The Deaf Girl in Class 110

The Deaf Girl in Class 110

Earlier this week I was teaching a typical high school Senior 1 class. We were learning how to give directions, and I gave them a map activity to do in pairs. While I wandered through the desks observing the students, I happened to notice that two girls weren’t doing the activity. I walked over to […]

How to Celebrate Thanksgiving in China

How to Celebrate Thanksgiving in China

While I’m used to not going home for Thanksgiving (DC to Seattle is a long and expensive plane ride for just a few days), there’s something about being in China for Thanksgiving that makes you miss home. Almost everyone in China has heard of Thanksgiving, or Gananjie as they call it in Chinese, but most people don’t know […]

# China Facts

# China Facts

China Facts! Here’s a list of random things I’ve learned about China and Chinese people since moving to Ningbo: Chinese people peel the skin off grapes- not for health reasons, just because they don’t like it. When Chinese children say “hungry” it sounds like “hangry”. Now imagine a class of 50 fourth graders screaming “I’M HANGRY!!!” […]

Classroom Culture Shock: So I’m Fat AND Sexy?

Classroom Culture Shock: So I’m Fat AND Sexy?

Being a minor celebrity in my middle-of-nowhere high school has led to some interesting experiences and classroom culture shock; one of which is the adjectives my students use to describe me. Aside from the typical “HELLO TEACHER!”, “RICHELLE!!”, “AHHH MS. JIANG!”, I also get “SO BEAUTIFUL!!!” multiple times a day, every day. Talk about a […]

How to Bring Halloween to China

How to Bring Halloween to China

You never realize how much you miss American holidays and traditions until you ship yourself to a country that has never heard of them. Halloween is such a fun and interesting holiday, I wanted to bring it to all of my students… over 700 of them at least. Every week I alternate between teaching Senior […]

AYC and ABC’S

AYC and ABC’S

If any of you want to learn more about my program, AYC or Ameson Year in China, feel free to subscribe to the monthly newsletter! A photo from my trip to Qinghai Lake was featured if you want to check it out. Last weekend one of the English teachers, Vivi, invited me to her apartment […]

Working in a Gaokao Factory

Working in a Gaokao Factory

Recently I came across an article, Chinese Cram School From Hell. This article does a great job describing the Chinese high school education system, and the immense pressure  of the gaokao test. Since I work in one of these so-called “gaokao factories”, I thought I’d shed some insight on the high school education system in China. […]

Overheard in China

Overheard in China

Happy Sunday! In order to procrastinate unpacking, doing laundry and making rosters for my twenty classes, here is a list of funny quotes I’ve heard in China: Suzzy: S: “Owww! I have a blue thing like you on my leg!!”   R: “You mean a bruise?” “It was so cold! It was like 30 F circle […]