Volunteering in China - July 12

Team #209 started their eventful day with their morning ritual of meeting in room 9 for their fabulous buffet breakfast. Unsurprisingly, there was a latecomer that failed to show up on time for the morning meal. This time, it was Nora who was just stumbling out of bed while the rest of the team was enjoying breakfast. As you can see, punctuality is the key to success, as noted in the team’s list of 15 Characteristics of an Effective Team.

Not only was Nora late to breakfast, but she was also late in joining Tom and Geni’s class this morning. Usually, Nora spends the first half of the morning with Fran and Dia’s class and the second half with Tom and Geni. Fran and Dia’s class started their morning off with reciting poems. Tom and Geni’s class spent their morning practicing for their final performance and learning about oxymorons and opposites. Anne and Myrle’s class was busy performing skits, ordering off menus, and playing various games.

At the end of our busy morning, team 209 headed back to the hotel for lunch. Clearly, lunch was one of the best meals the team has had so far. Anne even ate (and enjoyed) one of her most hated vegetables: broccoli. Geni, Nora, and Dia’s afternoon was almost completely uneventful, including only a trip to the bakery and a few games of cards. At the end of the day, the Gualtieris started to prepare for their weekend trip to Shangri-la while Anne and Myrle went to Green Lake and rowed in paddleboats. What a wonderful way to end a busy week!

Entry submitted by: Geni

Message of the Day: “Alfonso is sweet and all, but he’s too in touch with his feminine side.” –Anne Radcliffe

Volunteering In China - July 11

Team #209 started the day with a good breakfast and everyone was punctual as usual. We got to school and Myrle and I started class with the presentations of some interesting TV show skits. In the other room, a heated game of “memory” took place, as well as reenactments of popular Disney stories. 

We came back to the hotel for lunch and had my favorite: stuffed buns. There was some interesting conversation at the table; however, no one seemed to believe me when I told them about the world’s best cup of coffee, provided by a small animal that ate, then returned, the beans that were used to create this supposedly extraordinary-tasting brew.

After lunch, there was a lecture back at school given by Fran, who reported back that all went well, except that she accidentally gave out the wrong information about her children. Who remembers that stuff anyway? Nora, Geni, Dia, and I started, but failed to finish, a monopoly game while Myrle worked in his room and Tom attended the lecture at school. Surprisingly, the sun peeked out in the afternoon for an extended period of time, which was very uplifting after a spell of rainy days. 

Dinner was at the hotel and consisted of some more stimulating conversation. We jumped from topics such as Ebonics as a language offered in school (although no one believed me on that one either), to the most popular sports in the U.S. of A. (three out of the five most popular sports were football - who knew), and we ended by sharing our earliest memories (some of which were very traumatic). After dinner we retired to our rooms to get ready for the end of week one. 

Entry submitted by: Anne

Message of the Day: “It is noble to teach oneself, but still nobler to teach others - and less trouble.” – Mark Twain

Encouraging signs

With all the emphasis on punctuality, it was not at all surprising that barely minutes after 7:00, the entire team was seated and enjoying breakfast and lively conversation. With the usual efficiency of superior leadership, Baoli moved the meeting along quickly to allow everyone ample time before departure to ensure nothing was forgotten or neglected on the day of the big song and dance. In the care of our excellent driver, we made the perilous journey along the rainy streets of Kunming without incident. 

We are by now well adjusted to our teachers and vice versa. Lesson plans are all over the map and trading ideas and schemes that worked well in one class are routinely passed on to benefit others. In our class, we intermixed active segments with language-oriented desk work to maintain the energy level with some success. The “fly swatter vocabulary”, tried and recommended by others in the team, proved to be very popular. The teachers quickly learned how to beat the system to win the competition, but they did so with good humor and no harm done. We will do a repeat. Idioms continue to be a challenge to explain. 

The important day’s take-away for our part of the team was a perceptible shift in the relationship. We seem to have moved from an “us and them” condition to one of friendly colleagues working together to improve language skills and find new methods for teaching English at the middle school level. Our final two conversations, the first stimulated by written responses that were discussed and the second an appeal for a better method of engaging students, were among the most fully engaged dialogues so far.

The unquestionable highlight of the day was the afternoon singing and dancing extravaganza. Ably choreographed by the four young ladies who are rapidly becoming the key to our team’s success, the afternoon session turned into a noisy high energy event that would have made Bob Fosse envious. Once Nora warmed up the group and turned them over to her partners, the beat and step barely paused as they moved from galloping ponies to moving feet to shifting hand games. We can imagine the teachers, sweaty and exhausted, collapsed in their beds and wondered happily what they had gotten themselves into.

Tom and Myrle, wary of being drawn into yet another activity where their motor skills would be revealed as inadequate, fled the premises on foot. Dinner was at another restaurant within walking distance where our thoughtful hostess and intrepid leader lavished dumplings on the stars of today’s endeavors as a well-earned reward. The sun was also visible for as much as 45 seconds today: an encouraging sign.

Entry submitted by: Myrle

Message of the Day: “Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the things that you did.”  - Mark Twain

Singing and dancing in the classroom

The day started the usual way with the eight of us eating breakfast in room 9. Tom arrives late while saying something about punctuality to make up for being the last one down to breakfast. When we are done eating, Geni and I got supplies for class. I got scissors, paper, glue, and tape for the primary school teachers. Fran started class with the primary teachers writing their homework on the chalkboard. She didn’t plan for homework to take the whole class time. There was only enough time for Dia to quickly teach the Macarena and the Hokey Pokey at the very end of class. I was with Fran and Dia’s class for the first part of the morning, but after their break, I went downstairs. 

I joined Tom and Geni’s class while the junior high teachers were going over vocabulary. Geni and I used their vocabulary words to play the fly swatter game. The teachers enjoyed the game greatly. Later Geni and I got the class to play Picturegram. Somehow the class got an elephant to be a chicken and a car turned into a flower. It was very fun and amusing. Speaking of fun, I heard that Myrle and Anne were teaching their class how to dance to the Cotton Eye Joe. I didn’t know there was a dance for that song; Anne will have to teach me at tomorrow’s dancing and singing session.

Entry submitted by: Nora

Message of the Day:  “Let it be.”

Our first day volunteering

Punctuality is one of the hallmarks of an effective team. Our team demonstrated peak punctuality on the first day of class when we gathered in front of the Golden Spring Hotel. We had eaten our usual hearty breakfasts and had reviewed the minutes of the day before, delivered by Frances, between bites of dragon fruit. “I’m glad to see you're all punctual,” said BaoLi. It was a clear case of hurry up and wait because our transportation vehicle didn't arrive until 9:00 instead of 8:30. But we arrived safely and debouched onto the campus of Kunming University, which hardly any of us recognized as there have been so many changes made over the past year.

Our day began with a special meeting with all the teachers and the staff of Kunming University. We all introduced ourselves, first Tom then Francis, Nora, Geni and Dia, and finally Myrle and Ann. Then Mr. Zhiang held forth, advising the teachers to attend their classes punctually.

On the chalkboard in the classroom:  Students' Lesson Goals

Tom and Geni met their class of thirteen students; Merle and Ann had sixteen students; and Francis, Nora, and Dia had fifteen. The first day was spent with introductions and discovering goals. It was only a half day. During the afternoon, the team retired to their studies and class preparations.

Festivities followed during the evening. BaoLi escorted the English language teachers to the Cross Bridge Restaurant. Of what transpired thereafter, your correspondent cannot say.

Entry submitted by: Tom

Message of the Day: "Spring into action."  -Chuck Norris

China Volunteer Vacation Begins - July 2013

A new Global Volunteers Team in China!

With a delicious dinner on Saturday evening, July 6th, Team #209 began their two-week journey in Kunming, China. Global Volunteer Country Manager Baoli Wang was a welcome sight for Myrle, Tom, Geni, Nora, Dia, and Fran. Anne has yet to discover what a delight it is to work with this SUPERIOR LEADER.

On Sunday, July 7, 2013 we breakfasted in the Golden Spring Hotel (GSH) before our team orientation. We do love the GSH breakfast buffet as lots of different and interesting treats are available. Our enthusiastic team decided our team goals were: to exchange cultural understanding; to help with the English teachers’ fluency; to enjoy Chinese food; to explore the city of Kunming; to have fun; and to connect with the English teachers.

Our lunch after the morning session introduced us to Gingko seeds, new to all of us but Baoli. Afternoon trips included Myrle’s activation of his Chinese phone; Geni, Nora, Anne, and Dia’s shopping excursion in the neighborhood; and Tom/Fran’s three-hour roundtrip walk to Green Lake. Dinner included an introduction of spicy cauliflower and new ways to present an orange on a platter.

Entry submitted by: Fran

Message of the Day: “A journey begins with a single step.”  - Lao-Tzu (paraphrased) 

We part as friends and global neighbors

 

Today is the last day of the 23rd Kunming school teachers' training. All twelve volunteers were excited and saddened with the rapid ending of the program. It seemed that the teacher training was just building up steam. The volunteers were instructed to wrap up their training tasks during the first two hours of the day to prepare for the closing ceremony at 10:30 a.m. in the fourth floor auditorium. 

The closing ceremony was well attended by the Yunnan province education leaders including Yunnan University Training Chiefs, Continuing Education Chiefs, English Program Host (Chris), Global Volunteer China Country Manager (Baoli), all the volunteers, and of course the 90+ student teachers. The noteworthy speeches were offered by the nominated student teacher representative who expressed the benefits and deep appreciation of their two weeks of English training. The individual volunteer short speeches were equally emotional with extended, warm friendship. This was followed by exchanging gifts to volunteers and completion certificates to the student teachers. After the formalities, Nancy and Dixie led everyone in farewell songs. It was a great fulfilling ending to two weeks of intense work!

Zal Jian!

Entry submitted by: Stella