September in China!

Sun 9/27/2009

Greetings from China after a very busy first session!

I know its been a few weeks since I sent an update, but its been a busy month. We just finished our first session on Saturday, so we're on break for two weeks until our next session begins on October 12th. We're planning on doing some sightseeing locally (Great Wall, Forbidden City, Tianamen Square, Bird's Nest, Water Cube and etc.) and just relaxing because our next session, we're expecting about 450 students. It'll be even busier and more hectic than this first session which had only 197 students.

I had a great middle level class this first session. There were 29 students in this class and all but 2 of them were teachers, which made things much easier as all of then wanted to do well. As I got to know my class better, I noticed they were very precision like and wanted to know every little detail about everything. Also, when I introduced a new vocabulary word, they would all repeat it together until they got it perfect. Its weird to have 29 people hang onto your every word. Towards the end of the session, all the students have to give a 10 minute speech on a topic of their choice. This was a very stressful thing for them, but we prepared them from week one teaching them how to write a speech outline and the art of public speaking. I'm glad to report that all my students did fine and they all graduated on Friday night. My students are such a nice group because they surprised me on my birthday with a big poster they all made and signed. They also got me a gigantic cake and flowers. To top it all off, as part of the culture here, the students take their teachers out to lunch or dinner at the end of the session. Well we ate at this really fancy restaurant on Saturday...very good food! I am truly touched by how nice and generous they were to me especially because these students are all teachers and their salaries aren't much, but here they are pooling their money together to get me a cake and flowers for my birthday and also took me out to a fancy lunch at the end of a session. I'm truly humbled by their generosity and thoughtfulness. They made my birthday very special and it was difficult saying goodbye to all of them on Saturday. I wonder if saying goodbye to the students each session will get easier or will it be just as difficult as Saturday? Perhaps this class was special because they were my first class? I don't even want to think about how difficult its gonna be to say goodbye in July 2010...to the students, the staff and China.

So you all must be expecting some photos. Well I'm very sorry to report we are still using this very slow 3G internet and its really bad. I'm positive that dial-up is quicker than this!!! I promise as soon as they get us this faster internet, you'll get some photos.

Last weekend, one of the teachers made a home cooked meal...pasta!!! We all really enjoyed it as we've been getting Chinese food...well everyday. Oh and speaking of cooking, I've officially learned how to cook a grilled cheese sandwich. No not on a George Foreman grill or a sandwich iron.....on a pan like a real grilled cheese sandwich should be made! I know what you're thinking...has hell frozen over?!? Are pigs flying outside your windows??? Settle down, its just a grilled cheese sandwich. Baby steps people...baby steps!

Alright, that's about it for now. I'm having a great time here in China and looking foward to having some fun and enjoying this two week break before the next session begins.

Hope all is well...miss you all. I'll send another update soon...hopefully with photos.

Timothy Wong