The last week or so...

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Ok,so the last week has gone by soo quickly!
I started my own classes and took over another teachers classes, begun some new VIP lessons and learnt how to get around the city!
I'm really enjoying teaching here and although there a few rowdy students, on the whole chinese students are so easy to teach and willing to learn. I went with one of the teachers to an offsite on Monday which was really interesting. Some local schools pay for EF teachersto go out and teach in their schools. It was weird to see how and wherethe students learn here- the school buildings have no heat and the windows are open all of the time (it's not much above freezing here) i was wearing a considerable amount of layers and it took me all afternoon to warm up! I don't understand how they learn anything at all! They start school so early here - about 7am if I remember correctly, and when we arrived at 9am they were all out on the playing field doing some singing and excercises! They work so hard here even in the less- good schools (for want of a better adjective) and when the english teachers arrive they play up a lot as their normal teachers are not around! Their level of english is not as good as the students at EF- the classes are bigger and they just don't have the same resources. It was great to go and observe, but I really hope I don't have to go and do them myself!
I also got an advance on my wages this week- my funds were running low and I was fed up of walking to work everyday. So I took my money straight to the bike shop andgot myself some wheels- Hurrah! although this was short-lived when one of the pedals fell off half way to work, the seat became wobbly and I had to ride it like a skooter the rest of the way to school- the teaching assistants thought it was hillarious when I walked in carrying a pedal- Ididn't even bother locking it- Who would dare steal a bike you can't ride? later on in the day one of the other teachers kindly put the pedal back on as best he could without tools and after work we began the cycle to the go mao- an italian restaurant (our treat for finishing the working week). However, a few hundred metres down the road, the pedal fell off again and one of the other teachers pushed me whilst cycling the rest of the way!! The night just got funnier from then on- when we left I skooted my way as best I could to get to one of the other teacher's houses to pick up some stuff- when I arrived, oneof the girls kindly towed me the rest of the way home with her electric bike. When i say towed, I mean we wobbled our way along the pavement narrowly avoiding all sorts of collisions- by the time I got home Iwas exhausted from all the laughter. The moral of the story- Don't buy a bike from a chinese supermarket!! SO tomorrow, I'm going back to the supermarket to get it fixed or get a refund!!!
All in all, an exciting week really! i'm off to one of the teacher's parties tomorrow night and Thursday I'm treating myself tothe delights of a chinese hair-cut!
Love to you all x

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