Today, (Tuesday) one of my roommates and I biked to 林大 to meet Mr. Wang, who would take us to our meeting at Sinopec.  We didn’t really know how long it would take us to get there so we left about 45 minutes before we were supposed to meet.  It ended up taking only about 15-20 minutes so we were able to enjoy the beautiful Beijing 北京 weather for a little while.  While waiting at the main gate, there was another foreigner wandering around, looking like he was waiting for something too.  He finally approached us and asked if we were waiting for Mr. Wang.  We struck up a conversation with him and found out that he is from Nebraska and has taught for Sinopec in the past and it was really great.  He thinks it is one of the best places to teach in Beijing 北京. 

Mr. Wang arrived at the given time and we all packed into his car.  He drove us to the northeast section of Beijing, through the Olympic Greens on North 5th Ring Road.  We arrived (safely I might add) at Sinopec for our meeting.  The meeting was interesting.  Dress code and teacher policies were explained to us and then there was a lot of talking about us in Chinese.  The Nebraskan foreigner knew Chinese pretty well so he could tell us what they were saying about us.  It’s a little unnerving listening to someone talk about you in another language. 🙂 

After the meeting, we asked Mr. Wang when we would begin teaching.  He said, “next week…or tomorrow.”  We had a good chuckle about this but wondered if he was a little bit serious.  Mr. Wang said, “you take taxi home now.” He wanted to stay with the people at Sinopec to talk about scheduling us.  He told us he would pay for our cab and then did not give us money for it.  Hmmm….  Sometimes I think he is a tad forgetful. 🙂  On our way back from 林大, another of the veteran teachers and I had lunch together.  During our lunch, Mr. Wang called me.  He wanted to know if I could teach that afternoon as a ‘fill-in’ teacher for one class.  He made it clear that it was only one time.  I said yes and then went to the school to teach some 5th graders about the seasons.  They were definitely the worst class I have ever taught.  So, I have seen both sides of Chinese education now.  I feel blessed to have my Saturday 7th graders! While I was at this other school, Mr. Wang’s assistant said that they haven’t found a teacher for this school and that maybe I would teach there. WHAT?!?! This is not what we agreed to!!  Tomorrow I will visit with Mr. Wang about what I am expected to do.

This evening, we had another jog in the park.  This time there were many more people jogging through the park and there was no “bu hao” from an old lady.  It felt really good to have tennis shoes on after a long day in dress shoes.  Afterwards, the three new girls went out for supper.  It was a grand time. 

It was a rollercoaster ride of a day.  I wonder if this is what my whole year will be like.  I have heard that nothing in China is written in stone until it actually happens, and even then I have a hard time believing it!  Until next time…