Days two and three

I have fallen a day behind in my blogging and unfortunately my attention to detail will suffer as a result. But I wanted to share a few exciting things that have happened over the last couple days (we are over hump day, woohoo!).

The opening ceremony was no longer than 20 minutes. The kids sang a couple of songs, Anne introduced all of us and thanked them for having us at their school, and a new member was added to our teaching group. Jason, born in Nepal and completing med school in Weifang, was introduced to us and the kids. He is very nice and is excited to have some fellow English speakers at the school (though he speaks an incredible 7 languages, including Mandarin). He has been in Weifang for 4 years, and volunteered to show us around the city.

My first class has proven to be rambunctious— they take some time to catch on to tasks, cannot seem to keep their hands off one another, talk too much, and there are 28 of them. Thank goodness for my assistant, because the traditional Chinese teaching style (yelling) seems to be the only way to quiet them down.

I was able to get some pictures of my second class, who has proven to be my after-lunch delight— they are quick to pick up on my instructions and what I am teaching, they are cooperative, they do not feel the need to constantly touch each other, and there are only 21 of them. Yesterday I taught them some different occupations (doctor, nurse, teacher, scientist, miner, etc.) and had them tell me, in a picture, what they wanted to be when they were older. They are amazing artists for grade one students, and they have great penmanship as well (I asked them to write their name and the name of the job as well). Below are a couple of my favourite smiles.

The food has been incredible so far. The school has gone to great lengths to accommodate my vegetarianism (they ensure half the dishes are meat-free) and the choices are all fantastic, not to mention extra-large portions. Even the food we have eaten outside of the school has proven delicious. Monday night we went to a restaurant and had our first “hot-pot” experience. We were brought our huge pots of steaming soup broth (mine was tomato-based) as well as a tray with little items to add to the bowl, such as rice noodles, corn, cabbage, spices, meats, and a raw egg. You dump whatever you want into the big bowl and it sizzles and cooks for a couple minutes before you can eat it. Delish!!!

Last night Jason showed us around the city a little bit. There is an underground mall about a ten-minute walk away, an “Eaton Centre-ish” mall right outside our hotel (similar prices, too), and a nightly market within a 5-minute walk. The market was great. There are endless vendors, sometimes selling the same things, but it is the place to go if you want to try your hand at some serious bartering— it is expected here, and it is almost an appreciated art. There were also food vendors, a couple carnival-style games, some puppies, kittens, and rabbits for sale, and an area where you can pick out a porcelain item and hand-paint it at a table. The neon lights in the city are mesmerizing, and without the Chinese characters, I could mistake the city for a cross between Toronto and Las Vegas. Here are a couple photos:

We have certainly become accustomed to the stares as we are, from what I have seen, the only white people in our immediate area. Some people have even taken pictures of us when out walking. Kids have run up to us to say hello, giggle, and run back to their parents. We feel like celebrities!!

Tonight we finally decided to take it easy and relax after our nightly “meeting” where we discuss how are lessons went. Of course, by “relax” I mean play a number of card games that kept us entertained for a couple hours (Dutch Blitz, Anomia, and President). It was nice to stay off our feet for the night, and will be nice to get into bed before 11:00, which leaves this post finished until next time!