|
|
|
|
Our flights to China were all very smooth. First, we flew for 14 hours to Seoul, South Korea from JFK International Airport in New York City. We had a beautiful flight, despite the many long hours cramped in economy on a Korean Airlines 747 jumbo jet. The service was excellent, and the Korean flight attendants' warm hospitality made for as enjoyable of a flight as one could have being suspended 38,000 feet in the air for 14 hours non-stop! We were served several Korean meals and even had sushi, so before we even landed in Asia, we were given a taste of it in the air. We also had the pleasure of flying with a Korean children's choir that had just finished touring the United States and was on their way home. When we first saw all the children arrive at the gate as we awaited opportunity to board the plane, we thought, "great...this is going to be a noisy 14-hour flight with all these kids." Not exactly what we had hoped. However, the kids were so quiet and well-behaved, it was incredible, and the plane was so huge that we didn't even notice the kids once we had all boarded. We had a 3-hour layover in Seoul, and then boarded another jet for Beijing, China. We arrived in Beijing late in the evening. Our first glimpse of the great city was in the dark of night as we came in for a landing. The city lights were beautiful! We stayed in a hotel in Beijing that night to recuperate from the long flights. While the hotel and our rooms there were beautiful, the beds were hard as rocks. It was hilarious, actually. We had two in a room, and me and the woman I roomed with that night, were so exhausted and so much in need of sleeping in the horizontal position that when we threw ourselves into bed only to find out they were like sleeping on concrete slabs, we burst out into hysterical laughter! We were so tired, yet were able to maintain our senses of humor over the matter. Despite the hard beds, we DID get a good night's sleep. The next morning we had our first authentic, chinese breakfast, and then went back to the Beijing airport to board our last flight. Two hours later, we landed in Wuhan, a city of 7.5 million people, located in southcentral China.
Upon our arrival in Wuhan, the skies erupted into torrential downpours. 
The rain, however, did not dampen our moods and we joyously greeted a good friend, who, along with his wife, were our hosts during our stay in Wuhan. It continued to rain for three days. This was good, according to our hosts, because at the time of the year in which we were in Wuhan, temperatures are usually well above 90 degrees and extremely humid and unbearable. The rain, however, kept the humidity down and the temperatures in the 80's -- for me, it was still hot, but for the people who live there, it was a welcome break from otherwise even more sweltering conditions. During these first days in Wuhan, we became acclimated to our new surroundings. Our hotel, a Best Western, had all the amenities an American hotel has, except all the employees spoke chinese, and not one word of English. Fortunately, two of my friends who were accompanying me on this journey, both spoke Chinese and were able to help us with interpretations. (These two women were lifesavers, especially every time we got into a taxi to get somewhere, they were able to tell our taxi drivers where we needed to go!) Incidentally, a few days into our stay at the hotel, we were approached by the hotel management who wanted us to pose for their new brochures! Apparently, they hardly ever have Americans stay at their hotel, and thought it would be great advertising if their brochures had Americans enjoying all the comforts of hotel living! So...for about an hour one morning, several from our team, including myself, posed for photos for the hotel management! It was so cute. The managers were loving having us there. It was like we were celebrities! We've been told that once the brochures have been printed, we will receive a few copies.
The hotel where we stayed was located only a block from the school for an easy walk. There was air-conditioning in the classrooms and in our hotel rooms. In this great city, the #15 Middle School (high school) is a prestige school with the greatest number of graduates achieving university entrance. A pre-requisite for university entrance is to pass a big English exam. The English-teaching staff at the school is highly competent and was eager to fill all of our needs in the classes and in the meals they provided for us each noontime in excellent up-scale restaurants. They wanted to entertain us at restaurants each evening but we had class preparations to handle or other activities on most evenings. Regarding the food in China, one word comes to mind -- incredible!!! I have always enjoyed eating Chinese food here in America, however, after tasting authentic Chinese food while in China, I will never have the same appreciation for the food we eat here in Chinese restaurants. There is simply no comparison! Chinese food in China is a thousand times better! It is impossible to even describe, but it's true. Some of the foods we had included snake, duck, jellyfish, octopus, squid, frog's legs and bean curd. I actually enjoyed the jellyfish and bean curd, but, in my opinion, the other foods just weren't for me. However, I did enjoy plenty of chicken dishes, many types of vegetables including my favorite -- lotus root, which is basically the root to water lily. It can be made many different ways. I enjoyed eating it fried and also steamed. Delicious! All of our meals were eaten with chopsticks. Prior to going to China, I could barely use them, but now I'm quite good at it, and have felt a little odd going back to using a knife and fork. I did, however, bring home many pairs of chopsticks and plan to keep using them so I don't lose the dexterity! It's not bad once you get the hang of it!
There were over 210 students awaiting us on the first day of English classes, including 20 Chinese English teachers that wanted to improve their skills at speaking and writing English. 
The rest were high school students that we classified as to level of learning and assigned to classroom groups and teachers. I taught an advanced class of 13 to 18 year olds, and had, believe it or not, 32 students in my class! I still can't believe that I was capable of and ABLE to teach a class so large in a very traditional school setting. I had a regular classroom with chalkboard, 32 desks that were each filled with students eager to learn, and my own desk was raised a few feet above the students' desks in the front of the classroom. We taught classes Monday through Friday for the duration of our stay in Wuhan, for five hours a day - 9 AM to noon, then we had a two-hour lunch break, then class again from 2 PM to 4 PM.
While the focus of our trip was on teaching English, I was able to learn some Chinese from my students, as well. I learned things such as "Ne hao ma" which means "how are you?" and "hung hao xie xie" which means "fine, thank you." On the last afternoon of our teaching, after a very special noontime meal with the Headmaster of the school and the Party Secretary, there was a festive English Talent Show for the classes and individuals to present various songs and other performances. Our team sang a song, in both English and Mandarin Chinese, and that drew much applause...not sure if it was because they enjoyed our singing or because they couldn't understand our Chinese and were glad we were finished! Presents were given to each member of our team. I, along with the rest of the team, was extremely overwhelmed at the generosity of those who bestowed gifts upon us. I have never seen people more grateful. It was so special and overwhelming it brought many tears to my eyes. The local TV station covered all of this and clips were shown the next day at the noon newscast! So, not only were we to be in a Chinese hotel brochure, we were also on a Chinese television news program! We saw ourselves on the news there on the following afternoon. How exciting!
On several of the evenings, many of the students came, upon our invitation, to Mr. Mai's Coffee House for conversations in English. This is an establishment set up by Westerners for just this purpose, to speak in English about many things of importance. It is visited often by students of English to engage native English speakers in conversation. I had a great time at the coffeehouse and met several college students there, as well. I am already corresponding with two that I met and will likely be hearing from more. (I have also already received letters from 4 of my students!) Three times, one or more parents of the students had all or some of us as special guests for dinner. I, personally, was invited by two of my students for special nights out for dinner and/or shopping. It was a very great time. On the last day of classes, nearly all 32 of my students surprised me with presents! I cannot begin to tell you the emotion I felt inside as these kids came up to me saying, "Thank you, Miss 'JENN-EE-FER', for teaching me English. You are a great teacher. Here is a special gift for you to remember me." I cried so many tears that day...tears of thanks and love for these special kids whom I will always cherish. I can't wait to show off pictures of them! In all seriousness, I felt more appreciated, wanted, needed, and fulfilled in spending three weeks in China than I have felt in nearly 13 years of employment at my current job!
It was indeed a special privilege to be part of this team and to experience the warmth of the Chinese people toward us. In all areas, that which we experienced was well beyond our expectations. A final added enjoyment....Before leaving China we had the great joy of visiting Beijing for two days. The first day, in smothering heat, smog, humidity, and rain, we visited Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. We also did a bit of shopping, and yet again, met more college students eager to learn English! 
On the second day in Beijing, under a beautiful blue sky and cooler air, we traveled to and walked upon the Great Wall of China that, like the Grand Canyon, needs to be experienced as it can not be adequately described. This, for me, was a great accomplishment because, in order to get to the Great Wall, I had to navigate up a very steep cobblestone hill on foot. Then had to take a cable car up a hill so steep and high that it had me pretty freaked out. After the cable car ride, I still had to walk another great distance uphill, which was very taxing on my hands as they carry most of my weight with the crutches. Finally, upon reaching the Great Wall itself, I had to walk up 10-12 very steep, uneven and HIGH steps that required the assistance of two men from my team. At the very moment when my two feet finally landed upon the Great Wall, my team applauded my accomplishment. It was truly the "icing on the cake" to an incredibly wonderful, joyous, life-changing, challenging and awesome experience! As my team leader so eloquently stated, we have been delightfully exposed to the great wonders of China, its people, its past, and the great possibilities for its future.
Thanks for reading this...hope you all enjoyed it!
Jennifer
To see some photos of me on the Great Wall, please click here.
bravenet.com