Mid-Term Blues

Sometimes, teaching English is a great, engaging, and fun job.  Easy?  No.  Never.  Especially on days like today, when your students are zombies sitting in chairs, looking at you hoping that you'll pull a bunny rabbit out of a hat while bouncing upside-down on your head and teaching them the key to perfect American English pronunciation.

And yes, nearly all teachers can recall at least one day each semester where they nearly lose it with one of these classes.  Usually, it's nothing a stiff drink or a lot of prayer can't solve, but it's also usually the sign that it's the mid-term and it's time to take a vacation.

When these signs aren't apparent, an email from a student like this one might be the last glaring signal that you need a break.

Hi, Grace

I am very sorry for making you so depressed and let you almost lost your temper this afternoon. I consider I owe you an apology for my inactivity in your class. 

I think that the awkward silent air in class can definitely make any oral English teacher mad at her students. Please calm down!, we are still your students. For myself, I wish I could speak English fluently. I wish I had ever had a good English teacher like you teaching me when I started learning English. And I wish I had been more active today.

So, please forgive us for our inactivity in your class this afternoon.

Michael

Boy, Michael.  I knew I was a peeved at you, but I didn't realize that you were making me depressed!  I especially like the pleading tone when he tells me to, "Please come down!" followed by a badly misplaced comma.  It really is time for a vacation!

Blog Shout-Out: Being in Love with the Urban Sinner

I only had the privilege of working with my buddy Phil for my first super-short year at BLCU, where I'm still teaching.  Since last year, he's returned to his home in the Philippines (yes, he's Phil from the Philippines), where he's been working and living and figuring out life.  Even though our time together was short, it was rich with laughter and memories, and he's still my hands-down favorite colleague.  We'd get together for lunch and dish about our students, wonder if they gossiped about us, and swapped stories of our past sinful, and often regrettable, escapades.  I miss him whenever lunch time rolls around because- although my new colleagues are wonderful- it's simply not the same.  

Sometimes you meet those people with whom you are instantly comfortable.  Old souls who still know how to tell a good dirty joke and throw back a few beers before it's time for lunch.  People who aren't ashamed to admit that going out to bars and clubs is getting tiring and pathetic and perhaps we're prematurely submitting ourselves to the dooms of middle-ageism.  Phil is one such man.  And even if the distance gets to us and we aren't able to keep up this international friendship of ours, I know that I will always remember him as the best lunch buddy a girl could ask for in a strange land that we're awkwardly trying to make homes in as single people.


So, I hope he doesn't mind, but I simply had to share this post that he wrote on his blog, aptly titled The Confessions of the Urban Sinner.  This one post, which is about an evening he spent with his parents on their 52nd wedding anniversary, made me miss him more than ever before, and reminded me of the one struggle I also face every time I turn my back on my parents when I climb back onto that plane headed to wherever it is I am going.  Don't get me wrong- living internationally is amazing and an experience I've never regretted.  But there are times when I am back home and wonder if I've shot myself in the foot by leaving behind loose ends and missing all the wonderful little moments that turn familial bonds into the memories you cling to when you feel like killing each other.  Those horrible holiday experiences where one second, we're enjoying a meal together, then yelling at each other, crying, then moving onto dessert and karaoke without missing a beat.  Man, what can replace that?


I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that Phil would be the one to remind me of this poignant little point.  Still, I miss him.  If you have a chance, please read his post.  He is an incredible writer, and I think there is much we can learn from his observations and experiences. 


I miss you so much, Phil.  Be well.

The lunch crew on one of our legendary lunches in Beijing: sweet Lulu, me, and dear Phil.

English Corners Gone Wrong

Today, I hosted my first English Corner of the semester.  English Corners are when your students come to practice their English with you in a smaller, casual setting, and usually involves snacks and some sort of conversation-inducing activity.

I scheduled our Corner for 6:30 and ordered three large pizzas that put me out a heft fraction of my humble monthly salary.  I enlisted my wonderful friend and educator extraordinaire, Frieda, to take on one of the small groups, since Chinese students get so excited at the prospect of talking with a "Native Speaker" who isn't already their teacher.  I rearranged my furniture.  Jason generously helped me to clean my place up, go grocery shopping, and carry all the heavy stuff on our way back.

6:50 rolls around.  Frieda and I are sitting on my couch waiting.  Pizza is getting cold.  I'm getting hungry and therefore cranky.  No one shows.

I could have gotten upset.  I could have complained about how my students-- all in their mid-to-late twenties-- are incompetent and incapable of doing anything without their overbearing mothers.  I could have... easily.  I almost did.

Instead, I had a lovely evening with my wonderfully wise friend.  I now have a week's worth of food  which I can feed other hungry mouths with.  I have a clean house and no dishes to do.  I went grocery shopping, which I would have put off until I realized I was out of toilet paper (and we all hate that).  I got to experience a glimpse of lifelong partnership with a generous man who will become my husband. 

Not all flukes are failures.

A Busy Day

A lot of folks back home often ask me what a normal day is like.  The trouble with this is that when something is normal, you often forget what exactly happens.  I took one day to document almost everything I did.  Take note that this particular day was a bit busier than my normal days... but still fairly boring.  Enjoy!

7:35AM- Roll out of bed

I have been setting my cell phone clock five minutes ahead to help rush me a bit.  Sometimes it works.  Usually, it just tells me I have five extra minutes to procrastinate.

WARNING:  Next picture may completely change your opinion of me.  Yes, folks, this is me in my raw form.  This beacon of shining beauty is what Jason will have the pleasure of waking up to every morning for the rest of his life.  It's painful to take in... but there it is for all of you to see.

In no time at all and with minimal effort, I'm ready to face the world!

Well, almost ready.   

 

8:15AM- Off to class!  Coffee and class activities in hand, I rush off on my five-minute trek to class.  Here's a quick shot of the teacher's lounge.  Growing up, I was always curious about the teacher's lounge.  It always seemed the teachers were so anxious to get in and shut the door behind them, like it was the gate into a teacher's version of Narnia filled with red marking pens and teacher's dirty looks competitions.  Turns out it's pretty anti-climactic.  But we do have a flat-screen TV.

8:30-12:30- Class time!  Today's activity was to take a personality quiz and discuss the results.  It was pretty interesting to hear what my more "mature" students had to say about their findings.

  

12:45- WOOHOO LUNCH!  My favorite part of the day is eatin' time!  This day, I went to one of my favorite spots near my house, The Bridge Cafe.  It's a little escape from crazy Beijing life and they have amazing coffee with free re-fills.  I went with a panini and side salad and coffee.  Total cost?  A spendy 50 RMB... but that still works out to about $7 USD.  Steep, yes.  Worth it?  On a day like today, definitely.

 

2:30 PM- After running a few errands, it's back home for a quick break before my next class at 4PM.  At first, I thought about doing my dishes...

... but decided to check my email and have a chocolate instead.

 

Read the local paper and get frustrated at the government-operated press.

4 PM- Off to class, then back at 6 PM.  Put in an hour of yoga via my laptop.

 

7:30- DINNER TIME!  (Notice how excited I get for meals?)  Samara comes over for Hot Pot (huo guo) which is basically a hot, flavored broth that you throw random things into and then go fishing for once they've cooked.  We had quite the spread, including some leftover lamb and beef slices, tofu, bok choy, spinach, and sweet potato.

 

9:15 PM- The story of my life.  After a lovely meal and conversation, I finally get around to the pile of dishes I'd been putting off, which has now doubled in size.

10:20 PM- Dishes, kitchen floor, countertops, stove, and eating area CLEANED and DONE with the help of Earth, Wind, and Fire (the band, not the Planeteers).  Think about doing laundry...

Learn from past mistakes and put a load into the machine.  Break time with some pirated TV on Youku and another chocolate (heehee).  Bonus points to whomever can recognize the opening credits.

11 PM- Bake some banana bread.  I love my friends.  They love my banana bread.  I dislike brown bananas.  Banana bread loves brown bananas.  It's an even exchange.

12 AM- Laundry machine goes crazy after second load.  At first, it wouldn't stop washing.  Then, it wouldn't stop spin-drying.  It's going to be a long night.  I take a shower because THIS is what I look like by the end of it all.

2 AM- BED TIME.  FINALLY.  But first, hang up laundry to dry!  Since the winters in Beijing are so incredibly dry, it's recommended that you hang your laundry inside your bedroom so that you can breathe in some of the moisture from your wet clothes as they dry.  Also, putting them outside on the balcony (yang tai) can sometimes be too cold which could possibly lead to frozen clothing!

Crazy busy day.  Four hours of class tomorrow at 8:30.  Wash.  Rinse.  Repeat.  Snore.