Updates on L.Jo.

Nothing too exciting (besides the fact that I am living in China) has happened in my life here in Lanzhou since my last blog post, but I thought I would update you on a few interesting happenings.

1. Singing and Zumba! So, there is going to be an international student festival where we are suppose to perform something. The University has decided that we learn a song to perform – little did they know that everyone in the program has no singing skills at all. Also, as class leader I was instructed to come up with another performance because as Iris (Chinese teacher) said “one song just isn’t enough.” Then, my hips spoke to me and said, “You should teach some Zumba!” So I did, a total of six delegates are learning a zumba routine to Shakira’s waka waka and it’s amazing.

2. Halloween! I’m going to miss Halloween, but I decided to make up for it by throwing a Halloween party here. Costumed required! I can’t wait to see what everyone will wear because I set some rules on costumes already. (1) No dressing up as a person from your country, such as, “I’m a Romanian.” (2) If you don’t wear a costume then I get to paint your face however I want and dress you however I want. (3) Don’t be lame cause I will be so upset.

3. THERE WAS AN EARTHQUAKE IN OKLAHOMA AND I WASN”T THERE!

4. We are going on a weeklong trip next week to explore the Silk Road and other parts of the Chinese desert (desert, not dessert as much of the other delegates refer to it) area.

5. It is so hilarious to hear everyone speak English. I am constantly correcting people because it’s so funny. Here are a few examples of common mistakes:
-- The pronunciation difference between ‘corpse’ and ‘crops.’ You can image my surprise when Theres informed me that the villagers keep their ‘corpse’ on the roof of their house.
-- The Amazon verses Amazon. There is a restaurant named Amazon that we go to when we are tired of Chinese food cause they have Italian food. Well, many of the delegates refer to it as ‘The Amazon.” “Do you want to go to The Amazon tonight?” “No, I hear that jungle is dangerous these days.”
-- Persons and people. Do persons really use the word ‘persons’ ever? Thanks to Whitney for the clarification on this subject.
-- Have you ever been to the “obstetrician” to get your eyes checked? Last time I checked that was the “optometrist.”

Love you all and miss you so much! Happy Fall!

…And the cow would never give milk again.

Yes, English is officially my second language, but that doesn’t mean I can’t teach it to 45 Chinese middle school students. This past week has been full of excitement and one of the highlights has been visiting the local middle school to teach English. I originally was going to help with the sports activities (because I am so athletic apparently, right????), but then after some discussion about who would be the English teachers of the day I was kind of voted to teach instead. (According to the group, singing children’s songs to try and cheer people up is a sign of a good teacher – I was just trying to not be bored)

Boy, I’m I glad I did teach! The lesson plan given to be by the director of the middle school’s English department was titled “A Night the Earth Didn’t Sleep” and it was all about EARTHQUAKES! At the beginning of class I was supposed to introduce myself and answer questions about myself. This got boring after a while (especially cause I hate talking about myself) so I decided that maybe it would be better if all 45 students learned the song ‘Oklahoma’ from the musical. It was such a magical moment hearing 45 Chinese English students sing Oklahoma at the top of their lungs – this might go down as one of the greatest moments in my life! There favorite part was at the end when you spell out Oklahoma and yell Yeeeow!

After some great entertainment it was time to actually learn the lesson. Again 45 students, in unison, read the lesson aloud (again, goosebumbs!). After that we recreated the story of an earthquake – they really loved this too cause some people got to be ‘a scared pig,’ and “a running mouse!’ I asked them questions and then explained some new concepts such as: “The water rose and fell, rose and fell” and cows that “would never give milk again” and “as if the world was at an end.”

The Chinese students were so willing to participate and really enjoyed having me as a teacher. Every time they answered a question they would stand up. They asked me questions about Obama, the war, Michael Jackson, China, and many other subjects. It was a great experience and I hope to be back soon!