End of School
School finished on the 19th for me, and I had grades submitted by the next Monday. It was a good year with lots of learning experiences. First, my successes:
- gained experience at two different locations that were starkly different from one another
- had positive responses from all of my classes, including a class who collectively found another meeting time when they discovered I had a scheduling conflict in the second semester that would prevent me from teaching them
- was encouraged by colleagues to put my hat in the ring for the supervisor position next year
- was nominated by the current supervisor for the position next year
- got the supervisor position after my first year of teaching!
- am no longer a noob
EIE (the company I work for) puts on a pretty good show, and I pulled out all stops to put on a rigorous program, and most of the students responded enthusiastically. They are so used to their teachers, especially foreign teachers, simply phoning in the job. But many of the students responded with earnestness when presented with a genuine challenge, and many improved a great deal.
These guys have been studying English for nearly 12 years through primary and secondary education. As second year university students they need to cram for a national standardized test called the CET that they must pass at least at the fourth level for graduation as well as take four semesters of English during there freshman and sophomore years. Our classes, however, are not CET prep courses, so my goal was to provide them with opportunities to implement their latent language abilities. I minimized the grammar and vocabulary focus, letting them prepare that mostly on their own, in order to emphasize speaking, writing, and listening. I tried many different things to keep the classes involved and motivated - a lot of these strategies I learned from the deep pool of experience in Dalian. Something else that was important to me was to share my worldview through my lessons without being overtly preachy (a big no-no here). These was an important element for me in order to keep me invested in the class, because - let's face it - teaching grammar can be a little dry sometimes.
I also had an opportunity to teach a graduate class of English major students in a masters program. This is where I truly had an my first opportunity to truly "preach". The class was a speaking class. It had no textbook and its only guideline was to get the students speaking. So I turned it into a Public Speaking class. Here I was able to talk about worldview (cosmology, ontology, epistemology, etc.), organizational skills, and critical thinking skills. I spent two class sessions on logical fallacies and reasoning. They learned about Aristotle and his influence in Western rhetoric. I was able to challenge both their sophisticated knowledge of English and challenge them as students, hoping to equip them with what I feel are essential skills.
I planned this class week-by-week, spending hours creating lessons from an online text that a former professor recommended and grading their performances, providing specific performance feedback and correcting grammar mistakes on their submitted speeches. And I loved (nearly) every minute of it! Here, I felt the beginnings of the true potential of teaching as a profession. Here, I started teaching beyond google facts - teaching the important stuff like how to be a Christ-like human being.
But I had to grow a lot this year. My biggest battle was stage fright. These guys were nothing compared to the seventh graders in small-town Midwest that I substitute taught for ten weeks (all of whom I love and miss!), but I still had my insecurities. Most of it came from not having my bearings. I went from being in complete control of a store that I was quite successful at to leaving the country, my friends, and my family in order to start an entirely new profession. There are so many little unspoken things that go into classroom management that you just can't prepare for. What do you do about cell phones? How do you deal with late students and the chronically late? How do you motivate a quiet class when it's time to speak? I feel like I have a handle on these things now, and that will make next year much smoother.
Summer Vacation
But now summer vacation is in full swing. I've enjoyed lounging around, and playing good 'ole Civ IV. For a few days straight. I also went to the nearby mountain a few weeks back with a couple of friends, which I will tell you more about later. But now it's time to study.
My hope is to stay here for a few years to improve my language ability in order to pass the HSK 6. The HSK is a national Chinese language assessment test that China offers which allows everyone to know where you stand with your language skills. Level 6 is the highest level, which would have been a challenge for me after graduating college, let alone eight years after the fact! This might actually be a pipe dream, but I'm working hard at least two hours a day to improve my vocabulary and listening this summer.
Why am I doing this?
Because I want to go to Xiamen University's Confucian Academy. Their Chinese linguistics master's program is world-class. Successfully completing it would open many doors for either jobs or further study.
It also aligns nicely with another timeline.
I've made a good friend here in China. We spend many of our weekends together, often practicing our English (he's an English major) and Chinese, showing each other movies, and cooking for each other. He's been a big help and source of support for me here in China, since we are so much on the same page with values and sensibilities.
And he's got about three years left of his undergraduate program. He also wants to teach, so he will want to get his masters as well. And because we are in quite possibly China's most boring city, he is eager to leave. So we may very well go to Xiamen together, if we have the opportunity.
So I need to study. I have three years punctuated with lots of work in order to get my Chinese up to speed. And aside from a beach vacation in Qingdao with Felix (the friend I mentioned), this is my summer plan. Wish me luck!
Song Shan
Finally, as promised and if you still have the endurance, here are some pictures from Song Shan - one of China's five sacred mountains. This is the mountain where the Shaolin monks are! I've heard the Shaolin temple itself experienced a huge break from it's history after the establishment of the PRC. Being a communist revolution coupled with China's longstanding tension with organized religion in general, they had little love for the temple's practitioners and eventually turned it into a pale, sterilized reflection of what it once was (because religion is so bourgeois) .
However, there are still many villages along the mountain with people living and farming. Many of them still actively practice a form of Daoism, which we saw a little bit of going up the mountain. My friends and I didn't want to intrude on their ceremony, so we just watched the National Geographic event going on as we were passing by.
Here are some pictures:
It was really nice to get out of the city! I didn't realize how much I missed living in the quiet countryside with my dad last year!
The beginning of summer really made this a beautiful time of year. Here are some flowers that were a wonderful contrast to the bricks and cars in the 10-million-strong city I'd been living in for the past 10 months.
This was a challenging hike for me with so many steps! But it had some gorgeous scenery. Here are steps that lead you through a deep crevice in the mountain.
Here's a better picture of the crevice. The walls went up really high on both sides, making this feel a lot like Lord of the Rings. A really unique climb!
Some wonderful sights! These pictures just don't do it justice.
More stairs. So many stairs. I hobbled for about three days after this hike.
Nearing one of the villages.
As I got higher, we encountered a pretty thick fog. I was grateful for it because it was so cool, and I was so drenched in sweat (secret: I was not in shape for this hike!). It also gave a cool, mysterious feel to the whole thing...
...as well as completely hid the view from us once we reached the top. But, like I said, I was grateful. I'll go back another time for the eye candy.
We traveled about three hours to get there and hiked up and down for about six. We fast-tracked it home, but with the three of us it kept the price of the cab down. It was a long and challenging day for me, but I really enjoyed getting out of town for a little, the feeling of accomplishment reaching the top of the mountain, and spending the day with these friends. It was the perfect way to start a summer vacation.
