Sept. 3 – In the classroom, I've discovered, another personality takes over me. I lose a sense of myself and am just focused on communicating an idea, or sometimes just the meaning of a word. I am not that timid Midwestern girl who came here. I am loud, I crack jokes and I don’t take no for an answer.
There's no room for weakness in the classroom. I have at least 60 students. My classes today were with vocational students. They are in senior 1, equivalent to high school sophomores. The vocational students are studying to become kindergarten students. Most of the students are girls, but in my first class, the handful of boys seemed to have to prove they were truly boys. They were mischievous and obnoxious. They talked, they joked and they said over and over, “Ting bu dong.” I don’t understand. If this was a taste of the rest of the classes, I was doomed.
But my second class went much more smoothly. There are more girls and only six boys (out of 60 students), but the boys mostly kept quiet. The class applauded before and after class. When I needed help hooking up my laptop to the projector, a group of about nine girls huddled around me to try to help. I stayed past the class time into their study period because they insisted seeing pictures of Chicago that I had on my laptop. As I left, I said in English, “See you next week!” I heard one of the girls say, “That’s too long!”
awww.. congrats on what sounded like a successful first day! =) i knew you had that badass hidden somewhere; let out your inner b*tch, baby!
ReplyDeleteI think the girls look up to you. They see a young asian woman who is doing something beside being a mother and wife. You know the male is always the priority there whether he's a dumbell or not so the girls often see no light at the end of their tunnel. Pretty soon they'll be singing the "Lean on Me" song. For the boys just put them on front street. Challenge their insecurity and put them on the defensive. Ask if they are scared because they are scared to answer questions because there are so many girls around. Once the girls start laughing they'll really get riled up. Alrigh Lady Laoshi! Crack that whip!!!!
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