In the last couple days, I have successfully:
-Stepped in a giant pile of crap while playing frisbee.
-Slipped and hit my head. I still have a nice bruise on my elbow and my neck is a little sore. =(
The last few days have been a bit busy. The internet at the hotel is a bit slow sometimes, so I haven't really had a chance to update. It's been rainy and cloudy, too. I was really enjoying the 60 degree weather!
We had an orientation day at our school yesterday. We went over the New Beat base school and learned about the New Beat philosophy and instruction materials. However, I won't be teaching there, but unlike most the other teachers, I will have the same class of students every day of the week. Past that, I really can't tell you much more, because I won't find out until tomorrow. My first class is on Monday.
What I do know: Class size is between 20-30. Class time length is between 30-40 minutes. There are four levels of students: Beginners (2.5-3 yrs old), Juniors (4 yrs), Intermediate (5 yrs), and Senior (6 yrs). There is a greeting song sang every day and every unit has a new song and dance.
Anyway, we also had an excursion to Shanghai Cultural Center to learn to make dumplings. Unfortunately, we went right after lunch, so none of us were very hungry. Later that night, we went to an acrobatic show on Wednesday. It was alright. The one I saw in Beijing was a ton better than this one. The show used no safety lines (except in one act when the two acrobats were flying over the audience) and was a little rickety. One of the more interesting acts involved a giant cage-sphere with five motorcyclists performing tricks. Why anyone would want to be driving in a small sphere on motorcycles is beyond me. Crazy Acrobats. Sorry I don't have many pictures/videos from the show—my camera was not fond of the dark room and fast moving acrobats.
Another excursion we had was to the Shanghai Museum and the Old Shanghai Quarter. The Shanghai Museum was... a museum. Lots of Tang pottery... Coins... etc. Lots of fun history, but exploring it took a lot less time than we were given. The Old Shanghai Quarter was fun. Because the Lantern Festival is tomorrow, everything was decorated. The Lantern Festival is celebrated fifteen days after the lunar new year. I didn't buy anything, despite the many, tempting, cheap items at the shops—we just walked around and took pictures.
-Stepped in a giant pile of crap while playing frisbee.
-Slipped and hit my head. I still have a nice bruise on my elbow and my neck is a little sore. =(
The last few days have been a bit busy. The internet at the hotel is a bit slow sometimes, so I haven't really had a chance to update. It's been rainy and cloudy, too. I was really enjoying the 60 degree weather!
We had an orientation day at our school yesterday. We went over the New Beat base school and learned about the New Beat philosophy and instruction materials. However, I won't be teaching there, but unlike most the other teachers, I will have the same class of students every day of the week. Past that, I really can't tell you much more, because I won't find out until tomorrow. My first class is on Monday.
What I do know: Class size is between 20-30. Class time length is between 30-40 minutes. There are four levels of students: Beginners (2.5-3 yrs old), Juniors (4 yrs), Intermediate (5 yrs), and Senior (6 yrs). There is a greeting song sang every day and every unit has a new song and dance.
Anyway, we also had an excursion to Shanghai Cultural Center to learn to make dumplings. Unfortunately, we went right after lunch, so none of us were very hungry. Later that night, we went to an acrobatic show on Wednesday. It was alright. The one I saw in Beijing was a ton better than this one. The show used no safety lines (except in one act when the two acrobats were flying over the audience) and was a little rickety. One of the more interesting acts involved a giant cage-sphere with five motorcyclists performing tricks. Why anyone would want to be driving in a small sphere on motorcycles is beyond me. Crazy Acrobats. Sorry I don't have many pictures/videos from the show—my camera was not fond of the dark room and fast moving acrobats.
Another excursion we had was to the Shanghai Museum and the Old Shanghai Quarter. The Shanghai Museum was... a museum. Lots of Tang pottery... Coins... etc. Lots of fun history, but exploring it took a lot less time than we were given. The Old Shanghai Quarter was fun. Because the Lantern Festival is tomorrow, everything was decorated. The Lantern Festival is celebrated fifteen days after the lunar new year. I didn't buy anything, despite the many, tempting, cheap items at the shops—we just walked around and took pictures.
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