Learning to teach in Beijing Union University

COUNTRY: China
PROGRAM: UniBreak
PROJECT: Teaching
WRITTEN BY: Maile Taimana

So it has only been two weeks yet it feels like months! We are living in Beijing Union University. Our days have been filled with classes to tours around Beijing. Our first day we got to know everyone in the program. It is amazing to get to know people from such different cultures and places. It is also such a unique circumstance to meet such people! From Danish to German, English to Norwegian and many more....there are many nationalities and names to remember but we're getting there!

Our week works from Friday to Tuesday filled with classes with trainers that are teaching us how to become the best English teachers as possible! We attend mandarin and culture classes to help us out. Wednesdays are our 'Tour days' in which we take trips to visit the sites. Last week we went to Wungfujing (or as we like to call it the 'bug market). It is full of western food, book and clothing shops but with a particular section where you can buy live scorpions on a stick, octopus, starfish, snake and other creepy crawls to eat! (Needless to say some limits were tested). We have witnessed amazing Chinese acrobatics, visited various markets (where barging for a price becomes a sport - always good fun!).

We have seen the worlds longest corridor at the summer palace (once a place where the royal family would stay in the summer, which is now a major tourist attraction.) Many of us have gone off and have done our own exploring! We are learning to use the subway and finding paths and shortcuts to various places.

China has many quirks. We as westerners have reached 'celebrity status'. Many Chinese people have never seen foreigner and would either sneakily take photos of us or outright stand next to us and take photos. Many stare and like to practice their English. It does take some getting used to but that's just what comes with the experience. It is a vastly different culture and is and interesting change for most of us.

There has been so much going on that it would be impossible to recall it and write it all down! This truly is an amazing experience to learn from.