Gentle Reader,
We met in an auditorium style classroom today to show the film Fly Away Home. We begin with this film because there is often a great deal of space between dialogue, which makes it easier for the Chinese students to comprehend. We do show the film with English subtitles, too, to help them with the language. Some of the idioms that they needed help with were "kind of" and "in the soup," referring to the fog.
Had a wonderful discussion with my class about the film afterward. One person said it was a film about protecting the environment and having humans and animals and nature work together in harmony. Another said it was a film "full of loving." I talked about the losses and healing in the film, piggybacking on a student who had written about losing her father just the other day in class. She said when her father died of a terrible disease, she and her mother could not eat for days. It was not until her grandmother told her that her father would always be with her, always in the sky watching over her, that she could begin to be comforted and heal. There is a very similar scene in the film, where the daughter is reminded that her mother's bravery is in her and her mother will always walk next to her.
I especially liked how the students talked about the similarities between the hobbled geese Igor, who is struggling physically and the girl, who is struggling in her heart. We also had a good discussion about parenting styles, with them telling me that many parents are very over protective of their children in China. One student said she has never learned to ride a bike because her mother felt it was just "too dangerous." They also loved the beauty of the film, which gave me a chance to introduce the concept of scenery and what it means to be "visually stunning." I was so very pleased with their observations about the film and with their insights about the characters... and their ability to communicate those complex ideas in English.
Homework from last night was to write their own "Phenomenal Woman/Man" poem, using Maya Angelou's poem as a springboard. I had them share in small groups and then one volunteer from each group read his/her piece to the class. Some amazing writings, which I will post once I have time to type them up.
Ah.... end of week one of teaching! I am both exhilarated and exhausted. This is very active, on your feet, paying attention to all sorts of subtle nuances, physical teaching I have ever done. My mind remembered this teaching from the last time I was here, but my body did not.
Oh...when we returned to our individual classrooms after the film, we discovered students vigorously cleaning our rooms. This is apparently the last day of one of the summer sessions for high school students here on this campus. They are required to return to their classrooms and give them a thorough scrubbing. We found students mopping the floor, washing the blackboard, cleaning out the storage section in the desks, etc... All rather joyfully, too! They do not hire a custodial staff to do this work in Chinese schools.... students take on the task. There is pride in keeping one's classroom clean and neat! Woo hoo to that!!!!The typical response by American students when I ask them to pick up trash off the ground is, "No, I don't think so. The janitor will take care of that." And then we have a little chat...
Scott and I are about to brave the journey into downtown Guiyang. We will attempt to use mass transit and hope we find our way back by 11pm, when the gates shut for the night. Lockdown. We will attempt to find some monkeys in Quinling Park...we'll get re-supplied, find a few Chinese shirts, and have dinner in town, too! Woo hoo!!!! Our big night on the town! Tomorrow... a waterfall excursion!!
Good weekend to all of you!
namaste,
Marianne/ Bai Ling
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