I’m back into the swing of things with my new ‘not-so-awesome’ schedule.  If you remember from my last update, Mr. Wang pulled a fast one on me and changed my classes on me the day before I started teaching.  He actually wanted me to start one of the classes that same afternoon.  Why does he not understand that a person needs time to prepare to teach?  I will probably never understand him. 

Last week was pretty ‘normal’.  I had two different classes of students to try to get to know.  The class that I have the most often is my favorite.  They are much more willing participators than the other class.  They ask good questions and are willing to try some silly things. 🙂  I’m looking forward to getting to know them better.  I was even able to have lunch with a few of them after class on Friday.  One pretty huge frustration of mine is the movie class.  Remember how excited I was and how ‘lucky’ I felt that I get to teach this class?  Yeah. I was wrong. You would think that if you are asked to teach a particular class, you would be provided with the tools to teach that class.  Wrong again.  Thankfully, I got to my first ‘movie class’ about an hour early because I didn’t want to go all the way home just to be there for 30 minutes and come back again.  I tried the DVD in the computer (which has the projector hooked up to it) and it didn’t work.  I called Ms. Fan.  She told me to go across the hall to have the format converted. Did that. Didn’t work. One of the students had her computer so we were able to watch the movie with her computer hooked up to the projector.  This was almost in time for class. 😉  We started about five minutes late.  Thursday’s class was better because we were aware of the problem.  However, I got to class yesterday (Monday group again) about 45 minutes early.  I sent Ms. Fan a message to ask her if there would be a computer there.  She immediately responded, Yes! Ok. Good news. Time was wasting away and there was still no computer.  A different student had his computer and so he hooked it up.  The video still would not play. When we finally got it playing but there were no English subtitles. (They like the subtitles because they can understand better.) By the time everything started working, 40 minutes of class were over! And I looked like an idiot. 🙁 Thank you, Ms. Fan. She even wanted me to stay longer because of the delay.  I had made plans to meet a friend right after class.  I was thankful because I wasn’t sure I could take the class anymore.

Last week on my way to class on Thursday, I was biking up ZhongGuanCun East Road and listening to my iPod. (which has revolutionized my biking in Beijing!) Because I was so engrossed in the music, I didn’t hear my cell phone fall out of my pocket!  By the time I realized that I didn’t have it anymore, I was almost all the way to the university.  I stopped, turned around, and proceeded to bike ALL THE WAY home in search of the missing phone.  On the bike ride home, my bike chain fell off 4 TIMES!  Talk about frustrating. I was already late (I was told to come a little late) for school that day.  Thankfully, I’m a perpetually early person so even ‘late’ wasn’t that late.  I wasn’t able to send Ms. Fan a message because I didn’t have my phone.  I decided it would be best to take a cab back to school.  I arrived and explained the story to her (and the class–she wanted me to tell them).  One of the men said, ‘what is your number? I’ll call your phone!’  I don’t actually know my cell phone number. 🙁 I usually just look in my phone for the number.  Thankfully, Ms. Fan had my number and she tried to call my phone.  ‘Unable to be connected.’  I was okay.  I figured that I would walk to another teacher’s apartment after class that day to see how I could go about getting my number back.  I walked to one teacher’s apartment. No one home. I went to the next teacher’s apartment and explained my problem to her.  She helped me find some numbers of people that I needed if I wanted to get my number back. Then another teacher had a phone that I could borrow for a couple days until I got mine back. I was more concerned about the phonebook on the phone than keeping the same number.  I called Ms. Fan to see if she knew how I could get my number back.  She explained. About 10 minutes later she called me and told me that someone had found my phone! Amazing. In a city this huge someone found my phone and was willing to return it.  She said I would have it back by the next day!  That was a relief.  On my way to school the next morning, my chain only fell off twice and got stuck three times.  I anticipated this problem and left much time for traveling.  At the end of my first class, Ms. Fan came into my classroom carrying my phone!  I celebrated by having lunch in the university cafeteria with three students.

Saturday morning was new.  I can now say that I’ve been in a sand storm.  The sky was yellow when I got up for school that day.  I really wish I would have taken pictures of it.  I’ll probably get another chance. (But I won’t be disappointed if I don’t!) The sand storm came again on Monday.  It’s almost like chewing dirt.  I really need to look into buying a mask.  After the skies clear up, it is so beautiful.  I could see the stars very clearly last night. 

Another new experience for me is visiting a tailor to have something custom made.  I’m having a new pair of jeans made!  I’m pretty excited and I will be able to pick them up on Monday.  The only question I wasn’t anticipating was ‘what color of thread?’  Who knew that this would be the thing that would take the longest to decide. At first I said keep it yellow to make them look like regular jeans.  Then I saw different colors and i couldn’t decide.  I finally settled with two colors.

Other than my adventures in teaching, B studies, and losing/finding my phone, things are going well.  I met my Chinese tutor and she keeps telling me how great my pronunciation is!  It makes me feel good when she says, ‘Feicheng hao!’ I can’t wait to have a regular routine set with her.  She told me not to practice with foreigners but to only practice with Chinese people.  This shouldn’t be difficult.  🙂  This week I also managed to sit in a broken chair and crash to the floor as we (3 Americans, 5 Chinese) were sitting down to eat supper. Thankfully it was me and not one of them. (I’m also thankful that it was at a home and not a restaurant!)  However, I think my tailbone will be sore for quite a bit.  I also managed to slip in my classroom and land on my knees.  It’s been an eventful week!  I’m looking forward to what other troubles I can get myself into! 🙂  Have a great week!

Last week I was blessed with a visit from a dear American friend.  Her visit began with a ride on the awesome Beijing subway.  I forget how convenient the subway is. I kind of take it for granted now! 🙂  First of all, it was really fun to see Beijing from a new person’s eyes.  I think I forget about some of the oddities that happen in my everyday life here. But, when there is someone who does not experience these things everyday, it turns out to be amusing all over again.  Her first night here was pretty crazy. It was the Lantern Festival so there were more fireworks.  We had supper at a hole-in-the-wall (but favorite) restaurant and then headed to the 17th floor of another teacher’s apartment to watch some fireworks! 

While she was here we visited the silk market to buy scarves! 🙂 They are just so cheap in China that you can’t go home without two or three (or ten) scarves! We also visited the pearl market, and three other ‘normal’ markets to practice our bargaining skills.  We went to the Olympic park, the Forbidden City, The Temple of Heaven, and Mutianyu (a beautiful section of the Great Wall).  I have now been to the Great Wall four times and I would still go back!  She was able to come to B Study and hang out for a full day with one of my dear Chinese friends.  I think she enjoyed that a lot. 

After her week here it was time for me to get back into my routine.  Mr. Wang had not called me about teaching so I was still wondering a little when I would start.  I called him to ask him about it and he gave me a list of classes I would teach.  I should have known that this was just the beginning of another whirlwind, schedule-changing, phone conversation of craziness.  Funny to note:  Wang is a common family name in China but the word ‘wang’ (when said with different tones) can also mean ‘to deceive or scare’, ‘in the wrong’, ‘absurd or rash’, ‘disappointed’ or ‘to forget’.  Hmmm.  At first he told me that I would be teaching the Business English class again at Tsinghua/Qinghua University along with a pronunciation class. Fantastic. Bring on the coffee. However, the schedule for these two classes would have been amazing so I was actually pretty excited about it.  Then, he told me I would keep Bus. English but have a conversation class at Sinopec and an American Culture class. Schedule = way less amazing.  So I called him and told him I would rather have it the other way.  Okay.  He called Ms. Fan to tell her he was changing it back to just the two classes.  They argued. I listened but didn’t understand. He told me that I would have it the other way.  Then, I got a phone call from him at 8:00 one morning to ask me if I would be willing to keep the culture class.  As a bribe, he told me I could pick the textbook for the class! Ha! I told him I would try it out for a week but there was no guarantee!  (He eats this stuff up!) So he picked me up yesterday to take me to the university to do oral testing for the new bunch of gentlemen (and a couple ladies) of CRCC.  (How are they ever going to be as awesome as last semester’s group?) The oral testing was brutal. I don’t remember my students being that low last semester. We have a lot of work ahead of us.  This morning he took me textbook shopping and broke the news to me that I wasn’t able to have the pronunciation class.  (He also tried to kill me with his horrible driving skills. I keep trying to tell him that if he’s going to talk on his phone while he drives that he has to pick a lane and stay there. Either that or I will bike to wherever we are going and get there before he does.)  They wanted to give the pronunciation class to another teacher. Okay.  But he told me they have a different class for me to teach.  He called it ‘American Film Appreciation’.  Basically, I show them American movies and we discuss them.  How awesome is that!?!  I get to do this twice a week.  I’ll let you know how the first class goes. 🙂  So, tomorrow (Friday) begins the craziness.  I hope that I’m able to get to know some of them like my students from last semester.  I keep reminding myself that it will be different so as to not be disappointed. 

Another thing that happened in the past week was that I got a Chinese tutor! I’m really excited to actively study Chinese in the country where it is spoken!  When I told one of our Chinese friends that I had a tutor, she told me that there are students at Bei Da (Peking University) that major in Chinese as a Second Language and part of their requirements is to tutor someone learning Chinese…for free!  So, I’m going to keep the tutor that I made an appointment with and also get a free tutor from the university.  I should be fluent by the time I come home! 🙂 Ha! 

Lastly, I can tell you and tell you in a journal-like blog entry how awesome it is to be here and see firsthand HIS WORD working in the hearts of the people here.  But–I think that when a person experiences it for his/herself, that person fully understands what I’m talking about.  Just ask my friend.  She’ll tell you.  She was only here for a week and I think she gets it.  The tug in my heart to stay another year doesn’t come from the touristy places of Beijing, or the Wall, or the other awesome places I’ve gotten to see or have the potential of seeing. (and they are all awesome too!)  The tug comes from the people here who I’m so blessed to see on a regular basis and with whom I get to read The Greatest Story Ever Told.  I just don’t think I’m ready to leave that yet.  Come to China and see for yourself!  You’ll understand.