Back in Beijing. I have been here for a few days and I have managed to be quite busy. There was some work for me on both thursday and friday so I can expect a paycheque and I went out sightseeing/shopping yesterday and today with Rae.
The work was ok. I did one demo class and lots, like 50+ evaluations over two days. I don't think I am very good at doing evaluations... I feel bad about doing it, and sometimes it is very hard to tell who's English is better. In general, most people tend to just memorize some stock sentences anyway such as:
"do you have any hobbies?"
"swimming, read books..."
In general, it is rare to find someone who is funtional in English, but then I guess that's why they are learning
One of the jobs I went to was at pingguoyuan, way out in the western suburbs of the city. Not only was it on the last stop of the subway line, but it was a 15 minute bus ride once we got there. All told, it was one and a half hours away from my home in (fairly) central Beijing. I decided then that I could never do a job that required me to commute so much every day, especially not one in Beijing that would only give me at most 3 hours of work every time I went out there.
As for this week, I don't know that work is going to be that good at all. I have one private lesson tomorrow night with Ms Long from the China Development Bank, but after that I don't have anything firmly schedualed until thursday when I give the same woman another lesson. If things keep going this way, there is no way that I will save any money to go traveling in August. I know that the Pingdingshan job is always there if I want it, but Beijing is so much more of a city that I don't know if I could really move back there. I think if Adam does not find me some suitable work this week I will start looking for other employment.
On the social side things are also just so-so. I underestimated the problems that would arise from living with my girlfriend and a friend at the same time. This problem is then exaserbated by the lack of any sort of connection between the two. It is not that they don't like eachother, it is that they don't seem to all that interested in eachother. Also, being that one is a debate friend and the other is a girlfriend and language exchange partner, they naturally have gotten to know different sides of me. This makes it particularly hard to spend all of my time with both of them together.
Tonight was a pleasant evening. We went out for dinner with Rae's friend Kimberly and to our surprise John, a guy who I had met at a party in Vancouver and a few times afterwards also happened to be there. This was somewhat less of a surprise because we knew that he was going to be in China this summer, but it was still nice to see him. I think very highly of him and would like to see him again before he leaves Beijing. John's friend _____ (I forgot his name) was also there with John. ____ is from Taiwan and for some reason that he did not properly explain he was unwilling to speak English the entire night. I caught on quickly that he was able to understand the English we were speaking and it turned out that he had been living in Vancouver for seven years. I do not really know what to make of him except that perhaps he is ashamed of his terrible English ability or that perhaps he is very nationalistic for a country he has never lived in. After dinner, the three of us (Rae, Gabe and myself, of course) had a romantic walk around the lake. Houhai must truely be one of the most pleasant places in Beijing, if not the most pleasant. I am happy that we are going there so often.
No new major insights on China since my last post. I do, however still stand by my statement about China being a scary police state. Despite its modern apperance, it is still not a democracy. People are not free and most of all the media is not free.
I guess I should get to bed...
Marc
The work was ok. I did one demo class and lots, like 50+ evaluations over two days. I don't think I am very good at doing evaluations... I feel bad about doing it, and sometimes it is very hard to tell who's English is better. In general, most people tend to just memorize some stock sentences anyway such as:
"do you have any hobbies?"
"swimming, read books..."
In general, it is rare to find someone who is funtional in English, but then I guess that's why they are learning
One of the jobs I went to was at pingguoyuan, way out in the western suburbs of the city. Not only was it on the last stop of the subway line, but it was a 15 minute bus ride once we got there. All told, it was one and a half hours away from my home in (fairly) central Beijing. I decided then that I could never do a job that required me to commute so much every day, especially not one in Beijing that would only give me at most 3 hours of work every time I went out there.
As for this week, I don't know that work is going to be that good at all. I have one private lesson tomorrow night with Ms Long from the China Development Bank, but after that I don't have anything firmly schedualed until thursday when I give the same woman another lesson. If things keep going this way, there is no way that I will save any money to go traveling in August. I know that the Pingdingshan job is always there if I want it, but Beijing is so much more of a city that I don't know if I could really move back there. I think if Adam does not find me some suitable work this week I will start looking for other employment.
On the social side things are also just so-so. I underestimated the problems that would arise from living with my girlfriend and a friend at the same time. This problem is then exaserbated by the lack of any sort of connection between the two. It is not that they don't like eachother, it is that they don't seem to all that interested in eachother. Also, being that one is a debate friend and the other is a girlfriend and language exchange partner, they naturally have gotten to know different sides of me. This makes it particularly hard to spend all of my time with both of them together.
Tonight was a pleasant evening. We went out for dinner with Rae's friend Kimberly and to our surprise John, a guy who I had met at a party in Vancouver and a few times afterwards also happened to be there. This was somewhat less of a surprise because we knew that he was going to be in China this summer, but it was still nice to see him. I think very highly of him and would like to see him again before he leaves Beijing. John's friend _____ (I forgot his name) was also there with John. ____ is from Taiwan and for some reason that he did not properly explain he was unwilling to speak English the entire night. I caught on quickly that he was able to understand the English we were speaking and it turned out that he had been living in Vancouver for seven years. I do not really know what to make of him except that perhaps he is ashamed of his terrible English ability or that perhaps he is very nationalistic for a country he has never lived in. After dinner, the three of us (Rae, Gabe and myself, of course) had a romantic walk around the lake. Houhai must truely be one of the most pleasant places in Beijing, if not the most pleasant. I am happy that we are going there so often.
No new major insights on China since my last post. I do, however still stand by my statement about China being a scary police state. Despite its modern apperance, it is still not a democracy. People are not free and most of all the media is not free.
I guess I should get to bed...
Marc
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What do your evaluations determine?
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