There I was standing in front of 50 Chinese students, when the
technical “genious” on the faculty told me that the one thing I was
relying on, the DVD player, wouldn’t work!
So my preparations were shot and I had to wing a 20 minute trial
lecture that would decide if I got a job or not. Luckily I didn’t screw
it up too severely and what I lacked in actual teaching skills, I made
up for with energy (or so the school administration told me).
he he he
Yea, I’m in Beijing now and I’ve started on my rigorous Chinese
program. 27 hours a week with one on one classes with a teacher. I tell
you it’s full on! It’s going in the right direction, albeit a bit
slowly. OK, REALLY slowly. I found out that they had slightly more
signs than I thought. he he he …. 100,000. Where 18,000 are in normal
use. You need 2500 to read the paper, so I have an uphill struggle in
front of me!
It’s fun though!
I’ve secured an apartment in town, so cheap that even Chinese are
surprised! … No, it’s not a dump. It’s in a dumpy building, but the
buildings around are nice and the actual apartment is newly renovated
and excellent! It lies 2 k’s from my school, so I’m very happy!
All in all things are good and if I secure the teaching job, I’ll work
6 hours a week. It’ll pay for my apartment and for about a 110 drinks a
month on top of that 🙂
All is good in other words!