Last weekend I taught the english class and it went pretty well. I had a Chinese TA helping me translate and keep the kids in line. I think she will only be there for the first two weeks though, so I'll have to learn fast. Basically they just want me there to say words really slowly and have the kids try to imitate my accent. It was kind of funny...last weekend we went in have no real idea what we were supposed to do, and then after we taught the class they sent us an e-mail explaining what they were looking for. The book we are using makes it pretty easy to teach since it has a lot of activities, but it seems like the book is a little too advanced for the kids. Most of them seemed almost completely lost the whole time. The first class was pretty badly behaved, and but the second class was perfect. Each class has about 25 kids, they're all 4th graders i think...and i didn't get to name them, the chinese TA did that, which explains why they all have such weird names, like "Luck" and "Young." I almost cracked up when I read the names and the next one was Dick...I said "Dick?" and this little kid in the front row jumped up and said "I am Dick." I don't know, it was just really funny...had to choke through the next few names...

The english class was probably the most interesting thing I did all week. I finally got my laptop in the mail...I don't want to recount the story...all that is important is that getting a laptop through chinese customs is really annoying and really expensive and I won't be doing that again. We have internet access in our dorms now too..so I should be able to update this easier and more often. The only problem is that I can't upload at all because the school blocks it. I'm trying to figure out a way around it, but I'll probably have to bring my computer to an internet cafe to upload my pictures. Got all the pics on my computer now, and will eventually make them into a website. The total count is about 580 pictures.