RECAP 10/14-10/15: Go East, Young Man

My time is Shanghai is a bit of a blur I'm afraid, so your vivid imaginations will have to supply some of the imagery. The morning after I checked into the hotel, I wandered around the neighborhood looking for something to eat. I ended up going to a cafeteria-style restaurant where you point at various prepared dishes, the workers put them on a tray, and you check out at the register. Not very ambitious, but I got to eat. In the early afternoon, Jane picked me up--no May. On the one hand, I'm flattered that Jane considers my Chinese good enough to obviate the need for a translator. On the other hand, no beautiful translator. Such is life. We went out for lunch and then walked to (one of) the Shanghai location(s) of the school I will work for.

There, I met Coco in person, one of my future coworkers who I had previously talked to in the Skype interview. Also, I met Colin, the foreign worker's liason or something like that. After Colin explained some things about the school (and brewed me a cup of real coffee!), I was able to sit in some classes, which was really fun. There was this girl in one of the classes named "Yoyo" (yes, really) who, from the perspective of learning English, was a pretty bad student. She was shy and quiet in class and hesitant to speak. During the break though, she figured out that I spoke Chinese and her eyes lit up, a goofy grin spreading across her 4 year old face. She shouldered past the other kids who were quietly gawking at me and commenced a jovial interrogation of your favorite laowai at a distance of about 3 inches from his face. She was greatly assisted by the fact that yours truly was sitting about 6 inches off the ground, in a plastic chair clearly intended for people under the age of 5.

Afterwards, Jane took me back to the hotel, but not before orienting me. It turns out the school is just up the road from my hotel, and the place we ate lunch is in this big mall right next to the school. Ok, mental map modified. Around noonish the next day, I made use of this newly acquired information and walked over to the mall. For lunch I ate some delicious 石锅拌饭, a Korean dish consisting of a bed of rice topped with various vegetables, a freshly cracked egg, and some ssamjang (or whatever that sauce is), all served in a super-hot stone bowl. After you mix it all up, the heat from the bowl cooks the egg, and you're good to go. Sweet, tangy, mildly spicy deliciousness. 5 stars. After more bumming around around the mall, I made my way over to the school and watched some more classes. One specific class was particularly instructive in a "what not to do" way. Lessons learned: Don't be a pushover; Don't say "Please be good; it's parents' day."; and Don't direct your attention away from the class and ask your coteacher "What do you think we should do now?". In the evening, I walked back to the hotel for a good night's sleep.

-Peter