Weather is turning grey again, it makes everyone who is just a little bit sick give up the fight. Several people are fighting off the worst lingering colds, I think that was one my problems, as of right now my nose and voice are clear again, we’ll see how long it lasts. After class it was mostly getting homework done and passing some time by watching I Claudius. Then is was off to work, I arrived early as usual but things were a bit more hectic. The school is having trouble with finding teachers, I think it may have to do with the new visa policies implemented in China, the wording is really intense. I was nervous about finding work but there are a few exceptions and as long as I don’t work over eight hours I am actually fine, I think many students don’t know this. Class was way more fun, all the kids were in a significantly better mood. The words though are little bit strange. Many of the food items we are discussing (Butter, cheese, etc) are not common foods, so the kids are learning these sounds but they have no idea how they taste. So I think we will be making sandwiches using the words. That way the kids can associate a taste with the word. The time out chair was implemented, but wow Chinese people have trouble punishing kids. Larkin straight up kicked one of the other students and I had to argue with my TA about putting him in time out. And then she only kept him there for maybe a minute. I am not heavy handed in anyway, but we said we had a rule, we need to stick with it for the kids to understand we mean business. Cultural differences for the win. After class I headed home and pretty much curled up into bed where I am now. Free day tomorrow, yay!
Dec. 3/4, 2014
Not much going on right now other than getting ready for finals. I have a paper I need to finishing editing, I spent most of my Wednesday doing it. I have decided for next semester I will be doing only Chinese language classes. I have enjoyed the extra curricular things but I really need to get my Chinese at a higher level and I feel this plus a few other interacts will assist me in doing so. A week from today I will have my final, and tomorrow I am getting my calligraphy printed on special paper. I am actually beginning to feel excitement for the month of freedom, though I think a lot of it will be spent working. Making money is good too, I actually worked out doing the special winter classes as the Science teacher. I think we are going to hit the major schools of science and do something fun. I haven’t decided what yet, but Youtube is an amazing place to find said things. Sorry the last blogs have been short, life here is both hectic and slow; most nights I crawl into bed long before I remember to write a blog. I think once the semester finishes out I’ll be better about giving more detailed updates. For now just stick with me, we shall all get through this wintery time together. Good night for now!
Dec. 5, 2014
Today was a bit of a difficult day. Again the source is not China but my home university. One of my advisers wants a full detailed explanation from me personally about my plans for graduation (though he failed to specify the classes he wish to understand). Without it he refuses to sign the document that will release my financial aid. I answered his email as quickly as I was able to be but who knows when I will receive a response. There really isn’t any reason for this appeal to be dragging on as long as it has. Honestly the more and more this goes on the less I want to return to the University of Nevada, or even the States. I just want to stay and study in China and not get lost in an administration. But we shall see what happens. At worst I am forced to take out loans like a normal student would have to. Not a pleasant thought, but what can be done in the face of such complex absurdity? After dealing with the fiasco I went and finished my calligraphy project. I think I did rather well. I look forward to seeing it printed up as a wall scroll. Everyone was super nervous about it, it kinda of made me laugh, art does strange things to people.
Jesse got back from work and we head off to Raffles City. It was decided that tonight was a Subway night. This was my first sandwich I have had since coming to China. I am not ashamed to say I almost cried a little bit, I need some comfort food after the day I had. We wandered around Treat for a while then headed home. It was movies and good riotous laughter for the rest of the night. I hope tomorrow isn’t too rough but we shall see. I am supposed to meet a friend of Cindy’s and possibly gain a new student. If that is the case then I am going to have to have an uncomfortable conversation about raising the price of my tutoring. So much fun, I wish the semester would just end already the suspense is killing me.
 |
| This was amazing! |
Nov. 6, 2014
So today I went to a friend of Mabel’s house for the morning tutoring session. Cindy has a friend named Dolly and today I tutored them both. It was…ok at best. At worst it was more work than it should have been with not enough pay. I already give Mabel a fairly discounted price when it comes to tutoring. Mabel however, has been asking more and more of me lately. I very seriously considering quitting the job and turning it over to Cassidy(she is searching for more tutoring jobs). I will soon be gaining hours at my work place which has significantly better pay, and it work that I enjoy. Tutoring is fun, but it’s nearly impossible to structure it and Mabel has some very strange expectations for her daughter of four years old. I am unsure about how to go about quitting without totally throwing Cindy for a loop. I like Cindy but not her mother.
I did manage to escape the house fairly quickly after lunch and headed back to the dorms. Unfortunately there was no time for a nap. Jesse and I walked to work, which takes about 45 minutes. It’s actually an interesting walk through the city. When I do it alone, I will snap pictures of it. Teaching was pretty fantastic today. The kids were on top of their words and we made sandwiches. I was more satisfied with the class than tutoring by far. I am really beginning to get attached to my students and running the classroom is really an excellent team effort. When I get frustrated I have other people to rely on. I am also going to be taking the winter science class, which will be nice because there is a break during Chinese New Year but I will still have two weeks of work.Jesse and I stopped in Sichuan alley for food before heading back to the dorms to finish some TV shows. He and I are both wiped out and ready for sleep, no alarms for tomorrow! Yay!
No comments:
Post a Comment