So I've finished my second morning of classes. This is so much fun. I love it. My kids started off really shy but I think I've come a long way to breaking them down. In the last day I've sung a song at the top of my lungs, danced, juggled, said tongue twisters as fast as I could, blared rock music, invited myself to sit with them in the dining, and showed them how to call the hogs, oh they're so caving.... As a culture I think that it's really hard for them to get up in front of the class and say anything. They might lose face. I told them right off that this wasn't going to be a normal class and by showing them I'm not afraid to be a bit silly I think I'm coming across well.
At the end of my morning lecture this morning I taught them how to call the hogs. Imagine 90 chinese students going "Woooooo Pig Sooie!" They laughed...thought it was a riot. Another thing that went over better than I thought was when I had them whisper in one another ears down the row like the game telephone they play in preschool. The point was to show them how important pronunciation was and how it was difficult to do so at a whisper (ie. speak up). They just died laughing when it got to the end. It was like it was the most hilarious thing they'd ever seen.
Yesterday I told them some about myself and showed them pictures. Coincidently the pictures I had for the most part were from Christmas and Halloween and they were fascinated by them. I hadn't thought about that as a stereotypical holiday in the US. They celebrate Christmas here but in a secular way.
I told them they could ask me any question they like as long as they are willing to answer the same question in return. So the first question I got was from a girl that wanted to know if I had a girlfriend...the second from the same girl was when I'd be going back to the US...later it was whether I'd be coming back....
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This morning I gave a lecture on western campus culture and mentioned facebook. My class went nuts when I put a screen shot up on the screen. Apparently they have a cloned site that they use for this. Facebook ...even in China.
At the end of my morning lecture this morning I taught them how to call the hogs. Imagine 90 chinese students going "Woooooo Pig Sooie!" They laughed...thought it was a riot. Another thing that went over better than I thought was when I had them whisper in one another ears down the row like the game telephone they play in preschool. The point was to show them how important pronunciation was and how it was difficult to do so at a whisper (ie. speak up). They just died laughing when it got to the end. It was like it was the most hilarious thing they'd ever seen.
Yesterday I told them some about myself and showed them pictures. Coincidently the pictures I had for the most part were from Christmas and Halloween and they were fascinated by them. I hadn't thought about that as a stereotypical holiday in the US. They celebrate Christmas here but in a secular way.
I told them they could ask me any question they like as long as they are willing to answer the same question in return. So the first question I got was from a girl that wanted to know if I had a girlfriend...the second from the same girl was when I'd be going back to the US...later it was whether I'd be coming back....
___________
This morning I gave a lecture on western campus culture and mentioned facebook. My class went nuts when I put a screen shot up on the screen. Apparently they have a cloned site that they use for this. Facebook ...even in China.
