well I made it through my first week! It started off great! my kids are great...scared little faces the first day. now they are much more comfortable, but still excited about learning! I felt more tired as the week wore on, and there are lots of new things to learn still, but we're making it through. I'll probably still have to come into school on Saturday to get some marking done though. students have workbooks for every subject, and I cant carry these big books home on the bus.
my class is an intersting mix of students. I have 15 right now, half of them are taking ESL, and I have only 5 boys! there are a few adopted kids, and about half of the class is Korean. on Monday I will be getting a student from the other grade 4 class. she's new to the school and her father requested that she be with her Kiwi friend. The Principal made the final decision...but I would've left her where she is.
last weekend we quickly found out something about chinese culture. we all know that women are not valued, but maybe we weren't aware of the abuse that goes on. Scott and I were leaving a friend's apartment to find a cab. it wasn't a very busy street, and we could see this couple arguing. as we got closer we saw the man slap the woman and pull her hair! Scott yelled at him to stop. he stopped hitting her but they continued arguing. we continued walking but again he started hitting her. I couldn't believe my eyes, I was so scared. again, Scott yelled at him to stop. In English, the girl yelled "I'm ok" while her husband was dragging her along by the hair. Scott moved closer and continued to yell at him so he knew it wasn't acceptable. he finally stopped and walked in our separate directions. and of course, we were the only ones to say anything. everyone else turns a blind eye to the abuse. I was glad nobody here carries a weapon!
better get some marking and planning done. enjoy the privileges and be thankful for where you live!
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3 comments:
holy, that's pretty crazy! scott must not have been scared of the guy. if that was North America, there probably would have been weapons involved. must be quite the culture shock for you guys.
Very sad- Pete says the same thing. I know it's changing though, and I hope it's changing in China. The women are becoming more empowered and maybe what Scott did showed that woman that she too has a right to stand up.
Your pictures are great. It's hard to believe you are in those places so far away. I'm glad school is going well- we start soon too.Ahh.
I hope you are meeting some English-speaking people- that Canadian couple is great to have.
ok, talk to you soon
marcella meinema
Congratulations on your first week of school! You made it!! Good job!
Wow, you guys have managed to accomplish A LOT in the last month!
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