Week 9 – Goodbyes and Getting Them Engaged.

The start of week 9 saw the end of the Matthews’ time in China. It had been and adventure filled 10 days and easily the biggest and best surprise of my life. As you can see from the picture below – I took their leaving very well…

No time to mope though as we were straight back into another week in the Primary School! This week we were getting the other half of the classes that we had been teaching the week before. I feel that this was really useful for us as we were really able to refine our teaching and test out what work and what didn’t. I also found that there was a massive range in the ability of the classes that we were teaching. It seems that from a very young age, children are streamed into classes 1-5 (1 being the lower ability pupils and 5 being the higher) The difference was very apparent and meant that I had to be prepared to drastically alter the structure of my lesson from class to class, some of which, we had not been able to observe during the previous week.

Furthermore, I found that most classes had one or two pupils who were really ahead of the curve, seemingly because they travel to the like of America or the UK on a regular basis. This is good in a sense – it is fantastic to see pupils who are half my age speaking so fluently in what would be their third language (Mandarin, Cantonese and English). On the other hand, it seems that the rest of the class are all too aware of the pupils’ proficiency and often let them answer all of the questions while they sit quietly by the side; as I have mentioned in previous posts – this makes differentiation difficult at times, you don’t want to discourage the pupil who is doing so well but at the same time – you want everyone to participate.

For me, I tried to deal with this by limiting pupils to one answer per topic when doing a “whole class activity”, most of my other activities were discussion based with a partner – this allowed me to circulate and address pupils who were having issues.

Meanwhile back in halls - Home-made mosquito net

I feel that a big problem in schools here is getting pupils actively engaged in the class. Typically, they are in there seats, in their rows and they work quietly from the start of class until the end. I can just imagine some teachers reading this and thinking “And?! That’s great!” and they would be right in a sense. However, education is meant to be interactive and prepare pupils for the world and many of them struggled with discussion exercises – that is not great. Therefore, during all of my classes, at some point the pupils were up and active – singing, dancing or reciting some crazy tongue twister – having fun and learning English.

I have learnt a lot from the Primary school and I am so excited to move to the Middle School and back to my usual age group.

Cheers guys,

Adam

Week 8 – Laoshi hao (Hello teacher)

We tried to make the most of the 10 days that we had the company of the Matthews; I obviously had absolutely nothing prepared due to the sneaky nature of my friends. Thankfully, Jayne had thought ahead and gotten us all tickets to a Chinese opera! The online site had given us the impression that this would be done in English – it was not. It did, however, give us a new and interesting insight into another aspect of Chinese culture and allowed us to practice our newfound Mandarin skills! The show was, to the best of my knowledge, a comedy…if not, it is quite possible that my laughing offended a full opera house of Chinese people.

Looking sharp at the opera

Other activities included lots of coffee, catch ups and culture shocks as well as the Matts taking a solo adventure to Beijing and Xian. After a weekend spent catching up with my friends from back home, it was finally time to begin our teaching practice in China!

With our timetables in hand and dressed to impress, we set off at staggered times during the day to teach our first classes in the Affiliated Primary School of SCNU. Are lessons were all to feature Northern Ireland and some form of self introduction but from what I gather, we all have very different teaching styles and approaches.

When I first entered my class, I was greeted by a wave of “Oohs” and “Ahhs” from roughly 50, very excited 10 year olds. 50. Needless to say, I felt a little overwhelmed. I am a Technology and Design teacher and my biggest class to date had been about 26 pupils! The initial worry was greatly reduced when I was informed that I was taking half of the class today and the other half next week to help ease me in – ok, back towards the norm, now just for the slight point of me having never taught English before.

As it turns out, I had very little to worry about, the class were great - attentive, polite and, most importantly, engaged. I spent the first party of the lesson introducing myself and giving a background about Northern Ireland and where I had been in China before moving onto sports and music discussions – I think that this was my favourite part. Music is a massive part of my life but it is not part of my degree and I have had very little opportunity to use it within the teaching of Technology and Design. In China, however, the children often listen to a song at the start or end of the class as part of their English listening. Instead of this, I was able to teach them Irish songs using my ukulele – bringing one of my passions to the class was very rewarding and really engaged the kids.

Break time exercise

So much to say and so little space! The other few lessons this week followed a similar structure, needless to say – I cannot wait for next week

,Thanks for reading,

Adam!

Week 7 – Well that was unexpected!

It is difficult for me to fully grasp that, as of the end of this week, we are at the half way point of our studies in China as this week saw the end of our classes! I feel that I have gained so much from these past six weeks in terms of my professional development. It has been an excellent opportunity to take some time away from my main subject (T&D) and learn new aspects of education from a very different and cultural perspective. I can give nothing but credit to our lecturers for their hard work, patience and friendship – as the classes consisted of just the four of us, they talk to us and worked with us on a personal level and worked to make their lessons relevant to each of us. The next few weeks will be spent in teaching practice (which I am extremely excited for), as well as completing our assignments, I only hope that we can work hard and get grades that do our lecturers proud!

Friday brought our first taste of schools in China as we went to observe classes in “The Affiliated Primary School of SCNU” – this is where we will be teaching for our first two weeks. The first positive thing that I noticed about the school was that it was all of a five minute walk away from our rooms – great for me as waking up early is not my forte!

We were greeted by the head teacher and led into what appeared to be a lecture theatre with a classroom at the bottom – apparently it is quite common for staff to come and observe others teach. Shortly after, around 40-45 hyper young Chinese pupils burst into the room, ready to learn. It was a simple but effective lesson about animals, attempting to work in some grammar. The children were well disciplined, however, I felt that differentiation in such a large class is too much for one person.

That's a lot of kids!

As the day ended, we received our timetables and went for a classy group meal at our far too usual spot – McDonald’s, little did I know that I was being set up for what was to be the biggest surprise of my life!

It turns out that two of my house mates and best friends from back home, who both happen to be called Matthew, had been co-ordinating with our dear Miss Jayne Patterson for weeks, organising a secret visit to China for my 21^st birthday! Needless to say, when they snuck up behind me in McDonald’s and tapped my shoulder, I nearly died! My brain went into overload, I couldn’t understand why no one else was surprised and the only words I could get out were “But…but…CHINA!?” before leaping on my dear friends for many a hugs.

I was a little excited...

Too cool.

China is always teaching me knew things about myself and the world around me. This week it taught me that my friends are a lot more devious that I ever imagined. I am very lucky to have them.

Matt enjoying half a goose face - yum!

Thanks as always guys,

Adam

Week 6 – Hong Kong part 2 and Back to the Mainland

Our last day in Hong Kong was one of the quieter ones, we spent most of the day getting ready to leave and happily vacating the hostel we were in for the duration - it was not until the final night that we finally got the room we booked and Lloyd and I no longer had to share a bed – cosy as that was!

There were, of course, some final things that had to be done before we left this Westernised haven. The main one being a long anticipated trip to Marks and Spenser to attempt to stock up on enough “normal food” to last us until we got home – on my part, this was Percy Pigs and energy drinks (so healthy).

Jayne and Lloyd enjoying a "normal" lunch

The train journey back to Guangzhou allowed for some reflection time. I still find it very hard to believe that somewhere so close and technically part of the same country could be so different. I also found myself missing China at times – something I did not expect. Hong Kong is great but it is very fast moving, I feel that I have grown attached to the simpler, slower pace of the Mainland. Simple things like walking around campus in the early morning to see the elderly women doing Tai Chi for hours on end or the young children who sit outside learning to play the Guard Flute really set the tone for the country. It has it’s downsides – it is less modern, a little dirtier, rougher around the edges and people have by and large yet to fully grasp what manners are but I think it’s kind of like all of the rain in Northern Ireland – we complain about it all the time and long for the sun but the rain is part of who we are, it’s part of our home. Lyrics from a Belfast band “The Emerald Armada” spring to mind as they sing about NI:

“I’m coming home to the place I know, to see those light and to feel that cold, it’s comforting and I don’t know why; when I look up I see that great grey sky”

I know our Hong Kong friends felt the same when they came up here, I just didn’t expect myself to miss Guangzhou.

Jayne - Missing Hong Kong

This guy, on the other hand, buzzing to have me back!

The remainder of the week moved slowly enough when wesa returned with classes progressing and preparing for our final week next week before teaching practice. This week, we decided to take our Mandarin teacher, Mei, out for a meal as she was very friendly and had been very patient and creative in her teaching styles.

The week rounded up with my new language partner, Kelvin, who I have been meeting for the past week. I teach him English for 30 minutes and he teaches me Mandarin for 30 minutes. I personally find these sessions so helpful as a reinforcement of what I have learned, however, we cannot always convey what we mean and so, have gotten excellent at charades. 

All the best and thanks for reading,

Adams

Week 5 – The flip flop thief and Hong Kong Part 1

This week brought our first taste of teaching in China as on Tuesday we presented to a class of around 30 Chinese university students, telling them all about Northern Ireland. I also got to perform again as we taught them how to sing “Tell me Ma”. Many of the students were excellent at English, however, it was apparent that we had to slow it down every now and again – even people with English as a first language can struggle to understand an over-excited Northern Irish person!

It was great fun to organise and work alongside my classmates and I am now thoroughly excited to get some real teaching done in a few weeks.

Small group continued this week with an unexpected addition – Mei – our Mandarin teacher, asked if she could join us! Religion is such a restricted thing in China and we were more than happy and very excited to have her come along with us. Hopefully she will be back again. At the end of small group, I discovered an interesting aspect of Chinese culture – I had taken of my flip flops when I came in to be polite but when I went to leave, they were nowhere to be seen. It turned out that a Chinese man had come in, assumed that my flip flops were “communal house slippers” and was wandering about the house wearing them. It made for an awkward conversation when I asked for them back!

Class passed fairly normally for the rest of the week and it wasn’t long until Friday was upon us and with it, our trip to Hong Kong! Setting off around 2PM on Friday afternoon by train, it was only a short 2 hours until we arrived in the fantastically Westernised Wonderland to meet our fellow Stran students! The first night was filled with a little stress in the form of accommodation issues (Lloyd and I had to share a bed – cosy) but after that minor setback, we headed to the peak and took in the amazing views. It’s crazy how somewhere so close to mainland China can be so different, even the sheer amount of English speakers – it made things a lot easier!

A warm Stran welcome!

Quality accommodation

Saturday was my 21^st and as such, was spent in the fantastically mature way of going to a theme park and riding roller coasters all day! It was great to have a wee day aside from everything to have some fun with the guys from Hong Kong followed by a great team dinner and some cake that night!

We rounded up this week on Sunday with a trip to the church that these guys have found and a great day cycling around Hong Kong which made getting around a lot easier! Finally, we got to see the university that Olivia, Ester, Dave and Charlotte are studying at – beautiful campus, although, we did nearly get caught in a black level thunderstorm on the way home! China is a bit less mild than good ol’ NI!

Chilling at The Peak

Thanks for reading folks,

Adam

Week 4 – We’re residents!

Big start to this week as Monday was St Patrick's Day! Initially, I suspected that nothing much would come of it as Northern Ireland seems to be too small to be on China's radar and they don't generally celebrate our holidays. Thankfully, I was very wrong.

Canton goes green

Our friend, Julia (a former exchange student from China who studied at Stranmillis last year), invited us to a St Patrick's Day celebration at the Canton Tower, needless to say, we were curious. We arrived that evening to find that the Canton Tower had been turned green for the entire day and some festivities were being held beneath it. The first of these that we witnessed was a Scottish man playing bagpipes (close enough). Once everything got going, there was a great atmosphere that actually did remind us all of home and fill us with laughs.

The first surprise of the night came in the format of a local news reporter hearing that there were some actual Irish people at the event and swiftly coming over to interview us individually about the event and how it compared to life back home.

The second surprise came in the form of two guitarists performing on stage. This was normal enough in itself, it was when Julia went "Adam, you play guitar, you sing, why don't you get up?", Now I admit, I really do miss my guitar back home but this was a proper event and I was not up for getting up in front of around 100 strangers and singing. Julia decided to ignore me and get the manager who was delighted to hear that there was an Irish guitarist and insisted that I performed. So I did, performing "Wagon Wheel" by Old Crow Medicine Show and "Ooh La La" by The Faces. I figured I might regret it later if I didn't and looking back, it was great fun and a great end to the night. I am very grateful for the opportunity to play music whenever I can.

"Music is the universal language of mankind" - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Lloyd getting into the spirit!

Me, hurting people's ears.

The next day, it was arranged for us to meet a class of about 30, extremely excitable English major students. They were fantastic, they had prepared a big presentation for us, sang to us and played some games – they were so grateful for the chance to talk to us. We have agreed to prepare something for them next week in return – hopefully we can match their performance and atmosphere!

This week finally saw us getting our residents permits after weeks of going between offices and filling out forms. We are now official “Foreign Residents of China”. This opens up a few doors for us as it gives our visa multiple entries – maybe a cheeky trip to Hong Kong in the near future!

Class ended this week with a field trip with our culture lecturer – Henry. He took us to his sister in laws’ tea house “Taetea” and bought us all some very fancy tea – we even had our own personal tea brewer/pourer! This was our last week with Henry and he pointed out that “This is real culture – tea with friends!” – looks like we aren't so different after all! 

This man knows how to do a lecture!

We love tea!

Thanks for reading, guys!
Adam.

Week 3 - “Wo zhou Yadang” (My name is Adam)

Week three for us, brought us deeper into the real side of China, past the bounds of tourism with new friends, a new language and a solid base of banter.

As usual, the week started with free time on Monday and Tuesday, I feel that we are still settling into a routine and searching for ways to best use the time we have here. For the most part, these days were spent going over our readings for the week and bettering our badminton skills during the day and exploring the city during the evenings.

This Tuesday, however, was a little different for Jayne and I. A few weeks ago at GICF (our church), we expressed an interest in joining a small group/bible study, well, it was arranged and we now have a small group! It consists of about 10 people from all over the world, all of whom were so welcoming and encouraging. I am very excited to get more involved and see where this leads!

Lloyd and Siobhan honing their skills

Wednesday brought a new class-based challenge for both Lloyd and I in Language Teaching Theories and Practices as we learned that the course came largely from a Primary Education perspective. Lloyd and I are both Post-Primary Technology and Design students and are used to teaching pupils how to operate heavy machinery without maiming themselves, so, when we were asked questions in relation to pupils understanding and learning of phonics, we were certainly out of our comfort zone. Having said this, our lecture is very understanding and accommodating and being out of our comfort zones is probably a good thing.

“Move out of your comfort zone. You can only grow if you are willing to feel awkward and uncomfortable when you try something new.”  - Brian Tracy

We work better with coffee

Thursday was a greatly anticipated day and was met with an equal measure of excitement and apprehension as this day brought about our first Mandarin lesson.

Over our several weeks travelling about China, I had managed to pick up a little Mandarin such as “Wo yao zhege” (I want this) and the numbers 1-10, however, when I entered the class and our lecturer addressed us in Mandarin, I realised – I know nothing!

Despite our lack of knowledge, Mei (our lecturer), was amazing. She had never taught English speakers before and yet she managed to bring everything down to our level and come up with new, engaging ways for us to learn. We have only had the one lesson with her but I feel confident that we will learn a lot from her over the next few weeks. Language is so important and I feel that it is something we are lacking in back home and need to develop.

“If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language, that goes to his heart.”
‒ Nelson Mandela

Learning characters

The week rounded up with Jayne, Lloyd and I trying out the church that Chinese residents are permitted to go to. It was so encouraging to hear some of the testimonies of people there and realise how lucky we are to have access to religion back home. We take a lot for granted.

I normally like to end with a funny picture but there weren't many this week, so here's one from a week or two ago - that elephant had moves.

Thanks for reading guys,

Adam.