It came today! I received my teaching assignment in my email this morning. A copy of the letter is below.

--- begin letter ---

It is my pleasure to inform you have been assigned a position as an English teacher at Nanfang Middle School in Zhuzhou, Hunan Province. The school has been designated a "key middle school"; by the provincial Department of Education and was selected by the government to be among the first group of schools to participate in WorldTeach's new Hunan program. Nanfang was originally established in 1956 as a school for the children of workers at the Nanfang automobile factory. Today, it is open to all school-age students from Zhuzhou, although a substantial number of students are still drawn from factory-affiliated families.

You and your WorldTeach colleague Michelle Wilkinson will be the first WorldTeach volunteers placed at this school. Nanfang has a history of working successfully with foreign teachers, so I am confident that you will have a good experience your school. The school requests that you teach Senior One (the equivalent of tenth grade in the American system). You will see each of your classes once a week, for a total not to exceed 16 periods a week. This schedule will be very challenging and will require teaching large numbers of students and to prepare multiple lessons each week. We will discuss this in greater detail during orientation and will examine some strategies for teaching effectively within the constraints of your teaching schedule. Nanfang will provide you with more precise scheduling information when you arrive on campus after August 26. Please be aware that this information is subject to change and the final decisions about scheduling are the prerogative of your host school.

Your school is located in the city of Zhuzhou, which is approximately a one-hour train ride south of WorldTeach's China field office in Changsha. Nanfang is in close proximity to two other WorldTeach partner schools. You will be assigned an apartment in one of Nanfang's on-campus teachers' apartment buildings. The apartments at Nanfang are satisfactory and I believe that you will have a comfortable experience living there. I will caution you now, however, that the school has informed me that it cannot install a Western-style toilet in your apartment; instead, you have a Chinese-style squat toilet.

Nanfang will assign an English teacher named Center (Zhong Xing; her English name is a pun based on her Chinese name) to act as a liaison between you and the school's administration.

You will have full access to the internet and to mail service from the school. Mail can be sent to your apartment at the following address:
Nanfang Middle School
Dongjiaduan Lusong District
Zhuzhou, Hunan 412002
People's Republic of China
Mail originating from outside of China will still be delivered even if the address is written in English. It may take several months for items shipped via boat to arrive; I recommend that you mail your winter clothes to your new address before you depart for China.

I anticipate that this year will be a difficult, yet rewarding, experience for us all. Please be in touch with Branden at the WorldTeach Cambridge office if you have any pre-departure questions; additionally, I would be happy to try to answer any questions you might have about your placements.

I look forward to meeting you at Changsha's Huanghua Airport on August 10!

Safe travels,



Joshua Hill
Field Director
WorldTeach/China

---end letter---

Pretty. Freaking. Sweet. So as you can see I will have a partner at my school, and there will be six of us total in the city of Zhuzhou. This is the highest concentration of WorldTeach teachers outside of Changsha, the capital of Hunan (which has 15 teachers).

I have so much to do before I leave. I have not even begun to pack, nor shopped for the things I need to pack, nor asked for what I should shop for what I should pack. They keep telling us to bring clever things like baseball or magazines or such. I'll have to think about that. Also, a friend of mine tells me its smart to wait and buy some things in the country after you get their. It's cheaper and easier. But that seems scary, because I've also heard about the haggling that goes on in Chinese stores. I don't want to have to worry about aquireing essential goods while worrying about adjusting to a new culture, learning a new language, meeting new people, and learning to teach English. Oi Vay.

The reason I haven't begun the packing process is because I just got into Minnesota this morning. I was in Chicago living up the college life until about a week ago. It was a little sad leaving my home of four years, but I'm sure I'll see those I care to see in the future. What more is a place than the people who make it up, right? [note to Hitchcockers- its now up to you to make sure the incoming first years are properly welcomed and introduced to the many wonders of Chicago. I'll be checking up on you. I have spies.] Then I went on an impromptu road trip to Las Vegas, Yosemite National Park, Mojave desert, San Francisco, and Death Valley, or as I like to call it the Las Yomofrisco Valley tour, which, may I say, kicked freaking ass. My friend and I are so hard-core that we cooked a soup-can dinner over an open fire in the wilderness with nothing more than a match and t-shirt as a hot pad which later got split-pea and ham all over it, much to my partners chagrin. (how's that for a subtle reference, Sonia!)

Anyways, I have just over a month until I ship off to China. I hope to make the most of it. By the way, I'm very, very excited.

-the Wandering Norseman-