Well, I suppose I could say 1 down, 16 to go until the end of semester and beginning of an almost two month break. But that might not reflect how good it feels to be back in front of a classroom again. The students are anxious to learn, glad to be in school, and hopeful that this will be a great experience. They even laugh at some of my jokes. Not all, mind you, but some. Some they ignore because they are just not funny. Others they ignore because they don't make sense when translated. E.g. What is the China National Bird? A: The Construction Crane, they are everywhere. After explaining what kind of a bird a crane is, and why a construction crane is called a crane, and why this is funny, you might get a weak smile at best. To Americans looking over any Chinese city, this joke is hilarious. Well, maybe not now, but when you see your first Chinese city and somebody invites you to see the Chinese national bird. OK, maybe not even then, but then again, we do not get late night comedians here.
I have finished my first week, have met all my students (unless there are late registrations or some were just absent), and I still think most of my lesson plans are in the ballpark. (How's that for next week's lesson on idioms?) Seriously, so long as they really did not plan on a writing teacher, this should all work out pretty well. Last time I did have to teach writing. But what they meant was how to format letters, resumes, invitations, and that sort of thing. Come on, now, I am a married lawyer. Do you think my wife will let me anywhere near the invitations? And any secretary worth her salt would not let me have anything to do with actually formatting anything. That is what Word Templates are for. They did give me a book with all the examples I needed, and I did teach it, and they all passed the University Writing Final. This year, no such book. Just the title of the class suggests writing. I asked about it, but the answer has not come yet.
The food here is really quite good. But today we finally found a dish we just could not eat. I suppose I should have suspected something when after I asked for what those guys had, she brought out a calves liver that had been cooked and asked if I liked how it tasted. I did, so she proceeded. She did not have me taste the sauce she would add. And when I told her I wanted to take the meal home to my wife rather than eat it there, she delivered it uncooked. It looked cooked to me, but when I got home, Carolyn said she spotted ICE between some of the vegetables, and put it into a pan for warming. It did not look nearly as delicious once it was fully cooked, but we ate it anyway. At least a few bites. Then I announced, "This stuff is awful." Carolyn was relieved. We finished our suddenly lighter lunch by eating the delicious bread rolls I had bought from the same lady, and drinking orange juice. We were both glad we had not ordered this dish when eating out or when somebody else was paying!
Had a great birthday yesterday. After classes, Carolyn took me to Jenny's Café for Lunch/Dinner. It was great to have real, American style crinkle cut French fries, crisp and a bit salty, but not burned nor too salty, hot and cooked in the middle even. AND KETCHUP! Pure, unchinafied Ketchup!
After dinner we walked about a bit. Just South of Jenny's we found a shop selling pianos. They also had other instruments hanging in display cases. We asked. Yes, they did have violins! (The music store on the other side of Jenny's also has violins, but they are really cheap student versions, not worth even their cheap prices.) Carolyn tried several, dismissing some that were untenable or unplayable, but finding three possibles. As she tuned these instruments, you could see her begin to relax, when she began to play scales, a slight smile formed on her face, and when she began playing simple tunes from memory, the delight in her eyes and the life in her smile were a joy to behold. That's my Girl! We took notes on prices, and said we would probably be back, but needed to check other places first. That should be a lot of fun!
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