chaotic mortal

Last Lesson in China

May 24th, 2007. Published under Travel, True Life. No Comments.

“Are you leaving Xi’an so soon?” All the kids and teachers asked me on Friday while I was in school in China.

A lot of kids gave me gifts, which I stammered a thank to each. Some of the gifts I received were: a tiny clipboard, a pencil, a paper clip, an eraser, a book of ancient Chinese poems, a book with actual paper cuttings, a air freshener, a special crystal rock, and a lot more.

When it was English class, the teacher gave me a big surprise. “Brad, would you like to be a little teacher for English class?”

I was about to burst as a knot tightened and loosened at the same time.  But everyone applauded and clapped, I was forced to go up.

I spent the next forty minutes explaining, telling, shouting, laughing, pointing, tapping, thinking, and doing everything I could think of to keep them entertained and alert.

Finally, the period bell rang. Quickly, I bowed, said “thank you” and shot out of the room, closely followed by the majority of the class.

The next period was Phonics, which is about the same thing. The teacher asked me, “Would you like to tell us a game you play in America?”

So I told them how to play Ping.

“Ping is like this: I call out a word, and the first person spells the first letter. The next person spells the next letter. This goes all the way until the word is finished. The person after that says ‘Ping!’. When you say Ping, you sit down, because everyone is standing.”

The game was ridiculous.

Why? Well, it’s designed to be played with about twenty or so people. Because Chinese schools are so full, the class had 49 students!

This isn’t the ridiculous part. The ridiculous part is it took the whole period for the game.

Ouch.

Bus Driver

May 7th, 2007. Published under True Life. 1 Comment.

When I entered my class room, I realized I forgot my gift shop money.

When the bus to our field trip to the San Jacinto Monument arrived, I realized I forgot my glasses.

When the bus began moving, we were all disgruntled because of a stern talking our bus driver gave us.

“My name is Mr. Roberts,” he had said before. “I will be your bus driver today.” He gave us a stern glare and there was no more whispers.

(more…)

Mortal Peril

May 5th, 2007. Published under True Life. No Comments.

I am really going to get the person who makes announcements at our school. Now, every time I hear the “telltale beep”, my heart lurches.

This afternoon when it was raining, my heart lurched when the announcements came on… to say that we had rainy day dismissal.

This morning, my heart lurched when the announcements came on… to say that we needed to do attendance. (more…)