Getting back in the groove

I've been back in China for almost three weeks now. I've had some time to adjust, which has been a huge blessing, before getting back into the classroom . I had to clean my apartment from top to bottom and make several shopping trips for more housewares. Marilyn, my neighbor and teammate, gave me five boxes of kitchen stuff and misc. housewares which helped a lot.

In the two years that I have been gone, China's economic growth is very evident. There are more cars and scooters on the roads. It seems it is no longer the bicycle kingdom but the scooter kingdom. Cell phones, MP3 players, and manicured nails are very fashionable. My teaching salary use to go a lot farther; it seems prices have increased on everything. One thing that hasn't changed is the friendliness of people, especially my students.

I met my first class yesterday. I spent the first 20 min. or so introducing myself. I told them about my family, where i went to school, where i was from, etc. I told them i went to school at Wheaton in Illinois, and I asked if they knew any famous cities in Illinois? They were silent. One boy asked if i could give them a clue. So i said Michael Jordan played basketball in this city. One boy thought out loud, "Bulls," and then said,"Chicago." They know everything that has to do with the NBA. Then I told them my younger brother lives in Tennessee and asked if they knew anything famous from Tennessee. One boy started slowly telling about a famous American president who built a dam after WWII, etc, etc. I guess it was Hoover, that's the only famous dam i could think of. So, you see they know American history info that I had no clue about. Then I mentioned Nashville, famous for country music, and they said, "You mean Country Roads Take me Home?" I said, "More like the Dixie Chicks. Do you know the Dixie Chicks?" Blank stares. I then said, "Ok, you know Elvis? He lived in Tennessee." Blank stares. "Elvis Presley," I said. Blank stares. "Can you sing us one of his famous songs," they asked? So I tried a little of "You ain't nothing but a hound dog." More blank stares. It was one of those times where you must have another foreigner there to laugh with. I was crackin' up all by myself. I've got to stick to cities with famous NBA teams.

The rest of the class went fairly smoothly. I did discover, however, that there are two boys in the class who have basically no English. They are athletes. One of them, after his classmates told me who he was, I recognized. He is a kung fu expert; I've seen him perform in big performances at our school. He's a champion in the state or even the country, I can't remember which. He's really good. So, I feel very protected in my class. The other one is a basketball player. So, I had to emphasize it's the effort that's important in this class, not necessarily your English ability, since they are all at different levels. I wrote on the board, "Come to class and participate=success (pass)" I had one of the girls translate that into Chinese to the two boys. Kung fu managed to spit out a "sanka you-a" after he heard that. When basketball boy introduced himself during class introductions he started out with, "my English is a very poor," and ended with, " I sinka you are very beautiful." I laughed and said that's not going to help him pass the class. Everyone laughed (they got my joke!).

It's great to be back in the classroom. I feel so much more confident and prepared than I did before. Next week I'll meet the rest of my classes - PhD students. All together I have one class of M.A. students and 3 classes of PhD's. They are all eager to improve their English.

I've posted some pictures below of my apartment and a big dinner with 15 of my friends when I first returned to China.

Thanks for reading.

Do you recognize this song? Sunday a.m.

This is my living room. Furniture is a little hard, but sturdy. My bathroom is not bad, notice the hot water tank above the shower head. That's an improvement from the old propane heater that kicked on and off each time you wanted hot water.

Here's my apartment: (top to bottom) My office/spare bedroom with my new desk chair that i had to push home uphill about a mile. Next is my wall of maps. I love maps. Next is my kitchen with upper cabinets so high you've got to be in the NBA to reach them. I have a microwave, small convection oven and two gas burners. I made Marilyn watch me the first time I lit it in case it exploded. Below that is my bedroom with the new comforter the school provided.

more reunion

reuniting with old friends. we can hardly speak to each other, but we understand a lot.

reunion

Reunion with old friends.

Look good?

this was NOT one of my favorites - celery with the "soft bone of the pig" aka pig's cartilidge (I think)...a little chewy, a little crunchy

2007 T.A. team

Marilyn (8th), Miriam (1st), Michelle (1st), Dorothy (8th), Becky (7th), Amy (3rd), Ann (3rd)
(years teaching in China) (l to r, back row, front row)