sparknotes from the last two months
+ late April: hiking in the hills across from Ben's place in Dingxi, taking advantage of the first really warm weather and the sunny skies! We walked through fields and then up a hill whose sheer loess soil face had bones from old burials sticking out.
+ My british literature midterm grades ranged from a low of 18 to a high of 96 and everything in between. I don't even know how to interpret a range like that! I mean, with such a low grade in the mix I feel like I fucked up somehow, but clearly SOME students were fully capable of doing well on this exam. I see this course that I'm teaching as an AP English class, and I'm doing my best not to dumb down the material or my expecatation just because English is not their first language. Still, I want them to have every chance to succeed... mulling over this a lot right now as I start work on making their final exam.
+ Massages. We've discovered a foot massage place where, for 25yuan (less than $3), we receive a foot soak and 90 minutes of hand, back, foot, and leg massage. They're open 24-7 (no need to inquire about what goes on in the back). Needless to say, they now know most of us by name and have become a favorite meeting spot among the volunteers when we need a break.
+ I have a new cell phone. The reason I have a new cellphone is because I lost my old cellphone down a squattie potty. I don't see any reason to elaborate on this one... just another Kristen moment. I'm really hoping this is one of those things you only have to do once in your life.
+ Summer project planning is coming right along! Michelle and Kari and I spent a whole day and half the night planning logistics and curriculum for our 2+ weeks of teacher training work this summer, but we're really excited about what we've worked out. Keeping in mind that every single detail could be changed on us at the last moment... we'll be in a city about 10 hours north of Lanzhou working with 180 teachers. We're planning on having an overarching series of workshops on individual and peer development, having all the teachers work on individual plans for dealing with specific problem areas in their classrooms. Each morning is devoted to actual english lessons, with all topics in the first week dealing with innovative ways to teach English and approach it with different techniques, and all topics in the second week dealing with major social issues and their relevance to students and teachers here and how to bring discussion of those into the classroom as well. Each PCV is also responsible for directing one afternoon session with presentation and activities, dealing with relevant topics ranging from education topics like Multiple Intelligences to cultural topics like world religions, influence of the media, etc. Anyway, I won't go on... obviously I'm psyched about the program. In two weekends the three of us will be going up to Jiuquan to visit the site and see what facilities will be available.
+ Prom -- yes, you read that right. In the town of Tianshui, about 4 hours southeast of here, there is a not *too* expensive hotel that sits over some natural springs, meaning that there is both a pool AND hot tubes (luke warm, but who's measuring). This was the second annual prom that one of the PCVs living there has organized and held at that spot. The theme was Enchanted Forest, and we had unicorns, forest elves, tree people... good times all around.
+ We celebrated Ben's 24th last weekend with korean bbq, beer on a barge in the Yellow River, late night massages, strawberry shortcake and good friends.
+ Marilyn, a spunky China 12 who arrived with us last summer and was in her 70s, passed away two weeks ago after collapsing in her classroom. She was beloved by her students who called her Grandmother and by all of us who had the chance to get to know her. I admired her energy and her straightforward idea that "as long as [I] have my health and half a brain, [I] might as well be off doing something to help." She'd always wanted to be a Peace Corps volunteer, and with her children grown and her husband having passed away, she figured there was no time like the present.
+ Lately the weather has gotten hot during the days, and often sunny, but most late afternoons still end with dust storms or thunderstorms! Once the wind passes though, it leaves the air cool and fresh at night. I LOVE spring and early summer in Lanzhou.
+ T-6 weeks til my family arrives in China!!!
+ My british literature midterm grades ranged from a low of 18 to a high of 96 and everything in between. I don't even know how to interpret a range like that! I mean, with such a low grade in the mix I feel like I fucked up somehow, but clearly SOME students were fully capable of doing well on this exam. I see this course that I'm teaching as an AP English class, and I'm doing my best not to dumb down the material or my expecatation just because English is not their first language. Still, I want them to have every chance to succeed... mulling over this a lot right now as I start work on making their final exam.
+ Massages. We've discovered a foot massage place where, for 25yuan (less than $3), we receive a foot soak and 90 minutes of hand, back, foot, and leg massage. They're open 24-7 (no need to inquire about what goes on in the back). Needless to say, they now know most of us by name and have become a favorite meeting spot among the volunteers when we need a break.
+ I have a new cell phone. The reason I have a new cellphone is because I lost my old cellphone down a squattie potty. I don't see any reason to elaborate on this one... just another Kristen moment. I'm really hoping this is one of those things you only have to do once in your life.
+ Summer project planning is coming right along! Michelle and Kari and I spent a whole day and half the night planning logistics and curriculum for our 2+ weeks of teacher training work this summer, but we're really excited about what we've worked out. Keeping in mind that every single detail could be changed on us at the last moment... we'll be in a city about 10 hours north of Lanzhou working with 180 teachers. We're planning on having an overarching series of workshops on individual and peer development, having all the teachers work on individual plans for dealing with specific problem areas in their classrooms. Each morning is devoted to actual english lessons, with all topics in the first week dealing with innovative ways to teach English and approach it with different techniques, and all topics in the second week dealing with major social issues and their relevance to students and teachers here and how to bring discussion of those into the classroom as well. Each PCV is also responsible for directing one afternoon session with presentation and activities, dealing with relevant topics ranging from education topics like Multiple Intelligences to cultural topics like world religions, influence of the media, etc. Anyway, I won't go on... obviously I'm psyched about the program. In two weekends the three of us will be going up to Jiuquan to visit the site and see what facilities will be available.
+ Prom -- yes, you read that right. In the town of Tianshui, about 4 hours southeast of here, there is a not *too* expensive hotel that sits over some natural springs, meaning that there is both a pool AND hot tubes (luke warm, but who's measuring). This was the second annual prom that one of the PCVs living there has organized and held at that spot. The theme was Enchanted Forest, and we had unicorns, forest elves, tree people... good times all around.
+ We celebrated Ben's 24th last weekend with korean bbq, beer on a barge in the Yellow River, late night massages, strawberry shortcake and good friends.
+ Marilyn, a spunky China 12 who arrived with us last summer and was in her 70s, passed away two weeks ago after collapsing in her classroom. She was beloved by her students who called her Grandmother and by all of us who had the chance to get to know her. I admired her energy and her straightforward idea that "as long as [I] have my health and half a brain, [I] might as well be off doing something to help." She'd always wanted to be a Peace Corps volunteer, and with her children grown and her husband having passed away, she figured there was no time like the present.
+ Lately the weather has gotten hot during the days, and often sunny, but most late afternoons still end with dust storms or thunderstorms! Once the wind passes though, it leaves the air cool and fresh at night. I LOVE spring and early summer in Lanzhou.
+ T-6 weeks til my family arrives in China!!!
posted by Kristen at
Monday, June 11, 2007
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