Some Awkward Pics of Me Teaching

Who likes beef? [crickets]

But who likes cabbage? [everyone and their mom]

This is my 'I will cut you' stance

Sticker selection--most serious part of class

Kids don't know what goes on at the back

I received this high five graciously despite what this photo would have you believe

Elementary Schoolers Can Cook Better Than I Ever Will

I first heard about a mysterious picnic last Friday because my last two classes were canceled. I was told that the kids were going to work together to cook a meal; 1st grade with 6th grade, 2nd with 5th, and 3rd with 4th. That day they met to figure out what dishes to make, who would cook what, who would bring the knives, chopsticks, bowls, etc. I worked the crowd seeing this a prime time to review our recently-learned food vocab. 

I approached a group of sixth grade boys who ran up to me yelling, "Miss K will you please eat with us?" 

I was a little taken off guard. What were teachers doing during this time? Were we going to different places? 

"Sure!" I replied. I saw it as a nice opportunity to bond with these typically withdrawn students— they all sit at the back and rarely participate.

"But you guys know I don't eat meat right?"

"It's no problem teacher, we'll make potato! And tofu!" Said in English with TPR <3.

I then got assaulted by 6th grade girls who asked me to eat with them as well.  I visited every group as they were planning, and they all asked the same thing. I was really confused as to where they were going and how this would work.

On Wednesday after lunch, everyone started preparing their things to go. This is when I learned that we were all going to the same place, apparently very beautiful. I noticed that kids had packed copious amounts firewood, as well as metal stands.

Everyone lined up behind two red flags and we trekked out into the fields past water buffalo, over bridges, and through mud. We arrived at a rocky river bank where the kids began building stoves with stones and firewood. Brilliance ensued. 

Chopping beef

Cabbage simmering

Green beans, 欧笋, and pork

Washing vegetables in the river

Zack cookin' with fire

Olivia tending to the wok

Banquet fit for kings

高黎贡山 and the moon hanging out being beautiful

I wandered around taking pictures, receiving apples and tangerines from every student I came across, but I made it back to those sixth grade boys just in time to skip some stones before dinner. They made potato and tofu as promised, but also cabbage, green peppers, and bean sprouts.

Stone serving rice

View of my school on the way home

I'm still amazed by everything my students did that day. Taking turns carrying firewood on the trek there, building fires, washing vegetables, chopping meat, frying tofu, boiling cabbage, serving the dishes on beautiful stone tables, and all as a team. I'm pretty sure I never turned on a stove before I was in high school, let alone build a fire to do it. I am consistently stunned by what kids are expected to do here, and how adept they prove themselves to be. 

I think I got the flu

Last week I got pretty sick. It was a Monday and I was really excited because a friend had come to visit me. Halfway through the day though, I started feeling dead to the world. I was pretty sure it was going to be serious since I never get sick.

The first night I cried because I thought I was going to die (a tad melodramatic at times). When the word leaked out to my local teachers that I was sick, they freaked out. Maybe they were scared I'd get so sick I'd go back to the states, like some of my 腾冲 Tengchong colleagues. They worried over me so much that the other TFC fellow here, 彭智文 Peng Zhiwen, likened my situation to a panda.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"It's the most cherished animal in China."

They kept insisting I should go to the doctor and get a shot. I'm not the biggest fan of Western medicine in the first place, but Yunnan has one of the highest HIV/AIDS rates in all of China, so I'm a little wary of unnecessary needle use. That night I couldn't sleep because it felt like my right ear was going to explode. They canceled my classes.

"Do you dare take Chinese medicine?" they asked. Of course! They should've of asked sooner. So I headed to the local doctor with my two friends. Only the "young" doctor was in, a man well over 40, so my local teachers said we would have to wait until the next day.

I headed back and met the young doctor's father, he's probably over 70 years old. He felt my left wrist in three places, and then did the same to my right wrist. He asked if I had a cough, I said no. He looked at my tongue and commented that I was 上火, or "on fire." I'm no expert, but I know that Chinese medicine often assigns temperature to people and their afflictions, but also to food and herbs. He slowly wrote my prescription- about 15 different ingredients that he then weighed out. I really have no idea what any of it was; some of it looked like mushrooms, some looked like tea, some like mashed peppercorn. I was to boil it all together, and drink three times a day. He calculated the price on one of those abacus things, which I have no idea how to use, so I was convinced it was going to be 100s of yuan. It was 25块.

Drinking it at all was a disgusting challenge. It tastes approximately like rubbing alcohol, chai tea, and dandelion greens mixed together. The Chinese have some saying like, the bitterer, the healthier. They are not kidding, I'm making a face just thinking about it.

The results were weird. I felt almost 100% better, but I completely lost my voice. As in, either whisper or turkey squawk.

This week, I've regained my voice, and also my 精神 (roughly translated as spirit or vigor) according to my local teachers. I'm on the mend but my ear is still popped and my throat hurts, so I returned to the doctor for a new prescription. He said I had no physical strength so I should eat more- all I've ever wanted to hear.