09.26.06
Posted in Uncategorized at 9:25 am by Ann
On Sunday evening CC and I attended our first “party” held on the “old campus”. The incoming freshmen of the Holmesglen program were having a “welcome new students” party so all of the foreign teachers were invited. The party was so much fun and I took a lot of pictures! I promise to put them on the blog site this week-end. The students were so friendly. CC had a blast. There was a stage and the students had a mini talent show. CC and I basically went on stage and I said a few things in Chinese (this was my talent I guess)…..CC sang a few songs with another little friend “Sandy” Sandy’s mother is from Wuhan and her father is from America. They were cute together on stage and they both had a great time. Oh…..I have to go for now…..I will write more later!!!
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Posted in Uncategorized at 9:20 am by Ann
I was just told today that I have been invited to a very special dinner for foreign teachers throughout the Hubei Province. This is a formal dinner and I have been asked to be the foreign teacher to represent my school WUSE “Wuhan University of Science and Engineering”. What an honor this is. I don’t have all of the details yet but will be sure to fill you in on this. I hope I can take my camera!! Good thing I brought a nice dress. I will have to be on my best behavior!!! hehehehehehhehe that might be tough =) Goofy farm girl is in the house!!!!! Nah…..you all know me and I will be a good girl =)
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Posted in Uncategorized at 8:42 am by Ann
Well I have been giving my blog information to my students. I think they are a bit shy to speak up so I am formally welcoming them to join in our discussion. I know they will have great fun introducing themselves. They are great students! So speak up and practice your english here!!!! =)
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09.20.06
Posted in Uncategorized at 6:53 am by Ann
Today I will have a few of my Holmesglen Students introduce themselves. This is part of their lesson today so they will work very hard on their introductions!
I’m Bill, I like computer games and playing basketball etc. I have a dream going Australia, although my English is not good. so  I try my best and studying English. Nowadays, I hope that I can pass exam and move up to L4 class.
I’m godlen,I like playing basketball and travelling. I want to go to college in USA.I have a dream to go travelling in the future and after go to Maldives with my wife . I hope that I can pass exam.
I’m joe ,My dream is going to iceland .Because there moring is so long.I like watching action movie.Jackie chan is my favorite.I want to Australia .Because there environment is very beautiful.
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Posted in Uncategorized at 5:10 am by Ann
Last night students at the “new campus” organized an English Corner. This is a social event where students will get together, have fun and speak english. They invited all of the foreign staff. Myself, CC, James, Thomas, Barry were all there…..Chinese staff were Bruce and Phillip. CC had a BLAST. I had prepped her pretty well beforehand. She knew there would be a lot of students there and that everyone would be excited to see her. The kids absolutely went crazy for CC. Everyone wanted to dance with her or play with her. It was fun to see CC having so much fun with the young people. They kept asking her if she spoke Chinese and she would say “yes I do….but this is English corner”!!!Â
I have to tell you about this “dance craze” they have here. There is an english song…..i have no idea who sings it….and it is horrible. There is a lot of bad english music here (basically people who couldn’t make it in America, Britain or Australia….so decided to release their records here to the poor young chinese people)…..anyhow…this song comes on and EVERYONE went nuts. Basically they started doing the bunny hop. The girl in the song sings “left, left, right, right, jump, turn around, hop hop hop”……uuuuhhhhh ok. so the students are all dancing to this and it looked like a combination of a teen birthday party and a midwest wedding where even your drunk uncle is trying to dance! It was crazy…..so of course CC and i joined in. We were just hopping and following the kids….la la la la…..hop hop hop….when will this damn song end????? They played the song 5 TIMES!!!!! I am not even kidding here…..it could have been more. Even CC was saying “please quit playing this music”. Man they love it though. One of girls said to me “i hope you like this song because we will play it at every english corner”……oh goody!!!! I just smiled and said ” I will wear my tennis shoes next time so I can really get into it” hehehehheheheh But deep inside I was begging the heavens to part and a bolt of lightening to come down and strike the record player!!!!!!!
When the english corner was over….Barry said to me “where can I get some beer”!!!! heheheheheh James has offered to bring the music for the next event. We were all glad to hear that!!!! CC fell asleep on the bus ride home. She said to me “mommy it is so nice that we have made so many chinese and foreign friends here”…..I couldn’t have said it better myself.
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Posted in Uncategorized, CC's school at 4:56 am by Ann
This morning walking to school CC said “mommy i really love my school”!!!! Woooooohoooooooo what a relief that is for mommy!! I hope this lasts for a while!
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Posted in Uncategorized at 4:54 am by Ann
As much fun as I am having it has also taken a great amount of patience and flexibiltiy. It is so difficult to explain because I am having a great time (and now CC is really enjoying herself) but things are different here and there are some things that I have had to be patient about. I guess part of the greatest experiences that I am having is truly “accepting” a new way of life. It is difficult…yet I know rewarding. I thought I would list some of the things that have been most difficult to adjust to:
Public bathrooms……It is a challenge for me to squat. I am happy that my home and apartment have western style toilets. But the public restrooms have an odor and squatting is an art form I think. I hate peeing on my shoes or the thought of my pant leg getting “sprinkled”. Yuk….I hate that and haven’t figured out how they go so quickly and easily.  I admire the women here though! Bravo for that talent!
The pollution and general noise of a big city. It is very populated here. The people are lovely. It is just noisy a lot and the blue skies are few and far between. I am lucky that I have been able to enjoy a few of them. Yulin didn’t really have that when he was growing up. I just keep thinking about how beautifully blue and green the midwest is. The fresh air. When I was home I used to complain about how noisy it was! Hah! Now I know city noise. CC and I have to sleep with the window closed because it is just too noisy. There is noise all the time…..traffic, construction, people, music, etc etc.
People staring at me and laughing. This has taken a lot of self confidence I guess. So many people just stare at me. I understand it and try to smile and be as friendly as I can. Many times people are very shy and will just giggle with their friends as they walk by (adults included). I don’t take it too negatively…..but sometimes (like today) when I am feeling blue already….it can make me feel uncomfortable.
Well I think that is enough “negativity” for today. I am a bit homesick as you can tell. But I want to share everything with you all.
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Posted in Uncategorized, People and Culture at 4:39 am by Ann
Today I am very homesick and missing Yulin terribly. My lesson wasn’t going so well so I was a bit down about it all. I dismissed my class early (15 minutes) and started walking back to my apartment. A few of my students were talking and invited me to join them for lunch in the “back street” area. I haven’t been there yet but have heard so much about it. I was eager to join them. The backstreet area is incredible. So much going on. so many people, food vendors, shops selling everything….just a great life and energy. They took me to a place that makes “fried rice”. Basically a woman and a man have two large cooking areas (flat grills like in a restaurant)…..and behind them are dishes containing many ingredients….like chicken, beef, corn, peppers, pineapple, sprouts, etc. They told me it was the best and “very delicious” Wow it was so fun to watch. The couple are wildly popular….so we had to wait a while….but it was fun to see them cooking so quickly. The fried rice is absolutely the best I have ever had. I can’t put it down. I am eating as I am writing this….but have dropped some on my computer keys!!!! I plan to go back to the backstreet area with my video camera in hand. This is definately something I must share with everyone!! Ooooohhhhh my mouth is on fire but loving every bite!!!
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09.19.06
Posted in Uncategorized at 5:42 am by Ann
Hello everyone!
I am here on the new campus in a dorm with many of my students. The girls have been very generous and invite me to their dorm each tuesday. We have had great conversations about shopping, fashion, bargain shopping, politics, school, american tv and culture and handsome americans! So……now some of them would like to say hello to you!
Hi, i am jessica. i am a chinese young lady. i like to be muture. i have many friends. we have a wonderful time in our school. i like music,movie,bargain shopping and so on.haha,nice to meet you. bye-bye!
hello,i am milly.i am student.niceto meet you . i was born in wuhan and love this city.i like Â
watching tv and korean series. i love my english teacher .i think my spoken english will improve in the future with the guide of our charming teacher haha
hello i am cindy i am chinese student nice to meet you   i love my english teacher ok  i have no time  bye byeÂ
hi i am kitty.nice to meet you. Ann is very kind. her classes is very interesting. just write here,bye !
Good bye for now!! Many students will write next week!!!
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09.18.06
Posted in Uncategorized at 1:33 am by Ann
Last week I tried to post about my students but I kept getting kicked off. I hope this will go through.
My students are wonderful. I have been doing some really “non-traditional” teaching things and I think they appreciate it. What I love about the students is how excited they are to learn from a foreign teacher. They have such great attitudes. I have played some silly games with them and they really get into it and have fun. They don’t have the attitude like “I am too cool for this”. They are very shy to speak but are opening up to me quickly. I think they know they can trust me and that I really care about their education. Last week I held class outside because the weather was beautiful. I took off my shoes and walked barefoot in the grass. They couldn’t believe I took my shoes off. Some of them joined me and enjoyed the scratchy grass and others just looked in amazement at our naked feet enjoying it!! I asked them if their chinese teachers had ever taken them outside and they said “no, never” so I said with great enthusiasm “GREAT! because I want to be different!” They all were just so excited. What a treat to make them all feel so good about learning english. Of course some of them think I am pretty crazy!!! But I told them that many people in the states think that too. =) They are good students and their attitudes definately make my experience a good one.
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