My life as an English teacher

So as you all know, I have been teaching oral English in Beijing. The age group that I teach is mostly collage age students and above, with a few that are a little younger. My day goes something like this:

12:15ish: leave home
about 12:45pm, arrive at work, grab the day's schedule, class list, and materials.
1-2: prepare for classes, read news, etc.
I am lucky and often don't have a class right at 1 pm, so from 1pm to 2pm I am preparing (going over) the materials. They have books that we teach out of, and we do a page or two per day. The receptionists photocopy it all, so we just have to look at it. Sometimes I am not so lucky and have class at 1pm, so then I just have about 10 minutes between classes to prepare for the next one.
2-2:50: Class
3-3:50: Class
4-4:50: Class
5-5:50: Either a break, or English corner (more on that later)
6-6:50: Break (most of the time). This is when I usually eat supper. Chelsey and Jada will come and join me, and it is great to see them during this time
7:50: Class
8:50: Class
9:00: Clock out
between 9:30-9:45pm, I get home.

So depending on the day, I will have up to six classes in one day. It can be very tiring, but it usually is not too hard. Some days are harder then others of course...
There are 4 different levels that I teach. B1, B2, B3 and I1. The goal in all of the classes is to help the students speak more.
B1 is fairly basic. These students can speak, just not very much. They do a fairly good job for the level that they are at. They are taught by 1 Chinese teacher and 1 Foreign teacher (1 hour each)
B2 is still basic, but not nearly as basic as B1. These students can carry on a good conversation, but might still struggle a bit here and there.
B3 is to a point where they are expected to have good conversational skills and are making few mistakes. At this point on they only have Foreign teachers
I1 is the intermediate level class. These students have better conversation skills then B3, make fewer mistakes, and are expected to be able to talk on a wide variety of topics. They have to talk on many different topics because this is the class that we the teachers have to decide on what to talk about. This can be a challenge, because sometimes they don't like the topic you choose, other times they could talk forever on it. Most of the time there are really good conversations, sometimes even on tangents that just form a life of their own.

The other type of classes that I teach are English Corner and VIP classes
English Corner is basically an open forum where any student at any level can join. We have to have some kind of topic, or sometimes we play games. This is probably one of the hardest (and most hated) classes as the level of the students range from VERY basic to advanced, and you have to try to get everyone to talk, as well as prevent a few people from talking too much.
VIP classes are one on one classes. The students level might range from poor to good, and what they want to talk about are all over the wall as well. Sometimes a student will try a couple different teachers to find one they like.

The students that I teach range from really good to not so good. There are some that are memorable because of their skills/conversations, and then there are others that you remember because they are more "special".

Here is a little bit about some of the students, both good and bad. (Try to guess which one is which) ;)

Merlin: This kid is like a walking dictionary. He knows a lot of things about a lot of different topics, with philosophy being one of his favorites. He is very smart, and usually has really good comments.

Audrey: She is a dentist and is always smiling. One of the students that I have been teaching from when I got to Beijing.

Andy: He tries. He really does. Sometimes just a little too much. Favorite thing to do is ask random questions when ever he sees you.

Phoebe: No, not a girl. Yes, he knows he has a girls name. Class clown, can be a distraction, but fun to talk to.

Yellow: Likes turtles, sometimes would accidentally kill them. Other topics? Can you say thousand yard stare and shake of the head?

Alice #1: Girl who went to Vancouver in September. Always had something interesting to say.

Alice #2: Studying in London, here over Christmas break and Likes a Turkish boy, but is confused as to why he thinks she is just playing with him when she says she likes him, yet not meet him after class (even if he asks) and will sometimes keep walking when she sees him. Other topics? Like wading through molasses in -50C weather.

Ocean: Huge into fortune telling. (Phoebe would sometimes call her a witch.) Quick to smile, and laugh, I'm sad that she is no longer there.

There are many other students that I could mention, but that would talk too long. For the most part, I like my job, and I enjoy seeing people improve on the skills that they have.