jINhua: Kindergarten in Jinhua....

So, the students at our Jinhua High School need to collect volunteer hours, just as they do in Ontario. Today's volunteer hours were spent in a Kindergarten classroom in Jinhua. I'm not entirely convinced the kids are Kindergarten age, it feels much more like a day care, either way, I have been told, this was Kindergarten.

When we arrived at the "Kindergarten", the children were in the process of waking up after nap. The difference here however, from Canada, is the students sit in chairs and watch the girls get their hair done during their "wake up" time. Yes. Get their hair done. Each girl comes to the front of the class, and the teacher makes her look "pretty" after nap.

Once the girls have had their hair combed and made beautiful, (and by this time the students have been sitting for about 15-20 minutes) each student receives a warm facecloth to wipe their face (to rid of all the sleepies in their eyes and boogers in their noses..I think this is a practice we should adopt in Canada!).

After wake up, our students were to give a presentation. Normally, when we do a presentation for young students in Canada, they sit on the floor. Not in China. Sit on the floor? No way! (this could be because they mop the floors with the water from the urinals). These kids bring their chair with them! Tiny little people lugging their chairs up to the next floor was impressive, a little funny and made me feel a little bit bad. What these kids don't know is they will continue this ritual for years to come, for example, when there is an assembly at CTC, (Canadian Trillium College) the students must carry their chairs from their classrooms, across the campus, to the gym and then back again after the presentation.

Now is time for the fun to begin. Our Canadian Trillium College students have prepared some activities for the students to learn. Today they are learning the English words for sunflower, family, grandparents, grandma and grandpa. I have no idea what the connection is, I did not plan the trip, regardless they made it happen.

Our CTC students were AWESOME!!! They brought candy to bribe the children to answer questions, and be "good". They facilitated an art activity where each of our students were at the children's level, helping them make a sunflower.

Our students even recognized that the kids needed to have more creative ability, and not copy the sunflower they showed them, but create one of their own! It was fantastic.

It was a wonderful adventure to finally get outside of the school and see my students feel comfortable making a presentation, because it was in their first language, Chinese. I was able to see another side of my students, witness young adults about to embark on an overseas journey to Canada, students who just want to be able to use their cell phones, check their email, have a crush on the boy or girl next door. Things that our youth in Canada take for granted.

*Side note - one of my students has been suspended for seven days for using his cell phone on campus, and another two have been suspended for ten days for sneaking off campus without parental consent to go to the "net bar". (this is a whole other can of worms).

To bring this blog to an end, (finally!), summary of the story is, I love my students. They teach me something new every day, and I can only hope that I am teaching them something meaningful as well.

Please enjoy the photo's of my first school trip!

Are there any words needed? Amazing.

This is Bubble

Ted, recently, in a last ditch effort to get into their Chinese Classroom, Ted decided that the best option would be to break down the door. Leaving everything they have in their classrooms unprotected. I'm sure Ted learned his lesson ;).