I was asked to teach English to high school students on this campus, which I graciously declined. One of our friends mentioned this to me earlier. She'd taught a couple classes last year and didn't like it. The kids were pretty misbehaved and uninterested in learning. That was strike 1. Another strike was that whoever taught, needed to grade and test the students, which I didn't want to do. Ms. C. and her assistant G. tried hard to persuade me (in some ways, being a bit uncouth about it), but I just told them I wouldn't do it because of those strikes. They were trying to convince me to take the job rather than interview me to see if I was qualified, which wasn't a good sign to begin with. No doubt they were desperate, but I wasn't, so I ended up politely declining their offer.
We were taken on a tour of a middle school that has asked us to teach once a week, for ten weeks. The school is quite large, about 1200 students and 90 teachers. It had an Olympic-size swimming pool that was empty (to be filled in 10 days). Mr. O showed us a room that we’d be teaching in (seats 200), with multimedia. A lot of this foreign teacher stuff seems to hinge on prestige. More foreign teachers = more prestige = more $$$$ from people willing to pay for it (and apparently, there are plenty) = more revenue for the school. We talked about pay a bit, then went to dinner at a nearby restaurant. To clinch the deal?
We have a great deal of pull with this stint, if we take it, seems decent enough...
Friday, April 08, 2005
Wednesday, April 06, 2005
BIG WEDNESDAY
Better sit down for this one...
I attended L's classes today. Each class is having a fashion show this week. I went 20 minutes after the first class started, only to find L. dismissing them. She said none of them were prepared for their presentation and was noticeably disappointed by this. The students, however, didn't leave. While L. left to get some textbooks, the students talked to me, saying they had indeed prepared, but were too scared to present. L. came back and I explained the situation to them. They ended up doing the fashion show afterwards. But were done over an hour before the end of class, so L. dismissed them early.
The second class responded the same way. They seem easily intimidated. Part of the face-based culture in play, I'm guessing. They're probably not used to L's teaching style, which can be demanding. Speaking out personal analysis in class seems to be a new thing to them. But I suspect that classes L's taught in the past may not have had this kind of problem. After much threatening to dismiss class, eventually the groups started to loosen up and do their presentations, although they didn't do the actual fashion show. L. just interviewed them. They had an uneven number of commentators and models. Apparently, only a third of the class showed up. Again, this class was dismissed early.
From L.: I got called in by the assistant to the dean of her department, about the early dismissal of my classes. Apparently, they took issue with it. Later on, we were actually visited by the "assistant", for a face-to-face, to discuss the matter. I felt that there was nothing else I could do if students didn't or refused to do their homework. And if they did do it but refused to speak up, that was not the teacher's problem either. It was their responsibility to do homework and inform the teacher that they actually did it. It was a rather animated conversation, with the other "teacher" asking me to stay in class whether students did their homework or not and me asking whether I was hired to teach or babysit. (My entire class today was based on oral presentations which weren't ready due to the non-preparation or absence of most students. So, instead of wasting time just sitting in the class room, I made her point by dismissing the class.) I was growing weary and frustrated with the rigidity of the university rules and expectations and the "disregard for actual education" (her words). Well, I don't think anyone "won," but I do know that some of my vigor for teaching left today. Not only disappointed with my students, but also with the administration that catered to this irresponsibility.
Soon, after the "teacher" left, we got a belated birthday call from my brother. We talked about Dad & Mom and their work in India, especially about helping them out with it. It seemed at the end of their conversation that there wouldn't be a way for us to do so for at least a couple of years, until after our stint in China and securing a green card for me, which would take up about another year as well..
Next, the International Office (the folks who hired us) called, asking me to submit in writing my intent to teach next semester. It was then that we learned my contract was not for a year, but only until the end of this semester. In other words, I'm not obligated contractually to teach next semester, as we'd thought.
Back to S.: All that transpired today gave L. thoughts about making this semester her last in China. Disappointment with the students and school administration, frustration with the rigid expectations, the talk with her brother about her parents work, and realizing that we weren't bound contractually for a whole year spurred ideas about this. We talked about possibly going back to India during the summer and staying through the year to help our her parents and perhaps improving it administratively, as well as spend the holidays there. We spent some time lifting these things up. L. was leaning strongly towards leaving China after this semester.
We went to "E's" café at 7 pm for the English corner. About 10-12 people showed up, mainly from L's classes. One girl who talked a lot has only been studying English for a year. She seemed to know quite a bit in spite of her limited exposure to it. She talked of her interest in books and philosophy over going to dances, unlike most kids her age. The others, all girls, talked about school, relationships, Charles/Camilla, politics, and games.
As we left around 10 pm, "E" dropped a bombshell --- he sold his café two days ago and is finalizing its transfer tomorrow. That means there won't be anymore English corner at his place, since it won't be his anymore. All our plans to have a weekly English corner and helping boost "E's" business, as well as possibly start up a mini-try there, vanished. Was this yet another confirmation for us to leave China? It was hard not to see it that way. Much has happened in just the past 12 hours to cause us to consider such drastic changes to our original plans. It was exciting as well as worrisome about the logistics of it all.
Please keep this decision in your thoughts...it's a bit one and we're not sure if this is what we are being led to do.
I attended L's classes today. Each class is having a fashion show this week. I went 20 minutes after the first class started, only to find L. dismissing them. She said none of them were prepared for their presentation and was noticeably disappointed by this. The students, however, didn't leave. While L. left to get some textbooks, the students talked to me, saying they had indeed prepared, but were too scared to present. L. came back and I explained the situation to them. They ended up doing the fashion show afterwards. But were done over an hour before the end of class, so L. dismissed them early.
The second class responded the same way. They seem easily intimidated. Part of the face-based culture in play, I'm guessing. They're probably not used to L's teaching style, which can be demanding. Speaking out personal analysis in class seems to be a new thing to them. But I suspect that classes L's taught in the past may not have had this kind of problem. After much threatening to dismiss class, eventually the groups started to loosen up and do their presentations, although they didn't do the actual fashion show. L. just interviewed them. They had an uneven number of commentators and models. Apparently, only a third of the class showed up. Again, this class was dismissed early.
From L.: I got called in by the assistant to the dean of her department, about the early dismissal of my classes. Apparently, they took issue with it. Later on, we were actually visited by the "assistant", for a face-to-face, to discuss the matter. I felt that there was nothing else I could do if students didn't or refused to do their homework. And if they did do it but refused to speak up, that was not the teacher's problem either. It was their responsibility to do homework and inform the teacher that they actually did it. It was a rather animated conversation, with the other "teacher" asking me to stay in class whether students did their homework or not and me asking whether I was hired to teach or babysit. (My entire class today was based on oral presentations which weren't ready due to the non-preparation or absence of most students. So, instead of wasting time just sitting in the class room, I made her point by dismissing the class.) I was growing weary and frustrated with the rigidity of the university rules and expectations and the "disregard for actual education" (her words). Well, I don't think anyone "won," but I do know that some of my vigor for teaching left today. Not only disappointed with my students, but also with the administration that catered to this irresponsibility.
Soon, after the "teacher" left, we got a belated birthday call from my brother. We talked about Dad & Mom and their work in India, especially about helping them out with it. It seemed at the end of their conversation that there wouldn't be a way for us to do so for at least a couple of years, until after our stint in China and securing a green card for me, which would take up about another year as well..
Next, the International Office (the folks who hired us) called, asking me to submit in writing my intent to teach next semester. It was then that we learned my contract was not for a year, but only until the end of this semester. In other words, I'm not obligated contractually to teach next semester, as we'd thought.
Back to S.: All that transpired today gave L. thoughts about making this semester her last in China. Disappointment with the students and school administration, frustration with the rigid expectations, the talk with her brother about her parents work, and realizing that we weren't bound contractually for a whole year spurred ideas about this. We talked about possibly going back to India during the summer and staying through the year to help our her parents and perhaps improving it administratively, as well as spend the holidays there. We spent some time lifting these things up. L. was leaning strongly towards leaving China after this semester.
We went to "E's" café at 7 pm for the English corner. About 10-12 people showed up, mainly from L's classes. One girl who talked a lot has only been studying English for a year. She seemed to know quite a bit in spite of her limited exposure to it. She talked of her interest in books and philosophy over going to dances, unlike most kids her age. The others, all girls, talked about school, relationships, Charles/Camilla, politics, and games.
As we left around 10 pm, "E" dropped a bombshell --- he sold his café two days ago and is finalizing its transfer tomorrow. That means there won't be anymore English corner at his place, since it won't be his anymore. All our plans to have a weekly English corner and helping boost "E's" business, as well as possibly start up a mini-try there, vanished. Was this yet another confirmation for us to leave China? It was hard not to see it that way. Much has happened in just the past 12 hours to cause us to consider such drastic changes to our original plans. It was exciting as well as worrisome about the logistics of it all.
Please keep this decision in your thoughts...it's a bit one and we're not sure if this is what we are being led to do.
Tuesday, April 05, 2005
first official dinner
The morning was spent giving piano lessons to the two kids at GW. Later, we went home to do some laundry and work on homework while watching MTVchina (or something like it) and their "tributes" to black actors like Will Smith, Halle Berry, and Denzel Washington. A Chinese guy in a do-rag and a Boston Celtics baggy shirt hosted the program (wow, talk about your wannabes). A "tribute" to Jennifer Lopez and her accomplishments followed.
We invited all the foreign teachers on our campus, which amounted to 5 including us, to dinner. We were preparing finishing touches when the three of them came by at 6:30 pm. The food turned out great and we had plenty. We watched TV (a biography of John Paul II and a documentary on the "dark side of Mt. Everest"), looked through our DVDs, and chit-chatted. It was an enjoyable evening with hopes of being repeated.
This was L's first official dinner as a "wife" so she was a bit nervous how the food would turn out and she made loads of it...but it turned out really well and we had leftovers, yum!
We invited all the foreign teachers on our campus, which amounted to 5 including us, to dinner. We were preparing finishing touches when the three of them came by at 6:30 pm. The food turned out great and we had plenty. We watched TV (a biography of John Paul II and a documentary on the "dark side of Mt. Everest"), looked through our DVDs, and chit-chatted. It was an enjoyable evening with hopes of being repeated.
This was L's first official dinner as a "wife" so she was a bit nervous how the food would turn out and she made loads of it...but it turned out really well and we had leftovers, yum!
Monday, April 04, 2005
bum...or victim?
On our way to the main campus for lunch, we saw a man laying on the sidewalk surrounded by garbage and a bicycle leaning against the curb. It looked like he'd been hit and was knocked unconscious. A teacher we knew on the shuttle, walked with us to the man. He was still breathing, but we weren't sure if he was hurt. We couldn't wake him up. Others around him figured he was sleeping. We walked back to inform a policeman, who went to check it out. On our way back, we saw that the man and his mess was no longer there. Whether he was taken away in an ambulance or a police car or left on his own, we don't know.
L. got a strange phone call from someone saying the police wanted to see her passport and visa. The school still has our passports, so we couldn't show them. They said they would come Thursday to check it out. We have no idea what this is all about.
About 20 students were at my class tonight. We went through lessons 6-8 (only the top part of 8). I played the CD I made of the ESL Gold mp3 and wma files for the class, which they liked a lot. One of the students got blank CDs and sold them to her classmates for 2 kuai a piece. 19 of them altogether, which I'll make copies and bring back next week. They wanted to pay me for the trouble of copying, but I told them it wasn't necessary. We then played Bingo for the last half hour, using words we had during the week. L. got some candy prizes to give away. The game was well received, even tho' a few of them (the older students) couldn't spell the words.
A man named Mr. Li asked me if I would be interested in teaching middle-school students oral English at 150 kuai/hour. A friend of his, Mr. O, is the one of the headmasters of this school. I'll have to think about it....
L. got a strange phone call from someone saying the police wanted to see her passport and visa. The school still has our passports, so we couldn't show them. They said they would come Thursday to check it out. We have no idea what this is all about.
About 20 students were at my class tonight. We went through lessons 6-8 (only the top part of 8). I played the CD I made of the ESL Gold mp3 and wma files for the class, which they liked a lot. One of the students got blank CDs and sold them to her classmates for 2 kuai a piece. 19 of them altogether, which I'll make copies and bring back next week. They wanted to pay me for the trouble of copying, but I told them it wasn't necessary. We then played Bingo for the last half hour, using words we had during the week. L. got some candy prizes to give away. The game was well received, even tho' a few of them (the older students) couldn't spell the words.
A man named Mr. Li asked me if I would be interested in teaching middle-school students oral English at 150 kuai/hour. A friend of his, Mr. O, is the one of the headmasters of this school. I'll have to think about it....
Sunday, April 03, 2005
5 children...all born overseas
On the way to catch the bus for church, we encountered several of my students from last year. It was so good to see them again (and I even remembered most of their names). It was one of those warm fuzzy moments, when someone who you’ve had minimal interaction with (considering your entire lifetime) welcomes the opportunity for further interaction. It was a blessing to see the excitement on their faces as they ran across a lawn for just a few words with me. Makes you feel like you’ve made some impact. Last year was so worth it!!! I almost pondered staying back and catching up with them, but they hadn’t seen each other in a while, and I wanted to give them time with each other, without a teacher hanging around asking for translation every two minutes. But the warmth I felt from them solidified the bond we shared.
We got to the 3-self church about 45 minutes after it started, just in time to catch some of the sermon and the singing at the end. We got there in the middle of the sermon and sat on chairs in the aisle. It was pretty full today. The sermon was about Isaiah 54 and Revelations, talking about the new Jerusalem.
After the service, we walked to a nearby hotel for lunch. Due to a lack of space, we were invited to share a table with an American couple living in Germany. She is a federal engineer and he is a stay-at-home dad. They just adopted an 18-month Chinese baby girl, to add to their brood of 4, ranging from ages 6-12. All were born in different countries (Guam, England, Australia - and now China). They've done a lot of traveling with the children and have enjoyed doing so, despite most people feeling like they can't do so until the kids grow up. S. and M. said their kids were pretty well-rounded and really enjoy living in other countries with the added advantage of having a global perspective much earlier than most children. We were amazed and impressed, thinking that maybe we'd enjoy a similar type of lifestyle.....maybe.
News that Pope John Paul II died last night. News on his death dominated HK news, but some of it was censored from the mainland. JP2, being from Poland and credited with bringing down the "party", was not favored by the higher-ups here.
We got to the 3-self church about 45 minutes after it started, just in time to catch some of the sermon and the singing at the end. We got there in the middle of the sermon and sat on chairs in the aisle. It was pretty full today. The sermon was about Isaiah 54 and Revelations, talking about the new Jerusalem.
After the service, we walked to a nearby hotel for lunch. Due to a lack of space, we were invited to share a table with an American couple living in Germany. She is a federal engineer and he is a stay-at-home dad. They just adopted an 18-month Chinese baby girl, to add to their brood of 4, ranging from ages 6-12. All were born in different countries (Guam, England, Australia - and now China). They've done a lot of traveling with the children and have enjoyed doing so, despite most people feeling like they can't do so until the kids grow up. S. and M. said their kids were pretty well-rounded and really enjoy living in other countries with the added advantage of having a global perspective much earlier than most children. We were amazed and impressed, thinking that maybe we'd enjoy a similar type of lifestyle.....maybe.
News that Pope John Paul II died last night. News on his death dominated HK news, but some of it was censored from the mainland. JP2, being from Poland and credited with bringing down the "party", was not favored by the higher-ups here.
Saturday, April 02, 2005
Call 713-623-DUNK for Rockets tickets!
The Rockets played the Hornets on TV. Hornets came back to win, 76-73. The broadcast said to be sure to call 713-623-DUNK to get my tickets for the next Rockets game! Actually, Chinese NBA TV is actually satellite-broadcasted FSN....the Chinese commentators merely speak over the American commentators and add in their own observations; no direct translations. So they can't control what's broadcasted and have no way to anticipate what replays, camera angles, spots, etc. will occur. They just go with the flow of what FSN provides.
Friday, April 01, 2005
April Fool's
I gave tests today in class and had to convince the students that this wasn't a joke. Right at the end of my last class, just after i dismissed the students, S. walked in the door with a cake. The students were stunned (so was I), until he explained who he was and that it was my b'day. He brought a candle and lit it and then led the students in the b'day song. It was so sweet - what a man!!!
A couple hours later, we headed downtown to try and find an Indian restaurant. A magazine had listed about five in the city, so we were bound to find at least one. The first one we found had three men watching television and none of them even stood up when we walked in. We walked right back out...
The second one near the center of town, but we had to walk down one winding alley after another, finding it later in a basement type setting. The place was very plush and nice...and very expensive. So, once again, we were outside trying to find whatever restaurant having canned the idea of eating Indian. I checked out the magazine and found that there was another restaurant around there, so we decided since we were in the area, we might as well check it out. It had the ambience of a cafe/fast food restaurant type place. But the prices were reasonable enough and the food looked pretty good. However, our appetite for Indian was gone.
So, two and a half hours after we left home, we found ourselves back at our favorite Brazilian restaurant. The food, as usual, was great and the band, lively. It had been pouring on and off all day and whenever it wasn't, there was always a misty drizzle...welcoming April, i guess. After dinner, we just took a taxi home...i didn't feel like wrestling with wet people on public transportation. Prince of Egypt was the blockbuster of the evening...it was fun singing along.
Several people called with their greetings - it was very nice talking to mom and dad and mom. I also heard from some former students who had remembered...that was very affirming! This is both of our first b'days being married. I don't know about S., but for me, it was wonderful (and a bit weird).
Thank you, honey!
You're welcome, sweetie....I did have a great time. Happy day to you!
A couple hours later, we headed downtown to try and find an Indian restaurant. A magazine had listed about five in the city, so we were bound to find at least one. The first one we found had three men watching television and none of them even stood up when we walked in. We walked right back out...
The second one near the center of town, but we had to walk down one winding alley after another, finding it later in a basement type setting. The place was very plush and nice...and very expensive. So, once again, we were outside trying to find whatever restaurant having canned the idea of eating Indian. I checked out the magazine and found that there was another restaurant around there, so we decided since we were in the area, we might as well check it out. It had the ambience of a cafe/fast food restaurant type place. But the prices were reasonable enough and the food looked pretty good. However, our appetite for Indian was gone.
So, two and a half hours after we left home, we found ourselves back at our favorite Brazilian restaurant. The food, as usual, was great and the band, lively. It had been pouring on and off all day and whenever it wasn't, there was always a misty drizzle...welcoming April, i guess. After dinner, we just took a taxi home...i didn't feel like wrestling with wet people on public transportation. Prince of Egypt was the blockbuster of the evening...it was fun singing along.
Several people called with their greetings - it was very nice talking to mom and dad and mom. I also heard from some former students who had remembered...that was very affirming! This is both of our first b'days being married. I don't know about S., but for me, it was wonderful (and a bit weird).
Thank you, honey!
You're welcome, sweetie....I did have a great time. Happy day to you!
Thursday, March 31, 2005
Monopoly
We went to E's cafe again for the English Corner, but it was closed. So, we called and he asked us to come again in an hour - which we did. There were just a few boys there, so we opened up our Chinese monopoly game and taught it to them. They got into the spirit of things and i think we've found a hit. There weren't nearly as many people there as last week. I'm not sure that they understood that we'd be doing this every week. Hopefully word will get around next week.
We haven't yet talked to him about renting his cafe, although we've thought about it quite a bit. If we do this, we might be doing it solo and we would like to be in partnership with someone. However, because we're so far away from the main campus and the city, that might not be a viable option for others. S. and i are still trying to sort through all the ramifications if we do this...
We haven't yet talked to him about renting his cafe, although we've thought about it quite a bit. If we do this, we might be doing it solo and we would like to be in partnership with someone. However, because we're so far away from the main campus and the city, that might not be a viable option for others. S. and i are still trying to sort through all the ramifications if we do this...
Wednesday, March 30, 2005
Grocery shopping in China
While L. was in class today, I went out shopping. The Carrefour, Trust-Mart, and Jusco markets are pretty neat. They're all 2-3 stories tall and have moving sidewalks that slant upwards. Shopping carts stick to these sidewalks without sliding back....done with magnets. Tissue packs, batteries, and drinks line the sides of the moving sidewalk, leaving no space unused for selling. Things are quite cheap in places; a bunch of fresh, leafy veggies cost less than 1 rmb (12 US cents)!
One drawback to shopping here is the transportation. I have to go by bus or taxi. Carrefour and Trust-Mart send out free buses all over the area, including our XM campus, to pick people up every hour. But I can only buy what I can carry in one trip. There's no filling up my car trunk to unload in multiple trips from the home driveway, since I have no car. Even if I did, it's a six-flight stairway walk to our flat. Here, I make sure I don't overbuy to where that I can't carry it all. Hmmm....maybe that's not such a bad thing after all....
News has been reporting about the KMT's visits to China. A significant development in cross-strait relations with Taiwan that has this country's media riveted.
One drawback to shopping here is the transportation. I have to go by bus or taxi. Carrefour and Trust-Mart send out free buses all over the area, including our XM campus, to pick people up every hour. But I can only buy what I can carry in one trip. There's no filling up my car trunk to unload in multiple trips from the home driveway, since I have no car. Even if I did, it's a six-flight stairway walk to our flat. Here, I make sure I don't overbuy to where that I can't carry it all. Hmmm....maybe that's not such a bad thing after all....
News has been reporting about the KMT's visits to China. A significant development in cross-strait relations with Taiwan that has this country's media riveted.
Tuesday, March 29, 2005
Where did Spring go?
Yesterday was quite warm and very humid, which made it quite uncomfortable. (I will never understand, tho', how so many people feel the need to wear long sleeves and jackets.) Today is much better, not as humid, but still warm.
We picked up our tickets for Shanghai yesterday. Our family is coming over in two weeks and we'll be meeting them there and all of us coming back to GZ after a few days.
Last night's class went well. More students than last week, including a new student. We went through lessons 3-6. I tried playing the mp3's that I downloaded from "ESL Gold" on my computer, but it wasn't loud enough and we couldn't get the classroom sound system to work. Students asked to go over long, hard-to-pronounce words more thoroughly, like "photographer" and “secretary". The "ch" in "mechanic", "cherry", and "machine" threw them a bit --- my only explanation to this: "It's English". We took 5-10 minute breaks every hour....good thing, since my voice gets hoarse fast. Fortunately, a student was gracious enough to fetch me water. We played Hangman again, but this time on my computer. It was a little tough, since the categories were limited, and countries was about the only thing we could do. Maybe we'll try bingo next week.
The university has given us a room on the main campus for the nights that I teach and (if we call ahead) any other nights that there might be events on the main campus (i.e. Jazz Concerts, etc.) since there is no shuttle after 5:30 p.m. So, we stayed here last night.
This morning, L. did some laundry (they have a dryer here, very exciting for her) and I taught piano to the boys (M and S) of the other JHF family here.
We went to the library later to read some mags. They had "U.S. News and World Report" as well as "Time" magazine on their shelves. It's probably the only place in Guangzhou that carries them. It was nice to be able to read them.
We picked up our tickets for Shanghai yesterday. Our family is coming over in two weeks and we'll be meeting them there and all of us coming back to GZ after a few days.
Last night's class went well. More students than last week, including a new student. We went through lessons 3-6. I tried playing the mp3's that I downloaded from "ESL Gold" on my computer, but it wasn't loud enough and we couldn't get the classroom sound system to work. Students asked to go over long, hard-to-pronounce words more thoroughly, like "photographer" and “secretary". The "ch" in "mechanic", "cherry", and "machine" threw them a bit --- my only explanation to this: "It's English". We took 5-10 minute breaks every hour....good thing, since my voice gets hoarse fast. Fortunately, a student was gracious enough to fetch me water. We played Hangman again, but this time on my computer. It was a little tough, since the categories were limited, and countries was about the only thing we could do. Maybe we'll try bingo next week.
The university has given us a room on the main campus for the nights that I teach and (if we call ahead) any other nights that there might be events on the main campus (i.e. Jazz Concerts, etc.) since there is no shuttle after 5:30 p.m. So, we stayed here last night.
This morning, L. did some laundry (they have a dryer here, very exciting for her) and I taught piano to the boys (M and S) of the other JHF family here.
We went to the library later to read some mags. They had "U.S. News and World Report" as well as "Time" magazine on their shelves. It's probably the only place in Guangzhou that carries them. It was nice to be able to read them.
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