And a New Term Begins!

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There's no chill in the air, no geese flying south, no leaves changing color, but I know it's nearly time for the term to start. Well, I should be more specific: it's nearly time for the foreign teachers to start teaching. Classes started on Monday and those in the Foreign Language Department are already back in the classroom. Those of us who teach upper-classed students start on Monday, and those who teach freshman start in... three weeks. (The freshmen spend a week on orientation and registration and then two weeks doing military training.)

I've received my new schedule for the term and it's the best work schedule I've ever had. I have no 12-hour days. I teach one night class so I most likely won't need to do English corner (last year, no one ever showed up so it felt like a waste of time). And my last class of the week... is at 8am on Thursday. There's the potential for me to get an overtime class (on Thursday at 10am) because we have more students than in previous years. But I would still be done by noon. Hello, three-and-a-half-day weekend!

Our first meeting is next Tuesday, which makes no sense to me because my American mind thinks I should have all necessary information before I step into the classroom. I'm not going to speculate as to why we're waiting, but I'm pretty sure no one said, "Next Tuesday afternoon, after many of our teachers are half-way through their schedules, is the perfect time to give them new information about the term." I feel bad for the new teachers--at least I've done this before.

This year there will be many changes. I'm not sure what the cycle is, but every few years (maybe five?) officials from Beijing visit the university for an inspection. The inspection is what helps us keep our university status and accreditation (as opposed to college). So, in preparation, the third floor (where the offices were) has been demolished and rebuilt with new offices, fancy cubicles for teachers, and who knows what else (it's still under construction). Likewise, we'll be getting new books (last year I had none) and rumors say that the university is planning some standardization of the classes and grading. While that could make my life a bit more difficult, I do think it's a good idea. With so many teachers bringing ideas to the classroom, there's no overall consistency or quality control. We each focus on different things so each class learns different things than the one next to it. After a few years, one student could learn a lot while another could learn very little.

I'll learn more about this on Tuesday. After I'm 60% done with my classes for the week. Who's up for a lesson on greetings and basic chit chat?

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