White Sands Elementary School (and a Christmas Tree)

Apologies in advance, because December was so incredibly busy, I am more than a bit late on my blogging... So, the next few posts will be from a backlog of everything that has happened up until today--the end of my first semester here.

First up--my first visit to a rural school!

Just under a month ago, the fellows at Yali took a trip to see a colleague who had been working at a countryside school for the past semester. She managed to arrange time for us to interact with the students at her school, most of whom have never seen a foreigner.

"Looking in"

Since we only had about 40 minutes with each batch of students, rather than bore them with simple English lessons, we taught them a Christmas song ("Santa Claus is Comin' to Town!") with hand motions and played a couple of games. The kids loved it, we loved, and a merry time was had by all.

Dancing? Singing? No one really knows...

Teaching the kids a fun game!

On our way back from this trip, I joked about pulling over and cutting down a tree for Christmas. Soon enough, we drove past a few tree loggers. We backed up and asked if they would be willing to cut us a tree. They happily obliged, and we got a real tree for Christmas. Yayy. Just in time, too.

Our tree!

The Great Wall of Yali

It was just a plain, white wall separating innocent Yali students from the hundred-ton construction monsters. A rare display of common sense and care by the higher powers of this institution for the students.

The wall was getting dirtier and uglier by the day, so I suggested to the Party official in charge of student affairs that they should let the students do a mural. Surprisingly, she loved the idea, and even came up with a tasteful theme--environmental protection. So, each class got a section of the wall to paint.

Here are some of my favorites:

Only in China...

1) will you see a man come into the gym wearing a dress shirt and argyle sweater, work out for ten minutes, and proceed to the computers nearby, where he stays for an hour before leaving.

And yes, there are computers right by the weights.

2) will there be fireworks at 8am and 10am and 12pm and 2pm. No hour is safe.

3) will there be construction at 3 in the morning. Loud, thunderous construction. In a residential neighborhood.

4) will you see a man carry two large buckets onto the plane, one filled with chicken eggs and the other with red chili peppers.

5) will an audience absolutely love a performance that was completely chaotic in every way. AKA the foreign teachers’ Christmas program.

6) will the student ushers of the said Christmas program wear bunny ears and kimonos. I guess that’s what they think of when they think of Christmas…

7) will the flight attendant completely ignore the captain’s instructions to stop service due to turbulence.

8) will the door-prizes at the annual New Year’s banquet be laundry detergent, toilet paper, and blow-dryers.

Yes, this has all happened to or around me... haha. As we like to say in our household, "China always wins."

**Apologies for the lack of posting in the past month, life has been (more) hectic than usual. Will be posting a more-extensive update later this week!**

Miscommunications

I have come to accept the fact that, living in China for two years, miscommunications will inevitably occur. Ordering food at a restaurant, getting the right data plan on my cell phone, telling a taxi driver my destination. Usually, the consequences aren't too serious. Occasionally, however, it result in some strange and awkward situations. For example...

There is a student outside of my class who I have gotten to know, and over dinner one night last week, he invited me to play basketball with his classmates. I agreed.

On Monday, the same student phoned me and asked if I could stay after school the following day, since students were being released early. His classmates would be waiting.

Tuesday afternoon, classes ended, he called me to confirm I was actually coming. I said yes, and before heading over, I organized the library, cleaned up the classroom, went back to my apartment to change and grab a bite to eat. This whole time, I kept receiving urgent texts and phone calls from him, asking me if I were on my way.

If they were just playing basketball, why the urgency? I should've picked up on the signs.

Thirty minutes later, I finally show up at the courts, but they were no where to be found. I called him back, and over the phone, he sounded puzzled when I mentioned where I was waiting. He asked for me to come to the classroom instead.

Waiting for me at the classroom--60 students, quietly, eager, expectant.

I was not going to play basketball after all. Nope. That would have been too easy.

Instead, I was going to give an guest lecture. In my basketball shoes, shorts, and jersey. No preparation. Impromptu...

[Edit] Apparently, lost in translation was the fact that he wanted me to come talk to his classmates, who don't have a foreign English teacher, not that he wanted to play basketball.

Yay! Thank you, China!

In a different instance...

In a conversation with four female students during Library Hour today, a girl who had stayed pretty quiet the whole time, asked abruptly, "When you first sex?"

Hmmm... She couldn't possibly have meant what I just heard. She must have mistaken that word for another word. Another miscommunication, of course. I asked her to clarify.

"Sex. Guy, girl. When do you first do sex? First time?"

Ah, she did mean that after all. No miscommunication. Awkward.