Last night was Calvin’s farewell dinner because he’s leaving to go home to Wales. We went to eat with our boss, her husband, some of their family, some parents of our students and their assorted family.
Once we’re all gathered, everyone stands around the table for a little while. It’s kind of like MeatFest when Mama [...]
Today I had a new student in my Saturday class for middle school kids (their names are Andy, Grant, and Eric… and I am only responsible for Eric’s English name). The new student is a seven-year-old Korean boy, who was saved being named Patrick because he already has an English name. He’s been studying English [...]
Mandarin has a separate word for older sister and younger sister. There is a difference between an aunt who’s your mom’s sister, and one who’s married to your uncle, between an uncle on your mom’s side and an uncle on your dad’s side, between the uncle who’s your father’s older brother and one who’s your [...]
Yesterday I went to the hot springs with my school’s headmistress, her husband, and another foreign teacher, Calvin from Wales. People tend to socialize with their coworkers a lot, and questions about an applicant’s marital status and social activities that would never fly on an American job interveiw are important factors in the hiring process [...]
I can’t even begin to describe my culture shock! There’s a market near my new home in Yantai full of stands selling fruit, noodles, vegetables, breads, dumplings, seafood and any other kind of food you can imagine. For a few dollars, you can buy more groceries than you can carry, and that’s the ripoff price [...]
Happy Hallmark Day! I taught my first lesson today, which wasn’t supposed to happen for a week yet, and also I was supposed to have someone observing my first lesson. Yet another example of how schedules don’t exist in China, and I must remind myself to adjust. It went well, though, we talked about Valentine’s [...]
When I arrived in Yantai, after thirty-some hours in transit (and yes, wandering the Beijing airport wondering if I made a huge mistake DOES count as transit time), I was not met by Ji (my new boss) or the promised fluently bilingual staff. Ji had to go to a meeting in Beijing, and so I [...]
Last night was Lantern Festival in China! This is the first full moon after Spring Festival / Chinese New Year. Lantern Festival is celebrated by spending the day with your family and eating a lot of a certain kind of dumpling together. If you don’t eat them, then your ears fall off (ok, that’s what [...]
My visa has been approved, my tickets are here, and I am leaving New Jersey early Friday morning, arriving in Yantai on Saturday night (Chinese time!). I just told my school’s headmistress what I look like so we can find each other at the airport.
My next post will be from China!
