Mouse and Booka

So this has been a very interesting week of teaching. Everything has gone topsy turvy. My naughty classes are now my angel classes, and my angel classes are now my naughty classes. Apparently this is what happens after a long holiday. Between the complete personality switch and the new uniforms, I'm utterly confused. 

This week the kids were learning about their abilities. The phrases they learned were "What can you do?" and "I can sing/dance/read/draw." The way they say dance cracks me up-it's the British way. The videos that the Chinese English teachers use were made by people with British accents, so the kids are learning how to speak English with a British accent. 

And then I come in to class. With my very American speech and mannerisms, and I completely throw them off. I say dance very differently from them, but they think it's hilarious. I tried to explain to them that in America (Mei guo) we say "I can dance." Not "I cahn dahnce." All I got was blank stares. And then I tried to get them to say dance the American way ... nope. So now everytime they say "I can dance," I feel like I'm in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice ... with my Chinese babies. It's ridiculous. 

Chinese kids also tend to add an "ah" on the end of any word ending with a hard consonant. So book is "booka" and read is "reada." No matter how hard I try to get them to say book and read, it still comes out "booka" and "reada." And don't even get me started on trying to teach them to say "mouth" instead of "mouse." The "th" sound is almost impossible for them. I even have them stick their tongues out between their teeth to say the "th" sound. It doesn't work. Mouth will forever be mouse. 

We had teacher observations/reviews this week. Which means my team leader came and watched me teach a class twice this week. She watched Class 7 .... and the first day she observed was AWFUL!!! I have no words to how bad it was. It was a combination of me being nervous and of my kids just completely misbehaving and not participating in the activities. It was the worst class I've had in China ... normally my kids are a little noisy but it's manageable ... not that day. It was chaos. 

And of course Class 1 (which I  taught right after Class 7) went perfectly. Go figure. 

Random side-note, class 5 isn't the only class that is now saying "Yes sir!" when I give a command. Three other classes have decided to follow suite. It's awesome. 

My babies drawing pictures of themselves singing, dancing, reading, or drawing

One of the best moments of this week was when I heard the new class song playing over the speakers. The kids are now learning to sing "I got no strings" from Pinnochio. I'm sitting in the office, and I start hearing Disney music, and I was like "What in the world?" Yeah, they're singing a song from Pinnochio. And my co-teachers told me I'm supposed to teach it to them. I was like "Um ..... ok?" I like the song, but the grammar in it is atrocious. So my kids are learning terrible grammar ... thanks Disney. 

I've discovered something ... Chinese kids are just like American kids. Granted there are some cultural differences, but I'm constantly amazed at how kid behavior is universal. I like to watch my kids in the hallway, interacting with each other. And even though I can't understand a thing they are saying, I can pick up on what's going on via body language and facial expressions. My kids laugh, they cry, they pout, they get angry, they scream, they fight, they hug, they smile, they frown, they play, they learn, they study, they race, they sing, and they love. 

Pat, Elaine, Shanae, and Katelyn visiting me in the office

That's one thing I'm always amazed at-how much love my kids have in their hearts, not just for me, but for each other. I watched with tears in my eyes as one little girl stood crying about something, and her little friends immediately swarmed her, comforting her, hugging her, wiping her tears. They walk down the hall to the bathroom holding hands or with their arms around each other's shoulders. It's the most precious, beautiful picture. 

This happened Thursday morning; about 18 little girls all swarmed into the office to say 'hi' to me.

This week in particular I've been very frustrated at the language barrier. I can tell my babies have so much they want to say to me and ask me. But they know I'm the stupid foreign teacher who only knows how to say "Ni hao," "Xie xie," and "Wu ting bu dong" (I don't understand). On Monday, Wilson came up to me after class, and I could see in his big, beautiful brown eyes that he had so much he wanted to say. He kept standing there saying forcefully, "Meesa Lindsay ... Meesa Lindsay." Almost crying, I told him, "I know baby. I know you have something very important to say, and I'm sorry I can't understand you." 

Although one redeeming thing about the language barrier is the kids roll their eyes at me when I say "wu ting bu dong." It's so stinking cute. I can tell in their minds they're thinking "stupid foreign teacher. She can't understand anything."

I had to say goodbye to my kids for the weekend on Friday. Their parents all came to get them, and it was the first time I got to watch my kids get picked up by their moms, dads, grandmothers, grandfathers, etc. It was quite the event. 

My favorite moment happened when I went to say good-bye to class 4. Tanner (who by the way is named after Tanner Dean because the impish grin constantly on his face reminds me of Tanner) was in the classroom talking to his mom. I went up to say goodbye, and his mom immediately starts talking to me in Chinese. I was able to figure out she was asking me if I was his English teacher, to which I responded yes. Then she started pointing at Tanner and asking something in Chinese. My best guess was that she wanted to know if her son was behaving in class and if he was learning his English. I told her yes and gave him two thumbs up. She smiled and said something to her son, probably saying "good job" or something like that. I didn't have the heart to tell her he had gotten in trouble that day, and I certainly didn't want him getting in trouble with his rather fierce looking mother. 

My hilarious, cheeky Tanner