"Two Trains!"

(Deanna)

On this lovely Thursday, the Bears started out the day ready for Culture class. Zou Lao Shi asked us if we wanted to go to Prince Bay Garden near West Lake, we happily said yes. Before leaving, I presented the group gift to our teacher who was both happy and surprised.

"So we put our hands up like the ceiling can’t hold us..."

(Brandon)

Curse this alarm. Five more minutes of sleep and I'll get up. I promise. Half an hour later? Just getting up. Inhale breakfast and we're out the door. Upon arriving at the school, the gang convened at our den to start another school day.

Getting Ready to Say Goodbye...

(Patty)

Hi all!

Today was another characteristically busy day for everyone's favorite bears. The morning started off in Chinese painting, a class which we all enjoy but do struggle with a bit due to our artistic inabilities (I'm the weakest link in this case). About an hour into class I had a painting which I was fairly confident in, as I thought it looked like the subject matter I was trying to depict (flowers). However, when I went to go show the teacher, her response to my masterpiece was that it didn't look like a flower, but at least it had feeling! From that point, I fell back onto the refined art of splatter painting. Ah, looks like I won't be a Picasso any time soon.

Teaching in China

(Veronica)

My apologies for the absence of blog postings – I have been kept busy the last two weeks teaching Gao Er and Gao Yi classes, respectively (these are equivalent to our junior and sophomore classes). As noted in an earlier post, the class culture greatly differs from what I am used to. However, this time I wasn’t teaching a set curriculum. My presentation consisted of a virtual tour of Boston, a run through of the different colleges and universities in the area, my family and interests, a tour of DSMS, what I teach in 7th grade English, pictures of my classes (yes, kids, they loved the pictures we took before I left!), and a sample poetry lesson that incorporates music. When I have run out of time during my lesson with the Gao Yi (year one) classes, the students have closed the doors and windows, urging me to continue. Since some of the students are host siblings for the Bears, the feedback I have received is that they enjoyed how expressive and animated I can get.

"School Meeting"

(Michael)

I woke up this morning at 5:30 to attend one of the more misleading school sponsored events that I have attended on any continent. The event was given the generic title of “School Meeting” and it was just that. The attendance of every student, facility member,  was compulsory and attendance appeared to be organized and counted with military precision. The students organized themselves into lines divided by grade and class and organized by height while the faculty formed a separate block of people. Students in red sashes and armbands moved about the sea of people and counted and shifted their peers to better fit the lines of the group.

"That's For Babies!"

(Deanna)

The day started out in driving to school to meet up with the Bears at 8:30. With my quirky and lovely host mother who was dressed in bright pink pajamas, we finally arrived at the school. My host mum said “You didn’t eat breakfast, I’m going to get you a hamburger”, she runs out of the car past traffic and into KFC. Five minutes later, she comes back with coffee and a sandwich for me in which I thank her many times and tell her how sweet she is. She waved goodbye and went on her way while I met up with the Bears.