3/4/16

Dear Mom (and everyone else), I survived my first week of teaching! It went all right, I think. I don't think it's the same situation for all the interns in China, but for the Suzhou group at least, our job is extra practice. The kids have their Chinese English teachers, and then we are here to help them practice their oral English. I teach grades 1-5, and there are several classes in each grade. I get each class once in a period of two weeks. So, after a whole week of introducing myself, I get to do it all over again for another week! I'll be really good at it (supposedly). It's tricky, because I have a wide variety of ages, and I've been trying to figure out who understands what, and such. The first graders understand almost nothing, except some vocabulary about colors, numbers, and animals. The fifth grade are pretty good at English. It's been an adventure, that's for sure. It was a bit awkward, after I decided to abandon Plan A for third grade because it wasn't working, and I tried to explain a game, and they stared at me and said, ''What?'' Of all the things I've done as far as teaching experience goes, the one that has helped me the most is primary. The kids are very cute. I love seeing their big, happy grins as they greet me with ''Hello, teacher!'' and ''Laoshi hao!'' A few of them come into my office to practice their English with me. They are so nice and loving, I hope I can be what they need me to be. I keep praying that I can be a good teacher for them. There's no way I can learn all their names, but I love them. My friend, Alisa (who gave me the phone), has been coming over after school to study for a big English test that she's preparing for. It's hard work! It's really impressive that she has taught herself, mostly. I hope I'm enough help. I've been helping others with English a lot, but it would be really nice if I could have someone to help me with Chinese. I sit in the office and listen to the other teachers jabber and think, ''It would be awesome if I knew what the heck was going on.'' They always sound angry until they start laughing. I went shopping for toilet cleaner the other day and I had to play charades so the lady could help me find it. It was an experience. Be nice to all the Mexicans who don't speak English. It's hard. Well, I love you all. Have fun. I hope everything goes well with the play. Have fun with kids and whatever else. Be nice to each other. And all that good stuff. Love, Chelsey