Didn’t go so well.
Well, class didn’t go so well after all! The biggest problem was the awkward book situation. I didn’t know if there were any suitable books for my students in the library since it was closed for the summer. The American Studies reading room was closed too. So, I thought, what the heck, I’ll make a packet. They seem to be cheap, and students are getting big thick ones all the time in my oral English class (they’re getting them for their majors, not for my class — that was just when the monitor was delivering them). I brought all my crap to a copy place the head of the department suggested, and got an estimate of 18 RMB for it all. I brought another batch for a history-related book, and got an estimate of 14 RMB. When it was all put together, the charges were 28 and 18! This is for a 150-page book and a 80 or so page book! For the 44 RMB they charged, I could have made a 440-page book at the corner copy shop! Although 44 RMB, or about $5.50 doesn’t sound like much compared to the hundreds that US students pay per class, the students balked and refused to buy them! They only want to have only a couple people buy them, and then Xerox their own copies for less. I really have no idea why the books are so expensive! I had thought I’d be referred to a cheap place! I’m supposed to tell the students they MUST buy it, although I can’t force them. I really don’t know what to do. This is a bad way to start the semester, confronting students in an elective class with thin, tiny copied versions of books (one of which is actually, unbeknownst to me, in the school library) that altogether cost twice what they’d usually pay for materials for one class! Plus the books are made already, and I have 280 sitting in my office! Another thing was that some students thought the class was too hard. Maybe I’ll revamp everything for tomorrow, and talk about what was going on in the US before moving into the film part? I’m not sure. Probably it can’t go worse tomorrow than it did today.