I'm sorry, your question has to be in the form of an answer
So they managed to sort out the visa issue. Last trip to the visa office was a 3 hour wait but by the end of this week, everything should be kosher.
In any event, I'm officially working 3 jobs now. I have my full time job, Monday to Friday. I have the part time job with the Japanese company on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and I have another part time job with a company called Kid Castle on the weekends. This place isn't too bad. I like the fact that they are super organized. I hate the children but that doesn't say much because I hate children anyways. But for the most part it's ok. They have locations all around Shanghai and they work from a fixed curriculum. So when I come in to teach, it's clear as to what lesson I have to cover and they include all the books and necessary teaching aides. I've done a few lessons with them so far but on Sunday they sent me to this location that was in a very different part of Shanghai. It was so incredibly far away that I told the girls that I would never come back there again. In addition to it being so far away, the trip just wasn't worth it for me. It was an hour and a half long lesson with kindergartners. Talk about torture. It was a same day pay (they do this and I love it) but I wouldn't go back to that location. They're supposed to get me on a regular thing but the details of that haven't been provided to me as of yet. Apparently they're losing a teacher and they want me to take that class. I still can't believe it. THREE JOBS. In what dimension did I think it'd be cool to work 3 jobs?
Anyway, things at the kindergarten are the same. No better, no worse. Things at the middle school could always be better. I teach 4 classes at the middle school. They all suck but out of the 4 of them, 3 of the classes are not all that bad. The one class is the one I can't stand. And it's not necessarily all of the students but one boy in particular. This kid is just a jerk in every sense of the word. On Tuesday, I was walking up to the class with tests in hand. I told them beforehand that it was going to be test day, so they all knew about it. The kid saw me coming and even alerted the class of my arrival. Yet by the time I got into the class, put down my bag and started handing out the test, he's in the back "sleeping", glasses off and headphones on. I had had enough. I smacked him on the head and told him to get out (something that I'm not really supposed to do). He rolls over and looks at me with "sleepy" eyes and gives me a look of "why did you wake me?" It was as if he'd been sleeping for hours and I was the rude one for waking him. So I told him again to get out. He looks at one of the classmates and asks what I was saying. They translate and he looks at me and mumbles something. Then I made it clearer by say "buh-bye". He looks at me and says in Chinese that I should speak Chinese. I was a heartbeat away from saying "FUCK YOU! GET YOUR COCK-FUCK-STANK-ASS-SHIT ATTITUDE OUT OF MY CLASS" Instead I opted for saying "buh-bye" again. He looked at the classmate and again was asking what I was saying. The classmate translated it simply as "buh-bye". He still sat there. I reached my breaking point, I grabbed the chair he was sitting in and dragged it out side. I told him to get out and never come back. After he left, I told the rest of the class that that boy was no longer welcomed in my class and I never wanted to see him again. The students hate homework so if he does appear in my next class I'll tell them that unless he leaves, I give everyone homework. That should solve my problem. I hate that fucker so much. He's such an asshole.
Anyway, earlier this week Nancy told me that there was going to be an English speaking contest. She then asked me if I'd like to be a judge. Now when she asks me if I'd like to be a judge, this really isn't a question. You have to truly understand how these people operate. They ask you questions but they really aren't questions. They are statements. Because if I had said, I'd prefer not to do it, there'd be a problem. She would then come back with, "You must. You are the foreign English teacher. You must be a judge" Then her and I could go back and forth on why she asked me but that would be pointless. So when she asked me if I'd like to be a judge, I just replied with yes. The easier way. The competition was pretty interesting. Some of my better students were there and of course, they came to me for advice and assistance before they started. I was pretty generous with how I awarded points, however, no one got 100% for pronunciation from me, because (let's face it) they never get it right. One of the boys in one of my classes came to me before the competition started and asked me how to pronounce a particular word. After I helped him, he confessed he was nervous. I made a joke and told him not to be nervous and that he would do well. He smiled but then remarked that there were so many girls there. He was afraid of embarrassing himself. I told him he would be ok but after he left I had to smile. Guys are still guys no matter where on the planet they are and teenage boys have the same feelings regarding teenage girls no matter where on the planet they are. It was good to know that while I was in bizarro world, there were at least a few things that remained consistent.
TTFN
In any event, I'm officially working 3 jobs now. I have my full time job, Monday to Friday. I have the part time job with the Japanese company on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and I have another part time job with a company called Kid Castle on the weekends. This place isn't too bad. I like the fact that they are super organized. I hate the children but that doesn't say much because I hate children anyways. But for the most part it's ok. They have locations all around Shanghai and they work from a fixed curriculum. So when I come in to teach, it's clear as to what lesson I have to cover and they include all the books and necessary teaching aides. I've done a few lessons with them so far but on Sunday they sent me to this location that was in a very different part of Shanghai. It was so incredibly far away that I told the girls that I would never come back there again. In addition to it being so far away, the trip just wasn't worth it for me. It was an hour and a half long lesson with kindergartners. Talk about torture. It was a same day pay (they do this and I love it) but I wouldn't go back to that location. They're supposed to get me on a regular thing but the details of that haven't been provided to me as of yet. Apparently they're losing a teacher and they want me to take that class. I still can't believe it. THREE JOBS. In what dimension did I think it'd be cool to work 3 jobs?
Anyway, things at the kindergarten are the same. No better, no worse. Things at the middle school could always be better. I teach 4 classes at the middle school. They all suck but out of the 4 of them, 3 of the classes are not all that bad. The one class is the one I can't stand. And it's not necessarily all of the students but one boy in particular. This kid is just a jerk in every sense of the word. On Tuesday, I was walking up to the class with tests in hand. I told them beforehand that it was going to be test day, so they all knew about it. The kid saw me coming and even alerted the class of my arrival. Yet by the time I got into the class, put down my bag and started handing out the test, he's in the back "sleeping", glasses off and headphones on. I had had enough. I smacked him on the head and told him to get out (something that I'm not really supposed to do). He rolls over and looks at me with "sleepy" eyes and gives me a look of "why did you wake me?" It was as if he'd been sleeping for hours and I was the rude one for waking him. So I told him again to get out. He looks at one of the classmates and asks what I was saying. They translate and he looks at me and mumbles something. Then I made it clearer by say "buh-bye". He looks at me and says in Chinese that I should speak Chinese. I was a heartbeat away from saying "FUCK YOU! GET YOUR COCK-FUCK-STANK-ASS-SHIT ATTITUDE OUT OF MY CLASS" Instead I opted for saying "buh-bye" again. He looked at the classmate and again was asking what I was saying. The classmate translated it simply as "buh-bye". He still sat there. I reached my breaking point, I grabbed the chair he was sitting in and dragged it out side. I told him to get out and never come back. After he left, I told the rest of the class that that boy was no longer welcomed in my class and I never wanted to see him again. The students hate homework so if he does appear in my next class I'll tell them that unless he leaves, I give everyone homework. That should solve my problem. I hate that fucker so much. He's such an asshole.
Anyway, earlier this week Nancy told me that there was going to be an English speaking contest. She then asked me if I'd like to be a judge. Now when she asks me if I'd like to be a judge, this really isn't a question. You have to truly understand how these people operate. They ask you questions but they really aren't questions. They are statements. Because if I had said, I'd prefer not to do it, there'd be a problem. She would then come back with, "You must. You are the foreign English teacher. You must be a judge" Then her and I could go back and forth on why she asked me but that would be pointless. So when she asked me if I'd like to be a judge, I just replied with yes. The easier way. The competition was pretty interesting. Some of my better students were there and of course, they came to me for advice and assistance before they started. I was pretty generous with how I awarded points, however, no one got 100% for pronunciation from me, because (let's face it) they never get it right. One of the boys in one of my classes came to me before the competition started and asked me how to pronounce a particular word. After I helped him, he confessed he was nervous. I made a joke and told him not to be nervous and that he would do well. He smiled but then remarked that there were so many girls there. He was afraid of embarrassing himself. I told him he would be ok but after he left I had to smile. Guys are still guys no matter where on the planet they are and teenage boys have the same feelings regarding teenage girls no matter where on the planet they are. It was good to know that while I was in bizarro world, there were at least a few things that remained consistent.
TTFN
posted by Tish at 7:17 a.m.
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