yesterday, i got up at 7:30 am. i went to bed at 10:30 pm, i think. i'm not quite sure knowing how i slept, when my habit is sleeping for no more than 7.5 hours. it's currently 4:49 am where i am. i went to bed yesterday night at 9:45 pm. so that's about 7 hours. i have to take a nap later on.
my first class tomorrow starts at 8 am, and i have to be at the staff [mini] bus stop at 7:55 am. i just got the bus schedule yesterday night from bernie. apparently they run between the campuses within 10 minutes of class start and end times. i have 16 classes (2 double ones) and an English corner (double) making classes a total of 20 hours a week. 45 minutes each but averaging about 40 students. they call it 2 classes, but it's actually 1 class with a 10 minute break in the middle. it's a 90 minute class.
my schedule is tuesday to friday, i have mondays off. i have 1 to 3 classes a day. while the morning starts early, after 2 classes, i have lunch at 12. the whole school shuts down from 12 to 2:30 pm, as bernie says. the only afternoon class is from 2:30 to 4:10. oh, i do have school on monday.. the English corner is from 4:30 to 6. at 6, there is the last bus that leaves west campus to the main campus, where i am living. if i miss any of these buses, i've to go home by taxi, which cost about no more than a dollar each ride. communicating that i need to get back to the main campus will cause momentary confusion, i suppose.
a first free morning settled
i got up early yesterday as i said. made a nice breakfast (pao with sweet bean paste, and a banana.) brainstormed what i'd be doing in the first class. tried to watch t.v. (all in mandarin). had lunch. noodles. instant noodles, but of course, added veggies such as onions, grape tomatoes, some chinese green, mushrooms, smoked beef, yumm. worked on the first class lesson again. it was already afternoon. hongmei had said that she'd come in the afternoon. having thought i finished my lesson planning (didn't know it was rather a 90 minute class than a 45 minute class,) i decided to take a nap at 2. when hongmei finally came to pick me up at 3, ringing my doorbell. she forgot to take my phone number the day before and also had asked Mary from upstairs to knock on my door. when i was napping, i recalled someone knocking, but i wasn't sure if it was for me or not.
being back in my jammies, i let hongmei in, and let her show me how to work the shower machine. i didn't realize that i had to plug that big thing in. it had to be plugged in for an hour she said. she let me know that the plumber/water guy would be coming by later. Mary would watch my apartment while we were out. i had a couple of things on my list to get, and without asking, she brought me a towel. also, some garbage bins that i said i would get the day before.
we went to her office to find out about the bus schedule and got on the bus. a maintenance worker came in the office and she introduced us. he was really surprised when he found out that i was the new English teacher. hongmei later explained that with the word "foreign," he actually expected me to be "foreign." likewise, i thought he was a student. a lot of young people that i have encountered have duties i normally see older people doing in Canada. more on that somewhere else.
a lot of the reactions i get is, "you look Chinese." i just say, "i know" or "i'm Vietnamese." i don't know how to explain it, but i've learnt the word for Vietnamese in Mandarin. i think i sound defensive that way. am i just explaining so they know more? or am i being defensive? that is a Montreal question.
my meeting with the directors of the English department.
it was good. short. brief. Ms Yang and Ms Tscho (i think) were really nice. they gave me the text i could use as a reference. they said the students don't like it. really, they want me to work on their oral speaking (my class is oral communication,) with almost any topics really. regarding topics, Ms Yang mentioned that students can talk about anything, just that i cannot steer them to my own personal beliefs, which is okay. good teachers should let the students steer the discussion anyway, i think.
i didn't sign a contract yet. which is strange. i will email this fact to hongmei later. also, bernie told me that we are to pay for the electricity. i remember slight having emailed hongmei asking about this. when i get my internet today, i'm going to review those convos i had with hongmei. about pay too. i have to review everything i have, because it's all very slightly off, which is not too big of a deal.
i met a local English teacher. i forgot her Chinese name. of course, names in any language other than English and French, i can't grasp very well. she tells me her English name, which is Mary. i have to write down her Chinese name next time i see her.
i saw my office, but! i don't think i'll be using it. there is a couch in there, which i might use to crash.. if ever! well yeah.
english corner.
so! we walked into my first school setting in Jincheng. Bernie was heading it. we get into this building with obviously a plumbing problem, which is normal of it apparently. we walked up the two flights of stairs and into a classroom with students all standing, some on chairs hovering over something at the front of the room. Ms Yang, hongmei and i slip onto the left side of the bunch and watch for about 5 to 7 minutes before Bernie realizes we are there. he was showing them pictures, first of objects in this home in vancouver, pictures of his office in vancouver, and then pictures of him and hongmei's family hanging out two weekends ago.
the students really love it. about 50 students were there. i spotted one male student. at least two students had electronic dictionaries. some students were really short. some pale, some tanned. again, people of minority come in all different shapes and sizes, not the generic mainland chinese that we see in Toronto. this is concluded also from when i went to small French town in Quebec. before getting back to the mini bus getting home, about three students stop me and welcome me to the school. they seem to be very welcoming of "foreigners" to the school. also, from my meeting with the directors, i finally understand, i am one of their only resources (as a teacher) to learning English. my students are all English majors, mostly at the beginner level.
the return to my apartment. showering. my toilet.
i came home to about 4 or 5 men in my apartment including Mary. after realizing that i can't speak Mandarin, they finish their work and had the computer teacher (who was pretty okay with English) communicate with me that i can't sit on the toilet yet because of the wet plaster, and that i can't put toilet paper in the toilet. he also tells me that he'll come back the next day to hook it up since he needs to drill holes or something.
while the computer teacher (the only English speaker) was upstairs, another fellow tells me something in Mandarin. he tells me then points to English words and Chinese characters and gets me all confused. i can't communicate with him. i later find out that he just wanted to say that his English was poor. i surrender. haha.. man, i've got to learn some Mandarin.
trying to catch some kiddie channels. i think it works. i saw spongebob in Mandarin yesterday night. very briefly while making dinner.
the shower apparatus actually took more than an hour. the shower head ill-situated. it could be more to the right. the amount of hot water is limited really, so i can't take too much time. which is okay.
Birnie showed me that my plug for my camera is made in China, so i could use it here. that is exciting news. the only thing i can't use, that i brought, was my hair curler. a pity. i don't know if it's chinese, but i'll check it later. he showed me how the washer works, too.
i watched some circus stuff, which was crazy funny stuff.
oh yeah, my mom and my sis annie, called me each twice. i went up to Birnie's two nights ago to email my family my contact. apparently my mom was freaking out for a couple of days.
my thighs and calves are bigger. i think? lack of running around at the restaurant/working? but i've been eating less here? blah..
trying to get directions to the supermarket, but hongmei just says it's better to take the bus/taxi. i need the walk i should tell her.
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