Student and Teacher

Hola everyone^^ Greek Man is back with another update from Beijing! I'm going to give you an update on what's been going on with my life here. The goods and the bads! So I recently started working as an English teacher. I teach 2 times a week here at the university. It involves mostly improving the English of the professors. It's fun really because the class is lighthearted and I get to perform more like a stand-up comedian rather than a teacher. Three times a week I conduct English training sessions at a five-star hotel in Chaoyang District, where things get a little more professional as you can clearly see in the above photo.

All of this and much more after the jump!

These days I get to experience both sides of the educational coin as I am both a student and a teacher. I'll have to say that it can be handfull at times teaching someone a foreign language and the amount of patience needed is great. I kinda understand now how my two Chinese teachers must be feeling everytime I get a tone wrong or I don't remember what a letter means. :-p It's a rewarding experience, though, and I'm getting a lot out of it. First and foremost, I'm finally taking care of myself in a more adult manner. I found these jobs on my own, bargained my salaries (not so much) and signed my contracts. I'm feeling quite proud of myself at this point and even if things do go wrong I still won't regret it. Teaching seems like an ideal way to kick start the "grow up" process in me as it is something I did extensively and to this day I consider it one of my greatest "feats" (survive 6 years with little rascals running around and you'll call it a feat as well).

Of course they are not all that as jobs. They both have their ups and downs. The university, for one, is giving me a low pay per hour with very few hours per week. But I think the classes here are more fun because the students actually chose to take them. They ask questions, they laugh, they respond and most importantly they understand me most of the time. This could be because they are teachers themselves too of course. On the other hand, the hotel job feels a little more stale. I have two kinds of classes, advanced and basic. In both cases I was told they know at least SOME English. They are not complete beginners and that holds true for the advanced students. The basic though are another story. In these classes I have a mixed fruits selection of students ranging from almost absolute beginners to "yeah I understand some England"-like ones. This is were I get a questionmark above my head, cause I'm not dealing with the cleaning crew but with phone operators and receptionists. How can one be in the hotel business without at least some knowledge of English? I do understand that the average Chinese person has no almost need at all for English but this is a five-star hotel in one of the best areas of Beijing. But that's not really where my frustration derives from. It is that this job is training, not teaching, which means these guys are having English shoved down their throats with little to no interest in it whatsoever. And I can tell you for sure it is a pain at times. Only two days ago I was helping a restaurant hostess with her pronounciation of the word "thousand" and I could just feel her anxiety. Almost felt like she wanted to punch me for not moving along to someone else. But ok, that's how life is. Pay is good so I'm not gonna moan any further.

So everyday is a busy day for me really. Aside from my classes and work take the bus and meet up with Kim. Also have to practice my Chinese writing which I need to do a lot really. Feels like I'm back in elementary school writing "A" 100 times to get it right. Only these "A's" have a lot more lines and curves. But it's fun. Didn't really think I would go so deep into the language. I'm loving it so far! Still trying to communicate for the bare necessities is still proving to be a difficult task at times but I'm getting there.

Next week is the national celebration of the Republic of China so we're going to have 8 days of rest and relaxation come October the 1st. Yay^^ Could use some extra sleep really. It's come to my attention that the university wants me to move on the above floor in the dormitory for some reason. Something about new students coming in. Won't get my hopes up about them being western though. :-P

That's it for now! Take care all of you!