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Published: August 15th 2007
English Camp meets Lord of the Flies
Believe it or not, they were doing the Bunny Hop.Here it is, the middle of August. The summer has just flown by! I spent 3 weeks in Weifang, Shandong Province as the “foreign teacher manager” for a summer English camp at Weifang #1 Middle School. This was the first year CTLC worked at WF #1 and I was sent to make sure things went according to plan. Boy, did they not! Let’s just say that it was…an experience. And we’ll leave it at that. The other day, my boss said, “You know, we thought it would be a nice, cushy, easy job for you to end your time in China. Sorry about that.”
The other 30 foreigners working the camp and I survived and we were treated to a 10-hour bus ride from Weifang to Beijing. (Chalk that up under “…an experience.”) We’ve spent the past two weeks at beautiful Beijing University. I love Beijing! And I love Beijing University! The first time I ever came to China was the summer of 1998 and I came to Beijing University (known here as BeiDa) on a short-term language program through my university. I think it’s rather fitting that some of my last memories of China come from the same place
as my first. The weather has been absolutely wonderful. Beijing in August is generally uncomfortably hot and humid; but not this year. It was actually pleasant and breezy for the first week we were here. Now, the hot weather is back, but it isn’t as awful as normal. My Chinese friend and colleague Robert (obviously that’s his English name) told me that it is nice this year because it is already autumn according to the Chinese traditional calendar. Apparently, all the seasons came a bit early this year. I’m not familiar what makes it autumn in the traditional calendar and not in the modern (Western) calendar, but I think those ancient Chinese astronomers knew their stuff.
Another odd thing about this year (for me) is that I am not in charge and half the time I don’t have anything to do. I’m supposed to be helping my replacement, James, learn the ropes, but he’s got a pretty good handle on things. I don’t even know half the new teachers’ names! Usually I know them before they step off the plane on Day 1! It’s a very odd feeling. On one hand, I feel a bit lost and useless; on
Weifang Kite Museum
Weifang is the Kite Capital of the World! The have a fabulous kite museum. Here's the lobby. the other hand, I’m relishing in the freedom of answering every question with, “I don’t know. I’m not in charge. Go ask James.” I feel really sorry for James, though. Poor guy. I’m supposed to be helping him through the stress of everything, but I don’t think I’m doing a very good job. If he was a girl, I’d buy him ice cream, take him for a facial, and sit quietly next to him while we watched mindless chick flicks. But, he’s not a girl. I did buy him milk tea and sat next to him while we watch Transformers in Chinese. (A lot of that movie got lost in translation, I think.) I don’t know what to do in replacement of a facial, though…Anyway, I think he’s doing a much better job handling everything than I did my first year. I’m pretty sure there was a moment where I lost it completely and my head spun around. His head is still firmly attached (as far as I know). Although, yesterday evening, he did start singing “Yo ho ho, a pirate’s life for me!”
Here are some pics from the past few weeks. My camera is still broken, so
Olympic Friendlies Kite
Here's a kite featuring the 2008 Beijing Olympic mascots - the Friendlies. Notice how the one in the uppper right is shooting the big one in the middle. these were all taken with my cell phone. Pardon the graininess.
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