Goin’ Solo

Today was a day full of productivity! Woo!

But let's start with last night. Last night, I was a judge for an "English Host Competition." In other words, ten HZNU students performed various show host duties (including introductions, brief presentations, and dealing with emergencies) while I laughed my butt off seriously and fairly scored each one. These types of things are always super cute and very entertaining - especially considering some of the things they write/say. For example, one girl gave her presentation on the mistreatment of dogs. Unfortunately  she forgot to use spell check on her PPT and so her very first slide said, in a giant, bold font, "I LOVE DONGS." I can't make this stuff up, people.

The Hosts of the English Host Competition... seriously. 

One of my favorites of the night - this girl was all about some fashion!

William was the only boy to compete - and he won!

Anyway, back to today:

First, I finished the seventh book of the Harry Potter series (not for the first time – I like to re-read them every few years).

Then, I headed out on my bike to run all kinds of errands. I got coffee and lunch at Starbucks, bought a tripod for my camera, bought a train ticket (eek!) and went to the gym for some sweet sweatin’.

This is where the magic happens...

Afterwards, I did some shopping at the ever-crazy WuMei, bought some chicken and veggies at the local produce market, and proceeded to cook said chicken and veggies… with success! (Which is a new thing for me, by the way).

And this is sauteed asparagus and grilled chicken.
Beautifully presented on the fanciest of plastic dishware.

I’ve spent the rest of my day planning my upcoming trip (note: train ticket purchase earlier). “Trip?” you ask. “Trip,” I say. Because next week, we have a brief holiday during which I’ll have five days school-free!  (Tuesday through Saturday – don’t ask). The holiday is called QingMing Festival, or, in English, “Tomb-Sweeping Festival.” It’s a pretty self-explanatory holiday; most Chinese people celebrate QingMing by visiting the tombs/graves of their loved ones where they clean/sweep it up, leave flowers, fruit and fake money, and send some prayers and thoughts out to the ever-important ancestors. However, since I don’t have any tombs to sweep here in China, I decided to take advantage of the time off and go on a little adventure!

After much consideration (and, by “much consideration,” I really mean five minutes and an impulse decision), I’ve decided to visit the popular seaside city of Xiamen in Fujian province. I’m really excited for this trip for a number of reasons:

1) BEACH! Do I even need to explain? Let’s just say I don’t get a lot of beach time here in Hangzhou, so I’m thinking some sand, sun and ocean will be wonderfully refreshing.

2) Gulangyu Island. This is an island right outside of Xiamen. And on this island, there are NO MOTOR VEHICLES. Do you know how welcoming that sounds after a year-and-a-half of hearing honking, screeching and revving on a nearly constant basis?  It sounds like a motor-free heaven and I NEED to go there.

3) I’m going ALL BY MYSELF. Yep, for this trip I am puttin’ on my big-girl panties and going alone. This is because most of my potential travel partners either a) already had plans or b) have a different schedule than me, and therefore don’t have enough time to make the trip. And at first, I was kind of worried about this – I’ve never gone on “vacation” without at least one other person (Rachel, I miss you!). But now I’m sort of looking forward to it – it’ll be my own, personal challenge; I’m really intrigued to see how I get on as just yi ge ren (one person).

So, I’ll be headed down to Xiamen via 7-hour “fast” train next Tuesday morning(April 2nd) and heading back to Hangzhou on Saturday afternoon (April 6th). I’ve got my beach towel, cooler and cameras ready (plus a tripod so I’m not limited to lame arm-length selfies). My kindle is full of new books that I plan to read while sprawled out on the beach, listening to the waves and forgetting all of life’s troubles.

…Can it be Tuesday today?

School Spirit!

 Last semester at HZNU, the school offered an elective course called “lifelong learning” which focused on education abroad. Each foreign teacher was required to create a 2-hour guest lecture to present to this group of students. The topic? Lifelong Learning. Duh. What does that mean? I have no idea, and nobody could clear it up for me. However, after asking around, it seemed that most teachers (Chinese & foreign) had settled on giving a lecture about a specific university abroad. Then, they’d just talk for two hours about the history, location, academics and application processes of said university. Well, let me tell you, planning that kind of lecture is just as thrilling as it sounds… and by that, I mean not thrilling at all.

So I decided to take a different route – try to spice things up for these kids (and myself, too). After racking my brain for hours trying to figure out something that could be interesting, interactive and meaningful, I settled on one of my favorite aspects of schools in the United States: School Spirit. And, in direct relation, school athletics.

This was the poster outside my lecture hall

And this is the best thing I've ever seen.
Seriously.

First, let me explain my choice a little further: In my experiences in universities both in Europe and here in China, I have noticed that one of the major differences between them and American universities is a serious lack of school athletics. And, as a result, a different, less-pronounced form of “school spirit.” Schools here in China don’t have specific colors or mascots; they don’t hold pep rallies or homecoming parades; and they don’t have loads of dedicated fans who do whatever they can to show their support to the school. No – I believe that most of those things are unique to America (and I could be wrong – I haven’t been everywhere…). Either way, students here in China certainly don’t have those kind of experiences while in college, so I decided to share some of those experiences with them in order to open their eyes to this whole other side of American university life.

Who doesn't love this part of America?!

And so, “School Spirit” became the topic of my lecture.

In order to make it a little easier to follow, I divided it into three parts. First, “showing” school spirit – what can you do to show your spirit? This part included school colors, mascots, logos, merchandise, chants, cheers, songs, pep rallies, homecoming, tailgating and, of course, going to the game. The second part was “raising” school spirit – once you’re at the game, what does the school provide to keep spirits up? This included announcers and athletes, marching bands and pep bands, cheerleaders and dancers, not to mention sweet fan moves like the wave. Finally, part three was all about the benefits of school spirit – why is it so great? Benefits included making lifelong connections with other students/faculty/local citizens, giving your school an identity, having something to be proud of, and, overall, being a part of a community.

And even though I didn't actually go there,
I do like to consider myself a part of the Boise State community
Go Broncos!

I also decided, for clarity’s sake, to focus on a specific university as a constant example throughout the lecture. This was also a difficult choice – I wanted to choose a school I was fairly familiar with; something close to home; but also a school the students might recognize. When it came down to it, UNC (yes, Chapel Hill) fit all those qualifications – plus, Michael Jordan went there, and EVERY Chinese person knows Michael Jordan (I mean, who doesn’t? He’s a legend. And who can EVER forget Space Jam?!?) so that gave them something familiar to associate with the school. Personally, I could care less about UNC (sorry Tarheel friends), but it was definitely the best option for my purposes. I also included a little about NC State because I wanted to make comparisons and explain rivalries. And I chose State over Duke because, honestly, I just don’t like the Blue Devils (sorry to any Duke friends… but not really).

Reppin' NC, y'all

When I gave the lecture last semester, I was pleasantly surprised by the response – which was enthusiastic, to say the least. It was only a group of 40 or so students, so it wasn’t much different than teaching a normal class – but it was so much fun! I had the students clapping, cheering, yelling and stomping. I taught them “The Wave” and the “YMCA;” we sang fight songs and chanted mascots; I even divided the class in two and had them rallying against each other. I showed countless videos portraying the various aspects of school spirit. And to see the students’ energy continually increase from the start of the lecture to the end was such a cool feeling – you should have heard how loud they became! The lecture went so well, in fact, that my boss asked me to give it again this semester – this time, to a group of 250 students!

Oh, you know, just some signs I painted

So, last Wednesday, I got all my materials ready (and made some new ones, too) and gave the lecture once again. It was definitely a lot of fun – although maybe not as exciting as that first one – but I’m glad I go the chance to do it again. Who knew I’d ever enjoy giving lectures? Not me, that’s fo’ sho. I couldn’t have done this lecture, however, without the help of some of my peeps (Rachel helped me last semester, and Alex came with me last week) nor without my father, who is the sole reason I have any interest in University sports in the first place (Thanks Daddy! You’ve been an inspiration to me yet again – and don’t worry, I made sure to give both BSU and LSU shout-outs during my presentation!).

Also, I'm pretty sure this was the first time I've ever worn Carolina attire.
And it's not even "official" - I painted this shirt myself. 

AND, I’ll be giving this lecture one more time in April to another small group at our school – I just hope it won’t lose any of its appeal by then! Either way, I am looking forward to it (yet again) and I hope that this third time will be the time I remember to videotape the students doing the wave. Because it’s just plain adorable, y’all.

I love you, Dad!

Finally,
Go Broncos.
Geaux Tigers,
and Peace Out.

学校

It's Tuesday. And I love Tuesdays, people. Tuesdays are the beginning of my "second weekend" as I like to call it. And also, any day is better than Monday, right? The major reason I don’t look forward to Mondays is because I have to wake up at “Oh-dark-thirty” (as my dad would say) and spend all day teaching. But ya know? The actual work day isn't all that bad after all! In fact, it's what I want to write about today – my work!

As you all know, I am an English teacher here at HZNU. However, I don’t think I’ve talked too much about what that includes. So, today  I want to share with you my weekly class schedule and give you some details on what kind of stuff I (attempt to) teach these (mostly) lovely students.

Two of my lovely sophomores, Simon & Shamrock!

In my opinion, my work week begins on Sunday – the day for some serious class planning. I take Sunday as the day to be sure all my lessons are prepared for the week, all necessary worksheets and handouts are printed out, and all Powerpoint presentations and/or videos are ready to go. I’d like to say I get most of this done on Sunday morning, leaving the rest of the day to relax, but that would be a lie – I am a procrastinator at heart; always have been; (probably) always will be. I don’t mind, though, because I find that I do my best work under pressure – and there’s no pressure like being responsible for 100+ eager minds every week. I can’t let these kids down! And so, most of my Sundays are spent planning preparing and primping my lessons for the week.

Could you let that face down?
I didn't think so.

Monday then begins nice and early because I wake up at around 5:30 (I wasn’t kidding about oh-dark-thirty, guys!). This is because the school bus that takes me to school comes at around 6:50, which means I have to leave my apartment at about 6:38 in order to walk to the stop in time. I absolutely hate that I have to wake up so early (I have never been a morning person) but I only have to do so twice a week, which is better than some people can say. The bus ride usually takes a little over an hour, getting us into school at around 8:00, and giving us 20 minutes to get to our first classes.

My Monday class schedule is as follows:

8:20am – 9:45am : English Writing II
9:55am – 11:25am : Oral English IV
11:30am – 1:30pm : Lunch!
1:30pm – 2:55pm : English Writing II
3:05pm – 4:30pm : Oral English IV

And the building where I teach most of these classes

Then, at 4:40 I catch the bus back to where I live (another hour+ long bus ride). I spend the rest of the evening exercising at my gym, eating dinner, and winding down for the day.

Das right, y'all... I be exercisin!

On Tuesday and Wednesday, I have no classes! Woo! So I take these days to do grocery shopping, other shopping, riding my bike, sightseeing, future-job searching, reading, exercising, attempting to cook, etc. These are usually good days.

My adorable bike! This baby takes me all over town

Last Wednesday, for instance, I biked down to the famous West Lake!
It was a gorgeous day for early March! 

Then, on Thursday, I just teach one class. Fortunately, it’s an afternoon class, so I don’t have to wake up at the crack of dawn for it. Instead, I catch a school bus that leaves at ten after noon and gets me to school at around one.

My Thursday schedule is:

1:30pm - 3:00pm : Office Hours
3:05pm – 4:30pm : Oral English IV

And Thursday evenings are pretty much the same as Mondays!

Finally, it’s Friday! Which is almost as bad as Monday because I have to catch that darn morning bus again…. nevertheless, it is the end of the week, which is always a nice sentiment.

My Friday schedule goes like this:

8:20am – 9:45am : Oral English for Honors College Freshmen
10:35am – 12:10pm : Oral English for Honors College Freshmen
12:15pm – 1:30pm : Lunch!
1:30pm – 2:55pm : English Writing II
3:05pm – 4:30pm : Oral English IV

Again, Friday evening is a lot  like Monday and Thursday evenings. Nothin’ special!
And, finally, Saturdays are a lot like Tuesdays and Wednesdays – awesome. It’s tough to have a bad Saturday.

… so, yes, you read that correctly. I (technically) only have three work days a week. And, yes, feel free to be jealous – I’d be jealous too (and I’m sure I will be jealous of myself  at whatever job I end up with next). However, I’d like you to keep in mind that if you convert my salary to USD, I am technically living below the US poverty line. That should make you feel better.

This should also make you feel better.
You're welcome.

Anywho, let me tell you a little more about those classes I teach. Firstly, each class only meets once a week – this means I only see my students 17 times during the semester (one semester = 17 weeks). All my classes (except the ones for Honors College Freshmen) are taught for the “School of Foreign Languages.” Those students  are sophomores (19 – 20 years old) and are all English majors. This is great for me because this means most of these students have a solid grasp on English, so we can focus on more interesting concepts and topics rather than basic English structure, grammar or vocabulary. The two classes I teach for the Honors College are something I do for a little extra money, and those students come from all kinds of majors- however, they’ve all been accepted to the honors program, which means they are super motivated and extremely enthusiastic. Overall, I’ve been given a great crop of students to work with, which makes this job that much better.

Who wouldn't want to teach them?

In my Oral English classes, we work on… well, Oral English. Or, as some call it, spoken English. Pretty much what happens is I take a theme/scenario and help the students with ways to approach it. For example, last semester our theme was “interviews.” So, we covered job interview techniques/tips and also played around with media interview, which included the students creating and performing their own reality talk shows. This semester, we are doing all types of things in Oral English, including student presentations, debate and discussions; I’ll even be giving students the chance (and by chance I mean final exam grade) to teach the class themselves (which is great, because so many of them would like to be teachers). My most important rule for Oral English is that we ONLY speak English in class… duh! If only that simple rule were simple to follow…

Also, I teach them really important and valuable vocabulary...
I am clearly contributing to society, here. 

Okay, but seriously - I had to do a lesson on swear words because I kept hearing my students using them wrong. And if you're going to use the f-word in my class, you better at least use it right.

As for my writing classes, they are a lot like some of the English classes I took in high school (or, what those classes should have been like – I didn’t have the best English teachers at my school). Last semester, we learned how to write a good paragraph. Once the students got that down, we moved on to the… wait for it… academic essay! Yeah! I ended up being really impressed by the improvement my students showed (you should have seen the writing they gave me at the beginning of the semester… oh man.) So, I decided this semester we’d try some different things. We are going to write news articles, creative short stories, poetry, letters, e-mails… maybe even a blog entry?! I’m excited to see how they do in all these different mediums. Of course, we’ll still be doing some academic writing as well; most notably, we’ll be working on argumentative essays, as well as some prep-work for a mandatory English test (which includes an essay portion) that they’ll have to take in April.

Look at those hard-workers... love 'em!

And this is what happens when I get to my classroom early...

Whew! That’s a lot. But I’m glad I finally gave in and wrote this entry – I like that you all will now have a better idea of what goes on for me here in big-ole China. Makes this life seem a little less far away…

‘til next time, everyone! ZaiJian!