English Camp: First Impressions

Hey folks, once again I write to you as the bus bound for the bamboo forest barrels along the road, honking impatiently at the scooters, j-walkers, and fruit sellers.You'd better find a seat quickly or you'll fall over! It's a friendly purple bus though; the old men laugh and flash a squinty-eyed smile when they see one of their friends as they board. The women behind me are chatting excitedly. One of them cackles. More people are getting on. Soon we'll stop in the middle of the highway to pick up some weathered farmer ladies (farmesses?) on their way to Damyang town to barter for radish and do some yelling. It's a nice morning, albeit hot and humid; I can smell the perfumed passengers and the air conditioning is blowing on my head--just like normal. 

As I crossed the busy street this morning, I saw some young people waiting with big placards on the opposite corner. When they were allowed to, they entered the intersection and did the wave with their giant signs. I'll ask what the message was (I wrote it down) and let you know. 

English camp is going swimmingly so far. I'm allowed to wear shorts, which is absolutely terrific! My kids are nice, but instead of being loud and distracted, they sort of just stared at me while I spoke. A little unnerving...not sure which one I prefer. 

Yesterday was Science Day, so we practiced making predictions ("What will happen?" "I think..."). Mimi didn't order my dry ice, but it turned out okay since I realized it might have sublimated (disappeared) by the time I needed to use it! We did some experiments ("Waaaaaa!"), and then we made "goop" which is sort of like silly putty. It was real effective. A pretty good lesson in my opinion. 

I really like camp because the spirit is different. It feels more adventurous, more risk-taking (at least from an aspiring educator's perspective). 

I'll let you know how Culture Day goes.