The First Week
The first week has passed and I am soaking up the beautiful green environment. Misty mountain fog burning off in the morning opening up beautiful blue skies in the afternoon, lush bamboo trees and other vegetation everywhere, vast rice paddies and other gardening fields behind the school. It is everything I imagined a quaint, simple, slow-pace of life would be in a rural area. One night around 8, we walked outside to the small creek right outside the school gates. You could hear the river flowing slowly and the crickets chirping away. The air was crisp and cool and fireflies were flashing their light to and fro. There were no street lights or any lights for that matter, but it wasn’t dark. Because there were no distracting lights, the moon glowed a brilliant grayish blue and illuminated the night. It was the most peaceful night I have ever experienced. The days however are really hot and humid, and I'm constantly sweating and feeling uncomfortable even when I'm just sitting down eating a meal. Not to mention all the friendly bugs curious about this new foreign blood!
Pingmin has about 15 teachers total for 150 plus students. Wang Lingling, the English teacher for 4th-6th grade is one of a handful of young teachers around my age, but there are still not a lot of people to interact with. But there are a bunch of energetic kids here (six grades total from 1st-6th) and they are all super curious about America. It’s incredible how innocent they are. They ask me every little thing about America (Do they have bikes in America? What color is the sky there? Do you eat hamburgers and steak every day? Is there rice over there?). I haven’t started teaching yet, right now I’m just shadowing 4-6th grade with Wang Lingling, as I listen to her teach and conduct class. The students are also very disciplined. As soon as class starts, they stand up, bow to her, and say, “Laoshi hao” (Hello teacher). Even their body language and posture during class are proper and attentive. They sit up very straight in their backless seats (stools) and do not slouch or fiddle around. When they listen to the teacher lecture, they’re elbows rest on the table, forearms folded on top of each other, and when they want to raise their hand, they pivot their elbow to bring the top arm 90 degrees straight up. I couldn’t imagine American students showing this much respect and self-control in class. But outside of class, they were just like any other 10-year olds. Running around, laughing and playing hula hoop, and wrestling on the grassy field. The best part is between classes when they see me and say "hello" or "good morning, Mr. Jared" to me everytime they pass by. 
The first week has passed and I am soaking up the beautiful green environment. Misty mountain fog burning off in the morning opening up beautiful blue skies in the afternoon, lush bamboo trees and other vegetation everywhere, vast rice paddies and other gardening fields behind the school. It is everything I imagined a quaint, simple, slow-pace of life would be in a rural area. One night around 8, we walked outside to the small creek right outside the school gates. You could hear the river flowing slowly and the crickets chirping away. The air was crisp and cool and fireflies were flashing their light to and fro. There were no street lights or any lights for that matter, but it wasn’t dark. Because there were no distracting lights, the moon glowed a brilliant grayish blue and illuminated the night. It was the most peaceful night I have ever experienced. The days however are really hot and humid, and I'm constantly sweating and feeling uncomfortable even when I'm just sitting down eating a meal. Not to mention all the friendly bugs curious about this new foreign blood!
Pingmin has about 15 teachers total for 150 plus students. Wang Lingling, the English teacher for 4th-6th grade is one of a handful of young teachers around my age, but there are still not a lot of people to interact with. But there are a bunch of energetic kids here (six grades total from 1st-6th) and they are all super curious about America. It’s incredible how innocent they are. They ask me every little thing about America (Do they have bikes in America? What color is the sky there? Do you eat hamburgers and steak every day? Is there rice over there?). I haven’t started teaching yet, right now I’m just shadowing 4-6th grade with Wang Lingling, as I listen to her teach and conduct class. The students are also very disciplined. As soon as class starts, they stand up, bow to her, and say, “Laoshi hao” (Hello teacher). Even their body language and posture during class are proper and attentive. They sit up very straight in their backless seats (stools) and do not slouch or fiddle around. When they listen to the teacher lecture, they’re elbows rest on the table, forearms folded on top of each other, and when they want to raise their hand, they pivot their elbow to bring the top arm 90 degrees straight up. I couldn’t imagine American students showing this much respect and self-control in class. But outside of class, they were just like any other 10-year olds. Running around, laughing and playing hula hoop, and wrestling on the grassy field. The best part is between classes when they see me and say "hello" or "good morning, Mr. Jared" to me everytime they pass by. 
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