During mid-week, one of our department coordinators for the university recommended us for consultant work with a couple of businesses. It appears it's very common for graduates to remain in contact with their college professors in case they may need resources once they become professionals. As it turns out, our names came up during conversations about needing language consultants. The process of meeting with these businesses ended up being very informal. One of the managers we actually met on campus here at BISU because he was on his "annual vacation" as they call it here. We chatted briefly and he asked us to send a CV (resume) and a brief statement of our services. The other professional asked us to meet him at his office which is rather close to the school. He wanted to meet and discuss his department's needs and determine of our skills could be of help to his employees. It's rather incredible to see how so many people here desire to improve themselves starting with wanting to learn the English language. We really haven't experienced anything like it before.
After visiting with their supervisors, the two managers were given approval to hire us. We agreed to begin providing language and culture lessons next week. It is up to us to develop lesson plans, group work, and homework (at managers' request). It was also suggested that we use a text so that students have materials to reference in and outside of the class.
Since the materials we use to teach college students focuses on academia, and the course we'll be teaching in the professional setting are geared more towards conversational English, we decided to make a visit to Xidan and the Beijing Book Company. Here we had no doubt we could find appropriate learning material. This time we brought our camera and were able to get in a few good shots before it became dark and cloudy outside.Inside the bookstore we spent over three hours browsing. You could literally visit this bookstore for a full week and still wind up not seeing everything. To find materials for class, we headed to the English learning section. This area is half of an entire floor! They have hundreds and hundreds of books for learning English. We focused primarily on the "Oral English" section until we were able to locate what we determined to be the best text for our needs.
Then we wanted to check out the Chinese language learning tools. Although we are taking lesson and they are extremely helpful, we need resources to help us study the language further. We thought interactive resources such as computer software might be beneficial. We found several great tools and at varying prices ranges. We saw a basic set of software, flashcards, etc. that was about 280 yuan ($40 bucks). There was also a higher end version of this product that included more software, flashcards, and MP3s. It cost 350 yuan ($50 bucks). Then we saw the grand daddy of them all, the eChinese Tool. This amazing machine is a top of the line product. It's a handheld electronic device that basically is a palm pilot/computer. Inside the machine is a English/Chinese dictionary, tutorial lessons to learn Chinese, pronunciation tools that actually have you record your voice and analyze it to a native speaker, and an MP4 player! It's incredibly handy for traveling since it's so small. Unfortunately, the price tag is a whopping 3,000 yuan ( about $430 dollars)!
We decided it was in our best interest to price other programs at other stores before buying one. As we got ready to leave we noticed that it was just after 5:00pm and it was rush hour in Beijing. Talk about chaos! We learned our lesson the last time we tried to take the subway during rush hours, so this time we decided to hang out and let the crowds pass before heading home. Since Tian'an Men Square was only two blocks away and although it appeared likely to rain we took our chances.As we walked along the main drag, we couldn't help but notice the hundreds of cars lined in a traffic jam. We envisioned the madness at the subway stations and were glad we took the stroll. Soon we came upon a huge dome. It appeared to be made of glass and titanium (see photo). It was massive. We later learned it was the National Centre for Performing Arts. This venue opened just last year after taking six years to complete. The "egg" as it is referred holds up to 6,500 people inside for events and has a man-made lake built around it. Right next to it, you can see the back of the Great Hall of the People (see photo).
It began to get dark but we decided to visit the square for a few minutes anyways. Especially since we noticed a large crowd massing around this historical site. We had no idea what was going on but followed the people. Inside the square we learned that hundreds of people had gathered to watch the lowering of the People's Republic of China flag. The patriotism displayed by these individuals was off the charts. As we glanced at our watches it was just about 7:00pm and the rain was inevitable so we made a mad dash to the subway. Within 30 minutes we made it back to our apartment and just in time. The rain began to pour as we entered our building.
