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Published: November 3rd 2008
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Jo's Notes: Fun time at my first English Corner last Thurs. night. Students come every week to converse in English for two hours. Then, two day 2008 Shaoguan Univ. Sports Meeting. Classes cancelled Friday, and everyone excited to cheer their dorm on to victory. Opening and Closing Ceremonies given an Olympics flair. Today I start teaching. I'm excited to meet my classes. The students are friendly, polite and generally very nice.
Full Story:
Much activity on campus over the past few days.
English Corner
My first English Corner last Thurs. night. A weekly routine (and part of my job), the foreign English teachers -- 4 of us -- stand around (or in my case, sit on my little stool) and converse with any and all comers. Students come to practice speaking or just soak up the sounds of the language. About 50 students wandered in and out of the small outdoor pavilion, with usually about 10-15 congregating around each teacher. It was very lively and fun, due to the students being so friendly and polite. My routine was to ask the students if there were any questions. The most common were Where are you from? How long have
you been here? Many questions about What do you think about the financial crisis -- in the US? in Guangdong Province? I asked the students what their concerns are about the crisis. They all said it is the state of the job market that scares them. Every day there are stories in the local press about factories closing, companies going bankrupt, due to the slow-down in the U.S. (not all crisis related -- some, such as with toy manufacturers, due to increased regulations). I wanted to buck them up so told them about my experiences in the '70's, coming out of school to recession-impacted job markets, being told there would be NO teaching jobs, but ultimately landing, through perseverance, a great teaching job. (They understood immediately the issue of teacher glut when I described the Viet-Nam-War-created situation where men chose to teach to avoid military service.) I had wondered how English Corner and conversing for two hours would go, but found it is great fun and flew by.
Sports Meeting
Friday morning, at 8:00 a.m. sharp, with Big Ten-style college marching music played by the school band, the blaring loudspeakers from the outdoor sports stadium announced the opening of
the 2008 Shaoguan University Sports Meeting. A two-day intramural track & field and soccer competition, the annual Sports Meeting brings together teams from each dorm to compete. The university cancels all classes, and everyone attends. There had been much excitement all week, of which I was very aware since my apartment is only a block from the sports complex. The dragon dancers' drums could be heard all over campus, as they practiced for hours. Also, heard students practicing their cheering. Serious business here, cheering. Students come with homemade noisemakers -- liter-size plastic water bottles filled with dried beans and sand, which they shake and knock together. Each dorm sits together and tries to out-yell the other groups.
With an attempt to create their own Olympics feel, the opening ceremony had the band playing, choir singing, and the students from each dorm marching in -- or at least I was told this is what happened. Not believing the event would actually kick off at 8:00, I didn't show up until 8:30, so missed all that. But in time for the dragon dancers, the Kung Fu demo. and the sword dancers.
In addition to the sports events, the entire walkway
area was taken up with booths of all sorts of food and novelties for sale. The food was anything served on a stick -- sausage, fried tofu chunks, tiny candied apples. Also cotton candy. As is done by shopkeepers in the city, the food purveyors had groups of students standing in front of the booth clapping and yelling to entice buyers. The area was crowded with students, some families with little children, and of course, cars and motorbikes making their way down the center of the narrow passage, with honking horns adding to the general din.
I went back Saturday afternoon for the closing ceremony. Olympics-style podium, on which the winning teams stood, to receive their medals, presented by college women in stylish pink suits and high heels. All the various teams stood lined up for over an hour for the medal ceremony. Much picture taking. I didn't have my camera, so sorry no pictures of this. But I was asked by many students if I would have my picture taken with them! Once it started, everyone wanted in on the action. Then, a college coed introduced herself from the school paper and wanted to interview me. A bit
tricky answering the question
"How does this event compare with sports meetings in America?" I told her we have similar events, but that I thought this was a wonderful sports meeting. She liked that.
Yesterday (Sunday), walked over to the sports complex to see the aftermath of the Sports Meeting. Everything back in place, all garbage gone, no sign of any debris. Just one or two lady street cleaners finishing up. Amazing!
Today I start teaching. Money & Banking, two sections. Nothing ever goes without a hitch around here -- on Friday I was told that there would be a last-minute outdoor picture-taking and interview session for foreign teachers today, Monday, at the very same time the first section of my first class meets! November 29 marks the Golden Anniversary of Shaoguan University, so they are making a video tape to celebrate and want the foreign teachers in it. But since it's raining today, perhaps this will be postponed. Whatever!! I'm learning to stay flexible.
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