First Day

So, I haven't posted in awhile, mainly because I have been working like crazy. I started teaching yesterday after more testing and class prep. The class is called "TPR" which means "Total Physical Response," otherwise known as how to teach English to children who don't really speak Chinese. The class consisted of about 20 hyperactive 5 year-olds, none of whom knew more than maybe 10 words in English. The youngest boy didn't look more than three, and he sat near the front (the desks were in a U shape) and when I wasn't looking erased whatever I wrote at the bottom of the chalkboard, drew on the board or the walls, and played with his toy gun and pokemon cards. At one point another boy stole his cards and then accidentally spilled water on them, a real crisis. The littlest boy also fell out of his chair and started crying, and the TA, an english major at Qingdao University, didn't know what to do with him so she just kind of held him in the air for a little while until he stopped crying and started kicking. I didn't speak much English in the class, instead I spent most of it yelling in Chinese ("don't hit her" "give back the marker" "give teacher your pokemon card"). This morning I had slightly older children, probably about 7-10 in two different classes. Although they are better behaved than the little children (they can at least sit in a chair and not hit people), they still do not seem to be completely focused on learning English. About 5 kids in each class have already gone over the lesson and know all the words and grammar, about 5 kids seem vaguely interested, and the rest (about 15) started playing or talking the minute you are not looking directly at them.

On another note, Qingdao establishments have the most interesting form of decoration. When we first got here, we were told that the building with the santa cutouts on the door was Lee Wen. We walked inside to find fake evergreen bows and colorful blinking christmas lights and merry christmas signs. At first I though maybe it was just Lee Wen, maybe involving learning about American holidays, but then we went to several restaurants, all of which also had santas and christmas lights. I guess it gives a new meaning to "Christmas in July.