Teaching and Stuff

Writer's Note: This is old, but I am a little lazy. Posting is strange.

The last week and a half has been pretty good. A few of us went to another hot pot last Friday which was pretty fun. We’re all starting to loosen up around each other. The biggest thing that has happened to me lately is that I’ve found a pretty good groove for teaching. The second week was a lot better than the first and now I just have one more class left this week. My students are getting a lot more used to my teaching style. It’s still pulling teeth to try to get them to raise their hand, but they don’t mind if I call on them at all. I think by the end of the semester things are going to be pretty good. I also may be taking this teaching thing more seriously than some of the others around, but I think that’s okay. I’m pretty sure that it’s because of my parents. The best part of this week’s lesson plan is when I read them a statement and I have them either agree or disagree with it. Once they understand what the statement is and what it means, then they do a great job. I’m pretty sure that none of them have been out of their desks in a classroom setting. A lot of them are doing a good job, but some are pretty nervous at the idea of speaking in front of class about their opinions in English. They’re doing a great job expressing themselves in English. There even was close to an argument about something, but then the two girls figured out that they really agreed on the subject and that it was just semantics. I was going to tell them that, but it was going to be too complicated. Funny though.

We’re still getting settled in Beibei, and things have been a little boring at times. It’s a little tough to figure out what to do with yourself all the time. I feel like I’m still on a college schedule, but the problem is that the classes are way more draining. Teaching a foreign language is tough when I don’t know their first language and I’m not used to their learning style, or better stated, the learning style that has been forced upon them. My students do a really good job of roll playing. They ham it up and make up all kinds of great stories. The problem is that they do not express themselves nearly as much as they do when they pretend to be someone else. It’s strange. Back in the states I think that a lot of students their age or even younger would think that my lessons would be stupid, but I’m constantly amazed at the amount of English these students really know. They could write for days and really depend on their reading, but struggle with their listening and speaking. I guess that’s why I’m here. I’m pretty cheap and easily replaceable.

(sidenote: An old Chinese guy just walked in and offered me a cigarette. They’re pretty big on that here. He just told me to leave, and so I’m on my way.)