3 july 06

Greetings,

Zhuhai, hi, hello. Hot and humid. English is a tool for communication. Mistakes are necessary.

So, who’s here at the TEFL course for the month? 17 people from various countries and backgrounds interested in developing their teaching skills. Shireen, the teacher, with a friendly no-nonsense attitude and four years here - said it’s the biggest class so far.

We checked in at Gateway Language Village on Saturday and received a room in an apartment complex five-minutes from school. I share a flat with Chris from South Carolina and Carl from Iowa, recent university graduates.

“Trainees” are a diverse lot. There’s Ann, an independent film producer from Austin, Texas; Mel from Cambridge, England with a degree in Chemistry, Victor from Sweden with degrees in Art, Math and Musicology currently studying Mongolian throat singers, Christina from Alberta, Canada working as a rock climbing instructor in central China, Bernie, a retired lawyer from Zurich, Switzerland, and John, an experienced teacher from Uzbekistan to mention a few.

Plenty of good restaurants, bars, slow, internet cafes and a so-so 1-hour full body massage runs Y20 ($2.5). Enough pummeling to get the educational travel tension out with your eyes closed.

Peace.