Oh, life (part 2)

I'm not even sure how to begin this post, because the story is just crazy...

So on Friday, I had a pretty leisurely day.  Depreena and I went shopping for some stuff for Sydney's birthday party, and then in the afternoon I went with Danielle to Guilin Lu, because she had told me that they had gorgeous journals there, and my journal is nearly filled (four years after Abbie gave it to me!)

All of us were pretty happily expectant about the upcoming break, which was being kicked off on Saturday by a sports meet and then Syd's birthday party in the evening.  A few of us had idly wondered to each other what would happen to the sports meet if it rained, but it had remained idle conjecture.  Perhaps they'd cancel it.  Perhaps they'd only do events that could be done in gym.  

Did I mention that it was pouring for a good chunk of Thursday and Friday?

Anyway.  So Danielle and I were at Guilin Lu when her phone rang.

Turns out that it was indeed a possibility that the sports meet would be cancelled due to adverse weather.  But as students were required to be here for that, they couldn't just let students go early.  So we'd teach our Wednesday classes instead.

The rest of Friday is kind of a blur of all of us trying to get back to the school (which was a headache, because traffic was crazy and it was cold and raining and some people in our group waited an hour for a taxi) and lesson planning (a lesson that consisted of playing English practice games, because it seemed ridiculous to try planning anything else) and I was miserable.

In Beijing we talked a lot about the gap between expectations and reality and how unhappy we are when we fall into that gap.  And I was in that gap for sure.  My attitude was terrible... and I knew it, and I asked the Father to please make me happy about teaching on Saturday morning.  And I thought about giving thanks in all circumstances and I just wanted to cry.  And I thought about how He always brings good out of everything, and I still wanted to cry.

Some days are like that in China.

So I went to bed, not knowing if I'd be teaching in the morning or not.  We didn't find out officially until about 7:19, at which point I had seen out my window that a) it was dreary and raining and b) students were heading to their class building.

For more on our infamous memos, see my teammate Depreena's post:  Memo.

So I taught two classes... one at 8 am.  Both of them were missing about half of the students, who had (sensibly) gone home or were skipping.  The first one was fine.  The second one was with one of my translation classes, which is probably my favorite class.

We had a blast.

 Shania and Jane

 listening to music and playing games before class

Summer was braiding Little Meng's hair

Ruby was checking out some pictures 

 playing I'm Going on a Picnic

Linda, who couldn't wait for class to end so she could go home

Before class and during the break we took pictures and listened to music and sang and perhaps danced a little bit, to If I Die Young and Firework and We are the Champions.  Their music mix, not mine.

In the evening, we had Sydney's epic Australia-themed party.

And today I woke up to this.

the sky is blue and it's beautiful

it made me laugh

The whole situation is still one that was kind of crazy, but it's one that I can laugh about now.  Because I was able to enjoy teaching.  And I think that the Father did bring good out of it... we had fun together, which is good for relationship building, and the first activity that we did was bucket lists.  "I've never thought about this," one of my students said.

"Which part?" I asked, since there was everything from foods I want to try to people I want to thank to how I want to be remembered.

"Any of it," she said.

Perhaps it was time for that to happen, then.

Oh, life.

6:00 -- alarm which gets postponed for half an hour.

6:30 -- alarm which means I really need to get up so that I can eat yogurt, read some from Job, check emails, make sure the things in my backpack are in order, and be at Danielle's by 7:30 so we can prep...

7:45 -- get to the classroom for the first class of the day that I'll teach.  There are almost 50 students and today Danielle is there to observe.  There are things that I wish didn't happen -- like when I totally forget an activity and so the flow of the whole lesson makes no sense.  Or all of the chatter.  There are awesome moments, like skits that make me laugh so hard I'm nearly crying.  And there are things that make me insanely happy, like my student Luther, who has decided to keep the name and is sitting near the front today.  And speaking to me in English.  And trying.  In this class I also solidify lunch plans for later in the day when I'll eat with two of my students, Cassie and Cindy.  Class starts at 8 and is done at 9:40.

10:10 -- next class, and this one (my middle one on Thursdays) goes really well.  Which is a pleasant surprise as it was not a fun class last week.  I wonder about how when I said, "Report on a news story," my students apparently heard, "Relate a ghost story or an epic-length joke," but that is the worst part of that class probably, and I can deal with that.  We can talk about who-what-where-when-why in connection with ghost stories.  It makes me laugh that the ghost stories come up in the class where I have students named Fairy and Vampire and Specter.  (The sad part is that by week 4, those names feel normal.)  And Britanny gives me a piece of White Rabbit candy, which I love.  She hurt her arm last week and we talked about it some and today she's in the front row.

noon -- lunch with Cassie and Cindy; I eat soup with noodles and eggs in it and we talk about places we want to visit and college and where we're from and what cities in China we like.  And what is important in a man and advantages to being single.  And then we part ways with wishes for everyone to have a good National Holiday (which is next week.)

1:30 -- my last class of the day.  On the way to it I finally met the neighbor who lives below me, a Japanese teacher who was an electrical engineer before he came here to teach.  This last class is the first one where I get to experience the great feeling that comes when the dean for your department casually walks in and says, "Oh, by the way, I'm going to observe your class."  ...yeah.  Anyway, it was okay... not great but... okay.  And then it was done.

3:25 -- I'm in my office, doing random stuff because my brain is mush (that's slang that we taught some students a week ago, in case you were curious).

4:25 -- I head back to the dorm and decide to check mail first.  The sky has turned dark grey.  There's no mail, but it starts pouring as I get out of the library/post-office area and head back toward my dorm/apartment.  So I take off my socks and shoes, slip across stone parts, and run through the grass.  Much the amusement of Hilary, who is watching me from her window, and of our cleaning lady, who is standing and watching me.  Then I go upstairs and talk to Hilary about the day, run back down to my apartment and change into jeans and a t-shirt and flannel.

5:00 -- meeting Grammar for dinner in the cafeteria, which turns into a long meal with conversation about everything ranging from stereotypes between Chinese and Americans to our plans for our lives to what's difficult about college to... everything.  I love cafeteria conversation.

6:45 -- raiding the resource library for some new books.  Next week is National Holiday, which means that there are no classes... which means potentially that I can sleep, get ahead on lesson planning, take a day trip to Shenyang with teammates, and get to see the girls from Harbin who are coming down.

It's about 9:00 now, and I'm falling asleep.  It's been a busy day.

And that is my life. 

Random shots of my day

 A classroom at break time.  Don't you wish US students were this awake in their 8 am classes?

Two of my students who I talked into posing.

.I said that my family (and friends) would want to see them.  :)  

Okay, so the guy behind them does not look quite so awake... 

But that is what the break in the middle of double-period classes is for.

He was being a ham and then telling me not to take his picture.  Yeah right.

For the first week, I didn't have to take anything away from him.

And I think he voluntarily spoke to me in English.

China changes every day!

More students... I actually don't remember any of their names.  Shame on me.

 Students in my Wednesday before-lunch Translation class.

I really like this class.  They're energetic and funny and cheerful.

So there are these great motivational posters all over the hallway around my office.

This one says, "Enumerating accomplishments during a performance appraisal is savvy;

dosing so during a social engagement is boorish."

Captain Jack Sparrow, anyone?

Unedited picture of campus on the walk back from my office to my dorm this afternoon.

There's guys working up on the roof.  I took a picture.

Other guys on the roof were watching me.  I waved at them.

They waved back.

This is how China is:  they watch the foreigner.  I watch them.

Usually, it's a great arrangement.  Everyone is entertained.

And this is where I am now.  On my super colorful couch.  :)

Lunch on Tuesdays

There were a lot of things that I figured I would miss about being at Geneva.  There are a lot of things that I miss.  One of these is having lunch each week with my lovely friend Laura.  We'd get together and talk, about life and classes and whatever we felt like, and it was great to watch her growing up over the years that we were at school together.  As I'm now in China, and she is studying in Ireland, obviously this tradition has ended.

What I did not guess was that the Father would provide another sister for me to eat lunch with each week.  On Tuesday of my very first week of teaching, a friend who I had met the Saturday before texted me to see if I wanted to go get lunch together.  I was excited and of course agreed.  We had lunch, and it was good -- there was the natural awkwardness that comes from language craziness, and the fact that we didn't know each other well -- but it was great.

The next week, she texted me again.

So I agreed again.

The next week, I texted her.  And she said, "Of course!"

And last night, we were texting (okay, yes, we do this in China as well as in America... of course we're not going to walk across campus to find each other!) and here's how it ended:  See you after the class at ATM.  So today she and her boyfriend and I ate lunch together.

It may seem like a small thing, but it has been a huge encouragement to me to have a Chinese friend who is not one of my students.  The fact that the Father provided someone for me to have weekly lunch dates with blows my mind.  It reminds me that He loves me an incredible amount, enough that not only am I able to be here to teach, but He does things that just make me happy.

We have fun together.  We have serious conversations.  We play around a little (just a little) with each other's languages.  She is a huge encouragement to me, and I hope that I am also able to encourage her this year.

Life's like a jump rope (and other musings of a very new teacher)

Back when Jo and I lived with the Wrights, between our junior and senior years of college, we taught Sukey the chorus of Jump Rope by Blue October.

Up, down

Up, down

Life's like a jump rope.

That is often what my life currently feels like. It's not too hard to figure out where it comes from... not having much experience. I just taught my nineteenth lesson.

Nineteen is not very many.

Here's what that translates to: Every single class still has a major impact on how I see myself as a teacher, how I see my students, and how I see teaching. I have a serious lack of perspective. I mean, honestly, if I have five lessons that don't go well, that's over 25% of the lessons I've ever taught.

Last week was rough. Two of my eight classes went really well. One or two were hovering between bleh and disastrous. The rest were okay, but not good enough for me to really be happy with them.

When that kind of week happens, it's really easy for me to start thinking, Wow, I am the world's worst teacher; what on earth was I thinking coming to China? It's really hard for me to tell myself, Okay, so this lesson didn't go well. The next one can be better.

The benefit of having such a narrow perspective is that when something goes well, I'm delighted. If an activity – or better yet, an entire class – goes fairly smoothly and results in more laughter than wanting to cry and my students speak English, I'm on cloud nine.

Still, I'm really looking forward to having more experience and being more settled as a teacher.

Most of the time, in all honesty, I really love teaching. I loved facilitating the ropes course when I worked at camp, and teaching is not all that different in some ways – I challenge my students, give them some guidance, and then watch them go and make connections.

I love the feeling of beginning to really get students' names with their faces and a feel for some of their personalities.

I love being in China, and I love the team that I'm part of (and also the A team). I love how I am constantly being challenged to grow in a myriad of ways. I also love the weather. I'm pretty sure we've had more sun here in the month that we've been in Changchun than I would have seen in the entire fall semester at Geneva. (If any of you want to come visit, I do have a couch.)

But sometimes I'd rather have working water, or dining halls where sandwiches are a default. Sometimes I desperately miss people in America.

So life does feel a jump rope.

I'm glad that life being like a jump rope isn't the final answer; I'm glad that He has plans.

    O LORD, you are my God;
        I will exalt You; I will praise Your name,
    for You have done wonderful things,
        plans formed of old, faithful and sure.
(Isaiah 25:1)

Comprehension Check

This past week, six of my classes had a quiz with three questions related to friendship.  Some of the answers are really insightful.

Some of them make me want to smack my head against something.  

So, for your reading enjoyment, here's the cream of the crop.  

Question:  Sometimes people in the East and people in the West have different ideas of friendship.  What is one difference?

The west people use a fork to eat.

The east people eat with chopsticks.

In the East, when you tell your friends a good story. You can't say. You are a dog.  In this east. this words are not friendly 

(I am pretty sure he must have been thinking along the lines of Yo whaddup dawg...)

In East, if someone is your dude, you can do as much as you can when he have some troubles.  In West, it depends how close to you.

the East friendship like water: quite

the West friendship like fire: enthusiam

Question:  If I say that someone is my friend "through thick and thin", what does that mean?

I think its means the people can make me happy at my sad time, point my weakness and help me to improve.

Thick means good friend.

Thin means bad friend.

your friend bad times or good times

another is your friend advantage or not.

a friend in deed is a friend in need.

The person is slim and healthy.

Your friend isn't very fat and isn't very thin.  She or he have a medium contour of body.

He is hungry.

When we are in trouble, we can help each other.

When we make a mistake, we can punished together.

We can do everything together.  even if the things is bad.

Random other answers

friend like shadow, no matter what happens, he or she always be with you.

sky (given as an adjective to describe a friend... it is entirely possible that one of her friend's has Sky as an English name, but I don't know.)

a good friend like a apple when we are hungry.

The Evolution of a Name: In Three Acts*

I.

On the first day of class, I tell all of my students what they should call me.  I write this on the board.  The next week, I repeat this, and hand it out in their syllabus.

This is what I tell them:  Miss Keeler.

II.

Sometimes students text me.  Texting  is the preferred method of communication in this country; China is very advanced in the cellphone part of its telecom infrastructure.

This is how those texts can be expected to begin:  Keeler!

III.

My students are friendly.  They say hi to me on campus (and then look surprised when I answer them in English.)

This is what it sounds like:  Killer!

 ~~~

I am, perhaps irrationally, hoping that there will be an epilogue.  Wherein I will be called Miss Keeler. 

~~~

*There are some students who call me Miss, so this story may be slightly out of proportion... but as my teammates can attest, it would only be slightly so.

~~~

It makes me laugh.

Where I Live

Today, Depreena needed to buy a notebook.

Because I love you all dearly, and did not want you to miss out on the joy that is to be found in shopping for notebooks in one of our small campus stores...

I took pictures.

There were so many great options that it was a little hard to decide.  

This is the most comfortable notebook you have ever run into.

You will feel like writing with it all the time. 

Care of the blue planet

Enjoy the green life 

Keep the faith, carries the dream of youth is a never finish at the feast!

When the reality of PK ideal, is still firmly at the helm drift?

When the ideal PK love, how trade-offs? 

O Troupe of little vagrants of the world, leave your footprints in my words

The world puts off its mask of vastness to its lover,

it becomes small as one song, as one kiss of the eternal. 

hello

suddenly found some lost time

in memory of once familiar picture 

 Our products are created for noble people.

She ended up with the beautiful orange one, created for "noble people". 

What have I got in my pocket? Well...

If you are playing a game on your cellphone and slide it half way under your book as I walk past, guess what, I will see that what is on the other half of your phone does not even remotely look like a dictionary.  It looks like a little guy jumping around on a blue background. 

Result:  Phone goes into my pocket until the end of class.

If you are on your phone (not even texting; there is really no way to even fake that you were using the dictionary) in class, I will consider this a behavior that is distracting you and I will deal with it.

Result:  Phone goes into my pocket until the end of class.

So cellphone use in class is a major issue here, probably more so than in America.  (Really, when was the last time there was a student on the phone in one of your classes?)  It's something that I have pretty strict policies about -- first time, I keep it till the end of class.  Second time, you have to come to my office to get it back.  After that, it will be going home and you can come visit my apartment to get it.

Those were the rules that every class seemed to be paying attention to the first time we went over them.

When I had lunch with some of my students, one of them asked me, "Have you been in China before?"

"Yes," I told her.  "I lived in Fujian province."

"Ohhh," she said, nodding sagely.  "I thought so."

I was curious.  "Why?"

She laughed.  "Because when you read the rules -- about the cellphones -- my deskmates and I said, Ah!  She knows the Chinese students!  But I think maybe in America, is also a problem?"

[Sidenote:  I laugh so much in China, because there are constantly things that surprise me.  They figured I've spent time here because of the cellphone policy?  Not because I had talked about it in class -- I'm not sure that they were listening to that part -- but because I warned them strictly against texting in class.]

"It is also a problem in America," I agreed.  "But maybe not so much."

Oh, life in China.  There is always something new. 

Twilight, Thriller, and the Chinese Chuck Norris: Another Monday in My Life

Because some days too many hilarious things happen for me to not share... here are a few stories from today.

Story One: Often, when I'm walking across campus or buying groceries, students who I don't teach will brightly say, "Hello!"  Let's face it, I'm a foreigner and I look like one.  (I currently look a little odder than normal, since a mosquito decided to snack on my face... anyway, I digress.)  This "Hello!" is often followed by, "Where are you from?" or "What department do you teach for?" 

I'm pretty used to that.

So today, as I was walking toward my building, I heard, "Hello!" and I began to respond with, "Hi!"

But this response was cut off as the student continued:  "You're white!"

Then he kept walking.

And I was somewhere between flummoxed and laughing.  How do you respond to that?  Thanks for noticing? or What, I'm not Asian?  Oh no!

Okay.  Story Two:  Students in my class were talking about meeting people in part of their lesson today, and they were coming up with questions to ask people when you first meet.  This one was written on the board. 

Are you the guy who believe that catch one's heart and never be apart?

I didn't ask for clarification.  Sometimes it seems like doing so might derail the entire class, instead of just the one person who is already off in their own little world. 

Story Three:  Students used the questions that they had come up with to create dialogues with each other.  They were then modeling them for the class.  In the middle of all the questions such as "What's your name?" and "What are your plans for the holiday?" (which is three weeks off, just for the record) comes this exchange:

male student:  "Are you single?"
female student:  "That's a secret."
class:  *uproarious laughter*
female student:  "Are you?"

 they were writing their questions on the board to use later on in the dialogue

Story Four:  This also came from a dialogue set.  Those were a good time today...

female student:  "What's your favorite movie?"
male student:  "Twilight.  *something about the actor*"
female student:  "The actor?  Most guys would say they like the actress.  If you say you like the actor, girls may think you are special."
male student:  "I'm not special.  I have the normal sexual identity."
someone in the back of classroom:  "Okay, end dialogue!"

Story Five:  This same class was also practicing using the structure "I used to... but now..."  For one of their activities, I had given them the beginning, and then they had to make up the end.  I was wandering around the classroom listening to them and heard this...

"I used to be afraid of the dark, but now... the dark is afraid of me!"

Chinese Chuck Norris, anyone?

Story Six:  Today is Teacher's Day in China.  Which meant, this being China, that the foreign teachers should do a show for their colleague.  What did we do, you might ask?

A dance to part of Thriller, of course!

Guiyang

I am thankful on a daily basis that I spent a semester in China last year.  It has made a lot of transitions a lot easier; I already speak enough Chinese to scrape by, I've lived in the culture for a good chunk of time before, and a million other things.  I had an awesome community when I was here before, and so my memories and impressions of China were very positive ones.

I've also been very thankful that I came with the particular program that I did, CSP with Best Semester.  Our classes covered a huge range of things, from Chinese society to language to history to culture, and we also did a lot of travel -- which is maybe something that is more important in China than it is in the US.  They have so much history, and it's so deeply tied to the places, that it really helps to be able to say, Yeah, I have been to Xi'an and Beijing and Shanghai.  China is very different in different places, but the Chinese are fiercely proud of it and so when I can say, I have lived down in the south and now I live in the north and I love China -- it means more.  When I can say, Yes, China is beautiful, I have been to Guilin, it adds weight to my words.

Besides all of those well-known cities, we traveled to one other place when I was in CSP -- a province called Guizhou.  We were there for about four or five days, doing manual labor on a cattle ranch.  In some ways, they were rough days.  We didn't have electricity unless we were in the main building and the generator was working, the plumbing was based off of rain water, and we were always cold and a little wet.

But I loved it.  It was also the place where I first thought, I cannot imagine not being here.  We had the privilege of hearing a Chinese sister's story of what motivated her to move from a coastal province to Guizhou, which is reputed mostly for being poor and miserable.  And when it stopped raining, it was refreshingly beautiful.  We had adventures there that we didn't experience anywhere else.

                                            eating noodles in a small village in Guizhou


And so I am very grateful to CSP for taking us off the beaten track into Guizhou.

I was reminded of this when I was reading Amy Tan's book The Kitchen God's Wife and hit this paragraph.

I remember when we finally arrived in a bigger city, Kweiyang.  We were going to stay there for a few days, so the air force could fix the truck and get more gasoline before the long, hard drive to Kunming.  Wen Fu knew a saying about Kweiyang, something like this:  "The sky doesn't last three good days, the land isn't level for even three inches."  That was because it rained all the time.  And the city is very bumpy.

There is a third part to that proverb, and no one has three coins to rub together. 

I know the city as Guiyang, not Kweiyang, and I wouldn't have made that connection except that we had discussed the proverb.  And I love not only having the connection of knowing where that is, having been there and seen the rain and the hills and the poverty, but remembering that place with affection as a beautiful land when the sun does shine, and as a place where the Father is at work.  Where His children are laboring for eternal riches.

Week 1: Done

And by "week 1" I mean the first week of classes.

Random bits of what that meant:

I taught the same lesson (introduction, class rules, that sort of jazz) eight times.  At least theoretically it was the same lesson, in practice it changes a bit between every class.  In the coming weeks, the most I should teach any one lesson is six times -- which is a good thing, because by the eighth time I could die of boredom.  Or teach it in my sleep. 

Speaking of sleep, I only saw one student asleep in class.  I can't say I blamed him, but I did wake him up.  Sleeping in an oral English class does not do wonders for your participation grade.

I had over 300 students.  Craziness.  No, I do not know all of their names yet.  I do know that I have students named Banana, Cherries, and Lemon; also Jack Black and Michael Scofield; also Fairy, Specter, and Vampire, and two girls named Belly.  There were two male students in the same class named Joy but one of them changed his name to Ross.  It may be a while before I have the names down. 

Here is how my schedule goes:  from 8-5, Monday through Thursday, I am in the office or teaching class.  Or eating lunch.  Or at a meeting.  Or taking class, because I get to take a Chinese class, which I am SUPER happy about.  Outside of those times, I am probably doing random things like stuff with my team, or cleaning my apartment (maybe someday I'll do a photo series to show how doing laundry works, because it's worth its own blog post), or hanging out with students (which is limited during September, because we're all getting used to teaching), or lesson planning, or reading a book.  Or sleeping.  Or a lot of other things.  Suffice it to say that I don't get bored, and there is plenty to do that comes along with living in China and learning how to teach and getting to know students.

My students call me Keeler.  Not Miss Keeler, which is how I have introduced myself and how it was written on the board, but just Keeler.  In class and out of class.  It cracks me up, and also cracked up my teammate Hilary when we were walking into our dorm and a student said, "Hello Keeler!"  ...that is probably something to work on.

I have one student who is convinced that I'm fluent in Mandarin, which is hilarious and very useful.  I'm not going to inform him of anything otherwise, so we'll see how long it lasts...  If you want the long version of how that came to be, it's at the bottom of the post.

But in the meantime, some apartment pictures.  :)

This is the bathroom (obviously) where my laundry is drying.  That grey thing is the laundry machine.  It also looks like there is a radiator in the shower, which I'm not really sure about... we'll see when the heat is turned on. What is not shown in this picture is my sweet shower curtain, which is white with bright orange circles.  ^_^

This is in my bedroom... my bed is a disaster because I was doing laundry.  That cool poster on the wall is from my birthday!

So, basically it is really awesome having tile walls in the kitchen.  It's like having an entire room begging to be written on with whiteboard markers.

And that is exactly what I did.  Saint Patrick's prayer, for one.

This is my thankfulness wall.  It's super colorful, which is one of the things that I'm thankful for.

 A real-life photo stream decorating my living room.  If you mail me more pictures, I'll hang them up too!

 More living room decoration.  I found black posterboard on the third floor of a random shop and it was very exciting.  :)

And a bonus picture of campus.  This is in payment for some awesome plumbing assistance over skype, actually.

 

The story of the student who thought that I knew what I was doing:
One of my students (in a class of 47, which is a different story all together…) was reading a book.  In class.  He was not being particularly sneaky about it, in fact, he wasn’t even at a desk, he was sitting in an aisle so I could see perfectly that he was reading it, not paying attention.  And he needed to pay attention.

I had told him nicely, when I was walking past, once or twice at various points that he should not be reading it during class.  Finally, I got fed up with it, so once everyone had started on their activity, I went to the back of the room where he was sitting with his buddies.

“Ni zai zuo shenme?” I asked him, irritated.  What are you doing?

It got an awesome reaction — his head snapped up and he began giving me a very long answer in Chinese.  I held out my hand for the book and took it with me.

…And he was sure that I could speak Chinese.

So he kept trying to talk to me in Chinese.

I (not having a clue what he was saying) said to him, “This is an English classroom.  You may only speak to me in English.”

“Do you speak Chinese?  Do you understand what I am saying?” he asked.

“In the English classroom, you must speak English,” I told him.  I sounded like a broken record.

But… it was pretty awesome.

And I don’t think he read any more in class.

~~part B of this story, from the next day ~~

I was in the hallway between classes and this student came up to me, again speaking Chinese.  Most of our conversation was an argument -- he wanted to speak Chinese and I was insisting that he speak English.  "I am your English teacher," I reminded him.

"I think in the class, you are my teacher, but outside of the class, you are my friend," he said.  "And my English is so terrible."

"Well, it gets better by practicing.  So I am your English teacher, and you should practice with me.  Then it will improve."

I'm shameless sometimes.

Ya Don't Say...

Today I taught my first class.

It wasn't bad.  It wasn't the greatest class that has ever been taught, and there is plenty of space for me to grow, but I didn't want to leave the room in tears either, so... I'm okay with that.

There are the average English names that aren't quite so average... you know, things like Blue Ice.  :)

I think my favorite moment of the day came a few minutes after class ended and I was walking back towards my office.  I had passed a few students in the hallway and I could hear them talking behind me.

"That's the foreign teacher!"
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, she's the foreign teacher!"
"You're probably right."

I turned around and said, "Yep, I'm the foreign teacher."  (I didn't add, and I'm not deaf!)  They laughed. 

I'm still working on getting used to the new position, the responsibilities...

I'm the foreign teacher.

A Day in the Life

Okay, so it's not even a day, but it is random moments from in one day.

~~~

Today, when I am in a small store buying eggs and what I thought was oil (and now that I've opened it, I really have no idea WHAT it is... but I tried oiling my wok with it anyway), and the lady working there was speaking Chinese to me.  Which is not too surprising, given as how I'm in China and all.  Unfortunately, being in China does not give me magical abilities to understand Chinese, and so mostly I understood about as much as your next stereotyped monolingual American.  I was kind of doing the smile/nod/ignore-and-continue-picking-out-my-eggs -- which she had helpfully informed me were chicken eggs, yes, we have those in the US too :) -- and all of a sudden I understood something that she was asking me. 

Are you French?

Um no.

So I told her that I was American, which elicited a very long response and I got my eggs and went up to the cash register.

I decided that maybe this grocery store is out of the range of normal foreigner wanderings when I continued hearing meiguo meiguoren! as I checked out and up to the point that I left the store.  Yep, I'm from America, yep, I'm American. 

~~~

As I walked back to the school, I heard someone yell "HELLO!" and I turned to see.  It was a young guy in a very bright jacket on his motorcycle, who had turned his head to see if I was going to respond.  If you crash because you're so busy yelling greetings at the foreign girl... I don't even know.

~~~

Tonight I bought an ice cream bar that had chocolate covering it with sunflower seeds in the chocolate.  I also had milk tea today that turned out to be red bean milk tea.  It's a bit of a surprise to expect some sort of jelly-like substance to come through your straw and instead end up with a mouthful of beans.

~~~

We went on one of the bumpiest bus rides that I've ever been on.  It probably gives the wooden rollercoaster at Lakemont a run for the money.  :)

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The new header is pictures of my campus.  It's so lovely.  There also were people on campus this evening with swords.  The freshmen are all still in the middle of their military training, so they have to go everywhere in camo.  And there is a rollerblading club.

~~~

My friend Kelsey, who is on the other teaching team, has family near where there's been a lot of damage from Isaac.  So if you would keep her and her family in your thoughts, that would be awesome.

~~~

Classes start for me (...meaning that I start teaching, it's strange to be on the other side of things all of a sudden) on Monday.  I get less nervous about it when I actually am with students, which I guess is good.  :)