Guy Mance in Belgium

Un voyage de découverte:

Kiaora ou bonjour de Liège. Cela fait 5 mois que moi et ma famille habitons ici à Mehagne, près de Liège. Donc voici l’histoire d’une famille néo-zélandaise et leurs expériences en Belgique. Je suis professeur de français dans une école à Wellington au sud de l’ile du nord de la Nouvelle Zélande. Grâce au gouvernement néo-zélandais et AFS j’ai l’occasion de venir passer un an dans un pays francophone. Actuellement je suis assistant d’anglais dans un athenée à Ougrée et je suis des cours à l’université de Liège où je fais un certificat en enseignement de français langue étrangère et seconde. Mes enfants vont à l’école communale et ma femme, qui ne travaille pas, essaie d’apprendre le français.

Avant de quitter la Nouvelle Zélande nous ne connaissions presque rien à propos de la Belgique, à part le fait que c’est un pays connu pour ses frites, son chocolat et sa bière. Je peux maintenant vérifier que ça c’est vrai ! Nous avons découvert Galler, la Leffe et les friteries. Nous avons découvert les beaux villages et la belle région des Ardennes, la ville dynamique de Liège, la foire, le marché de Noel, St Nicholas et carnaval. J’ai commencé à courir (il faut faire quelque chose quand on aime toutes ces specialités belges). Nous avons découvert la neige et l’hiver, la bise et les belgicismes mais surtout nous avons découvert que les Liègeois et les belges sont des gens chaleureux et accueillants et nous nous sommes trouvés parmi de bons amis qui possèdent le même esprit que nous. Des gens qui sont ouverts aux différentes cultures et qui sont prêts à accepter des différences – ils ont mangé notre ‘marmite’ et notre ‘bacon and egg pie’ , ils ont bu notre bière, ils ont même chanté « a Pukeko in a Ponga tree » dans notre garage à Noel et j’espère qu’ils ont appris que bien que la Nouvelle Zélande soit loin d’ici, nous pouvons créer des liens et nous pouvons partager nos cultures. C’est cette échange interculturelle qui pour moi est tellement enrichissante.

Si je pourrais donner un conseil à ceux qui vont partir ou à ceux qui vont accueillir un étudiant AFS, il serait d’oublier le mot « non », soyez prêts à essayer des nouvelles expériences, soyez prêts à parler et à essayer d’apprendre la langue, et n’ayez pas peur.

Pour moi je suis heureux de voir que mes enfants ont fait des efforts d’apprendre la langue, qu’ils ont fait de bons amis et j’imagine que dans 10 ans il y aura une nouvelle génération d’étudiants qui vont vouloir partir découvrir le monde.

Si vous voulez lire un peu plus de nos expériences en Belgique vous pouvez consulter mon blog, http://guyoffoverseas.wordpress.com

Un grand merci à tout le monde qui nous a aidé à avoir une expérience inoubliable.

Guy Mance, Un kiwi et sa famille en Belgique

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A voyage of discovery:

Kiaora and hello from Liège. For the last 5 months my family and I have been living in the suburb of Mehagne near Liège, so here is the story of a new Zealand family and their experiences in Belgium. I am a French teacher at a school in Wellington, in the south of the North Island of New Zealand. Thanks to the New Zealand government and AFS I have been given the opportunity to come and spend a year in a French speaking country. Currently I am an English assistant in a secondary school in Ougrée and I am studying at the University of Liège for a Certificate in Teaching French as a Foreign and Second Language. My children go to the local school and my wife, who is not working, is trying to learn French.

Before leaving New Zealand we knew virtually nothing about Belgium, apart from the fact that it is known for its beer, its chocolate and its chips. I can now verify that this is indeed true. We have discovered the delights of Galler (a Belgian chocolate company in Liège with the royal seal of approval), Leffe and “friteries” (chip shops). We have discovered beautiful villages and the beautiful region of the Ardennes, the lively student city of Liège, the fair, the Christmas market, St Nicholas and Carnaval. I have started running (you have to do something when you like all these Belgian specialties). We have discovered snow and winter, the “bise” (one kiss right cheek to right cheek, to greet any friend) and Belgian French (quite a few language differences) but above all we have discovered that the Liègeois people and most Belgians are welcoming and generous and we find ourselves amongst friends who share the same spirit and values as us. People who are open to different cultures and who are ready to accept differences – they have eaten our marmite and bacon and egg pie, they have drunk our beer (Speights!), they have even sung a Pukeko in a Ponga tree in our garage at Christmas and I hope that they have learned that although New Zealand is a long way away, we can create links and that we can share our cultures. It is this intercultural exchange that I have found most enriching.

If I could give any advice to those about to go on an exchange or to those who are going to host an AFS student it would be to forget the word “no”, be ready to try new experiences, be ready to speak and to learn the language and don’t be afraid.

For me I am happy that my children have made a real effort to learn the language, that they have made good friends and I imagine that in 10 years time there will be another generation of students who will want to go and discover the world.

If you want to read a bit more about our experiences in Belgium you can take a look at my blog http://guyoffoverseas.wordpress.com

A big thank you to all everyone who has helped us to have an unforgettable experience.

Guy Mance, a kiwi and his family in Belgium

Jasmine in the Middle Kingdom

Jasmine Wallis, Wanganui High School teacher, returned from a year-long Ministry of Education Language Immersion Award teacher exchange to China earlier this year.

She began her exchange in May 2006 and for her first semester studied at Xi’an International Studies University (XISU). She lived on the old campus of the university and took the school bus every morning and afternoon to the new campus with the other teachers and students.

After XISU, Jasmine spent her second semester studying at Shaanxi Traditional Medical University where her classes included reading, writing, listening, speaking, grammar, calligraphy, PE, and Chinese culture.

In Wanganui she taught Mandarin (as well as Japanese) and hopes her experience will help her students back home gain a better understanding of the language. Jasmine reports on her the first semester she spent at XISU:

”China is a country with a long, proud history, but at the same time it is racing towards modernisation with open arms. Although the Middle Kingdom seems to be a place of contrast, over the last five months of studying at XISU I have started to feel at home. Xi’an is the capital of the Shaanxi province with a population of about 7.5 million. I arrived to 30°csomething degree heat, only to be told it would quickly get up to 45°c! However, it wasn’t just the heat that took a bit of getting used to. After six years of teaching, the shoe was now on the other foot. Suddenly, I was the student, plunged into total immersion classes, initially struggling to figure out what the teacher was saying and how to do the homework.

With classmates from Kazakhstan, Korea, Japan, Italy, France and Brazil, our only common language was Chinese. Chinese students seem to be early risers and by 6am hundreds of students are already walking or running around on the university’s track or standing around reciting their textbooks aloud to practice their English. Classes start at 8am and are two hours long (with a 10 minute interval halfway through). Lunch is from 12-2pm and generally includes an hour-long nap, as it is way too hot to do anything else.

The high-light of my time here so far would definitely be the volunteer teaching I did in Inner Mongolia over the summer holidays. Why? Because my friend’s family basically adopted me, which gave me the chance to see how a Chinese family really lives. Chinese people, being the amazing hosts they are, ensured I never went hungry!

Although I did experience a bit of culture shock at the beginning of my exchange, I now feel like I’m starting to get the hang of it! The differences between how we might do something in NZ and how it is done in China no longer faze me. In part, that’s due to better understanding the old adage “when in Rome, do as the Romans do.” Having made so many friends here, I’m afraid the remaining time will fl y by and before I know it, it will be time to say goodbye to them. However, the silver lining will be getting back to NZ and sharing my experience of life in the Middle Kingdom with my Mandarin classes.”