First Day Nerves (Courtney)

Well, as Marcus said, yesterday was our first day of teaching....and oh how weird it was! A lot of the kids have seen us around the school now, most of them still trying to avoid our gaze whilst giggling to themselves. We were shown around our teaching building in the morning by Raymen, and met some of the other English teachers. It's kind of sinking in now that it is going to be more difficult than we first though to make friends. Everybody is happy to meet us and chat, but hardly anyone actually wants to initiate conversation (probably as they are embarrassed that their English isn't as good as ours)...so Marcus and I sat at lunch yesterday all on our lonesome. We were like a beacon of everything that is foreign in a place that is so very very Chinese.

But we will persevere!

So our first classes yesterday started just after 2, and then at 3. The kids couldn't believe it when they saw us walking down the hallway towards their rooms. The kids spend all day in the one classroom, so it's kind of chaotic, with all of their belongings and textbooks everywhere - and I mean everywhere! Not just on the desks, but on the floor, in the walkways...everywhere! My first class was great. I felt this odd combination of complete dread, mixed with a deep down confidence that I could actually do this. Walking into the room just caused hysteria, everyone yelling and laughing and running around (this of course I thought would stop when the bell signalled the beginning of class, but I was yet to realise that I had one of the "naughtier" classes). I began by introducing myself and telling everyone a bit about Melbourne and Australia, and Marcus, and anything I could think of! The kids were interested but there was a lot of noise, and even note passing! The lesson was to go for 40 minutes and it was my greatest fear that I wouldn't be able to fill it. However, once I found myself sort of stumbling for more Australian things to talk about (I was asking them lots of questions but receiving minimal responses other than mass outpourings of giggles) I decided it was time to pull out the photographs. My idea was to hand them out to randomly formed groups (the classrooms aren't exactly what you would describe as orderly, there are kind of desks everywhere) and give the groups a few minutes to talk about the photos then ask me questions. (After hearing how Marcus did it, I'll instead today be getting them to tell me about the photos so they speak more, rather than me doing it). So I start handing them out and chaos erupts! All 50 kids want to see each photo right now! After some failed attempts to get them back in their seats, I pulled out "Stern Teacher Courtney" voice, which managed to settle them a bit, especially once they realised they would each see them in good time. Then I let them chat for 5 minutes, whilst trying to get around the room to see if they were speaking English, of course, it was mostly Chinese.

The kids all really enjoyed the photos though, and came up with some good questions. I think they understand a lot more than they let on, and once they actually spoke English you could tell that they have quite a good understanding - it's now just a matter of getting them to speak! So my first class was really good, they were all interested and fun. They absolutely loved learning all of your names (there were photos of all of you!), with particular interest shown towards Jimmy (who they loved, and then I explained that Jimmy was a girl cat with a boy's name - oh dear, there was a Jimmy in the class!!! Needless to say the kids went nuts and poor Jimmy crawled under his desk in embarrassment!) Marcus who they thought was very strong, Nick who they couldn't believe was so tall, Sarah they wanted to know why she was so dark? I explained that we were on holidays and had a tan, they loved seeing who my parents were, and Spence, well might I say you got quite a sigh from the girls! Jimmy was definately the favourite though.

Second class started, same level of hysteria (particularly after they realised that in between the break they could see Marcus as well...ooohhh my boyfriend!) This class was much better behaved, but to the point of them being a bit boring, and Mr Pan observed me in this one which might have made me a bit nervous.) But we got there. I found myself going too fast through my Australia trivia, so launched into the photos again. This again went faster than planned, so I was suddenly left with 10 minutes at the end that I didn't quite know how to fill! I tried to elicite questions, which was harder than expected (and the only two questions they asked were what job did I do in Australia, and how much money did I earn...hhmm, I gave very evasive answers so it didn't appear as though I was some sort of rich princess), but FINALLY the bell rang....and I received a huge round of applause?! Go figure.

So the first day is over, which has to be the most nerve wrecking, although I'm sure to feel pretty anxious again this afternoon. Another two classes for me today, Marcus has one. Thankfully as every class we teach is different kids, we can just come up with one lesson per week, which makes things easier for now. Although we are only teaching half our normal workload at the moment, so who knows when the rest will kick in!

We got home, in the freezing cold and rain (I swear you could not believe how cold it was yesterday, it was supposedly 4 degrees but I don't believe it!) and excitedly went through everything that had happened. Then of course the ever reliable Mr Pan dropped by, I thought to collect the heater. So he asked if we had eaten, everyone seems to eat at about 5 o'clock, so I said yes to be polite as I knew he wouldn't come over otherwise. Needless to say, collecting the heater turned into an impromptu Chinese lesson that ended at 9pm! No dinner for us, although, in his normal style, Mr Pan did arrive with some slab like doughy cake that he had actually cooked himself for us, and he had made it especially with rice so I could eat it! Next time Mr Pan is over I will get a photo of him to post on the blog, he never fails to amuse me.

Well, that's about it for now...I'm off to try and warm myself against the heater, and hopefully take off my ski jacket!!