From Brooklyn to Beijing

So first of all, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, all that jazz. Many people abroad have been asking what Christmas is like in China, a communist country with minimal religious ties, except to Buddha or Confucius. Knowing me, you know that I love the holidays. I start blasting holiday music the day after thanksgiving; I know all the words to every song; I walk around New York to see all the lights; I go to Beacon Hill to listen to the bell ringers; I see the Revels; I sing carols in the neighborhood; you name it. So it’s hard to imagine living in a place that is without Christmas spirit. But, there IS Christmas in Beijing. Well, a version of Christmas. Let’s begin with music. 1 point for China Christmas! In every mall and Starbucks, there is Christmas music playing. Some songs are familiar versions… others… well, it’s the thought that counts. Like this guy, he plays the holidays jingles quite well. And he’s everywhere!! Let’s move on to decorations. Now, no place ca...

It’s getting towards the end of my first semester and I am starting to reflect on and truly appreciate the amazing opportunities I have here.   Therefore, I’ll take some time to post about it. Who knew being a westerner in China could be so great for the self esteem? Every presentation I do, everywhere I go, people here are telling me how great I am! What   a confidence booster! Yet no one will let me compliment them back, so I’ll do it here. For example, last Saturday at the Beijing American Center, I had the pleasure of giving a workshop to 150 amazing Chinese English teachers from all over the area. Four fellows presented; my workshop was about foldables and how you can use them in the classroom. The teachers were super attentive. Taking notes, taking photographs of my PPT, asking questions, volunteering. Every teacher was so engaged in making their foldable. It was almost unbearable to tell them the workshop was over! Dozens added me on wechat right away to t...

Here is the newest promotional video from my university to students abroad. Just watch.... 1:10, 2:10, 3:20

Well, when China makes international news, it's time to get blogging again. So Monday evening, the Wechat group of the foreign language department at CUEB was on fire. In chinese. I couldn't translate as fast as they were messaging. What was going on? I tried to interpret the poorly translated texts. School is closed? The subway is shutting down? A red alert? I'm confused! Should I be evacuating myself? Is this the Airpocalypse for real? I didn't think it could ever be as bad as it was last Tuesday, when the pollution AQI index skyrocketed over 600 for a good chunk of the day. (see photos below. Well, see how you can't 'see' I suppose). But the AQI was only (only!) hovering around 280. I didn't understand. And i really wished I spoke Chinese. So I started reaching out, trying to get to the bottom of this all. Apparently, primary and secondary schools in all of Beijing will be closed from Tuesday until Friday due to this pollution red alert. Why i...

What a whirlwind weekend in Xi'an. Where to begin? Let’s start with my train ride to Xi’an. I was invited by another fellow to do a teacher training at Xi'an International University for about 110 teachers from primary, secondary and universities in the area. This meant that not only do I get more practice giving teaching workshops but I get to visit a super cool city. I’ve been dreaming of the Terra Cotta Warriors since I was 3 years old watching Big Bird Goes to China, and now was my chance! Being an ELF is pretty cool sometimes. Xi'an! So I’m working on my ppt on the train and the man next to me starts to read my slides. In broken English he asks, are you a teacher? I say yes and it turns out he is a professor of education at Tsinghua University (super prestigious if you don’t know!). We then go on to discuss the problems with education in China, spend some time talking about scaffolding and differentiation, and finally he tells me about the work he is doing...

How are things at school you may ask? Getting better every day. Literally. Every day something new happens; I meet a colleague, my students amaze me with something; I get invited to judge fun contests. My students hard at work… and play.   Or like last week. When I was asked by my lovely colleague Chao to come to the rehearsal for the singing competition I stopped in my tracks. “There’s a singing competition??” “yes, between departments. The foreign language department is asking you to join us. You’ll be our lucky break.” “How so…” “It’s a competition of Chinese communist songs and you’ll be the only foreigner in it! We will be so special!”. And so I attempted to learn a Chinese communist song by heart, failing of course, but I did learn the melody and hummed along during the contest. Sadly, even with my voice and face to the mix, we didn’t win. But it did invoke a whole lot of collectivism. Now the staff knows who I am and want me to be more involved. I e...