Volunteer Stories | Mike
I worked at Shanghai Pudong Foreign Language school. If you're reading this you've probably made the best decision ever and decided to volunteer to teach! It's been about 6 months since I got back from China but it all still feels like yesterday so I'll try and pass on anything that'll be useful for you.
If you're teaching at the same school I was then say Mike says hello, I miss them all! I remember my first lesson really vividly, I strolled into the classroom, the children were all looking at me expectantly, the Chinese teacher left the room and then I suddenly realised that this was it. What do I say? The panic that hits you for the first time is very real, I thought the words would just come to me! I broke the Ice by just talking about myself though, telling them about me and what I do, what my hometown is like and then going round the class and asking the guys to introduce themselves. I found that this worked really well, then I played hangman and other board games for the remainder of the time. Hangman and other little games are your friends guys, they'll help you fill extra time and the kids love it. Be vary wary of 'The corner game' though however, I was caught unawares by this game since I'd never heard of it. The end result however was around 30 children running around the room screaming between corners!
While I was in China, all of the volunteers liked to meet up at the 'Windows' bar, it was like our home from home. They played good western music, cheap drinks and the staff were great. It's a great place to start off a big night out. There are some great clubs within walking distance of the Windows tembo (I think it was tembo) particularly BonBon and Pegasus. I can't recommend Windows tembo enough though, great food, drinks and atmosphere. It should be the official volunteers HQ!
Another thing I can't recommend enough is the street food, you've got to try it all. I ate at street stalls everyday basically, think of it like a BBQ but better. All over the country as well, there were different things on offer at different street stalls. Word of warning though, I'd think again before I bought anything off anyone selling food to people through the train windows at train platforms, I bought an egg roll off a lady there. Before we even got to Chengdu I was incredibly ill and had to spend the next day in bed.
Talking of trains though, you're going to want to travel around a bit right? Traveling China is a brilliant experience that you wouldn't want to miss. A word on train travel though, if you can, go hard seat. You'll save a fair bit of money by doing so and get a more authentic experience in my opinion as that is how most Chinese people have to travel. You might want a bed for very long distances however, I had to do a 48 hour journey from Kun-Ming to Shanghai in hard seat to make sure I got back for my flight home. Me and my friend Laurence really felt like we'd endured something when it was over but would never do it again! When you go to Beijing though, make sure you go and see the Beijing acrobatics, oh my god. This was an awe inspiring show, the entire show was quite simply unbelievable and flawless. You've got to see it to believe it.
One of my favourite places was Kun-Ming, we stayed at the Hump hostel which was lovely. What was nice about it was the temperature, it's quite high you see so it's always nice and cool. It was possible to actually go out and enjoy the heat as opposed to simply melting.
I won't bore you anymore with my old experiences though, I hope you have a great time and get the most out of your teaching. Jessie was always there to help us out if we had any problems and was invaluable. Thanks Jessie.
Mike Hurley.