First Class(es)

Last week was the official start date of classes for the university.  However, I didn't have my first class until yesterday.  For the foreign teachers, many of the days last week were spent in the main city nearby, working out various paperwork issues, making sure that we are all foreign experts who qualify to be legal residents, and are thereby legally able to teach.  Also, the freshmen students begin their classes two weeks later than the rest of the school in order to fulfill their military training duty.  I'll refrain from going into detail about how intimidating it can be to see waves upon waves of camo marching toward you (as they yell in a foreign language, in unison) when you just want to quietly sneak out the side gate and grab a mango milk tea.

So, yesterday I had my first two sophomore classes.  The classes themselves were fairly uneventful.  The students here, overall, are so respectful and polite that the greatest challenge (at least thus far) seems to be pulling them out of their shell enough that they're willing to speak English.  You know, for their Spoken English class.

Getting to class, on the other hand, has proven to be a bit more of a challenge.  At least in comparison to my alma mater of good ol' WT.  The classrooms are kept fully closed and locked when not in use.  The keys are kept in building 7 and it is each individual teacher's responsibility to sign out their key in advance of class and return it promptly as soon as class is dismissed (in case there is another teacher in that room for the next class period).  Sounds simple enough, right?  Well, my morning session went fairly easily.  I went to the key room in building 7, told the key lady the room number in building 8 that I needed - she seemed quite surprised that I could ask for it in Chinese because she had just been muttering about "those foreigners" and, presumably, their non-Chinese-speaking ways.  I understood her frustration - some of them have been here a whole two weeks and still aren't fluent - tsk, tsk.  I thanked her and went on my way.  I hiked up to my classroom on the 4th floor, unlocked the doors, switched on the breakers, opened the windows, started the fans (only the 5th floor has AC), booted up the computer, and greeted my students as they arrived.  Once class was over, I did everything in reverse including the return of the keys.

When I arrived to pick up the keys for my afternoon class (5th floor! AC! Woohoo!), the key lady went into a bit of a tizzy at the room number.  Quite the discussion ensued.  Apparently the computers in the room were broken and she wanted me to use another, nearby classroom.  She then appointed a room on the 3rd floor for me (ok, so not exactly nearby).  At that point, an individual walked in and they had a discussion which she ended by asking him if he speaks English.  He responded with an affirming "Uh...maybe?"  Seeing a window of opportunity, she seized it and asked him to both explain to me everything the two of us had just discussed in English and to confirm my response.  Unsure of his English, once he realized I could speak/understand a little Chinese, most of his conversation was also in Chinese.  The result was the same, though the key lady appeared to feel much more satisfied.  Signing off, I scurried away to prepare for my class in the new room.  Thankfully, after setting up, I found a student to corner and ask if she was in my class.  She recognized me as her teacher (perhaps from one of the handy fliers circulating campus, like the one pictured below) and agreed to let her classmates know about the room change.