Green Tea with Red: First week of classes in Suzhou

This is the nameplate on my office door. ( I share an office with Mr. English. How's that for an excellent name for an English teacher.)

Life in Suzhou is well under way. After two weeks of getting settled in and attending orientation at school, I felt ready and excited to meet my students last week. The first week of classes is now behind me. My students are very respectful and eager learners. I am teaching 4 classes of freshmen with 20 students in each class. I meet them twice a week. I am very excited about the program here at Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University. Click on this link to have a closer look at the school: www.xjtlu.edu.cn

This area where I am living is quite different from Wuhan. Sometimes I forget that I'm in China. Everything is new in this area of town. The only thing around this neighborhood are universities. There must be 10 universities within a 10 mile radius. This pocket of Suzhou city is called "Higher Education Town."

There are lots of nice teachers in our teaching department. Every day several of us walk across the street to the food court for lunch together. I have to be at the office when I'm not in the classroom, so that is different for me, but I don't mind it. I get my work done there and don't have to bring it home - mostly.

Ying and me in 2005

During my first week of orientation with all the new teachers at the university, a young Chinese lady come up to me and said, "Ann, do you remember me?" I recognized her face but could not recall from where or how I knew her. After she reminded me, the fog started lifting. She was a student in Wuhan that I knew from 2004-2005! She has since gotten a PhD in the UK and is starting a new teaching job here. What an amazing connection. I hadn't seen or heard from her since Wuhan 2005. We were both so excited to have an old friend in this new place. God is so good.