Speech Competition

This past weekend Lindsey and I were the judges for an English speech competition. The winners of the competition will go on to Chengdu, and then possibly Beijing to compete in the National competition on CCTV9 (the only English language station). The speech competition theme deals with the upcoming 2008 Olympics...as it seems everything in China does now.

There were three groups of kids, primary school, middle, and high school. All of the kids English levels were incredibly impressive compared to my students and simply for their ages. I just can't imagine assembling a room full of primary students in Syracuse who could converse at an Advanced level in Chinese. The competition went well but it was hard to eliminate some of the students. It was hard to see 'cute 8-year old buzz cut boy with glasses' and 'hyper active yellow shirt girl who I gave a fake phone number to' get knocked out of the running with a flick of our pens, but it had to be done. It was also a pain because there were three other judges, one of whom Lindsey and I assumed didn't even understand English. So, when she weighed in her choices, we had to give her the smack down to get the kids we picked declared winners. All in all it was pretty painless but it was sad to see some of the kids shed tears after they lost.

To partake in the competition all of these students had to attend classes on Saturday for three weekends, two of which Lindsey and I both taught (creating two very impartial judges). I went last week for the first time and stepped into the classroom of 25 Middle School age students with no concept of what they needed or what I should do. This has happened to any teacher that doesn't methodically write out all their lesson plans prior to class, so walking into class and winging it was nothing new for either Lindsey or I.

I taught the middle school students for the first half of our 2 hour class and Lindsey started with the primary school kids. The middle school kids were all really attentive and...still. They listened to what I was saying and asked good questions, even though the lesson I taught didn't help them at all and wasn't even relevant, in retrospect. Then, Lindsey and I switched at the break and I went to teach the primary school kids. The best word to describe a class of primary school kids forced to attend a full Saturday of English classes would be 'movement'. I wasn't bothered by the sheer energy that a room full of 8-10 year olds possessed, I just thought it was hysterical watching this 'sea of squirming'. Yet, after 20 minutes of trying to talk or teach them anything, I just divided the class into teams and started the greatest answer to filling 20 minutes of English lesson time, Hangman. The kids ended up loving it as much as my 20-year old students. It might not have taught them anything, but I made it to lunch and didn't have to try and hold any kids still in their seats.

Winner of the honorable 'Best Dressed' award.

3 More Months and Easter

I was trying to think of something to write, but bombed on ideas. So, I guess I'll just inform all you avid readers that I'll be arriving back in the U.S. on July 13th. Lindsey and I are counting down the days (99) until we leave. We really can't wait to get back to New England clam chowder, good beer, people that speak a language we always understand, family and friends, and of course, the pool at my family's new house. I think I'll be a little sad about leaving, but I sure won't be balling as the train pulls away from Panzhihua. I do love this place for all it's idiosyncrasies, but we're just looking forward to the future.

Just this past weekend Lindsey and I held a little Easter party for the other volunteers here in Panzhihua. I made a rocking pasta sauce from scratch, then we made pasta, garlic bread, cookies, and colored eggs. It was a good time, but nothing noteworthy happened.

In other news, I decided to start learning Italian. Why you may ask in confusion...let me tell you. It takes roughly seven years to achieve fluency in Chinese and truthfully I'm just bored of the Chinese language. While it looks great on the resume, I'm never going to speak Chinese fluently, nor do I want to or need to. The level I'm already at will be perfect in the States as a secret language with Lindsey, impressing Chinese restaurant workers, and making fun of my friends. Truthfully, what else do you need? So, I figured I'd fill up some spare time by working through an online Italian course. My Mother suggested Spanish because it would be more useful, but Italian actually interests me and it bring me closer to fulfilling my second grade goal of becoming Italian.

I suppose the cliche would be saying that, "I don't know where the time went!" Which in part, is true. I really can't believe that I'm almost done here, but it has been a long time. In many ways, I feel as if I've lived an entire life in China, a life that will be difficult to convey to my family and friends because of their limited participation in it and a lack of true comprehension that can only come from seeing, smelling, feeling, and knowing this place. When I return home, I'll be stepping back into shoes that may no longer fit. Yet, I'm excited as hell to run through the airport and see my family after two years and introduce them to the new member of the family.