General Information

For those of you who may want to know (this will be updated as questions and information pops up):

What is this blog for? 

I have been honored with the opportunity to teach in Weifang, China.  This blog is to journal my experiences while I am gone, and for my family and friends to follow along with me.

How did you get involved in this teaching opportunity in Weifang, China?

When I began searching for my student teaching opportunities in the Spring of 2014, I was given the opportunity to student teach for two months through connections between Bemidji State University (BSU) (my home school) and Weifang University.  Due to unforseen circumstances, that opportunity was cancelled.

Instead, I was offered the same position job for the Spring semester of 2015, through continued connections with BSU, but this time as the teacher, and not a student teacher.

How long will you be gone?

My flight should take me out of America on the first or second of March, and then return me home very soon after the 30th of June (which is the end of their semester).  All in all, I will be in China for about four months.

What will you be doing over there?

Contractually, I will be teaching English Language Arts to five- yes, five!!- 6th graders.  There may be a little Social Studies as well, and some English Language tutoring on the side.

*Note: Even though these students have English names that are not officially registered, effectively giving them a nickname so as to keep their anonymity, I have still given them ANOTHER nickname (via Greek/Norse gods) just in case. The protocol about such things are different in China but I don’t want to break any American teaching protocols either (even though there isn’t a solid rule about this in America, as different schools have different rules).

For now, I just refer to them in pronoun form, but I may branch out into these new nicknames if I decide it’s a good idea.

I will also be extensively picking up the language as I go (since I know about five words of Mandarin, if I am even saying them correctly), and will for sure be asking for help from the locals a multitude of times; I hear they are usually happy to oblige. I hope to learn from everyone I come across, including my students; I’m sure they’ll teach me just as much if not more than what I will be teaching them..

It is also quite obvious that I will be sight-seeing and traveling while I am there too; past that information, I do not know. I don’t have a set schedule (especially not this early in the game), and only have vague ideas as to what I want to see.

 

So, what you’re saying is that you don’t really have an idea what you’ve gotten yourself into.

As I understand it, China has a very different outlook on life in a lot of areas (education, for example), and so it will be interesting to adjust to that culture’s ideals. Honestly, agreeing to venture out past the borders of my home is something that I have never done before (Israel and Belize were different, as those were with groups of people going over and coming back at the same time. Also, those were only for a maximum of 10 days versus four months). I have never thought that I, an introvert who loves to read about new worlds and adventures in the comfort of her own little chair, would agree to something as wonderfully insane as moving away for months to a completely new country to to teach. Traveling for 10 days with a large group is one thing, but living for four months in a different country away from everyone and everything I love and am comfortable with is an entirely different idea.

That is entirely the point. It’s time to stretch that comfort zone. Bring it on.

It should be a wild ride, and I’m glad you all will be with me to enjoy the experience.