Ello,
It gets harder to do even semi-regular updates here as things that were once so unusual become normal and I never want this to be another one of those boring blogs. "Today I ate this food. I went to school, here is 2,000 words about it". As a result (and some laziness on my part) I do end up with fairly long periods with no writing. Sorry about that. Having my parents here reminded me about what some of the things are that are just bizarre. You'll have to ask them about some of those things. They have lots of pictures to prove it!
It's been a relatively uneventful Spring apart from my mom and dad's visit. I've been teaching a fairly high amount of classes including lots of adults. I really enjoy teaching adults providing that their level is high. The worst type of class is adults with no English ability. Not exactly sure what I'm supposed to do with that. With kids you can jump around, show pictures, and sing songs. Adults don't want to do that but don't understand anything. They really need a chinese teacher, not a foreigner but they somehow think that just being in my presence that they will learn by osmosis. Imagine trying to plan a 3 hour lesson like that. Terrible.
I'm currently trying to straighten out my contract situation for next year. There have been some hiccups but my boss claims that tomorrow he'll have the contract ready. Not quite sure what to expect when I go in. Not left with a great deal of choice in the matter. The job itself is fine, however the salary is incredibly low. They justify this by saying the hours are low, however next year there will be less teachers so the hours could jump. Somehow the powers that be here don't seem to understand how that's an issue. Chinese logic.
Having my parents visit was a great time. It's really fun to show them around to different areas here. It was definitely a tour that they wouldn't get without knowing someone here. Most tourists in China do the obvious things but never really get to witness life. While the tourist things are fun to do you really miss out by not going to a non-tourist city.
I don't want to go into too much detail about the visit as I'm sure they'll be happy to share about it. I'll just
say that is was a really good time and we had great weather. They taught a few classes and the students really had fun meeting people who were new in the country. Lots of pictures ensued. It was also excellent to have them be able to meet zzf. She was, of course, a bit nervous but seemed to warm up well enough and be willing to talk which was good to see.
Today I received a text from my boss that went as follows "there will be a trip from June 1 - 7." That's the extent of my information. I have no idea where we're going or who with. Do I cancel all my classes? It's one of these things that's supposed to be a reward for everyone but no one is overly keen to go on what amounts to a chinese tour group. We'll make the best of it I'm sure but that's just a few days away... fun.
I'm also not sure when, exactly, I'll be finished teacher for the year. It seems like early-mid July is a likely time. I had been thinking to kick around Dongying a little while longer. ZZF was going to work here but her parents are trying to start a restaurant in another city so she's going to work there. Most likely this means I'll be back in Canada somewhere in mid-late July. Last year I was home for 6+ weeks and it was too long when everyone else has something called a "job". It must be some sort of new craze.
If anyone else has an interest in coming for a visit you know how to get a hold of me!
Lots of new pictures are online. I often upload pics even if there's no blog up.
Just got back from the new Star Trek movie so:
Live long and prosper,
WG1
It gets harder to do even semi-regular updates here as things that were once so unusual become normal and I never want this to be another one of those boring blogs. "Today I ate this food. I went to school, here is 2,000 words about it". As a result (and some laziness on my part) I do end up with fairly long periods with no writing. Sorry about that. Having my parents here reminded me about what some of the things are that are just bizarre. You'll have to ask them about some of those things. They have lots of pictures to prove it!
It's been a relatively uneventful Spring apart from my mom and dad's visit. I've been teaching a fairly high amount of classes including lots of adults. I really enjoy teaching adults providing that their level is high. The worst type of class is adults with no English ability. Not exactly sure what I'm supposed to do with that. With kids you can jump around, show pictures, and sing songs. Adults don't want to do that but don't understand anything. They really need a chinese teacher, not a foreigner but they somehow think that just being in my presence that they will learn by osmosis. Imagine trying to plan a 3 hour lesson like that. Terrible.
I'm currently trying to straighten out my contract situation for next year. There have been some hiccups but my boss claims that tomorrow he'll have the contract ready. Not quite sure what to expect when I go in. Not left with a great deal of choice in the matter. The job itself is fine, however the salary is incredibly low. They justify this by saying the hours are low, however next year there will be less teachers so the hours could jump. Somehow the powers that be here don't seem to understand how that's an issue. Chinese logic.
Having my parents visit was a great time. It's really fun to show them around to different areas here. It was definitely a tour that they wouldn't get without knowing someone here. Most tourists in China do the obvious things but never really get to witness life. While the tourist things are fun to do you really miss out by not going to a non-tourist city.
I don't want to go into too much detail about the visit as I'm sure they'll be happy to share about it. I'll just
Today I received a text from my boss that went as follows "there will be a trip from June 1 - 7." That's the extent of my information. I have no idea where we're going or who with. Do I cancel all my classes? It's one of these things that's supposed to be a reward for everyone but no one is overly keen to go on what amounts to a chinese tour group. We'll make the best of it I'm sure but that's just a few days away... fun.
I'm also not sure when, exactly, I'll be finished teacher for the year. It seems like early-mid July is a likely time. I had been thinking to kick around Dongying a little while longer. ZZF was going to work here but her parents are trying to start a restaurant in another city so she's going to work there. Most likely this means I'll be back in Canada somewhere in mid-late July. Last year I was home for 6+ weeks and it was too long when everyone else has something called a "job". It must be some sort of new craze.
If anyone else has an interest in coming for a visit you know how to get a hold of me!
Lots of new pictures are online. I often upload pics even if there's no blog up.
Just got back from the new Star Trek movie so:
Live long and prosper,
WG1
Around for the Highland games :)?
ReplyDeleteYou could come to Ottawa to visit! However I do have one of the fashionable things that you call a 'job'. So no offense is taken if you can't make it up.
ReplyDelete