Taggart - Post 2

Taggart Bonham

7/31/2014: 7a – 12p

America China Exchange

Mr. Lee

jleeatty@aol.com

Today was Day 20, the penultimate day of the summer camp. With this year and my career as a teacher coming to a close, I am filled with a bittersweet feeling. Teaching the children here is heartwarming. The tangible impact that we make on their lives is amazing and has drawn me to return, year after year. I have loved seeing the students grow over time into the people they are today. This trip has changed me, just like how Jim (from 5th Grade) has progressed from a eager but stuttering 3rd Grader into the incredibly outgoing and competent camper he is today. Over my years here I’ve learned self-reliance, leadership, and, obviously, a lot of Mandarin. I’ve grown from the self-conscious 7th grader into the man I am today. And so it’s with great sadness that tomorrow I will say goodbye to this camp for the last time. I’ve had a tangible impact here teaching English. While the children’s linguistic accomplishments were many, we taught them an arguably more important lesson — to appreciate other countries and their customs. This program (originally called ABC [America Bridges China]) started off as a cultural exchange between our two nations. Over the years we’ve lived up to this mission statement by teaching the kids of Qiaoqi about American culture and inspiring them to try their hardest in their studies. I am extremely appreciative that I’ve had the opportunity to return so many times over the years and have experienced tremendous personal growth as a result.

Taggart - Post 1

Taggart Bonham

7/2/2014: 7a – 12p

America China Exchange

Mr. Lee

jleeatty@aol.com

Today is Day 3 of my stint as an English teacher in China. Since this is my 4^th year returning to Qiaoqi to teach, I knew exactly what to expect, but in 7^th grade before my first time, I had quite a few misconceptions about what 3-5^th grade Chinese kids from a farming village. I assumed that everyone would be dirty, illiterate, or both, but in all regards I was wrong. China places a high value on education, so although many of these kids would grow up to farm or work in a factory, they were quite intelligent. My PACT work showed me that just because they weren’t that literate in English, doesn’t mean that they were unintelligent. In fact, my first few years, their English was superior to my Chinese. From my time leading a classroom this year, I learned a lot about the power of communication, and its necessity cross-culturally. As both China and America are globally dominant nations I believe that we as a country need to learn more about their culture, so that we can better and more peacefully cooperate with them going forward. I learned about the need for tolerance of other cultures and customs, and I really took home how we as a country need to be more open-minded when dealing with people with different backgrounds. Overall, the biggest thing that my time here teaching a foreign language to a classroom full of energetic kids has taught me about myself is patience. While some moments the work becomes hard to sit through, I’ve learned that pushing through towards the end is extremely rewarding.