Disney

I realized last night that I actually haven't wrote about the actual reason I came to China. The thing that takes up part of my time! That is Disney English! I have been in China for a little over seven months and it has been quite interesting. Disney is something completely different than what I expected but I enjoy working for the mouse!
 

For those of you who don't know, Disney English is a program created by the Walt Disney Company to teach English to children in China. I teach children between the ages of 2 to 12 years old on a daily basis. I have nine different classes that meet once or twice a week. In these classes they learn the foundations of English. The youngest learners learn colors, shapes and basic phrases. After that children learn sentences such as I want, I like, I have. The older learners begin learning past tense (difficult because there is no past tense in Chinese) and begin to learn more conversational English.  All the content is created by Disney and is presented by various Disney characters. They have created songs themed to the specific topic we are teaching that day. It is a lot of fun for both the children and the staff!

The children I work with are amazing! They are so good and very cute! Compared to the children I used to work with these children are amazing! They listen but are very spoiled.  They are very funny as well. If the children know English songs or phrases they are very excited to share. I had two boys singing Rain Rain go away. I then proceeded to teach them London Bridge including the whole dance that goes with it! They are very loving and love to give you hugs and give you little candies or even tomatoes! (one little girl gave me a tomato last night!) They give me chestnuts because they call me Leeza, which means chestnut in Chinese! (which they think is soo funny and see Leeze chifan..which mean Liz I want to eat you!)

The other day I was discussing with a co worker the signs that you have been at Disney for a while. Number one, you begin singing songs down the hall randomly. Number two you begin to feel more magical and act upon it. Number three you will dance in front of a waiting room full of parents so they feel the magic, and number four when you talk to the new people very relaxed they look at you like what!? number five you get your nails done the same color as a magic token (the reward system used in the classroom that gets the children awesome prizes)

Working for Disney is a lot of fun. The only down size is that you are in China. As much as I love my current experience, come October I will be ready to leave China. China is an interesting country and I can't see myself here another year.

Working for the mouse is a lot of fun. And naturally one of the best perks is getting into Disneyland for free and getting all kinds of cool Disney gifts along the way!