I have been
extremely busy lately with the addition of nine hours of teaching a week. In two week's time I will likely add an additional three-seven hours of teaching as well which means that I am probably going to have to fight hard to stave off insanity! haha
How this all came
to be is quite interesting to me and it shows the great lengths that Chinese people
will go to learn English. I sought two
former employers and told them that I was interested in doing more part time
work since a couple of my other jobs had recently ended. At the time, I was told that there were no
current students looking for tutoring; however, in less than two days time I
had already received too many job offers to be able to accept them all! On top of that, I had a faculty member contact
me regarding tutoring their child as well as another company get in contact
with me regarding their organization.
I know it is
good to feel wanted and know that your work is appreciated; nonetheless, the
outpouring of offers I received literally blew me away.
I also had the
pleasure of being treated to a wonderful meal at a Chinese family's home the
other evening. I meet this family
through a mutual American friend whose Chinese girlfriend is the daughter of
the family.
The meal itself
was marvelous; however, as with everything in life there is no free lunch; thus, I
was told that we would drink a bottle of baijiu for lunch with the meal. As I was the only foreigner at this meal I
knew that I would certainly be the "bell" of this "ball";
thus, I was also likely to receive the vast majority of toasts.
After a loquacious
hour of inebriated conversation I was graciously offered a room with a bed to
go to for a "rest" along with several other family members who had
also received more than their fair share of toasts. Two hours later I found myself awake and
partial conscious as the rice liquor's venom still ran through my veins. The
knowledge that baijiu would also be served at dinner time motivated me to
hastily formulate an escape plan.
After half an
hour of conversation I managed to leave with my dignity and the family's
"face" both still intact.
I
have found that these types of family gatherings are extremely common in China,
and that they need to be enjoyed if you want to understand more about Chinese culture. In my opinion, it is all part of the journey
and just something that one must learn to get used to if they want to enjoy
living in China.
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