“I love my Life.” This month I have shared these words with numerous people on numerous occasions. Even though there are very many opportunities for discontentment, there are infinite opportunities for joy!
Regarding my teaching position, I am finding it fairly unique among my other English teaching friends. I am employed in a department which is responsible to provide basic English courses for all majors besides English and Business. Ruling out those two majors means I am left with students from Dance to Law to Russian to Fashion Design to Computer Science to Early Childhood Education etc.
Out of the two-dozen or so teachers in my department, I am the only foreign teacher, and as the sole American teacher, my dean has sought to give as many students as possible exposure to a native English speaker. This is realized by assigning me “visiting classes,” in which I visit each freshman and sophomore English class in our department one time this semester. This totals up to me visiting about 45 English classes over the course of one semester, meaning that I see around 2,000 students this year…one time. And due to the students’ low English level, my teaching position in reality turns out to be a mix between guest lecturer and professional entertainer.
Besides visiting classes, I also teach a couple regular oral English classes, and help once a week to facilitate discussions in English among the teachers in my department. Outside of my teaching time, I spend only a few hours a week lesson planning. The rest of my free time is spent either in my apartment reading, journaling, emailing, and Skyping, or else going out and about with students. There are a couple of nearby hangout places I frequent that offer students opportunities to build relationships, join activities, practice their English, and learn/experience truth and love. Through these activity centers, I have made and maintained many good friendships, for which I am exceedingly thankful.