Spent a few hours today walking around, looking for an electronics store that was suppose to be near the main square of the district (I’m in “New District”, SND for short)…
Never found it, however I did find a Starbucks. It was also probably the best-kept Starbucks I’ve ever seen. This is […]
The Gas range in this apartment has renewed my interest in cooking… I forgot how much better it is to cook on Gas vs. Electricity. Everything heats up so quickly & cooks very evenly. The ventilation hood is better than most I’ve seen in the states, it actually sucks up the cooking […]
After talking with another teacher earlier this week, apparently (part of the reason) why my classes are starting so late is that incoming freshmen have 2 weeks of Military Physical training/Boot Camp before coming to class. If they don’t make it through the university, they have to do military service (since the public is paying […]
Observed teacher #3 for 2 classes. Both classes were “privately funded” (one was an active class, the other not so much so). Apparently in China, as long as you score well on the entrance exams, you can attend college for free. However if you didn’t score well, or you want to attend […]
To get my work visa, I needed to get a medical exam. I was surprised how detailed it is… Chest X-rays and Ultrasounds & EKGs oh my :-p. Luckily the school paid for it (520rmb…apparently its gone up several times in the last few years), and I even got a Medical kit out […]
I observed another foreign language teacher’s (sophomore) oral English class today. Well actually 1.5 classes (sat in for the first half of a second class, doing my introduction thing). The teacher suggested it would be a good idea for me to ask everyone to ask me a question as part of my introduction. […]
I am very happy that I do not teach until the 19th - Observing how an Oral English class is taught is different then how I thought it would be. The teacher I was shadowing had me introduce myself, the students just had this weird look before I said anything, then they just had […]
From the front page of my school’s english website:
Introduction
Suzhou University of Science and Technology (SUST) […]
Received a call from the teaching assistant this morning… Apparently we are back on the same track of me not starting to teach until the 19th (Actually start on the 18th, but I have no classes to teach on Thursdays
)…I was told the students came back today, but are not ready for classes […]
Well just got a call from the teaching assistant (yes at 10:30pm) that I will start teaching tomorrow (instead of the 19th)… He apologized and said he should have to me earlier today…uh-huh….
I was planning on observing another Foreign Language teacher do his thing, but I guess it’ll be straight to the pool for me… […]