Tomorrow I will walk into a room full of 24 students and become a teacher. It is a bit of a deja vu experience for me because last Monday I thought would be my first day of teaching. In fact, I was totally prepared: powerpoint on flash drive, handouts copied and arranged in new clear plastic folder, and lack of sleep due to nervousness clearly painted on my anxious face. The department was very clear that we would begin September 3rd, so there I was at 8AM Monday morning. Actually, I was early (a feat considering my usually close to late appearances) and had declared myself as teacher by spreading my stuff over the front desk and asking a student if they could please find the key to open the computer. (Remember, students often study in their classrooms.) Almost everyone vacated the room expect for one student who, speaking very little English, came up to my desk looking very confused. I asked him to locate his name on my class list, which he did reluctantly, all the time trying very hard to tell me something about Week 3. I, the very anxious to start class teacher, told him not to worry things would make sense soon.
Well, 8AM sort of came around and still I had no students. I was feeling a bit concerned about the only three students helping me to get the key to the computer, when one of the girls realized she was in the class next door (also an English class taught by Branson not me). I checked the room number on my list. Yes, room 115. Yes, that was the number above the door to the classroom. Then, hallelujah!, there was Miho in the next room! She noticed my confusion, plus the two students trying hard to explain something to me in fragmented English words, promptly came and spoke in Chinese with the students. "Oh Mya," she says, "the students say they have this class but on their schedule and on the board in front it says it does not start until next week, the 3rd week." What? Oh bother. I thanked the students, told them I would figure it out and see them next week or something and went home to make some frantic calls.
Eventually, I did get in contact with Leslie and Guan (our liaisons with the graduates department) who literally patted me on the head, comforting me for my strange first day, and explained I actually did not start till Week 3. A mixed sort of relief: happy to be free to adjust a bit more but also upset I couldn't just get the first week over and done.
So, indeed, I have had the week to adjust and sleep a bit which has been a very good thing. I do have to work a week later in December, which does mean working over Christmas (though I get that one day off), but over all I appreciated my time. Honestly, I did not get half the things done I had hoped but I now have a bamboo plant in my living room and a working hot plate. I consider those accomplishments not to be taken lightly. J
And, tomorrow I will become a teacher. I am scared, frightened, excited and probably too confident for my own good. The lesson will be fairly easy, it is the names I am most concerned about.
I actually have a small rant I would like to share here (you can bear with me or just pretend I finished with the above paragraph): Ok, I do not want to give English names. That concept does not sit well with me and I have felt frustrated this week with all the talk of English names and bringing books to help people choose, and not letting students pick things like 'rainbow' or 'sky-bird.' Well why not!? But most of all, why are the names they have not good enough? What is an English name? How it is so different? Yes, of course it will be difficult to remember everyone's name, especially because Chinese pronunciation is very complicated for newbies. Bah! I am bad with names as it is and learning some 200 new student's names is going to be a bigger challenge than learning rudimentary Chinese, but I truly pledge to do so to my best abilities. OK. So maybe I am over-reacting but, unless a student is very insistent on using the name they choose for themselves in English, I will use their name given to them by their parents. (If anyone has any thoughts or advice on this for me PLEASE email me! I would appreciate the encouragement.)
Zaijiang! (Goodbye minus some accents for the pinyin). More Later!
1 comment:
Living in Vancouver, I work with a lot of Asian people. About 90% of them use English names. There is something cultural about it I guess.
Perhaps they think it will make them better business partners if their American contacts can comfortably refer to them as "Susan" instead of Shiyun. For the ones who immigrate to Canada or the US, it is probably their way of making an effort to commit themselves wholeheartedly to their new home.
Or maybe they don't want to pain English-speakers with the difficulty of pronouncing their name correctly. When I lived in Germany, I went by Didi instead of hearing my name "Diedre" be mangled.
When I learned American Sign Language, I was given a signed name. But maybe that's different.
And maybe I'm rambling.
But I'm your first comment!!!
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