Antepenultimate

So the title's slightly misleading - I doubt this will be the third-to-last entry before I wing it on back to the states - but the sentiment holds true. It's beginning to dawn on me that year-1 here is all but over. Today I finished what turned out to be my last day of "class"... a happy fact that I only learned yesterday. You see, next week is actually a "makeup" week for the occasional single-day holidays (festivals) through the course of the semester. That's right, they don't even let us have "real" breaks. We just have to make them up at the end. I'm not sure if I should blae the govt. or (more likely) the school itself. Silly pinkos...

Regarding the scheduling catastophuck, it's been resolved... though not entirely in the way either of us want it. After my phone tirade, Xiaoxian did in fact manage to find an open slot on the 14th instead of the 17th of June, and told me as much. Knowing that this was basically as good as it was going to get, I readily assented and began preparing to tell my classes of the coming schedule change.

And then she kept talking...

She then said that I actually did not have class next Tuesday, since we'd never missed a Tuesday (remember it's makeup week), and I only had classes on Monday and Thursday. Thus, the entirety of her argument against me giving some of my finals next Tuesday was, in fact, utterly false. I've completed my 32 Tuesday hours/class.

Of course, I didn't make the same mistake as last time. I kept my mouth shut, and simply nodded my head this go-round. But it will turn out fine. I'm doing exactly 1/2 of my total finals next week, and the 2nd half between the 10th and 14th. And I'm thinking that will work out great. The school's happy because - to the untrained eye - I'm doing exactly what they want: giving finals on the days they set forth. But I'm happy because they're not completely backloaded, and so I have a good shot of getting out of here on time! Woohoo!

I showed my listening classes The Daily Show today... and let's just say it doesn't translate that well. Not that I care. It was a new episode for me, and it's in English, and hey, it's GOT to be more entertaining that listening to Special English (where...people...speak...like...this...so...foreigners....can....understand...).

Next week my speaking sophomores will present their 5 minute finals, in which they will attempt to be "the teacher" and teach me a skill. I'm hoping - and expecting - that it will be very entertaining. Xiaoxian, as usual, voiced some "concerns" over this method of non-test-testing, but I replied that the purpose was not to stump the kids, but to adequately measure their oral English improvement over the course of the semester. How would a paper test do that? And, as I discovered last semester, the students find these things easy, and even fun to do. It's all the utility of a test, without the dullness and painfulness. I know. I did them in college a lot... especially in polysci. I find I model myself quite a bit off of a polysci prof I had: Jules Boykoff. He was a really good teacher, and really cool to boot.

See You Next Time, Space Cowboy,
(CS)WC Out.

let's open the blinds