First Day

Today was my first day of training which really entails following other teachers around until I get the gist of things. I went into the office full of trepidation and having no desk, I sat alone on the couch hating myself for being early. No foreign staff was present and the Chinese staff hardly noticed my presence. Then, suddenly, a young Chinese teacher named Christina came over. She introduced herself and hoping to make a friend, I eagerly told her about myself. She then asked if I could speak Mandarin. I replied that I could speak a little at which point she asked me to demonstrate. I did but, thankfully, it was only one sentence because later, I found out she thought I shouldn’t be a foreign teacher. Apparently, my Chinese is “too good” and she thinks no one will accept me as a “foreign teacher”. Sigh.