Payday

11 Sep 06

Today is supposed to be payday. However, we have not yet descended upon the office like a¡­ well, like a mob of foreigners. Zeneta and I did, both, manage to call home and say hello to people in the US.

At lunchtime we met with some of the other teachers and went back to Diagone Alley. We were planning to try the campus canteen (in addition to learning Chinese, we are also being forced to learn, and speak, UK English). However, we discovered that we were to late for dinner and it would be several hours, with two of us in class, before it would be time for supper.

While at Diagone Alley (I will find the proper name, although I noted the other teachers also calling it by that name) we had, what several of them called, Chinese hamburgers. They were closer to a pita sandwich. It was more of a round pita with a fried egg, bean sprouts, potato, and some other veggies, such as green peppers, onion, and carrot, in it. It was very good, and for one Yuan it was a very good price (and I have learned to say, ¡°how much,¡± in Chinese).

We then walked to a market with Collin and Brawnie and purchased some stuff. On the way back I stopped at a fruit stand and was able to make some purchases and to give the shopkeeper the right amount.

Class went reasonably well. This is the fifth time for this lecture. So, I pretty much had it worked to a smooth delivery. The movies were well received. We finished Fifty First Dates and started Lord of the Rings. I was concerned that they would get bored with LOTR, seeing as it does start out a bit slow. As many of you recall, it starts out with the making of the rings and About Hobbits. However, they seemed to like it. It starts to pick up pretty quickly after about the first forty minuets and I heard the gasps at the right moments. They also seemed to be enamored by the pastoral life of the Hobbits. I liked the fact that the speech is so clear in the movie.

One concern is that I have a totally packed house. I looked at the back of the room and it really was standing room only. I would estimate that there were about 170 people there. In that crowd were some of the other English teachers. I will ask for a larger room today. However, I am not sure that there is one. I managed to work some lecture out of the material. I am also planning to start introducing radio programs, like The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and The Shadow (I am not so sure about The Shadow, he has a Chinese sidekick. I may look for some other action serials); I can do those in the classroom as soon as I get some speakers.

I got home and discovered several things; the first is that I forgot to order more water. This is okay because I had ordered a spare bottle last time. So, we are not out. I also discovered who it is that I need to talk to about getting paid. The director of my department also spoke to Zeneta. He is going to get her someone to start teaching her Chinese. He thinks that she should be doing something to keep from getting bored.

I have not posted this yet because our Internet connection is, again, not working. It seems to be broken a lot in the morning.

Well, I just heard revelry being played over the speakers. So, I need to start getting ready. Based on observation, revelry is played at six, seven-thirty, fifteen hundred, and then they play a different tune (a form of taps?) at the end of classes each day. It is not as much of a hurry for me as I am not required to fall in for morning exercises.