Carnival/Circus

As part of the Camp China program, the "Foreign Teachers" would put on Culture Nights for the students as a fun way to teach them about American culture. Culture Nights were usually a favorite part of the Camp for many of the students. This Culture Night was the carnival/circus.

We had many guest appearances including "The Most Beautiful Woman in the World", monkeys and a monkey trainer, Strong Man, and clowns. And what carnival/circus is complete without games and dancing?...no carnival is complete without games! The students loved the water balloon games and the three-legged race. "The Most Beautiful Woman in the World" also introduced the Chinese students to the Conga Dance. It was pretty amazing to see that many chinese kids dancing around in the courtyard.

Good times were shared by all and laughing could be heard echoing in the courtyard! Good times....great memories!

Opening Ceremonies

The place I love so much!

Opening ceremonies is always exciting for me. I love it because it is the first time to get to see all of the students together. We arrived at the school on Friday night, and the students arrived at different times throughout the weekend. Camp China kicks off on Monday morning with opening ceremonies followed by an all-camp picture and testing (to put the students in the appropriate class according to their English level).

Here is a brief rundown of opening ceremonies activities....There are many speeches given by various school officials and students at opening ceremonies. We listen intently to 3 or 4 speeches that are completely in Chinese as if we understand every word that is being spoken. Then, although completely clueless about what was just said, we clap and smile. One of the top English students in Camp China will usually give a speech telling the foreign teachers how excited they are for us to be there. All of those speeches are followed by a speech from the team leader that talks about "building bridges of friendship and cooperation". The favorite part, however, is the performances. This summer the students performed a song for us (see the video at the end of this entry). We "foreign teachers" performed a wonderful rendition of Aladdin's "I Can Show You the World". The kids love to hear you sing....anything...anywhere...at any time. It's always makes me feel good to hear them say, "Miss Katie, you have a beautiful voice!" especially when I know that I don't sing very well at all.

I love opening ceremonies because it is the start of something new....something amazing...something life-changing. It is the start of new friendships that will last a lifetime. It's the start of 4 (or in my case 2) of the most challenging weeks of teaching of your life. It's the start of many interesting stories and memories. But most importantly, it's the start of being "ruined for the ordinary" and making an eternal impact on Chinese middle school and high school students. I love it....

A quick post...

I don't have any pictures to post for today...and no China story either. I am moving back to College Station tomorrow to paint and get moved in. Hopefully by Wednesday things at the trailer will be back in order. It may be a few days before I get another post with pics about China up, but I will get to it as soon as I can. So keep checking back!

There's a spirit can ne'er be told....It's the Spirit of AGGIELAND!

"Howdy ya'll"! This is the greeting from the students that I loved to hear the most. Reason #1: it reminds me of Texas. Reason #2: I passed on the love for Texas A&M to my Chinese students with "Howdy". Reason #3: There is nothing more adorable than hearing Chinese students try their hardest to mimic a "country" accent. My students would greet me every morning with a friendly "Howdy". It's always fun to take my love for A&M to China, and this year I didn't have to do it alone. Arie (my teammate) and I made sure that our students and fellow teammates knew everything about A&M.

During one of our breaks at training, Arie and I did all of the yells and sang the War Hymn and Spirit of Aggieland for our team. They were a little worried about us at first, but then they began to appreciate it. Infact, our team cheer was a modified version of an A&M yell. Hao Hao WHOOP!

I have to pass on the "Spirit of Aggieland" to everyone that I come in contact with....even in China! So...friends in China and teammates....here are a couple of videos that tell you a little bit more about "The Spirit of Aggieland!" Enjoy!

Here is an ESPN commercial that I couldn't add to my blog! It's pretty funny!

We Bleed Maroon - Final OGS Version

I love this. WHOOP!

My wonderful class...BRAZIL!

BRAZIL!! Class #6!

I absolutely loved my class this year. Camp China 2007 was bigger than ever. There were about 180 students involved this year (give or take a few). My class had 21 amazing students. It was definitely a change from last summer because there were less students with more teachers this year. In Camp China '06, my team teacher (Aaron) and I had 15 students. In Camp China '07, I had 21 students by myself. I loved every minute of it....infact, classroom time in the morning was the time of day that I looked forward to the most.

Each class represented a country, and my class was Brazil. We had a great time each day and were all great friends by the time I left. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday mornings we would have curriculum for 3 hours with our class. Wednesday mornings were different because it was Olympic Day. The different countries (classes) loved to compete against each other during the Olympics. Three afternoons a week we would have afternoon activities, and then three nights a week we would have culture nights. Afternoon activities and culture nights were with the entire camp. In afternoon activities the teachers would rotate through the classes and play different games with the students. Culture nights were usually a hit because the teachers would give the students a taste of American culture.

Here are some pictures of my class. I love them so much!

I'm finally back to posting!

After being back in the states for about 3 weeks, I am finally back to posting on my blog. This is probably going to be the best way for me to show you my pictures as well as tell you some stories about the summer.

My summer in Nanning was cut short because of a broken arm and bruises. I was able to teach my class for two weeks before having to leave Nanning. After those two weeks, I flew to Hong Kong to visit more doctors before returning home. I am not going to lie...I love my unexpected week in Hong Kong.

"Expect the unexpected"...I didn't think that I would forced to live by this anymore than what had happened last summer, but boy was I wrong. Here's the story...

My team arrived in Nanning on Friday July 6. The next evening I was on my way to decorate my classroom when I fell down some wet stairs and landed on my arm. I went to the hospital in Nanning where the doctor there told me that nothing was wrong with my arm, and he gave me a spray to put on it. I was a little concerned about putting a spray on my arm even more so because it said "Key Ingredients: kept confidential." I didn't use that at all. Apple (my friend that I met last summer) had some Chinese medicine made for me the next day that took almost all of the swelling out of my arm. AMAZING! Later that week (the following Friday) I got the splint material, sling, and painkillers in the mail. I was so thankful for them and for how quickly they made it from Texas to Nanning, China because I until then I only had a piece of cloth that we had made into a sling on my arm.

I thought everything was going to be fine, but on the second Thursday of teaching, they decided that I needed to go back to the hospital and see another doctor. I went...but I def. wasn't excited about it. This doctor told me that my arm wasn't broken, but I needed to keep it in the splint and not move it at all. My team leader and our site visitor decided after that hospital visit that I should go to Hong Kong to see some of the doctors there. So that began my journey home...

I left Nanning the next day and spend the next week in Hong Kong. The first doctor I went to in Hong Kong wouldn't take a look at my arm and gave me an appointment with an orthopaedic surgeon for later that week. So I went to the doctor again, and he gave a completely different opinion on my arm than either of the other doctors. At this point, I was just ready to come home. I came home and we xrayed my arm yet again....and I found out that it was indeed broken. AHHHH....

I am adding a couple of pictures of my arm throughout the time I was there...you may see some of these pics again in posts to come. Thanks for all of your support and prayers during my time there. I couldn't have gotten through it without you!

Candy and me! This is one of the few pics before my broken arm...after this meal, I had to learn to eat with chopsticks with my right hand. It was a little bit difficult!

The sling Chris made out of a piece of cloth while we waited for the real stuff to arrive!

My arm and its pretty bruise a week after the fall.
Chris and me with my new splint and sling!

Isn't my splint a beauty? I sure was happy to have it because it made life much less painful!