with our group mates. My group was first assigned with a class with about ten 6th grade students. We split up into groups with two students and a mentor. I began teaching my kids about vocabulary and subjects like sports, holidays, and direction. It was amazing to see the progression of how these students learned. My friends complained about how annoying and difficult the kids were for them, but I had the complete opposite. My students were fun and very well behaved. They always stayed on task and were eager to learn more English. The next day, we visited a senior home and did various performances. I was assigned in a group to sing “Let It Go” from Frozen. It was a lot of fun and the seniors seemed to really love the songs and dancing.
Our next and final stop was a nice city with a great school with very high test grades and was also the location of the panda exhibit. On the first day we arrived at the school, we started by performing a few songs. Then, we played a few games with the students. They didn’t seem to understand how to play the games and got off track a lot, so in my group, we decided to introduce ourselves instead. They had very strong accents that made it extremely difficult to understand them, so we just spoke Mandarin to make it easier. We made a poster and helped them prepare a presentation. Our group taught them how to handle public speaking and gave a few tips on how they could make a power point presentation. All in all, it was a wonderful teaching experience that taught me more about Chinese customs and culture.
Hudson Shou's Memoir
As part of the computer team, I took a different path from my teaching peers. Along with the rest of the computer team, I traveled to Bo Re Si temple to work on the two websites we needed to complete, as well as experience temple life. While at the temple I participated in many activities including chopping weeds and witnessing a Buddhist ceremony. I was able to witness the everyday lives of the monks and pilgrims to the temple and gain a more in-depth understanding of the lifestyle of a follower of Buddhism. Personally, I was very impressed by the level of concentration and perseverance demonstrated by the practitioners of Buddhism. I even had the opportunity to participate in one of their ceremonies. The ceremony began with showing respect to the Buddha’s and offering incense. Following this we returned into the main shrine and began to recite the Diamond Sutra(金刚经) and others. We read the entire Sutra which took around two hours, while I sat next to them and followed as best I could. The entire time they moved not a muscle while I was squirming and wiggling like a worm. My legs were numb, and yet no one else looked like they felt anything. Afterwards I could only feel awe at the intense dedication of the monks to their faith. The next day, we went out to the fields behind the monastery to cut grass. The monk told us that instead of removing the roots of the weeds we could simply cu the grass and let the dead grass fertilize the land. Then when the grass grew back out we could cut it again, endlessly fertilizing the land. It was tiring work but it felt satisfying, working for the food that we ate. Temple life in general is very different from my life back home. Everyone is vegetarian here, and, in accordance with Buddhist beliefs, no one is allowed to take another creature's life, including bugs. This, of course, leads to a lot of very daring mosquitoes. In addition, everyone must wash their own bowls after eating, and the only running water in the temple is used for washing. The temple, however, has also moved into the 21st century. The monks own cell phones, and work at computers. They even have an internet line running to their temple, which is how we could work on our website from the temple. It's a contrast I still can't quite wrap my head around. At the end of the day, I feel that this was a good experience. While the temple lacks the creature comforts of home, there is a certain tranquility and peace to temple life, as well as a certain power in their ceremonies. I would not want to live here again, but I am glad I received the opportunity to experience this temple.
Nathaniel Young's Memoir
Arriving in Chendgdu Airport, I did not know what I was going to expect in the Chinaway program. Teaching students English seemed scary to me. This blog will overview all the things I did in this program during this 2-week period. First, we went to a vocational school to teach kids. These kids weren’t actually kids; they were almost 18 or 17 years old. The first day that we taught them, it was a disaster. My group had no instructions and no guidelines to follow. Everything was a mess and nothing was organized. From time, lots of hard work and teamwork, All of our work paid off and the we left the kids more educated than they were before. The vocational school was the most emotional and wanted the most photos compared to the other schools. At the end of our stay, we received certificates from the students and also received presents which consisted of duck eggs and stuff. The students in this school were not too hard working and did not have much motivation but I did see some hope. This school was a great eye-opening and interesting stop. Teaching students really changed my view of how hard it is being a teacher. The next stop was at Beichuan, where our group visited the earthquake ruins. This particular earthquake struck on May 12th and killed many people. We walked and looked in astonishment at all the ruins. Then we paid our respects and had a moment of silence. This experience was a once in a lifetime opportunity to witness such a disaster. After our trip to Beichuan, we went to Luo Dai Elementary school to teach little kids. These kids had very little respects to me and my other fellow teachers. It did not help with the fact that one of my teachers was not cooperative and would not listen to what I said. After two days, we had 6th graders to teach. These students were so much more different from the kids we taught a couple days ago. The new kids had a different curriculum and were more knowledgeable than the other class. On the last day, we practiced an American song and had to present it in front of everyone. On top of that, us teachers also had to present a song. My class decided to sing “Rock You”. Teaching the kids was very frustrating since they did not know most of the words. Once we did teach the song to them, and presented it, we were all relieved and proud of our students on how well they performed. But our fears arose again once us teachers were called up to sing our song. “Mary Had a Little Lamb” was one of most embarrassing songs for mature teenagers to sing. Overall, teaching in this elementary school was very fun. On the last day, we went to this dank panda place. We cleaned up their eating areas, picked up their poo, and generally had a great time. Seeing the endangered giant pandas made me full of love for these cute animals. I loved caring for these majestic creatures. I could not explain all of what I did on this trip in just one simple blog. But everything I did on this trip was full of adventures, new things, eye-opening things, and overall incredibly fun. ¬¬¬
Alvin Xu's Memoir
Teaching Kids
Teaching kids in China actually had a huge impact on me. It was my first time teaching such a large class. If I didn¡¯t work with a team the students would have probably not respect me and do whatever they wanted to do. Through teaching these students I learned to be less shy when I¡¯m in front of large groups of people. The students and teachers always wanted me to teach because I talked very less. But of course, that was because I talked very less. But of course, that was because our team had many other amazing and smart people so there was no need for me to talk. Later on with lots of encouragement and help from students, fellow team members, and teachers I became more outgoing after teaching the kids. I even made great friends with some of the students. After teaching I found out how hard and frustrating teaching kids can be sometimes. I have lots of respect for the teachers that would actually take time to teach these kids English. One of the students actually brought me and some friends from the U.S. to their dorm. When I saw what conditions they lived in really didn¡¯t know what to say. The hallways in the dorm were dark, dirty, and smelly. The small rooms that the kids slept in had six people living in them at most and it was very dirty. The bathrooms smelled so bad that I almost threw up my lunch. I couldn¡¯t imagine living in these horrible conditions because I go to live in such a better place than what they live in. I think that this was the most worthwhile trip so far. I got so much experience and I feel like I have matured a lot after teaching.
Sichuan Earthquake
The trip to the earthquake site in Sichuan really made me see the disasters that Mother Nature could cause. The houses and buildings were all torn apart and broken. The furniture, dishes, and other household items were left there as if the people left in a hurry. When I saw all this I could imagine what it would be like to be in the huge earthquake, with people getting crushed under rubble, the ground cracking open, and flames erupting from the buildings. I feel very lucky that I have not yet encountered such a big disaster and tragedy. But most of all I felt extremely sad as I walked by all the ruined buildings and houses because I thought of all the deaths that occurred. The cost to rebuild and save these people must have also cost a lot. I made a silent prayer at the stone that had the numbers 5.12 carved into it. It represented the date of the earthquake and it also represented the people who died. Thousands of people died and it would be really disrespectful not to pay some sort of respect to them. It was also very interesting to me how they didn¡¯t clean up the destroyed buildings and turned it into a tourist attraction. I learned a lot from this trip to the earthquake site of Sichuan.
Overall
After these two weeks I have been to many places and seen many new things. Each trip was very worthwhile and exciting. The first school we went to was in poor conditions and much of the desks, classrooms, and chairs were ruined but the learning environment was very good. The kids had to go to school early in the morning. The next school we went to had smaller kids and they learned in slightly better conditions. We taught the kids many songs and other useful things. The last school we went to had very good conditions, they were probably very rich. The kids were very intelligent and had decent English skills already.
The kids in the first school were very well behaved even in the poor conditions that they lived in. They also learned very quick and we had a very good time together. I liked the Mianyang school the most out of the out of all the other schools. The second school had good and bad students. The girls all behaved and learned well, but a majority of the boys were loud, annoying, and disrespectful. It was often frustrating for us to teach them. But, this might have only been for our class. The last school we taught had very intelligent students, probably because they have better conditions. The students knew a lot of English but they still needed lots of improvement. After these couple of trips to the school I have really learned a lot from this great experience.
Matthew Fan's Memoir
First Day
Today was our first day to teach in Sichuan, when we got on the bus, we were very excited and nervous because we had to perform for the kids. The situation became worse when we were told that we were suppose to prepare last night and that we are performing right away when we get off the bus. We panicked and of coarse, the performances were not the best it could have been. However, the dance performed by Stephanie was very exceptional. In contrary to our lame performances, the Chinese kids' performances were amazing! They had songs, kong fu and cosplay. Although we didn't do so well, they were still very friendly and kind to us. The lunch was very good, but unfortunately we still had Jet lag so we didn't eat much and wasted a lot of food. We felt pretty bad because one of our themes of this trip it environmental protection and wasting food isn't exactly helping. After lunch we started teaching the kids, since we are group one we taught class one, the kids were very kind but a few were slacking off. We started off by introducing ourselves in both English and Chinese, then it was the students' turn. However they didn't want to participate. This was hard for us because it's much harder to teach and communicate when they don't want to talk. We first taught transportation vehicles, such as buses, planes and trains. They were bored out. This was not a good sign so after the class ended we talked to there teacher and she suggested to talk more about the American life and culture and the differences between American and Chinese education systems. This made it a little better and then we moved on and talked about American holidays. And it turned out... They knew more about American holidays then us. That was really embarrassing and we ended the class with asking them what the wanted to learn tomorrow and they suggested that we teach them some American Pop songs and NBA. So later we prepared to teach them let it go and you rise me up. We also planned on playing some games with them including pictionary and duck duck goose. Today we felt really rushed and underprepared but at least we make them like us which would help a lot over the next couple of days. I hope that tomorrow will be more successful and we will get to know them better.
Second Day
After arriving at the school and eating a hearty breakfast, we began the first block of teaching. We started off with presentations that we have planned the day before, which were centered upon American culture and specific locations within the country. Mason gave the first presentation, which was about tourist locations in California such as Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco and the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles. The second block was designated as "free time", allowing students to do whatever they pleased. Due to the fair condition of the weather, we joined many students outside in the courtyard. In addition to playing badminton and tug-o-war, the students also jump-roped in a group. Once third period began, Matthew gave his presentation about Missouri, which included his hometown, Rolla, and St. Louis. He discussed the importance of St. Louis during American westward expansion. Due to the fairly low amount of content pertaining to the Midwest, he also presented a brief biography of Bill Gates, as well as telling a few interesting stories. In order to review the words that the students had learned the day before, we set up and ran a classroom activity Stephanie named "Where's Waldo". The objective was to find a certain word among the vocabulary list written on the board. Then, Raymond spoke about Princeton University and Albert Einstein. Stephanie ended the period by conversing with the students about their knowledge of American pop culture and the aspects that the students were interested in. After eating lunch at the school cafeteria, Stephanie discussed interesting parts of New York City such as the Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty. She also showed pictures of her school and prom in order to better demonstrate the qualities of American schools. Following her presentation, we taught the entire class the lyrics and dance moves to the Chicken Dance. The class was initially reluctant to participate, but eventually every student stood up and joined us. We ended class with another review game that involved finding announced words on a board of post-it notes and spelling out the word. The class was divided into 2 rows, one for each side of the room. The board was also divided into two sides in order to keep the game competitive without involving fighting over one post-it note. The two sides competed for points that could be earned either by spelling out the word first or by knowing the definition of each word. Every single student participated at least once. After the words were all used, we finished the class with goodbyes. Our students each presented us with a bag of gifts including a duck egg, zongzi, and a calligraphy brush. Although many of us initially had doubts, we can see that these students are extremely grateful for the help that we have provided. It shines a light upon their perspectives and allows us to truly understand how difficult it is to meet an English teacher that comes from America. To say the absolute least, it was a moving experience.
Raymond Li's Memoir
Teaching in School
As we entered our first school, I had feelings of excitement and anxiety. This was my first teaching experience in an entirely different country. In the United States, I am used to enclosed schools with long hallways. This school was nothing like that. Instead of being enclosed, all the classrooms opened up into a large courtyard. As a result, there were no hallways with lockers which you would find in most American schools. When our group arrived in the classroom, we started teaching the most basic English concepts, such as introductions. After about 10 minutes, we realized that everyone already knew how to say these kinds of things. This caused our team to stumble and discuss with each other, which took time away from teaching. As a result of our lack of preparation, we didn't have much control over our class causing this first day of teaching to not go well. That night in the hotel, our team decided to make a lesson plan so that the next day of teaching would turn out better. With our previous preparations, teaching the following days became a lot easier. Instead of teaching just vocabulary, we discussed American culture which you would not find in China. We mainly spoke about how American schools differed from Chinese schools and important landmarks in the United States. We also play games using the vocabulary we learned. We played hangman, charades, pictionary, and "Where's Waldo." These games and information about American lifestyle captured the student’s attention much better making teaching easier. On the last day of teaching at this school, I could really see how our ChinaWay program really affected these students. We said our goodbyes and the students all gave of us presents, certificates, and took a very large amount of photos. All of them were really upset that we were leaving and I could tell that we made a big impact in their lives.
Earthquake Memorial
After our group was finished with our first school, we took a break from teaching and visited the Beichuan Earthquake Memorial. Living in New Jersey, I have never experienced any severe earthquakes. Before this visit, the only times I could see an earthquake was watching the news on television. It was not until this visit, did I realize how devastating earthquakes could be. I was really able to see the destructive capabilities of this natural disaster. All around us we saw destroyed buildings, toppled cars, and ruined landscape. I now know how lucky I am to not have been in an earthquake situation. To show our respect to all the people who suffered through that earthquake, all of us took a minute of silence in front of a large gravestone, which marked all who had died during this incident. I am glad to have visited this site, for it has shown me the amount of compassion and kindness people would do to help those in need.
Joyce Liu's Memoir
Mianyang
My experience at the Mianyang Vocational High School was beyond any of my expectations. The first time I entered the classroom I was genuinely confused and unorganized. I wasn't confident with my Chinese and the students weren't confident with their English. Right off the bat, there was a huge communication problem. Along with a lack of communication there was also an extreme lack of attentiveness. As the days went by the language barrier quickly dissolved. I realized how much both the students and I had underestimated their English abilities They became more confident with their English and simontamiously I became more confident with my Chinese. We bonded over a love of learning and a passion for American and Chinese culture. We would often split the class into small groups and exchange cultural ideas. I formed lasting relationships with the students. They helped me become a better teacher. As we said our final goodbyes on the very last day I was surprised how emotionally attached I had become to these students. I had expected some remorse but all dry eyes. But to my surprise many students were crying as we left. I still communicate with some of the students and many tell me that they are working hard to come to America one day. I may never see the long-term effects of what I've done. But I hope that in future, some of the students will venture to America and maybe I'll stumble across them.
Earthquake
Beichuan experienced a devastating earthquake on May 12, 2008. Pictures cannot convey the deep emotions that I experienced walking through the streets of Beichuan. Very few buildings remain standing. Furniture and cars remain in the ruins. In some places you can still make out the rooms. Other buildings have completely been turned into rubble, nothing remains at all. Ground floor garages have completely collapsed and the cars parked in them are crushed. Not much is left, but what was spared is preserved as a memorial to those who were killed. Looking at the buildings, you can imagine the immense chaos that must have occurred. Survivors frantically searching for loved ones trapped in the rubble. Aid workers caring for the wounded. People discovering the bodies of those who did survive. Walking through the ruins, you begin to evaluate everything you took for granted. If my life were to end at any given moment, what would I want to have done with my life? No one saw this earthquake coming. It completely shook up Beichuan. From that day on no one ever walked out of Beichuan the same man. It's a tragedy beyond what I can put into words. 15.6 thousand people died in disaster. Those who survived live to tell the story. Everyone remembers.
Cerella Farinholt's Memoir
Mianyang
My time at Mianyaing Vocational High School heightened my cultural awareness, and allowed me to give back as I learned. As the only non-Chinese member of the Chinaway program, I was forced to overcome a language barrier in order to communicate with the students. However, we were able to relate through a love of learning and cultural curiosity. In a few short days, we cemented friendships and memories that will last a lifetime. Our first day at the school was kicked off with a talent show, with acts alternating between the Chinese and American students. The Chinese performances were well rehearsed, and gave us a peek into their hobbies and interests. On the contrary, the American acts were thrown together haphazardly, including my group's cringe worthy rendition of "Edelweiss". Despite our rocky start, we were able to get back on our feet and approached teaching with confidence. Many of the students had never seen a foreigner before, and my presence was deemed extremely enticing. I was often approached d by a curious crowd, snapping pictures and asking questions. I was not used to all the attention, and it was a bit overwhelming. However, in all the excitement, it was fun to get to know the students and exchange bits of our different culture. The teaching itself was also a very interesting experience. Our small teaching group was assigned to a classroom of about sixty pupils, and set loose for the week. At first we underestimated the student's English abilities and they seemed bored with our lessons. After a few hours we were able to assess their skills and center our lessons around their interests. Teaching in front of a massive group, with a immense language barrier, thousands of miles from home, was daunting. However, it also allowed me to test my public speaking skills and think under pressure. Most importantly, I opened my eyes to a new side of Chinese culture, and was able to personally connect with teenagers on the other side of the world. I am so grateful for this opportunity, and excited for the adventures that await at our next schools!
earthquake
My trip to the Beichuan earthquake site was an eye-opening and devastating experience. I was eight years old at the time of the actual earthquake, so I hadn't fully understood the tragedy. My visit helped me grasp the immense impact that the earthquake had on entire communities. Buildings were crumbled on the ground, buildings that had once been homes and businesses. Thousands of families were torn apart, with a death toll around 15.6 thousand. The ruins of the Earthquake were strewn with everyday things, including cars and mattresses. As I walked through the memorial, questions echoed in my head. Who had slept in these beds? Who had driven these cars? Where are they now? I walked away from the site with much more insight than I started with. It was an emotionally and mentally stimulating experience, and I learned a lot about the harsh reality of natural disasters. I was so glad for the opportunity to pay my respects at the memorial. This experience will stick with me forever, and has sparked a desire to help natural disaster victims in the future.
Jack Fan's Memoir
Hi all, I enjoyed teaching the vocational school even though they didn’t listen to us very much. Mostly, the interaction with the students were very enjoyable, and I looked forward to it every day. It is a shame that we only stayed at that school for 3 days because I began to see some “teacher”- student bonds beginning to form. We then taught an elementary school class. They listened very well and they were very engaged so it was also and enjoyable experience. Overall, I wished that we stayed at the vocational high school for longer because I enjoyed the interactions with students that were our age. The experience was very rewarding in terms of culture and friendships. Hi all, the earthquake was a very shocking sight to see. We were told that over 10 thousand people died in that earthquake. We walked through the ruins and saw buildings leaning on their sides with windows broken and walls crushed. We also saw that many of the buildings had sunk into the ground., The second floor had suddenly become the first floor. It was terrifying because of how a once refectory fine city had been obliterated in minutes. I feel that disasters such as this need a lot more consideration from the world. Overall When I came on this Chinaway trip, I first thought we would just be teaching English to other students. However, after leaving Miangyan Vocational School, I suddenly missed the students. They were very fun to teach and many friendly bonds were formed. We had left the school but my heart remained there. I learned that we weren’t just there to teach; we were there to interact with one another through differences. After switching to teaching an elementary school. I realized how attentive many Chinese students were. They were very excited every day when we walked through the gates and into the classroom. The students were willing to do the most boring tasks such as memorizing English words, and they never talked to their neighbors during class. Finally, when we went to Dujainyan middle school, we realized that many Chinese students are actually a lot better at English than we had expected. We had simply underestimated them. Overall, The ChinaWay trip was very rewarding, and it was indeed a lot of fun.
Lingxi Zhang's Memoir
Zhili Liu's Memoir
Going into the MianYang Institute of Technology, I was excited but nervous, as we were going to teach students the same age and older. As new volunteers, four teachers to a class of sixty adolescent, unruly students did prove to be a challenge. It was hard to get students to focus and listen to the lesson. In addition, we both over and underestimated the students’ English ability, causing some lessons to be much too difficult and others to be boring. After several lessons, however, we began to get the idea of teaching. One thing I realized is that we have to win over the respect and trust of the leaders of the student body. Once the leaders have accepted you, the rest will follow suit and the teaching process became much easier. The connections we built with the students were extraordinary. My most memorable experience was when one girl I had talked to came up to me and told me how I had inspired her. She was telling me about her struggles and the hopelessness of her situation, as she did not come from a well-off family. I responded with words encouraging her to take each step in life steadily and telling her to believe with hard work, she will fulfill her dreams. I did not think of the effect that my words had on her at the time, but when we were saying our goodbyes, she came up to me crying and telling me that my words motivated her and gave her hope when she could see none. The knowledge that my words, my actions made such a deep impact on someone was formidable. I cannot forget the feeling that I had with these students. Earthquakes are things we see on television, hear about from large organizations informing us of the desolation and the need to help. Although images and stories can be touching, seeing the actual devastation was incredibly powerful. Looking at the piles of rocks and entire buildings laid to waste, I cannot even think about the feelings that the former inhabitants felt when they saw their homes collapsed, perhaps even on top of their loved ones. I find it hard to grasp that this barren wasteland was once an active, bustling community where living, breathing people lived, loved, and learned. The sight of the earthquake astounded me and delivered a true feeling of the terror that an earthquake brings. Going into Long Quan Ninteenth Elementary School, we were expecting eager and enthusiastic kids who wanted to learn and use English. We found exactly what we were expecting. Although students had to be encouraged and coaxed to stand up and use English in conversation, the resistance we encountered was little and their performances admirable. After introductions to the whole group, we split up into smaller groups with the students both to get to know them better and also to assess their current English skill. Using a combination of lectures, small group conversations, and games, we built close connections with our class while also teaching them commonly used vocabulary. After merging into a larger class, the new additions were definitely harder to handle as they have covered different vocabulary and have already warmed up to their own teachers. In addition, we had to think about new content and also make up new, original activities so the kids would not be bored. Students, however, are always up for torturing and taunting of their teachers, and games with physical punishments such as running laps, squats, and push-ups, were often accepted with greater zeal than if we just offered candy. Through five days, we covered various daily and common topics, such as school, shopping, holidays, and directions. Students were also taught “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” to be performed at the end show. The relationships we built with these active, intelligent kids are unforgettable and both us, the teachers, and the kids learned greatly from this experience. I have already experienced normal highschoolers and young, elementary school children. Going into DuJiangYan Senior High School, I knew we were going to be interacting with a very different crowd. The students at this location were the best in the province, the cream of the crop. Not only did their English skills blow me out of my mind, their quick ability to grasp and understand complex, abstract theories and to not only regurgitate new vocabulary but also reflect on an even deeper level impressed me even more. Tackling moral issues and different ways of thinking with regards to the environment was a topic that they contributed greatly to. We spoke the most English with these students, training their public speaking and debate skills. With the use of a mind map, we encouraged students to both draw and write out ideas related to reasons and solutions of the global environmental crisis. The students here had more in common and more to talk to with us, as they had better language skills and a more similar upbringing. We bonded over similar interests and universal popular foods, such as pizza. The last school was less of a teacher-student relationship rather than an equal to equal relationship. Meeting such intelligent students was a great learning experience both for the volunteers and the Chinese students, giving both parties innovative ideas and inspirations.
Patrick Liu's Memoir
Earthquake
Today, our group went to the Beichuan Earthquake site. As a resident of Colorado, I have never felt an earthquake nor seen the aftermath of an earthquake, since Colorado is not near any faults. As a result, I had no experience with the devastation that an earthquake can cause. After seeing the ruins, the true devastating nature of a large-scale earthquake finally hit me. Watching the news and reading reports is one thing, but truly seeing the devastation in person is another. In America, we are blessed with resources to build earthquake-resistant buildings in our high risk areas. Beichuan, however, is not so fortunate. Yet, in the aftermath of the disaster, the people of this area banded together to rescue their friends and families, rebuild their community, and make the best of a natural disaster with the help and support of China's general public. I think that this demonstrates that the people of Beichuan and China are just as resilient, if not more so, than the ones in America. So why, then, do the people of Beichuan have to rebuild their entire city in a different area while cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles still have their cities standing tall? In the end, it is not the people, but the resources, that dictate whose recovery is less painful. The people of Beichuan have suffered far too much to deserve any less than everybody's full support and as painless a recovery as possible. Instead, they had to abandon their old city and rebuild their entire city in a new place, leaving friends, relatives, and precious memories buried under the rubble of collapsed buildings. After traveling to Beichuan, my heart now goes out to the people caught in the earthquake. As the fortunate Americans, it is our duty to help those less fortunate than we are. This has made a massive impact on me, and I will hold this particular trip in my heart for the rest of my life. I wish the best of luck to those still rebuilding and recovering in Beichuan, and I implore my fellow Americans to find a cause to support, for us Americans are fortunate, and we should spread that windfall to all those less fortunate than us.
School
Before I came on the Chinaway trip, I thought I knew how to teach. I tutored my friends for their schoolwork, and I taught chess to young elementary schoolers for every weekend. My parents both told me that I would be a mentor on this trip: I could teach the other Chinaway volunteers how to handle a class and impart information to a class, and I believed him. I walked into this Chinaway trip with all the confidence of a veteran teacher. When the first meeting rolled around, I instantly volunteered to become a group leader. I thought I could carry my team by myself; I thought that I would be the best teacher that Chinaway ever had. Oh, how mistaken I was. When my team and I walked into the classroom on that first day, I had an image: the class would stand up, bow, and sit back down; I would walk up in front of the blackboard like my own foreign language teachers, teach as well as them, and my students would love me. However, I had not accounted for one thing: I had not won the respect of these students. Students run off respect. If the students respect the teacher, they will participate out of their own free will. The teacher, however, must show the students that he or she is worth the students' time. If not, the teacher will forever be in a losing battle to hold the attention of the students. I began teaching as if I already had the respect of the students: giving short explanations and instructions, expecting that the students would follow my every instruction. Instead, I almost managed to lose my class forever. I failed to consider the strengths and weaknesses of my team members, and my class put up with me for one class period, then pulled out their phones and ignored me. From there, my team fell into the trap of disrespect. The second day was much the same: our team, knowing something was wrong, asked for strategies from other groups, and made plans to implement them, without addressing the underlying problem of respect. I continued to forge forward without considering the abilities of my teammates, taking control and not letting them do anything. Though the second day worked out better than the first, mostly due to the strategies we took from other groups, we still were easily the worst-performing group in Chinaway. The third and final day, things changed for the better. Most critically, I began step back, and let my group members lead things. The Chinaway adults gave us a new perspective on teaching, and the students, after a talking-to by their teacher, were willing to give us a second chance—a chance most teachers never get. Our group managed to make it through the last day in a ghost of my teaching fantasy. Though that was far from what I hoped, it was far more than I thought was possible. I hope to do a far better job teaching at Chinaway's second school. My greatest thanks go out to my group members, for being patient with me, as well as the teachers of Chinaway for both giving me this opportunity to teach and guiding me through this process. I will bring this experience of teaching with me wherever I go.
Mason Tian's Memoir
Mianyang
China Way was the first time that I had spent more than 10 minutes in front of a classroom. As a result, I did not know what to expect when I walked into my classroom at Mian Yang for the first time. The room itself was much different from American classrooms and the only teaching tool available was a chalkboard. The classroom had around 40 students which was way more people than I had ever handled before. I always knew that teaching was a hard job but after three days of teaching and planning, I was already exhausted. I lacked the ability to hold a smooth conversation in Chinese, but thankfully, all of the students were very patient when I scrambled to find translations. I was and still am grateful that none of the students made fun of me or gave me any reason to be embarrassed. At first I was frustrated that many of the students were too shy to participate, but after our group adjusted our teaching style to include more culture, many of the students involved themselves. Overall, the first three days of teaching really helped to boost my confidence in my teaching ability and in my public speaking. After a few initial difficulties involving organization and class engagement, I felt like our class was able to learn something useful from us. I also found the experience rewarding for myself as I was able to meet lots of new people.
Earthquake
I had very little idea of what to expect when I first arrived in Old Beichuan. When I was younger, I had visited another earthquake site with my parents, and the only thing that I remembered was a single dusty teddy bear among ruined buildings. Beichuan turned out to be equally as saddening. I was shocked when I saw the ruined buildings of Beichuan. Many of the buildings initially appeared to be mostly intact but then I realized that what used to be the first floor of those buildings had sunken into the ground and was filled with earth and rubble. The city was completely unrecognizable from the original picture of the city displayed at the site before the earthquake. I never expected that an earthquake could shift around buildings to the point that entire streets seemed to disappear. I saw abandoned radios and drawers, as well as crushed lamps and cabinets, among the ruins. I especially remember seeing the remains of three trucks underneath a collapsed building. I could not help thinking about the people that had once listened to those radios and driven those cars, yet because of the 2008 earthquake, many of those people would never get up ever again. We ended the visit by praying for the victims of the earhtquake in front of the memorial in the earthquake site. The memorial was extremely moving and touching, and the excursion to Beichuan was an experience that I will never forget.
Morgan Lou's Memoir
Earthquake
The Beichuan earthquake was a tragedy that affected people in many different ways. When I got to the site of the quake, I never expected it to be like it was. I never knew how bad the earthquake was. Buildings had even sank into the ground, so that the second floor became the first floor. Some houses collapsed entirely, and cars and trucks were still buried inside. I cannot even imagine what it was like for people during the earthquake, because it was obviously very serious and damaging. It was saddening, and I’m just grateful that not more people got hurt.
Mianyang
Going to Mianyang and teaching was a very fun, but humbling experience for me. It taught me a lot about teaching and interacting with other people, and taught me a lot of people skills. On the other hand, I was amazed at the conditions the students learned in. The bathrooms were just ditches, and everything would flow to one hole. Trash was dumped in various places, and the whole school smelled sour. However, everyone was happy, and weren’t affected by the conditions at all. In fact, they lived there throughout the year. Teaching there made me realize how lucky, not just I am, but everyone in America is. We are so fortunate to have what we have, and could not even imagine what things are like for these kids in Mianyang.
Carey Fong's Memoir
Mianyang
Out of all the schools we would visit, the one in Mianyang impacted me the most. There was something so terribly shocking about those three days we spent teaching that the spirit of the school had ingratiated itself deeply into my person and I found it hard to let that spirit go. It was when we were standing for class photos on that last day that all these feelings suddenly hit me. Our first day teaching had been a total disaster and reflecting backwards, on that day I felt an extreme sympathy for teachers and a similar degree of envy for their patience. Mianyang would by far be the greatest struggle in terms of testing our abilities to teach and in the end, it yielded the greatest emotional award. There was one particular girl that grew extremely attached to me, something that I did not expect to happen. On the last day, she, among several others, were bidding me a tearful goodbye, perhaps shedding tears which I did not truly understand. Some of the gifts which we received that day I imagine I would keep as a memento for the rest of my life. It is the moment where you realize how much you are impacting the lives of your students, no matter how little the time you have together, that you finally are able to truly appreciate the work teachers do
Teaching
Sometimes I think on why exactly were the progression of schools chosen to be that way. Why was the greatest challenge (Mianyang) put first and not last? Compared to Mianyang, the school at Luodai was upscale and exuded an air of prestige and perhaps even the ghost of elitism. The campus itself was far nicer than most American public schools. The children were eager to teach, did not actively work to sabotage classroom order, and were far younger. Yet there was not nearly as deep a sense of fulfillment in teaching these younger, brighter children. And often heard complaint among volunteers was that these children were not necessarily disadvantaged, nor in need of much help. In addition, many of us felt ill trained for the task. Luodai itself was a quaint and picturesque town, with an almost stereotypically inviting personality. It's students were loud and obnoxious in a familiar way and possessed a sort of curiosity that all twelve year olds might have. Our lessons were structured and heavily linearized, and such heavy handedness costed us in energy. It was noticeable how much more energy we were expending at this school than the previous one. However, I was still able to find students which I felt a true bond with, even if my poor Chinese speaking skills impaired more attempts at conversations than I would like to admit.
Earthquake
For some reason, I could not help but feel a sense that I was violating something as I walked through the Beichuan earthquake site. An unshakable feeling enveloped me, as if the buildings were a choking specter threatening to collapse into the street any second. To me, there was just something wrong about commercializing tragedy Ƀ true tragedy, not Titanic style dramatized tragedy that exists in memory more vividly as a movie than as any sort of real living memory. Looking through the abandoned tenements, one cannot help but feel the foreboding presence of what once was. In many ways, the earthquake continued to let loose its aftershocks and ripples long after the initial event. Many of the students we talked to still referenced the earthquake as a sort of great life changing event, and the last school we taught at especially seemed most affected by the earthquake. One such student stated that before the earthquake, he had intended to make something substantial out of his swimming talent but post-earthquake, he completely quit swimming and now could barely float in the water. Of course, much of this is conversational exaggeration but it does serve to prove that the earthquake will continue to live in the living memory of those actually effected by it. What we experienced as a far away tragedy in an alien land was experienced as a very real disaster by the students around this area and this trip to the Beichuan site allowed me to realize that.
Wenbo Li's Memoir
Mianyang
For the past three days me and my team taught a class of 60 kids. Although they were all older than us, they were very respectful and kind to us. We too, returned the favor as good teachers. Over the coarse of the three days, we taught them about sports, hobbies, basic conversations, and so on. We also introduced them to some very interesting games like hangman and hit the fly. They enjoyed us teaching them especially when it comes to the games. During breaks we also did tug of war and duck duck goose. It was rather interesting to see 60 people at once doing tug of war, there was people falling and yelling and screaming and laughing. In the end my group and me joined them and of coarse they laughed and cheered as we three went against their best three. On the last day, we didn’t do much because we were about to leave and both my group and the students were sad. When we were about to leave, they asked for pictures and our numbers and wechats. Of coarse I gave it to them and the first thing a realize after I got back to the hotel was an uncountable amount of messages and friend request. After all teaching and mianyang was a great experience, the kids were very kind and they showed me how people can still learn under the harsh conditions they had.
Earthquake
The earthquake site was a very moving place. I was glad that we could go to this place to see all the remnants personally. However, it was sad how some people did not treat this place seriously enough. There were people jumping and laughing while we were supposed to walk slowly and quietly to show our respect.
Nursing Home
This morning we went to a community nursing home for the elderly. And as always, we were told half an hour before the visit that we needed at least four performances for the elderlies. And as always, despite the time limitations on our time to prepare, we still came up with one dance and four songs. We first started out by giving them each a bag of candy and tooth paste. They were happy with the presents and sat down to watch the performance. I would have to say that the only performance that was acceptable was the dance, the rest were either out of tone or the performers didn’t know the lyrics. However, the elderly loved the performance and they were sad to see us leave. From this experience I learned that the elderly are a very important part of the community and that they should be paid the most respect.
Albert Zhong's Memoir
As my group and I entered our class, we were unsure about the students English level. Our first lesson was introducing ourselves. We had each student say their name and age. It was a shock when I found out most were older than me. As the day progressed, we realized that the students had a relatively high English level. In result, we had to change our lesson plan. We started to test the student knowledge with games and competition. We taught at the school for three days. The first day we taught two classes. The second and third day we taught five classes. We through lessons and games, and we believe the students improved in their English. Some games we played were hangman and Pictionary. We also had competitions like spelling bees, teachers vs students, and a tug of war tournament. In tug of war, we separated the class into four teams. From there the winners would play the winners and the losers would play the losers. At the end of this teaching period, we had a ceremony and said our good-byes. Next, we visited an earthquake site, and saw how the city looked like before and after. After that we went on to our next school. This school was a primary school and each class had about ten students. New groups were formed, and we began to teach our class. We started with introductions, and moved on to lessons. The students progressed quickly, and we began to increase the difficulty of the lessons. One day the students had a test day. We visited a senior home, and we sang various songs like We Will Rock You and the Chicken dance. This volunteer opportunity taught me many things. I saw how it felt like to be a teacher and improved my Chinese.
Max Guo's Memoir
Signing up for this program, I knew my perspective of the Chinese countryside would likely be altered. I was open to change and so I booked a single plane ticket to Chengdu. I was anxious about the experience to come, and excited to visit a new place. After getting off the plane, I was met by several Chinaway employees and some fellow volunteers. A driver took us to our first hotel in Chengdu, where we had a brief meeting to divide ourselves into teams and prepare a few performances for the following day. I found myself with a team, which over the course of the next week, would become good friends with myself. The next day, we took off on a bus to the countryside. The scenery changed from a gray city to rolling hills of farmland. After over two hours, we arrived at the school. My initial impression was that it was very big but the conditions of the buildings were not perfect. We followed a teacher through a door, and found ourselves in the midst of hundreds of enthusiastic cheering students. I felt overwhelmed by the warm welcome, and watched our hilariously underprepared acts and their performances. We were led to another building, and were told to prepare for our first class. Not having taught a class of 50+ students before, I was very nervous that we would fail. We entered the classroom to find a cluster of eager faces staring at us, which was at first very intimidating. We introduced ourselves, then them, and we began our lesson plan. The next several days were a blur. We began to feel more comfortable with our students, and soon we felt as if we were friends. We mixed in many educational activities with the lectures to keep the students engaged. They enjoyed a few interactive games such as Hangman and Pictionary. Their English speaking levels were much higher than anticipated, and we found that the textbooks were below their potentials. We conversed about the differences between Chinese and American culture, and showed them a few American ideas and vice versa (such as tongue twisters). The last day was very emotional because it was likely some of us would never meet again. They took a lot of pictures with us, and some even shed tears. My group and I signed a few dollar bills, and gave it to them as a present to never forget us. And they gave us RMB so that we would never forget them. We took a break from teaching and visited Beichuan, which is a small town that was hit by a severe earthquake seven years ago. It was disheartening to see the destruction that was caused, especially seeing the destroyed schools. We then boarded the bus and moved to the next city, LuoDai. The school was a middle school, where we taught sixth graders. The quality of the school was clearly better than the previous, and our previous experience helped us teach them better with similar curriculums. However, I had to leave early and my time was cut short. Leaving the program was very heartbreaking, and I gave my farewells to the friends that I had made. The program helped me understand the joy of teaching and crafting friendships. The people I met were so happy despite their unfortunate conditions. I learned to not take things for granted, and to be eager to meet new people. It motivated me to try harder in school and life, and to advocate for the lesser fortunate so that we could all live our lives with happiness.
Aaron Liu's Memoir
Translating is a very hard job. It takes so much time that I don't have any time to write other blogs. I feel like I should have put the due date earlier, so I can split up the 18 hours of works instead of doing them all in one day. Right now it is 6:20 AM, I enjoy this work a lot, especially the part where I am not paid. Oh yeah I should talk about some of my experience in this program. I do not enjoy the 20-hour delay of the plane. I do not enjoy how there isn't a schedule for anything. I do not enjoy this hotel which has no wifi. I do not enjoy Hudson, he was annoying. Other people are fine. Also I am being bullied by other people, such as the other not as useful senior members in the team. I am being threatened right now but I refuse to censor anything. All the above is a joke. So is the last one. Is it a joke or not, that's a question. Now which one is the last one again?
Maggie Chou's Memoir
Never would I ever have thought that a group of high school students would teach me so much about responsibility, authority, and respect, and how they are not rights but privileges that must be earned. On June 17th, I arrived in Mianyang with the sole intention of helping students improve their English, not expecting to learn from them. However, I was completely and utterly wrong as I gained insight into their culture and daily lives. The students showed great compassion and warmly welcomed us into their school; they took us in and made us feel like we belonged in a foreign place. The students told us about their culture and taught us Chinese games, and us volunteers used American games and activities to encourage the children to practice their English skills while experiencing our culture. At first it was difficult to get the students engaged in our classes because we only focused on vocabulary and grammar, but we later discovered that they work more efficiently and seem more interested in conversations and cultural exchange. We managed to increase their vocabulary with games like hangman and pictionary, as well as improving both their speaking skills and understanding of American culture through small group conversations. I never thought I would become so attached to these Chinese students, but on the last day, they interrupted our lesson and began to sing to us. Tears instantly filled our eyes as the students belted out a touching song about never forgetting the time we spent together. After the students sang to us, we decided to sing a promising goodbye song to them as well. During the final awards ceremony, many students came up to hug me and take pictures with me, and some of them were not even students that I taught. We were all overcome with such strong emotions as we said a heartfelt goodbye and tears formed in our eyes. The students and I exchanged words of wisdom and encouragement before parting ways, still unable to bear with the idea of leaving, as I began to realize the genuine feelings I developed for these students and everything they'd taught me. Everyday, disasters occur around the world and are broadcasted through the news and media reports, but those portrayals are nothing compared to seeing the devastating aftermath in person. I have never experienced any natural disasters or visited any catastrophic sites, but the moment we arrived at Beichuan, I felt a pain in my chest. Seeing the ruins of such a beautiful city made me realize I have to appreciate every moment and live like every moment may be my last because everything could disappear in the blink of an eye. As I walked through the city, a dark but comforting silence settled around me as I remembered the victims and tried to imagine the pain their families felt during this devastating time, but the closure that followed made everything seem peaceful. As we arrived at a memorial for the fallen members of the community, we took a moment of silence to commemorate the victims and the devastation that the city and its people have suffered. As a group, we bowed and placed flowers in front of the shrine as a sign of respect and to show that the victims of the earthquake and all that the city has suffered will never be forgotten. When I was told I would be teaching students, I had imagined them being in middle school with a limited vocabulary and inability to converse, but I greatly underestimated their English level and willingness to learn. The sixth graders were enthusiastic about improving their speaking abilities since the first day, and they were even more eager to learn about our culture and how it compares to theirs. I honestly thought the students would be out of control and lack focus or interest, but they proved my assumption to be the complete opposite of what they really were, which was hardworking and intellectually curious. We started by teaching them vocabulary and correcting their pronunciation, then reviewed the material through games and activities like pictionary and charades, and skits and conversations. The students were very competitive and even challenged us to a game of hangman (which we lost and ended up having to run laps around the school). They remained engaged throughout the entire program, with each day's material getting harder and their learning attitude getting more persistent. We also taught the students basic songs like Row Your Boat and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, which they had a lot of fun singing. For our final day, all of the students had to perform a song and our group chose Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer to fit in with the holiday theme that we previously taught them. At first, the students seemed bored with the idea of singing and thought the song was too difficult. With lots of convincing and encouragement (and a little bit of candy), the students finally began to show interest in the song and by the last day, they were enthusiastically singing and dancing to the music. The performance was full of energy and enthusiasm from all of the students and was a wonderful closing to our teaching program at Luo Dai. The students were amazingly well behaved and demonstrated a very strong desire for learning and striving to succeed, which allowed me to improve myself in the aspects of assuming a leadership position and gaining responsibility from this wonderful experience.
Jingyuan Lu's Memoir
Mian Yang Li Gong
We spent three days teaching the high school students in Mian Yang Li Gong. I had no teaching experience before attending Chinaway, so teaching high school student is a big challenge for me at first. At the first day, we did not know how good their English is. We undervalued their English level at first. After teaching them how to greet people in English, we realized they know all the basic vocabulary. In order to teach them things that meet their English level, we introduced American culture to them instead of following the textbook. The students are really willing to participate in the class. They have good grammars when they are speaking, but we have to correct their pronunciation frequently. In the break between the classes, the students surrounded us and asked us questions about our daily lives in America. It is very tiring to manage a class with more than 50 students, but I think our work really worth it. Because the students showed their strong desire of learning American culture. I felt I was needed while teaching that class.
Beichuan Earthquake Site
We visited the old Bei Chuan County, which was destroyed by the earthquake in 2008. We took a two-hour long walking around the county. Some building are been razed totally. I was in China when the earthquake happened. I knew it is a horrible tragedy and I already knew a lot about the earthquake but visiting the site still had a huge impact on me. Now I have a better understanding at how powerful nature is.
Zhechen Wu's Memoir
Today, we went to the Mianyang Institute of Technology School. We split into six classes, each with about fifty students and four teachers. This school has long history and teaches for attendants for high speed train. Therefore, students there are not as good as students in Shanghai in English.
The first day, what impresses me the most is their environment. Fifty people sitting crowdedly behind small desks. Two students form one group and there were four lines. Most people wear sketchy clothes. However, When the four of us walk in, they are all cheering for us. However, I was questioning whether the feelings were real. The first day, I was disagreeing with the original group, which made me go to the other group instead, which brought me to a memorable class.
Let’s first introduce the schedule of these few days. Every day, teachers would be in classroom to teach fifty students. There were three periods in the morning and two periods in the afternoon, and about five hours of teaching a day. Also, we had a lot of freedom. For instance, we could lead the students to play on the playground and use whatever item in the classroom to teach.
What happened later was that the teacher taught up there, and students listened down there. What made it different was that as a teacher with similar age, we could communicate with the students better, and knew what the students wanted to make sure it would not get too boring. Interestingly, different classes could corporate as well, there was tug of war, badminton games, and others.
As teacher, we have a lot of things to improve on. From my understanding, a teacher needs these: knowledge, preparation, teaching, control, and psychological handling of students. No one in the group had these. Further, some teaches could not speak Chinese. If there were not other students to translate for, they were as useless as the English version of “How to study English. This is related to team works. If we are really rating each teacher including me, I think we all failed. However, as teachers from the United States, they had their advantages too. They spoke great English and knew a lot of culture. The difference in style of teaching gave students new experience as well.
The teaching went well, the expectation of students for teachers were surpassed by the great works of teachers, which gave me the time to know what I wanted to know. In my experience with them, I realized that they knew little about the world, or the society. Will they have the same kind of personalities because of the lack of impact from outside and the Chinese test-taking oriented education? It turned out that the discrepancy in personalities was huge among them. There were people wo just wanted to get into relationship, people who had a great understanding of the world, and people who were glad to communicate with others and could easily make friends. For example, there were two students with bad grades. There was also one student who isolated himself and refused to talk to strangers, and did not want to answer too personal things. The other student was very optimistic, even though he had bad grades, he did not fall into his own world, was willing to communicate with others and had a lot of friends. The result was surprising to me. Why would there be so much difference? Both being just high school students, what decisions made everyone get to whatever they were right now? I was upset for days worthlessly, not knowing the reasons.
Another point worth mentioning was the sympathetic response. Despite the difference in language and culture. By being together for days and nights, students would cry when we were about to leave. This resonance, from my perspective, only existed among people who revealed their hearts to each other. No matter if you were kids, high school students, or elders. As people grow up, the increasing amount of responsibilities forced people to have even more personas. Without the protection of parents which allowed people to reveal their true feelings. The sympathetic response between other teachers and students was seen by me the first time. I could not understand it, nor forget.
This teaching was not so major. Everyone understood the meaning of working from the students. After several days of teaching, the presents were not important. The bonds formed between teachers and students were worthless. When leaving, there were people laughing, and people crying. Everyone made formal farewell to others. At the end, I hoped that they could walk alone their paths, regretting none of their decisions.