Olympic Contribution and Life in China

So I realize that I have not updates in a while. I cannot believe that I have already been in China for almost a Month. The transition from home to China was essentially seemless this time. I went from a life in the U.S. to a life in China with no real transition period in between.

In the month I have been here I have already moved into a second apartment in the city, gone to twice weekly Chinese lessons, a weekly english tutoring appointment, a little thing called classes, Sunday morning workouts with a Master’s swim team and even taught a few classes every week. I love the life here and feel like my schedule is full (in a good way) this semester in ways that it was not last year. I am spending a much greater portion of my time doing things, experiencing China than last year when I had so much free time that a lot of my time was spent watching movies and browsing the internet. This year I am even feel a greater connection to my students, which is due in great part to 1.) the fact that I am returning and many of my students already know me and 2.) my students see me around campus a lot more than they did last year.

My classes have had their share of ups and downs. There are those classes that I walk out of thinking “those kids did not understand a single word that came out of my mouth” and those classes which I am simply amazed at the level of questions that the kids ask, showing without a doubt that they are interested in my lecture and are getting what I wanted them to get out of the lesson. As a very general rule, I find myself enjoying my 7th grade classes more than my 8th grade classes, though there of course are exceptions. I think that this may be due to the fact that the 7th grade students are ordered by their level of English Language, with all of the “good” English speakers in the same classroom. This is something that the administration of the school simply forgot to do for the 8th graders.

That is, in short, what classes and life have been filled with over the last few weeks. I am getting ready to give my 1st test, which last year, caused me a lot of frustration with the scored that the kids received. Hopefully this year, things will be better.

Life outside of the classroom has been good, but busy. The highlight of my 1st month back was this past Wednesday, during my English Tutoring appointment with my friend Liao. Liao Yuan works for BOCOG, the Beijing Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games. Normally during our meeting we just talk, working on basic conversational English. This past Wednesday, however, she had work for me to do. I can now claim to have made a significant contribution to the Beijing Olympics. I am more than a fan, I have actually worked for the Organizing Committee. I spent our meeting editing the announcements that will be made in English over the PA system at the Softball Venue, Fengtai Softball Stadium. The announcements had been translated from Chinese to English by University students and a lot of the language was directly translated, making sense, but not sounding right to an English ear. I have been walking around in a great mood since this meeting, knowing that the announcements that are read during the Olympics were shaped, in part by me. Needless to say, for as big of an Olympic fan I am, this is a huge honor and a pretty big deal for me.

Greeting from Beijing,

Gao Tian