I arrived in the classroom, ready to share my knowledge and experience with 75 students who would be my English Literature class. Having taught in the US for 17 years, I had no1about my ability to hold their attention and to2on them my admiration for the literature（文学）of my mother tongue.
I was shocked when the monitor shouted,3! and the entire class rose as I entered the room, and I was somewhat 4about how to get them to sit down again, but once that awkwardness（尴尬）was over, I quickly 5my calmness and began what I thought was a fact –packed lecture, sure to gain their respect – perhaps6their admiration. I went back to my office with the rosy glow which comes from a (n)7of accomplishment (成就).
My students 8 diaries. However, as I read them, the rosy glow was gradually 9by a strong sense of sadness. The first diary said. Our literature teacher didn't teach us anything today.10 her next lecture will be better. Greatly surprised, I read diary after diary, each expressing a 11subject. ―Didn't I teach them anything? I described the entire philosophical framework （哲学体系） of Western thought and laid the historical12for all the works we'll study in class, I complained. How13they say I didn't teach them anything? It was a long term, and it14became clear that my ideas about education were not the same as 15of my students. I thought a teacher's job was to raise 16questions and provide enough background so that students could 17their own conclusions. My students thought a teacher's job was to provide 18information as directly and clearly as possible. What a difference!
19 I also learned a lot, and my experience with my Chinese students has made me a20American teacher, knowing how to teach in a different culture.
