After an extremely long week, I am spending a weekend trying to relax! Lessons to plan, midterms to invent, and, of course, meals to cook! I have invited some students to come over to my apartment for some Western cooking fun. They are curious to know what Americans eat -- most are convinced that we eat at KFC and McDonalds everyday, and that vegetables don't ever appear on American dinner tables. I suppose I have found my calling as a PCV in China! Food education!
I am planning on making chicken fajitas with the students, including some Spanish rice and beans. I will be sure to let you know whether or not they approve. I will also try to remember to take some pictures.

The picture I posted with this entry was taking last weekend (3/21) on an outing with my school. My school is wonderful -- they arrange transportation and meals for a field trip/outing once a month for the foreign teachers. This includes all the people who are teaching English, in addition to the 2 PCVs. I love it because it gives me an opportunity to see more of the countryside that surrounds Chongqing. Last weekend we visited Hechuan, which played a substantial role during the Song Dynasty in defending the area against Mongol invaders.
Very exciting!

Until next time -- I miss you all!

Is it March all ready?

I can hardly believe it. I am nearly finished with my second week of teaching. Things still feel really hectic, though. Students still have the option to drop and add classes until the 4th week, which makes it a little tricky to plan for things like how many copies to make and planning various activities. I look forward to the point where I will settle into a routine.

I wish I had some exciting news to share, but I am having a really difficult time thinking of things. I spend most of time planning for the semester, coming up with lesson plans and activities without having the slightest clue about whether or not they will be successful. Usually I end up saying to my PCV friend, "Either this is going to be really wonderful or it is going to completely flop." And usually I am proven wrong, as I was this past week. I tried a "jigsaw reading" activity, with the intention of trying to encourage as many students to speak as possible. It was neither a success or failure, as it was the first time most of my students had tried such an activity, and therefore I spent a great deal of time explaining the directions and defining and redefining the goals and intentions. I think I will have to try it at least 2 more times in order to really call it a success or a failure. And suddenly I recall...This is something I should have anticipated, something I learned 3 years ago when I was student teaching. Oh, well. My excuse is that being in China has thrown me off my guard.

Other than teaching, I spend the rest of my time cooking and inviting people over for dinner. In short, my life in Chongqing is essentially the same as it was in Minnesota. Really.

The food (most recently, lentil soup) usually comes out tasting a little different, as the ingredients I have to work with are different (in the case of lentil soup, which called for leeks, I had to improvise!). But it always seems to be edible.

Until next time...