Dear Parents,
We had a very full first day of activities today. By 7am when I went up to 2nd floor, all the children were already up. They looked fresh and energetic; it’s hard to tell that some of them are still experiencing jetlags. At 7:30am we had breakfast at the same restaurant where we had dinner last night. Today I found out that this restaurant, while open to everyone, serves as the cafeteria for the International Section of SiZhong. So unless we are scheduled to eat elsewhere, we will be having our regular meals there. For someone who is used to having simple breakfasts with bread, cereal and milk, the breakfast here looks like a banquet—from dumplings, baozi, steamed bread, rice and green bean porridge, to bananas, eggs, milk and grape tomatoes and everything in between. It is buffet style. Each child checks in with a service person (who has a list of all students’ names), picks up a plate, fork, knife, spoon, and chopsticks, walks along the isle of food and picks whatever and how much ever they want. Most children picked more than what they could finish. Bonnie made sure that everyone was eating healthy food. She stopped a couple of children from drinking soda for breakfast. She also encouraged everyone to eat grape tomatoes, and set a quota too: everyone divides their age by two and that’s the number of grape tomatoes they should eat! Many children were eating (grape) tomatoes for the very first time in their lives! It was heart-warming to see them try so earnestly, frowns and whines notwithstanding.
After breakfast we had our official opening ceremony for YiB 2007 in the Classroom Building right across the street from our dorm. After Bonnie gave introductory remarks, Pan Laoshi (Vice Principal of Yanjing Professional Cultural School) welcomed the children. Pan Laoshi herself was born overseas and returned to China with her family when she was an early teen. So she is sensitive to the concerns and complexities that often characterize our children. Then Wang Laoshi spoke. Wang Laoshi is the head teacher from Yanjing School. She is a vivacious lady and an effective speaker. She asked the children to carry home “a big watermelon” at the end of the program; in that watermelon they should stuff all the positive experience they have had here as well as all the knowledge about Chinese language and culture that they have learned. Her talk drew laughter and smiles from the children. Afterwards, all the Yanjing teachers briefly introduced themselves to the children: Ma Laoshi (advanced level classroom teacher), Li Laoshi (intermediate level), Yan Laoshi (elementary level), and Gong Laoshi and Tian Laoshi (both of whom are resident teachers living on the same floor with the children). The teachers vary in their styles, but they all seem very interested and engaged.
After all the introductions, Bonnie gave a lecture on leadership, with the theme “Today’s learner, tomorrow’s leader”. She discussed the following leadership characteristics— inquisitive, knowledgeable, thinking, communicative, open-minded, fair, principled, risk-taking, balanced and reflective. The children came up with many examples illustrating each of these qualities. Much of Bonnie’s lecture was given in Chinese, using simple vocabulary and measured pace (this year, the overall students’ level of proficiency in Chinese is so high that they all seem to follow well!) and the kids chose freely to interact with her in Chinese and/or English.
Then it was time for setting rules and regulations. The following is a list of YiB 07 Rules generated by the children themselves and in their own words—
Here are the curfew and light out times that the children and Bonnie set up together: 11 years and under: return to room by 9pm, lights out by 9:30pm. 12 years and older: return to room by 9:30pm, lights out by 10:10pm.
After setting up rules and regulations, Jenny and I introduced ourselves. Subsequently I gave an orientation for this afternoon’s field trip to the Science and Technology Museum, the Drum Tower, and Hutong Tour.
Next, we gave the children a Chinese language placement test. Wang Laoshi prepared a one-page test that includes character recognition, reading comprehension, grammar and vocabulary. I administered the written test. The test took about 20 minutes and soon after that the children were divided into 3 classes (A, B, and C, A being the advanced level), based on their written test results as well as our judgment of their command of speech. The three classroom teachers (Ma, Li and Yan) took their respective students to different classrooms, distributed textbooks, folders, and notebooks to the students. Ma Laoshi and Yan Laoshi gave their classes a mini lesson today as a warm up for classes that will begin tomorrow.
So that was a very busy and full morning. Then we had lunch. The same place and same style (buffet) as breakfast. Except that the variety was even bigger!
At 1pm, we got on an air-conditioned, comfortable tour bus and headed for the Science and Technology Museum. We asked that children stay with their roommates and we assigned one or two rooms to one adult so that the children were traveling in groups of 3 or 4, each group with an adult supervisor. We concentrated on the 4th Floor Exhibition on Ancient Chinese Technology and Science. Each student was given a worksheet which has questions that they need to answer by locating specific items in the exhibition and reflecting upon what they saw. We spent two hours at the Museum.
Then we went to the Drum Tower. We climbed all the way to the top (69 steep steps, or was it 79?), watched a drumming demonstration, enjoyed Beijing landscape from atop, and located the very center of the central axis of the city. From the Drum Tower, we walked to the Hutong area and got on pedi-cabs which took us through hutongs and to a typical siheyuan (traditional Beijing residential courtyards). The hosts of the siheyuan were a lovely couple in their early 70s who have been married for 50 years. The man was a steam engine driver before he retired and his wife a pre-school teacher. They share the siheyuan with their son and his family. Their other two children (both daughters) are “married out” and live elsewhere. The man spoke warmly, slowly, and clearly to the children, explaining to them the family’s living arrangement, the comfort of siheyuan, etc. He also entertained the children’s many questions in the end. He was such a good communicator that I would have placed him as a professional children’s story teller.
We had dinner at a restaurant that specializes in Beijing indigenous snacks. There were so many different kinds that I myself had only tried a few of them before. Besides the more familiar dumplings, noodles and pies, there were sweet bean tarts, bean juice (yes! And it tastes really… let’s say… unusual!), flour paste with sesame powders, rice paste rolls with peanut butter powders, etc., etc. Bonnie said that the point is to try everything. And most kids sure did! A couple of kids resisted Chinese food initially and were eventually able to try a little after Bonnie talked to them individually.
About 7:30pm, we returned to dorm. I gave the children a second (fun and easy) worksheet of today which takes about 5-10 minutes to finish—this one on hutong and siheyuan (traditional Beijing couryards). By about 8pm, all worksheets were completed and turned in. Judging from their responses (both verbal and graphic), they learned a lot today and had FUN!
We are exhausted by the end of the day. Some children are homesick already. We talk to them, stay close to them, get them together with their sibling (there are 4 sibling pairs in the group) if they have one, hold their hands and listen to them. The shower head is too high for the younger girls; Jenny helps them with their showers. A couple of kids are not feeling too well, either too tired or a little feverish; Bonnie, Jenny, Gong Laoshi and Tian Laoshi are taking good care of them.
Stay tuned,
Agnes (aka He Laoshi)