Well, the week before last was not too eventful so our apologies for not blogging but we didn't have much to share. This time around things are much different.This past week was crazy. It was the week before our winter vacation so you know how hectic that can be! We spent the early half of the week working with students on preparing for our school's big Christmas program. This year the music teacher decided to do a rendition of the Nutcracker Suite. It was a huge undertaking that began back in October and culminated this past Wednesday with a superb performance presented by staff and students at one of the fanciest hotels in all of Dongguan. It sure was nice!
Pazi spent quite a bit of time with her kids getting them ready for the big event. Since the Nutcracker was only for students ages 5 and up, the pre-school department did a separate "mini" program. The children did singing and dancing to popular Christmas songs. Then at the very end of the last number, two of Pazi's students played the roles of Joseph and Mary during the Nativity scene. She coached them to independently take center stage and pose for the crowd. It was very memorable. You could here several "ahhs" from the audience.Since Adan is coaching volleyball, and now basketball, the school directors cut him some slack and he just ended up supporting Pazi and her needs with her class the night of the event. That meant a lot of "gophering" for wardrobe items and chasing down kids that arrived late. All in all, the night was a big success. Parents were beaming with pride as their children took the stage and the students' smiles said it all for how much they enjoyed themselves. They especially liked when one of the teachers in the secondary was kind enough to volunteer and play the role of Santa. He came into the auditorium and surprised the children with candy canes and other small gifts. It was great.
Winter Vacation
So now we get three weeks of vacation time...sort of. Pazi and I were approached to help with our school's winter language camp. We decided to help our directors out and work one extra week when about twenty students attend. This provides parents of our students with an option since QSI schools take three weeks of vacation time during the holidays. This can be tricky for many of our families, particularly for those that do not celebrate Christmas.The focus is English language acquisition but through enrichment activities. It should be fun as we have planned making ice cream, cooking hot pot lunch, going ice skating, building a snow globe, and several role play activities. The days are only about 4 to 5 hours long so it should go by quickly.
The remainder of our vacation will be spent in Yunnan province. This part of China is considered to be a natural wonder. We will spend two full weeks traveling all over the province with the assistance of Bill, Adan's teaching assistant. We will devote an entire blog entry to this trip so be on the look out for photos and stories upon our return!
