Teaching Beyond the Classroom

Beijing is a world of culture that we simply do not have in small town Qufu. So when we had some spare time during the debate competition, I was able to share some experiences from Western culture with the students.

#1: Western Food


The girls are eating sandwiches for the first time at a Subway restaurant in Beijing.

Cold Stone is really too expensive to buy, but I took them inside, showed them how it all works, and then took a picture of us eating the sign.

Cheese. I mean, they didn't even know there were different kinds.

Magnum bars. Thank you, Belgium, for making good chocolate.

We also went to Jenny's Wang's (an import grocery store where I showed them a cereal aisle), smelling at Starbucks, and Tex-Mex for dinner!

#2: Swimming

These students don't own bathing suits and have never been in a pool in their lives. Sophie was convinced she couldn't breathe as soon as she got in the water. In her words, "The water is crushing me." Not to mention the fear of drowning in spite of the fact that her feet could touch the bottom. I tried to give her some basic swimming lessons, but to be honest, her grip never left the rim of the pool.

#3: Bowling

They have seen it in movies, but never experienced it. The weight of the ball was daunting at first, but they got the swing of it. The humor in this is really just that I, Mallary, was teaching them bowling. I am proud to say it's the first time in my life that I have won a game of bowling!


#4: Art

We went to the 798 district in Beijing which is mostly old warehouses converted into art studios. In this particular case, I wasn't really teaching them, we were just enjoying the art together.









I was proud that they all recognized him.


And last but not least, teaching them how to be gangstas.