吃火锅: Eating Hotpot

Two other fellows and I (we will be teaching the same students) went out to dinner tonight at a hotpot place. The food was delicious and a nice change from cafeteria food.

So much food!

We also went to the store to buy some supplies for class (paper, pens, etc.). I loved this section with all the different kinds of sugar.

So much sugar!

Then they helped me buy a fuzzy blanket. There was this stall in the covered market that had various fabrics. I chose a fabric and they sewed an edging on in about two minutes. It's two meters wide so that I can put one layer underneath me to add some padding (I think my bed gets less rather than more comfortable each day...this should change things.) and one layer on top to keep me warm on colder nights (sometimes recently it's been getting down into the 50s).

Newsflash: Placement!

We got our placements yesterday! This is where I will be living and working for the next two years:

Province: Yunnan (云南)

Prefecture: Baoshan (保山)

County: Tengchong (腾冲)

Village: Jietou (界头)

School: Jietou Central Elementary (界头中心小学)

It's up in a mountainous area (everyone says it's really pretty there) and near the border with Myanmar. Other than that, I don't know much about it yet.

Clear Skies

When I woke up this morning it was chilly and foggy. Now it's absolutely gorgeous. Here's the view from the 5th floor of the teaching building (where a lot of our classes are held...particularly fun when you decide you want to go get hot water for your tea--found on the third floor of the OPS building--during your "15"-usually-actually-10-minute break, especially at this altitude--about 1,800 meters above sea level according to Wikipedia).

7:51 AM, before classes started.

11:37 AM, after the last morning session.

Feeling Official

I just picked up my first stipend! It isn't much in US dollars, only about twice what I got paid for to sing for 10 hours in two weeks in the Chapel Choir for two full weeks of work, but it still feels nice and official.

Many of the fellows have been talking about the transition from student to teacher. You mean we're not really being graded on this assignment? What should my students call me anyway? How do I emulate my good teachers while adjusting to a different culture?

My Home and Workplace for the Next Four Weeks: 大姚县民族中学

Orientation is now over. This week is full of pedagogy training (with some Chinese language learning--especially classroom Chinese--thrown in). Then I'll be teaching 8th graders at a summer camp for the next three weeks! The first day we're supposed to spend the whole 40 minute period doing class management, laying down the rules, etc. This sounds utterly tedious to me right now, not being one for rules particularly, but we'll see how it goes.

For all of this time I will be living and teaching at 大姚县民族中学 (Dayaoxian Minzu Zhongxue, Literally Dayao County Ethnic Middle School):

The approach...

Girl's Dorms

The view  from the Girls' dormitory third floor balcony (my floor) just as the afternoon rain was stopping.

A classroom at Minzu Zhongxue.

Goats!

Found these coming straight at us on the walk into town yesterday...

Names

I'm used to having to spell my name so that people can figure out how to pronounce it, but in the US it's because I have an unusual name. Interestingly, in China, everyone has to explain their name somehow or another because even if someone knows how to say it, they won't know how to write it. Most people have a set of words that they use to explain it (like when we say N as in Nancy, they say the syllable and then a two-syllable word that contains it). Even so, though, there tends to be some confusion. Sometimes they use a finger to trace the character on their other hand. Here at SI, though, we all have badges so people often introduce themselves with their badge. I put both my English and Chinese names on my badge so people can examine them both!

Although I can repeat back someone's name when they introduce themselves, I find I am very bad at remembering Chinese names. I need to create a new slot in my brain, and quickly, before I have to learn all my students' names!

A Scavenger Hunt Through Dayao

When I first heard that today's activity was a scavenger hunt in the town of Dayao (大姚), I admit I was skeptical. But it was a really wonderful day (especially after yesterday, which involved listening to people talk for a very long time and feeling overwhelmed by the number of people here...about 40 foreign fellows, 200 Chinese fellows, staff, and volunteers). We were put into teams of six fellows two foreign fellows and four Chinese fellows, so we switched between English and Chinese a fair bit, mangling both languages but learning as we went. We had a variety of tasks: interviewing locals about their lives and families, asking people what their hopes for the children of Dayao are, drawing a map of Dayao including all the places we stopped for the scavenger hunt and other prominent landmarks, swapping objects (starting with just a binder clip) until we obtained something that represented Dayao, and collecting seven "dragon ball fragments" from staff members who were stationed throughout town. We had five and a half hours to complete all the tasks (and walk to and from our middle school and everywhere in between). Not only did I learn my way around town a bit, I also got a good work out, made new friends, and started to feel more comfortable speaking Chinese again! Here are just a few highlights of the day.

The whole team in front of one of the local primary schools after we received our first dragon ball fragment.

One of my teammates bought custard tarts (蛋挞, dan4ta4) for everyone in the group. Yum.

First we traded the binder clip for some Chinese olive oil, then we traded the oil for a stalk of lillies

The last dragon ball fragment was to be given at the top of these stairs leading to the White Pagoda Tower (白塔).

Preparing to climb...

We made it!

Having completed the climb up and down we bought some iced treats. (Hawthorne fruit makes a very good popsicle!)
This boy attends the middle school that we are staying at for Summer Institute. Unfortunately, he won't be attending the three-week summer camp that we will be teaching because he said he needs to help earn money for the family.

More Adventures

Although originally subtitled "Gita's Adventures in Panama", this blog will now be home to my reflections on various adventures. In particular, I will be posting updates over the next two years from rural China. I hope you enjoy my posts and please leave comments or send me email! I want to stay in touch.