First week in Huzhou

During my first week in China, I have already learned a lot. Some about the culture, the school, and the people here. But the most important thing is probably that plans are meant to be changed in the last minute😅

The organization here is still relatively good compared to other Asian countries, but it is still very challenging to have plans communicated every day that end up not happening.

Overall, I have to say that I am pleasantly surprised by this country. It is very clean, with great streets, good food, and nice people who make every effort to help us.

Teaching more than 150 children a day is demanding and exhausting. Especially since they don't understand much other than the vocabulary they have learned. I am lucky to have Tom as my assistant. He supports me in the classroom and in preparing the lessons. Together, we make a great team and we are already doing much better in teaching after a few days. The main goal of our teaching is to get the children to speak as much as possible. However, they are not used to open teaching, so there is often unrest. When it comes to solving worksheets, they are very focused and don't even stop when the lesson is over.😅 Also, the use of media is much more common here than I expected.

I am glad to be able to have these experiences here and get a glimpse into this very different school life.

In the evening after school, we are taken back to our (4-star) hotel and can explore the surroundings on our own. We come across the strangest things like transformer vehicles, cucumber chips, and the popular bubble tea. Fortunately, the Chinese people also like soy milk very much, so I can enjoy it too.😊

I am looking forward to the second day of teaching and hope to gain even more insight into the culture, especially calligraphy. I can already write my Chinese name.💪