I went to the grocery store last night to get some stuff for breakfast and when I got up to the check out I realized that I had neither my Chinese debit card nor enough cash to cover my purchases. I couldn't use my Chase Visa because if we use them here it will flag our account/close our account/ruin JP Morgan Chase/bring the US economy (further) to its knees or something. It's a shame because my American card is a Disney Visa and it has adorable Dalmatians on it. So, that was embarrassing. And it was a bummer because I did not successfully purchase the bananas and red bean steam buns I had wanted for breakfast this morning. Sads all around.
In my embarra-haze I forgot to post last night.
I substitute taught a "Pre-Sticker" class last night. Our campus' other foreign teacher, Garfield, is in Beijing dealing with Visa/Passport stuff. "Pre-Sticker" is our kindergarten program. These guys were "Pre-Sticker 5," so my 10 students were between 4 and 6 years old. I think most of them were right at 5. They were good kids; they listened and no one cried. It was a successful evening.
I've got another Thanksgiving themed English Corner tonight. I'll give them a rundown on the holiday have the kids make cards that say "I'm thankful for..." for their parents. It seems like most of what they know about the holiday is that we eat poultry (the turkey is almost always mistaken for chicken), so I try to focus on my favorite aspects: family fun time, actual thankfulness and the parade.
Because Garfield is still out of town, I'll teach 4 "classes" over 2 hours instead of 2 classes over 2 hours. Meaning, I'll have to bounce between them. I'm going to ask if I can squeeze at least an extra 1/2 hour's pay out of the night for my trouble. Usually they're pretty good about that, so it's likely.
I've got to finish my lesson planning, so here are some pictures that I forgot to post from the Halloween English Corners and parties that we did a couple of weeks ago (and some other random photos):
In my embarra-haze I forgot to post last night.
I substitute taught a "Pre-Sticker" class last night. Our campus' other foreign teacher, Garfield, is in Beijing dealing with Visa/Passport stuff. "Pre-Sticker" is our kindergarten program. These guys were "Pre-Sticker 5," so my 10 students were between 4 and 6 years old. I think most of them were right at 5. They were good kids; they listened and no one cried. It was a successful evening.
I've got another Thanksgiving themed English Corner tonight. I'll give them a rundown on the holiday have the kids make cards that say "I'm thankful for..." for their parents. It seems like most of what they know about the holiday is that we eat poultry (the turkey is almost always mistaken for chicken), so I try to focus on my favorite aspects: family fun time, actual thankfulness and the parade.
Because Garfield is still out of town, I'll teach 4 "classes" over 2 hours instead of 2 classes over 2 hours. Meaning, I'll have to bounce between them. I'm going to ask if I can squeeze at least an extra 1/2 hour's pay out of the night for my trouble. Usually they're pretty good about that, so it's likely.
I've got to finish my lesson planning, so here are some pictures that I forgot to post from the Halloween English Corners and parties that we did a couple of weeks ago (and some other random photos):