Apparently I'm Really Freakin' Good

I have been doing this job for two years now, pretty much none stop.  I've memorized nearly every book in my school and lesson plans are ingrained in my brain.  I don't need more than five minutes to think of an hour lesson, especially if I've used that book before.  I'm experienced, really experienced.  I've done a lot, seen a lot, taught a lot.  I love what I do every day, I get tired of course, but I love it still.

Recently I was made the Manager of the Foreigner Teachers at Aston.  The position is no easy task, a lot of hours on and off the clock, scheduling, lots of meetings, trainings for FT's and for Chinese teachers as well, keeping up with all the rules and following them yourself, dealing with language barriers, dealing with money, dealing with any quarrel or problem that arises from someone else's life. It's hard work!  But I like hard work, especially when I get paid for the hard work. Plus I am super organized when it comes to work, and I have a good sense of leadership and team-building skills.  Also I like being a BOSS!!! It's just cool (I mean I'm only 24!).




With my job comes a lot of surprises.  I got one this week out of the blue. One

of the CT's I work with called me up and told me I would be teaching a demo/promotion/parents meeting class the next day.  I said okay without asking many questions.  Why? In China they never have the answers you want or think of, they usually know a very small amount and the stuff they tell you usually ends up being false anyway.  Example they told me I would arrive by 4:30 by bus with a CT to the school, it would start at 5pm and I would finish at 5:45pm only having to teach for 10 or so students for 20 minutes. They also told me everything would be prepared for me at the school  So, everything they told me turned out to be false.  When 4pm rolled around I thought oh I will take a bus, but a CT informed me the other CT's had left already and I should take a Taxi and that I should take all the teaching materials with me (which also turned out to be the wrong teaching materials). Rush hour traffic no taxi so I took my bike (luckily it wasn't pouring at that time).  I had been to the school by bus and by taxi many times but never on my bike.  So I rode around and I knew the school was around me somewhere, I was only sort of lost.  I asked some old ladies for directions and they pointed me the right way I was just opposite it.

Once I arrived at the school, I realized that I was 10 minutes early. Go me!  I found my CT's and the cafeteria was packed full of parents listening to the Head Master of the Primary School speak about upcoming events.  We waited an hour more for the meeting to actually stop.  I get into the cafeteria, my CT begins to talk then another public school teacher comes in, says something then 90% of the parents leave.  Apparently there was another meeting happening and since the Head Master had taken so long all those parents had to leave.  I was pissed and embarrassed for my school.  

Anyways some parents were left, about 10 or so and about 12 children too. I got on stage grabbed the mic and began to teach the students who came onto the stage about animals.  Played two different games/activities with them and then said goodbye.  

Later on that evening I learned from my CT, who had never seen me give a Demo before, that I was amazing!  She said I couldn't have done anything better and that all the parents had signed their child up to get an interview at Aston school on the weekend.  She also told me the other parents heard about me and are all talking about me, so other students will be coming to Aston as well. You know I was surprised by all this. Why? Because I know I am experienced, but well I don't think I am great.  I'm good with little children for short periods of time, like 40ish minutes before they start driving me crazy.  I prefer older children of about 9 or 10 and older.  One thing I know I do very well is my greeting and my goodbye, I think the goodbye always hooks the students in and the parents as well.

So in the end I saw nearly every student come to my school to be assessed into an

Aston learning level. Some of them even brought their friends along.  I made my school a lot of money.

Experience is not the reason I am a good teacher, it's because I love what I do and I enjoy it!  That's the key to being great!

Been A Long Time Coming!

I just realized recently how long it's been since I've posted here.  Yes being busy has definitely kept me away and kept me from writing, but in all honesty I love being busy.  People every day complain about their jobs and how tired they are, well even I do that, but I wouldn't trade it for anything.  I can't believe it's been over 6 months since I have written here. I can't believe it's been over two years since I've been back home to the States.  Everything is changing around me, everyone is changing around me and sometimes I feel like I am the only one staying the same.

I'm still in Hefei, Anhui, China and I'm loving every minute of it.  This city is big enough to suit my foreigner needs; such as variety of good foreign restaurants, enough English, work, Universities, booze and yes other foreigners to interact with, but this city is also small enough so that it's not very difficult to navigate once you explore a bit, a good transit system, friendly people everywhere, and enough of a Chinese cultural influence so that you still get those hits of classic traditions that make you say why?  Being in China will always have it's ups and downs and sometimes it will feel like more downs than ups, but if you expect it, nothing really gets to you. 


China can make you crazy, especially how much of a polar opposite business and

management works compared to western cultures.  Like example a) usually the manager or boss will have everything prearranged like a big list so to speak, but here you need to be on top of everything yourself.  If you are not in constant contact or asking the right questions or checking in with things, then well you will probably be left behind. But I can't complain too much since I agreed to deal with those types of situations on a daily basis.

Yep, I am officially the Foreign Manager at Hefei Aston. I am in charge of all the foreigners at 5 different Aston schools in and around Hefei. So, I am in charge of about 8 foreigners, making sure every week that their schedules are as correct as I can make it.  I initially declined their offer to be the manager, but after having many conversations with the school management and negotiating some terms, I agreed to take the position.  I knew I would be good at being a manager, but I didn't know if I wanted to be a manager or a teacher more.  So I agreed to be both.  I do 20 teaching hours and 10 office hours every week.  I get to keep my usual classes and my wonderful public school students, plus I get to be super organized and plan lots of things for foreigners to do.  Hopefully this term proves to be easier than I believe it's going to be.  If it gets easier and communication becomes clearer then perhaps I will stay at Aston as a manager for longer.  I enjoy my working hours.  I don't need 3 days off a week, 2 is enough for me because a) I like to keep busy and b) if I have nothing to do then I am super lazy.  



This summer has been a whirlwind of emotions because of my cats.  In March, Tiffa

got spayed which took about 2 weeks for her to heal completely, and then in August Aerri also got spayed, but she took nearly an entire month. I brought her to the hospital about 6 different times because she wouldn't eat, drink, pee or poop so I became incredibly paranoid.  These cats are my babies and they are my only family here, so it was a very traumatic experience. 

I have a new roommate, she is from the Philippines and she is 31 years old.  She loves my cats and plays with them every day.  I'm so happy because she is super nice to my cats and nice to me.  Hopefully she stays awhile, if not I will get this apartment to myself as the manager. I love this apartment, everything in it is mine and was bought by me in order to make this place homely.  













One of the saddest things that has happened recently is my best friend in China

has moved so far away.  I met this friend during my training in Cambodia and we have been near each other for 2 years.  He got engaged recently and he is now expecting his first child, a baby boy, in October of this year.  He moved back to his wife's hometown in China and I remained in Hefei. By train it's about 19 hours, so talking in person is no longer an option.  I will go and visit them after their baby is born.  I will miss my friend very much. AND I CAN'T BELIEVE HE IS HAVING A BABY and that HE IS GOING TO BE A DAD!!!

My new adventure has begun...

(I will try harder to keep up my posts on here!)

6 Months Down as a Senior/Advanced Foreign Teacher

It's March already, it's quite hard to believe that so much time has already passed all of us by.  I haven't written a blog post in quite awhile due to the sheer fact that I have just been too busy to even type for a period long enough to accomplish something meaningful and such.  I have been in Hefei for 6 months (in reality 6.5) and I still love it here.  I liked Xianyang (my old city) but Hefei presents itself with more opportunities whether they are simple or the more adventurous ones. Although most of my adventures will come in the Spring and Summer time. Hopefully it's a light summer this year.

Me in SanHe - The Ancient Town

I haven't had time to do anything on the adventurous side, so the simple things keep me happy.  Also realize that in winter there isn't much to do besides be cold and hide under your blankets with the heater turned up to high.  I have done a couple of kind-of adventurous things though.  One I went to an old park, got to see the Hefei Zoo and even went and saw the Hefei Aquarium with my friend. The cool thing about the zoo was it was quite big and had an amazing walking bridge, plus the zoo it on the mountain overlooking the city so the views were amazing!  The best thing about the aquarium was that it had dolphins.  These dolphins were in great condition (very rare to see an animal in China in even decent condition) so when seeing the dolphins up close and personal I was very happy. I have also been to Hefei's old city called SanHe which is about 2 hours by bus out of the main city. The architecture was stunning! My schedule is a doozy.  Every week I am at least two hours overtime and last week I was four hours overtime.  The money gained from these overtime hours help a lot because my original roommate moved out to help out our friend who moved in with me, then a month later went on vacation and never came back... Leaving me with paying for the utilities by myself and cleaning up all the shit they left behind.  The upside is that I now have an apartment all to myself and my cats!

Hallway

Recently my school, Aston 1 got remodeled (it really was overdue) and seeing the whole process was pretty cool.  It made the school a thousand times more modern and even created more space! The teachers we got a new office (although the glass wall is still there) and the school got Central Heating/AC for each classroom (thank god!), a new coat of paint (kind of reminds me of a giraffe) and new whiteboards. I had also requested that my school get at least one room with an electronic whiteboard in case a teacher had a higher level class and wanted to use media to help make the class more interesting (mainly me!).  To my surprise they did and now I teach both my C11 classes in that room and my students love it (why? computer games as a reward system).  Our school also ordered a lot of plants to help with the new paint smell in the school but I also think it adds a nice homey feel to the school.

My desk in the Teachers Office

Front desk area

My C10 class which is now my C11 class - Boys are doing the Koala pose LOL

The new term has begun so another six months of teaching before a new term begins.  Most of my classes stayed the same as I have a lot of NCE classes (New Concept English, apparently a very famous book used in studying for English Proficiency Exams... It's British English) and so those classes are in session for another three weeks.  It's hard for an American to teach British English because I think and spell differently than these books and the most important part is that these books are quite out-dated so the English used in the books doesn't always resemble how we speak today.  So explaining these things to my students is quite a challenge, especially Z being pronounced Zeee in America yet everywhere else it's pronounced Zed! Crazy right?

 

 

 

My C9 class, most are going to NCE2A and the rest leaving Aston ;-;

Most of the classes will usually just roll over, meaning that class that was let's say C3A will become C3B, same time and same students.  If you are lucky (thank god me!) one of your classes will stop or move to a different day or time so you can't teach them (not saying I don't love my students).  So example, my C9 class is going to NCE2A taught by another teacher, so that time slot in the morning is now open, meaning work for me doesn't begin until 9:30am on Saturday. But I will miss my crazy yet hilarious students in C9 because they are some of the best students, personality wise, that I have ever encountered.

I have two cats who live with me.  They are my children and I have been so busy lately I have neglected play time with them, especially my youngest, Tiffa, who is highly energetic and loves attention.  Recently I have been buying more toys to entertain them while I am working and perhaps also make them tired enough  so that they sleep when I sleep at night.  Sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't.

This past week has been one of the most rewarding and difficult weeks of all time for me.  The highlight was being asked by my school to be the Foreign Manager next term! I was asked what I wanted and I said my own apartment (meaning I get to keep this two-bedroom apartment), higher salary than the manager now and a switch in working hours (more teaching time and less office time).  I don't think being a manager will be easy but I do think I can do it if I get good enough teachers and my school trusts me.







The difficult part was that my cat Tiffa had her first heat.  At first I just thought it was

because she was bored, so I tried playing with her for awhile before heading to bed, but no matter what I did she still yeowled when it got quite.  I started seeing more signs (never had girl cats before) and realized she was in heat.  I thought I could push through it but when doing more research I saw it was just gonna keep happening and in all honesty I wasn't sleeping very well.  I called my Chinese friend on Saturday night and I asked her to find me a good vet to spay Tiffa on Monday, as I couldn't take the yeowling, lack of sleep, and the fear that my neighbors would complain to building management about my cats.  My friend found a vet kind of close to my apartment but it was quite difficult to find because it didn't look like any vet place I'd ever seen.  I was already scared to death because China doesn't have the greatest medical record between dealing with foreigners, so I could only imagine how they treated animals.

The veterinarians were nice and for the most part helpful (they spoke some English), but the worst part was the fact that I had to help them.  I had to hold my poor baby while they gave her two shots, and then hold her right after she came out of surgery.  I was so scared of moving her the wrong way and opening her stitches.  Then Tiffa had to get two bottles of medicine through an IV, but she was waking up.  They made me hold her and try to keep her still, I had to keep one of her arms raised the entire time even though it made her uncomfortable.  My Tiffa was so brave and such a good kitty. She only meowed a few times, specifically near the end when she was almost fully able to move on her own.  I sat and held her for three hours. 


I've never been to a vet in America, but I have seen a lot of TV shows and never did I see

anyone hold their pet for three hours, sit next to them yes.  After that I was physically and mentally exhausted (I cried a lot) and so was Tiffa, so I said goodbye and told her I would come by and see her tomorrow as they are keeping her for three days. I gave them the food for her and left.  Aerri, my oldest cat, was looking for Tiffa after I got home.  She is very confused and sometimes I hear her meow for her sister.  I don't know if Aerri has been in heat yet, but if she has I hadn't noticed so getting her spayed wasn't in my plans until her heat becomes a problem.

Being A Senior Teacher

When I first applied for a job in Hefei I knew I wanted to take on more responsibility and be more involved with how the school is run.  So I applied for a Senior Teaching position and almost immediately I was granted it.  Of course I also asked for an increase in pay (thank god I did).  My schedule in the beginning was considerably easy, much easier than my past school and I enjoyed the majority of my classes, which is usually uncommon.



  

But as time went on my skills as a teacher became more apparent to my school and colleagues.  I am

frequently asked questions about everything involving work and sometimes even advice about what to do in China in certain instances.  I like giving advice and being the person others come to when they are unsure, I guess it's because I like helping people.  

As my skills were being noticed, others lack of skills were also beginning to surface.  The majority of our teachers are new teachers, meaning they have never taught before coming to China or received any sort of training to help them teach.  This isn't the foreign teachers fault in the slightest, it's the schools for their laziness and greediness.  As a Senior Teacher I have to observe classes from time-to-time, especially if there are complaints, most times the complaints aren't very serious and/or things we can't change (some complaint examples are: too many games, not enough games, their accent is too thick, they speak to fast, their class is boring, they don't teach anything, they speak too much Chinese instead of English).  I love the accent one because really if you come from a different country that speaks English you are bound to sound different from another person that came from a different country, but that is lost on the Chinese people.  The supreme accent that is looked for in China is either British or American (and even then American accent always beats the British... Yay for me!).  

I've realized recently that I take my job more seriously than anyone else.  It's not because I think my school is the top school in the country, let alone the city, but because it's who I am.  I like working hard and yes although super hard to admit I love keeping busy.  I also love being relied on, capable and loved.  I like going into a work place and having everyone smile at me genuinely and my students get excited every time I enter the classroom.  I don't just want to drift along my classes just pushing to get through the day.

I think everyone can see those things about me and because of this I am technically a Full-Time teacher by Chinese and American standards.  I get two days off a week (if I'm lucky three!) and teach at least 5 classes a day and on the weekends around 9 or 10 a day.  I teach around 30 classes a week because I am a great teacher and the best that we have at the moment apparently (not my words, I hear it every week more than once).  I like being acknowledged for my hard work and if I wasn't being acknowledged in any way I wouldn't work as hard, but encouragement is often given.  


So far I have done the work as a Senior Teacher and as a Foreign Manager. I help everyone, CT and FT

alike and I even give advice to the school managers when they need it.  I even hosted the Annual Christmas Party and I am hosting another event at a local primary school next week.  My school asks me because I am willing and I'm not a total bitch about it.  Sure I may whine here and there but who doesn't?  Most foreigners who come to a foreign country come to escape, to be free, and to be lazy.  It's not a bad thing, but it's hard to be the only one who takes their job seriously sometimes (not saying everyone is like that just a large percentage is all).  I say yes to things and I don't just say yes blindly, I think about it first (usually at the speed of light) and decide.  If the proposition doesn't outrightly affect me then I say yes, but if it puts me out of my way (like way out of my way) then I say no.  When they say, "Hey we will pay you over-time!" It's usually a yes (what can I say money is nice).

The laziness of others around me bothers me to hell and back.  I hate when someone bitches about their day of only having one class, I mean come on it's just one class for god sake!  I can't stand it that I bust my ass trying to get every where on time then my fellow teachers can walk in half an hour late or never show up at all and nothing happens to them.  It's ridiculous, totally ridiculous.  

I have gotten on everyones good side, so everyone loves me and believes in me.  Building relationships like these in China, helps your career immensely and honestly makes life much easier (I don't think most foreigners understand this, since they spend most of their time hanging with other foreigners instead of getting to know the Chinese people they work with nearly every day).  If I need help with anything, it is done as quickly as possible; whereas with others it will take awhile since their relationship with that person isn't as established as mine.  

My school is like my family, with the good times and, of course, the bad times (especially in China), but I love each of them because they respect me and believe in me.  I also love all my students, even the naughty ones and I have learned through Thankful letters that they love me too! See below pictures: 

Hopefully, soon, I will be able to show my full potential as a team player and leader in the near future and make our school the top English school in the city!  

Differences Between Western Teaching and Foreign Teaching

Teaching in a foreign country is very different from teaching in most western cultures. Most people believe teaching everywhere is the same thing as long as you follow some simple steps, which in most cases is true.  
Some of these similarities are:


1) Love Being a Teacher: You should enjoy the art of teaching students.

If you don't enjoy your job, well then your students won't enjoy learning whatever your teaching them. Not only does this make it hard for you to get up every day for work, but it will also transfer to your students who will think learning is boring, since you think teaching is boring.








2) Working Over-Time: Be willing to put in extra time and effort into your lessons.

Most teachers aren't paid to create lesson plans or make their classes fun, so we have to give up our own free time in order to make our classes successful.  Most times this involves teachers spending money out of their own pocket to pay for needed supplies that the school doesn't provide under a tight budget.

3) Always Smile: No matter what kind of day/week you've had, be happy inside the classroom.

I like to think of teaching in a classroom as my happy bubble.  None of my students know what has happened and neither do they care (not to be insensitive but it's true they are kids).  I leave my worries and anger at the door so that I can teach and have some much needed fun.

4) Lesson Planning: Know what you're teaching.

This seems like a duh! step but a lot of times teachers don't do either enough preparation or any preparation for their lessons.  No preparation results in what I call brain farts.  A brain fart is when your mind either draws a blank or you make a simple mistake. Don't get me wrong we have brain farts whether we plan or not, but there are considerably less of them if you plan accordingly.  In our lesson plans we also have to have activities that keep the students interested in that topic.

5) Discipline: Know how to control your class.
    
If you have naughty students, then you should punish them.  I'm not talking about the guillotine, but come up with creative ways to tell the students if they don't pay attention then they will suffer the consequences.  And honestly you can't "really discipline a student, let alone talk to them for too long without a parent freaking out nowadays.

6) Time Management: Knowing when to continue and when to cut it short.

If you plan your classes then you know how long it is and how much time you need to spend on what.  We have an IPA system: Introduction, Practice then Activate.  The first two are self-explanatory, but the third one, Activate, is where the students use the language with each other.  Activate is the hardest step I believe, because you have students who don't want to talk or who just don't listen so it complicates the Activation process.








7) Quantity of Pay - Low / Quality of Teaching - High: We are expected to work miracles yet be paid less than some people who clean toilets.

Sadly we are not paid as much as we should be.  We put our hearts into every class and we

aren't usually rewarded by our student's success and growth.  The lower we are paid the lower quality our teaching will become because our life becomes hard to manage outside the classroom.  With so many rules and regulations nowadays teachers cannot get too close to their students.  This teacher-student relationship used to be quite a unique one, but because of others mistakes and poor judgements todays teacher cannot give quality time and help to students in need.







Now I do all these things mentioned above, just like the majority of western teachers, but being a foreign teacher is a little different. Here are some of those differences:

1) Love Being a Teacher:

    Sadly most people who work in foreign countries become a teacher so that they can see the world and travel.  Most come in with no experience or certification and still get paid the same as you who worked longer and harder.  Then to top it off you get to hear them complain about the differences of the culture, the pay, the hours, the need to do lesson plans, the terrible students and to top it all off how much they dislike teaching.  These guys are teachers... Makes your heart break, especially when you love your job.

2) Working Over-Time:
    
It's nice hear because we can say no to working over-time when it comes to teaching hours, but we can't say no to Office Hours.  Each teacher is required to be in the school three hours a week, to be available for workshops and/or lesson planning.  Most of the time I use my Office Hours to do my lesson planning, but sadly it seems I spend more time answering questions/getting problems solved than actually doing anything for my own classes (as a Senior Teacher it's my job).  Because of these facts, I usually bring my work home.  I also choose to grade my higher levels homework and their vocabulary quizzes because I know the CT's (Chinese Teachers) get paid even less than me and do a lot more than me.
But don't work so much that you make yourself sick, trust me I've been there and done that!


3) Always Smile:

When you smile, the students will automatically smile back.  These smiles will make your day and the students day; it doesn't matter how old they are.  If you go into a classroom angry, you will get no responses or enthusiasm from the students.  If you go into with a big hello or a smile students will naturally be likely to respond to questions or even difficult tasks.  
Little rewards for the students also brighten their day;  a piece of candy for good students makes even the worst students become like classwork robots. (You can also do a sticker board if you have your own classroom, if not have them keep the stickers in their school book and at the end of the month the top three students get a reward).






4) Lesson Planning:

Each lesson we create should use the IPA method, which is normal (although perhaps it is called something different wherever you are).  Yet as a foreign teacher (FT for short) we also have to add in a considerable amount of time for activities and especially games.  Being a foreign teacher we must be fun.  If we are not fun we get bad reviews from the students, who then tell their parents how boring the class is and then the parents complain to management.  If you are boring in a foreign classroom, and you don't play games (or even interesting enough games) or make your students laugh, you are considered a bad teacher.  It's funny for me because originally I thought I was hired to teach these kids and make sure they know how to pass tests, but I learned I am there mainly for fun.  It was quite a switch in thinking and at first I thought it was horrible, then as time went on I learned more about my students daily lives.  They literally spend all their time learning.  They maybe have one day off, but if not they are enrolled in other extra-curricular schools.  They don't have time to have fun, so in a way these kids are deprived of fun.  That's where us "cool" (my students call me this a lot) FT's come in, we bring in fun for them.  They learn the material and I reward them with a game. I incorporate the learned material into the game by asking them questions, getting them to make sentences and/or getting them to ask me and/or ask their opponent.

5) Discipline:

See? LOL Joking!

As a teacher I was always frightened of over-stepping my student-teacher relationship, even the simple act of comforting a student while in crisis seemed like a NO-NO.  Yet here it is quite different.  Students love individual attention and they parents want their kids to have it as well.  The first couple of days teacher were quite scary for me because all these students would run up to me and want to sit in my lap, hug me, hold my hand... But my western brain said, "NO! It's illegal!"  At the time I was probably overreacting, but in my defense it is always better to be safe than sorry.  As I saw my fellow teachers interact with their on students: picking them up, swinging them around, throwing balls at them and even bouncing them on their knees, I realized that here it is different.  I am still awkward with hugs and stuff, but interacting with the kids has become easier.  Now in response to discipline, most public school Chinese teachers can beat their students (not senseless, of course, but some punches and pretty hard book smacking... Usually stuff that would result in a legal interference in western schools).  I have seen these beatings only a handful of times and it's not good at all.  In private schools there aren't anything close to that, unless you have a really bad parent.  Most times it's light taps to the head with a book or a poke to the stomach, just to get their attention.  Most students enjoy the light disciplines because a) it makes them and other students laugh and b) they get attention and c) it doesn't involve getting hurt, dancing, writing sentences or calling their parents.

6) Time Management:

As I said earlier FT's have to play a game, if not one game then most times it's two games especially for the younger classes.  This means if you have a class time of 30 minutes and every child has to play at least once and you have 10 students, your game should be at least 15 minutes long.  So basically, 15 minutes to review/teach them the lesson and then the last half play the game.  I mean honestly, it's not because we are lazy foreigners; it's what the the parents, the students and Aston want from us.

7) Quantity of Pay - Low / Quality of Teaching - High:

Being a teacher in most western countries doesn't pay very well, especially if you have other bills to pay, a family or if you want nice things.  Most of us can do without nice things, but sometimes bad things happen and large sums of money aren't at all common when you're a teacher.  Teachers put in a lot of overtime work, which usually goes unnoticed by students, parents and even management.  In a foreign country being a teacher is a little easier.  We are paid a good amount (although most schools will pay you the average salary aka the lowest salary possible (6,000 rmb per month not including housing bills/taxes) to keep as much money as they can, whereas other schools pay really nice salaries ranging anywhere from 10,000-25,000 rmb a month).  

Most schools will provide free housing (with everything inside), a contract completion bonus (6000 rmb), sign-up bonuses (25-50 rmb) for each kid, no holiday taken bonus (3,000 rmb), airfare (usually only half of it) and two paid holidays if you want them (two weeks).  Some schools will even provide free internet, but again all of this depends on the school itself.  Starting salary for a beginning teacher is 6,000 rmb or about $978 depending on how much the dollar is worth at that time. If you only got paid $978 a month in America you would probably still be living with your parents or leaning on someone else to help you.  But in China, 6,000 rmb is a lot of money.  A good job for a Chinese here pays about 3,000 rmb a month and they live decent lives.  The amount of money we get allows us foreigners to not only teach, but also the opportunity to travel (we get two paid vacations each one week long).  So, if you plan on living in China for a time, you could save up a lot of money if you don't overindulge, but I like indulging myself here and there.  I mean we only live once, right?  If you work hard and you build up a good relationship with your school you can ask for more money, most times if you are re-signing your contract for another year you will get your request as long as it is within reason, of course.

Getting Into The Rhythm

I have been in Hefei just over two months now and I am still getting into the rhythm of things.  My schedule has become pretty consistent since the new teachers arrived in early October, and thankfully my schedule became marginally lighter.  

I quite enjoy my new school and my classes, so much so that I wouldn't want to switch any of them if I had the opportunity presented to me.  Usually there is always one class that you despise, but more often than not I enjoy all my students even when they aren't on their best behavior.  I have a 28 hour contract so I only get two days off every week, which does kind of suck, especially if I want to travel anywhere.  I'm the busiest foreigner in Hefei and I have the most classes on my schedule.  Sometimes it's nice being popular, but sometimes it's not!

My days off are Monday and Tuesday and this is when I get to catch up on sleep, go grocery shopping, do laundry, play with my cats and perhaps if time allows go somewhere nearby.  Wednesday, Thursday and Friday mornings I teach at a local public elementary school where I teach grades 4 and 5.  These students are all very lovely children, they are kind and are happy when I come to school.  Their good attitudes make teaching so early in the morning seem less like a chore and more like a gift.  With these students I am reminded daily that I love being a foreign English teacher. For Halloween I had the students create Halloween themed posters and the best drawings would receive a chocolate bar. So here are some of the best:

 

 

On Wednesday afternoon I teach at another elementary school, but this class is grade 2.  This is an English school so the students are taught English and Chinese simultaneously.  They also use technology to teach the lessons. The technology isn't very good and most of the lessons are too advanced for grade 2 to rally be doing, but I can do nothing about that.  Grade 2 children are usually quite rambunctious and noisy so I am often beat after this class.  I asked these kids to draw for Halloween as well.  Only one student turned in a picture:






On Thursday afternoon I usually have a promotional class.  I work at Aston 1 school, but I often do promotions for Aston 3 school which is kind of frustrating because I am doing all the work to get students that I won't ever be teaching.  I have done so many promo's and demo classes that teaching these things have become like second nature to me.  Most times the kids just are interested because you are a foreigner not because you speak English, so you are the new toy in a way.  I enjoy working with all the Chinese teachers from the schools because they always seem really interested in me and getting to know me.

On Friday afternoon I have, what Aston calls, Office Hours.  Usually Office Hours consist of three hours that you spend in the office either doing lesson planning (the usual) or having workshops (these are used to help teaching skills and sharing games).  Then in the evening I have one class that lasts 30 minutes.  This class is called a VIP Class because the parent pays extra money (a lot of money) to have their child taught alone.  

When I first heard I had this class I was quite nervous and I was told the mother preferred that her son had a male teacher over a female teacher (usually it's the opposite). I was excited because I thought, well if she hates me then I don't have to teach the class and if she likes me that means I am a good teacher.  I was also told that during our first class the mother and her English professor sister would observe me.  That news made me quite nervous.  After the class I was told that I did great and that she wanted me to teach her son.  The class recently finished it's grade and the boy (Mark) and his mother resigned for another VIP class with me, but now they want me to teach for a whole hour.  



Saturday and Sunday are the busy days.  Starting at 8am and going till 5:45pm.  Last week I got really sick on Friday night.  I couldn't hold anything down, so I knew I had gotten my first case of major food poisoning (honestly I was surprised it took this long to happen).  For foreigners, Friday night is the worst time to get sick because it's the beginning of the long weekend, which is our main work days.  I ended up going to the hospital Saturday morning and I spent most of the day with IV's in me.  I rested up on Sunday because I knew I wouldn't be able to teach let alone make to school without losing it.  When you miss classes and no one fills in, the FT will have to at some point try to make up those classes missed since the student paid for Foreigner Time not just Chinese Time.  Missing the classes and not making them up also means you lose a lot of money, which comes back to haunt you when you get your next pay check.

I recently went to a big hospital to see about getting some really important medicine that I haven't really had enough of for about 8 months.  The consultation doctor I saw spoke very good English, but she was also like 9 months pregnant and about to pop.  

They wanted to keep me in the hospital to regulate my insulin down quickly, but I told them I wasn't comfortable with that because A) I don't like hospitals in America and I certainly won't like them in China, B) Hardly anyone speaks English, C) I have to WORK! D) I have no one to stay with me and finally E) I don't speak Chinese, so if I needed help how the hell would I communicate with anyone.  It's true that foreigners get preferential treatment, but still hospitals make me so stressed.  I convinced them I could regulate it by myself, and honestly I have done it two times before when money or my location became a problem for me to get my medicine.  I spent so much money on medicine and supplies that day, it was quite depressing.  I am required to go back to the hospital once every month to check my levels and order me new insulin to use.

Now it has been a week since my illness and I am a thousand times better.  Most people don't get excited going into work and I don't get excited going there, but once I arrive I am happy because I know I am good at what I do.  I don't get any complaints I usually just get compliments from parents, students and my fellow teachers, which is totally awesome to hear.  

My cats Aerrie and Tiffa have both been very helpful during my illness and were quite happy to follow my lead of being lazy and just sleeping and resting during my sick days.  They are such great and funny cats.






Fall is moving in quickly here in Hefei, but luckily it is going to be a much milder winter than in Xianyang, my old city.  The leaves are starting to change and the air is becoming colder with every day that passes.  I actually enjoy winter more so than the heat of summer, sometimes I wish we could have the beauty of summer with the temperature of winter.  What a lovely thought!