visigoth
posted on Aug 08, 2006
| views: 150
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Tags: travel, pollution, bird flu, facemasks, china
Just a few observations I’ve made the past few days. The threat of disease and pollution is so pervasive that people are starting to accessorize their face masks. Also, despite bird flu, live chickens are still sold and slaughtered in crowded areas... read entire post
visigoth
posted on Aug 08, 2006
| views: 140
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Tags: china, travel, traditionl culture, historic, Suzhou
A Student of mine shows me around Shi Lu (Stone Street) a historic distric which in the old ways was the only place foreigners could shop. Now it's a street which retains its historic character and sells traditional Chinese goods... read entire post
visigoth
posted on Aug 08, 2006
| views: 162
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Tags: china, travel, people, exotic food, cultural contrast
Today I had the teaching staff over for dinner. It was a fun social event, and it was once again nice to interact with some of the teachers after hours. We had a bit of a food exchange, With both Western and Eastern dishes prepared, including chicken feet... read entire post
visigoth
posted on Aug 08, 2006
| views: 174
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Tags: china, travel, girlfriend, language problems
The other day I ran into my first difficult from the tones. Fortunately I've found a good Chinese teacher in a silly, but lovely girl... read entire post
visigoth
posted on Jul 25, 2006
| views: 150
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Tags: china, travel, West Hill, Suzhou, girlfriend
Today I finally linked up with one of my students and we traveled to West Hill, a beatifual scenic spot in the Suzhou countryside.... read entire post
visigoth
posted on Jul 20, 2006
| views: 110
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Tags: china, travel
Well, it’s finally over. 5 of my classes, including 3 of my writing classes ended last Friday. The students have all gone out to do teaching internships at Primary Schools in their hometowns, thus leaving me without a class to teach. Now, I only have 2... read entire post
visigoth
posted on Jul 18, 2006
| views: 140
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Tags: china, English teaching, teaching, cheating, morality
……..Thirty, in the end I caught 30 out of 90 students cheating. So, I did what I had to do, and brought them to my office and gave them moral clarity the way I had received it in the Army... Scaring the Sh*t out of them.... read entire post
visigoth
posted on Jul 18, 2006
| views: 151
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Tags: china, English teaching, teaching, cheating, essays
I just got my students mid terms, which means I now have a week to correct 90, 1000 word essays…….. Quite a workload to say the least. But, I've found a few studnets that seem to be cheating, I'll have to get to the bottom this... read entire post
During my conversation classes, I read a selection of stories by the Brothers Grimm, and discussed them afterwards. I was surprised to find out that most of my students were familiar with the tales, and not just the ones that Disney toned down... read entire post
visigoth
posted on Jul 16, 2006
| views: 120
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Tags: china, travel, English teaching, teaching
I’ve been having a lot of trouble getting my students to give me feedback, so the other week I day I decided to force the issue and assigned them to write an essay on what they thought about my teaching style. I was pleasantly surprised by the results... read entire post
I have a discussion with my students about the differences between the American and Chinese educations system, and am surprised by what I find out.... read entire post
visigoth
posted on Jul 13, 2006
| views: 110
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Tags: china, travel, English teaching, video
Well, I just discovered YouTube, if anyone is interested in seeing some of the video I've taken while here in China you can watch it at [url]http://www.youtube.com/user/visigoth101[/url] or [url]http://www.no-horses-or-visigoths.com/video1.html[/url]... read entire post
While hiking at a nearby hill, I run into another American who used to be an English teacher. We talked a little about how to teach English, and how to stay out of trouble while doing it.... read entire post
visigoth
posted on Jul 11, 2006
| views: 238
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Tags: china, travel, cultural revolution, food, communism
While eating crab with the teaching staff, we discuss many things, including the Cultural Revolution from a teacher who lived through it... read entire post
visigoth
posted on Jul 10, 2006
| views: 175
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Tags: china, travel, English teaching, teaching, esl
Grading papers can be a lot of work, especailly when my students grammar is so hard to comprehend. Some mistakes can be frustrating, others are funny, especailly if a student tells me she wants some cock.... read entire post