Inspiration Words: Pandemonium and Confused
September 19th
This is my first week of classes at university, and I absolutely love it! I’m so glad I came to Hainan. The skies are so blue here, and even though it’s so hot, the library has air conditioning, and that’s basically where I spend most of my time anyway. I also just got a new umbrella, so I have constant sun protection. My new umbrella is yellow with little flowers on it, and it makes me happy because, even if I have to use it when it’s raining, there’s still a sun above me!
Actually, I have to say that the last couple of weeks were pretty awful. We had military training, and I cannot describe how hot it was. Our clothes were not designed for the long hours of standing in this unbearable sun. I know every college student has to complete a few weeks of military training, no matter what university you go to, but I wish it weren’t mandatory, and I wish I knew why we all have to do it. Maybe it’s just to teach us how to do hard things. Or teach us discipline. Whatever it is, I just wished we could skip past military training to start regular classes as quickly as possible!
After two days, one of my classmates passed out. We were all practicing marching, and she was not in time with the rest of us. She went to sit on the grass, but as soon as she sat down, she passed out. When I saw what had happened, I also realized I was starting to feel a little dizzy. We were allowed a water break while they took the girl to the campus doctor. She seemed fine later that evening, and now, they give us more water breaks, which is a relief. I’m really close to all of my classmates, and we all have a great relationship. Hey, maybe that’s the point of military training! It shows us all how to work together and helps us make friends when we first come to college.
But I was thrilled when the three weeks of military training were over so I could start studying English! So far this week, I have had an English listening class, a comprehensive English class, a reading class, and a basic culture class.
I’m most excited for tomorrow, because tomorrow, I have my first ever class with a foreign teacher. After studying English for ten years, I will finally have the chance to practice with a real person—from another country! The class schedule says her name is SAMANTHA. I’m not sure how to say that name, and it seems very long. I wonder what I’m supposed to call her. Maybe I’ll just call her teacher. That seems safe.
Well, I should probably go to sleep. Spoken English at 8:00 a.m. tomorrow morning!!!!
September 20th
What a day! Let me tell you, spoken English class was extremely interesting, but so different from what I expected. It started off okay; Teacher just told us her name and made us practice the “th” sound. Since most of us couldn’t get it right, she said we could just call her Sam. But that was confusing when she found out that one of the boys in our class also chose “Sam” as his English name. So, she said we could call her Samantha and practiced the name a few more times. It’s such a long name, though, so I think most of the students will just call her “Teacher.”
She also told us about her family (she has so many brothers and sisters) and her hometown, but I couldn’t understand most of what she said. I’ve been studying English for so many years, and I always get the highest score on my English tests—why couldn’t I understand her? I really feel like I should be able to understand her better. I will have to practice more.
I talked to some of my other classmates, and I realized they were also completely confused. They didn’t even seem to know she had explained the class rules to us. I couldn’t understand what the rules were, but I know she mentioned something about rules. I hope I don’t break any of them. Maybe I will ask her about them next time. She seems really nice, but I was a little afraid to talk to her because I was worried that I wouldn’t understand what she says to me. Maybe I will try next week. She has such a nice smile, and such big eyes. We all noticed her big eyes. I don’t think I have ever seen such big eyes in my whole life, and they’re blue! Maybe she is a model back in America.
Samantha also made sure all of us had English names. I asked her to give me one, and she gave me a list of names. I chose Becky. Samantha said it’s a good name, and it’s also the name of her cousin! I have the same name with Samantha’s cousin!
Twenty minutes before class ended, Samantha told us we were going to play a game. We all understood those words, and we got really excited! She gave us some paper and asked us to write the numbers one to fifteen down the left side of the page. She even showed us an example, so I think we all did it right. Then she put up so many words on the PowerPoint that everyone forgot we were supposed to be playing a game. It was so overwhelming!
After she explained the game, we realized what we were supposed to do. The PowerPoint had a list of fifteen descriptions. The first one said we should find someone who was wearing blue, and the second one was to find someone from Hunan Province. Each of the other numbers had different descriptions too. Once Samantha said, “Go!”, we then had to walk around the room to find classmates who matched the description for each of the fifteen numbers. I was glad I spent so much time talking to everyone during the military training. I already knew my friend Ma Liang was from Hunan, and Yun Hong had a pet cat. Before the game had even started, I’d already found #2 and #7. I thought maybe I could be the first one to finish!
After just a few minutes, the entire classroom was in pandemonium! Everyone was shouting. I was trying to speak in English like Samantha asked us to, but it was so loud no one could understand what I was saying, so sometimes I just shouted the number and let the other person read the description for themselves. I found a girl who had visited Beijing, a guy who was good at singing, and another girl who had a part-time job during the summer holiday—all within the first minute or two. The classroom was also not very big, and we all got stuck between the desks as we tried to maneuver around the room. It got pretty tough to find the people I needed to talk to, but eventually I found people who fit all fifteen descriptions and gave my paper to Teacher.
Later, after everyone sat down, she announced that “Becky” was the first one to finish. At first, I looked around to see who that was—then I realized that I am Becky! I was the winner! I was so excited when everyone clapped for me. I absolutely love this class, and I really hope that next time I can understand what Teacher is talking about!
~Becky