Our first evening at the school was uneventful. We missed the scheduled dinner, so the school cooks prepared extra food for us that we could not eat by ourselves. We then spent the entire rest of the time in our dorms, getting settled. When the students were released from school at 8:55, they swarmed in front of our door. Prior to dinner, I had tried to interact with some of the students who were walking in our hallway. It was a very one-sided and awkward conversation, as they seemed to be laughing and too shy to say anything. Nonetheless, after classes, they were eager to catch a glimpse of the weird strangers that had moved into their dorm. Our first night, we were too tired and wary of the students to open our door and interact. Our resistance did not dampen the eagerness of the students, as they knocked repeatedly at our door and were yelling (non-aggressively) outside. Jiahui, so fed up with their unwelcoming hospitality, put a suitcase next to the door to prevent it from being opened. Needless to say, our first night was slightly traumatizing as we didn’t know the intentions of the students. Luckily, it got better from there.
On our second day, we finally began teaching. First, we met with the English department at the school, where they welcomed us, briefed us, and gave us our teaching schedules. They then gave us a conference room tailored to our needs with wifi and a projector. This would become our den for the rest of the time there. For our first lesson, Alex and I taught daily life. Compared to all the potential the lesson had, it wasn’t too good. The first mistake I made was using too much Chinese to explain. My Chinese was slightly fluent and there were many errors that might have confused the class. In fact, their level of English was much higher than we expected. Thus, from then on we were able to use our native language to teach. Our second mistake was not incorporating enough interaction and response from the class into our plan. This made the class boring and less enjoyable.
Our next classes were much more successful, and each time only made us stronger as teachers. We quickly bonded with the students, and they surprised us with how much they knew about American culture, such as Beats, Avengers, Chainsmokers, Jake Paul, etc..
Our first night was the only night we did not shower. The next day, we found a solution as the school was able to allott us time to use the locker room showers while the students were in class. Thus, we were able to take hot showers every night.
Our time there was very enjoyable. Contrary to previous trips like this, the students were very nice and outgoing. Even though the girls became obsessed with us guys, the boys in the dorm were still very fun to hang out with. They demonstrated their kindness by many times paying for our lunch and buying us snacks. Through physical activities such as soccer and basketball, we were also able to see their competitive and playful side.
This trip was truly one that I learned more than I taught. The memories I made will remain attached to me for as long as I live. It was very humbling to be able to inspire so many kids to study harder to meet us in the US and to connect with kids exactly like us living thousands of miles away and speaking a different language. If anybody has an opportunity to embark on such an odyssey, I urge you to do so. Not for the college resume, but to connect and create endless memories with such similar but far away people.