That was today.
Today was the first day of VLS. This week we are teaching the younger of the students - the oldest being 12, I believe. I have an intermediate group, but still their actual levels of ability vary greatly. There is a huge stigma placed upon older students being put with younger students in hopes of helping them learn - they want to be with their friends and we don't want to cause them shame so they stay. Having to create and teach one lesson is hard enough - and then having to curtail it to each individual student is just VERY time consuming. So today was... challenging.
On top of the difficulties with the students, the curriculum is also... well, somewhat unorganized. In defense of the author, this is the original curriculum that had to be submitted to the Chinese government for approval. So, I'm unsure what parameters were in place at that time. We found out that we can change some of the activities to better suit the students and the grammar rules we are learning in hopes that tomorrow goes better than today! Onward and upward! :) Better tomorrow than today; better today than yesterday!
Another component of difficulty is speaking through translators that aren't super familiar with English themselves. It's just all-around challenging. So, you can imagine many of us were feeling very discouraged. I pretty much decided I wanted to come home today. Hah.
Then the smog lifted.
I went back to the Silk Market with David and Jessica to exchange shirts we needed for the camp. The taxi ride there took forever and we couldn't buckle up! There we were, on the interstate, and couldn't even wear seatbelts. Yikes! It was a death cab!
Exchanging the shirts ended up being yet another challenge for the day. It took 2 hours to get the order straightened out and waiting for some of the needed shirts to arrive from the warehouse. We waited in the booth with Jessica. She spoke very good English and was so sweet. I also met the girl across the way - Delia. She and I were the same age. These girls work 12 hours a day, seven days a week, and only get 2-3 days off a year. They are so hard-working.
It was there, in the silk market, I truly realized G's reason for sending me to China. And I only hope He continues to reveal more things about Himself. The greatness of His mercy. His unending kindness. His jealousy for His people. His desire to redeem each of us and fill us with His peace.
It was a bad day... but it really was the best day.
PR:
1) the emotional/physical well-being of our team. Several teammates are having issues.
2) That even though we desire to teach English, that is only the umbrella under which we enter the country. Our purpose is far greater. P our focus is not shifted from that.
3) Rest. Today was challenging and the rest of the week promises the same.
-Morg
P.S. They play Katy Perry in china! *Happiness*
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