Chinese Lessons

I know this blog is a lot about my personal experiences, and not much about the actual teaching here, but when I was planning on coming I could only find blogs about how wonderful the children were and how sad the teachers were to leave.  There was nothing about the day to day experiences.  I thought this kind of blog might help someone that wants to know what it is like to live and teach here.  Granted, I have traveled a lot and lived in both developed and undeveloped countries, so my impressions are a little more accepting than the average first time American traveler.

4/17/14

I had my first Chinese lesson at Web International on Tuesday.  My Chinese tutor gave me a half hour lesson on the sounds of vowels in Chinese, and the pronunciation tones.  I have either read about or had these described to me several times, but I find that it takes several times for me to really assimilate them.  The problem I find with the tones is that when I try to say more than one word, a sentence, I try to give the words “normal” sentence tones, and then I forget the word tones.  Hmm.  This is going to take a while.  And I really need to practice using the words too.  So far I have only used a couple while shopping or taking a taxi.

Sonjiang Web International English Center

I’m using online courseware to learn Chinese too.  If I repeat the words to myself for several days after the lessons I begin to remember them.  I have realized that I need to learn the Chinese writing characters also if I want to understand what is around me.  This actually strikes me as not so hard, because I am a more visual person.  So I have learned a couple…there are only about 5000, right.  And they change meaning when they are combined with each other.  I think I need a tutor for this also.  There are “handwriting” or calligraphy classes here for nationals, but I’m not sure where I would find one for an English speaker.  Maybe one of my students will know.

I missed church last week because I was waiting for IKEA to deliver my furniture.  They are coming again this Saturday, and I hope they will get here in time for me to go the local cell group.  I realize it is Easter Sunday, and I would like to be able to worship with other believers.

4/21/14

Things are getting settled in here.  I had my second round of employee orientation yesterday and I have a teacher training session next week.  The student feedback has been positive and I the trainers will continue to observe me teaching.  Next week I will begin teaching three larger classes a week, (called English Corner, or Social Club) from curriculum that I will create myself. 

I got my mattress situation taken care of as well as changing the lock on the door and small repairs that needed done in the apartment.  I think my landlady is happy with me, and she has been helpful when I needed it.

Last weekend one of my brother's students from Anhui province came to Shanghai for several job interviews.  She came to visit me and stayed the day.  We met one of my students here for lunch and had a wonderful time.  

I attended a local Christian cell group meeting last Saturday.  They watched the Jesus movie as a celebration of Easter.  It is co-lead by one of the teachers at the school; there are several Christians in our office.

I went to the local medical center today to get some chiropractic treatment for my back and the pain in my legs.  The doctor of traditional Chinese medicine there spoke English and has requested some medical records and I hope I can get them by email from the States. I need to purchase some Skype credits so I can call the medical center there.

4/26/14

I spent 9 hours yesterday going around Shanghai to get my paperwork done for my long term work permit.  I knew I had to register within 30 days of arriving, but I thought that was part of my medical checkup.  Turns out it is a separate thing, and I was about to run out of time.  The visa specialist got all my application papers ready, and she was grateful for me doing it all in a rush.

 The inside entrance of the mall where the Center is.

They gave me time off work to do it, and I actually missed teaching yesterday.  Since I am shy I feel like I am not sure how to make friends with the people I see every day.  I have to remind myself that I have only been here three weeks.

I get paid for the first time on the 5^th.  I am looking forward to getting some money and replenishing my bank account.  I have to figure out how to exchange and transfer money to my Bank of America account.  I know that Bank of America has a branch in Shanghai, but I’m pretty sure it’s in the city and pretty far away.  I tried to do a search for a location, and didn’t get a clear idea of where it is.  Somewhere in the financial district.  I will ask around at work for some help.

I’ve decided to extend my free trial of the online Chinese 101 lessons.  I’ve been doing them three to four times a week, and I want to keep on.  Since I am surrounded with English all day most days, I am not learning very fast, but I feel like if I just keep on it will stick.  I was going to cancel, but they sent me a 33% discount offer and it seems like a good deal.

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