First Impressions

I remember the first day when we arrived, the first thing I noticed was the electric red letters printed in front of the school, and they read: “热烈欢迎美国北卡高中生来我校支教”. After reading this sign, I thought Oh this is so nice and thoughtful, wonder what the students actually think of us coming though. Next, I saw a group of ecstatic faces waving from the window, so we happily waved back. We were greeted comfortably by the principal and another school official, both whom smiled with such goodness and grace. This was my first discovery of the truly radiant atmosphere of this Shennongjia school.

We then made our way to the dorms, making our way up to the furthest right room on the third floor, which we discovered to be slightly larger than the other rooms (the other rooms’ doors had been left open, probably due to rules/inspection). We began unloading our things, which by the way I am sad to admit I overpacked, having thought of way too many unnecessary items (instant oatmeal, a volleyball, 20 vitamin packets, etc) during the packing process. A while later, a group of shy and sweet girls peeped into our doorway and a confident one of the bunch said: “hallo!”. All the little girls began to giggle when we said “hello!” back. In a slightly rushed but polite tone, she said to Elizabeth and I, “我们要去上课了，你可以跟我们去吗？” Excited by this opportunity, we quickly agreed, and the girl took me by the arm and pulled me to the classroom. We ran with this giggly bunch down the stairs and to the classroom, just as the bell was ringing. Elizabeth and I quickly placed ourselves in the back of the room, ready to get a taste of the typical Chinese class.

As we watched the teacher pace back and forth down the numerous rows of desks, I was astounded by the number of textbooks stacked on the surface and within. There were at least 10 books in total piled beside each student, and plenty more filling the inner part of the desk. We got to see numerous students go up to the front of the classroom, which was slightly raised like a mini stage, and give their reports on various books. And this was the first part of the class time in which I related to, the nervousness of presentations. Similar to any group of presenters anywhere, there were the shy ones and the more outspoken students whom all seemed to have a naive cheerfulness in their tone, even a few smiles here and there. Each presentation was finished with a seemingly routine applause, and the student hurried back to their seat. After about 30-40 min, we decided to quietly leave the classroom. From this experience, I gained a better understanding of the discipline and ways of the classroom from the start. As some of it differed from what we were used to in America, it allowed Elizabeth and I to make observations which would help when we were to lead the classes, such as how the teacher was to interact with the student (in terms of respect and firmness).