Notes from the Mountaintop

[typed earlier]

I don't know quite where I am. There are mountains, some sort of stone fence with guard towers on the ridges of the mountains, there is a small road elevated from the fields around it, and there is a small village a kilometer right of us that has been temporarily renamed "Trey's Village" by my coworkers out of my insistance that there was a hypothetical village near us that must have an internet cafe for Dru and I, dark chocolate for Kelly Anne, and soap for Brian.

I don't believe the locals have caught on to the abrubt renaming. I also wish I could provide a cardinal direct, but again, I don't know where I am. It is important to note that height transcends smog until the afternoon heat brings it up into the mountaints.But for the first hours of the day it is amazingly beautiful.

We're staying in a local primary school built into the side of a mountain. There are four of us and forty of them. The "them" are the English teachers of central Tianjin's public schools. The retreat is meant to expose them to American culture and the English language for two weeks. In the mornings, we provide lectures of various topics, have lunch, break for one-on-one's with students, then have discussion groups through the afternoon till we break for one-on-one's again.

The Chinese teachers are on one hand the best and the worst students. They give near undivided attention to the teacher but only the strongest students ask questions or comment without being called on. The others quiver in terror out of They are, incidentally, completely oblivious to an action many Americans would call voting. "Raise you're hand if you want to..." draws only blank stares.

My lecture today was on American teacher education. I detailed everything I could remember Rachel and Jordan telling me about their classes and what I learned of theory from the one graduate class I took while at Greenwood. Perhaps the most interesting part of the discussion was when I covered Special Education. I described ADD, ADHD, and dyslexia. The were enthralled that there was a name for what they see in classrooms everyday - intelligent students maching to the beat of their own drum. Students being intelligent but not being able to read. Students squirming in seats even late into adolescence.

I described ritalin and took questions as to whether or not people take these pills into adulthood. I described Americas lofe affair with prescriptions and how most adults have probably taken an anti-depressent, anti-anxiety, or anti-ADD pill at some point in there life. They were amazed when I told them my fifty-something year old father strongly believed in staying medicated for ADD.

Alas, my speaking too fast is issue with some of the students. I think by the end of this I'll learn to speak in a slow North Florida drawl. Perhaps I'll try to convert every word I say into Chinese before speaking to slow down. Even half-tempo for me is too fast for the lower and of the advanced group.

Just to throw it out there, there is no telephone where I am now. That means no internet - not even dial-up. There is an internet cafe down in Trey's Village that we discovered on an ardeous voyage of discovery last night (I did tell you about Chinese drivers, right? OK, add these to that image: mountain road, night, no streetlights, five 20-somethings on the side of the road looking for an internet cafe). Curiously enough it looks much like a brothel with red sheets completely covering the inside of the store. When I peaked in they were playing some old-school Nintendo instead of selling carnal pleasures. 2 quai an hour for internet access. As I type this, I'm assuming it's going to be slow dial-up if it's 25 cents an hour.

I'll hike back soon for more posts and photos.