That's PROFESSOR Besche to you...

So... I just started my first post-graduation job... and I'm an English professor?! How did THAT happen?!

My first class was yesterday, and it was awesome! There are only 11 of them, and 2 were absent. That might not seem like a big deal, but that's an INCREDIBLY small class for China, so I'm super-pumped, and like... I'm really eager for them to speak English like a native! They are all double majors in English and various branches of geosciences, hence the name, China University of Geosciences. I meet with them for an hour-and half three times a week... which is three times more lesson plans that I had in mind. Oh well. Since they have never been taught English by a native speaker, they never got English names, so I got to name them all, and I named them after my friends from school... Emily, Abby, Shelly, Heidi, Mark, Phillip, David... and then one of the them had "Wen" as part of her Chinese name, so I named her after my Aunt Wendy, and then one of the guys wanted to be named Dean, so I let him, but he thinks it's pronounced with 2 syllables, like "De-in". We'll work on it. I hope my other class doesn't have English names either, so I can name them after my friends my home and other friends from school, so... Mari, Whitney, mom, James, Laura, Corinne, Jonathan, etc... you're next.

I think class went very well. I introduced myself, went over my three classroom expectations (no cheating, no cell phones, and graded class participation). Then I had them introduce themselves to me and the class with their new English names, hobbies, future plans, other major, and then I have them each a surprise question that they couldn't prepare for, like "If you had to choose between losing your hearing and your sight, what would you choose and why?" So that was their speaking assignment, then I gave them a (self-serving) writing assignment, "Where is your favorite place to eat in Wuhan? What dishes to you order?"

I also had them write down questions they have about America, so I will share:

Wendy (Hu Wen, Music Major): "My question is: Is America will be a good place to travel? Is there any funny customs?"

Dean (Zhang Hua Wen, Oil exploration): "I wish I could have a chance to go to America. Basketball is one of my favorite sports and the movies of America are so exciting and funny, so I want to know whether it is convinion for Americans to watch NBA and is it expensive to watch a film in a cinima?"

Phillip (Li Zhen Huan, Computer mathematics): "What American views to the happiness if marriage are?"
"Who will be the next American president?"
"How to define American friendship?"

Emily (Wang Rong, Computer Mathematics): "I like to live in the countryside in America. It's so good. If I want to have a big farm, what should I do in America?"

Shelly (Shi Wen Juan, Geog. Info Systems): "is it popular to study Chinese in America?"

Abby (Ao Wen Juan, Geog. Info Systems): "If there are several people in the same family, called the same name, how can their family call them?"
[I didn't understand at first, but I figured it out, and talked about Sr. and Jr. and nicknames]

David (Sun Hong Liang, Physics): "How does American citizens think of China?"

I find myself thinking of fun activities and lesson plans and evaluating what skills they still need to develop. It's really fun!



I have made another Chinese friend, Michael. He's not a student; he's more of an assistant to our liaison. He's been to my apartment like 3 or 4 different times to fix things and hook up my computer. The other day, I was having trouble connecting to the Internet, so Ms. Jia sent up Michael, of course. He speaks about as much English as I speak Chinese. I explained the problem by showing him... I tried to visit a website at my apartment, Bu hao. So I made him come with my laptop and me to Sara's apartment, and showed him that I was able to connect there. Hao. Then the funniest part... he did something that we had to wait 10 minutes for, so he says "I want to listen to music." so I put on my iTunes, and he played "Pop" by Nsync on his phone. Then he writes down on paper "Jay-Z" hahahhaaha so I let him listen to Jay-Z in my computer. Oh, China, how you amuse me.


Something else that never ceases to make me chuckle is our Liaison’s improper pronunciation of things. The new teachers had to go to the "play station" to get our residence cards. We all looked at each other and realized she was talking about the "police station". Hilarious.