#1 Class

Lets start by making a long story long.

The school term ended on July 4th (technically) but the students needed to take an exam and then they had two days rest before starting up summer classes. I kept asking Ricky what the summer schedule was going to be and he kept giving the usual answer, "The school didn't make a decision yet." On the evening of the second day of rest, Ricky called me and told me I was teaching the first class the next morning and that he would give me the rest of the schedule when I got there. Well, the "rest of the schedule" turned out to be a three day plan. What was happening after that, I asked. "The school didn't make a decision yet." On the third day, I was given a new schedule for the next ten days after which the school would have a holiday. For how long? "The school didn't make a decision." The next day, Ricky had to come to my house in the evening to give me some last minute changes to the schedule. On day two of that schedule, it was decided that the students who had just completed the second year (of three) of high school would move into the third year building. They do not have lessons with a foreign teacher their third year so my schedule changed again. By the end of the week, I was asking, what next? "The school didn't make a decision yet." Since the schedule had changed, the undetermined holiday after the ten days of work went out the window but I knew it would be coming eventually. I just had to wait for the school to make a decision. As I was getting ready for work the second to last day of the most recent schedule, Ricky called me. "The school made a decision. We are done with classes. You are free." "When will we start again?" "The school didn't make a decision."

Two days later, Ricky called me again. I had to teach three more days. WHAT?! This is getting absolutely ridiculous! He explained to me that the middle school students who would be starting at the high school would be there. It turns out it was only one class--what they refer to as the #1 class--that I was spending three afternoons with. The middle school students take a test and the top 50 students based on the scores are put in a class together.

So, the first day I just introduced myself to them and I had them pick their English names and they asked me questions.

The second day we went on a fieldtrip of sorts. I was pretty excited to go since I don't get to do much touring. It was a bit of a let-down as far as tours go but I had to remind myself, this is China, home of simple pleasures.

The first place we stopped was the government center in Tai'an. There was a very large square here, which I was told was modeled after Tiananmen Square. I've not been to Beijing yet but I've seen pictures of Tiananmen Square and I didn't see the resemblance. The students kept asking me what I thought of it and if I liked it. I wasn't really sure what to say. I tried to explain to them that my idea of a beautiful setting was something UNdeveloped but I don't think they understood. Most of them have never seen "wild" landscapes. In all of my forays through the Liaoning Province it is all towns or farms.

Our next stop was a museum built for a general (can't remember his name) who was born in Taian. He is sort of their claim to fame. There is a very large statue of him in the city-center's traffic circle. The third stop was the Industrial Park. The bus stopped at a traffic circle and everyone got out. This was it. Again, I wasn't really sure what to make it.



The last stop was the park, back in Taian. As we were walking around, we passed an old woman who had baby rabbits. I stopped to pet them and one of my students asked, "Do you like it?" I told him I liked it very much and the next thing I know he hands 10 yuan (around $1.50) to the woman who picks up one of the rabbits by the ears, puts him in a plastic bag, and hands him to me. I took him out of the bag right away and tried to explain to the students that I couldn't keep a pet because I would be returning to my country in January and could not take the rabbit with me. One of the students promised she would take the rabbit when it was time for me to leave. I DID still have the fish tank in my apartment and I DO really miss my cat and the bunny was so cute so I accepted him. I've named him Tuza, which is "rabbit" in Chinese.

On the third day I promised the students we could play sports so I taught them kickball. This was interesting because some of them had never seen baseball either and didn't know the rules. I had a really hard time explaining to one girl the choice between staying safe on a base or running to the next one. Of course, they wanted to play basketball too. I was the only girl who played and the boys kept apologizing if the bumped into me. Later, they all complimented me on what a good runner I am.