A question on a quiz for the students... Here are the results:
3.) Mooses
2.) Meeses
1.) Mice
What?
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
'Tis the season
After stuffing your face with as much turkey, gravy, potatoes, yams and cranberry sauce, it's time to get serious and start thinking about Christmas. With the closing of Thanksgiving, it only means one thing - Black Friday and bargains! While talking about this topic with local friends here who are not American, I had to roughly translate this concept, "黑星期五" and talk about on this day, many American retailers and companies expected to make enough money to help raise their profits out of the red and into the black. What I didn't know, was that the first time the term was used was in 1965 by the Philadelphia Police (PhPD?) to describe the traffic and crowding conditions and how people get crazy when it comes to Christmas shopping. Not much has changed in 40+ years.
Wanting to catch up with news from back in the US, I run across this article at cnn.com:
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/12/02/walmart.trampling.suit/index.html
My first thought was that only in America can you exercise your right to sue and use the legal system to help you be compensated for something so avoidable and stupid. I think I've grown numb to overcrowding and pushing and shoving to get from one place to another ever since I moved to China, but I never thought that the US would have this kind of incident. Deep down, people are all driven by this drive and greed, unwilling to act graciously or even accommodate other human beings. And what was it all for? 50% off a tickle me Elmo? Or more realistically, 50% off of a TV? It's truly sad that our selfish desires is what most often is our motivation for what we do. In the celebration of the birth of Christ, I hope the wise men and shepherds weren't shoving and pushing each other down to catch a better glimpse of our Savior. Maybe there were 4 wise men, but one was trampled to death and thus not referenced to in the Gospel. Probably not.
Yes, there were good points to defend the case, the police should have been there to facilitate, Wal-mart could have used preventative measures to avoid such a trampling and the economy could have been at a much better point so that it wouldn't expose people for their greed and desire to save a few bucks at the expense of others around them. But honestly, a man was killed in this incident. This is not some terrorist act, not some battlefront in the Middle East, but at the doors of a nation-wide chain department store? While I'm not a big fan of Wal-mart, it does frustrate me that the family is able to place blame on the store despite it is the foolish actions of the crowd/herd around them. In nature, a stampede is a mass impulse designed to help a herd of animals escape predators. In humans, a stampede is a reaction most often seen in "religious pilgrimages, professional sporting and music events. They also often occur in times of mass panic, as a result of a fire or explosion, as people try to get away." (Wikipedia.org) Haha, just wanted to throw that in there.
How can we let Christmas, a celebration of hope, joy and the ultimate expression of love, amount to nothing more than discount prices and animal behavior? Tasteless America, tasteless.
Wanting to catch up with news from back in the US, I run across this article at cnn.com:
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/12/02/walmart.trampling.suit/index.html
My first thought was that only in America can you exercise your right to sue and use the legal system to help you be compensated for something so avoidable and stupid. I think I've grown numb to overcrowding and pushing and shoving to get from one place to another ever since I moved to China, but I never thought that the US would have this kind of incident. Deep down, people are all driven by this drive and greed, unwilling to act graciously or even accommodate other human beings. And what was it all for? 50% off a tickle me Elmo? Or more realistically, 50% off of a TV? It's truly sad that our selfish desires is what most often is our motivation for what we do. In the celebration of the birth of Christ, I hope the wise men and shepherds weren't shoving and pushing each other down to catch a better glimpse of our Savior. Maybe there were 4 wise men, but one was trampled to death and thus not referenced to in the Gospel. Probably not.
Yes, there were good points to defend the case, the police should have been there to facilitate, Wal-mart could have used preventative measures to avoid such a trampling and the economy could have been at a much better point so that it wouldn't expose people for their greed and desire to save a few bucks at the expense of others around them. But honestly, a man was killed in this incident. This is not some terrorist act, not some battlefront in the Middle East, but at the doors of a nation-wide chain department store? While I'm not a big fan of Wal-mart, it does frustrate me that the family is able to place blame on the store despite it is the foolish actions of the crowd/herd around them. In nature, a stampede is a mass impulse designed to help a herd of animals escape predators. In humans, a stampede is a reaction most often seen in "religious pilgrimages, professional sporting and music events. They also often occur in times of mass panic, as a result of a fire or explosion, as people try to get away." (Wikipedia.org) Haha, just wanted to throw that in there.
How can we let Christmas, a celebration of hope, joy and the ultimate expression of love, amount to nothing more than discount prices and animal behavior? Tasteless America, tasteless.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Malaysia and Plant games in class
A few weeks ago, the school sent me to Malaysia for training on teaching higher level biology. I realized there how some teachers can get on my nerves and be all touchy feely. I was in a class with about 25 other people, and about 2/3 were women. While the topics were pretty good and helped inform me on how to better prep the students for the standardized tests, there were some cheesey moments when the teachers shared teaching techniques with each other. This included things like "When I teach about enzymes, I teach about chocolate first!". Wow.
My name tag during the conference was a horrible fusion of the school I work at and my name. "Yew Ting". That would make me the founder of my own school. The pillars of my school? "Excellence. Discipline. And SHUT UP!"
Moving on the classroom antics...
After the unit on photosynthesis, and filling the students' head full of knowledge about osmosis, transpiration and translocation, we played a game of photosynthesis with a twist - each team of students represented a plant. The roll of a die determined the weather conditions for each day, sunny, rain, cloudy, extremely humid, etc. With each corresponding day, students would collect sugar molecules based on how much photosynthesis occurred, as well as remove water from their cylinders, based on how many leaves they had and how much transpiration occurred. They could trade in their "sugar currency" for leaves, more roots and flowers. The point of the game was to survive and function as a plant and create as many flowers at the end. Enough about background, if you've stuck with me this far, I thank you.
The hard part of this activity was the report I had them do at the end. As always, this report offered me a variety of responses that I deemed blogworthy.
"To be honest, we didn't have a specific strategy. We just bought what we want."
Often a strategy employed by humans...
"If your strategy is to buy as many leafs as possible to collect more sugar, Sunnie will make you go out of the game."
The best part of this quote is that there is actually a student in our class who has the name "Sunnie". She makes us get out of the game?
"So at last, it's sad we lost".
How unfortunate. At last.
"So the weather cannot be exactly we wants. And there has insects."
One variable I gave the students was picking from a few cards which could either be positive things (such as more water), or negative things (such as insects). That's exactly what we NOT wants.
One student turned in the most peppy, bright report, each paragraph was written in a different bright color, and a different curvy font. Her concluding remarks?
"I believe that our strategy is very successful and sagacious!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
(Yes, I made sure I had exactly 14 exclamation marks, the exact number she put on the end of her lab report.)
This next quote sounds like it should be in a fortune cookie.
"No, because every decision will have both good points and bad points, so just wish and try to save sugar."
I gave out the diffusion/osmosis test to a different set of students this past week and the results were still pretty funny. Here's a sampling:
"Hypotonic - it will be all grown up"
"Hypertonic - it will be smallers"
What are characteristics of living organisms?
Answer: "Expensive"
And an answer filled in was:
" I don't know T^T" (the drawing was in there! Honest!)
The last funny answer I'll leave you with is from a test in which I asked for things that are transported in the blood. A student will know if his spelling is bad so they will often add extra words to try to clarify what they mean. My favorite?
"Haemones... you know, a man have a lot of it"
My name tag during the conference was a horrible fusion of the school I work at and my name. "Yew Ting". That would make me the founder of my own school. The pillars of my school? "Excellence. Discipline. And SHUT UP!"
Moving on the classroom antics...
After the unit on photosynthesis, and filling the students' head full of knowledge about osmosis, transpiration and translocation, we played a game of photosynthesis with a twist - each team of students represented a plant. The roll of a die determined the weather conditions for each day, sunny, rain, cloudy, extremely humid, etc. With each corresponding day, students would collect sugar molecules based on how much photosynthesis occurred, as well as remove water from their cylinders, based on how many leaves they had and how much transpiration occurred. They could trade in their "sugar currency" for leaves, more roots and flowers. The point of the game was to survive and function as a plant and create as many flowers at the end. Enough about background, if you've stuck with me this far, I thank you.
The hard part of this activity was the report I had them do at the end. As always, this report offered me a variety of responses that I deemed blogworthy.
"To be honest, we didn't have a specific strategy. We just bought what we want."
Often a strategy employed by humans...
"If your strategy is to buy as many leafs as possible to collect more sugar, Sunnie will make you go out of the game."
The best part of this quote is that there is actually a student in our class who has the name "Sunnie". She makes us get out of the game?
"So at last, it's sad we lost".
How unfortunate. At last.
"So the weather cannot be exactly we wants. And there has insects."
One variable I gave the students was picking from a few cards which could either be positive things (such as more water), or negative things (such as insects). That's exactly what we NOT wants.
One student turned in the most peppy, bright report, each paragraph was written in a different bright color, and a different curvy font. Her concluding remarks?
"I believe that our strategy is very successful and sagacious!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
(Yes, I made sure I had exactly 14 exclamation marks, the exact number she put on the end of her lab report.)
This next quote sounds like it should be in a fortune cookie.
"No, because every decision will have both good points and bad points, so just wish and try to save sugar."
I gave out the diffusion/osmosis test to a different set of students this past week and the results were still pretty funny. Here's a sampling:
"Hypotonic - it will be all grown up"
"Hypertonic - it will be smallers"
What are characteristics of living organisms?
Answer: "Expensive"
And an answer filled in was:
" I don't know T^T" (the drawing was in there! Honest!)
The last funny answer I'll leave you with is from a test in which I asked for things that are transported in the blood. A student will know if his spelling is bad so they will often add extra words to try to clarify what they mean. My favorite?
"Haemones... you know, a man have a lot of it"
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Story time for the kids... part I
A co-teacher of mine works with younger kids who are a little lower in their English abilities. One activity she had for the class was for each student to start with a sentence on a piece of paper and pass it on to the next student. No, it's not a game of "eat poopy cat" or telephone pictionary, but close. The next student will write another sentence to help complete a story, the concept of this activity is for students to be able to take what is already written and present a logical flow of ideas and plot. Unfortunately, the desired results were not produced, it was more an activity where note-passing in the classroom became permissible, so most students just wrote smart comments to each other. Posted here are a few of them, more may follow... Surprising, a common theme that came up were sentences about love, girlfriends, "good job", and "gay". Each page should have about 14-16 lines. Submitted for your viewing pleasure (all grammar and spelling errors were kept intact):
1. I think our school is too small
2. Shool have a small playground
3. school have a big can teen
4. school have big classrooms
5. school have small people
6. may be I think
7. What are you doing now
8. I'm go to WC
9. If you go to WC, please quickly!
10. You are big or small
11. I'm small
12. My heart is big
13. I don't think so
14. dinner for Dad's birthday.
15. Habby birthday.
A discussion of the school size turns into a discussion on the bathroom and then size, and finally a horribly misspelled birthday greeting? Here's another "gem".
1. I want to go to Year 1.
2. I don't hungry.
3. Do you siesta
4. Do you love me
5. No, I don't think so
6. I want to play you
7. love you too
8. Have you time tonight?
9. Yes, I have, and I will give you nice day.
10. I'm waiting for you
11. When are you come?
12. about winter
13. May be summer.
14. I think about winter too c 大约在冬季
15. It's very cold!
16. We have different topic.
This one dances on the edge of being sketchy, which is hard to imagine since the students are all about middle school aged. Of course, I'm surprised by "siesta" as well.
1. Good job!
2. There was a boy, he name is Jimmy.
3. He killed a boy named Tony.
4. Then Jimmy die.
5. So Jimmy's wife was so sad.
6. I don't know.
7. Do you know.
8. Yes I know him!!!
9. I don't think so
10. Jimmy will die too.
11. Good job!
12. Kill, kill, kill, good job.
13. ...good job...
14. Yeah
15. I like this story.
16. Do you like it!
That's enough for today... stay tuned for more!
1. I think our school is too small
2. Shool have a small playground
3. school have a big can teen
4. school have big classrooms
5. school have small people
6. may be I think
7. What are you doing now
8. I'm go to WC
9. If you go to WC, please quickly!
10. You are big or small
11. I'm small
12. My heart is big
13. I don't think so
14. dinner for Dad's birthday.
15. Habby birthday.
A discussion of the school size turns into a discussion on the bathroom and then size, and finally a horribly misspelled birthday greeting? Here's another "gem".
1. I want to go to Year 1.
2. I don't hungry.
3. Do you siesta
4. Do you love me
5. No, I don't think so
6. I want to play you
7. love you too
8. Have you time tonight?
9. Yes, I have, and I will give you nice day.
10. I'm waiting for you
11. When are you come?
12. about winter
13. May be summer.
14. I think about winter too c 大约在冬季
15. It's very cold!
16. We have different topic.
This one dances on the edge of being sketchy, which is hard to imagine since the students are all about middle school aged. Of course, I'm surprised by "siesta" as well.
1. Good job!
2. There was a boy, he name is Jimmy.
3. He killed a boy named Tony.
4. Then Jimmy die.
5. So Jimmy's wife was so sad.
6. I don't know.
7. Do you know.
8. Yes I know him!!!
9. I don't think so
10. Jimmy will die too.
11. Good job!
12. Kill, kill, kill, good job.
13. ...good job...
14. Yeah
15. I like this story.
16. Do you like it!
That's enough for today... stay tuned for more!
Friday, September 12, 2008
Stories from the classroom... part II
With the third week of classes finished, I've been allowing students the joy of recalling all the information they've learned in the classroom, in the form of examinations. As a result, this has armed me with more ammunition for my blog. My colleagues in the office think I'm crazy because I usually burst out with laughter while grading my tests. Some may consider grading an arduous task, but I usually find it mildly entertaining. Ah, the perks of working at an international school... The test question is in bold, my sarcastic response in italics.
Please list 8 characteristics of all living organisms:
1) Egg
2) Food
3) Mushroom
4) Leaves
What is this? Her shopping list?
Please give an example of an Arachnid:
Sneaker
I feel the student may have been trying to write "spider" or "snake"... or perhaps they really thought a pair of Nikes was an arthropod.
Describe a Crustacean:
The crab meat is inside, you have to crack it to get to it.
I may have used the crab as an example during class to give an example of the exoskeleton. In order to paint a more vivid picture for them, I may have mentioned how they had to crack a shell to eat crab. At least the illustration struck a chord.
List the 5 Phylum of the Animal Kingdom:
Mummy
Ramhibit
The best part was when I was describing to the student what a "mummy" was and how it was different than a "mammal". Not sure if the second answer was a cross between an amphibian and a rabbit or not. Two answers I couldn't put on this blog was a drawing of a lizard and of a jellyfish. Creative.
What is the function of Ribosomes?
So much
Agreed.
What is the different between an animal cell and a plant cell?
One is in animals and one is in plants.
Logical. Who said science was complicated?
What are the special features of striated muscle?
If you have a strong muscle, you will be powerful.
The best part is that for my illustration of the flexor and the extensor muscles, I showed off my own arm... Am I powerful? haha.
What is an isotonic solution?
Enough.
I'm serious, this was the answer to the last question on the test. It's kind of fitting it was the last thing the student wrote on the paper.
Since the grades on this test weren't stellar, I offered the students to correct their test and wrote an explanation, i.e. why the answer they wrote was wrong and why the right answer fits the question... Simple enough task, funny enough results.
"I forget it"
"I don't know this word means"
"I can't write these words"
"I don't know this knowledge"
"I can't study seriously and clearly"
At least they're honest... The funniest response so far though, is when I asked an individual if he had any siblings... The reply? "Siblings? I don't even have a wife!"
Stay tuned...
Please list 8 characteristics of all living organisms:
1) Egg
2) Food
3) Mushroom
4) Leaves
What is this? Her shopping list?
Please give an example of an Arachnid:
Sneaker
I feel the student may have been trying to write "spider" or "snake"... or perhaps they really thought a pair of Nikes was an arthropod.
Describe a Crustacean:
The crab meat is inside, you have to crack it to get to it.
I may have used the crab as an example during class to give an example of the exoskeleton. In order to paint a more vivid picture for them, I may have mentioned how they had to crack a shell to eat crab. At least the illustration struck a chord.
List the 5 Phylum of the Animal Kingdom:
Mummy
Ramhibit
The best part was when I was describing to the student what a "mummy" was and how it was different than a "mammal". Not sure if the second answer was a cross between an amphibian and a rabbit or not. Two answers I couldn't put on this blog was a drawing of a lizard and of a jellyfish. Creative.
What is the function of Ribosomes?
So much
Agreed.
What is the different between an animal cell and a plant cell?
One is in animals and one is in plants.
Logical. Who said science was complicated?
What are the special features of striated muscle?
If you have a strong muscle, you will be powerful.
The best part is that for my illustration of the flexor and the extensor muscles, I showed off my own arm... Am I powerful? haha.
What is an isotonic solution?
Enough.
I'm serious, this was the answer to the last question on the test. It's kind of fitting it was the last thing the student wrote on the paper.
Since the grades on this test weren't stellar, I offered the students to correct their test and wrote an explanation, i.e. why the answer they wrote was wrong and why the right answer fits the question... Simple enough task, funny enough results.
"I forget it"
"I don't know this word means"
"I can't write these words"
"I don't know this knowledge"
"I can't study seriously and clearly"
At least they're honest... The funniest response so far though, is when I asked an individual if he had any siblings... The reply? "Siblings? I don't even have a wife!"
Stay tuned...
Friday, September 5, 2008
Not your typical ride
Sometimes when I'm running late (which is almost everyday), I will take a cab to work instead of trying to trim the 30 minute commute down to 10. Today was one of those days.
After hailing a taxi with relative ease, I told the driver my destination and prepared myself for another frantic ride. For those not familiar with the taxi drivers in China, they are the most aggressive and fearless souls that patrol the streets. They have earned the nicknames "师傅", which literally translates to "master", and I would have to agree with that reputation, after witnessing their artful dodging and expert weaving around anything that moves - people, other cars, old grandmas.
So today, after getting in my taxi, I sit back and brace myself for another perilous journey as the driver straddles the line between getting to work on time and a fatal fiery car wreck, I'm surprised to see my driver turn on his turning signal, and turn his head around to check the traffic before merging. Both of these practices are rarities on their own, and having a driver that does both is like discovering plutonium in your backyard. "Hmm, cautious driver, that's good", I thought. As we continue the trip, I realize he does this whenever he changes lanes, and he also has a little buffer between him and the car in front. As we approached an "orange" light, one that was not even yellow much at all and mostly red, he came to a stop instead of charging through the red light and ending up blocking the intersection. While merging on and off the highway, he continues to check for other cars and because of the buffer space he has with the car in front of him, many other aggressive drivers take advantage and cut in front of him. I realize, after about 5-10 minutes of this abnormal driving behavior, I think "wow, my trip to school will be closer to 15 minutes today". Thoughts creep from that to worrying about getting to school late and it even started venturing to impatience, hoping that he would speed up a little bit. That's when I realized "wow, this is exactly the kind of driver I would be if I were driving here in China". Defensive, careful and hopefully law-abiding. It's strange that as I live here and grow accustomed to everyday life, I also get used to what I perceive as the norm here, and that slowly sinks in to my thoughts and attitudes. Definitely a challenge to adjust to the culture while not changing my attitudes but also continuing to do what's right. Now the crowds on the subway... that's another story...
After hailing a taxi with relative ease, I told the driver my destination and prepared myself for another frantic ride. For those not familiar with the taxi drivers in China, they are the most aggressive and fearless souls that patrol the streets. They have earned the nicknames "师傅", which literally translates to "master", and I would have to agree with that reputation, after witnessing their artful dodging and expert weaving around anything that moves - people, other cars, old grandmas.
So today, after getting in my taxi, I sit back and brace myself for another perilous journey as the driver straddles the line between getting to work on time and a fatal fiery car wreck, I'm surprised to see my driver turn on his turning signal, and turn his head around to check the traffic before merging. Both of these practices are rarities on their own, and having a driver that does both is like discovering plutonium in your backyard. "Hmm, cautious driver, that's good", I thought. As we continue the trip, I realize he does this whenever he changes lanes, and he also has a little buffer between him and the car in front. As we approached an "orange" light, one that was not even yellow much at all and mostly red, he came to a stop instead of charging through the red light and ending up blocking the intersection. While merging on and off the highway, he continues to check for other cars and because of the buffer space he has with the car in front of him, many other aggressive drivers take advantage and cut in front of him. I realize, after about 5-10 minutes of this abnormal driving behavior, I think "wow, my trip to school will be closer to 15 minutes today". Thoughts creep from that to worrying about getting to school late and it even started venturing to impatience, hoping that he would speed up a little bit. That's when I realized "wow, this is exactly the kind of driver I would be if I were driving here in China". Defensive, careful and hopefully law-abiding. It's strange that as I live here and grow accustomed to everyday life, I also get used to what I perceive as the norm here, and that slowly sinks in to my thoughts and attitudes. Definitely a challenge to adjust to the culture while not changing my attitudes but also continuing to do what's right. Now the crowds on the subway... that's another story...
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Definitions gone awry...
Teaching biology at an international school can produce some amazing results when it comes to defining words for homework. Often times, there is a constant typing of keys and electronic voices heard as students rush to look up words as quickly as they can in their electronic dictionaries during lecture.
We just finished a few lectures about Diffusion and Osmosis. For those non-scientist types out there, diffusion is the process by which molecules or ions travel from a gradient of high concentration to low concentration. It's a natural process that doesn't need energy. Osmosis is just a specific type of this process, dealing with water. Here are a few interesting responses on the homework I assigned:
Define Diffusion:
- "the process of diffusing or being diffused"
Define Osmosis:
- "the gradual or unconscious assimilation or adoption of ideas"
Give an example of Diffusion:
- "When the egg turn bad, you can smell it"
Classic.
In other news, our class is re-thinking the BBQ idea and possibly just getting sandwiches, chips, drinks, etc. So less work, and still pretty good. Laziness and logic win in the end.
We just finished a few lectures about Diffusion and Osmosis. For those non-scientist types out there, diffusion is the process by which molecules or ions travel from a gradient of high concentration to low concentration. It's a natural process that doesn't need energy. Osmosis is just a specific type of this process, dealing with water. Here are a few interesting responses on the homework I assigned:
Define Diffusion:
- "the process of diffusing or being diffused"
Define Osmosis:
- "the gradual or unconscious assimilation or adoption of ideas"
Give an example of Diffusion:
- "When the egg turn bad, you can smell it"
Classic.
In other news, our class is re-thinking the BBQ idea and possibly just getting sandwiches, chips, drinks, etc. So less work, and still pretty good. Laziness and logic win in the end.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Stories from the classroom... part I
I've recently started a new job teaching at an "International School" and it's been quite an adventure. The students here are mainly Chinese, some Taiwanese, some Korean, and a few outliers that are relatives of the faculty. The school prepares students for studying abroad. The school started a week ago, and as expected, hilarity has ensued.
At the beginning and the end of the day, we have a period of time with students in "form" class, similar to homeroom. I used to teach my form class science, but after some schedule changes, I won't be teaching them anymore, but I still have the pleasure of seeing them twice a day in form class. The class is full of middle-school aged characters, primarily mischievous little boys who have a knack for making you laugh while trying to discipline them, and sweet quiet girls who have their moments of absurdity as well.
As the school year begins, we have an activity called "Get to know you BBQ" next week. The idea behind it is a bunch of games, icebreakers, dancing, and allowing a bunch of 12-18 year old kids barbecuing raw meat and devouring either marginally cooked or over-burnt burgers. I'll be sure to eat before this little event.
This event not only accommodates the students in welcoming them back to school, it puts them in the driver seat and lets them plan out who is bringing what to the BBQ. Each form will be cooking on its own, so they will be responsible in raising funds to bring a grill, charcoal, raw meat and drinks. Interpretation: hyper kids running around after drinking too much soda pop and then laduzi-ing after eating undercooked meat.
Today during form class, the students were "debating" about how much money to raise, and how to allocate the funds to either "grill", "food", "charcoal" or "drinks". Our class leader, "Adam", a loud, bigger Chinese boy who speaks with the strangest accent (not quite Chinese, not quite British?), was trying to organize the class and decipher where our funds needed to go. Throughout the process, he added a monetary amount to each item, "the grill will be about 200 doll-lers", to which many of his classmates quickly corrected him that we were using "yuan". When deciding what kind of meat to purchase, everyone in the office seemed to have an opinion, some girls suggested lamb, some suggested burgers, some suggested steak... all of this commotion was in mixed Chinglish. As we were slowly reaching the decision for some meat from a cow, there was considerable debate on what kind of cut or meat we would like. The volume reached a high level, and as my co-form teacher and I were trying to calm the class down, our class leader exclaimed "what part of the COW do you want to eat?". As we discussed the merits of good meat, though not necessary steak, "Adam" proclaims "we only have 400 dollars to spend on meat, so we can't get steak!", to which "Roger", a lanky Chinese boy who listens to Eminem and rap, "Dollars? Shut your mouth!". Gradually, we were able to figure out how much to spend on drinks, but we still need to get a grill, charcoal and meat. The bell rang to soon and I'm not exactly sure how this little BBQ will play out.
The kids are so funny at the school, it's an interesting mix of personalities and family backgrounds. Teaching a biology class seems to only add more opportunity for miscommunication and I'm sure more antics will follow. I love that some kids are bold enough to speak their mind and be laughed at by others, while yet others are reaching that "too cool for school" phase of High school and learn that image is everything - an interesting fact since that social norm seems to hold on through high school and manifests in the work place and culture of this country. Nevertheless, keep posted for more stories...
At the beginning and the end of the day, we have a period of time with students in "form" class, similar to homeroom. I used to teach my form class science, but after some schedule changes, I won't be teaching them anymore, but I still have the pleasure of seeing them twice a day in form class. The class is full of middle-school aged characters, primarily mischievous little boys who have a knack for making you laugh while trying to discipline them, and sweet quiet girls who have their moments of absurdity as well.
As the school year begins, we have an activity called "Get to know you BBQ" next week. The idea behind it is a bunch of games, icebreakers, dancing, and allowing a bunch of 12-18 year old kids barbecuing raw meat and devouring either marginally cooked or over-burnt burgers. I'll be sure to eat before this little event.
This event not only accommodates the students in welcoming them back to school, it puts them in the driver seat and lets them plan out who is bringing what to the BBQ. Each form will be cooking on its own, so they will be responsible in raising funds to bring a grill, charcoal, raw meat and drinks. Interpretation: hyper kids running around after drinking too much soda pop and then laduzi-ing after eating undercooked meat.
Today during form class, the students were "debating" about how much money to raise, and how to allocate the funds to either "grill", "food", "charcoal" or "drinks". Our class leader, "Adam", a loud, bigger Chinese boy who speaks with the strangest accent (not quite Chinese, not quite British?), was trying to organize the class and decipher where our funds needed to go. Throughout the process, he added a monetary amount to each item, "the grill will be about 200 doll-lers", to which many of his classmates quickly corrected him that we were using "yuan". When deciding what kind of meat to purchase, everyone in the office seemed to have an opinion, some girls suggested lamb, some suggested burgers, some suggested steak... all of this commotion was in mixed Chinglish. As we were slowly reaching the decision for some meat from a cow, there was considerable debate on what kind of cut or meat we would like. The volume reached a high level, and as my co-form teacher and I were trying to calm the class down, our class leader exclaimed "what part of the COW do you want to eat?". As we discussed the merits of good meat, though not necessary steak, "Adam" proclaims "we only have 400 dollars to spend on meat, so we can't get steak!", to which "Roger", a lanky Chinese boy who listens to Eminem and rap, "Dollars? Shut your mouth!". Gradually, we were able to figure out how much to spend on drinks, but we still need to get a grill, charcoal and meat. The bell rang to soon and I'm not exactly sure how this little BBQ will play out.
The kids are so funny at the school, it's an interesting mix of personalities and family backgrounds. Teaching a biology class seems to only add more opportunity for miscommunication and I'm sure more antics will follow. I love that some kids are bold enough to speak their mind and be laughed at by others, while yet others are reaching that "too cool for school" phase of High school and learn that image is everything - an interesting fact since that social norm seems to hold on through high school and manifests in the work place and culture of this country. Nevertheless, keep posted for more stories...
Friday, July 11, 2008
The return home
Today is July 11th. On July 8th, 3:55 AM (Eastern Time), or July 9th, 3:55 PM (BJ/HK time), I board on a Boeing 747 bound for the US, specifically Chicago's infamously oft-delayed O'Hare airport. My connecting flight to Rochester was scheduled for July 9th, 7:41 PM (Central time), but after numerous delays, the actually take off time was closer to 10:40 (Central time). For those of you doing the math, that placed me in Rochester at about 12:40 AM (Eastern time) on July 10th, meaning after claiming my luggage and driving 1.5 hours to my parents' home in upstate New York, I would be collapsing in bed at about 4 AM (Eastern time) on July 10th, meaning it was a grueling 48 consecutive hours of travel. But am I ever thankful that ordeal is over. Of course, this doesn't include a spontaneous trip to NYC on July 10th, leaving at about 11 AM and returning home at about 5 AM on July 11th. Suffice to say, I have not been able to beat the jet-lag bug due to the abnormal travel patterns.
This trip home also marks the end of a two year stint overseas. And what a wild ride it's been.
This post also marks the first blog post I've put up since before my stint. As a teacher in Shanghai next fall, I'm sure I will have many adventures and stories to follow. But in the following weeks, I hope to share about the wacky and weird adventures that have occurred in my life. Many cultural misconceptions, misunderstandings and mis-doings... haha.
Welcome back to the US, welcome back to blogging...
This trip home also marks the end of a two year stint overseas. And what a wild ride it's been.
This post also marks the first blog post I've put up since before my stint. As a teacher in Shanghai next fall, I'm sure I will have many adventures and stories to follow. But in the following weeks, I hope to share about the wacky and weird adventures that have occurred in my life. Many cultural misconceptions, misunderstandings and mis-doings... haha.
Welcome back to the US, welcome back to blogging...
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