Sorry for no updates in a while, Leslie and I have been having a blast adjusting to our new life here in Luoyang! We have received a lot of Facebook messages from people telling us that their comments keep getting deleted here on the blog. I don't really know why that is, so please send us an email or Facebook message to keep in touch :)
Our first week here in Luoyang was really hard on Leslie. She initially cried a lot, but has really been a trooper in quickly adjusting to life far away from home. Something funny that happened on our fifth or sixth day here was that Leslie came over to me and cheerfully declared, “I am doing so good today huh babe! I haven’t cried at all yet the entire day!” I glanced at a clock and noted that it was only 10 am in the morning. “Yes Leslie, you have done great not crying AT ALL day…” I replied. Haha she is doing fantastic now though!
Anyway, we are teaching at the Luoyang Number 2 Foreign Language School. It is a pretty ritzy private middle school. There are about 3,000 students here on campus. The kids live on campus in dorms during the week, and their parents come pick them up to take them home on the weekends. I teach 15, 45 minute classes per week and Leslie teaches 16. Our students all have English names for our class that they previously selected. Some of the more memorable names of students in our classes include Squirrel, Birdkiller, iPad, Robot and Jasmine (for a boy). Teaching is way more fun than I was expecting. It has been super cool getting to know the kids the past couple of weeks and gouging their English abilities. The students take a lot of very strenuous courses such as math, science, history, etc. and receive technical training and English grammar principles from Chinese teachers. What we teach is called "Oral English" classes. We have no curriculum, so basically our job is to just engage the kids and get them to practice their English skills as best as they can. It is really fun to see how excited the students get when they realize that all of the grammar rules and study they have done is paying off when they are able to talk and have a conversation with a person who speaks no Chinese. It is so rewarding to really help them have their English skills come to life!
Our school has a website that you guys can visit if you are interested in checking out our campus.
The URL is http://eng.ly2y.com/
From the main page, click on "More" to see an ariel view of campus. As you can see, the school has several buildings, a river running through campus, a huge soccer field, basketball courts, a track etc. If you click on "Beautiful Campus" in the top center of the screen, the very first picture that pops up is of the foreign teacher’s apartment building, where we live. We live on the top floor in the penthouse suite :) It is great to walk out on the balcony which overlooks the river and campus each morning to start our day!
Campus is built out in a developing area of the city. It is surrounded by massive skyscrapers and apartment complexes.... all of which are completely vacant. It is kind of eerie to walk outside at night and see all of these huge building with not a single light on. We have been told that within the next year or so, this area is going to be bustling with TONS of people. But as of right now, a peek outside campus reveals what appears to be a ghost town. A 10 minute walk leads us to several fantastic restaurants that we have frequented and access to cheap taxis and buses to take into downtown Luoyang. We know that we have just scratched the surface of what Luoyang has to offer, but we have had some great adventures going out and getting lost in our wonderful new city. There is another American teacher who is married to a Chinese girl, so her and Leslie have become shopping buddies. Leslie says she is going for a new "Asian Style", so she has had a great time going to several malls to get new dresses and clothes with her friend. I think she looks cuter than ever! The fact that she can shop til she drops and still not spend very much because everything is so cheap here helps me to sleep better at night as well.
So much has happened and is happening every day, I'm not sure what to even write. We are having the time of our lives here and relishing every moment of our time in Asia. Thank you everyone for your support, and please email us or shoot us a message on Facebook to let us know how you are doing!
Love,
Jared and Leslie
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