Teaching In Beijing

Arrived in Beijing last Thursday morning. First impression on landing – wow, the visibility is crap! Must be the pollution. I used to think Chengdu was polluted, but it’s nothing like Beijing! Then again, Chengdu is in a basin, which is prone to fog, so sometimes I wasn’t sure if it was fog or smog in Chengdu. The Chinese media are also saying not to assume that the haze in Beijing is due to smog – they are saying that it could be due to fog too.

So, other impressions: wow, everyone speaks crispy-clear Mandarin – where’s the fun in that? Half the challenge of Chengdu was figuring out what the hell they were saying in Sichuan dialect! Another impression was that things are a lot pricier in Beijing, except for buses and the subway, which are still cheap!

After a weekend of relaxing and navigating the vastness of the city, I started in my summer camp job today. Teaching secondary school students English in summer camp. Turned out better than I thought – most of them are really into it! Most of them are not from Beijing at all, but are mainly from the surrounding provinces. Some of them are better than some of the university students I have previously taught! These students seem more au-fait with foreign culture and I was surprised about how much they new about other countries and cultures. All this is a good thing for China’s future.