Today I taught my last class at Zhejiang Agriculture and Foresty University. It was 2nd year students from Survey of English Speaking Countries. I still have paper work to submit, and all the annoying bits of teaching but that’s it…I’m done with class. I started in the fall of 2009
Graduation Weekend
If you’ve read this blog even a little you probably have a good idea of how much I love my students. I was going to write a summed up blog post called Ode to my Students, but then I realized that this entire blog was an ode to them, and
When you Just Can't Take Life in China–or Pulling a Runner
So here’s a recent situation of my friend. She was working in a school for little kids and had been there for years. She had to deal with some bureaucratic bull we all go through, but as hers was a private (aka: expensive) school she had less freedom then I do
An Unexpected Semester
I had decided, more than a year ago, that this year would be my last year. I’m not going to leave China, but I’m going to leave the city I’ve called home for the past five years. So I made a plan. First semester was all about my students. I
Getting Tricked by the Trickster
I’ve mentioned one of my former students Wendy several times on this blog. She is responsible for one of the best surprises I’ve ever helped pull off, and she’s even been to my hometown in America. She loves surprises, and tricking people and despite knowing that, she finally got me.
The Last Class
Three and a half years ago I met class 105 and 106. (In China the classes stay the same, with the same students taking all their classes together, for 4 years.) Both freshman classes, new to university life, I was hesitant to say the least. Freshman not only have the
The Class that Took a Lifetime to Prepare (Literally)
Sorry, I’ll admit this is a long post about my favorite students and class that maybe no one will find interesting except for a few foreign teachers who have done something similar. I know it’s going to be a bit boring for my readers at large, but hey, it’s my
Riddle Me This
At the beginning of the semester, 2 of my senior students told me that they had class with one of the other foreign teachers. I was suprised by this because the foreign teacher, Jenny from England, doesn’t teach any of the english majors. In fact, she mostly teaches children. But
Another Brief Moment in Class
My speaking class is not a class I’m putting a lot of effort into. This year it was only half a semester, there is no grading required and in general it’s a class I have resented because I had to work extra hours for no extra pay. But the kids
You Win This Round, Color!
I’ve already extolled the benefits of having a Chinese best friend (as opposed to having a Chinese boyfriend) and one of the benefits is Color and I having crazy conversations. One of these conversations happened almost two years ago when I stayed with him in Hong Kong. My Ex and