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Learning to make my way in an adult world
September 28, 2011, Wednesday
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I had plans for the summer, but my dad obviously had other ideas. He signed me up for a trip to Shangyu where I would be joining 10 teachers from the US. They would be teaching at a summer camp organized by a local school, while I would be helping out as a teacher's assistant.
As ice-breaking wasn't one of my strengths, it was awkward trying to make conversations with teachers at first. I didn't really know how to strike up a casual conversation with adults, especially when they were teachers as well as complete strangers. But soon, most of them introduced themselves to me and the distance between us shortened.
The camp started the next day in Huawei Bilingual School and was aimed at students my age who were working to improve their English skills. My role was to supervise classes and help students out whenever they had problems understanding something. The classes ranged from American culture to vocabulary. It was fairly awkward at first, having all the students staring at me for I was the "odd one out" sitting at the back of the class. But soon enough I blended in. As soon as a class ended, I was no different from the students.
My relationship with the teachers also improved. I began to connect with the teachers as if they were my age.
It was an unforgettable experience. I had a glimpse of what it would be like to live alone, made friends with students from a different community and, most importantly, learned to socialize and communicate with adults.
(Caroline is Year 11 student at YCIS Shanghai)
As ice-breaking wasn't one of my strengths, it was awkward trying to make conversations with teachers at first. I didn't really know how to strike up a casual conversation with adults, especially when they were teachers as well as complete strangers. But soon, most of them introduced themselves to me and the distance between us shortened.
The camp started the next day in Huawei Bilingual School and was aimed at students my age who were working to improve their English skills. My role was to supervise classes and help students out whenever they had problems understanding something. The classes ranged from American culture to vocabulary. It was fairly awkward at first, having all the students staring at me for I was the "odd one out" sitting at the back of the class. But soon enough I blended in. As soon as a class ended, I was no different from the students.
My relationship with the teachers also improved. I began to connect with the teachers as if they were my age.
It was an unforgettable experience. I had a glimpse of what it would be like to live alone, made friends with students from a different community and, most importantly, learned to socialize and communicate with adults.
(Caroline is Year 11 student at YCIS Shanghai)
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