There is no "e" in George

China is full of surprises. So full, in fact, that surprises are no longer surprises. Now, they are just I'm-silly-for-not-having-seen-that-comings.

There are good surprises, like when Chen Laoshi comes into the office and yells "CAAAAAAAAAKE" and then we all eat cake, and there are bad surprises, like when you bite into a piece of bread to find out, way to late, that is full of red beans (YUCKKKK).

There are big suprises, like when we got our curriculum the night before school started and were told "be ready for your class at 8, tomorrow!", and there are small surprises, like when the headmaster decides he wants to go on a hike with all of the teachers.

Today, was a surprise but it was a surprise that I should've seen coming.

Yesterday, we were told that the English expert that works with our school was coming to meet with the English department and sit in on some classes. I was told that they hadn't picked the class that they would observe but that it would probably be one of the older classes so that he could see how far the curriculum went (or something like that at least). Besides the fact that I didn't want to have to teach in front of the expert, I was also relieved because Fridays are Friday Fundays and their my favorite so I didn't want to have to give up my fun games (also because the last time we didn't play games, the kids almost mutinied).

Fridays are crazy. So I got to school really early. Got everything ready for my classes and went about my day. The expert came and had a meeting with the head of the English department and it was decided that they would go to grade six. So, I continued about my day. I went to Class 3 and started setting up for my lesson. A

s I was sticking my magnets on the board, my coteacher ran in and yelled "BAILEY, THEY'RE COMING!" Then, a little line of kids carrying chairs came in and put, approximately a hundred, but actually closer to 12, chairs in the back of my class.

SHOOT.

As I was finishing getting ready, in walked the entire English department (including the other foreign teachers), the headmaster and the "expert". My class has never been so quiet.

Of course, they would pick the Unit where I sing and dance at the beginning of class, so all of the other teachers got a nice round of "I am H-A-P-P-Y" before they learned about letters. Then, I went through my powerpoint, but, because I was nervous, I went through all of my information and dictation WAYYY too fast and I still had like 20 minutes. I had a bunch of games planned because it was Friday Funday but I wasn't sure how they would feel about it. But I decided to do it anyway.

"What day is today?" "FRIDAY!" "Why do I love Friday?" *crickets* "BECAUSE WE GET TO PLAY GAMES, RIGHT?" "YAY, GAAAAAAAAAMES!"

So, we did play games. And the kids did great. We played one of their favorite games and they got to show everyone how much vocabulary they have! Then, we played another game (which isn't acutally a game but I call it a game and then I talk about it in a really excited voice so that the kids think that its a game and not just a way to get them to recite things...I'm not totally sure that they've fallen for it but thats ok). Each person I call on gets a different question. One will be "how fast can you spell ----?" or "how many letters are in ----?" and it works because they all like talking. Today I asked someone "what are three letters in the word George?" The student said "G, R, E" and little George jumped right out of his seat and said "teacher! yes, G! yes, R! NO, E! TEACHERRRR NO E!!!" Unfortunately, there are two e's in George's name (when I reminded him of that he hit his head and shook it saying ohhhhh, dui, dui, dui (right, right, right). Fortunately, the other teachers thought it was cute. (Thankfully, they also thought that the way George answers questions, in half Chinese and half English, was cute....which it is.)

Then, as I was going to my last class, the head of the English department said the "expert" would like to speak with me and that he was waiting for me on the third floor. So, I went up to the third floor. And when I got there, sitting at the long mahogany meeting table was THE ENTIRE ENGLISH DEPARTMENT, THE HEADMASTER AND THE EXPERT.

Long story short, it was not just a talk with the expert. But, all's well that ends well and it ended well, so all's well.

One big surprise down, hopefully, not that many more to go.