a picture from beijing

I was going to post something, but I decided to post a picture instead. This is a shot of people resting inside the Forbidden Palace. It's not raining at all...the umbrellas are a shade from the sun (which wasn't all that strong that day, but it's an Asian custom to shield themselves from the sun).

test time

This week, it's time to give our first unit tests of the semester. I made the intermediate test first. Since they've used the books before, there are old teachers' tests on the computer, so we can look through, cut and paste, and make one that suits us. It took relatively little time, even though I did make up some of my own questions and tailor it to my students. My intermediate class is so fun. I can talk to them at an almost normal speed, and I often find myself acting things out (like what it looks like to make a big deal out of something), or explaining words like disgusting. They are really good natured and they laugh a lot, so I have a really good time with them.

I have a good time with my beginners too, but I leave class a lot more drained. Today, for example, I was trying to teach them prepositions in a way that would involve them talking(it's supposed to be a conversation class). The idea was they would draw a bug on their paper, either in, on, under, or beside the box. Their partner was supposed to ask questions about where the bug was until they got it right. This might sound like an easy assignment, but even with me doing an example on the board and modelling it, most were clueless, just because their English isn't at a level to understand even the most simple directions yet. I was teaching prepositions, but I had to translate the words for draw, bug, ask your partner... everything. So, the test for the beginner class consists of pictures, choosing words to make a correct simple sentence, and choosing the right preposition in describing a picture. I know these guys are gonna make progress fast, though!

small joys

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I don't have any afternoon classes. It's wonderful. If I have any work to do, I take it home and do it there. Yesterday, I had my lesson plans for today finished, and just had a few papers to correct. I went home and finished those, then I cleaned my room a little and made some chocolate chip (cut up from a cheap chocolate bar) banana bread. I finally got my oven figured out and it turned out really well. I have Korean class in the evenings, starting at 6:00, so I threw together a quick dinner and it turned out to be one of the yummiest things I've eaten in a while. I had some chicken nuggets (from the local supermarket "deli") dipped in ranch dressing (ranch mix from home, mayo and yogurt), some corn on the cob (given to me by a friend), tomato and onion salad/salsa I made the night before, and thin sliced sweet potatoes tossed with a little oil and salt, then baked until crispy. Honestly, for a second, I thought I could be eating at Chili's in Texas. It was tasty.

I went to Korean class, for a walk around the track afterwards, then to bed early (since I'm getting up at 5:30 these days, I let myself go to bed as early as possible). Life is good.

bike taxis

These are the bike taxis that they use in some cities in China. We don't have them in Yanji, but I first saw them in Tumen this summer. They only cost one yuan (13 cents) per person. I thought they were so cute; they gave the city character. They also have them in Beijing, offering rides through the famous old alleyways of the city, but they're much more expensive there (at least at the rates they quoted for this tourist). I tried to take one to meet my friends just across Tiananmen square one night, and they wanted 20 yuan!

full swing

I started teaching my beginner classes this week and I started taking Korean classes last night, too, so I'm getting busier. The beginner students are freshmen who are required to take English, but have only taken Japanese in high school, so they start from the beginning here at college. They take 8 hours of conversation a week and then some grammar classes, too, so their first year of college is full of a flood of English. It's strange to be teaching college students the basics, since in Korea I taught these same things to 5 and 6 year olds, but I think our freshmen will learn quickly. Most of them are very eager.

My Korean class is at night, and is full of university students, mostly from the other university in Yanji. I was the first student in the classroom, and that really confused the other students who came in after me. They saw me there and they thought they had the wrong classroom, because they assumed the white girl would be the teacher and she obviously wouldn't speak Korean. But, they checked the room number and started filtering in. When they heard my first response in Korean to the teacher, they sorta laughed and murmured some things softly. The class was much easier than my classes in Seoul, so I'm thinking about moving up a level, but I might just stay because the next level is the highest one. The good thing was that even though I knew all the words, it was good to practice and think in Korean again. Maybe being at a lower level will increase my conversational ability.

going through pictures

I'm trying to organize some of my pictures, and I found this one that I took at a market here in Yanji earlier this summer. English translations of things are often funny, and both Chinese and Koreans are known for not always being what is known as tactful in Western culture. It's not uncommon for someone you really don't even know that well to tell you that you're fat, or you've put on weight. Of course, the often is also true. They will often tell you that you are beautiful, or wow, you must have lost weight this summer! They just say what's on their mind, especially regarding appearance. I'm sure, in some ways, we are just as shocking to them about some things that we don't do the same way their culture does. Anyhow, this name on the side of the store made us all laugh. I mean, who actually wants to shop in a store with this name?

the first day of school!

Finally, the first day of school is here! The weekend was full of students returning and making the campus buzz with energy again. It feels good to be starting off a new semester! It's also kinda good that our freshmen don't start until next week, because they have some classes required by the government at the beginning of the semester. So, I only have one class today. It's a good way to ease in to the year.

I also don't start my Korean classes until next week, so this will be a relatively easy week. I'm gonna keep my office hours to get into a schedule and get some stuff done in preparation for the busy year ahead. People keep scaring me that the Korean class Monday through Thursday nights is gonna eat my lunch, but I am determined to get my Korean up to a fluent level!

One of the perks of working in the English conversation office is that we have fresh brewed coffee every morning! I know that might not sound like much to most of you reading this, but it IS! In China (even more so than in Korea) it's really hard to get fresh brewed coffee. I've become used to the mix kind, that comes in packets with cream and sugar already added. It's actually not that bad once you get used to it, but fresh brewed coffee is SO good! Our teachers who go home for the summer bring back big bags full for our office, so we have a good supply. Some teachers who left last year even sent some coffee beans for our office this year!

I've had a really good time getting to know the teachers in our office, and the new set of young German teachers (we have a German major at our university, too). I am really looking forward to getting to know the students and settle into this year!