Adventures in Guangzhou!

I don't know if I have emphasized this enough but Guangzhou is HOT. And by hot I mean HUMID. 60 students in a small enclosed space is a very good recipe for sweat pie. Trust me. Anyhow, Steven and I saw three sections today and taught together, introducing ourselves, the course, and consequently splitting the room up into two sections for the remainder of the year. I am very glad both to have my own class and to limit the number to around 30 students; any more is just overkill and puts a major strain on classroom management. Plus apparently I'm selfish and really like having my own class. By the same token, I recognized today that I really need to work on cooperative teaching. Steven was a bit nervous (having never taught before) and I found myself talking over him a few times because I felt he was too quiet or that he was using overly-complicated words. In other words, I need to chill out a little bit.

It sounds ridiculous but it is tough for me to remember what state I was in on my first day of teaching, over a year ago. I haven't been doing it for very long yet I feel like that was eons ago. On a positive side, B.U. must have done at least something right because I felt very confident, organized, and focused, despite never having taught English before. I am really excited to work with these kids and they seem happy to have us. If only they knew that I am making the course up as I go...

The first funny/awkward moment arose in the second section of the day. We gave the students the opportunity to ask us questions about our lives in America as a sort of get-to-know you activity. The students are somewhat shy and self conscious about speaking English in front of their classmates though so we had to solicit a few volunteers. I picked on a boy in the back corner of the room who seemed to be off in a different world and made him ask me the question he had written down. It was as follows (though in slightly more broken English)-
"How many times have you gone to the movies with a beautiful girl since you were 16?"
I was definitely caught a little off guard! I figured there were a few ways to go with that but decided to stick with humor. After I stopped chuckling I responded with, "Too many to count." He seemed pleased with my response.

After classes today I made my way over to the athletic center (literally a 45 second walk from my apartment) and walked out into the stadium. This morning I met one of the physics teachers in the copy room who asked me if I played football. Those of you from "Fatal Attraction" fame know that I was B-league intramural champion senior year at Wesleyan, so naturally I responded with an enthused, "Yes!" I considered explaining that my ball-handling skills were distinctly lacking but that I could run down anyone on the field without a problem, but I decided against it. So I made my way out to the soccer field and looked for the man but I didn't see him. Maybe I got the time wrong? I didn't want the afternoon to be a complete bust so I went inside to the gym where there are 3 or 4 basketball courts. Again, I knew I would be a bit rusty but I wanted to get some exercise and meet some people.

After standing around clueless for about 10 minutes, a man finally approached me and started speaking cantonese/mandarin, all while pointing to the middle court. He took me over and said something to the group of students playing there, at which point one of them pointed to the side and said, "You will play on that team." I played one game of 3 v. 3 with them after which they all packed up and left. Something I said? No, apparently they get booted off the court at a certain time and the faculty have free reign of the place. A group of 6 or 7 guys of various size and shape came over and we split up into teams. Now with the students I could communicate in broken English but these teachers did not know a single word. Splitting up teams and figuring out what we were playing to was quite a task but I pieced it together. I kept laughing to myself throughout the game because despite the language barrier, I kept yelling out various phrases like I do at home, e.g.: Pick right! Shot! Board! Switch! Up strong! Outlet! For the most part it was probably gibberish to them but I was pleased that more than a few times we managed to work pick & rolls as well as a few backdoor cuts. I am definitely out of shape right now, but my size ended up being a major asset with these guys. Me! Size! I was no giant but I think I out-rebounded everyone on the floor. Heh. I definitely tossed up a couple air balls at the beginning of the first game, but I found my groove eventually and hit a number of threes and lay-ups by the end of the evening. Still got it!! Okay, kind of.

I found that I felt a sense of self-imposed pressure to play particularly well in front of these guys, both to prove myself to them, but also to represent the U.S. After all, this is our game, right? Naismith invented the thing about 45 minutes away from my old home! I felt that I would be letting them down and breaking a stereotype if I got on the court and embarassed myself. This made me a little uptight but after a couple games I think I loosened up. There is definitely some amount of universal basketball body language and trash talking which I thoroughly enjoyed. One of the bigger guys stuffed a lay-up at one point and said something to the guy right after. Immediately everyone went, "Ohhhh!" I can only venture a guess at what he said but I'll bet it was funny. Once again, yet another incentive to learn the language...