Friday, April 29, 2011

Breaking Free!

Tim has become more and more...demanding and we have become more and 
more suspicious and cynical to all requests, words, and actions 
taken by the small Chinese man. He does make us laugh but most of 
the time, sarcastic or sympathy laughs/giggles. He expected us to 
paint in front of the whole school and we declined. He was a 'jerk' 
according to Kim. His quiet pretentious attitude does not mask his 
real intentions anymore. It is almost sad that he has pretended to 
take such good care of us when really he does it so that he has 
leverage for all of the things he wants in return. Sorry Tim, we 
know your generosity is not so generous. It continues to be our 
prison in Mayflora.
When Steve came from ILP, the weekend was wonderful. Tim and 
everyone else made special efforts. It did not last long. As in, 
Steve drove away, Tim went back to his quiet 'maybes' of seemingly 
never ending fake efforts. *sigh* Yet, we feel a real conquer in our 
new adventures outside of the school. The first time, Kim, Ashley, 
and I went on a little walk. We wanted to wander the hills and 
discover what was near us. When we signed out at the gate, Ashley 
put 'adventure' for where we were going and we would be back 'before 
dinner'. We found a road being constructed and walked. And walked. 
And walked. We passed by a few places of water. There was a paved 
path through some houses that lead to a beautiful lake. On the other 
side of the lake was a quaint town. The kind of town you could easily 
imagine when you think of china. There were several people working 
hard in their rice fields which were closest to the lake. We spent a 
good while there. We watched as the worked and cooled our burning 
feet in the clear 'Green' water. We were not completely prepared for 
the warm sun because when we returned, we realized we were sunburned. 
It was not bad though. Within a few days, my burn turned into tan.
The second time we took the same route but this time Nicole and 
Bryndi joined us. It took less time to get there but probably 
because we knew our destination and were not out for new discovery. 
I supplied myself with an umbrella this time and wore shorts to 
accommodate the heat and eventually the water I would indulge in. 
Bryndi wore her swimsuit but she did not get in. It was still 
questionable waters and there was no one to ask. I think we all just 
agreed silently that if we only stuck our legs in, we were safe 
enough. There were many small fish biting at our toes but we may 
have attracted them with some crumbs of food floating atop the 
water. Relaxation anywhere but our apartments is a treasured 
commodity. Most of the time it is too awkward with the people 
staring and interest in the foreigners. There are too many people or 
always someone where ever we go. This was a retreat. We spent hours 
just bathing our feet, soaking in the quiet, and some of us, the sun. 
This time the three returning venturers were smarter about the sun. 
Less time in the sun using umbrellas and sunscreen. Or maybe just 
Kim and I. Many of our books found companions on this excursion. 
This free Tuesday was lovely. We were exempt from teaching that day 
because the kids were taking exams. That did not hurt our feelings 
in the least. We found relief. 
 
My new area of teaching is drama. It has been quite interesting. My 
best friends have become books. The kids eat them up. Every picture 
brings about new things to talk about and experience. Sometimes I 
have to draw my own 'books' and I am always surprised at how well it 
comes together. 
                       Lesson plan for Drama-using a book with Winnie the pooh, 
                      then Kim looks over them and makes comments and what not. 
                                       Need to find joy in the work!!! ; ) 


My home class loves to talk about so many things and 
I have really enjoyed teaching them. Bill is one of my favorites. 
When he warms up to you, he is entertaining and fun. He and Lily 
have a special relationship. It always feels like a married couple. 
She gives him 'the look' sometimes and he knows it. They are in 
cahoots more than often. They are both fairly good with English. It 
makes for much better lessons and conversations. Bill has a unique 
rasp in his voice that makes him even more likable. A good example 
of their conspiring relations is when they convinced another of my 
home class students, Victor, to buy a small valentines bear that 
held a plastic rose for 100 tokens. He bought it and when I came 
over to them later, I saw Lily had the rose. Victor was excited to 
tell me in his broken English, "me" pointing to rose, "Lily". Lily 
tried her best to help explain after I gave all the words needed to 
complete a sentence, "He gave me rose." She was happy as can be as 
she scrapped the fake water drops off the petals. "What's this, 
teacher? Teacher Desi, what's this?" I had to choose my words wisely.
I simply told her it was suppose to be water. Then before I could 
ask what happened to the bear, Bill walked around me and grabbed into 
one of the open desks. He pulled out the bear and said, "He give me." 
Bill had a triumphant air about him, as he usually did when he got 
his point across or when he made a smart comment. Plus, he knew he 
and Lily had accomplished what they were after. Victor smiled and 
tokens. I figured out from all of their hand motions and English 
enthusiasm that he had traded it for that and Bill also pitched in 
5 quay. These children and their cunning understandings amaze me.
 
Charlie is my baby. I named him the day he joined our classes. I 
have to use patience and slowly show him that I mean nothing against 
him but adore when he tries. Charlie could easily convince me to let 
him splurge on more than what he had in tokens but at some point you 
have to teach them the right way. He would get angry when I did not 
let him take what he wanted. His little fists would usually find 
themselves in my back but I could only try to ignore it and show him 
we were just in misunderstanding. I wanted him to get what he wanted 
by participating and actually learning. I can tell it has helped. He 
is growing.
Colt
Lory is the prodigy child. I sometimes in the past have daydreamed 
about adopting him. I have learned since, that he is more demanding 
in attention than I thought and sometimes his temper spurts when we 
have misunderstandings. Why is he the prodigy child then and why 
would I think such silly thoughts in the first place? Lory is 
talented. He plays the piano well and we still watch in amazement 
when he plays. He is not a genius but  definitely better than most 8 
year olds. The things he does is adorable. He not only knows Chinese 
and knows more English than most, if not all, of our students but he 
also speaks Japanese. His parents live in Japan. They are both 
Chinese but technically Lory is of Japanese nationality because he 
was born there. I enjoy his spunky spirit and the way he randomly 
breaks out in song and dance. 
 
 
 

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