Yunnan Stories 云南故事

Hongxiao(an affectionate form of address to our principal, Literally meaning a principal surnamed Hong.) is definitely a legend, setting a great example for Shanghai voluntary teachers. He is the first elected principal from Shanghai to Yunnan with a three-year contract. Only a man of transcendental love and courage like him can make such a resolute decision. More importantly, the school has taken on a brandnew look since our Hong took the post. The changes are obvious, positive, and productive, among which the most convincing and prominent is that Honghe No.1 High School achieved the best result in the previous admission exams in its history. You can imagine how many efforts our Hong has made and how far-reaching his series of reforms are to local education. To be honest, I have never seen such a vigorous teacher who is both enterprising and devoted to the lofty cause. We are lucky and honered to work with such a good principal, a man who gains wide respect due to his efficiency, affinity and especially his charisma. As a celebrity, Hong never puts on air, calling us buddies, which makes us feel at home. We are happy to coorporate with him for another 8 months before we return to Shanghai in July, 2007.

Lao Sun is also a character and personality, dinamic and considerate. He ofen comes up some brilliant ideas and put them into practice with enormous patience. His dorm is decorated by a bunch of baubles， with a feel of what he proclaims A HOME AWAY FROM HOME. Sun is witty and kind, which can be reflected from an anecdote. The other day, he bought some chestnuts for his students, telling them to eat and aim high because chestnut is pronounced almost the same as "aim high" in Chinese. Actually, Lao Sun has tons of anecdotes. Here are some in the form of FAQ. 1,Who goes to sleep latest? Sun. 2,Who dislikes rice noodles? Sun. 3,Who loves snacks best? Sun. 4,Who has the most ideas? Sun. 5,Who likes badminton best? Sill Sun….. An interesting dude, overall. (Thanks, Sun, for the umbrella you send me for free, by the way.）

There is a Zhang and Zhu living together with a TV room in between. Both are maths experts so they have the most common language, a little similar to two pods in a pea. Zhang is a good-humored person , who can make and take a joke. Zhu appears more steady and taciturn, a good poker player as well as a good cook. The red-cooked pork we ate twice was both his work, not yukky.

Ms Fu is the only female aid teacher here, sharing with us the woes and joys here in the remote moutainous area, leaving behind the comfort zone and the dazzling urban life. Cool. (Thanks, Fu, for rescuing my air-dried clothes from the sudden rain the other day.)

The sixth is me.

The student-hit-teacher incident I heard the day before yesterday was proved last night  by Longxing,  who came to my dorm for a shower and  then we chatted for a while. Naturally, our chitchat is never short of the topic of class teaching. He wanted to be the best teacher, buiding the most interactive class. He proceeded and expressed his appreciation to some collegues including Miss Gao for her rapport with the students. I noticed that his eyes twinkled and his face lit up when taking about his students, without a single negative comment. During our chat, an intersting"pressure cooker phenominon"was also touched, related to aforementioned news. It was concerning some inexperienced teachers, who expect too much of their students and turn the class to be a pressure cooker unwittingly. Tragically, the teachers in question , who undertake the thankless task, put all the blames on the students. It’s too late when it explodes.

Young and laid-back as he is, Long possesses all the passions and gets a kick out of being a teacher.  Enlightened and moved from time to time by Longxing, I’ve striken some inspirations which will be useful to English teaching, not harmful to say at the least. In a word, I should continue the student-centered approach, making the class a happy place with more smiles and encouragement. Can’t be careful enough even though there is slim chance of "turning into a pressure cooker". After all, that’s only a bottom line, which  is far far away from your pursuit.