Golden Week

Well, Golden Week vacation started yesterday. Golden week is the week to commemorate Mao creating the People's Republic of China. So I have the whole week off from school. It's the equivalent of Spring Break here. Every family who can is traveling in and out of China. It's hard to believe I have been with the children for 3 weeks now. And what progress they have made!

The first week, the returning children were in shock that a teacher was being so thorough, precise, and expecting so much from them. Most of them haven't had an adult in their lives so far behave this way. So many of them tested and rebelled and pretty much told me "No" anytime I asked them to work. There was a lot of trust-building that I had engage. And they learned that when I spoke or asked something of them, that it was the truth and I had the final authority. Montessori isn't always about "authority" in the sense that the teacher gets to tell the children everything they must do. But the children simply didn't have boundaries set for them. They aren't what Montessori termed, "normalized." So I had to show them where these boundaries are. There's been so much improvement. And now I can relax.... a tiny little amount.

Relax only a little because the new children have been arriving. They are babies- two of the 6 new children will be 3 next month. So.... babies. But they are doing better with not having toilet accidents. And I just have one child who can't follow simple verbal instructions or feed himself. Well, no, feeding times and lunch, that's a whole different topic. The children at the school all eat lunch. So that means I (with one assistant) supervise 22 children eating lunch on real dinnerware so far! And my, children in this country are just not used to eating with silverware. So they are constantly spilling all over themselves, the tablecloths, and the floor. It's a cultural thing but whenever soup is served, it's cute to watch them just pick up the bowl and drink like it's a gigantic cup. So I have been teaching them to use their spoons. So then they don't understand when I ask them to not put their spoon in their milk! You drink your milk and then you spoon your soup! It's a challenge. And I never liked doing lunch at Casa, so now it's been taken to a new level and I just have to take it in stride. We do compost at the school though, so that's nice.

Yesterday, we had our first field trip. It was fabulous. Imagine that your first field trip of your entire life was to Tiannenmen Square! And then to Ritan Park. Wow, Beijing is a cultural minefield. These children have so much around them in terms of history and culture and arts. And it was my first time to the square. It's a tourist zoo- rows and rows of charter buses, tourist groups, and people carrying little tour guide flags with tourists bunching up against them to hear their voice. We parked pretty far away and had to make the children walk for 15 minutes just to get to the middle of the square. They were puttering out 3/4ths of the way there. But it was a beautiful day and they had fun in the park afterwards. Field trips are always nice because I get to act differently around the children. I don't have to be so stoic. I can have fun with them.

Well, Chase and I are sticking around Beijing until Tuesday and then we are off to MALAYSIA! Woohoo! We are going to the eastern side of the country, the island better known as Borneo. Most of Borneo is Indonesia, but the northern part is Malay. I am so excited to see Orangutans, probiscus monkeys, the Raffelsia (largest flower in the world), and Pygmy Elephants. Some of you may already know, but last Christmas, Chase adopted several members of his family, endangered or threatened animals from WWF. He adopted me a Pygymy Elephant and now I get to see one. So it's going to be great! We are really looking forward to relaxing, snorkeling, reading, waking up late, and eating Malaysian curry. Our time in Beijing has been busy busy busy.