First Day Down

Somehow, the first day is always just a whirlwind. My feet hit the floor at 5:30 AM and I decide it is a wise idea to just get up. The sun rises about 4 AM so sleeping late is really not an option.  I pull on clothes, head down the hall to the team room, get the big thermoses and go to the 6^th floor to fill them, pull leftover watermelon out of the fridge, and put four eggs into the microwave in yet another room to cook. 

By the time my eggs are done, more team members have begun to arrive to fix breakfast. We have a large classroom that we used for orientation, and it doubles now as a study room for the teachers, and a place to fix breakfast. The supermarket a block away is well stocked with eggs, juice, bread, butter, oatmeal, milk, yogurt, fruit – anything we need for breakfast. We are now two years in to everyone fixing their own breakfast instead of eating a restaurant breakfast, and it’s messy, but easy. Certainly it is cheaper, we eat more healthily, and the social side of sharing life is warm and deep.

At 8 AM we arrive at the plenary hall to set up, and there are already learners – professors and students – arriving. The opening ceremonies are perfunctory, but part of the local culture. Speeches are given from both the university and the foreign team, pictures taken, gifts exchanged, and we’re off and running. We move then into the first plenary session with breathing exercises, a few songs, a short video, and announcements. 

Next on the docket are personal interviews with every learner. Our team spreads out across big desks, and one by one, learners come to an individual teacher and do a simple assessment of their English level. It is not rocket science, and it certainly is not an absolute measure, but it helps to place them in somewhat homogeneous sections so they can move ahead together. Some of the team have done it several times; others were on their first time. Amazingly, well over 100 learners were interviewed in less than two hours. While most of the team do interviews, a few are moving learners through the system and scoring the sheets. After all the interviews are done, the sheets are sorted, and classes formed. 

Though we set up interviews, score the learners, and sort the score sheets, this is a point where we deeply  depend on the Lord to put the right learners with the right teachers. Four of the Chinese staff quickly make up class lists before the afternoon plenary. Our teachers have run over to the classroom building, opened up their classrooms, and tried to grab a bite of lunch.   

At 1 PM the afternoon plenary begins, again with breathing exercises, and some songs. Singing in English is a great way to get the rhythm of the language but in the safety of numbers. A short idiom skit follows and then the learners cluster around foreign teachers and talk through the idiom. Class lists are read and groups of ten to twelve head off behind their new teacher or teachers. 

I get to the classroom building around 2 PM and finally grab lunch. The afternoon passes quickly with classes beginning, teachers getting the feel for their learners, supplies making their way to each classroom. At 3:30 our team begin to wander back into the break room, weary, but feeling good about their classes. One guy writes on the board, “S&J’s class is the BEST.” Soon other teachers are crossing out S&J and putting in their names. Good banter ensues.  First day down, three weeks stretch ahead.