It's Camp Again

This year I'll tell you about camp.

A lot of students, my teaching assistant Lee, and me.

This is my second bout of camp so far, but this time I can actually find enough time to tell you about it. For two months, July and January, myself and the other foreign teachers at my school have to work as much as actual teachers, and it always breaks me in half. There's more hours, more students, and more infectious diseases.

Now I call it "camp," but keep in mind that I'm in China, so "camp" is actually EXTRA, all-day English classes for young students during a rare break from their regular school. If you haven't heard it from me before- Chinese students are extremely diligent.

Back to work Paddy!

We're halfway through now, and this camp has been no exception to the aforementioned rules: class sizes have ranged from 25-30 students, and a couple staff members have already been in the hospital. It's a stressful time! But with this added stress comes a lot of enjoyment as well. Camp sessions tend to be less formal than our already informal regular classes, so we play a lot of games, and I get to have a lot of fun joking around with the kids in class. For example, it would be very inappropriate for me to sing while students are writing a test in class, but if they're only coloring during a camp session, it's fine for me to softly sing a song into their ear, making up lyrics as I go, about how Crime is the theme of the day. And yes, I made up that theme. We talked about theft and murder and then we made wanted posters.

Some very smart girls and me

Camp sessions also allows me to meet and teach many students that I don't have in regular classes, and I think it brings me closer to those I do have already.

So although camp can bring some good times, I definitely looking forward to what comes next: Spring Festival, going to Thailand, and getting back to our regular, lighter schedule.