new job

Yesterday was the last of my introduction classes, so I've seen every student I have. There are many. I think close to 1000. I will not be learning names. I'd be surprised if I remember faces.

So far the school is fine. The apartment is nice enough, the other staff reasonably friendly, and my workload is very light. I am still teaching at another college in my copious free time, so money is not an issue. For now, I have nothing to complain about.

I teach 9 classes a week, all double periods. Each class is one and a half hours. Twice a week (including a little later today) I teach Business English students. The rest of the time, I am teaching non-English majors, many of whom don't really want to learn English. Some are wildly enthusiastic. About what I'd expect. The 7 non-English classes are every other week, so I have 14 classes of them. These students do not receive a grade, so I only need to grade one class, and homework is not necessary. So I teach them if they want to learn, and ignore them otherwise.

I went exploring the area around my new home last night for a while. I was looking for, and found, a market, the supermarket, restaurants (preferably one with pictures, so I can point at what I want), a convenience stores, bike repair shops and places with pool tables. I was also hoping to find a bar or club and a dvd shop, but oddly enough failed at both. There are guys selling dvds off of carts, but they only have Chiense. Still, how can you have a large college and no bar in walking distance? Stranger, I found a few tattoo places. Tattoos are not very common in China, and while there are a few tattoo parlors in Zhongshan, I have no idea where there are a few here in the middle of nowhere.

I've gotten better at calculating how much power my scooter has, so trips to and from the center of the city are getting quicker as I am now able to go over 20 kph. (must remember to remind Michelle and Karen that if they want me to drive them around, it is important to mention that before I drive around a few hours. Those last few blocks home, it's more fun to ride the scooter than to push it)

last night, set up the Wii and decided to play to make sure it was working. Somehow, 5 hours disappeared. I think I know what will eat up a lot of my time soon.