The first week on the job...

It’s been a popular question this week: How are your classes going? Well now that the first week is over and I’m on vacation for a week for the National Day Holiday (think 4^th of July lasting for one week) I have time to reflect.

Monday: This was what I though would be my first day. I was very nervous because this is the first time I’ve done anything like teaching and had little idea what to expect from the Chinese students. I worked all morning on calming my nerves and at 1300 I walked into my class. It was a big shock to see that there were no students and the lights were off. I asked another teacher what to do and she directed me to the building secretary. The building secretary (who reminded me a lot of Darlene Gratton in manner) made some phone calls and told me that I can relax and the freshmen start class on Wednesday. I was a little surprised that no one told me this, but it gave me a bit more time to relax.

I do not teach classes on Tuesday so I prepared to have my first day again on Wednesday. This time when I walked into class, expecting 12 students, I heard a loud “Ahhhhhh” and a full classroom of 20 students. This was a few more than I expected but I kept a cool head. Class progressed smoothly and the only real problem I had was that the students talk amongst themselves near constantly. I had been told this by other teachers, but did not realize the extent until I was in my own class. I finished my first class and went back to my office to get a few more things for my second class that followed. I returned to my office, made a few extra photocopies because I had had more students than I expected. As I returned to the building and my next classroom, I was confused to find a class already in session in the room that I was supposed to be using. Fortunately the class showed up just as I did, so I brought them out into the atrium to wait as I went back to the building secretary to see if she could help me again. I could see her chuckle a bit as she saw me again, but no matter. Two of my students came along with me to help translate and we eventually did find a class room that we could use. After this initial bit of confusion, the rest of the class went well.

Thursday, my classes start at 0800, so this is a bit of a change. I was prepared to walk into another class of 20 chattering students, but this time I saw 10 quiet students, all boys. Ok, I thought, this will be a bit of a change. They were very interested in the map of the United States where I showed where some cities were and where North Dakota is. Also they were excited about the pictures that I brought to class including a family picture, farm machinery, and pictures from Steve and Kelly’s wedding. I have been using a picture of T-Bone to demonstrate what blond hair is. Several students have commented on how handsome he is. I was pleased that this class had been lower key than the other two I had. So when the next class came in, I was a bit startled by the fact that I had seen all these students before. I do have six classes, but the only meet once per week. When I saw that these were all students I had a few days ago. I called my department’s secretary and she said that she had told the students that normally have class on Monday to just join another section for this week. That would have been helpful information for me. We figured out a slight strategy and I had the students divide themselves up, told them to have a nice holiday, and cancelled class. There wasn’t much that I could do since that would have put this group (I’m still not exactly sure which class I’ll see them in next) ahead of the rest of the classes. Now that I’ve had an eventful week, it’s time for a week off. I love the way things work here. Even someone who likes change and chaos as much as I do can get thrown off her guard. Who knew?

Tonight we’re going over to Pudong (East of the Pu River) to watch fireworks. Happy National Day!