All things new

We landed just after midnight on Tuesday morning and were picked up from the airport by 2 graduate student assistants named Mia and Rudy.

Mia and Rudy proved invaluable over the next 48 hours. They helped me get registered with the local police, get new SIM cards for our phones, set up our internet services, get a bank account, set up a WeChat account, learn to use the transportation system, water delivery system, and helped us get a new bed delivered.

On Wednesday I had a department meeting. There I met my new fellow colleagues. They are all really interesting people. A few of them live in the same building as we do here on the South campus. Others live on the North campus.

Here at South China University of Technology  (SCUT) I teach for the School of Foreign Languages. It feels nice to be back in the language acquisition classroom after so long.

On Sunday I will meet my MA students for the first time. The course is called Integrated English and I am still at work on my syllabus. I will also need to locate my classrooms …wouldnt want to be lost on the first day.

China’s National Day holiday (from Oct 1-7) is an important historic celebration for the whole country. There will be no school nationwide in observance of the holiday. After that classes begin officially on October 8.

And now our apartment photos: