Journal in 2014

Journal Monday July 7^th, 2014......Today was day one of our stint as English teachers/babysitters at the nearby preschools……

With six volunteers from America, being myself, Jesse, Kevin, Annie, Michael, and Shuyu, four Chinese volunteers, Susan, Summer, Serena, and Daniel, plus our administrative personnel, Cindy, we divided ourselves into two separate groups to tackle two separate preschools……. By the end of the day, we were utterly exhausted already and were extremely ready to go back to the hotel. Dinner was nice, and our seventh volunteer, Ivy, finally arrived. Afterwards we played many rowdy games of Mafia. Even though it was all very tiring, we still had a lot of fun. 

Journal Tuesday July 8^th, 2014……. Annie and I went back to our mid-level class, filled with adorable faces, and proceeded to watch them do their morning exercises……. At lunch, the same food as yesterday was served,

still quite good, and we were finally allowed to just relax. In the afternoon……. since the kids were really young and my Chinese vocabulary is only so expansive, we had a hard time explaining to the kids, I  felt like the afternoon was somewhat of a failure, but overall it wasn’t horrible, as the kids seemed to have fun running around and we got many good pictures.

Journal Wednesday July 9^th, 2014……. Today was our third day at the preschool. But more importantly, it was the day of the Brazil vs. Germany World Cup semi-finals game…… After seeing some of the kids becoming super distracted, we played Hot Potato, with Kevin on the piano providing the background music. This went rather well, although some kids were really shy about performing upon receiving the Potato. Even though it was really tiring, I had enjoyed playing with the kids, especially since these ones can actually communicate with me. Kevin, on the other hand, complained that these kids were much too loud, but I think he just had it too good with his first class, which was unusually obedient and quiet for a preschool class……As for Annie and Shuyu’s class, they seemed pretty well-behaved at first glance. Annie started drawing animals, which the children loved looking, and they mobbed her and requested a variety of animals to be drawn, but mostly cats. It was decided that any child who could say the number four in English would receive one Annie-drawing as a prize. This was moderately successful, and the kids were happy…..

Journal Thursday July 10, 2014……When we finally arrived at the preschool, the kids were all very excited to see us. Kevin and I began the day with Musical Chairs once again......

Finally, we ended up having any kids who liked performing come to the front of the classroom and sing or recite a poem for everyone, which they really liked……In the afternoon, the kids were extraordinarily hyper in our class. We once again began the afternoon by reading some stories, and then learned three new colors: black, white, and pink. In addition, we reviewed some of the older colors……. After a stressful last day, we were actually somewhat relieved, although we liked the kids, to leave.