For the past semester I’ve been tutoring a small group of children every Monday night. It has been a rewarding challenge some evenings to say the least.

Last semester I taught a group of teachers children twice a week. This semester Mrs. Li Qing approached me asking if I’d be willing to teach again. I had declined the larger tutoring group but agreed to a smaller group here at the apartment.

The children this semester were different as their parents were not teachers but family friends of Mrs. Li. Emily was my only returning student.

 Although I’m happy to have my Monday nights free I’ll miss the energy they bring.

Anna, Vanessa, Me, Addison, front - Emily, Jake

Vanessa and her Mother

Emily and Mrs. Li Qing

Mrs. Li Qing has been my parent liaison for both my tutoring classes, this semester and last. Her English is limited but compared to my Chinese she’s fluent. I’ve appreciated all her help. She is a teacher her at the college.

Emily & Addison

They had the best English by far. I wish I could continue tutoring Addison as I know he will go far with his fluency if he keeps up his hard work.

For Beth’s Birthday we did the traditional dinner although we went upscale this time and went to the Mayflower. Quick story behind that, I was designated as the texter and sent out the invites when I got three different confirmations for various locations. I’d never been to the Mayflower so when I discovered there were four in town I was thrown into a confusing mess trying to arrange the location. But in the end it all work out for a delicious meal.

Weifang and Fangzi teachers

Duck wraps with plum sauce most definitely one of my favorites.

A meat bridge. Yes those are potato chips beneath.

Nothing beats a Chinese Birthday candle.

This evening Peter and Wendy came over and cooked a delicious meal! I’d been telling Kelly about Peter’s amazing cooking when we went out to dinner last week and Wendy volunteer for an encore!

My two favorite Chefs!

They came around 6 and insisted we just sit back a relaxed, Wendy would come ask for help if they needed anything. Kelly and I waited in the offices as tantalizing smells drifted in from the kitchen.  My mouth was watering by the time Wendy announced dinner!

The dishes included (clockwise) top, 100 year eggs, potato slices (my fav), tomatoes and eggs (another fav), yam slices and the final dish a sliced onion dish.

100 Year Eggs - about as delicious as they sound.

Peter knew my two favorite dishes, Tomatoes and Eggs and Sliced Potatoes! I must admit I did miss good Chinese while I was back in the States, not so much the above dish.

Dinner was most enjoyable as usual. Peter and Wendy are always a pleasure to spend time with. Peter’s English pronunciation is getting really good. I can finally compliment his cooking in complete sentences! After some rather comical stumbles we agreed that our language skills are about even. Although I still think his English is a little better.

I don’t know what I would do without those two!

Mixed emotions, okay not really, just plain relieved. I’ve survived my first term. One more to make my first year and then Mom promises it only gets better.

Teaching has been surprisingly invigorating. I’ve enjoyed the challenges and am beginning to see real potential for travel opportunities in the future. I still find it odd some days that I have followed in my parents footsteps.

I’ve most definitely learn more about myself this year as I’ve had to confront my fears and frustrations on my own. I’m learning to explain things more clearly and simply. I’m learning for the first time in my life to go with the flow. If there’s only one lesson I’ll take from China it is the lesson of flexibility.

I’ve still not been able to drop my Americaness of needing to know WHY before doing anything but there are worst qualities to hold onto I guess.

Overall this semester has been a learning experience I wouldn’t try for too many things. I’m looking forward to next semester with eager anticipation.

So I’ve debated typing this post but I might as well get it out in the open, once I tell a few people its going to get out there anyway and blown out of proportion so I might as well get my side out….

Goodness knows I could count the dates I’ve been on, on one hand but could someone please define what qualifies as a date because I think I accidentally went on one with a complete stranger I met on the train.

I got home from Weihai at 11:30, cleaned up, packed up and headed to Qingdao by 5. I purchased a ticket last min and hoped for the best. There was a huge line at the gate already so stupidly I went and stood in it. Why, I don’t know after five months in China you would think I’d wised up by now. Mom please skip the following paragraph.

I stood in line and then they open the gate. Here is where my stupidity comes in. Lines mean nothing in China, as soon as the gate opened the line turned into a mob. Forgive the expression but there is just no other way to explain it. You feel like you are back in the birthing canal. I’ve learned to throw a mean elbow while here and being a foreigner and a head taller than everyone else it tends to work quite well. But today that wasn’t even helpful. I’ve never been pressed so bad in my life. Never understood the concept of stampede until today. I finally gave up struggling and just let the crowd push me. Some lady’s carry on caught the back of my legs but luckily the crowd kept me upright as she pulled forward.

Anyway I finally made it to the platform relatively unscathed and headed for my car. As if going through birth for a second time wasn’t bad enough I soon realized there was no seat to be found on the train. Great, two hours to Qingdao and I get the aisle. Okay truth be told I had a second option, smoker ally between cars. I figured relatively smoke free air standing in the aisle getting hit with a food trolley every 15min was better. I found a bench to rest against, turned on my kindle, put in my head phones and zoned out as best as possible. I did notice the decent looking guy standing next to me but kept my scowl to myself as the the trolley and I danced each time it past.

An hour into the ride a kind gentleman offered and held his seat for me when he disembarked. The guy who had been standing next to me soon found a seat across the aisle. He leaned over and began asking about my Kindle. His English was definitely not the best I’ve encountered but he was nice, okay sweet. The fact he said he read Plato gave him major points. Before I knew it he was asking me to coffee. I didn’t know what to say so I tried to mumble under my breath, as his English was not great he  took it as an affirmative and started suggesting places.

I figured I would lose him once I got to the station, but he helped get my backpack off the rack and insisted on carrying it for me. (It was only after did I realize how bad that could have gone if he had decided to run, Passport and Y2,000 bad.) Him having my bag and all I decided not to lose him. We caught the 304, he insisted on paying my fare, and headed into town. We decided on Coffee Spark as it was located on both our bus routes. On the bus he began helping me with Chinese. A few points in his favor. One, his is one of the first Chinese people who have actually wanted to help me learn Chinese rather than just wanting to speak and learn English. Two, when teaching me Chinese he actually spoke slowly and clearly, repeating words often, wow what a concept when teaching someone a language. (In China like many places people often think it is the volume that makes foreign words magically become understandable.) Lastly, he encouraged learning Chinese Characters as he feels it is a vital component of learning Chinese.

Now before you flip out and think I’ve completely lost my senses, I did text Victoria and let her know the change in plans. I also asked for a bailout call come 8:15 if wasn’t on the bus to the University yet. My Chinese lesson was going so well we missed our stop, but he had a contingency plan apparently. He quickly suggested another place that was just two stops further. We went to Starbucks and I ordered a Hot Chocolate, after a brief argument over the bill he said something curt in Mandarin to the cashier and she refused to take my money. He ordered two and found a table.

We sat and conversed for about 45min before I had to head out. Between his minimal English and my non-existent Chinese I was surprised the conversation lasted as long as it did. It did come to an interesting point when I finally asked for his name. Okay yes one would think before we got to Starbucks names would have been established but in China names are just tricky. Family names go first, then first name. To top it off you refer to new acquaintances by their family name. His name is Hu pronounced ‘who’. When he asked for mine I of course gave him Kayte, he was a little taken back and asked if he should call me Miss. That was a definite NO! Names got squared away and numbers exchanged. I was soon on my way to Victoria’s before the designated bailout time.

Overall the evening was fun. Most definitely not a usual evening for me but if China has taught me one thing it is taken every opportunity thrown at you.

So back to the original question, if he asked, escorted to and paid for everything was it considered a date? If so I guess I just went on my first Chinese date. Oh and for all those wondering he is barely my height but hey he’s not shorter!

A few weeks ago I was approached by a student about judging and English competition I figured I’d wait for Wendy to mention something before I made any inquires. I’m not going to lie, I was hoping the comment would come to nothing, what do I know about judging an English competition.

No luck, Wendy approached me last Friday and asked if I would be willing to participate. Of course, for Wendy I’d do anything. As the Foreign Teacher I was to ask questions for the practical application section.

2009 Business English Speech Competition. Yes, I know it says 2008 but "Welcome to China!"

The competition consisted of three parts. First: Read a provided text regarding business. [Students would be judged on pronunciation, intonation and fluency]

Second: Provide and explanation on a graph displayed. The topics varied and so did the graphs. [Students would be judged on content, clarity and explanation]

Third: My part, Answer questions from the foreign teacher using an advertisement provided. No pressure just direct the questions and confuse the poor nervous participants.

I’ve never participated or even watched a language competition before, so can some one please tell me how I qualified to be a judge. Yes I know I speak English but what qualification is that in the world today?

Some examples of the above stated advertisements.

Questions: What three services are provided by this company? Is this a convenient service for the customer?

Questions: To what group of people is this advertisement marketed towards? What are the selling features of this product?

Robinson and Roxanne hosted the event, their English was great! I'm not going to lie they are my top students.

During an intermission a few students sang songs, it took me about two verses to figure out these girls were singing in English.

Matinda took 1st! I felt it was well deserved. (She is my Chinese tutor, she teaches in English)

The panel of judges and winners.

After the competition the teachers presented me with a beautiful kite.

"Zhou Jing" one of the Seven Beauties in Chinese Literature

I walked into class feeling completely prepared with a min by min planned lesson. It never goes as planned, the children caught be off guard from the very beginning. I decided to make the board festive and drew a Christmas tree, I left it blank as I continued setting up for class.

Ke Xin the student I walk to class with proudly shouted out “Christmas Tree!”  “I decorate?”. I wasn’t expecting much, but boy did she knock my socks off.

First she added strings of lights, bows, bells, stars, candy canes and ornaments. I was shocked, well her English teacher in school was thorough. So my lesson was not going to be as planned at that point. I was thinking vocabulary lesson here but instead we moved to sentence structure and prepositions. I at least learning to think on my feet.

My favorite had to be the Primary song “Once There was a Snowman.” First we built a snowman on the board and sang the song and helped in melt.

While building they corrected me I had cut buttons for the eyes but they insisted using them for the body. They keep me honest that’s for sure.

Yes I’ve fallen in love with my children’s classes.

I know this post might be coming out from left field for some but to catch you up to speed here is a post just recently finished but posted on a much much earlier date. http://blog.addingstamps.com/2009/10/i-think-the-world-is-coming-to-an-end/

As I continue my Children’s Oral English class I have begun falling in love with the students. I love them all but of course I have my favorites, Rose is just this bundle of joy who has a smile that could melt any Ice Queen, yes I’m the Ice Queen here, and then of course there is Gary. He is the youngest at 6 and the smallest 6 year-old I’ve ever seen. For a kid who’s missing his two front teeth he has great pronunciation and his reading skills are amazing.

Next is Ke Xin, she meets me at my apartment each evening and walks me to class. Half our walk is her correcting my Chinese and the other half is her giggling her way through prompted English questions from her mom. Margaret is 10 and is my co-teacher, at times translating where needed and encouraging the other students.

Oranges from YRC & a card from Ke Xin

I never thought I’d go by Miss Kayte but hey it beats Miss Reagan (not that I don’t love my last name, which I do greatly and don’t plan on giving it up in the next decade or anything) it is just so old sounding. My students have begun bringing little gifts to class which always make my day.

The gifts are always straight from the children’s hearts, a chocolate here and a little wrapped candy there. YRC’s little package was quite inventive. From the size of the package I thought he had confused the vocabulary. Upon opening the bag I was delightfully surprised. I’d heard about the tiny oranges but had not had the pleasure of trying them yet. They are quite delicious!

Juicy and sweet!

 I met up with Wendy at 8:40 this morning. The chairman’s daughter and her classmate met us at the at t

 

Wood-Cut station, amazing details.

 

Watching the printing was breath taking, the maticulous efforts that are applied are awe inspiring to say the least.

 

The kites are made from thin sheets of silk. The paint is applied one color at a time let each color dry before applying the next.

 

Bamboo framework, all done by hand from selection to completion.

 

 

 

All the kites are handmade. The large one was Y600, reasonable I felt after seeing the entire process.

 

Yi, me & Yi, the wood-cuts on the door are protective deities to keep evil spirits from entering.

 

Intricate Paper-cuts, handmade

 

"Original" Ming Dynasty home.

 

Yi & me, can you see our personal stoves?

 

Hot Pot, it just might be my new favorite.

 

Driver, Yi & Wendy

 

Lobby, Largest Kite Museum in the World

 

My favorite kite in the Museum. Gold meddal winner at the Kite Festival.

 

An international kite donated to the Museum after one of the International Kite Festivals

 

a Ledgendary kite that is recognizable all over China

 

How many old men do you see? (answer: 3)

 

An aerial of Weifang, really if only I could expereince such a clear day.

 

Cabbage is a winter flower here, it does provide beautiful color in an otherwise dull landscape.

 

I never asked what this particular pagoda is currently used for but my guess is observation.

 

The path ran right along the water, more than once I gave Wendy a scare by walking too close to the edge.

 

______ Park, I just loved the Pagoda.

Today was delightful. From start to finish it was a great.

After five weekends of traveling and nonstop activities I was looking forward to a nice relaxing weekend curled up in my apartment only seeing people for my scheduled cooking lessons. But alas such plans have been ripped from my grip once again.

Wendy called me yesterday morning two min after I had fallen out of bed. She asked if I would meet with the President’s daughter on Saturday so she could talk with me. I was still groggy and out of it, yes I know it was 8:30 but I had had another late night. I was confused and asked if we could chat over lunch.

So my new plans for Saturday, hang out with the President’s daughter who will be coming into town for the weekend to visit with her father. She would like to practice her Oral English. Dantzelle already had plans to go to Qingdao and Adam is swamped with homework and finals for school back home. Luckily Wendy will join us. I am completely nervous. I’ve never met the President! Wendy didn’t make me feel any better when she admitted her nervousness. I know, I know really how bad can it be but let me honest people in high places in China make me a little nervous.

We have been offered a University car for our disposal, but I have do idea what to do? Am I suppose to be planning the agenda? I don’t even know how old this girl is. Luckily I have Wendy for translation I would be terrified if it was just me. Well I guess tomorrow I will find out! Wish me luck.