How are you? Have you had a good week? I do hope you are well and have a relaxed and easy weekend.

A phone call from one of my former students made me think of my first work experience as a teacher who was just 14.5 years old in the northeast frontier. Instead of being in the universities in the last years of the Culture Revolution, I went to the frontier to be a corps soldier with millions of city students together. As the youngest one in a team, I was called "A Little Sweet Potato" kindly. In a huge wild land, after digging a well, fixed some tents, we built up our own houses before the winter came. After we moved into the houses, I was chosen to be the first teacher to teach the first group -- 7 children from the local people in the team as our leaders or guiders. Can you imagine? These children were in 4 grades, the oldest was 12 years old, and the youngest was 6 years old. My classroom was in the tent in the summer and in a corner of the dining-room in the winter. As a too young teacher who lacked necessary knowledge and had to teach 16 different lessons, I did feel too big pressure and I was scaring to delay the students. So, I learned literature and mathematics from the elder people in the night, I taught my students in the day. There was no a electricity light at the first, every night my nose was black by the coal oil light. Every weekend, I went to a middle school to learn art, music and sports by bicycle for 2 hours, for scaring to go through the mountains, I rode too fast so that I dropped from my bicycle from a slope times and my legs often blooded, being black and blue.

Now I am smiling when I am recalling how I had made all of the teaching tools by wood for my math teaching in person. How I dug the jumping pit in person. How I played basketball with the children together. Even though our desks were made of crude wood boards, our only instrument was my harmonicon. Our tent classroom was full of the sweet smell of the wildflowers. Even, I opened a little garden and planted some wild flowers and there was always a bench of wildflowers in a bottle on my desk. Laugh could be heard from our classroom very often.

Anyway, I often felt a little bit pain ? I had no knowledge enough to help the children who needed better education. I had no anyone to discuss something about my teaching. I felt shame as a teacher this way and I was desired to improve myself. Every day, I got up at about 4am to carry water, lighted the stove for the classroom, then to start my learning by the coal oil light. Then, I became the only one who past the national examination in my classmates to enter the university as soon as the Culture Revolution was finished and all of my 5 wills was Teacher's Universities.

But, I also almost lost my life there-- at least twice poison by coal gas for chimney was blocked in the nights, once operation for an acute sickness. I still remember those worrying eyes when I opened my eyes from the narcosis and the special gifts from the parents and my students ? So big eggs of geese, ducks and hens, apples and some lovely birds. :-) I can not forget how the girl nurse run into the rain in the midnight to ask help and how the leader of the team ordered our only traffic tool -- a tracklayer tractor to send me to the hospital in the fastest speed even though the pedrail of the tractor would destroy whole of the road that we had just built...

Today, when I am recalling these, I do appreciate those kind people on that land. I do feel lucky that I had had an opportunity to touch these sincere and kind people and to learn how to be a real person and a responsible teacher from them in my first life road... :-) So, when I knew that two of my first 7 students have been a teacher and a lawyer, I do feel happy for them and for myself (When I left from that team in 3 years, my elementary school had had 32 students, 6 grads and 3 teachers, then in another 2 years, when I went to the university in 1978, the local people gave me the highest honor as a model teacher of that province). So, Saturday night, I asked my vocal music teacher to teach me to sing a Chinese Folk Song: "My Elders and Villagers" to remember and to appreciate those people who had saved my life and taught me know to be a person... :-)

How did you start your fist life road? Who were the first group people to affect your first life?

I am just a learner on art, music, English and the work on the web site in my free time. Anyway, I would really like to do a little bit things with what I have learned to make this little web site to beAn Electronic Bridge Of Culture Exchange, Friendship, and Language Learning. During the process to help the others and to improve myself. :-)

I do appreciate your understanding, directions and supports. I do hope to get your great help continuously now and in the coming time...

If you have any questions, comments and suggestions, please write to shirley@ebridge.cn , or shirleyz004@yahoo.com, You are welcomed to publish your opinions in the forum,too. :-)

--Shirley
Written and Edited On Sun, August 6, 2006