I feel as if I left my heart back in the village we visited today. We went to the countryside to a village near Liupanshui to visit the schools and do research. There are about 3000 people who live in this village, and by the area's standard, this is one of the richer villages in this province, but I couldn't help but think that the conditions were deprived. Our group of 8 were divided in three groups to visit each class at the local primary school.
Judy and I first visited the 2nd graders. They were so adorable! I tried to teach them Simon Says, but being obedient Chinese students, they followed ALL the directions and didn't understand the "Simon didn't say" part so we had to play a different game. I also taught them the ABCs but we didn't have much time so even though they memorized the melody, the letters faded in the end of the song, but it was cute nonetheless. They also preformed dances, songs, and poems for us to win some candy, and boy were they talented and adorable!
After 40 minutes with them, we visited the 5th graders. English isn't taught at their school, but I taught them "Hello", "Good Morning", "Thank you", and "Your welcome". Then I taught them "My name is..." and they wanted English names so we gave them names! It was hard to think of names on the spot, especially names that are easy to spell and pronounce. The only ones I could quickly think of were those of my family and friends. So we named some kids Lily, Alex, John, Matt, Andy, Mike, Lindsey, Becky, Ally, Sally, Susie, and so on... They were quite excited to have English names and learn from us. It was frustrating, though, when some of the boys didn't pay attention and ignored me when I asked them to practice saying "My name is..." They would just turn away, whisper to their friends, and ignore me, even when I pleaded for them to try in Chinese. I think that many of the children were shy, especially at that age of 10-12 years old. The language barrier was also frustrating, and I felt like some of them didn't take me seriously because I don't look like the typical "American" that most have an image of, and because of the way I do look, my lack of Chinese skills does not help the situation either. And it's more frustrating because I just want to help, and I mean well, and when I don't get respect, it hurts. I guess this must be what teachers experience everyday, which makes me respect them even more for their hard efforts.
The rest of the day was quite an adventure as well, though. We had lunch with the village officials and school headmaster. Then we walked around the farm area and village, interviewing people about their lives and opinions on upcoming new government policies, like a new one about to take place that states that all houses have to become standardized and look the same, which was frustrating for many villagers who cannot afford to remodel their homes. There's a "senior home" on a hill where 8 men live and are supported by the government. They were very friendly in chatting with us, and even showed us their rooms. The government lets them stay at the building since they don't have any family to support themselves, though they must find their own food and cook, too. One of the men was 87 years old, and another was 77. I wonder what happened to their families...
We also met up with a girl that was from the 6th grade class. I had briefly gone in there to answer questions and taught them how to say "Hello", and "Thank you for your hard work", which a boy had requested to learn so he could say it to his teacher. The girl was very bright and friendly, inviting us to her home to talk to her and her family. Her older sister had finished the 9 years of compulsory education but dropped out because their family could not afford to send her to high school. She also sacrificed her education so that her younger sister could have the chance to continue, seeing potential in her. Their relationship and the way they interacted reminded me of my sister and suddenly I was overcome with a wave of homesickness, and just thought about my family in comparison to theirs. Their parents raise pigs (10 of them) and grow potatoes (1000 kg a year) to support their family. All of us gave the girl moral support and encouraged her to study hard so that she could continue her education (possibly with scholarships); her dream is to someday attend university, and I really hope she makes it there.
When we returned from the village, we met the students we'll be teaching here at Liupanshui. Around 30 students from poor backgrounds were chosen for this program. They are all freshmen in junior high (which I take to believe as 7th graders). For dinner we had a local specialty, teat-ban-siu (in Cantonese). Basically, sliced vegetables are cooked on a metal plate in lots of oil in front of you at your table. I estimate that the waitress helping cook the food poured more than a pint of oil onto the pan and the oil kept splattering at us and we had to wear aprons to protect our clothes. We used to do a similar thing at home, but it was more healthy and less dangerous, and we also had meat. Erin on our trip is a vegetarian so we all just had vegetables for dinner to make it more convenient. Now we're in our dorm room resting and tomorrow we also have off to plan our lessons.
The weather has been fantastic and my arms are getting brown from the sun. The air is usually fresh smelling and the sun is shining. The area is surrounded by mountain peaks that remind me of Guilin. It's a lovely place here and it reminds me of home.
-b
PS: Here is an adorable kid performing a song for us and her class. It's a Chinese folk song about the mountains.
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