connie's space

  Note:  Photos following soon for this entry.  At present, the Net is too slow to add them.         

        It’s a custom in most universities and colleges in China to welcome incoming freshmen with a performance party.  Some schools invite all departments to participate, sending their best acts to the stage. Dancing, singing, skits, dramatic poetry readings and choirs are the highlights with grandly garmented student hosts introducing each number.  In other schools, each department will put on a show for their new students.

            At our school, separate departments are in charge of such shows and last Friday afternoon, November 2^nd, was our English Language Department’s turn.  

A Late Start

            Why the late start and not have this in September?  Many freshmen don’t make an appearance until after the October 1^st holidays.  This is the time when colleges and universities allow the long list of undecided students or those on the waiting list to enter the school.  If the welcome parties are held earlier, late-comers miss out.  It’s also difficult to get good performances out of upperclassmen who have just arrived for the new school year.  There’s no time to get settled back into school life and work at creating a worthy dance number, song or skit to show others.  

            Our English Department booked our welcoming event at the sports field last Friday, giving my 2^nd and 3^rd year students a decent time to prepare.  Every day I’ve come back from class for the past 3 weeks, they’d been practicing outside during lunch hours and evenings, working hard to make our department proud.

            And they weren’t the only ones.

Our Faculty Rehearsals:  Ms Xie To the Rescue!

            Our English language teachers were also busy practicing as well.  Our performance number was to sing Jingle Bells and Auld Lang Syne, melodies everyone in China knows but in Chinese, not in English.  We all felt these two would be perfect for us as English teachers.

            Our first practice was a week before the big day, during the department’s Friday afternoon meeting.  I was asked to go over the words, melody, rhythm and help direct to get them started.  John and Ashley joined me, of course, but I was the first asked to lead them in singing so most of the duty fell on me.

            I had a few motions for us to do. After introducing them to the movements, and going over the songs several times, we went outside to practice. 

            When it comes to these kind of performance shows, I’m your typical American.  I just figure we do our best and not bother about perfection. I am not in the habit of yelling at people for not doing what they’re supposed to do, or being all that picky concerning rhythm, melody or movement coordination. Just as long as it gets done and we don’t embarrass ourselves is enough for me.

            But the Chinese have a different viewpoint.   

            As we went onward with our first rehearsal outside, I could see our office secretary, who is in charge of student’s daily life, was itching to shape us up. 

            “They aren’t smiling,” Secretary  Xie frowned and jumped to the director’s spot where was standing.  “Smile!  Look happy!” she said, hopping about to get everyone to laugh.

            Immediately, everyone snapped to attention.

            “You men!  Move over.  You two, change places.  Teacher Hou, you need to be on the end.  When you use the bells for the song Jingle Bells, try to make it louder.  Don’t slouch! Stand up straight.  Show some energy!”
           Obviously, my lax leadership was in question, which was fine with me!  I wasn’t too keen  to take on the responsibility of our performance, especially if it was pathetic.

            Thus in the hot sunshine, we sweated it out while Ms. Xie whipped us into shape.

            Nor was that the only practice our secretary showed off her leadership talents.  The next Wednesday, we all went out to eat at 12 noon at a restaurant across from the school gate.  After that, we hustled at 12:30 to the music room for a full hour of rehearsal with musician Ms. Xie at the piano to pound us through our songs.  Everyone was very tired but she hopped to it snapping commands, repeating our numbers over and over again, cajoling us into smiles and bounces, hustling us through our exits and entrances for the stage and grooming me as the director for our starts and finishes.

            Whew!  By the end of that hour, it was pretty much as good as it was going to get, all due to Ms. Xie. 

The Big Day

            Originally, we were to have another practice session before Friday but that never materialized.  Everyone was so busy teaching classes, it was hard for us to get together again. 

            We were told to meet at 1 p.m. in front of Classroom Building No. 4 for picture-taking.  I didn’t realize that the teachers had ordered suits which the school paid for so they could all be uniform.  Only the foreigners (John, Ashley and I) were to told to “wear something nice” which wouldn’t match with everyone else.

            I understand the dilemma when trying to order matching outfits for the foreigners.  We are pretty darn big compared to the Chinese.  Ashley is about 6 feet tall, 8 with heels, and John has a strong, athletic, muscular build.   In America, I’m considered little at size 4 but hard to find things even for me to fit into in China.

            When we all showed up (me in nice jeans and a shirt, Ashley in a short linen dress, John with his slacks, long-sleeved shirt and tie), we certainly stood out from the others.  All our colleagues looked so nice and spiffy in their pink shirts, tailored jackets and pants.  We looked like your typical rumpled, unkempt, overly casual Americans.

 Pictures Galore

            Naturally, with everyone in the department present, we had to take advantage of the moment.  A picture-taking session had been arranged, conducted  by our photographer from across the street.  She has a photo shop and does all the official pictures for the school. 

            For 1 hour, our campus studio was hers.

            We had group shots, individual shots, pair shots, and every other shot you can imagine. 

            We had photos taken on the classroom steps, next to trees and bushes, on grassy lawns, amid flowers, on the school walkways and next to colorful posters.  We had formal poses, silly poses, laughing poses and serious poses.  We had all male photos, all female photos, mixed photos and best friend colleague photos.  We had sessions with Connie, sessions with Ashley, sessions with John, sessions with all the foreigners then selected foreigners and no foreigners.

            We had photos with my camera, John’s camera, the photographer’s camera and then everyone elses’ cell phone cameras.

            By the end of that heated hour in the sunshine, we were exhausted, dripping in sweat and feeling as if our performance was over.

            Time to go home!  (Didn’t we wish.)

The Sports Field:  Readying the 3 p.m. Show

            At 2 p.m., we made our way to the sports field where the students had set up over 100 desks, covered in a carpet cloth, to make our stage.  The piano had been dragged forth from somewhere, the sound equipment was ready to go, the backdrop welcoming the freshmen to the party hoisted overhead and the student performers dressed in their flashy outfits were practicing to the side in their selected groups.

            The freshmen English majors were arranged in classes.  They brought their own stools to sit on in their assigned sections.  Even an hour early, they were eagerly awaiting the show and were seated behind the teacher’s tables where we were sitting.

            Since we had time, Ashley and I decided to return to our apartments to change clothes. We both felt under-dressed for the occasion and wanted to surprise our new students.  What better way to cause excitement than to don the traditional Chinese woman’s garment, the qipao (chee-pow)?

            Ashley’s was white; mine was pink, given to me by my students 2 years ago.  We had a nice color combination, not too flashy or loud but a calm elegant for a stage show.

            Upon our return, everyone looked on with pleased smiles.

             “Oh! You have on the traditional Chinese clothes.  You look so beautiful!” our students and Chinese colleagues alike commented.

The Performance Party – A huge Success

            For 1 ½ hours, the freshmen and other onlookers were treated to a wide range of acts.  We had a Xinjiang Province belly dance routine, a choir, a group reading of a famous Chairman Mao poem, two abridged English skits (Sound of Music, Wizard of Oz), a minority people’s (the Mao) dance number, and our teachers’ performance along with a few other great acts.

            But what truly brought the house down, and had everyone on their feet cheering, were the retired teachers.    Dressed as young Chinese folk in qipaos with slits up to the thigh, girly clothes for children, fan dancers in sweeping skirts and men in their traditional Chinese formal jackets, the retired teachers walked slowly in fashion runway mode across the stage.  They struck numerous poses along the way and incorporated a love story of a girl meeting her boyfriend who whisked her away in elegant ballroom dance moves at the end.

            A second retired teacher’s performance was a traditional Chinese rap with the 4 leading ladies acting out the words. 

            The retired teachers, with all their hard work, spot-on choreography and proud air, certainly put our piddly little Jingle Bells and Auld Lang Syne to shame, that’s for sure.  No amount of barking from Ms. Xie would ever have had us anywhere near the performance level of our older folk.  They really were amazing.

Busy Week Ahead

         Once again, the weekend gives me a chance to rest up before heading into another  busy week of teaching and other activities.

          The Protestant church music director, John, and I have already made an appointment for me to help with the choir this coming Thursday evening with their December Christmas celebrations. “Ding-dong Merrily On High” and “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” are the two English numbers they’ll be rehearsing with me leading the way. 

           Wish us luck!

            From along the Yangtze, here’s wishing you Ping An (peace) for your day. 

 

             As you all know, I am a huge animal lover. 

            Stories in past blogs have told of my numerous  lost critter rescues.  There was Little Old-old (now in America with my parents),  abandoned 1-week old Little Ghost (a kitten I found near the US Consulate in Chengdu), another kitty with a nasty gash in his side (now having a happy life with one of my vet’s friends), a couple pathetic stray puppies who had distemper and needed euthanizing, and my own Little Flower who wasn’t in exactly the healthiest state when I got her.

            Animals needing help just seem to land in my lap. Even in America, I was the beaming lighthouse for strays.  Should it be any different here in China?

            Obviously not, as my newest adventure to add to that animal list can attest.

Replaced By a  Baby

            A week ago, I was freezing after my cold water swim at the No. 6 Middle School.  The water isn’t heated and it’s reaching very chilly temperatures.  My wetsuit helps keep me from hypothermia but it’s still darn cold!  I needed a brisk walk to warm me up so I headed down to our Yangtze branch river, the Tuo Jiang.  Along the river is  Baizitu Guang Chang (100 Baby Image Square).  This is a gigantic, Greek-inspired, open-air amphitheater that has a beautiful view across the riverbank.   The square is a favorite place for concerts or other such gatherings, as well as a wonderful area for walking pets or doing exercises. 

            I hustled a bit further up the road to warm up more and passed a  pet store, which doubled as a high-class canine groomer establishment,  and then came across a new veterinarian clinic.  It was rather large and I wondered when they had set up shop.  I didn’t remember it being there when LF and I were here years ago.

            I stopped in just for fun and found out they’d been in business for 2 years.  I mentioned my little dog I’d had while in the city and how it had  always been difficult to find a good vet in Luzhou.  Now there are so many.  I also added my little dog had died and I was still very sad.

            Dr. Mao’s face suddenly brightened.

            “Do you want a little dog?  I have a little dog here that no one wants.  My friend gave it to me.”

           A dog?  A little dog?

           He definitely had my attention.

            Naturally, I had to look.

            In the back of the clinic, among several large cats in cages and a very sad-looking, paw-injured, HUGE German Shepherd mix, was a little black hairy thing. 

            He told me she was a Pomeranian, which certainly explained all that hair. Gracious! 

            He went on to tell me her story.  His friend had just had a baby and didn’t want her anymore.  It was too much trouble to take care of a dog and a newborn in the house.  She was only a year old.  Her name as Xiao Guai-guai (Little Cute-cute).  What did I think?

            Well, all I thought was “Hair!”  She had a lot of it, all over the place. 

            He pulled her out of the cage and handed her to me. 

            The little thing just melted into my arms.  “Love me!” was written all over her sweet face.  She just wanted cuddles and pets and lots of lap time with someone.

            “How long has she been here?” I asked.

            He said 2 weeks so far.  He wasn’t having any success in finding her a home.  Everyone wants puppies, not older dogs.  I told him I couldn’t have a dog but I would come for a visit and take her for a walk the next day.

         Before leaving, I spent more time petting her while she crashed in her cage, closing her eyes and enjoying the facial massage I was giving her.

            As I got up to depart, she jumped on the cage bars to watch me go but didn’t make a sound.  She was a very quiet, gentle soul with a lovely disposition. 

            It was heartbreaking to see her in that cage all by herself.  Someone needed to have that dog who would take good care of her, but who?

Finding A Family for Cute-cute
            I carefully thought about this for the next 4 days when I visited the clinic. 

            After my frigid pool swims, I’d trot down to the animal hospital and take Cute-cute for a walk.

             Her nails were horrendously long.  Someone had not taken good care of her feet.  And her coat was very untidy.  She definitely needed a good shampooing and shaping.  A visit to the groomers was in order but the vet cautioned me against this.  Our 1-year-old also hadn’t had any vaccinations at all.  He thought she might get some diseases from the dogs that were already there.

             By the 4^th day, Cute-cute knew me quite well and eagerly awaited our walking time. Such a perfect starter dog for someone!

             And after those 4 days of pondering, I had just the person in mind:  “Marty” Li, a former English teacher in our department who is now working on the 2^nd floor in school administration.

The Li Family – A Possibility? 

        

            Marty, his wife Andy (a high school English teacher) and their daughter Lucy (8 years old) had been discussing a dog for several years.  If you remember, I was looking for a home for Little Old and Marty’s family was the first I tried.  At that time, his daughter was 4 years old and a complete terror –a whirlwind of activity, LOUD and a rather ornery little thing. 

            When we turned our backs on her, the little girl took a pair of scissors to Little Old’s ears. 

       That’s when I abruptly ended our visit. Definitely no home for Little Old here.

            But now the girl is older and Marty said they had been thinking about getting a dog. He’d never raised a dog before, nor knew anything about training one or how to take care of it.  I knew right away Cute-cute, who loved kids and other dogs when we walked, plus was healthy and polite, would be just right for a 1^st dog family.

            Yesterday evening, I called Marty and told him about our little black Pomeranian.  She was so sweet.  Could he and his wife come and take a look at her? 

            We made a meeting time of  3 p.m. at the clinic.  Marty and Andy would come first to take a look.  If they liked her, we could discuss options for them.  Dr. Mao was also very willing to allow them take a look at her.  I think he was somewhat relieved to have me helping him out in this venture.  Always hard to find an older dog a good home.

Dear Lord, Let It Be So!

            All through church this morning, I prayed for Cute-cute to find himself home.  I had this odd feeling that God had a purpose in sending me down to the river last week after swimming.  This might have been it.

            I arrived a tad earlier than Marty and Andy.  I was able to bring Cute-cute out to the entrance to wait for them. 

            She was, as always, a mass of hair. 

            I was concerned about that and wished I’d taken her to the groomers beforehand. She didn’t present a very gorgeous, manageable image of a dog. Chinese don’t like a lot of hair all over them.  Of course, neither do most Americans.  Big hair on a dog is daunting for anyone but especially for first-time dog owners.

            Marty and Andy approached with eagerness. They were smiling as they came but an ever-so-slight change in their expressions gave me a clue to what they were thinking:  “Oh, my gosh!  That dog has a LOT of hair.”

            And she hadn’t been brushed in a few days so it was clumping. While stroking her as they peered down at the dog in my arms, I pulled out several hefty tufts of hair. 

            Yikes!

            However, I didn’t let that stop me from touting her praises, how gentle she was, how much she loved children and other dogs, and how sad it was that she was deserted by her family for a baby.

            As we walked around the square, I pointed out the nearby groomers and how often she probably should go.  They shouldn’t concern themselves dealing with all that hair and let the pros do it.  That’s what most Chinese did and they could be the same.  The groomers, for an all-round beauty treatment, cost 80 yuan ($13).  I had checked already.  And the pet store had everything they’d need.  I also had LF’s unopened food bag that was a pricey, excellent brand.  I could give that to them and it would last for 2 months or more.

Keen Interest Arises

            The more I talked, the more questions they asked about pet care.  Obviously, they were interested.  I could hardly believe it!  Were they really going to make such a quick decision about taking her?

            We next stopped in at the groomers.  I suggested they ask the experts about caring for a long-haired dog and her upkeep. After discussing this with the young shop women present, Marty piped up, “Well, we should have her taken care of now to see what she looks like.”

            Off Cute-cute went into the arms of the masked groomers. Among other yapping dogs of all sizes in cages,  Little Cute-cute was about to get a beauty makeover fit for the movie stars.

Cute-cute Gets Her Make-over

            Andy had to leave us right before 4 p.m. Classes for junior high and high school students always take place on Sunday early afternoon, meaning Andy had classes to teach.  She took the bus back to her school, leaving Marty with the car to take Cute-cute home.

            As we two waited, Marty and I cruised the aisles of the pet supply store to buy much-needed items.  Their new family addition needed a good brush for her hair. We found one.   She needed a bed.  We picked a pretty, soft, flowered blue one.  I had the food, an extra travel carrier and the leash which I was very happy to hand over.   

            We stood outside the gated area and watched our black Pomeranian get her nails clipped, her shampoo and cut.  She didn’t make a sound when those ½ inch-long nails came off, one after another after another.

             One particularly difficult nail had curled in circles around itself, like a snail shell.  This really upset the dog washers.  The lead groomer growled about that nail to the younger gals, saying it would be difficult to deal with.  The 3 of them surrounding Cute-cute, inspecting the disgusting “snail”, then looked at us as if it were our fault. 

            I explained it wasn’t really our dog but Marty was going to adopt it from someone else.  That family had caused the problem, not us.  

            I don’t think they believed me.

A New Look Makes A New Dog

            The wait for her transformation was agonizing!  It took an hour for them to fix her up, she was in that bad a shape. 

            I fidgeted in a chair, craning to see behind the glassed in grooming area 10 feet away from me. 

            “Take it easy!” Marty laughed.  “All ladies need time to look pretty.  She’ll be out soon.”

            When she finally emerged, a pink sparkly flower barrette on her forehead, she looked amazing!  All that horrendous, poofy, unkempt, wild hair gone.  In its place was a little fuzzy body, wiggling to get into the arms of her new owner.

            Marty took her carefully from the lead groomer, gave her a big sniff and grinned.

            “Oh!  She really smells nice.  Much better than before.”

Departing for A New Home

            We walked back to the clinic with Cute-cute excitedly prancing along.  She was very happy to have all that hair gone.  Plus I’m sure it felt wonderful to walk along without long nails click-clacking against the sidewalk and disrupting her gait.  

            Dr. Mao said  if there was a problem, bring her back.  He also mentioned that she was a special breed, a black Pomeranian and not the golden lion kind.  Her price as a puppy had been 2,000 yuan ($375).   He was giving us to her for free.

            I was stunned at the original cost.

            For that price, her owners should have taken better care of her grooming needs, from her horrible nails to her rather gunky teeth.  Abandoning such an expensive, sweet, lovely little dog for a baby at home?  Not nice.

Final Decision Yet To Come

            Marty, Cute-cute and I headed over to my apartment at the college so I could give him the things I’d promised.  I gave Marty a few more hints about dog care and suggested he get on the Net.  He planned to do that right away.

            A dog is a big responsibility, even a sweet one like Cute-cute.  These next few days will tell if the Li Family feel they are ready for such a task.  All I can do is send lots of little, encouraging prayers their way, hoping all goes well for everyone.

            From along the Yangtze River, here’s wishing you Ping An (Peace) for your day.  And don’t forget to vote!

           

           

What Is English Corner, or EC?

          For those who aren’t familiar with English Corners (ECs) in China, these are gathering places where people come together regularly to practice their English.  Set times and days are the usual format, with meetings taking place in city parks or universities and colleges.

            The best English Corners are those where a variety of people attend.  At Sichuan University in Chengdu, English Corner takes place at the school’s flagpole, next to the sports’ stadium, on Friday evenings from 7 p.m. to whenever people depart.  I’ve attended several of these over the past 8 years and am always amazed at the language ability of those present.   They are quite adequate in their skills, much more so than my poor countryside students whose educational standards fall far below those in the city.

            English Corners can be found everywhere in China.  It’s just a matter of asking around to discover them in the area you’re living in or visiting.

 English Corner at Luzhou Vocational and Technical College:  A Struggle

            In all English Corners I’ve participated in, the Chinese are eager to speak.  They always take the initiative.  Topics are never set. Everyone just says what comes to mind, in as little or as much English as he or she is capable of.

            But at our 3-year vocational college, English Corner presents somewhat of a challenge.

            My students, especially my freshmen, have no experience of expressing their opinions in English, or even asking questions or giving responses, unless a teacher is there to guide them.  Memorizing dialogues, phrases and sentences, or studying grammar rules are the ways they’ve been taught to learn a language.  Getting them to talk about anything, even with topics presented, leaves them at a loss what to say after they’ve finished the first few sentences. 

            They sit in silence, in their little groups of 5 or 6, and stare at the floor.

            Take for example our first English Corner we had 3 weeks ago.  What a fiasco!

 A Lesson in Patience

             Ashley, John and I had no idea how many would show up for our first Thursday EC on campus, held from 7 – 8 p.m.,  but we anticipated a hefty crowd.  The entire campus knew about this night due to announcement boards around the school placed there by the English Association members.  Naturally, all the English majors (some 500 of them) would be eager to see what was going on the first night we were to have this.
            Usually, English Corners are held outside with students coming and going,  branching off into their own little groups or joining with friends they already know. The foreigners then rotate from group to group to join conversations with everyone.

            Yet our students are not as savvy in the ways of how English Corners work.  They crave guidelines and leadership.  Thus we scheduled our first EC in the classroom, a more familiar, comfortable setting for our students and a place where we could better organize them.

            When we arrived on Thursday night at 6:50 p.m., it was a madhouse!

            Students were pressed into a single room, over 100 of them, standing or sitting with numerous desks crammed together. 

            We foreigners quickly improvised and hustled half of the young folk out of one room and into another.  I took one classroom while Ashley and John took another.  Even then, the students were overflowing outside both rooms.  Many were peering in the sliding glass windows, unable to enter due to the large number of students already there.

 Slow Start; Chaotic Finish

           In my classroom, I led a warm-up game where volunteer teams came to the board and made sentences using given words.  It took awhile for them to get going but by the end of 15 minutes, they seemed ready to plunge into our discussion activities.

            Or so I thought.

            I placed our 3 topics on the board:   My Family, An Exciting Day and An Important Life Lesson I Learned.  These were essay themes I had assigned to all of my students 3 weeks earlier. 

            I thought I was so clever. 

            Since  they’d already written about these things, surely they’d have something to say about them in oral English as well.

            After the topics were announced, I tried to gather them into groups so they could begin sharing.

            Everyone stayed glued to their seats. They looked at me blankly, some in utter bewilderment as to what they were being asked to do.  And they were not at all pleased that I was requesting them to move.

            After a great deal of cajoling and forcefully prying several out of their chairs, I managed to get my crowd of about 80 into groups of  5 to 8 to stand around the room. 

            “The topics are on the board,” I told them. “It’s your turn now.  Have fun sharing!” 

            Total silence.
            They gazed at me while I whisked around the room, trying to get them started.

            “What are we doing?” someone whispered in Chinese to her classmate.  “I don’t understand.”

            “We’re to talk about the topics,” her friend answered. “On the board.”

            The girl squinted to see the words written, quietly mouthed the topics aloud and then replied, “What do I say?”

            “Say what you want,” I cheerfully interjected in English while hovering at her side. “Tell us about your family.  Or an exciting day.  I’m sure you can say something.  Just practice your English!”

            I could feel my once relaxed, pleasant smile take on a strained, frustrated edge as my patience began to wane. 

 Finding An “Out” to Practicing English

            After I spent 20 minutes racing around, urging groups to talk but having minimal success, my EC crowd found a new way to entertain themselves:  Taking pictures.

            Ah, Chinese and their cameras!  Once it starts, there’s no stopping it.

            It only took one lone student to secretly pull out her cell phone, click to her photograph option and begin snapping pictures of me bustling about the room before the everyone was doing it. 

            I was so caught off-guard that I permitted myself to be grabbed, pulled, tugged and dragged in all directions for hundreds of poses.  It became the opportunity of a lifetime:  All those enthusiastic freshmen eager to show parents and friends their foreign teacher, Connie, standing by their side.

            “Look!” they’d exclaim while checking out their cell phone shots. “Here we are together.  Teacher, you look very beautiful!”

            I kindly reviewed with them dozens of those photos, taken with different students from different angles in different positions amid different backgrounds. 

            The only thing that remained the same was my frozen, teeth-gritting grin and deer-in-the-headlights’ expression.  

            From their viewpoint, I appeared the happy foreigner, gladly enjoying photo ops with her beloved students.

            From my end, my exasperation level was so high I was getting a splitting headache.

 

            When 8 p.m. finally came upon us, our energetic EC participants left amid laughter and friendly chatter, all the while sharing with one another their pictures from the evening.

            Ashley and John appeared at my classroom doorway, looking just as harried and exhausted as I did.  

            We all agreed:  We obviously needed better planning for next time around. 

 Plans Made For Better Results

           The next week, we were better equipped to handle the students. We  branched off into 3 different classrooms to lead the large numbers attending, called it quits for photos until after 8 p.m. and rotated every 15 minutes with different topic questions in hand for students to answer.

            This gave us more control but it was still a struggle to get students to talk for the allotted time period.

            Our next venture is to enlist the help of the English Association members.  We plan to have 5 English major volunteers assigned to each one of us who can help get the conversations started.  They’ll be in charge of dividing students into groups, leading discussions and pulling students out of their shy language state.  That will give us the opportunity monitor the room as well as join in ourselves.

            Brilliant idea, but still in the initial stages of set-up.

Our EC This Evening:   Third Time’s a Charm 

           This evening, our topics center around countries you’d like to visit and favorite Chinese cities.   The novelty of EC has already started to wear off.  A few hours ago, I entered a classroom with a much smaller crowd that before. Quite manageable and those participating were the truly spirited ones who wanted to improve their language skills, not just tag along because their friends were there.

              I was also happy to see that in every group, one student took the initiative to read the questions I had prepared on hand-outs and make sure everyone had something to say.