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Just last week, I had the task of teaching/reviewing basic body parts: hands, arms, legs, feet and the parts of the face. Also, the book called for the words touch, catch, run, and kick. This made an easy transition into “Simon Says” or “Teacher Says” in some classes (Grace). This game rapidly detiorates as the kids eventually/immediately are running and kicking in the front of class. That is when I moved on to teaching the song “Hokey Pokey.”

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Found in , china, wuhan 4 Comments »

As you read, I was forced to go to a different branch of my bank to get my yen converted to yuan. But what I forgot to mention is that I went a few days later to find out that I needed to bring my passport to prove my existence. I didn’t bring it and attempted to argue my way into getting the money, but failed. Apparently, I need to prove I am me to get the money that isn’t really appearing in my account. Luckily, I was able to argue with a man who spoke a good bit of English so he understood my anger and concern. I went home sad.

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On Friday October 19, 2007, I took the stage at Yu Cai Primary School to perform my poem, Jing Ye Si. I am still unsure of the meaning, but I think I knocked it out of the park. But let’s go back a few days to uncover the process behind my triumphs.

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“An apple a day keeps the doctor away. An apple a day that’s what I say.”

These quotes were part of my second grade curriculum on the unit on fruits, which include the unsayable “watermelon” and all the students close to unsayable “coconut.” This quote turned out to be quite the failure as the kids don’t know the word doctor yet apparently.

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For those of you who are wondering what happened to my flickr pictures, I tried to change some things and managed to lock up my widgets and lose the flickr one. Here is the link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/leephotozone.

Also, in my lessons, I am teaching the question: “What’s in the box?” and I put pictures of peaches, grapes, pencils, turtles, and birds in a box. The kids go wild and also try to cheat by looking as their peers take the stage as the host.

Found in , china, teaching 1 Comment »

Yesterday I went to the ATM to see if my account gained the US boost of money I was hoping for weeks ago. It had been approximately 1 month since the transfer began (given an approximate receiving time of 3 business days). I go in and as usual I get depressed as I see no new money.

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This beat is hot and so is the weather
Then its cold, put on a sweater
A kid named Tiger, a kid named Snake
Some students ask, “Can you bake a cake?”
Living in China, every thing’s foreign
Life is crazy when you’re mei guo ren

Life is crazy when you’re meiguoren
Life is crazy when you’re meiguoren
The amount of people is alarmin
Life is crazy when you’re meiguoren

Yi Ar San is one two three
Yu Cai Primary is the place to be
On the playground they play basketball
Walking up the stairs, Colette will fall
Teach a lesson where “cob” is starrin
Life is crazy when you’re meiguoren

Life is crazy when you’re meiguoren
Life is crazy when you’re meiguoren
Life is crazy when you’re meiguoren

Meiguoren means “American” where Yingguoren would be “English.” This song was influenced by my life in Yu Cai and some recent events. I am expecting to continue writing mini-raps like this and possibly recording them.

If you want to do a Li Yi (that’s my Chinese name) and Aha mashup, go for it.

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