It is the weekend!

On Saturday Jumbo and Adam, the Zhuhai Educational Bureau administrators who have coordinated this trip, hosted us on a trip to the Beifeng National Park to go rafting. Their families also joined us for the ride down the river. The ride in the two man raft was a lot of fun. As we put on our helmets and life preservers we were given a bucket with a short handle. I figured the bucket was for bailing out water as needed. I was wrong. The bucket is for soaking the other rafters! The Chinese rafters loved to toss water at the Americans but I think we held our ground - even though we were out numbered. My sides still hurt from laughing☺  Sorry, no pictures of the raft ride.

On the way back we stopped at a restaurant where the specialty was “mud chicken.” They cook the chicken whole in a pit using mud and wood. Shown above is the cook building up a pile of mud for cooking the chicken. To the left is his helper and in front of the helper is a pit that is ready to have the chicken removed for serving.

 

Here is Jumbo’s daughter, Alice, getting the chicken ready to serve. If you recall I noted the chicken was cooked whole. And served to the table whole. If you look carefully to the right of the scissors you can see the head of the chicken.  Mud Chicken is great!



Our ride to the mountain provided several hours to enjoy the rural Chinese countryside. The fields against the mountains are very beautiful. Here you can see a group of farmers planting rice.

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A NESTer

Here is a post that Jeff Sherlock wrote...I am simply putting it on the blog for him...

Our team has two parts with two different areas of focus. The Academic Team focuses on the professional development of the English teachers in the Zhuhai City school system. During the first week, they presented a variety of lectures and activities to help the teachers improve their teaching skills. During the second and third weeks, they observe the teachers in a classroom and give constructive feedback.

The other part of the team is known as the NESTers (Native English Speakers Team). Our focus is on helping the teachers and students engage in activities to increase their ability to speak and understand English.

Our day (for the entire team) begins when we arrive at the Doumen Number One Middle School at about 8:00am. We eat breakfast with the teachers and students before heading over to the classroom area. At 9:00am while all the students are in classrooms listening to lessons, half of the teachers come to the lecture hall. We have a short opening with a song, and then we break into 8 groups for about 1 hour of “free talk.” Over the past week, we’ve talked about travel, family relationships, technology, and other topics.

At 10:15am, the NESTers go to the classrooms to help the Academic Team lead the students in about 15 minutes of English “fun” activities. (The goal here isn’t to teach, but to use English in a fun and natural setting.) Then, at about 10:40am, we head back to the lecture hall. The teachers who were in the classroom the first half of the morning now come for their free-talk time. We again open in singing, and then break into groups for an hour of English conversation with this group of teachers. We wrap up the teacher-oriented conversation about 11:45am.

After lunch, the entire team meets in a small conference room at 1:00pm for rest and planning. We often find we need this rest time in an air conditioned room to regain our energy.

From 2:00pm till 4:00pm, we have activities for the students. The students are divided into primary students and middle school students, then into four groups of each level. Each group goes to four activities in two hours, each lasting 20 minutes. The NESTers plan activities that are both fun and English oriented. The teachers attend the afternoon activities with the students; this allows them to observe how the activities can be used in the classroom and, in many cases, participate in the activity. We hope that some teachers will begin moving away from lecture-oriented classes to a multiple-learning-styles approach.

The camp is over at 4:00pm, but interested teachers are invited to attend a special free-talk time that we call, “Important Life Issues.” Using essays from the NPR program, “This I Believe,” the teachers discuss issues that get below the surface to more universal, heart-level issues. We’ve been pleased that 12 teachers joined us the first day and 14 the second day. Next week, we are asking students to write and share their own essays.

By the time “Important Life Issues” is over, we’re all pretty bushed. But often the team’s day is far from over. Our hosts are consummate entertainers. They want to be sure that we are having a good time and they go to great lengths to ensure that we are well cared-for. Last evening, for example, we had a huge meal at a very nice restaurant and then were treated to the hot springs baths of a high end resort. It was something far beyond what is normally experienced on trips of this nature. Of course, we got home quite late and had a full day ahead of us today.

Don’t let this last paragraph with its description of our idyllic conditions deceive you into thinking we are not busy. In fact, we are all quite tired. It is challenging to live in another culture, particularly in another person’s home. We want to really make a difference, but it is hard to see where results might come. We truly need your ongoing thoughts as we try to serve faithfully. Thanks.

As they say, all work and no play . . .

Our group has participated in various cultural opportunities. At the gracious invitation of Mr. Zhu, a top official in the local Zhuahi government, we enjoyed a wonderful dinner before experiencing a local hot springs. The Imperial Hot Spring is a resort that features more than 40 various types of hot springs that are considered beneficial for good health and relaxation. From the left, Valerie Geer, Mr. Lee (an administrator for the Zhuahi Educational Bureau), an unidentified police official who accompanied Mr. Zhu, and Mr. Zhu.



Gil and Darlene Shideler “cut a rug” in a park along the river in Doumen. They received a standing ovation by the crowd for their efforts. The Chinese are a very active people. Along with dancing in the park, children were rollerblading, seniors were doing Tai Chi, and many (and I mean many, many, many) others were simply walking.

The days are long but rewarding.

Erinn watches as students play games that help them with their English skills. Chinese teachers are learning that education is more than memorizing from a book. Sometimes language skills are better exercised with activities.




Bridger, one of the youngest of our team, has made a unique connection with students and is popular at activity time and during lunch.

Sing a Song With Me

It is so easy to stereotype people of another culture – until we get to know them on a personal basis. When we get to know a person, however, the stereotypes begin to fall away and we realize that despite cultural differences, we share many of the same hopes, dreams, and fears.

My host family has several CDs as part of a “Country Tour” collection, songs from the 60’s through the 80’s. Several times they’ve played the CD in the evening. When “Edelweiss” comes on, the husband and I spontaneously begin singing together. This evening, he tried to get his wife to dance during the song but she, perhaps wisely, declined. It was very cute, and it made me realize what we have in common.

After our regular activities at the school today, we started a new “free talk” time called, “Important Values in my Life.” The time is voluntary for anyone willing to stay for an extra half hour to practice English further. Today we used an essay from the NPR program “This I Believe,” (www.thisibelive.org) in which a woman described how her marriage isn’t perfect – but it is good. Twelve students stayed behind and we broke into two groups to discuss the essay. Once again, I was reminded of our common hopes and dreams.

We hope that the important values discussions will allow us to deepen our friendships to a new level. After reading two or three essays this week, we will ask the people in the class to write essays about things in life that they value. This will give them the opportunity to write about heart-level issues and to discuss those issues with others.

A couple evenings this week, I took a walk in a local square. The square is a paved area – about as long and twice as wide as a football field – a few blocks from where I am staying. It was interesting to watch all the activities. Children were being coached in skating. Couples were walking hand in hand or with arms around one another. A group of women were being led in a Chinese slow-motion dance (sort of like taichi). A group of dancers was in a corner of the square. A guy was playing some kind of checkers-like game – while talking on a cell phone. It reminded me of the “community” focus of this society – the palpable sense that being together is an important value in life. For many people, life can be difficult, but they chose to take this time to walk around the square and be together with family and/or friends. It made me realize how much is lost in our society when we go home and spend the evening watching TV.

We all appreciate you on-going interest in this trip and hope that you will continue to keep us in your thoughts.

The free talk groups in the morning are going very well. Each of the eight members of the native English speaking team is having open conversations with two groups of five teachers. We each meet with both of our groups each morning for 75 minutes. It’s quite an opportunity to see life from their perspective. I’m learning so much listening to stories of their lives. Since they come from many different schools, they didn’t know each other before this training session. It is moving to see them genuinely care about each other as they hear each other’s stories. They are getting glimpses of who we are and what motivates us as well.

Picture caption – One of Luke’s free talk groups (May, Maggie, Sue, Shirley, Summer)

Students learn and have fun.

Susie Burson demonstrates an interactive teaching technique for Chinese teachers.  
This student has drawn a picture of what is in the bag from Susie's verbal description. This excercise helps students learn English vocabulary.





Gil Shideler talks with a student between activities.  These students have never talked with a native English speaker and members of the team take every opportunity to interact with students.

Teachers work hard to learn.

A group of Chinese teacher work a the day's lesson plan.




An important part of the English Camp is to work with teachers on their technique.  Valerie Geer talks with a teacher about her efforts in the classroom.

Day 3: Pushing Through

Jetlag is a funny thing. You wake up every morning feeling refreshed and ready to go, it’s great. That lasts for about two hours…then you’re tired the rest of the day.

There are some mental walls to break through, too. Two days of constantly focusing on changing your speech to help non-native English speakers can be pretty strenuous. It is amazing how tired you can get by simply focusing on every word that comes out of your mouth.

I think I am finally starting to break through both of these walls. I slept all the way to the alarm this morning, and I have had no trouble finding the motivation to engage today.

The conversations with the Chinese English teachers in the morning have been a lot of fun. The teachers are not afraid to speak English, so it is easier than past conversation practice I have been involved in. I have had several conversations go beyond the level of thought that I would have thought possible coming into the trip. Not only are the teachers getting some great English practice, they are learning to express some deeper feelings in another language. I have overheard several teachers having meaningful English conversations, sparked by our discussions, with little or no input from me.

Outside of camp, things have been amazing. Jumbo and his family have been extremely gracious hosts, treating us to wonderful Chinese meals and showing us around Daomen in the evenings.

It’s still hot, but we are all adjusting. The plans have not been finalized, but it looks like we are going to get the chance to go rafting (looks like it is a tame version of whitewater rafting) with Mr. Jiang, Canaan, Adam’s family (not THE Addams family), and Jumbo’s family. Hopefully that will be a good chance for us all to cool down a little bit.

Ok, time to get the afternoon camp underway…hope everything is going well for all of you back in America.

Bridger

Host family is fun!

My host family is a lot of fun, especially with an eight year old in the house. We’ve gone for walks through the market and to the park. These times together with Grace (the only one who speaks English) and her family are so wonderful. I feel very privileged to have the opportunity to view China in a way so few people can experience. Pictured is Grace's daughter Sally as she gets ready to play badminton.

the mystical unity that comes from perspiration, or lunchtime sweat

Really, I'm not a particularly sweaty person. I'm not even particularly active. I'm more of the picked-last-for-dodgeball type.

But let me tell you, sweat I do here, in all sorts of unsightly places.

The good news is, I think the group sweating thing has a lovely bonding side effect. We teachers sit in the sweltering cafeteria, furiously mopping at our brows with the same packs of tissues that will later serve as our toilet paper. We mop and lock eyes with junior high students over noodles or oddly gray duck eggs. They look over at us sympathetically, and we at them, as if to say, "We're in this together, we motley crew of hardened language lovers."

And then they reach across the cultural divide and pull off the chunk of toilet paper that's stuck to our (read: my) forehead.

The English Camp is in full swing!

Jeff makes a point to the students.





Luke addresses a combined assembly of students and teachers.




Phil talks with a student while in line for lunch.

Good Friends

First Day of Camp

The Camp has officially started!

We are taking our first break at the school after a morning of English conversations with the teachers.  The NEST team had a wonderful time engaging with Chinese teachers who have had very little chance to engage with native English speakers.

We are having to tweak the schedule a little bit for the morning teaching observations, but otherwise we are off to a great start.

The rest of the team and I can't wait to start the camp with the students this afternoon.

Late post for Macau

LATE POST: Please note this post was written in Macau but could not be uploaded because of challenges negotiating a solid Internet connection. Now I am settled in China things appear to be much better. Now for the Macau post: The second group in support of the HU / Zhuhai School’s English Camp has arrived in the south China area. Following a 15-hour flight from Chicago to Hong Kong (taking the polar route), the final five members of our team stayed in Macau for an evening before moving to Zhuhai. A local friend of Luke’s, Carroll, helped with our accommodations and is pictured talking with Luke in our third floor walkup apartment. In the afternoon we will make our way to Zhuhai and settle into our host’s home for our two-week stay. PS – the trip from Macau to China was a short and uneventful walk - but very hot.