"Foreign Expert"? Or "Foreign Eye-Candy"??

Nimen hao,
Another week, another post. This week was slightly busier than last, but there's still not too much going on. I'm beginning to fear that by the time October rolls around, I'm going to be used to this light schedule. Suddenly switching from two classes a week to eight is going to be a big adjustment.

I did finally start teaching though, and it went really, really well. It felt great to be back in front of a class. This was basically "syllabus week," but based on their introductions and the interaction we had, I think Brit Lit is going to be a stellar class. Both classes of juniors are smaller than usual, only 30-35 students each, which is a big improvement over 40-45 students. It just makes it that much easier to learn names, and interact with each individual. The textbook for the class is pretty pathetic. For all the stories, they choose a section of the story, rather than present the whole tale. For example, in the chapter dealing with Hamlet, the book only covers one soliloquy. It doesn't even bother to tell why he's giving this speech, or what happens afterwards. Fr. Brian has taught this course countless times, and so this week I had a chat with him to discuss how to best present the students with the stories. He suggested showing the movie version of each story every week. This helps the students gain a better understanding of the plot and themes, plus they enjoy watching movies much more than reading, and happy students equal a happy teacher. So this week I raided the Media Lab's movie library, and have spent most of the weekend watching movies in order to decide which stories to use, and which versions to use. This next week we will be covering Robin Hood, and I'm still debating whether I should show the Disney cartoon version, or the Errol Flynn version. Maybe I'll let the students choose.

The only downside to teaching the juniors is that they are the same students that Cletus has in his Newspaper/Magazine Reading course. I had a similar problem at one point last year when Chris and I were both teaching the same two classes of students Oral English. Chris had them early in the week, so I had to be careful not to tell him my lesson plan for the week, lest he steal it and use it before I could. With Cletus, the problem is a little different. We teach totally different subjects, so I don't have to worry about him stealing my lesson plans. I do have to worry, though, about the things he tells them in class. For example, this week I had a number of students come up to me and say, "We heard that you came to China so that you could find a Chinese wife. What kind of girl do you like?" It didn't take me too long to figure out how that rumor got started. So if any of my fine readers in Philadelphia have some dirt they'd like me to share with the students about our dear Nor, please let me know.

After class on Thursday some sophomores that I taught last year as freshman asked me to have lunch with them, and afterwards to help out their association. I wasn't sure what they needed me for, but I gladly agreed to help. It turns out that they are all members of the Oral English Association on campus and they were trying to recruit new members. We were situated outside along the walkway leading from the classrooms to the dining hall. They had banners made up, all in Chinese, except for my name thrown in at random intervals. There was a small table set up with sign-up sheets, a chair set up behind the desk, and music playing. I asked them what they wanted me to do, and they told me to just sit. So I sat down on the chair and asked "Now what?" They told me, "Just sit there. And smile." I asked one of my students to explain to me what was going on and after a long, drawn-out, and utterly confusing explanation, I realized I was just supposed to sit there and "look pretty." The students figured having a foreign teacher sitting at their booth not only gave them legitimacy, but also some "eye candy" for the freshman girls walking by.

And sadly enough, it worked. I think they told me that their group used to have thirty members, but after two hours of me sitting in the sun and smiling, their membership had swelled to over one hundred and twenty (it's a good thing I was wearing my pink necktie). The students were overjoyed at their success, and couldn't stop thanking me. They kept saying they should have thought of this earlier, and that they needed to get my help more often. And even though I was happy to help, in the future I need to make sure I know what I'm getting myself into before before I sign up. Next time they'll probably set up a kissing booth or something......

Chinese classes also started back up this week. It's great seeing our laoshi Zhang Lei again on a regular basis. Zhang Lei was one of Brian's first students, and arguably his brightest and most successful. She is now a teacher at the Chemical College in town, and she also has the pleasure of being the private tutor to Cletus and myself. She has tutored many of the foreign teachers over the years, but I have a feeling we will always be her most memorable. Last year she told us that as students we were the worst she's ever had, but as friends, we are the ones she has grown closest to. I think she was aiming at a compliment, and we choose to take it that way. And I'll be the first to admit, we never really took studying as seriously as we could have. I think for Cletus and I both, teaching was always our top priority. Learning Chinese is useful, but not the reason we are over here. But this year we've promised Zhang Lei that we will be better students, so we'll see how that goes.

I guess that's all for now, all the news that's fit to print at lest. This week should be more of the same. If something exciting doesn't happen soon, I might just have to make my own excitement. And we all know how that usually turns out....


Peace like a river,
Aaron