Adventures in Guangzhou!

Last week was the first time I assigned any homework for my regular English conversation classes and so far I have been extremely disappointed with the results. In the first class I went around to collect their papers (they had to translate three chinese riddles into English) and only about four out of the thirty kids had done the work. For the first time in my teaching career I "blew a gasket" (as Rabbi Chatinover used to say) and gave a very angry lecture to my students. Given my usually convivial mood, the kids were shocked. I ended the warning by telling them that they shouldn't bother coming to class next week if they don't do the homework reading. I think I got my point across.

I felt a little bad about it after the fact when we were discussing their "bellringer" writing assignment. I am in the middle of doing a lesson about descriptive adjectives and asked the students to write a couple sentences about how they were feeling. After my lecture, every single student responded that they were either "sad," (for not doing the homework) "scared," (because I yelled at them) or "ashamed" (that they had let me down). Geez. Maybe Chinese teachers don't yell at their students. Or maybe their other foreigner teachers let them get away with more in the past. Either way, I felt a little bad about it, but I don't take crap from my students so be it.

On a more uplifting note, I gave my students a couple of weeks to pick English names if they didn't have one already. I was prepared for ridiculous names and so far I have not been disappointed. At this point some of my favorites include "Whisper," "Echo," "Air," Silence," "Shadow," "Small," "Gunther," and "Raindrop." However, I have had much more fun giving names. Several students have not been able to decide between different options and have asked me to give them a new name. This has given me the ability to bring my friends to China! I now have all of 44 Home (my old house from Wesleyan) represented here with a Biggie, Steve, A.C., and Deefs. It makes me chuckle everytime I get to call on one of them. I also have a Kate, a couple Laurens, a Drew, a Mos, a Deacon, and an Evan. And for one of the kids who never pays attention (and thus annoys me a bit), I dubbed him "Keith," after a kid that I never liked in high school. Ha!

Apartment 205 of Building 1 here at HSFZ officially has a new couch. I am absolutely amazed that we managed to communicate well enough to give them the right address for delivery and that they got it here without a hitch. It's lime green, straight out of a 1970's lounge, folds down to a bed, and I love it. It looks a bit out of place with the rest of the decor in the place, but I'm not sure furniture this color could look appropriate anywhere in this decade. I guess you get what you pay for. Regardless, it has provided me with a very comfy seat for the excessive number of "24" episodes I've watched recently.

I am off to eat some homemade dumplings and I am extremely excited. Before I do though, I want to comment on the fact that the hit counter on my blog has gone over 1000. Now unless my parents are both checking the site approximately 50 times a day (hi mom! hi dad!), it means there are a bunch of people reading this out there and I am humbled. It means a lot to me that people are interested enough to check in on my adventures. So thanks for reading, and I hope to keep your attention for at least a little while longer...