Thoughts on Chinese goods, winter and English Club!

It’s the third week of October and as another volunteer in my village put it, “fall is officially here.” Leaves are falling and the days are getting shorter and inevitably colder. I am so scared of the pending winter that I think I’ve subconsciously removed the fact that it will come from my mind. It’s a kind of instinctual psychological survival tactic, right? The only problem is – some preparation is needed on my part. As it stands I have just one jacket and one sweater. The sweater is a cheap, Chinese-made bazaar purchase that is already falling apart. Alas, I will have to seriously consider the soon-to-come sub-freezing temperatures and make some purchases fast. I really should have hit-up REI before leaving the U.S., these Chinese goods are easy on the wallet but just don’t make the cut in terms of usability. Case-in-point: the sweater I bought a mere two weeks ago is literally falling apart piece by piece. Come’ on China … Get it together! (Pun intended)

Placing the subject of winter back where it belongs, deep in the back of my psyche …. My work at the school here in Myrzake is going well. I’ve change my schedule so that I am now not teaching the 10th and 11th forms. I feel a little guilty about leaving the handful of good students in these grade levels, but overall the disrespect and as the Peace Corps labels it, “unwanted attention” I received made it impossible for me to continue teaching them.

The younger kids – the 8th and 9th forms, on the other hand, are a true pleasure to teach. They are really interested in learning English, eager to please and very appreciative of the time I spend with them. I’ve established an ‘English Club’ which meets three times a week where the most active and interested students come. So far we’ve covered the Present Simple Tense, Greetings and Times of Day, a little bit of U.S. geography, and vocabulary used to talk about every day, habitual actions. I’m sure my teaching style seems unorthodox to them, they are used to being dominated with an iron rod and made to repeat some antiquated greeting in English a thousand times. I try to stress genuine understanding of concepts rather than memorization and I try to encourage everyone to participate rather than just the ‘best’ students.


On the home front, things are good as usual. Despite the fact that I speak mostly English in the house with my ‘host mother’ (who’s 25 and speaks nearly perfect English), I feel like there is a real cultural exchange taking place. In fact, I feel that being able to communicate more has aided more in-depth conversations about our respective cultures.

That’s it for now. For those who have been waiting patiently for pictures and are not ‘friends’ with me on Facebook, I’m planning to start a Picasa album … so, look for a link to that soon.
Best wishes to you all! And, if you’re on the West Coast this winter a jealous sneer to you!