16/9/03

It's 1pm Tuesday afternoon. Have just gotten back from lunch. The last couple of days have been good. Went out with the expats Sunday night to the same restaurant we went to on the way back from the trip to Wal-Mart last weekend. Was a good night, Chris organized it all; reservations, car bookings, you name it. He is a good guy, willing to help out anybody. Les called later that night at about 9.30pm to let me know where things were at, and we've decided to stick it out here. The likely worst-case scenario here is still better than the best-case scenario at the alternative schools so it makes sense. I was pretty relieved after that phone call!

Woke up bright and early at 7 on Monday morning ready for the first class. Had gotten bugger-all sleep the night before so wasn't feeling all that great. But after shoving down a slice of bread covered in peanut butter I made my way over to the Medical building to get things underway. Met up with Ivany and Les and hit the classroom.

The first class went well. I'm beginning to realize how lucky I am to have classes the size they are. Having talked to the teachers in the ESL department, where classes are generally 50+, I'm pretty happy. Remembering names is going to be a bit of a challenge, trying to pronounce them is tough enough. They all seemed pretty keen about getting an English name, which I'd be more than happy to help them with! A few of them already have them but I figure they could do with a few changes. Double O, Candy (for a guy), and Subzero are a little out there, I figure I'll get to know them first and then maybe make a suggestion or two. The actual teaching side of things went well. I had them all get to know one another, and then introduce each other to the class, followed by questions from the class. I've since discovered while getting them to introduce each other does get them to approach things from a different angle, getting them to introduce themselves does encourage them to talk a hell of a lot more. The students were great, they were all fairly active, participated, and understood. No complaints. Frieda was there with the contract for us to sign, we didn't have the appendix on hand so we would have to make a trip to the Medical College either Monday or Tuesday, neither Les or I could remember.

The second class was a little tougher. They were just really quiet, was really hard to get them to talk. I had them again later on that night and it was the same. It was really frustrating, especially when compared with the first class. I basically went over the same stuff as I did with the first, but then at night covered parts of the head, the senses, and parts of the arm and leg. In the evening session as well as being quiet they were also tired, so it was like pulling teeth. Hopefully I can get something out of them before too long,.

I went down stairs and jumped on the bus over to the Medical College, and after getting there Les and I realized that Frieda had said Tuesday, so we headed back to the University, whoops. Les and I had talked Sunday night and having three classes Monday and two Tuesday, rather than make six taxi runs from his place, he would just stay in my extra room Monday night, and head home Tuesday night, Wednesday being our day off. Would save a ton of money. So we went out to get a taxi back to the University. Having lived in Indonesia I wasn't exactly a stranger to beggars. For those of you who think the problem in Toronto is bad, head east... you've got a lot to learn. In Indonesia there used to be a ton of people on the roads knocking on car windows, from 6 year olds, to mothers with babies, to amputees, you name it, but they weren't all that aggressive. When Les and I stepped out onto the street to get a taxi, first an extremely persistent tricycle (rickshaw sort of thing, guy riding a bike pulling a carriage) driver approached us, and then a relentless old lady begging for money. We pretty much stared straight past them, but doing that is kind of hard when they are right in your face. Thankfully before too long a taxi arrived, and we stepped around them and were on our way. So far I haven't found that many people like this in China, but the few that I have run into, have been on a mission. So after getting back to the University we headed over to what has become our regular lunch stop at the east gate, we've actually got quite a repertoire of good dishes now. After a quick nap back at the apartment we were back in class. Was a real slog as I mentioned. The rest of the evening was over in no time, back over to the restaurant, dinner, back home, bed, being exhausted.

Of course being exhausted didn't lead to me actually getting to sleep before 2 O'clock. So by the time 7 O'clock came round I was feeling absolutely fantastic. This mornings class was great, really talkative, willing to have a go, can't ask for much more. One thing I can say about all the classes is their short term memory is really something. With the class that had two two-hour lessons Monday, they 14 new words I taught them in the afternoon, they had little trouble recalling in the evening, will be interesting to see how they go next week. After class we jumped on the shuttle back to the Medical College, met up with Frieda, and signed the contracts. It was also payday (hooray!), so we went down to the financial department and filled our wallets. Les and Frieda were more than willing to try and mess with my head as I counted it. I sure showed them... the third time round.

Back to the University, back to the restaurant, and now sitting here in the apartment until class at 7 O'clock tonight. So things are looking better. We still have to get through this month trial period before the program's approved. I still have to get my visa processed, which may pose a problem as Universities aren't supposed to hire teachers with anything less than a MA, but Les is fairly confident. This is China. For those of you wondering about the fact that I seem to eat out just about every meal, a meal for two costs about 30 RMB, or $5, and that's at a great restaurant. The school cafeteria (which I've been warned is not good) charges 2.5 RMB apparently... which works out to about 50 cents a meal. This is quite a place.

- Sam