My class finished today - not one of the most memorable teaching experiences, though perfectly pleasant. Even if you didn't know I could count my students on the fingers of one hand you could guess it wasn't the group above: most students at the International Summer School are
women. We were few enough that we finished with a shared meal, the assistant ordering food to our classroom. But the photo above has its truth, too. Our classroom was in Renmin's new signature building, 明德楼, and overlooked the plaza where all manner of visiting groups took photos, special bleachers being conveniently available for groups large and small... you'll notice another group in the picture I took the first day of class, below. (The hotel where faculty are staying is just across the plaza, entrance in that cylindrical tower.) But the picture at top captures my feelings of the moment in another way. This summer school's felt for our liberal arts crew like something was going on that we weren't really a part of.
