A Hop on Easter
Last night, we got a jump-start on Easter celebrations with an English Easter Party for kids at Josh’s second work, the Australian/English School. You might be wondering if an Australian/English school means English is taught with a seasoning of, ‘G’day mate’, ‘Throw some shrimp on the barbie’, and ‘no worries’, but alas it was originally set up by Australians, and is now owned and operated by a Chinese couple. The couple that call Josh asking for favors every day, “I think you need to look at our new text books and write some lesson plans for the teachers. We need it by tomorrow night, okay?”. The couple that had his signature on a yearlong contract up until a week ago. They are certainly not bad people, but I think they have taken advantage of Josh’s willingness to help when he is asked.
Back to the Easter story. So, last night I tagged along because they needed more dancing bears and it meant I got to spend some time with Josh, whose work steals an unfair share of his time. When we arrived at the school, things were in their natural state of disorganization. We carved a path through a crowd of parents waiting outside the school doors, and up the stairs to where the foreign teachers were sitting around asking each other “So, what exactly is going on tonight?” Finally, Gao, one of the owners, quickly swept us into a little classroom. He hurriedly tried to explain where we needed to be and what we needed to do. And of course, in these situations where something is explained under a time limit, there are always those who interrupt and say, “Wait. Sooo, do we staaay where we aaare or follow the stuuudents?” or any obvious question that starts with squinted eyes and each word is painfully drawn out “Wait, sooo…..?”
Gao told us that we each had 15 seconds to introduce ourselves to the kids, and to “Make it very, very funny. Make the kids like you in two sentences.” Darn. Humor is not my strong point.
The woman called Shelley demonstrated that her name rhymed with belly and then tickled several kids’ bellies. An instant hit. Josh, of course, was in his element. The man has a gift. He pulled out a little persona I have seen before at Nature’s Classroom, “Hi, my name is Josh. I like to sing” (lets out a meek “Laaaaa” like the young, shy nun from Sister Act), “and I like to dance” (flails his arms and legs around like a Muppet).
To borrow from Miss Elizabeth, I assure you I am not afflicted with false modesty when it comes to silly humor. My 15 seconds came and went in a lull between a limb flailing Muppet and a rendition of Jingle Bells by a man called Jing from Cameroon.
Next on the party agenda was for Shelley to tell the story of Easter through a Chinese translator. Shelley started, “Easter is the most wonderful holiday in the Christian church. It is when we celebrate Jesus’ resurrection” then turned to the translator who walked back and forth sputtering Chinese in front of an audience of smiling six year olds. I wondered if it was okay to talk about this in front of six year olds in China. I thought he might translate something different. And then he stopped, and quickly flung his arms wide out to his sides, let his head fall onto his shoulder and crossed his legs. Although I could not understand what he was saying, I could certainly see what he was demonstrating.
And so there we were: talking about Jesus in China with a translator posing as Jesus on the cross and giggling six year olds.
Next came egg painting, the hokey pokey, and quick exam for each student to assess their English level. The foreign teachers sat at desks in a classroom with a stack of papers and a bucket full of pencil bags. We would ask a series of questions like “How are you?” “What time is it?” “What’s the weather like today?”, give each student a mark from 1-3, award them a pencil bag and say “Next!”. Josh had so much fun with that, he is considering a career change to bank loan adviser.
Tonight: the same routine two more times. Maybe I will buzz around like a bee. Bee for Betsy?
Back to the Easter story. So, last night I tagged along because they needed more dancing bears and it meant I got to spend some time with Josh, whose work steals an unfair share of his time. When we arrived at the school, things were in their natural state of disorganization. We carved a path through a crowd of parents waiting outside the school doors, and up the stairs to where the foreign teachers were sitting around asking each other “So, what exactly is going on tonight?” Finally, Gao, one of the owners, quickly swept us into a little classroom. He hurriedly tried to explain where we needed to be and what we needed to do. And of course, in these situations where something is explained under a time limit, there are always those who interrupt and say, “Wait. Sooo, do we staaay where we aaare or follow the stuuudents?” or any obvious question that starts with squinted eyes and each word is painfully drawn out “Wait, sooo…..?”
Gao told us that we each had 15 seconds to introduce ourselves to the kids, and to “Make it very, very funny. Make the kids like you in two sentences.” Darn. Humor is not my strong point.
The woman called Shelley demonstrated that her name rhymed with belly and then tickled several kids’ bellies. An instant hit. Josh, of course, was in his element. The man has a gift. He pulled out a little persona I have seen before at Nature’s Classroom, “Hi, my name is Josh. I like to sing” (lets out a meek “Laaaaa” like the young, shy nun from Sister Act), “and I like to dance” (flails his arms and legs around like a Muppet).
To borrow from Miss Elizabeth, I assure you I am not afflicted with false modesty when it comes to silly humor. My 15 seconds came and went in a lull between a limb flailing Muppet and a rendition of Jingle Bells by a man called Jing from Cameroon.
Next on the party agenda was for Shelley to tell the story of Easter through a Chinese translator. Shelley started, “Easter is the most wonderful holiday in the Christian church. It is when we celebrate Jesus’ resurrection” then turned to the translator who walked back and forth sputtering Chinese in front of an audience of smiling six year olds. I wondered if it was okay to talk about this in front of six year olds in China. I thought he might translate something different. And then he stopped, and quickly flung his arms wide out to his sides, let his head fall onto his shoulder and crossed his legs. Although I could not understand what he was saying, I could certainly see what he was demonstrating.
And so there we were: talking about Jesus in China with a translator posing as Jesus on the cross and giggling six year olds.
Next came egg painting, the hokey pokey, and quick exam for each student to assess their English level. The foreign teachers sat at desks in a classroom with a stack of papers and a bucket full of pencil bags. We would ask a series of questions like “How are you?” “What time is it?” “What’s the weather like today?”, give each student a mark from 1-3, award them a pencil bag and say “Next!”. Josh had so much fun with that, he is considering a career change to bank loan adviser.
Tonight: the same routine two more times. Maybe I will buzz around like a bee. Bee for Betsy?
posted by B | 6:24 PM
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