Back To My Roots
This is the second day of my attachment in China so far.
A couple of things that stood out on the first day were arriving bleary-eyed at Shanghai Pudong and then being driven across by the driver who was watching a DVD, off and on, in his car (!!) I've never seen such a futuristic car before, excepting maybe some cabs in Singapore. but this one had a small DVD screen in front of the windscreen. Very advanced but makes for very dangerous driving!
We attended the start of term assembly yesterday, and it was really interesting. We listened to the principals (all three of them) give speeches to the students, who were attentively listening. At points the speaker would say "Neng bu neng?" (Can you do this?) and the students would yell, "Neng!!!" and resume listening attentively, the like of which would be unseen in Singapore!
Although I understood only about half of what was said, some of the speeches were very poetic; you can do things in Chinese that you can't do in English - one of them was about turning the pressure (ya li) your parents gave you into motivation (dong li) for yourself to do well. In Chinese, the half-rhymes gave the speech rhythm and emphasis unachievable in English!
Today we were eased into our attachment with a talk given by one of the principals of the school, and one of the directors as well. They outlined how the school was run (the structure of the school) as well as the curriculum structure. It was very interesting, although I realise how much I don't know about our own education system and was inspired to find out more. I guess this is really practical learning; as a Singaporean kid, I'm so used to learning from the textbook, but the things we're learning here we're learning hands-on, and it's challenging as well as humbling because I'm finding out just how much I don't know. I am learning so much from the teachers here as well as my attachment partner. I just pray that what I know now and what I'm learning now can be put to good use in the future.
Looking at the timetable we've been given is rather overwhelming. Apart from having to teach a Maths class in Chinese next week, there are a number of talks with a number of key people I'm keen and yet apprehensive about. My main worry is my Chinese and the gaps in my knowledge, although I am looking forward very much to learning more. Perhaps challenges are good and getting out of your comfort zone is good. I'm sure that next week I will have many testimonies of how He gave me courage. Need to work very hard on my Chinese and start asking questions and clarifying things right now!
The bright spot in the day was a call from a Chinese friend who lives in Hubei. It was wonderful to chat with him, to hear a familiar voice while I was so disoriented. And to chat in English! Although I really wanted to try out my Chinese on him, having spoken Chinese for almost the whole day! I am going to practice my Maths lesson on him next week.
I am praying for my friend who's on attachment with me, who has diarrhoea right now... Let it get better soon.
If you're reading this and you have time, please pray for courage and humility for me. Thanks!! :o)
A couple of things that stood out on the first day were arriving bleary-eyed at Shanghai Pudong and then being driven across by the driver who was watching a DVD, off and on, in his car (!!) I've never seen such a futuristic car before, excepting maybe some cabs in Singapore. but this one had a small DVD screen in front of the windscreen. Very advanced but makes for very dangerous driving!
We attended the start of term assembly yesterday, and it was really interesting. We listened to the principals (all three of them) give speeches to the students, who were attentively listening. At points the speaker would say "Neng bu neng?" (Can you do this?) and the students would yell, "Neng!!!" and resume listening attentively, the like of which would be unseen in Singapore!
Although I understood only about half of what was said, some of the speeches were very poetic; you can do things in Chinese that you can't do in English - one of them was about turning the pressure (ya li) your parents gave you into motivation (dong li) for yourself to do well. In Chinese, the half-rhymes gave the speech rhythm and emphasis unachievable in English!
Today we were eased into our attachment with a talk given by one of the principals of the school, and one of the directors as well. They outlined how the school was run (the structure of the school) as well as the curriculum structure. It was very interesting, although I realise how much I don't know about our own education system and was inspired to find out more. I guess this is really practical learning; as a Singaporean kid, I'm so used to learning from the textbook, but the things we're learning here we're learning hands-on, and it's challenging as well as humbling because I'm finding out just how much I don't know. I am learning so much from the teachers here as well as my attachment partner. I just pray that what I know now and what I'm learning now can be put to good use in the future.
Looking at the timetable we've been given is rather overwhelming. Apart from having to teach a Maths class in Chinese next week, there are a number of talks with a number of key people I'm keen and yet apprehensive about. My main worry is my Chinese and the gaps in my knowledge, although I am looking forward very much to learning more. Perhaps challenges are good and getting out of your comfort zone is good. I'm sure that next week I will have many testimonies of how He gave me courage. Need to work very hard on my Chinese and start asking questions and clarifying things right now!
The bright spot in the day was a call from a Chinese friend who lives in Hubei. It was wonderful to chat with him, to hear a familiar voice while I was so disoriented. And to chat in English! Although I really wanted to try out my Chinese on him, having spoken Chinese for almost the whole day! I am going to practice my Maths lesson on him next week.
I am praying for my friend who's on attachment with me, who has diarrhoea right now... Let it get better soon.
If you're reading this and you have time, please pray for courage and humility for me. Thanks!! :o)
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home