Today marked the 81st anniversary of the Manchurian Incident, a pretext for the Japanese invasion of China in 1931. While I look quite different from the typical Japanese person, and the U.S. was later at war with Japan, I can understand the feelings of the Chinese, especially in light of recent events. So, I stayed on campus, which isn’t hard to do. I wasn’t scared to go out, I just didn’t have any pressing reason to. I had a late dinner so I figured my Tricycle Meat Salesman would be gone by the time I went out.
Classes today went better today than yesterday. Partly because I learned from the bad portions of my lesson plan, partly because I changed my expectations. My book is supposed to pair with the regular English book, but mine has 16 chapters while the other has only 10. So the other English teachers move at a much slower pace than I have been told to pace my class. I was reviewing the regular English book and discovered that a big reason my students yesterday had a tough time with the material was because it was brand new to them. If I have a class on Monday or Tuesday, it’s likely they’ve only had 1, maybe 2, English classes to introduce a brand new batch of information. No wonder they have trouble speaking much. I need to talk with the department head to figure something out. The kids don’t seem to be getting much out of it right now.
Then there is the trouble of having 56 kids in a class. Classroom management becomes an issue when having kids talk to each other actually improves the lessons because the better students explain it to the poorer students. There is a fine line between a help and a hindrance. I had to chastise one class today. I didn’t know I had it in me. They wouldn’t quiet down for most of the class, so eventually I dropped my book on the table at the front of the room. It surprised the heck out of them. I didn’t yell. Just told them that I was disappointed and that they weren’t following my rules. They were much better. And I was much better at keeping the remaining classes in line.
For whatever reason, all the teachers got free stuff today. I personally got a box of pears, the first of which was fantastic. The texture was like an apple, but the taste was all pear; it was great, no stringy things to get stuck in your teeth. Then we also got a box of Moon Cakes. I’m not sure the significance other than the Mid-Autumn Festival is coming up in a couple weeks (Sept. 30). I will be sure to ask someone about it and relay the highlights. It’s always more fun to ask someone than search online, even if the answer may be a bit incomplete.
Then there is the trip we will be taking through the school. Initially, it was supposed to be a trip to a mountain for some hiking and gorgeous views, but they changed it, citing the political situation as making it unwise to travel with a bunch of foreigners. So, we are now going to a 5-star hotel, which has 41 hot spring pools. We are going to spend the Saturday relaxing in hot water and possibly getting massages. I am incredibly excited, and for good reason. It sounds wonderful, the perfect weekend after a week of teaching, I think.
That’s all for now. Zai jian!