Adventures in Kunming and Beyond

Today I taught my first two classes. They were both the same subject (Advanced Viewing, Listening and Speaking), and went fairly well, I think. My students didn’t have looks of pure hatred on their faces, so I took that as a good sign. I pretty much spent both classes having my students introduce themselves and they had questions about everything you can imagine, in addition to a marriage proposal (flattering and disturbing at the same time).
Some highlights:
-What do Americans look like? (Um, me?)
-Do Americans like China? (As far as I know…)
-What’s the most important thing for women to know? (Talk about opening a feminist can of worms on day 1)
-Are you looking for a husband in China? (Yeah, Ryan loved this one)
-Are you going to live in China permanently some day (Um, unlikely…)
-What’s the solution to the U.S. and China’s economy issues (Uhhh…there’s issues? Perhaps I need to brush up on my economic stuff)
-Are you from Texas? (…NO)

For the most part though, these two classes seemed fine. I was just amused by their questions and unsolicited advice (that I should wear sunscreen or carry an umbrella so I don’t get any darker and that I should appreciate the fish heads I had floating in hotpot yesterday because I could use some fish protein).

Anyway, after teaching, Rachelle (another teacher who was here last semester) took Havvah and I to an amazing restaurant. There were wonderful things like ketchup, bagels and real cheese! Pathetic, I know, but you’d be amazed at the things you miss when you can’t have them. Plus, we figured after our “authentic” Chinese meal yesterday we deserved a treat. After that, we headed to an impromptu (that pretty much describes everything in China) meeting for the International Business School. Thankfully, they only assigned me two more classes (freshmen writing), because the English department already has me doing six others. I also came out pretty good because my additions were only Thursday and Friday mornings…most of the other teachers have been stuck with night classes (Friday nights, too). These classes don’t start for another week (freshmen have mandatory military training for two weeks) so I don’t have to worry about them yet. It’s been pouring the rest of the day, which it randomly does, so I’ll probably find ways to put off doing lesson plans and tackling the bedroom with the Ming dynasty relic bed (sweet, I know). Happy Labor Day.

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This entry was posted on Monday, September 3rd, 2007 at 4:44 am and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.