Class photo time, progress of the Combo

I recently snapped a few pictures of my English classes, even though a lot of them were more than a little reluctant about being in a picture.

On that same day, I did a combination of spelling bee in class, and then later on, I took them outside for reading time (ok, so maybe that day wasn't exactly the most demanding day). Besides finding out that most of my kids are great spellers, I also got the Combo (otherwise known as Maki Combo) to speak out loud again! This time she spelled two words correctly, and she pronounced each letter clearly and confidently.

We also just gave the kids their first grades of the year (basically first marking period), but I haven't gotten calls from any parents yet.

Today's lesson included showings of Conjunction Junction and Unpack my Adjectives,both of Schoolhouse Rock fame. The kids might have thought that they were too cool for school, but they weren't; they totally liked it.

Some of the girls in my larger English class. From left to right: Betty, Diana, Stella, and Rain. Except for Betty, they're not much in the speaking department, but at least they try for the most part.

All the boys in that same class. Tommy's all the way on the left, one of the brightest students I have. Duke, who's giving me the finger (such sweet kids), the anime hair guy is Shone, who looks like he's trouble, but he actually tries really hard in my class, and he told me that this is the first time that's he's ever been a good student in English class. Jack is kneeling, another smart kid. Jerry is the one with the hand sign, and he's a boarding student who happens to live right across from me.

More girls from the class. Sitting in the middle is Maki Combo. To the right is Rika, and on the left is Miyu: the Japanese triangle. Standing are Judy, Rachel (the absolute best student in the class, probably too smart to be in this level), Sophia (the next best), and Katy (another bright kid).

My other, more rowdy class. The two kids in the middle Jeffrey and Michael (the one pointing) never stop fooling around. Apparently, it's normal in Asia for boys to stroke each others' hair, or hand, or arms, and to constantly wrestle. I get them to stop, but don't ask any questions.

In the striped shirt is Ellen; I owe her a piece of chicken for her birthday.

The story behind that: I was discussing holidays, and Kipper (the boy on the left) brought up Oct 22nd.

"What holiday is that?" I asked.

"Chicken Day." He said.

"What's Chicken Day?"

"Eat chicken."

"Umm."

"Also Ellen birthday."

I turn to Ellen. "So your birthday is Chicken Day?"

She nods resolutely. "Yes."

"So what do you do for your birthday, eat chicken?"

"Yes."

"Ok, then," I say, because some of my kids like to mess with me, "I'll give you a piece of chicken on your birthday."

"Really?" Eyes wide.

"Yup."

On the way out of class, she says to me in all seriousness, "Mr. Denis, remember my chicken."

So I need to give Ellen some kind of chicken product on Oct. 22.

All the way to the left, the second girl from the end, with the piece sign, is Joyce. Joyce is a bit strange. Every time I give them an essay, she uses me as the example, or writes some kind of story about me. She's also the only kid I have that speaks Cantonese, so every now and then I use it when she's not paying attention in class and it completely surprises her.

I found this drawing while checking Anny's homework. That day she was wearing an eye patch because she hurt her eye or had some kind of treatment done to it (it's hard trying to figure out complicated subjects with them).

The girl all the way to the right is Yoshiko, the best student in this class. Next to her is Anny, the eye patch girl. Both are boarding students (yup they live across from me too), and they almost never see their families. Sometimes they write about it in their homework, and I can't help but give them good grades on their essays, though it doesn't hurt that they're both good at English.

And those are my two English classes.

Yesterday Nicole and I were walking along Baise (the street outside our school), and for the first time I noticed how comfortable we were. It wasn't like the street had gotten any less ghetto: street vendors were still everywhere, half the people walk around in their pajamas (it's a status symbol, I'm told), and bicycles and scooters still whiz around, but these days, all of that feels normal.

Even the Mandarin is getting a bit better. I can handle most easy transactions now. Today we're even planning on buying a couple guitars and start playing again.

It's looking more and more like we'll be spending a few years here, and it's good that our small part of China at least, is feeling like home.