Week Two Wraps Up in Xiangzhou

Reporting from Xiangzhou

We wrapped up the first week of camp yesterday afternoon with a rousing photo scavenger hunt. The students were divided into four teams, given a list of 30 items around the school to find, and sent out to photograph them. Some of the items (e.g., a yellow flowerpot) were obvious; others (e.g., something about love) allowed the students some creativity in deciding how to represent them. Then we loaded the pictures onto the computer and projected it onto a screen, while a student from each group read off what each picture represented. Of course the weather was hot and humid, so we were all nice and warm, but the cafeteria provided cooling drinks for everyone.
Though we had some bumps early in the week, the last three days things have gone pretty smoothly. The teachers all developed and taught English lessons following the principles and techniques they learned last week. It was stressful for them, but from what I heard, they did fairly well. They got feedback from our Academic team and next week each teacher will teach an individual lesson. All the teachers I’ve talked to express appreciation for the new things they’ve learned.

Our team is working together well. We spend most evenings with our individual host families, but Thursday evening we all got together for an evening of at Pizza Hut. I’m pleased with how everyone is supporting everyone else – and our hosts notice as well.
Much of the last couple of weeks have been “getting to know you.” Next week will, I think, be important to continue deepening friendships and talking about important things. Already, we seem some deepening discussions. We don’t know exactly how everything will go, but we are happy that people are engaging.
Today is a day to relax with our hosts. Tomorrow all of us will go to Doumen to connect with the rest of the team. Then Monday we begin the final weeks. Thanks for thinking of us.