Stop and Go

It is hard to believe it is already October and we have already had two major holidays and breaks from school. As much as it has been nice to have the days off, it has been difficult to get into a routine in my personal life as well as in the classroom. Students are beginning to settle back into campus tonight and we will work this weekend and a full week next week. It will be a long stretch until our next break when the American teachers get a couple of days of for Thanksgiving, but I am ready for routine!
I took full advantage of having our week long break for National Day this past week. Our team got to travel to the city of Taiyuan, about a 3 hour fast train ride, west of Beijing, to visit another team of teachers their that we became friends with at training. We were so thankful for their hospitality and encouragement. We ate very well during the trip, everything from homemade oatmeal banana chocolate chip pancakes, to fajitas with homemade tortillas. I guess that's the thing here in China- we don't have a lot of access to Western food, so you have to be creative and make everything from scratch which makes it that much more delicious to eat! It was great to see another part of China, as Beijing has been my only experience thus far. The train ride allowed us to pass through many beautiful mountainous areas where I saw rice farmers and small villages, and then we arrived in Taiyuan, a booming and growing city that had a lot of charm and a smaller town feel than Beijing, but it was still rather large. We went shopping and to large park that was full of families and fun activities for the holiday. We definitely noticed more attention and stares, as it is not as common for the people their to see foreigners as it is in Beijing. I even got pulled into two Chinese family photos! I'm sure I will be on their wall or in a frame in their homes for years to come. The attention is kind of nice for a little while, but I am thankful my everyday living is not like that.
I am starting a new unit tomorrow that will be about weekend activities. This includes teaching many verbs and I found a "Verb Rap" that I can't wait to have the students learn!I feel a little more prepared to begin teaching this new unit as I have made it through teaching the first one, but I still am learning new techniques to practice vocabulary, choosing activities that have the students speaking the majority of my short 40 mins. with them, and building relationships with them through the language barrier. More teaching updates to come...