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.