Tiny Humans

So I picked up an extra teaching gig here in China at a kindergarten recently. I've been there almost two months now and I can't help but proclaim my love for tiny humans. Now, I have nothing against babies and toddlers and kids in general back home, but I seriously believe that Chinese children are ten million times cuter than American (white) children; there, I said it and I mean it.  Chinese babies have the cutest chubby cheeks, pants with no butts, the best looks of curiosity towards foreigners.  I'm full on obsessed with Chinese babies.

Now, my kindergarten here is more what we would consider a preschool at home. I have four different classes, Pre-Nursery (2-3 years old), Nursery (3-4 years old), Kindergarten 1 (4-5 years old), and Kindergarten 2 (5-6 years old). Primary schools here start with first grade and most students start there at the age of six. I teach at the school three days a week and the classes range from 15-30 minutes based on the age group.


And if I haven't yet mentioned yet that these kids are darling and adorable and hilarious and just precious beyond belief, well I'm telling you now. Sometimes I dread having to teach there because I no longer have my four day weekend (ya I know, I was way too spoiled before) but every time I leave the kindergarten, I am usually ready to burst from love for these kids. They make me laugh and smile the entire time I'm there.

Do I get to teach them the most thrilling material? Heavens no. Am I able to command the attention of 20+ munchkins? Hardly. But that is more than okay. Each class has its own special quirks and perks. Each class has a stack of flash cards that we go through, a CD of songs, and the two kindergarten classes have books to learn letters, sounds, and words.

Pre Nursery is usually just a chaotic mess, but it is also my favorite class (no surprise there). There is one boy who squeals with delight when I walk into the room and just starts squeal shouting "Teacher! Teacher! Teacher!" and his giggle is something you wouldn't believe until you hear it. When I first started, there was one little girl in the class who just burst into tears at the sight of me, she was terrified of the scary weird looking teacher. But now she rushes up to me and says hello and actually participates in the class instead of hiding from me. Most of this class is spent singing and dancing with the kids and I'm pretty impressed with their ability to regurgitate English words (most of the time I don't think they know what they are saying, but its impressive nonetheless).

The Nursery class is probably the most difficult. There are over 30 children in this class and it seems like it grows every week. It is completely impossible to keep all of the kids entertained and focused on the class and at times it can be frustrating, but it is really impossible to actually get frustrated at them. They are just so young and cute and tiny and I can't help but love them. There is one boy in the class who is probably the most adorable child I have ever seen and I named him after my brother Matthew (I've given many of the kids English names). One time I saw Matthew at a little fruit market and he just start jumping up and down and opening his mouth like he wanted to say something and just didn't know what to say and he was so excited to see me outside of school he couldn't control himself. He blurted out "ni hao!!!" and his mom finally looked up and saw me and just started beaming. And then I said hello to him and he just repeated "hello hello hello" endlessly for several minutes before we both left. He is just beyond cute.

K1 is another great class. They are probably the best behaved and some of the students already have a great grasp of English. They can answer questions about the weather, their favorite season, animals, colors, activities...more than what some of my students in Guiyang could do. This class is also very big, with almost 30 students. One thing that I do in all of the classes is make sure they are up and moving and active usually every 5 minutes. It really is difficult for them to sit so long and pay attention and learn so I break the classes up into several small sections. We do some flashcards and then stand and move around. We do some flashcards then sing a song. We do some flashcards and then do some role play or acting. The K1 class loves being active. They recently learned words like such as jump rope, ride a bike, play the guitar/piano etc.  They favorite thing to do now is a game called "teacher says, student does" so I'll tell them jump rope and they have to pretend to jump rope. We've had some near fatalities with a few students getting a little too into the guitar. And seeing them "ride a bike" is a sight to behold.

K2 is obviously the best at English. They are all preparing to enter primary school and many of them do have great English skills. There is one student from Serbia in the class and she speaks Serbian, Chinese, and English at 6 years old. Some of these kids are way too smart for their age. Its easy to tell that a large chunk of their English comes straight from memorization and I'm pretty certain none of them can truly read or write, but you can't deny how impressive it is.

So, all in all, I love it. I love these kids. I love the chorus of "hello" and "goodbye" I get whenever they see me. I love that in PN, one little boy always helps me walk out of the classroom by pushing on my butt. I love their smiles and laughter and even when they cry. The world is a much better place because of tiny humans.

Some Things Never Change

So, I realize I have been massively failing at writing in my blog since I left Guiyang. Especially since I've been in Nanjing, I just have had a lull in writing. Mostly because I feel like I don't have anything to say. And partially because I feel like I'm not really doing anything exciting. I mean, I'm not visiting all these cool places every weekend like I did in Guiyang. I'm really just kind of working and living. I'm eating and sleeping.Walking places and watching TV and playing card games and just doing a bunch of boring things. Basically, its like living at home, except I'm doing it all in China.

Even though I am in this completely different world and everything is so Chinese, its nice to knew that somethings just don't change. For example:

I am still just as accident prone as ever. And basically bad luck just follows me around wherever I go. I can be walking normally one second and then be flat on my behind the next because apparently gravity and I just don't get along. I managed to be involved in a minor motorbike "accident" and a bicycle "accident" in the same week. That's something really only I could pull off.

Then, I managed to break not only my bicycle but someone else's too in one week time. On my bicycle, I managed to kick the kickstand right off. Then, the next week as I was riding my bike home, one of the pedals just magically fell off. When I borrowed a friends bike the next week, I managed to make one of her pedals fall off. Again, something only I could pull off.

There are also some good things that don't change or are at least the same no matter where I go.

Example: The smell of Starbucks.  I love that I can walk into a Starbucks in China and feel like I am back at the Square making lattes (and making a mess) and just having a fun time. I love that the music you hear in Chinese Starbucks is the same music you would hear in a US Starbucks.

I love when  I can hear a sound or smell a smell and it reminds me of a very specific moment or time in life. When life gives you this deja vu moment and you could just swear that you've lived this exact moment already.

I love that I can watch a Youtube video for the millionth time and still laugh like its the first time I've ever seen it.

Honestly, I think so much of people's unhappiness can so easily be avoided. And today was a day that I really noticed that. I mean, I've been struggling lately. I don't know if I've been missing home or what, but China has been extra challenging. And trust me, I know some days can be WAY harder than others. You always have to deal with a language and culture barrier and sometimes you just wish you could read a street sign or be able to say "excuse me" on the metro and not have to push your way through. But, you really can choose what you allow to bring you down. So many problems have a simple solution. If you're cold, put on a coat. If you're lonely, go outside and walk for two minutes and just smile at a stranger. If you're sad, watch "David After Dentist" and I guarantee you will be laughing in three minutes. And sure, some problems are bigger than that. And I don't get why people always feel the need to face their problems alone. That's just so dumb.

And now I have truly proved that some things never change. Because I totally just meant to post this tiny little blurb about really nothing and then I got off on like three different tangents and I don't even remember what I originally wanted to say.

Oh well.