Many a day has gone by
Sorry that this update is delayed but the internet has been out for over a week. Here’s what you missed.
So last weekend (St. Patty’s day weekend) proved to be both entertaining as well as financially lucrative. No, I didn’t become a hooker. I was having a good time at the bar at BS and this Chinese guy came up to me. He started talking about the fact that he needed an English teacher for a class on Sundays. He gave me all the details and I told him that I would call him the next day to discuss it more. Heck, I was half drunk in a bar and even in that state I knew I shouldn’t be making any big decisions. Anyway, we had our night and enjoyed it a lot. After BS, we went to Vox and all was fun over there. On Saturday, I called this guy, Steven, and got the details of what he wanted and what I was supposed to do. At first I was for it, then I was completely against it when he told me that the class would be about 50-60 students. This is a significant difference than the 45 I teach in my classes right now. I flat out told him no but he begged and begged. The he offered to pay me whatever I wanted and additionally he said that he would pick me up at home and bring me to the school on the first day. How could I refuse that offer? Now I have to keep in mind that I’m working on Sunday mornings and I won’t be able to party Saturday nights. Although, over the past few weeks I haven’t really been partying on Saturday, so it’s no big loss. On Sunday I went in, to teach the class and for the most part they look like a fun bunch. Lucky for them and me, I speak some Chinese so, teaching without a co-teacher shouldn’t be that difficult. Most of the students can speak basic English and some of them are still learning, but my real purpose is not necessarily to teach English and the details of English, my job is just for them to listen to me and be able to communicate with me, or anyone, in English. I’m gonna try my best in future to make the class more social so that we’re having discussions as opposed to me being up there and teaching like I already do Monday to Friday. What’s good about teaching this class as well is that they are all students of the university and I get paid cash on the same day. Steven told me that I could take the class in any direction I wanted and really I’m there to just help them with the English classes they are already taking. Steven thought that I did a really good job with my first class and then he asked the students what they thought and they agreed that I was a good teacher. All of them wanted my email address (which really isn’t a big deal for Chinese people and most of them find it easier to communicate in written English than spoken English) and when I asked them at the end of class if they wanted me to come the next week, they all replied with a cheerful yes. Made me feel good. So I think I’ll be doing these extra classes, which should really help me financially. It will make my trip to Thailand easier, I’ll probably be able to squeeze in that Dali trip and in addition to that, I should be able to have my money in order to get back to Canada. Last week was an interesting one. The first half went quickly and then we were told that our Thursday evening classes had to be moved to Wednesday in order to accommodate an important meeting we had to have. So Wednesday was a bit of a drag because usually it’s half day and then when Thursday came, we were all curious to see what this meeting was about. Apparently, they had these “super teachers” come in and discuss our lessons and things we should and shouldn’t do. Now, I have no problems with someone giving me tips that would make me a better teacher or that would assist me in controlling the students or even advice on how the cultural differences could affect your teaching, but I got instantly pissed when they started telling us how we should write the letter “i” on the board. I was basically like “fuck that!” How dare you tell me how to write my language. I don’t correct your written Chinese. Don’t correct my written English. In fact, don’t correct my English at all. Who are you to tell me, a native English speaker, how to speak or write something in English? I was so mad and insulted at that point that I just refused to listen to anything else this woman had to say. Especially with the fact that her information was being translated by someone who’s English wasn’t that great. So I left that meeting and went on a rant. After I was done, I was good but it was something that really bothered me. They’ve brought us over from our English speaking countries and then they try to tell us how to teach the language. Anyway, Friday we went to a town called Ezhou (uh-joe) and we planted trees for china. We did this last year as well but what made it suck this year was that it was a rainy day. What was good about it, was the lunch. The food this time was really really good.
Over this past weekend, I really didn’t do much. On both Friday night and Saturday night I just stayed in and drank with the boys. Same effect as going out to party but at the end of the night, I have more money in my wallet. I’m really trying my best to be as thrifty as possible so that I don’t have any problems making my trip to Thailand. This thing is extremely important to me. I’ve wanted to go there forever and now that it’s so close, I’m doing anything in my power to make sure it happens.
In other news, obviously I’ve been here in China for some time so I’ve been able to pick up a lot of the language and I’ve also been learning how to write in Chinese. So far I can write the months of the year and the days of the week. In addition I can write my Chinese name, also the word china, the word Chinese, the word English and one other word I can’t remember right now. Then there are the other characters that I can’t write but I recognize upon looking at them. It’s a really cool feeling. Chinese people compliment me on my Chinese all the time and even Mr. Ye said today that if I spent another year in china, my Chinese would be perfect. A lot of the teachers here at the school come to me with Chinese questions and/or if they want to learn a new word. I work with Lisa and Colin a lot on their Chinese and it’s really fun because now I’m proud of my students that are doing so well. I am by no means fluent in Chinese but I know enough to get me wherever I need to go, to be able to communicate with people and to be able to demand something that I want. Sometimes I really feel like I live here. And I know you’re probably thinking, “Well, you do live there Litisha” but it’s more than that. I feel like I really live here. Like I’m just another girl from Wuhan but I’m just not Chinese. Anyway, these are the kinda things that just make me smile (reading Chinese characters) and these are the kinda things that I’m gonna be missing. C’est tout.
TTFN
So last weekend (St. Patty’s day weekend) proved to be both entertaining as well as financially lucrative. No, I didn’t become a hooker. I was having a good time at the bar at BS and this Chinese guy came up to me. He started talking about the fact that he needed an English teacher for a class on Sundays. He gave me all the details and I told him that I would call him the next day to discuss it more. Heck, I was half drunk in a bar and even in that state I knew I shouldn’t be making any big decisions. Anyway, we had our night and enjoyed it a lot. After BS, we went to Vox and all was fun over there. On Saturday, I called this guy, Steven, and got the details of what he wanted and what I was supposed to do. At first I was for it, then I was completely against it when he told me that the class would be about 50-60 students. This is a significant difference than the 45 I teach in my classes right now. I flat out told him no but he begged and begged. The he offered to pay me whatever I wanted and additionally he said that he would pick me up at home and bring me to the school on the first day. How could I refuse that offer? Now I have to keep in mind that I’m working on Sunday mornings and I won’t be able to party Saturday nights. Although, over the past few weeks I haven’t really been partying on Saturday, so it’s no big loss. On Sunday I went in, to teach the class and for the most part they look like a fun bunch. Lucky for them and me, I speak some Chinese so, teaching without a co-teacher shouldn’t be that difficult. Most of the students can speak basic English and some of them are still learning, but my real purpose is not necessarily to teach English and the details of English, my job is just for them to listen to me and be able to communicate with me, or anyone, in English. I’m gonna try my best in future to make the class more social so that we’re having discussions as opposed to me being up there and teaching like I already do Monday to Friday. What’s good about teaching this class as well is that they are all students of the university and I get paid cash on the same day. Steven told me that I could take the class in any direction I wanted and really I’m there to just help them with the English classes they are already taking. Steven thought that I did a really good job with my first class and then he asked the students what they thought and they agreed that I was a good teacher. All of them wanted my email address (which really isn’t a big deal for Chinese people and most of them find it easier to communicate in written English than spoken English) and when I asked them at the end of class if they wanted me to come the next week, they all replied with a cheerful yes. Made me feel good. So I think I’ll be doing these extra classes, which should really help me financially. It will make my trip to Thailand easier, I’ll probably be able to squeeze in that Dali trip and in addition to that, I should be able to have my money in order to get back to Canada. Last week was an interesting one. The first half went quickly and then we were told that our Thursday evening classes had to be moved to Wednesday in order to accommodate an important meeting we had to have. So Wednesday was a bit of a drag because usually it’s half day and then when Thursday came, we were all curious to see what this meeting was about. Apparently, they had these “super teachers” come in and discuss our lessons and things we should and shouldn’t do. Now, I have no problems with someone giving me tips that would make me a better teacher or that would assist me in controlling the students or even advice on how the cultural differences could affect your teaching, but I got instantly pissed when they started telling us how we should write the letter “i” on the board. I was basically like “fuck that!” How dare you tell me how to write my language. I don’t correct your written Chinese. Don’t correct my written English. In fact, don’t correct my English at all. Who are you to tell me, a native English speaker, how to speak or write something in English? I was so mad and insulted at that point that I just refused to listen to anything else this woman had to say. Especially with the fact that her information was being translated by someone who’s English wasn’t that great. So I left that meeting and went on a rant. After I was done, I was good but it was something that really bothered me. They’ve brought us over from our English speaking countries and then they try to tell us how to teach the language. Anyway, Friday we went to a town called Ezhou (uh-joe) and we planted trees for china. We did this last year as well but what made it suck this year was that it was a rainy day. What was good about it, was the lunch. The food this time was really really good.
Over this past weekend, I really didn’t do much. On both Friday night and Saturday night I just stayed in and drank with the boys. Same effect as going out to party but at the end of the night, I have more money in my wallet. I’m really trying my best to be as thrifty as possible so that I don’t have any problems making my trip to Thailand. This thing is extremely important to me. I’ve wanted to go there forever and now that it’s so close, I’m doing anything in my power to make sure it happens.
In other news, obviously I’ve been here in China for some time so I’ve been able to pick up a lot of the language and I’ve also been learning how to write in Chinese. So far I can write the months of the year and the days of the week. In addition I can write my Chinese name, also the word china, the word Chinese, the word English and one other word I can’t remember right now. Then there are the other characters that I can’t write but I recognize upon looking at them. It’s a really cool feeling. Chinese people compliment me on my Chinese all the time and even Mr. Ye said today that if I spent another year in china, my Chinese would be perfect. A lot of the teachers here at the school come to me with Chinese questions and/or if they want to learn a new word. I work with Lisa and Colin a lot on their Chinese and it’s really fun because now I’m proud of my students that are doing so well. I am by no means fluent in Chinese but I know enough to get me wherever I need to go, to be able to communicate with people and to be able to demand something that I want. Sometimes I really feel like I live here. And I know you’re probably thinking, “Well, you do live there Litisha” but it’s more than that. I feel like I really live here. Like I’m just another girl from Wuhan but I’m just not Chinese. Anyway, these are the kinda things that just make me smile (reading Chinese characters) and these are the kinda things that I’m gonna be missing. C’est tout.
TTFN
posted by Tish at 8:36 p.m.
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