How to teach English to Little Kids

How to teach English to Little Kids

For the last few months I’ve been a glorified English babysitter for two Chinese five-year-olds. I’d like to say I’ve done a pretty decent job. I taught them the basics like numbers, colors, the alphabet and how to write their names. While the writing is still a bit iffy (for some reason “a”s are a […]

A Chinese Dorm Tour

A Chinese Dorm Tour

I’ve been studying at the University of Nottingham in China for about two months now, so I thought it was about time I talk about the dorm I’ll be living in for a year. If you remember my story about my first week of grad school, originally, I was supposed to live in building 18, […]

Women’s Day: A Cultural Conflict

Women’s Day: A Cultural Conflict

Last Thursday I received a text from Lynn: “(101) 7:55-8:35, (109) 9:40-10:20, (103) 10:30-11:10. The time for class has been changed tomorrow because of the celebrating activity.” “Celebrating activity?” I replied. “Will you meet us at the front gate of the school after class about 11:15 so that we can go to the buffet together.” […]

Baby Pressure in China

Baby Pressure in China

Young Chinese women are under immense pressure to have a baby the moment they get married. For many, the pressure comes from the grandparents who are only allowed one grandchild under the One Child Policy. Society also plays a role with constant questions and comparisons. I joke that a few of the English teachers at my […]

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

After my bout of Christmas food poisoning, I started to feel a little better on Monday, so I taught my afternoon classes. While my voice was still pretty much gone, I was at least able to show the first third of Elf, which the students really enjoyed! In the afternoon, I stopped by the office […]

Christmas Food Poisoning

Christmas Food Poisoning

For some reason Chinese people believe that Christmas Eve is a big deal. Maybe they think it’s like New Years Eve or something, I’m not quite sure. Regardless, all of the English teachers wanted to celebrate with me on Christmas Eve. The school planned a giant banquet for all of the English teachers, and they […]