Getting acquainted

So, yesterday afternoon I went to the office at the hotel to meet up with the other teachers. Kevin was there, but the others were not. We were to all go to the school we will be teaching at. After waiting a bit, we went on and took the bus there. Let me just tell you that the traffic here is crazy. Apparently lanes do not matter, nor do lights. Roads were especially busy yesterday, I guess because it is the weekend. We rode past the ‘number 1 beach.’ It was so packed. Thousands of people.

We arrived at the school, and there were the other teachers. I guess we just did not get the memo that they would go there directly. The outside of the school was nice, several basketball courts to play on, and it has a great location. It sits right on the ocean. There is a bay there, and when you look across the water you can see the downtown skyline. We checked out the classrooms. Very utilitarian. I counted 50 desks in one room, packed in there in rows. We asked if some could be moved, and I think we are going to be doing that this afternoon. Our classes are 16 students tops, so 50 desks would be a bit overkill.

Edward told us that he has to go out of town for a couple of days (leaving today) because he is starting another trip in the UK and his students need his help getting settled in their rooms. Edward’s business is sending kids on educational trips around the world, mainly in English speaking settings. Then, what I am doing is teaching English here in China. This is the first time for him to put on a program here at home.

He also said that he did not get enough students for my 7-8 year old class for the first 3 weeks, so for this ‘term’ I will only have one class of older students. Ashley has the same thing, so I think we are going to tag-team it for each class. So, she and I will teach one class in the morning and one in the afternoon. There is a small chance that they wrangled up more students over the weekend though, so that could all change by tomorrow (ha). I think it would be nice to just have one class to start, to see how it goes, and get a grasp on their English level. Then maybe I will be ready for 2 classes for the second 3 week term.

When I got home from seeing the school, my host family took me swimming. The family’s driver took us to the to the Sea View Garden Hotel. It was very nice. Apparently it is a 5 star hotel. It was built in the Bavarian style. We swam for a while. The water there, instead of being chlorinated was salt water. We then ate dinner at the hotel. It was buffet style. Many dishes were already prepared, but then there was a part where you could choose raw foods to be cooked for you. While everyone was choosing live clams, cicadas, silkworm pupa, whole fish and shrimp, I did very well with the eggplant and the asparagus. It was a very nice place. We ate out on the patio. There was a cover band playing everything from Chinese pop to the Beatles and Elton John. The owner of the hotel, who is a friend of my host dad, came over to the table and drank a toast with us. Again, Tsing Tao beer.

After dinner we went back to the Jusco shopping center. My host parents had me go grocery shopping with them and point at things I like. I mainly chose fruits and veggies. They are very confused about what I eat at home, but they do not have enough English for me to explain something like bean lasagna. Food is much simpler here. No complex dishes that I have seen.

Came home and went to bed. That covers the day. Today I meet with the teachers to discuss lesson plans in the morning, and to meet with Edward one last time for the week. Then in the afternoon we are heading over to the school to arrange desks and such.