Friday, August 14, 2009

Five days and counting....

And I still can't decided if I am excited yet. I went to the training on Wednesday and it is going to be HARD. No cake walking on this experience. Yes, I will be in China exploring places I would otherwise not be able to partake of but this teaching children business is going to be quite a feat. I will do the best I can, but one advantage I have is I talk A LOT! That is a requirement for this volunteering experience. You pretty much have to talk to yourself for the first month or so. The trainer likened it to "talking to a wall" for a month and a half. That will be FUN!! But he did show us some videos he took of the kids during the 4 1/2 months he was there and the progress is shocking. The first video, the kids just sat there staring at him and I can imagine what they are thinking "Um...I hear sounds but no words are coming out...is he speaking gibberish?" then later down the road after getting used to him they are starting to get noisy and grab things out of his hands and talking loudly in Chinese (which is a BIG no-no) then more months go by and they start to pay attention and answer in English and speak in English. It is amazing to watch!! I hope that I can be a benefit to them and get them to speak English as much as our trainer was able to do. The trainer put me at ease when he said when he first went he didn't know what he was getting himself into either. That is how I feel right about now.

I will continue to keep everyone updated for as long as China allows. I am still in America so it's no problem right now. But as of Wednesday I have no idea. I talked to several people who have been to Zhongshan and they said that this website (that my blog is on) and hotmail.com has not been censored yet! So good news!!!

I hope you are all well! I miss everyone in Washington (DVPC) tons!! Until next time.... :)