Back to Work (9-20)

It was good to arrive back on campus. I met the three new teachers: Kasey, the new Peace Corps Volunteer, Sean, and Ian. All are recent graduates. We now have seven foreign teachers, and two of us are female. We each teach six or seven classes and have two days without classes. Not a difficult schedule. My two free days are Friday and Monday.

Three of my classes are English education majors, which will be a bit easier because I taught that class last year and have a syllabus already. The class went well; so I don’t think I’ll make many changes. Two classes are business English majors. I taught that class during my first semester here, but the first semester is new to me. The last class is from the automotive engineering department. For non-English majors we will use the syllabus Dale put together in June. I recently learned from Paul that it correlates with the textbook students use with their Chinese teacher. This will make the program more relevant to students.

I had a good reception on campus. When I entered the building, the building guards and staff gave me big smiles and waves. One of the first things I did was go to the shopping street to buy boiled soy beans, one of my favorites. When she saw me, the vendor light up with a big smile. It was nice to be welcomed back so warmly.

I’ve encountered several former students who have spoken to me. The English education sophomores have Kasey as their teacher. When they saw that they have oral English again, they thought I would be their teacher again and were disappointed when I told them that they have a new teacher. Part of me wanted to continue with them, as we got along well and I could start them off where we left off and continue their progress. On the other hand, I knew it would be good for them to experience a different teacher. I hope that their shy time with Kasey will be less because they had me last year. It will be interesting to see if the girls continue to come to my office hours sometimes. And it’s fun to have new freshmen who are excited to improve their oral English and to have a foreign teacher.

When I did my first walk around campus, two girls spoke to me. They are freshmen who speak very little English. They don’t know what they are studying in English, and one girl used her fingers to count when I said a number. But they were very sweet. They walked me back to my building and told me they love me.

At home, I returned to find a lot of mold in the bedroom. I’d left the closet doors open; so it wasn’t as bad as last year in the closet. But the desk was a mess with white mold, especially on the underside. I spent most of the first evening cleaning the wood surfaces. Over the next few days I washed the few clothes that had spots of mold and the bedding. The pillow was covered with black mold. It was good to get everything clean and get the room set up again. I’ve become a fan of bleach, which I’ve seldom used and never purchased. It really cleaned up the pillow case and the white sofa covers.

Classes started this week. I saw only three of mine, as two were having their medical checks. The three classes I saw gave me small gifts. The first class gave it to me at the beginning of class. I thought they were trying to be my favorite class. Their gift was a water/tea bottle. The next class gave me their gift—a small cactus in a cute pot—after class. 

The third class gave me a gorilla—stuffed, of course. It’s big and black. I’m still getting used to it when I see it in my apartment. I named it “Garky.” It is the English name of a student I had last year. I always liked and was amused by the name and I like the boy. And Garky the Gorilla is alliterative.

English Corner also started. All English majors are told to attend the first one as well as all of us foreign teachers. When I arrived, one of my classes was standing together waiting and called me over. 

When it was my turn to introduce myself, my classes cheered. That was heart-warming. Many photos were taken. Some of the sophomores who attended pretty regularly also came this first week. It will be interesting to see if they continue to come. They are very busy this year. I remember this from the sophomores last year.

When I stopped at the fitness center to say “hello” to Rick, I saw the changes he had told me about. The room was expanded by combining with the yoga room and there are more treadmills and a few other machines. Yoga will be in the new gymnasium. I learned that there is also a room with exercise bicycles, which I will use. I’ve also decided to use the other fitness machines this year, not to just think about using them. I had Rick give me a lesson on how to use three of the machines.

I went to the bank to cancel the old account with the lost ATM card and open a new account. The good news was that there was still a lot of money in the account.

On Friday Michelle and another young woman took me to the immigration office in Chengdu to apply for my visa change and extension. It was easier than I had thought it would be. The woman had said she would only extend it for 90 days, which isn’t enough. They called someone at the university who talked to the woman, and she gave me 180 days. The visa cost 950 RMB/$155, which is more than my first one cost ($140). When it was time to pay, of course no one had enough money, and we didn’t have enough cash among us. Michelle used her bank card. She will get reimbursed eventually. I enjoyed the car trip with Michelle, as I seldom have the opportunity to talk to her alone and personally. I usually see her in the office and have just a brief greeting and chat.

  

Thursday evening Yienfanh and I got together. I took Kasey to introduce them. We had a good time catching up. It's always good to see him.

Friday Peggie and her husband took me to dinner to thank me for my wedding gift (cash). We ate at a reception hall, one they had tried to book but couldn’t because it was already booked. I think the dinner cost more than half of what I gave them. That wasn’t the idea, but it was good to meet him and chat with them both. He understands more English than he speaks, which is common.

Saturday Diao Min to me to our favorite eggplant restaurant to thank me for everything. I think that included revising her friend’s cover letter and introducing her to Kasey. Since I won’t continue formal Chinese lessons, I’ll miss seeing her regularly.

Now that I’ve had a break with good travels and good times with my friends, I’m ready to be here and teaching again. I’m enjoying the new students and the new teachers as well as the continuing teachers and my former student friends. This is good.