A little about the program...it is not a mission trip, per se, but it might be more correctly referred to as a mission-that's-not-a-mission. One of the leaders of our Church (President Dallin H. Oaks) referred to it as an Ammon Mission -- we are not allowed to proselyte (at all!), but we are providing service to the good people of China.
The China Teachers' Program (CTP) is run by Brigham Young University. They have affiliations with eighteen Chinese universities, and they provide foreign instructors to each of those universities. Bonita and I have been assigned to Shandong Normal University (SDNU) -- it is a university for individuals who are, or who want to be, teachers.
While at SDNU, we will be living in a hotel that is adjacent to the campus. The Hanlin Hotel is a four-star hotel, and the top floor is reserved for foreign instructors. One of the couples teaching there now (and teaching next year as well) gave us a video tour of their apartment, which is just like the one we will have. It has two bedrooms, two bathrooms and a kitchenette. Here is a link to a short video of the hotel (if that link doesn't work, use this one --> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgXO3fuLOI4).
Our assignment is to teach English to Chinese students. Many (most? all?) of them speak English, but they have learned it from Chinese Nationals, so often their grammar and syntax aren't quite correct. Our responsibility is to teach English, but mostly it is to give them many opportunities over the course of a semester to speak English and improve in their English language skills.
While most of these students are undergraduates, the first two classes we have been informed of are for graduate students. Bonita is teaching Listening and Oral English to PhD students. My first class is Oral English, and will be taught to graduate students who intend to teach Chinese as a foreign language.
So far (and we understand changes are not uncommon), Bonita has been assigned six sessions -- one for Listening and Oral English, and five sessions for Oral English. She teaches Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays.
I have been assigned seven sessions -- four Business English classes and three sessions of Oral English. I teach Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, including an evening class on Thursday.
Each class is one hour and fifty minutes in length. There is no curriculum -- we just develop curriculum and lessons based on the needs of our students. (Makes me a little nervous, but Bonita's a pro at that -- so I have an in-house expert to guide me along!) This semester begins August 27.
Right now we are working like crazy to prepare to leave our home of 30 years -- we have renters moving in August 1. Then we head to Utah where we'll take two weeks to learn more about what we'll be doing in China. We'll drive back to Colorado around the 19th of August, then fly out to China within a day or so of that. Yikes! This is getting real.
My intent with this blog is to let friends and family know what's cooking with us while we're in China, so I'll put a new blog up every once in a while. I hope to take lots of pictures, and post them along the way.
