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!