Fireworks

Last night was the Lantern Festival, the last night of Spring Festival. I'm getting ready for work--got to teach those fresh young minds, right?-- but I'm so groggy and cranky that I almost pity my students (all 95 or so.) You see, the fireworks lasted until 2 a.m. or thereabouts, with the random string of firecrackers going off intermittently until dawn. The dogs flatly refused to go outside--one peed on the carpet by the front door and I couldn't blame him--and now, cranky and tired and out of sorts, I go to school to find out if my schedule changed, what classes I teach, and oh, yes, incidentally, to pick up brand-new textbooks where I will be expected to fill out a semester's worth of lesson plans before noon while simultaneously teaching 3 or 4 groups of  up to 32 kids.

The Chinese teachers, who teach smaller classes, averaging only 5 classes PER WEEK to the foreign teacher's 26, have known for three weeks what their schedule is, what their texts are, and will have until April to file their lesson plans. Can you understand my grumpiness? I could have a whole new lot of students--new texts (never with the Teacher's Edition or Answer Keys so I have to do every damn page myself to provide a Key for students)--and the stress of an impossible deadline. Oh, I'll give you a semester-long teaching plan all right: just don't expect it to be remotely accurate.

A ton of new China hands quit this Spring Festival--one school I know had four out of five quit--and my email inbox is filled with requests begging me to teach. Funny thing though--desperate as they are to hire, the Chinese schools are offering these replacement teachers only HALF the salary per month as the other foreign teachers! Bit of pocket lining going on, eh? Many people see confusion and disaster as a gold mine for making a bit on the side, both here and in whatever country you come from: Management will be so glad to have those teaching posts filled that they won't question why half the salary is being paid in cash to a Chinese teacher. It's not my business and yet...if you are a new hire, beware.