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Please comment on your level of familiarity with China and Chinese literature. What do you teach in your school?

I teach Chinese literature, film, and language here at the University of South Carolina. I’ve been teaching the book To Live to college students for over a decade, and even met with the author Yu Hua and spent time with him in Chicago and Beijing. I’m looking forward to hearing your perspectives on the novel, I’m sure I will learn a lot by having this conversation with a new audience.
–Krista

Hi, I am Martha Bohnenberger, from Greenville, SC. I teach 6th and 7th grade world history at the Charles Townes Center for the highly gifted. My mother actually went to China, in 1979, the first year it opened to American tourists and again in 1982. She was full of stories and I asked a million questions about what China was like. I fell in love with China then and grew to love it even more when I got to go to China myself in 2005 and returned in 2015 with students.
–Martha

Hello. My name is Tim Hicks, and I teach US/SC history in an academic magnet program at Dent Middle School. I’ve been teaching for 25 years and am enjoying my first “normal” year after completing my doctorate at USC in curriculum and instruction. My dissertation focused on using historical sites to teach critical thinking. I am married and have three sons and a Pug named Maddux – in honor of my favorite Atlanta Braves pitcher Greg Maddux. I have not made it to China. However, I did take a teaching Asian institute at Furman one summer, and I was vacationing in Bangkok when the tsunami hit (although I was not in any danger). I look forward to reading the book and discussing it with everyone.
–Tim Hicks

Good morning, my name is Gayna McNeish and I am a school counselor at Alston Middle School, in Summerville. I traveled to Baoding, China about four years ago and taught a summer English class to middle school students. I enjoyed every minute of living, teaching and traveling in my area China. I have participated in other book talks, seminars, and courses through the SCCTA. I love learning about China and East Asia.
–Gayna

Greetings, my name is Ameerah Eaddy, and I currently teacher music in Olanta. Learning and weaving that knowledge into other things to expand the knowledge and experience base of my students is something I love to do.
–Ameerah

Hi! My name is Taci Allen. I currently teach English 3 at Mid-Carolina High school in Prosperity. This is my 3rd year teaching, so I’m still fairly new at it and learning how to face challenges every day. I have never been to China, but kept up with a Chinese pen pal throughout middle school and learned a little about the culture there from him. I look forward to reading this book and learning more.
–Taci

My name is Emily Taylor and I teach English 1 at Swansea Freshman Academy. I have been teaching for 27 years. I love learning about cultures and reading is one of my passions. I have never been to China but would love to go someday.
–Emily

Hi, I’m Ebony. I teach 7th & 8th grade ELA in Dorchester, SC. I’m always trying to teach my students about places around the world. My familiarity with China is definitely a level 1, but I love reading and learning about places and people around the world. I’m looking forward to continuing this discussion.
–Ebony

Salutations!!
I’m Michelle Ashley, I teach science….so I guess I’m the “oddball” here, but I LOVE Asian history!! I’ve participated in Furman’s Asian Studies course, was not able to travel to China that year, but am in hopes of going at some point. Environmental is my favorite science and I like focusing on sustainability, which the Asians have been putting into practice for years and we ALWAYS talk about China, Japan, and Korea…with what they’ve done in the past and how they’re living now. They have a teacher exchange for environmental that maybe one year soon I’ll be able to enjoy. I also went to view “The Cotton Road” which I use as a reference in class….haven’t shown the video yet, but plan on incorporating it next year.

Oh, and I teach with Ms. Taci Allen–it was a pleasant surprise that we are in the book club together 🙂
–Michelle

I haven’t read the book yet, but lots of my friends love The Man with the Compound Eyes by Wu Ming-yi, you might check it out.

From Amazon: “When a tsunami sends a massive island made entirely of trash crashing into the Taiwanese coast, two very different people—an outcast from a mythical island and a woman on the verge of suicide—are united in ways they never could have imagined. Here is the English-language debut of a new and exciting award-winning voice from Taiwan, who has written an “astonishing” novel (The Independent) that is at once fantasy, reality, and dystopian environmental saga.”
–Krista

 

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