So much to do... and yet still there's time

Before I came here I read two books about Americans who had gone to teach in China - Iron & Silk (1986, Mark Salzman), and River Town (2001, Peter Hessler). (I read them in this order).

Like Salzman I came here right out of college, and like Hessler I arrived here with minimal fluency in the language. Unlike either of them I'm not with any program in America (Yale-China or Peace Corps), and my contract is only for one year instead of two years.

Both of these books gave me some useful insights into China and I found both of them a lot of fun to read, although when I read Iron & Silk I had a hard time taking Salzman completely at his word. His book was certainly entertaining and fun, but the sheer volume of his activities: kung fu with one master (a veritable martial arts superstar), yixing with another master, travel, outings with the English teachers, it seemed impossible that he could do all these things and still have time to teach - at a MEDICAL college in the city where Mao Zedong came from no less.

Now however I think I begin to see where he would have found the time. So little of my time here is spent teaching I sometimes forget I actually have a job. If it weren't for the years of teacher training that make me keep planning my lessons I'd probably just be practicing Chinese, reading books and doing some martial arts all day and never even give a thought to preparing for my classes.
Despite my commitment to working on lesson planning I actually have done a lot of non-teacher related stuff, including a few martial arts classes. I have a few martial arts teachers, though none of them speak any English, and tomorrow I start some classes with them.

Since my intended class for last night got moved to another day of the week, I took the time last night to go out biking through the bazaar to see what's being sold beyond the college grounds. The food looked good so I think I'll go back soon.

For tomorrow I'm going to give my students a taste of some of U.S. culture through music. I'm thinking "Star-Spangled Banner", "I'm Free", some songs from "Grease", "Forrest Gump" and probably "Star Wars". (and of course some Disney music).