I loved my host family during this trip. They welcomed me right after we came off the airplane which made me felt like I was at home. They always ask me if I was hungry and always gave me food whenever I was hungry or even when I wasn’t hungry, which was nice. They took me to museums, temples, and shopping malls when we had free time, which I felt made this trip even better. They had fed me good breakfast each morning, the foods like noodles, warm soy milk, dumplings, etc. They packed me with a whole ton of gifts; my family was very thankful for. I got to give most of my family members a gift from China. They gave my parents a tea set to go along with the tea which was given to us by Michael’s host mother. During the 7 days in Wuhan, they washed all my clothes which was helpful because I didn’t want to wear some of my clothes, so washing them let me wear things again and mix and match outfits. They gave me gifts like rice crackers and Chinese foods for my grandparents which they were very happy and thankful too. Whenever I needed something along the trip, they would always be there to help me no matter how hard it was speaking to different languages, they tried their best to communicate with me. We communicated through a Chinese translator, or if I understood some words, I would nod yes or no. I would say that this was a great experience with my host family. They told me to come back any time which made me feel great. I hope in the future I get to visit them and Wuhan again.
On our Last day in Wuhan China, Michael and I went to the school in the morning, which made us confused. We thought that we were going shopping that day, but we went to the school so the Changqing’s students could say bye to us and give us gifts. They gave me so many souvenirs; I'm very thankful for and I felt that I have had a very good class. After this, we played a little ping pong and left back with our host families. They took me to this old temple and tea factory which were awesome! I enjoyed the tea they gave me. There was also a guy making designs out of some type of syrup which was cool. He made me the year of the rabbit. After that, we went back to the super market to get me some gifts for my family. My host family had always been really generous, offering to pay for everything I bought. After this, they helped me packed my suitcase, refolded some of my clothes and washed them too. They then dropped us off at the airport where my bag was 20 pounds overweight, which was crazy because normally it's only about 2 or 3. We had to hurry because our plane was supposed to leave in like 50 minutes, but it was delayed and we ended up getting food from Starbucks and buying ice cream. Today was filled with a lot of busy things but overall when we got back to Hawai’i, it was good to be home.
This trip was amazing, I got to see a lot things that amazed me; however, the thing that amazed me the most was the hospitality of my host family. The day that I got there Niu Liang Kun came to me with a bouquet of flowers, and said welcome to China. From that first encounter with my host brother, I knew that my host family was going to be amazing. The way that they opened their house to me was very kind and thoughtful. I truly felt that I was part of their family when I was there. We sat on the couch and dank tea and talked stories about my home in Hawaii. I will always remember the night when we had the "tea chat", and watched movie with my host family. In addition, they took me to many cool places that I have never been to, and showed me new things that would blow my mind. If there was one thing about this trip that was perfect, it was my host family. I will always remember there hospitality and their kindness.
Today was really fun. We had the same routine of the great breakfast and went to the middle school to sit in a few classes with my host brother. After the couple of classes we headed over to the grade school to meet up with Mr. Hickel and Mr. Wang to teach the 4th and 5th grade classes english. Everyday the classes just kept getting better and better, this glass was so well behaved and smart. After teaching the grade school classes we headed to the office to eat lunch. Since it was one of our last days we did not want to eat at the grade school, so we walked for 20 minutes to the closest pizza hut. We ordered some pizza, and wings. I liked how different the pizza joints here are. They give you a seat and like a actual restaurant and a waitress comes over to order your food. We had a great time there. Soon after we walked back to the grade school to teach one more class. This class was different as the rest, because the kids were in the second grade, and in a english club. We taught them how to make turkeys out of their hands. It was very funny because when I was in the first grade, I remember doing that during thanksgiving. It was really fun, and the end of the day I went with Joeʻs host family to one of the best hot pots in Wuhan. They had very good food. After we ate that huge dinner, they drove me back to my host families home, they welcomed me with fruit, but I was too full. Soon after I went to bed. Today was a good day.
Teaching science was a challenge for me since I've never taken a science class after high school. I did the translation from their Chinese textbook and designed the PPT, activities and experiment. The topic was talking about ear components and sounds. First I had an icebreaker activity that asked students to listen to the sounds of different animals. Students were able to say the sentence "This is the sound of (Animal)." I divided them into 8 groups to do the group competition. Then I started introducing the ear components. I was glad to have Mr. Hickel helped me to pronounce the words, and students were able to repeat after him. Then I prepared a review activity for the ear components. Students needed to place the correct English vocab to the Chinese words. Afterwards, I asked Mr. Hickel to lead the experiment. Students were able to discover the relationship of the vibrating object and eardrum by using tuning fork, balloon, cup and pieces of paper. At the end, we read the conclusion as class in both Chinese and English (from my translation). I felt that I did well on engaging the students throughout the period. The combination of Chinese and English instruction also made this science more vivid Today was started out amazing. We got to school a little early so we could see what a typical science class was like here taught by Mr. Chen. It was kind of funny how even science transcends language. Though I didn’t understand a word he was saying, I knew exactly what he was talking about because of the activities and demonstrations he had the students doing. Afterwards, Li Yu told me that the principal was under the impression that I would be giving the science lesson, which kind of freaked me out considering Li Yu had chosen to take it so I knew little of what he had prepared. It ended up being so much fun! We played around with things like tuning forks and resonance boxes which are my area of expertise. The class period was still 40 minutes so we were not able to get a lot done, but I was able to run a small experiment which made me so happy! We were observed by 10 other science teachers and administrators which made me a little nervous but I was having so much fun I didn’t care. After class I was very honored to be asked to sit in on a meeting with the science department so we could discuss how I teach science in America vs. how they teach science here. Some of the things we talked about were how to conduct a flipped classroom, the order and number of science classes required, and benefits of a longer class period. They were very interested in what I had to say and took my email to keep in touch which I was excited about. After we were finished teaching for the day, Helen took us on a field trip with Joe and Michael to a history museum featuring exhibits from all over china dating back to 700 BC. Absolutely breath-taking. We saw bronze statues, pottery, and even some astronomical artifacts that I of course found fascinating. I was happy to be able to see this before we left. Helen has been an amazing help to us this entire trip making sure we all got to see everything China had to offer. I fell so lucky to have had all the opportunities Li Yu and I have had with these amazing people and I will miss everyone greatly. It was glad to see Mr. Hickel experiencing teaching language, and he was getting better and better. After the introduction, he taught students how to do their own autograph. I was surprised that some students had a really good hand writing in English. Then they learned how to make a postcard. Mr. Hickel included the writing that the students have been learning in the lesson, such as "I collect..." Then the fun activity was students went around the classroom and ask their friends for their English autographs. Students couldn't wait to get the autographs from 4 of us. This was the first time I felt that I'm a super star. I guess the students here realize my dream! Today was easily one of my favorite days in Wuhan. Started out by having another amazing breakfast with milk tea picked out by Li Yu followed by his 4th grade classes. They went very well as they usually do. We had a long break between his 4thgraders and my 5th graders so we took Joe and Michael out to Papa John’s for some pizza and rice. The walk was extremely cold but it was worth the trip. Joe apparently had 4 pairs of pants on so at least I knew HE was warm. My classes went so well today!! I loved all of the changes I made to the curriculum and am kicking myself so not figuring out the problems sooner. But hey, even my high school classes back home need to be a little messy a couple times before I really figure out what works the best. Because they apparently liked getting our autographs so much after teaching them how to make one, I instead had the students try and collect as many of their classmates’ as they could and then asked them about it towards the end of class. I am very excited to give the lessons again but a little bummed I don’t get to see them more. We ended up grabbing dinner with 3 of the English teachers we had been working with at the grade school. I had one of the most amazing meals of my life. I love how they order food here. Basically it is all family-style where they just order a bunch of different dishes and everyone grabs their chopsticks and tries a little bit of everything. I ate a bunch of new things that apparently didn’t even have an English translation. Some were only grown or made in Wuhan which were all interesting and amazing. The teachers were so warm and friendly! It was nice to be able to speak English again for a night. Li Yu and I kept telling them that they need to come visit us in Hawaii so we can take them out and show them around as much as they have done for us. I hope they take us up on it eventually. Today we had to introduce ourselves to the middle school students. The school consisted of at least 600 students. I was surprised by how many there were. We had to introduce ourselves in Chinese, and answer questions in English. After the assembly we walked over to the office and worked on our daily blogs. Shortly after took a bus over to the elementary school where we taught two 5th grades classes. I was surprised by the fact that they were very well behaved and knew English language. After we taught the two 5th grade classes we went back to the office and ate lunch. After we ate our lunch we headed over to a building where the English club took place. Mr. Hickel taught them how to make turkeys with their hands. After I went to my host family’s house and we ate hot pot, drank tea and watched a movie.
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Mr. Wang 11/18-11/27 |