The library of Henan University of Technology in Zhengzhou
ZHENGZHOU, HENAN, CHINA -- Hello, Steemians! It's been two months since I posted anything here, so an update is long overdue.
First of all, I can say that everything is going well. In fact, the term will end quite soon, and I'll have time to depressurize after two very intensive months.
All of my previous updates were about the lengthy, frustrating (and expensive) process of getting a new Chinese work visa. There were times when I considered shelving the entire idea of returning to China, and finding work elsewhere, but in the end, I persisted. Within days of receiving my Z visa, I was teaching in China again. I barely had time to recover from the jet lag.
I arrived on Saturday Oct. 14 and began teaching on Monday. Another teacher had to leave suddenly to deal with some paperwork issues , and I was assigned her classes -- 10 in all (five groups of students twice a week). Then another teacher had to leave for home because of a serious medical problem. We divided up his classes, and I gained one more section of students.
Besides that, I arrived a week before midterm exams were scheduled. As you can imagine, October was a very busy month.
Map of the campus by the south gate
Once the exams were finished, I spent November learning more about my students and their needs, settling all of us into a routine, and gradually settling myself in a new apartment in a new city. All of that is still a work in progress.
Unlike my previous position, where I taught Business English majors, here I teach students majoring in other subjects. While Henan University of Technology (HUT) pays my salary, I was hired and am administered by a contractor, English in Education (EIE), which offers university students enrichment classes with native speakers of English. EIE students pay extra for the classes, so generally speaking, they are reasonably motivated to work hard.
Most take the classes to prepare for the College English Tests, bands 4 and 6, which all Chinese university students must pass, regardless of their majors. If they pass CET4 or CET6, EIE students can drop the extra classes. This means my two sophomore sections have about 20 students each, while the freshmen sections have about 30 a piece.
[Our section sizes are notably smaller than the regular university English classes, which is one of the other selling points of EIE's program.]
I will post more details about my classes and my teaching experiences in the coming days. For now, I wanted to touch base with you all here (and my nearly 500 followers -- I need three more!) and let you know I am alive and well.
If you have any questions, feel free to ask them. Plus comment, upvote, resteem.