Due to some unexpected technical difficulties, we were unable to upload photos while in Baotou. Here are a few now which show some of the highlights of our experience.
1. The 2012 Amity Summer Education Program Volunteers
Amity staff – all Chinese people – are in the front row. Note that many of the volunteers are young adults in their twenties. Can you find Anne & Gordon? (See top left.)
2. The Baotou “Foreign Teachers”
From left to right: Anne Saunders, Gordon Timbers, Helen Allen, Bob Jones
3. Churches are alive and well in China
We went to three church services at three different churches; each time the congregation numbered at least 1500, with the sermon lasting 30-40 minutes. In one case everyone applauded the minister after he spoke!
Sunday service with the choir singing an anthem
Gordon, Helen and Anne standing outside a Protestant church in Baotou
4. Teaching Chinese teachers in Baotou
The Baotou program was held at one of the best resourced secondary schools in the city. The school was not air-conditioned, but drinking water was available and floor fans kept the air moving on hot, humid days. Each classroom had a computer console enabling us to teach with Power Point presentations, audio clips, and scenes from movies.
An aerial drawing of the school — we taught on the 4th floor of the building shown in the lower right
Both the opening and closing ceremonies were formal events. We were seated at the head table on stage with the Chinese teachers – our students – sitting in the audience. These teachers came from various parts of the Baotou region; many of them teach in remote, rural schools. Speeches by our hosts – from the Baotou Bureau of Education and from the hosting secondary school – were translated into English.
The Opening Ceremony in the school auditorium
The 100 Chinese teachers were divided into four classes. Each “foreign teacher,” as they called us, taught one course. The courses and their outlines were provided by Amity. A fifth course, “English Corner,” was taught jointly by us the first week with all 100 Chinese teachers together; the following weeks small groups of the Chinese teachers had the opportunity to lead the class. The content included activities, games and songs using English vocabulary of course (e.g. Simon Says, tongue twisters, word scrambles, charades).
Our teaching objective was always to improve the oral English of the Chinese teachers. We encouraged learning activities that required dialogue with a partner or discussion in small groups. Below are some classroom scenes.
5. Outings
Each class took the four of us out for a delicious meal before we left. Our hosts from the Bureau of Education also took us out — to the grasslands on the outskirts of the city, where Mongolian culture is featured, and to the desert about an hour from Baotou.
Baotou means “city of the deer” and behind to the right is a statue with three deer on the top
Mongolian entertainers
A Mongolian banquet with our hosts in a yurt restaurant
A herd of deer on the grasslands with the Baotou sports complex in the background
On the grasslands with Baotou cityscape in the background
The vast desert landscape about an hour from Baotou
Our team on the desert with our hosts from the Baotou Bureau of Education