day 3

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I start teaching today! It’s actually around 3 am right now, but my internal clock is a bit off, and I just woke up. In fact, I feel entirely awake. For my first two days in China I feel into a pattern of sleeping for four hours at night and four hours in the middle of the day, both at weird times. Last night I went to bed at around 8 PM, but didn’t nap in the afternoon. I’m wide awake right now.

Yesterday afternoon we got information on our teaching schedules. The final verdict is that I’m teaching two groups of 5-6 year olds (the same age as my favorite cousin!) and two groups of 9-11 year olds. Apparently I’m in charge of coming up with “English names” for my groups of 5-6 year olds. Each class is 45 students, so I need around 90 good names. Tomorrow isn’t a real teaching day, but just a day to meet our co teachers and see the school and the kids. I’ve been told my co teacher is a Jade, who is actually one of the two women who met me at the airport. A foreign teacher who has been here the long time told me that I’m lucky, because Jade is one of the best Chinese teachers. I only have between five and six hours of actual teaching per day, but I’m at the school for eight hours. We have a two hour lunch break where we can eat free cafeteria food or find something to eat in the city.

After the meeting most of us went to get massages. The cost was 40 RMB (about 6 dollars US) for a one hour massage (I swear I‘ll eventually get over listing the price of everything!). The pallor itself was nicely decorated, and they kept bringing us out cup after cup of delicious tea while we waited for our turn. As for the massage, the other teachers loved it (one of the originals goes every week), but I don’t think it’s something I’ll do again. I’m not a person who enjoys physical contact; in fact, I tend to brace myself as if for an attack every time someone touches me. The result is that I was very tense during the whole process, which made it painful. I’m still soar. However, it went well for everyone else involved, and it’s strange for me to think that I am now leaving the kind of life where I could feasibly go for a weekly one hour massage.

By the time we got back two new teachers had arrived from England. There’s also one more English teacher coming (like, from England. we’re all English teachers, but I’m talking about another English English teacher here.). I think there might be more English teachers here than any other nationality.

Oh, I also tried “hot and dry noodles” yesterday, which is among Wuhan’s most famous local foods. It tasted like peanut butter and spaghetti. Not bad, but I liked my dumplings better. The other food I tried was bitter melon, which does in fact live up to its name.

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Comments

[Kristi]

This is Je_suis_kristi from LJ FYI! I am glad to hear that you are enjoying yourself. Haha, that jetlag is always killer, but it goes away soon. I am interested to hear about how your teaching goes. Have they given you any formal training?

[Ang]

Choosing the names sounds fun! Try to resist picking 'Armand', though. ;) Wow, the prices there sound great - there's probably all kinds of stuff you could do there that would be out of reach back home. I think you're going to have some great experiences! Also, I forget if I told you this, but someone else on my LJ flist is an English English teacher of Chinese, and her husband is from there. She does translations of books and stuff...

[Milady605]

Armand has thus far been resisted. Scully and Mulder, not so much.

[Deanna]

Living The Life
Wow, it seems like there's a new teacher there every hour! How many in total are there? Actually, how many are there that are showing up for the same amount of time as you? The whole situation just sounds awesome and I'm glad you're fitting in fine. That's the scariest part about moving somewhere random like that, and it's just wonderful to hear it working out so well. Oh, and not that it's common, but you should totally give the kid with the most random name, the English name Deanna. Rock on!

[Bruce]

I agree..
I don't know whether or not I actually sent my comment to day#3....I think I was dozing off after a LONG Labor Day Sunday at the CC.......But I had to give an 'I agree' to your feeling on massages.....I got a gift certificate for one for my birthday once.....didn't do much for me...it's not like actual exercise like walking or riding a bike that works muscles,heart,and lungs...it is just getting rubbed........OK

[WriterWench]

Gosh, 90 names! Good luck, sweetie!
Wow, I'm so PLEASED that you're settled in and getting to grips with it all, honey. Especially the ability to eat the local food and not be TOO squicked-out about what it might be.... if it's thoroughly cooked, it should be fine. The human stomach is a mighty good apparatus for extracting nourishment from strange substances. I hope the class is/was a lot of fun... I expect the kids will all be beautifully behaved and really keen, so nice to work with! Hugs...

[lightgreendryad]

I'd be fine if you used Kate, Paul, Curtis, Holly, Sophie, Kenny, Chad, and Joann. I meet far too many Chinese people whose English names are a little outdated, like Jane or George. I'd be a little confused if you named one of your kids Justin, though. I like Robert, Mary, and Susan, too. Yeah, just name them what your relatives are named and you should be fine. I'd love the privilege of naming ninety people.