Teaching in China

So two weeks ago I made a trek out to Zengcheng, China with a bunch of fellow CUHK comrades. We went to this small town in Guangdong province with the mission to expose the students here to English language and non-Chinese culture. We had a blast with the students and the town. Other than the nice people, there's nothing really crazy about Zengcheng...except that they produce 70% of the world's denim.

Suprisingly I didn't see any child labor














Zengcheng. View from the school. Excited to see China China!














So we first visited Zhiye Jishu vocational-technical school. They teach middle schoolers skills for their future career which may include banking, fashion design, or other things. They were really excited. Several of them brought fake money to show off their counting skills. I wonder how their tests go. Probably a lot of paper cuts.

Zhiye Jishu, students ecstatic to show us how talented they are and how successful they will be in their future careers.














They live on campus in tight quarters. 12 per room to be exact. And I whine about my HK dorm life and touching gross walls while showering. Weak, Crystal...weak.














Their cool exercize room. I pogo balled!



















The kids there are cool. As you can see.



















The next day we taught a bunch of younger kids in a huge classroom. I taught them by myself. Well, not exactly by myself...just me and my Lonely Planet Phrasebook. What an experience! You really learn by teaching others. Of course they were teaching me more than I was them, I'm sure. I asked what they thought of the U.S., what Americans are like etc. They responded: NBA, movies, McDonalds... It's interesting how they couldn't really understand my accent, they probably got the Chinese accent down. When I wrote it down they often understood it. But still I love how you have to be creative while teaching. Rephrasing is key. It amazes me how many different ways you can say something. Amazes me.

Some things I taught them. The differences between the U.S. and China:
1. There is greater diversity. I said, "In China there's only Chinese. Hai Junggwok yauh Junggwok yahn je. In America, there's Chinese, white people, black people, red people...um, do you understnand yellow people? (and the answer is yes, yes they do have the concept of yellow people there) Hai Meigwok, Junggwok yahn, baak sik yahn, haak sik yahn, hung sik yahn, wohng sik yahn..."
2. Toilets are different. "In China you have these. (me squatting) You understand? Ming m ming baak? And these (i grabbed a chair and sat on it) Ming m ming?. But in the U.S. you only have these " So yeah, I told them about racial and potty differences between these two superpowers.

It also made my day how much interest everyone had in what I was saying. That doesn't happen very often. They didn't always understand the words that were coming out of my mouth, but some things just don't need to be said.














We later talked to high school students. Yeah, the stereotype for Asians come from somewhere, don't they? Look at those stacks of books. Insane! We asked them how long they go to school for. 6 days a week for 8 hrs a day. What do they do for fun? They say sleep...and study. OMG. We asked WHY?! To get into college, of course. But then we told them of life in the U.S. and how having a social life and normal life was important to universities they were a little bit baffled. I felt bad telling them how life could have a side other than studying.

Chinese high school students. They kill a lot of the world's trees.














At night we explored the town. I guess a group of 12 foriegners is a big deal there as they don't see non-Chinese beings. They pointed. They stared. They took pictures. Of course we took pictures back as this was way too surreal. I never got celebrity status before.

Now I feel like I know what it's like to be white in China. Almost.














We were quite the celebrities. Sorta weird...














Our new friend Lucky! Her English was impeccable. We met her in the Chinese dance group where residents come together and learn traditional Chinese dance/exercises. She showed us the malls, famous dan tat bakery (where amazing dan tat is $0.60RMB, aka $0.08USD) and the $1 store. We're bracelet buddies. I'm going to miss really nice Chinese people.

Why am I always the only person looking happy?














If it wasn't for this program I wouldn't have ever experienced a small, non-touristy town in China, as touristy places are where travellers go. Hopefully I can immerse myself in real China before I leave Asia...hopefully, after finals, group projects, and papers get done with my soul. Although I have 2 papers, 3 group presentations, and 4 tests due in the next two weeks I will try and keep up the blogging as I have mini Thailand adventures to write about. You should be excited (xing fan). You should be quite excited as this last blog was short and subpar. I am sorry.