Meeting Students

Today I visited one of the classes I will be taking over next week. All the students are Freshman English majors. The current teacher, James, is from Liberia. The students were so welcoming to me. They clapped when I came in the room and wanted to talk to me as much as possible. During class they acted out skits and learned the song Lean on Me.

Later I went to English Corner where students meet on Thursday evenings to practice their English. About 30 students crowded around me. They had loads of questions to ask me. One girl told me I was the first foreigner she had ever spoken to so she was very nervous! They asked me what I thought of China and Hefei. They asked: "What is your favorite Chinese food? Where are you from and what is it like? What is American food like? What other cities in China have you been to? Why did I want to teach at their university? How can we improve our English?" They told me they thought foreigners were very friendly. They offered to take me shopping and show me around the city in my free time. A couple brought up the movie Forest Gump because my name reminded them of the character in it. They asked me if I like the American TV show Prison Break because it is very popular in China. But I had to tell them I have never seen it!