![\"Xi'an](\"https:\/\/www.seafog.net\/PeresRamblings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/XianMap.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nThe “Summer English” program was well received last year, and Xi’an Jiaotong University decided to repeat it.<\/p>\n
Back in China I was happy to see wonderful people I had met the previous year. This included a number of fellow teachers from 2015 as well as my friend and colleague Shirley, classroom support assistants Laura and Ruby and some\u00a0students including Asteria, Sure, Gavin, and Jesen.<\/p>\n
In the city of Xi’an, I stayed at the (very comfortable) Citadines Hotel again. Here was the view from my hotel window:<\/p>\n
The “Drum Tower” in the old city center: There were a few program adjustments from the previous year, and this time\u00a0we had twice as many teachers- “Guest Speakers”. Most of us were from the United States, but our ranks were supplemented by some from other “English-speaking” countries. This year, our classroom helpers were Chinese students with English majors. The following photo was the official program staff photo taken by the University:<\/p>\n The students were great to work with, and they seemed to genuinely enjoy the classes. The summer program focused on listening and speaking skills. The format of the classes was very different than English classes taught by Chinese professors. We deliberately made the classes very interactive. A student written article (linked here<\/a>) that appeared in an online school publication did a good job of explaining the difference. From a student’s perspective, the normal model was “You are teaching, we are listening.” In our summer program, this was replaced by a model where “We are communicating”.<\/p>\n This year, the university again offered Saturday excursions to the major sites near Xi’an to teachers in the program. As a returning teacher, I had already been to the chosen locations. So, along with some other teachers, we created our own week-end getaways.<\/p>\n For our\u00a0first weekend’s excursion we decided to go to the Longmen Grottos and Shaolin Temple. The trip started with a night-train ride from Xi’an to the city of Luoyang.<\/p>\n Four of us crammed into a sleeper compartment and from our midnight departure until our mid-morning arrival we dozed on the bunks.<\/p>\n In Louyang we eventually found a tour bus that would take us to our two selected destinations. As the bus raced around mountain curves and through small settlements, we passed all sorts of other vehicles<\/p>\n The Shaolin Temple\/Monastery \u00a0(\u5c11\u6797\u5bfa) is famous as the home of noble, selfless monks who used kung-fu skills to protect the populace from bandits, thugs, and repressive warlords. In recent years the site has become a major tourist draw, and it has taken on a bit of a theme park atmosphere. But it was still interesting.<\/p>\n This fierce, colorful statue at Shaolin is one of the “Temple Guardians”. Our other destination were the “Longmen Grottos” (\u9f99\u95e8\u77f3\u7a9f). This site is famed for its Buddhist artwork consisting of thousands of carvings and statues, ranging from tiny to huge. Alexandria, from our group, had studied the site during her graduate program. It was fascinating, and we really could have spent an\u00a0entire day there.<\/p>\n The next weekend spawned several trips to different destinations. Along with my colleagues Megan and Marlene, I opted for an overnight stay in the beautiful, ancient, walled city of Pingyao. One notable thing about this city is that within the city walls, the traditional architecture has been conserved. (Quite a contrast to Xi’an where “within the walls,” tall modern buildings compete for space with historical structures.<\/p>\n In Pingyao, even our hotel\u00a0was in a lovely building- The compound reminded me of scenes from the famous movie “Raise the Red Lantern”, which was filmed near Pingyao.<\/p>\n Scenes from Pingyao<\/a><\/p>\n
\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>\u00a0In my classes, I outline\u00a0“rules” meant to encourage students to take risks, and learn by doing. One of my rules, “Mistakes are OK” was quoted in the student article. Mistakes are an important part of the language learning process! But the concept was a huge\u00a0break from the Chinese norm.<\/p>\n<\/a>
\nWeekend excursions<\/h2>\nNight train to Luoyang\u00a0\u6d1b\u9633<\/h2>\n
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\n<\/a>\u00a0One of my students had recommended taking a morning walk outside the city walls. So bright and early Megan, Marlene, and I worked our way through quiet streets to the West Gate. Passing through the wall, we encountered a lot of activity.<\/p>\n