So...been a while. Got a lot to catch up on - my 22nd birthday, a Fulbright orientation event in Taipei, passing the scooter test, and just general life. But...I'll do that later. Today is today.
I got to school seven minutes late today. My valid excuse: the scooter is broken and the taxi service people kept
hanging up on me...rude. So I had to call a bunch of people and get a
hold of a native Chinese speaker: our coordinator, Kelly, my savior. This is is the only time I've been late - I'm usually half an hour early - but of course, it's a Tuesday and being late was not really the best course of action. On Tuesdays I have to present the weekly English phrase to the entire student body. Generally speaking, I stand sweating in the sun with a microphone while I get 200+ kids to repeat a few sentences and my co-teacher Stacia explains them (in those moments, I really miss the air conditioned auditorium where my high school's assemblies were held).
Honestly, while it's occurring, I'm a bit skeptical of how useful this activity is - I can hardly focus on the task at hand because of 1). the heat, 2) the sun blazing into my eyes and 3). the immense crowd of kids. However, all throughout the day, I hear kids using the sentences - correctly. So...I guess it works and I just need to suck it up for the time being. Today's sentence was "Are you okay?" and "Yes, thank you," or "No." Stacia had a student with a broken arm so we could properly demonstrate this. Poor boy had to say no.
Today, I had three classes with the 4th graders and Stacia. We normally have two breaks in between these classes, but today, instead, was an earthquake drill. The drill started and suddenly kids were putting on their little hats and diving underneath their desks. Stacia motioned towards the lights, indicating I should turn them off and get under one of the desks. A minute later, and the kids were lining up outside and heading towards a field, away from the buildings.
Then, during the second break, there were mice. Cute adorable little mice.
