Day 43

23.05.18

And it's begun!
So I took my first class today. In front of 14 employees. For 2 hours. At a conference room in a factory about an hour away south of Nanjing in a district called Jiangning. The company was Nanjing High Speed and Accurate Gear Group Ltd Co. So my company organised someone to take me from the subway station to the factory and give me the lowdown on what the class is on. They said: You're the fourth teacher that's taught here. The first one, they didn't like his Indian accent. The second was a substitute teacher for a week, and the third (and most recent) has just taken leave for an extended period of time. You'll be their teacher for at least the next few weeks.

Great. So there's a bit of pressure on me to perform well. We get there and my colleague sends me to the gate and then goes back. I'm walking with the one in charge of the class and having a chat. The first reaction (and this happens every single time I teach a new class): "Why is our English teacher Chinese? He's supposed to be a foreigner."

Great. So not the best impression to begin with. It's 4pm, everyone's walking in and giving me weird looks. I'm also slightly intimidated that everyone is much older than me. So I start off with some introductions and get everyone to introduce themselves. Love breaking the ice. Then I ask the class what they're up to in the Business English course. I've prepared some materials based on what the company told me to prepare. I find out that they've already done the unit. Big stitch up.

Great. I've just prepared 2 hours of material that's already been covered. What do I do now? Do what I do best. Make up some bullshit. So I tell them: "Let's scrap the book. Let's talk about what you do for work and make sure you can be confident in talking about your work in English." Works an absolute treat. Everyone's getting involved. There's some good discussions happening. 2 hours goes by in a flash. Phew! I'm still not used to people calling me

It took ages to find a Didi back since it is literally a factory in the middle of nowhere - there was so much empty space - it was hard to comprehend ever since I started living in the city where there's a mini city within every little suburb.

My friend Andrew has invited me to play soccer with his work colleagues and I've been itching to play ever since I got here. The rooftop soccer pitch is very cool, it kind of reminds me of those ads in Tokyo on top of skyscrapers with the night lights - not as flashy but still a cool vibe. Good to have a kick and get the blood pumping.