End of my first week in Hefei

The week has really flown by! I have slipped into life here in Hefei really easily and my classes have gone so so well. Although I have been teaching since 2004, this is my first proper ESL job. I have 4 classes at the moment and I teach them the same subject, loosely called 'speaking'. This means that my preparation time isn't too bad and by the time I teach the 4th class, I have got the subject material down pat. Yesterday I had my first disappointment in teaching (not having the sequence of teaching and learning in order) which was really frustrating for me. One challenge I have set myself is to learn all of the English names of all my students within 3 weeks. I have worked pretty hard already to learn their names and get to know them. Their response has been fantastic and I think they like that I am trying to make an effort to get to know them.

I have got my 'campus card' which has made life here at AEMI a lot easier. The card is like currency on campus - I can swipe it at the refectory and pay for my food and I can use it at the shops when I want to buy snacks or drinks. I dont think you can use money in the refectory at all. One of my students helped me organise it on Wednesday and I have used it with gusto since.

This is the 'campus card'. The picture on the card is the main gate here at AEMI.

Staff and students especially at AEMI are so friendly and have made me feel really welcome. A couple of times this week after class I have been out with some boys to play online games and last night I met up with some girls from another class and headed out for noodles. Most of the noodle restaurants make their own noodles on site and it's fascinating to watch. Next week I will post a video showning how the 'mien teow' is made. Wednesday night the ANZAC contingent (Dave, Pauline, Prue and myself) headed out for Thai and the food was wonderful. We had to catch a taxi downtown to get the restaurant and it was well worth it! The food was wonderful and the discussion very lively! We had a few beers and the total bill came to like $60 which was excellent value.

Well its now officially the weekend and beer o'clock. The wonderful thing about Friday's (at the moment) is that my teaching is done by 12 midday and the rest of the day is mine! And to top it off, I have a late start (10 am Monday) which is just fine by me!

When I first heard her name, I was sure she said Simone, but no, it'sZimo!