Thanks to some help from my ever-resourceful TEFL teacher Stephen, delivered by the lovely Morgan Matens, I'm on a blog for the first time in two weeks. It's strangely liberating, kind of like the first time you get a midnight snack naked. You're 99% certain you won't get caught, but you'd be quite embarrassed if you did.
In case you haven't heard, I'm a "foreign expert" at the Nanjing Institute of Tourism and Hospitality. To retain my slacker image, I've been a fairly marginal teacher. Really what happened was that I walked into the gig with too many expectations and not enough lesson plans. Also, a class of 40 students for 90 minutes is a bad idea for anyone, although some of my classes are only half that size. For my aspiring flight attendants, I have a book. For the rest, I have a book that I've been asked to use as a reference, but not to teach from. I take this to mean that I can do anything I want, as long as it's in English. Don't think I'm not already planning my "History of Starbucks" lesson (actually a student request).
I've been trying for several minutes to get facebook, but it isn't working. Sorry if I'm ignoring your "poke."
The food has been good. Meat, of course, is generally sketchy, with bones and skin to eat around, but the veggies are worth the trip. The teachers' canteen is also lunch-line style, so all you have to do is point a few times and swipe your meal card. This is good, as Chinese is impossible to speak. I've also done well with pointing at someone's plate, as if to say "I'll have what he's having." On a good day a student will order for me, although once this led to duck blood soup. You can't actually tell that there's blood in it, but I didn't quite figure out what the meat was exactly, aside from "internal organs." Liver and something else maybe? There is also a fruit shop on the campus, which often has cantaloupe on a stick for a ridiculously low price.
I still want to speak Spanish when I try to speak Chinese. I've told everyone about living in Chile. I think they're impressed, but I'm pretty sure that at this point I could tell them that I've been to a sewer and they'd be fascinated. On a similar note, I'm scoring huge points simply for being able to eat with chop sticks.
I've done some light tourism. I've even remembered my camera a time or two. I'll show you the pictures if you come visit. I went to the Confucius Temple with a few flight attendants, but they were more interested in shopping than sightseeing. A pair of girls from the same class also took me to the famous lake. We rented a small boat with a smaller motor (I think I could have gone faster in a paddle boat). It never occurred to them that I might be able to drive it, and we announced our return by hitting another boat, the dock, then the same boat again, finally driving straight into the dock with the little motor on. Then we went shopping.
I'm still getting used to hanging out with my students like this. They're wonderful, but the idea of giving my cell number to students is strange to me. Also, they're not always the most mature. I don't expect them to be financially solvent or anything, but I figured by college you'd be able to admit in class that you have a boyfriend, without an insane amount of giggling. Speaking of giggling, there students are probably 75% female. So giggling abounds.
Now that I know how to do this, I'll try to post more frequently. Hopefully I'll have something more eventful next time, but I expect that I'll just continue to flounder as a teacher and spend some time in the city. If you skype me I'll tell you more.
