David Phillips, staff person at the Vine Helpline and retired high school teacher with 34 years’ experience, traveled to China this summer for the second year in a row. He was part of the Amity Foundation’s Summer English Program where volunteers spend four weeks to help rural school teachers master the language they themselves have to teach. Phillips was in China for the month of July. This month, the Record includes the first of three letters he wrote while in China.
Part one
The 14.5-hour flight to Shanghai was long but smooth, and fortunately uneventful. When I arrive, there are four health officials who board the plane to do health tests. If you’re found to have a temperature, you’re quarantined, as are the people around you. They are quick, and luckily, I pass.
On Sunday I take the train to Nanjing for the teaching orientation. While here, I visit the Amity Printing Press, which produces the most Bibles in the world—over 56 million so far. I bought a couple of New Testaments in Chinese and English. My other visit was to the Massacre Museum. I visited it last year and returned since it is so well done.
Finally, we are transported to Ma’anshan, a city of about one million, where we will do our teaching. We are in Anhui province, in a hotel on the Anhui University of Technology campus.
It’s about a 10-minute walk to the Foreign Language School where we are teaching. Since I am the team leader, I have to deliver a speech at the opening ceremonies. I am responsible for 18 middle school teachers. My teammates, both from England, have 15 primary teachers and 11 middle school teachers, respectively. We have formed a good team and work well together.
Our teacher-students are a wonderful group of teachers ranging from three months of teaching experience to 22 years. As always, we teach our students oral English but this year, since I am part of a pilot project, we are concentrating on teaching techniques and strategies as well. The teachers ask a lot of questions, particularly about Canada and teachers there. In China, the classes range from 35-45 minutes and my teachers here tell me that, though it’s hard to imagine, they have from 40-72 in a class.
The weather is very hot. Right now, at 9:30 p.m., it is 28 C and 41 with the humidity. And the traffic here is crazy. You need to look both ways on one-way streets, and crosswalks don’t mean much. Red lights are merely suggestions. However, the Chinese people are friendly and try hard to communicate. They love to meet foreigners and have an appreciation for Canadians. I just wish it would cool down a bit.
Better go for now. I wish you all the best from Ma’anshan.
Part two of this series runs in the November issue of the Presbyterian Record.
