First Day of Teaching

I made it thru the first day!  3 class periods in the morning which lasted for 40 minutes each, with a 15 minute break during each period. A three hour planning/lunch/computer time. And another 3 class periods in the afternoon with a different group. The time went really fast.  I couldn't believe how quick it went.   I sweated all day because it was HOT!!!!!  My room is on the third floor so I only took one break because I didn't want to walk the 3 flights down and up!  I didn't even wake up this morning at 4:30. I must be getting over the jet-lag. 

My AM class does not speak English as well as the PM group.  But they were very polite.  I asked them if they had meet a foreigner before and they said I was the first one. I hope to make a good impression and do a  good job.  I am teaching level 6 and they are about 12-14 years old. 20 in the first class, and 25 in the 2nd class. 

I mostly did an introduction of myself with a powerpoint. We talked about Alaska and compared the population of Alaska with that of their city of Nanjing. The population of Alaska is about 615,ooo. The population of Nanjing is over 6 million.  

For lunch they fixed us some special food. We were excited to see "hamburgers" and "sandwiches".  The hamburgers looked like a hamburger with the bun and pickles, lettuce, and tomatoes, but had a mini piece of something that looked like chicken. I had the sandwich which was spam. There was also the regular Chinese food, many different dishes.  They are really treating us well here. 

For an afternoon treat all the students and teachers received a popsicle which was made of mung beans.  Quite interesting. The kids loved it.  I ate it thinking it would be so healthy and keep me from becoming dehydrated.

We left the school at 4:30 and in the evening our boss took us to a very fancy department store which reminded me of Nordstroms.  I didn't by anything, but we did eat at the restaurant on the top floor overlooking the city. Looks like New York. But imagine watching thousands of bikes, people, buses, taxis, motorbikes, all merging and cutting in front of you.  It is a wonder there aren't more accidents.  I always try to ride in the back middle!  I gotta see my grandkids again!

I had a pizza and a fruit salad. Then stopped later at Dairy Queen for a hot fudge sundae. Total cost - $8. Most people voted to skip dinner at the school so we could get home earlier, which means we have to pay for dinner. But pizza was a really nice change.

I'm going to do a little lesson planning for tomorrow, and then off to bed! 

Another exciting, event-filled day!