Chengdu, Sichuan 成都市， 四川省.
I have very fond memories teaching at UESTC. The students were all intelligent in their own right and had a great sense of humor. They were young enough not to care too much, yet old enough to have real conversations. Teaching here left an itch to keep teaching at the university level. I'm excited to get back into this kind of scene.
One of the difficulties, however, was teaching critical thinking skills to students who are innately a part of a culture which values unquestioning compliance. The most obvious real-world example is the trust of one's own government. It was difficult to make this connection without being obvious about it. The school is used as a location to test out surveillance and reconnaissance technology and we routinely had drones and military aircraft hovering above. The judicial system's 99.9% conviction rate caused an unnerving sense of concern as I lectured on the value of questioning authority. The whole thing felt like an impossible paradox. I could only do my best while trying to separate the kind-hearted students from an oppressive governmental system. It was a fine line to balance.
The last lab of the year. And this was one of my favorite groups.
My first meme.
Many memories of China revolved around teaching. Most of my side-jobs were classes of kids I put together, but every now and then I'd take a class that has been prearranged. In the spring of 2018, I was offered a job "teaching" kindergarten and, considering I had never done it before and it paid well, I thought I'd give it a try.
It was exhausting and I'll never do it again. Ever. But there were a few kids who made my heart melt. This is a little girl who, being on the spectrum, had difficulty participating in our activities and consequently was the brunt of the Chinese teachers' wrath. I enjoyed bringing in toys for her to play with. Our interactions were wonderful.
For other classes, our first learning objective was to learn "I love you".
The kids on the ends are siblings, as are the two next to me, respectively. This was a group I put together and from a previous class and taught them English once a week during the evening. Originally, these kids drove me nuts, specifically the kid in the yellow shirt. But there was a maturation point I hit professionally and I learned how to make it work. By the time I left, this was one of my favorite classes. I miss them and wish them the best.
This is a boy who went by the name "Monkey". His English was, shall we say, sub-par, but his smile and sincere effort made him a favorite of mine. This was my "charity" class (every Friday evening) where I'd ride my bike into the city and teach a couple kids who typically couldn't afford my usual rates.
Ah, Hank. An utter delight and a member of the wonderfully kind Wang family. I worked for the Wangs as a private tutor to Hank. He had a strong command of the language and we were able to branch out into other subjects. I visited his home for dinner and two hours of tutoring on the evenings after lecturing at UESTC. It made for a long day (after 8 hours of lecturing), but very rewarding. I recall Hank losing his mind with excitement when I showed him the float-a-ping-pong-ball-on-an-upturned-blow-dryer trick.
Hope life is good, Hank! You're awesome, possum.
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