30 year old Middle Schoolers

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So yesterday I taught my English Corner on periods, sex and pregnancy to women only. A bunch of people were worried about the topic beforehand. A couple people said that it wouldn't go well and people would end up walking out because they got frightened. Others were making fun of me for the topic and not being helpful when it came time to ask them questions about it. But when I got in the classroom it was completely jam-packed with women and one tutor in their to try and learn new things. It was like teaching middle schoolers. I started off with "what are some ways in which we are different from men?" Once I got a list of those - which included the topics I was working on for the day I went through and taught them some vocabulary. So when you are on your period you use something on your underwear what is it called? ::giggle giggle tee hee hee:: a pad? Yes, that's right! Something else you might use when you're going swimming? ::giggle tee hee hee giggle:: (they look at me blankly) A tampon. ::ooh! wow! how do you spell that?:: (the entire room is writing down the word). I haven't seen adults act like middle schoolers in my life. It was seriously like health class in middle school. Where everyone is extremely interested but at the same time a bit embarrassed to ask. I had one girl tell me "I think I'm too young to be learning this stuff", she's in high school. I told her "hon, I was 12 when I learned this. It's good for you to know about it." After teaching them some vocabulary I asked them some questions about breast-feeding, diapers and some other things. In the end we closed talking about the reasons why one would take birth control pills if they're not having sex. "Aren't they bad for you?" When I explained all the ways which birth control pills can help you they asked "Where did you get those?" "In the US. Unlike the pills here the ones in the US are regulated and better for you." "Can I have those?" (I laugh.) "So you just went home and bought a lot of them, right?" "Yeah." "In China we're taught that it's bad for you to take medicine when you're not sick." "Well, that's the difference. In the US we take pills for preventative reasons sometimes." "I guess it's just a cultural difference." "Yep." I thought it was really awesome to get to teach them things that not only are really important but help them understand more and are things that they are really interested in. I heard a bunch of people talking about the topic really excitedly after class. I think they may have liked it folks!

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