My kids...

So, as many of you already know, I started teaching a TOEFL class here in Beijing because:

A) I thought itd be nice practice for being a lawyer and having to control a jury of ADHD, cell phone texting, giggling, whispering group of people. (I obviously respect jurors...)

B) For those who know me, I like to be involved in as many activities as possible. I started doing it to force myself to kick my procrastination tendencies. Being really active actually helps me organize my time. (So far....it hasn't gotten out of control yet :p )

C) A little spending $$ isn't bad either. Its going straight into my global traveling fund for this summer. The classes are also only a few hours a week; so I can easily work it into my hectic schedule of wandering around Beijing like a vagabond.

Well, here is one of my fellow teachers, Steve, vlogging on youtube. He's hilarious; you gotta watch this video. My poor neighbors...I watched this vid like 4 times last night and laughed like an idiot every single time. The latter half of the video, from 4mins onwards, is VERY similar to my experiences thus far.

Steve's vlog: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3M2c2Nb1j8

I, too, have 'bad' classes and 'good' classes. Chinese students, from an early age, are not taught to just speak up loudly in class; moreover, they are rarely given the opportunity to do so in class. So for most of my students, its not ingrained in them to just openly scream out the answers. (Unlike sections at Harvard, where you wish people would just shut up.)

So far, the funniest thing to me has been my students' email addresses. I tend to send most things through email because I am convinced that the environment is being helped by my not using paper directly. Captain Planet, he's our hero, stuff. Earth, Wind, Water, Fire, PAPER! Anyways, I was expecting emails like... Jennifer . Lan @ gmail . com....

No. (btw, all the emails below have been changed to protect the innocent, but they are all this long)

I don't know if its because China has 657.8 bln people or what (1.3bln actually) and you need super long email addresses in order to register but the emails are like:

Zhou32579812634882@yahoo.cn

or

WYY090298223HHH3983@126.com

or

Michael191981@gmail.com (but this is a girl's email address...??)

You might think I'm exaggerating, but I'm not. How the eff do they remember their email addresses? I can barely remember my new 11-digit cell # much less an email like Needer7171983254826.

Anyways, it seems like students have problems remembering their email addresses, too. I sent out the first class wide emails this weekend, and I got like 40 MAILSYSTEMERROR responses. Then, for example, when I asked one student in class today what her correct email was...instead of the reasonable one I had originally written down:

JessicaMayxiaoyu@sohu.com

She looked at it and said "OH! You copied it wrong!" (which, I then thought maybe I had one of the letters wrong.) When I asked her what the right one was, she replied:

Her: Jessica45396718Mayxiaoyu@sohu.com

Me: .........


Yes, you're right. Somehow I didn't hear the 8 digits that came between the first and last parts; I must have passed out when you listed off numbers for 15 seconds.
--

Out of 150 kids, only one kid told me he didn't check his email often and asked what to do about that. My short response of "start checking it" must have ticked him off because he hasn't shown up to class since then...or maybe he's busy at the computer trying to register a new email address, Tom3847234JJdhUT0923@yahoo.cn. Good luck with that, Buddy.

In other news, these kids (for the most part) are great. I told them I'd send out the class syllabus after class. Yet, after I sent it out, I got like 20 emails back:

"Thank you so much for your kindness."

"You are so fair! I will study hard."

"I have received it, teacher. You are star."

"Thanks!! This is so kind of you."


Haha, these kids are awesome. I am a big fan. You should hear some of the English names they have for themselves. I feel bad putting them online, just ask me. Basically, they're very HOLLYWOOD names like Apple, Bronx Mowgli, Zahara, Phinnaeus, Suri, Bluebell...Actually, nix that. My kids' names kick those other kids' names butts. Try Wanditalee. Or perhaps Par.

Because of this scarring experience, my children can look forward to banal names such as Bob and Ann. Haha jk. Most likely they'll be Jackson, Samantha, and Pineapple.

PS: Enjoy these pics. All of the pics on this blog are expandable if you click on them. Cheers.

I will send my children to the Winnie the Pooh School of International Diplomacy.

Hubcat kitty hangs out in front of my apartment building every morning. I got a wierd look from my friend the other morning when I said.."this cat looks so Chinese!" .... It does. I don't see these types of wild cats in the States.

For no good reason other than the fact that this is my blog and I can post this....here is RobPat.

From today's Wall St. Journal: The U.S. and its major allies softened their criticism of China's controversial currency policy in a shift that reflects the West's eagerness for Beijing's help in resolving the global financial and economic crisis. Having just weeks ago accused China of manipulating its currency to gain an edge in foreign trade, US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner praised Beijing for "playing a very important role in the international financial system today." Mr. Geithner's friendlier stance toward China comes amid worsening economic troubles. (The cartoon is from China Daily, a cpl weeks ago)