First off, an apology that this edition features no pictures. In their stead I will try to use my words and fill in with pictures later on.  This week marked the second full week of teaching under my belt in a ‘professional’ environment. It’s a term that I am using only usely when I consider that the job is in many ways babysitting more than teaching, and at times it feels hard to call it a job simply because I am active in it only 13 hours a week, at most. Our situation at the LuoHu Foreign Language School is apparently quite good as well, at least by comparison with our fellow teachers, American and Chinese alike. Andrew and I split up our Junior 1 classes (7th graders) so that instead of 60 kids, we are only charged with 30 each in our separate classrooms. The advantage to this is that it spares my sanity and makes it much easier to talk to the kids one-on-one and get them to practice their English.  Most of my friends in the program are stuck with a full class of 60, and its not something I envy them for, especially the ones teaching primary.  Our Chinese teachers at the school also work far more hours and enjoy far less privacy, having to pay to share a room the same size as the one the school is providing to me at no charge. So I do feel like I got a bit lucky with all this.That said, the kids on the first day were frightening. We had two classes, classes which I have since discovered are likely the worst of all 13. The first class knew next to nothing, and despite my slow attempts to converse with them or speak a basic sentence, my efforts were met with wide eyed looks that indicated my impending insanity. So that was a no go. The second class that day not only was poor in English, but their behavior was awful. Imagine 30 rowdy children, talking constantly in the room while you try to speak. I can’t even tell them to be quiet because they don’t know the words, so instead my efforts become one of hand gestures, tapping on the shoulder, and removing trouble items to the front of the room. So far my efforts at discipline have not had to surpass these measures, and I hope they won’t later.  Since then I have been able to develop a bit of a rhythm in regards to teaching, and found that most of my classes have a high level of knowledge and are much better behaved.

The first week’s lesson was on introduction, this week was body parts. At times I am amazed at the questions I get asked. What does ‘with’ mean? Its so basic I can’t even explain it without the Chinese word (which I have since learned). Or having a student work on a drawing of the body and pointing out the ‘leg’ where the elbow is. One of my favorites was asking an inattentive student to show me where his ‘forearm’ is. Granted it was a new word.  Yet I had written it, accompanied with a drawing pointing to it, on the board, and showed him that it was there. All I got from this chubby bugger was a half-smiling stare as he waited for me to embarass somebody else. The fortunate part is that a lot of the kids, maybe 5-10 in each class, know the words, use their dictionaries, and try in class, and I think they will be the ones who see the most benefit to my efforts and ultimately will make teaching satisfying for me. I am still unsure why we teach at such a low level though, when the students with more practice would be the ones to get the best out of the teaching. 7th graders here just are not at a level to converse in English.

In the meantime between classes I do my best to dry off. The rooms are equipped with many fans, but these blow only over the students.  The teacher is left stranded at the front of the room, with no air-conditioning to work its magic on us, while I wilt on the cruel heat of a Guangdong summer. Wearing real shoes and pants only makes the situation worse, and one of the great joys in my day is getting home and cooling off in my AC dungeon. Extra-curricular activities have included frequently a billiards square in Lian Tang where we play outside while drinking beers, a relaxing way to spend the evening. We challenged some Chinese men to a 2v2 game and got handled badly, losing four straight and a lot of face.  However it was fun and we gained some new Chinese words and hopefully neigborhood goodwill, so not all was lost.

Chinese classes have resumed down in Shenzhen, offering me a chance to see people from the program now that we have been flung to the six districts of Shenzhen. I have been placed in the fast-paced beginner’s course, and am hoping to profit from the teachings of our quick-speaking Chinese teacher, who already has me feeling overwhelmed after only two class sessions but hopeful that I will rapidly improve under such strict tutelage.  I only wish my students were as well behaved as we are for this course. Otherwise I am keeping an eye open for the week off on National Day, which so happens to fall on October 1st. With this free time I can (provided I get my passport back) get out of China and see some new places and recover some peace of mind after the first two hectic months are finished.