China Installment # 1 - Ode to a Frisbee

I am going to write about China for the next few posts because that is something that I know ya'll want to know about (Eryn lol). So here we go! I feel like my love for China deepened over this last trip. It kind of feels like something crept into my heart and took it over. If that makes any sense. Being back sometimes feels like someone is pulling at a scab on my heart. I know that is gross, but that is the best metaphor I can come up with right now! The reason this post is called "Ode to a Frisbee" is because I want to talk about the students we had. In China they learn mainly by rote memorization. Our job was to come in and help them learn more interactive learning techniques. Those of us on active teaching teams employed these methods in the classroom. One of those ways was through a Frisbee. You throw the Frisbee to a student and then they must say a word or sentence in English. They loved this because they got to throw it at their friends. One day my teaching partner and I were demonstrating how to throw a Frisbee. I was in the back of the room and she was in the front. Since they don't have centralized AC all the windows were open. You can guess where this is going. She threw it and it went sailing out the very last window. Did I mention we were 3 stories up? My response was "Holy cow!" They all kind of looked at me and I knew I would never be able to explain that one! One of the boys was very nice and went running down to retrieve our lost friend. The students are so joyous and love learning. Sure, there are some of them who sleep through class, but on the whole they want to learn better English. Good English means good jobs. Another funny moment came when we had question and answer time. I think this is my favorite question of all time: "Is your hair real? Is it's color real or do you do something to it?" The answer is YES it is real! HAHA. Another good question is: "Are you married?" My response is: "Are YOU married?" I am looking forward to sharing more with ya'll about my trip and about the Chinese people and culture!