Anyway, without further ado, here are stories from today...
~~~
After my first class had ended and I was erasing everything from the board, the next class came in. One of the guys stared at me, walked up to the front, still quite intently staring at me, and stopped. I had no idea what he wanted.
"You are very beautiful," he said.
...never sure how to respond to that one, especially from a student who I've never seen before. I think he got an answer along the lines of, "Uhh.... thanks?"
~~~
In my third class, ten minutes from the end of class as I was writing on the board, I heard some of the girls in the front (who I don't think have any interest whatsoever in attending an English class...) whispering xia ke le... class is over...
"No, it isn't," I snapped.
They had no clue who I was talking to, so I turned around and looked at them and said it again. "Huh?" they said.
"Class is not over, we still have ten minutes."
There has to be a happy medium between students who assume that I'm fluent in Chinese and students who assume that I know none.
"No, it isn't," I snapped.
They had no clue who I was talking to, so I turned around and looked at them and said it again. "Huh?" they said.
"Class is not over, we still have ten minutes."
There has to be a happy medium between students who assume that I'm fluent in Chinese and students who assume that I know none.
~~~
When class did end, as kids were gathering up their books and I was throwing my stuff into my backpack, I remembered that I had a question for Wisdom (who's a guy). "Wisdom," I said, since he was right in front of me. "How's saving the world going?"
Back at the beginning of the semester they each filled out an index card with vital information such as their student ID number, their English name, their phone number, any questions that they had for me, goals for the semester... stuff like that. His goal read, "Save the world."
He stared at me with total confusion and tried to pull another student, Sky, in to translate. Sky and I are friends. "No," I told her, "He can understand me, he just needs to listen." (Sometimes I will go through other students as translators, but I knew that Wisdom's English is not bad and that if he worked at it, he would definitely figure out more or less what I was talking about.) Much to her classmate's dismay, Sky smiled, nodded, and waved goodbye.
And he did figure out the gist of what I was asking and answered me.
Back at the beginning of the semester they each filled out an index card with vital information such as their student ID number, their English name, their phone number, any questions that they had for me, goals for the semester... stuff like that. His goal read, "Save the world."
He stared at me with total confusion and tried to pull another student, Sky, in to translate. Sky and I are friends. "No," I told her, "He can understand me, he just needs to listen." (Sometimes I will go through other students as translators, but I knew that Wisdom's English is not bad and that if he worked at it, he would definitely figure out more or less what I was talking about.) Much to her classmate's dismay, Sky smiled, nodded, and waved goodbye.
And he did figure out the gist of what I was asking and answered me.
~~~
As I walked back from building IV to my apartment (they're quite close by) I saw a few of the girls from the class I had just finished teaching tussling with each other, maybe mock fighting over a scarf. "LAOSHI!!!" Allison screamed. I answered... because I do answer to teacher now... in Chinese and English... and then realized that she actually was talking to one of her Chinese teachers. But since I was apparently going to be sympathetic, she latched onto me (literally) and we talked for a minute or two about this and that and then I left to go to my apartment.
~~~
And then I came up the stairs to my apartment, prepared to get started on the things that need to happen this weekend, thinking about maybe doing a load of laundry.
Or not.
My washing machine disappeared!
The good news: it's not a total mystery. I talked to Finn (who works downstairs) when I was ordering water and he said that yeah, they took it -- which is great since it hasn't been working properly since I moved in. He'll call when there's news.
I still feel a bit like the Grinch visited.
And then I came up the stairs to my apartment, prepared to get started on the things that need to happen this weekend, thinking about maybe doing a load of laundry.
Or not.
My washing machine disappeared!
The good news: it's not a total mystery. I talked to Finn (who works downstairs) when I was ordering water and he said that yeah, they took it -- which is great since it hasn't been working properly since I moved in. He'll call when there's news.
I still feel a bit like the Grinch visited.
~~~
The next few days are going to be full of wrapping up paperwork for TESOL certification (which is a pain to attain but is going to be awesome to have!), having a first study with some sisters on campus :), hosting the family of our city leader for dinner (which is going to be fun; we love hanging out with their boys and getting to spend time with their family), and attending a party that we got ourselves into... it sounded like a great idea... you know, back in September. :)
Haha, love this! Especially the incident about knowing Chinese. I remember one time teaching ESL where I just finished the lesson, and asked the students if they understood (this was a high level class, so they had the words to respond accurately). They all said yes--but then I heard the "wo bu dongs" and other little words filtering among the Chinese when my back was turned. And then there was the time I realized that maybe a student wasn't getting a concept when his learning partner kept saying "bu shi bu shi bu shi!" Oye!
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