John Wang

Tonight was my first day back to teaching after having 2 weeks off during which I traveled to Japan and China. The trip was really amazing. Some of the highlites include climbing Mt. Fuji, walking on the Great Wall, and riding some camels! Earlier today I struggled with motivation to get back into teacher mode, but upon arriving home afterwords I find myself greatly encouraged after a fun night of teaching. My favorite part was my private lesson that I had before heading to my school. Every monday I teach a man named John Wang in conversation English, so basically we just chat. I started teaching his daughter last fall, and that is how I was asked to help him with his English, and so I have the last 6 months or so, one hour a week on Monday nights. I really enjoy him and his daughter. Tonight was a great example of a typical “class” in which we discussed what he thinks I should look for in a guy. Some of his suggestions included finding someone that is from the same geographical location as I grew up in, Minnesota being the best, but Midwest would work as well. His age should be within 4-10 years, but no less than 4 and no more than 10. He should not be my co-worker, and he should not be a classmate. I should take a look at his friends because they are a “mirror” of him. He should have a stable job, and be open minded. I really liked how he also stressed that humor is very important. According to him “lots of humor equals best romantic, but little humor equals no romantic.” His last point included making sure that he enjoys cooking. Haha, the hour flew by as we talked and laughed about this subject. That’s when I realized, not for the first time, that although teaching english has been a challenging and growing experience (As Eric has talked about), it also has had some pretty sweet perks at times, such as John. Next week, instead of class, he is going to treat me to dinner with his wife and daughter.. not too shabby