Trista organized an English Corner at the Changqing campus of the university yesterday. We took a one-hour bus ride to the outskirts of Jinan. We got to see a community made up of newer university campuses. Because the land for expansion is unavailable around the universities in town, many have built newer, bigger campuses outside of the city centre. Hence, university row was born. The open spaces, wide roads with little traffic, spacious sidewalks and the clean air pleasantly surprised us. It almost reminded us of Canada. If it weren’t for the fact that it is inconvenient to shop for necessities and food out here, this campus would be more attractive for us to teach at.
For us, a day is not complete unless we have good food. We had a great day today since we stopped to have a delicious lunch at a Korean restaurant in a small mall dedicated to the student populations nearby.
English Corner capped off our great day. It’s an opportunity for the students to interact with native speakers and practice speaking. We had a good turnout of students who were very curious about us. They asked us questions like: Can you tell us about Canada and its culture? What do you think of China? Where else would you like to go in China? Have you adjusted to life here yet?
We also participated in naming a couple of them who wanted to have English names. Being an English teacher here gives you the power to name grown people. In order to give them a choice, Rob, Don and I would look at the student, ask a few questions like what’s your favourite letter or what do you like to do in your spare time and then offer our suggestions. They got to choose. We’re happy to announce the birth of “Sophia” and “Damon”. If they’re anything like some of our other students though, they may not keep them forever but we had fun coming up with the suggestions.
Click here for more of our pics:http://www.flickr.com/gp/22798130@N07/A6BD03
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