Ya Shur

So yeah, my students just want to be entertained. but in a way I can understand why they want at least ONE fun class. Their schedule is much different than ours. The have school from 745am to 12ish, then have a break, then classes from 3-430 then a break then more classes from like 6-10pm. AND they have school on Saturdays. and this is only hight school!!! I am not required to give them homework or exams... so i won't. they have enough as it is. I told them what the schedule was like in the states and they were SO shocked. So if I hear any kids in the states complain about school... they're getting an ear full. Let 'em know how good they got it.

I hung out with my students yesterday and had a good time. We went shopping, shared some pictures, got them ice cream. I had one pick out some popular chinese music for me. She is unlike the majority of the girls here who are dead crazy about the Backstreet Boys, and any other boy band you can think of (they never tire of them, I don't understand it)... she likes more hip hop and rmb stuff. so she picked out for me this guy named Lee Hom. The first song is "Go Shorty, It's your Birthday" in chinese. Its kinda funny. But there's a variety, my favorite is a swing style song. Pretty fun. It was so nice to spend time with them and get to know them a little better.

Brenda and I are still trying to figure out where to go for national holiday when we have a week off. We don't want to spend too much money. I guess its smarter to save up for spring festival so i can travel for like a month. Right now, i just want a little change of scenery and see some things. We are now talking about going to the ocean and just chilling out.

We hung out with some other foreign teachers last night and met Liam, and older guy from Canada, originally Ireland, so he has a cool accent. And Eddie, aroung my age, and he's from Rochester, MN! So we got to talk some "ya shur ya betcha" stuff. Good times.

Oh, I must tell you about English Corner. It was completely different than what I expected it to be. There were literally over 300 students crammed into this lecture hall. Most of them were my students. I was expecting English Corner to be like a free talk time. But the way the room was set up did not allow for that. I am glad I had the help of Arthur and Martin. We were given microphones to use. Martin is the new guy, but he has a major take-charge personality, so we gave him the show. He ended up talking the entire time and leading the whole thing. I was like, go for it man. With a crowd that large, I get nervous and don't know what to do any way. He had a lot of entertaining stories. One thing that I did do was get a bunch of emails from students who would be interested in having a pen pal from the US. So if any one is interested in chatting it up with some of my students I can hook you up! My students are very excited about this, and I think it can be a great way for them to practice their English.

The day I hung out with my students, Ying Ying asked me how I thought English corner went. We agreed that it did not fulfill it's purpose. We need a larger space for people to mingle and use the language. It should not be a like another class or lecture. It should be fun, and a time to talk to eachother. So I am going to see what I can do to make this happen the right way. I have plenty of games that would be great, but not for a crowd that size.

I'm going to enjoy some of my oolong cha (tea) now. Keep in touch!