The morning was wonderful. I was lead around by one of Mr. Feng's teachers. She was incredibly nice and took me to observe several classrooms. They took me to all English classes because the other teachers were apparently pretty nervous to have me in there since they didn't speak English. It was interesting to see how they teach. They do a four step process:

1. Self-learning

2. Teacher directed learning

3. Group work

4. Practice

It was interesting to see this done in such large classes. Most of the classes were from anywhere between 55-65 students. The teachers have to be pretty proficient. It was also fun to see the difference between the teachers and how they do things. Everything is definitely pretty assessment driven, but to a degree I am not sure that it is a bad thing. They are very focused on teaching to specific objectives. They had students talking together, sharing their work, and then also had some direct instruction time. It is much different than I would have thought. They are about as progressive in their instruction as we are in the states and they might be even better at it. The students are great. They are incredibly welcoming and always so happy to see me. Today I have been sung to by a class, a student sang a rap to me in Chinese, I was able to teach a bit of English and what I think makes a good paragraph. It has been a lot of fun.

They do keep thinking that I need a rest though and will dump me off in Mr. Feng's office for periods of time. I don't quite know what to do with myself. I keep telling them that I am ok, but they insist and I don't want to be rude.

It really is a fascinating experience and just like in our schools---there are good teachers and then there are great ones. Teachers that truly care about kids and you can see it in their interactions and teachers that are more focused on their curriculum. Teachers that inspire discovery and teachers that are more direct instruction. It is incredible the different universals that we all share---despite the language barriers and incredibly different government systems—we are the same in many ways.

One thing that has stood out is how run down these facilities are. The buildings are incredibly old, mostly made of concrete and are not very inviting. The students clean the school themselves (an interesting proposition) and there is dust and pollution everywhere. It can be a bit overwhelming at times.

This afternoon we went to see an old palace that was built by an emperor during the Qin dynasty. It was said to have been built for his hundreds of wives. Every morning as they would pour the water from their wash out, it started a river that would run through Xi'an. It was very large and beautiful and most of it was rebuilt from the original because it had been burned down during a peasant uprising.

Then we went to some beautiful gardens that were just planted around some government buildings. This really is a beautiful place, amidst all of the run down buildings, traffic, smog, and other pollution…