Nanxi - Monday, April 26

Trip Start Apr 17, 2010

Trip End Jul 02, 2010

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Flag of China Nanxi, Sichuan, China
Monday, April 26, 2010

What a day! After a breakfast of a pastry, hard-boiled eggs, fruit, and bean juice, we were led to the courtyard of the school. The entire student body and staff gathered for their weekly Monday morning flag raising. We were the guests of honor. Despite a light rain, the color guard marched in and brought the Chinese flag and raised it with much ceremony. The entire student body and staff then sang the Chinese National Anthem. We were then brought up to the stage and formally introduced to the students. It was amazing to hear the cheers from 4,000 students! Beautiful bouquets of flowers were given to us by students. Then, we both got the opportunity to greet the students. We were nervous, but excited! The students are so nice to us. Next, Principal Gu gave a welcoming speech, which was interpreted by Cherry, an English teacher. It was a wonderful welcome!

We then went to our offices

Monday Morning Flag Raising

. During the rest of the morning, we continued to work on our lecture/powerpoint about Jenks Public Schools, Jenks Intermediate, and the new Sino Trojan Academy. Sally and Mary agreed to translate for us . We also had wireless internet installed, making our lives much easier. We appreciated being able to stay in touch with our school, our families, and our friends. It will make the distance between us shorter.

As we walked to lunch, students would call to us, "Hello!" "How are you doing?" and other greetings. Mr. Orsulak even got a "Hello, Mr. O!" After we ate, Frank brought us back to the hotel to rest. He also gave us cellphones to use here to stay in contact locally with the teachers in Nanxi.

The biggest surprise of the day happened when we got back to our rooms. Brand new clothes washers were installed in our bathrooms! It will be a little cozy in the shower, but we are glad to be able to wash our clothes. However, in Nanxi, people don't use clothes dryers. Instead, they hang clothes outside to dry on the patios or balconies. We are going to have to be creative since we don't have a patio or balcony. Tomorrow, we will look for drying racks to have in our rooms.

After supper (hard to describe, but good!), we walked through the courtyard of the school, where students were hanging out or playing basketball, with popular music playing over loudspeakers throughout the campus. We received many polite stares and hellos. At 7:45 p.m., we gave our lecture/powerpoint to the faculty meeting. They have a very different teaching schedule in Nanxi. Teachers report around 7:00 a.m. and work until 9:30-10:00 p.m. There is a 2 1/2 hour break for lunch and rest. Teachers are busy otherwise, teaching, planning, or coaching students. Luckily, we will not have to work those hours.

Tomorrow, we start teaching at the Experimental Junior High School. We will introduce ourselves and share with them about our lives.

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