JISHOU, HUNAN — I’ve finished my second week teaching here, and I can still say I am pretty happy with it all.

According to the experts, I am in the honeymoon phase of my expatriation. Everything is still so new to me that ennui and regret have not yet set in. I’m like a kid in the candy shop.

True, I will be teaching four more classes shortly, so my life of leisure will soon be curtailed by a busier schedule. True, if there were another “foreign expert” here, our teaching loads would be divided. But things happen. True, I am the only waiguoren (外国人 — foreigner) crazy enough to delve this far into China, so I have more work as a consequence.

If the students were troublesome, I would be singing a different tune. As it is, however, the students are generally quite willing to work and cooperate with my crazy American teaching methods. I am assuming the frosh will be as cooperative, if a bit more hesitant.

So, yeah, I’m still in the wide-eyed innocent mode. I am finding it hard to believe that just two weeks ago I was still in Louisville, sleeping on my son’s couch, awaiting my flight out of Kentuckiana. During break times, I look out the windows of my classroom at the buildings and buildings-yet-to-be, set against the hills in the distance, in wonderment. Dude, I’m in China!

Dude, where’s my car?

Mobility is a big problem, I must admit. I miss being able to hop in my car and go places. Here, I have no car and no driver’s license. China does not recognize the International Driving Permit I have, so I cannot (legally) drive here. We’re far enough out in the countryside that it might be feasible, and not death-defying, to try it.

So, for now I’m limited by shank’s mare and the toughness of my feet. As a result, I have not ranged too far from campus. Once I acquire some basic Chinese speaking skills, I can try hailing a cab to venture downtown by myself.

For the last two weeks, though, it’s been too bloody hot to convince myself to walk very far anyway. Last night, it finally rained, and the front brought us some cooler air. I actually arrived at class today not looking like someone sprayed me in the chest with a hose. My constant motion during class means I get even soggier after two hours. (There are ceiling fans over the students, not over the teacher. What genius designed these classrooms?)

This afternoon, coincidentally, my student buddies are taking me to downtown (no riots today) to buy some computer accessories. I had assumed that the laptop I brought with me (an eMachines M5405) had a built-in microphone, so I left mine back in the States. Well, it doesn’t — just a jack for a mike. So, I need to spend a few yuan to be able to talk to people on Skype and maybe try making a podcast or two.

I need speakers for my laptop, too. I’ve got a ton of music, but listening to it through the computer’s tinny micro-speakers just sets my teeth on edge. Earbuds are fine, but I do like to get up once in a while.

A printer would be a bigger expense, and may have to wait until after payday, but I’m considering the advantages of having one. While I can use the printer-copier in the Office of International Exchange near my classrooms, the office is usually not open before 9. My classes start at 8. Being able to print handouts the night before or even that morning would be such a luxury.

A mouse. The touchpad on this laptop is too squirrelly for my tastes. It’s too sensitive, and my accident touches during typing tend to send the cursor to unwanted territories.

And, finally, if I can find them (or an suitable adapter for my iPod earbuds), stereo earbuds for my Treo phone, which I discovered only just last week can play mp3’s. Who knew? I had never bothered to explore the issue, since I have a Shuffle, but the Shuffle’s battery looks like it’ll be a goner soon. Be nice to have a backup.

This week in class I obtained my students’ email addresses. To my delight, they all had email. (Some of my students in Louisville didn’t; IM is their thing.) I plan to send each class an email a week to encourage their use of English in more casual circumstances. Most of the students also use IM — MSN, Yahoo or the local IM biggie, QQ — so chatting online is yet another option.

My writing classes handed in their journals today. I told them last week that I wanted them to write something in English, no matter how short, every day. After some cursory glances at their books, it appears practically all of them did. After teaching high school for 20+ years, this situation is worth celebrating. Some entries were prosaic, the “I got up and went to school” type thing; others offered more insight into the student’s thoughts and feelings. The kids are certainly more forthcoming in print than in class.

One girl said I looked like Santa Claus. Another thought I was probably a good middle school teacher, but not a good university one, because I had failed to tell the class how final grades would be awarded. In her next entry, she retracted the statement, saying I would be unhappy if I read it. Then in her next entry, she said she did not regret writing it, because the journal is supposed to contain her personal thoughts.

I told her, by the way, that her criticism was well founded. I was given practically no guidance here about the department’s expectations of me. I need to hand in a lesson plan for the semester fairly soon, but there was no mention of handing out a syllabus or setting test dates. Perhaps knowing such things in advance would make me appear less like a middle school teacher.

As for looking like Santa, I don’t have his large belly. Maybe I should show them pictures of Jerry Garcia.

September 11th, 2008 | Tags: China, honeymoon phase, teaching, waiguoren | Category: China, Commentary, Teaching English | Subscribe to comments | Leave a comment | Trackback URL