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My week has flown by! My students have totally filled up my weeks now with revision classes for their CETs, CEMs and BECs (I have yet to find out what these are but I'm quite good at English so they shouldn't be too much of a problem!). Many of the classes have been looking at logical fallacies used in debate arguments, with the exception of my English news class who looked at anorexia, bulimia and pandas. Merriment abounded. Mya, my Chinese tutor, gave me my first and second lessons this week, too. Much to my delight, I can now order beef, noodles and eggs and I know the Chinese for: 'Please let me get off the bus here'; and: 'No, that last stop was mine but the next one's just as good, thank you.'
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday lunch times have been devoted to my ping pong club! Most of the staff in the administration office come and play ping pong at lunchtimes and it's really good fun. Mentored by a tall and skinny Chinaman, I have become pretty good this last week and hope to reign supreme as King Pong by the end of this semester. Master of the table at present is my mentor. Mr Miagi and the English Kid is our team name but he is either unimpressed with it or doesn't understand the reference.
Moreover, this week I've befriended Photocopy Guy. Magnificent as this college is, I do not like that my photocopies are vetted. Making friends with him means that I can use the photocopier myself. Most times I do this though he asks me if I'll speak to his girlfriend over the telephone so that she can practise her English! Mad.
Meanwhile, I have learned the names of between 30-40% of my students. Me posting the myriad well-chosen, yet equally odd, names on here, however, would be unprofessional, indelicate and a breach of something or other in my contract, I imagine. (Might just e-mail you with them instead!)
More for me than for the students, I have been playing Elbow before my classes this week. Memory stick's got a virus now, of course, because the computer system at the college is naff. 'Massacre IT department' was top of my Wednesday Post-it note.
Millions of litres of water have now been pumped into the once-barren pond at the college, marking the end of the winter here and welcoming the coming of spring. May the coming season bring plenty of student-teacher football (not 'soccer') matches and outdoor basketball games, I say.
Malcontent was the order of the day in my office earlier this week, as my salary was revealed to the other English teachers. Maybe it's because the other English teachers are teaching a language other than their own and must put in more hours, or maybe it's because I wear a tie, but the other teachers weren't impressed with me earning 7 times more than them. Moving to the other side of the world must have its rewards though.
Major good news, by the way, two Americans have finally arrived to teach: Wes and Will are nice guys and will be teaching lower level English to those students not majoring in English. 'Math', 'Mom' and words spelt with 'o' instead of 'ou' have been outlawed in my classroom, much to their bemusement!
Main objectives for today: get to play pool with the Americans at the working-Chinaman's club I found in Xing Cheng; buy more cups to be able to have guests at the apartment; plan next week's lessons; do the homework my student Chinese tutor has set me!
Miss you all but I'm quite enjoying this teaching thingy.
This week's blog was brought to you in association with the letter M.
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