OLAG. Our lives our great. Today’s lesson was about emoticons and emojis. So basically, I got to sit with my precept for an hour and a half and teach them IM language. It was great watching them guess what LOL, FML, BFF, and all our other text messaging lingo means. I don’t know if this constitutes as real English, but they loved it. When I got to explaining FML, MLIG, and OLAG, they got to come up with their own phrases, such as: “It is raining today. I forgot my umbrella. FML.” “I lost my wallet. I found it in the classroom today. MLIG.”

After class, Winne and Tina, two students in Unicorns, were waiting for us to have lunch. I had made lunch plans with them the day before, but little did I know of the feast that awaited us. Jess, Sofia, Arianna and I climbed up six stories to Tina’s dorm, where she and five other students eagerly prepared lunch as they waited for our arrival. Suddenly, Winne appear with four bouquets of flowers – one for each of us – in her hands that she had made using wires and pantyhose. She had taught us how to make these flowers in her dorm on Saturday and said she would make more for us, but we had no idea she meant a bouquet for each of us! Apparently this bouquet of flowers was not enough – Winne had also made a pair of earrings for each of us. We thanked them a million times, shocked at the hospitality and appreciation that our students displayed.

After this unexpected gift giving ceremony, the girls eagerly showed us their beautiful traditional paintings and calligraphy work while preparing dumplings and fruit for us for lunch. Lunch ended with Shiny playing piano while they all sang “Tong Hua”, a Chinese fairytale song (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLsNzzQ6vYI), together. We all left with one word on our minds: OLAG.

Cam and Eliot had told us about the students’ hospitality and enthusiasm before coming to China, but little did I know that it would be to this extent. Leaving with our bouquet of flowers in hand, new earrings on, and umbrellas in hand to protect our new flowers, all we could talk about was how impressive our students are.  

This was not the first time that our students had displayed such hospitality. On our first day of class two of my students, Bom and Dara, had asked me what my favorite Chinese fod was. I had told them that I really like dumplings. They said that they could teach me how to make dumplings, and I eagerly accepted the invitation. Next thing I knew I had an email from Bom the next evening asking me what day worked best and what other teachers were interested in joining our dumpling party. Last Thursday Kelsey, Alyssa, Sofia, and I had the opportunity to go to Bom’s home, meet her family, and make dumplings with them which we later feasted on during our delicious home-made lunch (made me realize how much I miss homemade food!). Upon leaving, Bom’s whole family – and I mean aunts and uncles who had come to make dumplings with us – told us that we were welcome back anytime and insisted that we take home a jug of her mother’s home-made wine. This was also one of the greatest experiences I have ever had.

These two events are just two of the multiple interactions and extremely welcoming gestures our students have displayed. So despite the pouring rain the past five days, temporary power outage this evening, and extremely early mornings, it is our students who make our lives great here in Jishou.

Hoping for a sunny day with no rain tomorrow,

Miryam

Sunday, day of rest.

We woke up at 6:30 to go hiking across the city, up the slopes of Jishou’s tallest mountain, past a Buddhist temple staffed by wizened old women and doves, and then up a couple thousand stairs. I didn’t really want to count each rocky step, as sweat gradually spread like rain across on the US map on my back (thanks Princeton Breakout for a useful teaching tool). The students, SoS’11 veterans, stopped occasionally to scrounge for sour wild raspberries. At the summit we stared down the stairs and back towards hazy Jishou. Soon we were running down dirt paths through the brush. Then we were on the other side. We passed by a natural spring, where Cameron and I passed up the opportunity to get stomach infections. Small barefoot men with bamboo sticks over their shoulders balanced baskets of gallon containers as they scrambled back up the mountain. Somehow in this new territory I felt as though I was returning to the Northeast, surrounded by coniferous trees and a familiar calm… yet only ten hours before we had been belting out the best of the 90’s, Peng you, and Elvis (Tony)…

Monday, and already (or only?) the second week of class.

Rain wouldn’t let up. Students still dutifully showed up to class, and Level Unicorn conducted lessons on the Freshman Fifteen among other college must-knows. The steady drip drip of water on the windows was drowned out when the students acted out ridiculously inane scenarios as American students.

Tuesday, rain, rain, rain.

Wednesday, the deluge.

As we teach emoticons and internet acronyms (MLIG spawns: My PiA Life Is Great), the river nearly reaches the main bridge crossing into town. The electricity in our section of the city is shut off by late afternoon, and the bridge is cordoned off. Policewomen in heels (?) hold back the crowds who amble over to gape at the rushing water. Looking across the bank, we can see that some apartments are not in good shape. Waves crash up and into lower floor rooms. Cigarette clamped between his teeth, a man pushes past me hoisting a ten foot long pole and net. Fishing?

Later, we hold a group meeting by candlelight and consider teaching without electricity. But after a short wait, the power comes back on and tomorrow’s contingency plans seem unnecessary. No sweat.

Today I had the pleasure of going on my first Service Club adventure. Jessica and I took two Phoenixes (Alisa and Linda), two Unicorns (Shining and Coco), and two Dragons (Joy and Julia) with us to an orphanage that is about 25 minutes away by taxi. I had heard a little about the orphanage from Jessica and Miryam, who had both gone last Thursday, but still wasn’t quite sure what to expect. For today’s trip, Jessica and I wanted to bring some crayons for coloring, but we didn’t have time to go to the store. (We’ll be ready next week!) Despite that, I think we had an extremely successful visit overall.

We met the students outside our apartment (in the rain) at 3:30 so we would have time to catch taxis, get to the orphanage, and spend about an hour there, from four to five. After we took a stomach churning taxi ride to the building with the orphanage, we climbed into a slightly unreliable looking elevator and headed up to the sixth floor. What we discovered there was a floor full of elderly people, so we then walked up one flight of stairs and ended up in the correct location. We were greeted by one very enthusiastic boy who kept repeating “hello, hello!” to us. I was surprised – most of the children at the orphanage are mentally disabled, so I definitely wasn’t expecting anyone to know even the most simple English. The boy that welcomed us to the orphanage was cheerful, and the other kids were also very excited to see us. Based on what I saw, I can’t imagine that the kids there get many visitors, which is sad, even if it is understandable.

Anyway, things were a little bit awkward when we first arrived. We didn’t have any toys for the kids, and I don’t think any of the students I was with had any experience with mentally disabled children, so we weren’t quite sure what to do. One of my students admitted to me in a small voice, “I’m a little frightened.” However, we all quickly got over our initial reservations once we began to realize how excited the kids were to see us. Everyone started to pair off with the kids and play with them in very simple ways. The boy that had first greeted us loved to walk up to people, say “hello,” and get a high five. Another girl who didn’t speak was just content to sit and listen to us speak.

I was the only person from Service Club there today that can’t speak Chinese, but I connected with one of the little girls there anyway. At first, I just sat next to her, said hi, and waved to her for a while. She gave me a big smile in return, and tried to speak with me. She would only say one sound, and I don’t think she understood any of the English I said to her, but I could tell she was thrilled that I was giving her so much attention. Together we looked at a bulletin board covered in pictures of the kids from the orphanage, admired all of the pictures in the hallway leading to the different rooms, took turns clapping different patterns to each other, and took a tour of the floor. I enjoyed the tour with her the most. She took me into almost every room on the floor. In each place, we would wave at whoever was in the room together and she would point to different things for me to look at. Most things were simple, such as a pair of shoes, or even the wall, but they were interesting to her. At one point, when we were outside, she was pointing at the raindrops that had collected on the balcony, and some flower petals that had fallen down. When I picked up one of the petals and let it fall back onto the balcony, the little girl looked at me like I had done the most amazing magic trick in the world. At first, she wouldn’t touch the petal herself, but she eventually gave it a try after I did it a few more times. When she finally picked it up, she gave me one of the biggest smiles I have ever seen. It was a really special moment.

Everyone that went to Service Club today found at least one kid to hang out with for nearly an hour. At the end of that hour, I could definitely see a difference in the people I had walked in the doors with at four today. At first, everyone had been a little apprehensive, but at the end, all of that was gone, and I think a lot of barriers had been broken. When we were walking back to the apartments later today and I was listening to what the students had to say, I was struck by what Shining said, and so happy that he seemed to get so much out of the visit.

What he said, to the best of my memory, was this: “Even if they can’t speak, they can still hear us. I think it’s important that we talk to them. We shouldn’t look down on them – we should pay attention to them.” I couldn’t agree with him more, and I’m so glad I’ll be able to go back next week. Even if we didn’t have a lot prepared for the kids today, I think even the fact that we took the time to give them our undivided attention for one hour made a huge difference in their lives, as well as ours.

– Kelsey

One of the main differences concerning SoS this year in comparison to years previous is that we are teaching in a different building. Our four-story, concrete vault of knowledge that served us in the past is undergoing renovations, so this year we are in 三教 (“Teaching Building #3). While this may seem inconsequential, it has already done much to color the teaching experience.

For instance, last year our classrooms overlooked a busy Jishou street where farmers hawked vegetables and meat. One day we were treated with the distinct experience of hearing a pig get slaughtered in the streets.  This troubled many foreign teachers—the cries of a dying pig sound disturbingly human. The students seemed used to it, though; they just laughed at the shocked look on the foreign teachers’ faces. A memorable cross-cultural exchange, to be sure.

This year, the classrooms are in a building wedged into a dark hillside, with little light reaching the lower rooms. This has been a problem recently, as we have had over three days of rain (and more still to come), and some of the classrooms have lost power. As a result, the students’ eyes have been heavy-lidded and the teachers’ lessons a bit more lowkey. I even felt compelled to teach my students the word “dreary”.

However, the rain has made me appreciate the part of the building that does get natural light: the connecting balcony that stretches along the row of classrooms. Standing there, one can see the Jishou river, winding away from the city and off among forested mountains and cliffs. Even in the grey weather, the silky clouds that graze past the mountaintop temples look appealing enough to make one want to venture out into the rain.

But then I remember the rather questionable quality of my 20 kuai umbrella, and I content myself with a walk to get milk tea.

– Cameron

A few days ago, the Unicorns learnt about the South of the United States. In other words: pecan pie, Georgia peaches, Southern gentlemen/belles, fried green tomatoes, and KFC (as you might imagine, my knowledge about the South is quite limited). Miryam, Eliot and I joined precepts and let the students listen to “Chicken Fried” by Zac Brown Band, which they seemed to enjoy. So much so that, when our precepts parted ways, my students insisted that I teach them the entire song – I proceeded to run through “Chicken Fried” line by line, singing one verse at a time, with the students cheerfully parroting. I took this to be my preparation for the KTV (Karaoke) extravaganza that was this weekend: on Friday night, the Unicorns took me, Eliot, and Miryam to sing, while on Saturday night the school officials treated the entire group of SoS-ers to a night of musical revelry.

A few days ago, Miryam told me that our student Bom (named after a Korean singer/band, apparently) had invited us to make dumplings with her – so on Thursday, Kelsey, Alyssa, Miryam, and I all headed over to Bom’s house. We were in for a surprise – her family rolled out the red carpet for us, and had even invited Bom’s high school English teacher to prevent awkward silences from materializing. As the two aunts showed us how to make jiaozi, Bom’s father took photos of us, while her mother commented on how beautiful our creations were (despite the fact that they were clearly the work of newbies). Then came our first home-cooked feast in China. Being able to eat what we had made just minutes after we had shaped them was so satisfying – and, despite being a little less attractive than those made by Bom’s family members, the dumplings were still delicious. We were even given homemade wine, which was so good!

Thursday night was perhaps one of the funnest that I’ve had in Jishou – I went to English Corner, which will be held every Thursday at 7:30. So many people showed up that each teacher was surrounded by at least 8 or 9 students, if not more. I had a lot of fun talking to the students in my circle – I ended up teaching them some Italian hand gestures, which they found quite amusing. I also met a girl whom I’ve been wanting to meet for days: her name – wait for it – is Bingo. And she is a hipster. But actually. We hit it off right away – she told me that I reminded her of the actress Tang Wei, that her favourite actor is Al Pacino, and that she loves Audrey Hepburn. A girl after my own heart! Also, she dresses amazingly and wears bug-eyed glasses. I can’t wait to learn more about my first Chinese hipster friend.

Friday was exam day. It felt so strange to be the one saying “Please put all notes and textbooks away” as I handed out the tests that Miryam, Eliot and I had written. Then, after a successful excursion up a mountain with Hiking Club, Eliot, Miryam and I were taken by some of our students to sing KTV. We had a fun time – Bob, our perennially tired-looking student, turns out to be a rockstar when he has a microphone in his hand. The Unicorn teachers’ voices left much to be desired, but the students seemed very happy to have us singing with them.

Every day here, I am struck by how considerate our students are. Not only have several of them provided sick SoS-ers with medicine and snacks, but they are also always looking out for us. They are all so generous; I’ve been treated to lunch by students numerous times, as well as to KTV. Friday morning, I was surprised by Bom and her best friend Dara (also a Unicorn), who had brought me a container of xiao long bao – my favourite type of dumpling, and a food that I have been obsessing over since I’ve arrived in China. I was so touched, because I had only briefly mentioned xiao long bao to Dara at Bom’s house. The students really go out of their way to make us feel at home here.

Every time I tell a student how much I like Jishou, they look at me as if I’m nuts. It is clear that none of the students really understands why any of the SoS-ers would like this grimy, small, ugly city so much. It might take them a while to realize that they are a big part of why our experiences in Jishou have already been so memorable.

I cannot believe I’m wearing a sweater in 80 degree weather. I cannot believe I’m actually sick. My face feels like it’s about to fall off, I’m extremely congested and I sneeze every other minute. And if you know me, it’s not 4 sneezes, but 3 or 5 or 6. Not 4. I have fallen, another victim to the cold that seemed to take over the girl’s apartment two days ago. So here I am, 9:49 pm, planning a lesson on Zumba for tomorrow’s class and grading a never-ending pile of homework, while I’m sipping the tea that Alex- one of my students- gave me. She insisted it would make me feel better, so let’s give it half an hour to kick in? Class today, my first real lecture, was…eye opening. I don’t know how to express this accurately but I have never seen a group of students who are this motivated to learn. They not only squeeze every bit of information out of me during class time but also after classes, whether they bump into me on the street or invite me to have lunch with them. Cameron and Eliot were right, they do know the best places where to eat!

Today’s lesson was on General Tso’s chicken and how, ironically, it is not a dish that can be found in Hunan province, despite being the epitome of Hunanese cuisine in the West. This led to a discussion on whether or not being born in China is a requirement to be considered Chinese. Some students argued that it was more customs and behaviors that gave you a Chinese identity. “So if I behave like a Chinese person, am I Chinese?” I asked. Their confused faces surveyed the room looking for an answer, some sort of logic to this scenario. By the end of discussion, we had agreed that in order to be considered a Chinese person you had to look Chinese, behave Chinese, and speak Chinese, but that out of these three, it was the traditional behavior aspect the one that was the most important.

I don’t know how many times I’ve been asked by my students if I like Jishou and China in general. My answer is always the same: “I feel as if I’ve been here for more than six days.” Jishou feels like home, with its smells, its people, its heat even. It is home, yet so different from what I normally call “home.” And teaching feels like home too. I never in my wildest dreams thought I’d end up teaching for a whole summer and actually enjoy it. Now, I can’t see myself doing anything else this summer. I not only spend with my students in class and precept, finding ways to challenge them and their ideas about the world and the West, but I also take part in Chill Club, Speech Club, Dance Club and Sports Club. I am called beautiful by my students at least twice a week, invited to lunch and sleep less than 8 hours per night, planning the lesson for the next day. I hope I get the hang of this-in the meantime, it’s so so fun! Ah-choo!! Excuse me…

The residents of the girls’ apartment have been dropping like flies. I thought that I could avoid it, regardless of the fact that my roommate Miryam and co-teacher Alyssa had both fallen victim to vicious colds. Extra emphasis on the vicious.

I thought I was safe, but I was wrong.

The cold caught up to me yesterday afternoon, so today I had to go to the first full day of class battling a cough. I thought I was holding my own pretty well, but Britney remarked a minute into class, “Teacher, it seems like you have cold.” She was right, but I didn’t let my cold hold me back. When I got feedback on index cards from the students at the end of class, most seemed to think I was very happy, and one girl suggested that I drink honey tea. I was a little surprised, and very touched, with how concerned they seemed about me, regardless of the fact we haven’t known each other that long.

Several students and I had planned on seeing each other at yoga club this afternoon, but I wasn’t feeling well enough to go to yoga at four today. Instead of getting all of the students sick as well, I stayed home in the afternoon and took a well needed nap. Right after class, Alyssa and I went to get some fried rice from a shop close to our apartment. On the way there, I ran into Britney, who gave me a cup of rice porridge. She told me it would help my throat, and said that I should make sure to rest this afternoon.

The surprises, and acts of kindness, didn’t stop there. After eating our fried rice, and on our way to another shop, Alyssa and I ran into Diana and Dada, two of our students. Diana handed me a bag containing what looked like two giant, brown eggs. (They turned out to be dried kiwis.) She and Dada looked at each other for a minute, then tried to explain using only English how I was supposed to cut the kiwi in half and put the inside in boiled water to make a tea. Drinking the tea should make my throat better, they said.

Needless to say, I have never had tea made from a dried kiwi before. I was a little apprehensive when making my tea earlier tonight, but I figured it was worth a try. The kiwi looked more than a little scary when cut open, and turned the boiled water brown. The tea also smelled a little strange. I’m not quite sure how to describe it…the tea tastes like it smells, but has a slightly sweet aftertaste.

Anyway, I’m excited for day two, ready for class, and armed with a pitcher of kiwi tea. In the words of my student Alisa, “that’s all (:”

Kelsey

On Saturday, Kelsey knocked on my bedroom door at 6:15am and we started to get ready for our morning hike. We peeked out the window to look down at the front of the apartment and sure enough, 8 students were waiting for us wearing casual clothes and looking like it was 3pm in the afternoon (not 6 o’clock in the morning). Bamboo, Gaily, Anastasia, Kelly, Doris, Diana, Shining, and Bob had all come out for the trek; Christian also joined.

At one point during the hike, Bamboo asked me about the pronunciation of “worry about” and “encouragement.” Before long I was speaking in a British accent to emphasize that Americans make the “d” sound for “t” a lot of the time. water. little. butter. I’ll have to keep that accent trick in mind when I’m teaching my class because Bamboo and Anastasia thought I was hilarious.

As we took the first steps of the hike, Bamboo told us that the staircase we were climbing has 633 stairs. “Oh great!” I said, but I think Christian and Kelsey were the only two that caught my sarcasm. On the way up the mountain, we saw a lot of elderly people doing tai chi and exercising. We also saw people carrying baskets with water jugs. The local people fill their water bottles in the spring for drinking water.

While I was initially hesitant to go on the hike, I’m glad that I did. It was a great chance to spend time with the students. I think it also gave me an opportunity to get to know them better and feel comfortable around them. It might have been Fiona that said some of the most touching moments will happen outside of the classroom and I’m doing my best to explore that piece of advice.

Well, it’s already Sunday night and I’ve got a lesson to teach tomorrow. Good-bye for now!
Alyssa

I feel like I’ve been in Jishou for over a month. After arriving, settling in, mass cleaning the apartment, doing Wild China laundry, beginning classes, and going to town everyday, Jishou is starting to feel like home. Everyday brings new smells, foods, and faces as well as many that have already become familiar. Here is what a walk down what we call “food street” to the mall typically looks like:

I leave the girls’ apartment with my sunglasses on and my fan in hand, ready to brace the Jishou heat. A group of enthusiastic students strolling outside with open umbrellas in hand to shield them from the sun greet us outside our apartment. As I make my way outside the University of Jishou gates, I wave at the fried rice lady and her 3 year old daughter who yell “hello!” right back at us. I continue walking, careful to stay on the sidewalk and avoid drivers in their trucks, motorcycles, or cars who don’t think to stop for pedestrians and aggresively honk their horns. As I walk past the chicken killing shack (yes, it’s literally a shack with a cage full of chickens and two women who kill the chickens on the sidewalk) I hold my nose and avoid looking that way. As I continue making my way past food stands, fruit vendors, and the stores and hair salons lining the street, a plethora of smells ranging from a repulsive garbage smell to delicious steamed dumplings enter my nose. I then stop at the stop at sevencup to pick up some 3 yuan (about 50 cent) boba tea as I continue my journey into town.

Meanwhile, throughout this whole walk, I am being stared at by babies, children, adults, and old people who marvel at “the eleven” (yes, we’ve been  referred to as the eleven by some local townspeople) Americans choosing to spend their summers in Jishou. Random people yell “Hallo!” (that’s literally what they sound like when they say hello to you), eager to show off their English to you.

But despite the dozens of stares we receive and language barrier that I face, I feel completely welcome in Jishou and have come to embrace the people, places, and food. I’m still working on getting used to the dirty streets and interesting smells, though…

With lots and lots of dumplings and smiles,

Miryam

Last Wednesday we were invited to a banquet with administrators from Jishou Normal University and local government officials. The banquet was in a beautiful private dinning room, and we (about 20 people) were all seated around one enormous circular table. As is often the case in Chinese restaurants, there was a lazy susan in the middle of the table. This one, because it was so large, was motorized.

The highest ranking official there was the vice governor of Xiangxi prefecture (one of 14 prefectures in Hunan province). At the start of the banquet the vice governor gave a speech welcoming us to Jishou and telling us about his city, which he is very proud of. Later on he came around and toasted with each of us individually, as did the other officials present.

The whole experience made me realize how important this program is to the city of Jishou. While I knew how much the program meant to our students, I hadn’t realized that it mattered to the local government as well. I felt quite honored to be a part of SoS.

One more thing. Yesterday some students took us roller skating at a nearby rink. I assumed this was probably an activity they did frequently after class. The big surprise – most had only skated once or twice before. Not much of a roller skater myself, this put us at about the same level. Overall it was a great time with the students.