cleaning up

this week i started a new private lesson with one of my public school students. the student's mom contacted me through QQ, the Chinese version of AIM. the mom does not speak any english, and her daughter's english is dismal as well. she's way behind where she should be.

today during the lesson the mom asked me if i had a mop. i was like 'uhhh no...why...?' she told me that she was going to clean up my apartment. my apartment is clean, but the floor is a little dirty because there's so much dust in the air. i didn't really know what to do or say, but the mom looked around and found a rag and asked if she could use that so i said okay but i told her that she did not need to do that. the mom proceeded to use this little rag to clean my entire apartment on her hands and knees while i tried to teach her daughter the months of the year. i told her to stop several times but she really wasn't having it. she was like, "don't be embarrassed, you are my daughter's teacher, it's okay." it's crazy how much they respect teachers here. she also added, "chinese people like to clean." even after the lesson was over, she saw another dirty spot where we had been sitting and started cleaning under there. she moved the couch out and everything. i just stood there until she was done. so awkward! however, i am charging them the cheapest price they'll get for a private english lesson, and i have to translate everything i say to the daughter to chinese, which i don't think is very standard for english lessons, so maybe this is some sort of compensation for that?