Almost a month in: Teaching, making friends and not so little differences.

Caterpillars with Grade 1

So I have survived two weeks of teaching and I'm still smiling!

Now I'm more settled, it feels like there's less to say in this blog. Everything is becoming 'normal' for me and now I'm staying in one place, nothing seems as new. But then I remember that this is China and there's always a story or two to tell, I just have to remember that everyone back home isn't here to witness the hilarity that I do on a daily basis!

Firstly; the teaching. Fun, exhausting, stressful and scary all at the same time! The lesson planning is actually easy. It's creating resources by hand for fifty students at a time is the most tiring part. And remembering some classrooms have pictures and items I can use, and others literally have nothing! I now take my laptop and speaker to every lesson 'just in case'!

Butterflies with Grade 1

Grade 1 is slightly different. I'm one of four foreign language teachers and each of us teach some of Grade 1 for 20 mins and then rotate. It means that we teach the same lesson four times but with smaller groups - which is necessary with such young children. It's easy to lose their attention. I'm in charge of Arts and Crafts (hence all the art work I've been taking pictures of!) which is fun, but trying to find fifty plastic bottles to make something is hard work, and I have them four times a week! So I've got some planning to do!
The children are even more adorable than when I first started. Nearly all of them remember my name and every time I walk through the door I'm greeted by loud cheering, smiles, waving and hugs! Even the children in the school who don't learn English will wave and say 'hello teacher' as I walk past. They are just so happy to see their teachers. There is a lot of respect for the teaching profession in this country. Parents often take teachers out for dinner, or even invite them to their houses. We were invited out by the Grade 4 parents - but the teachers were in meetings so it has been put on hold.

One of my classrooms: nothing on the walls!

For the most part, I thoroughly enjoy teaching. As long as I'm properly prepared, my lessons go well and the children really respond. I love jumping around the classroom and making them laugh whilst they learn. Generally they are well behaved, and if they're not then the Chinese co-teacher will deal with them. And by 'deal with them', I mean they will send them out of the classroom, make them stand at the back, or at the end they have to clean the classroom! Any kind of bad or disrespectful behaviour is not tolerated, which is why most of the children are so good!
Whilst the Chinese co-teacher is there to help manage the class, she also observes everything I do and reports back. Yes, that's right; I am observed in every lesson! That's fifteen hours of teaching and it's reported to the school and to Bond training centre. We're given weekly feedback informally and a more thorough report each month. It's helpful for making improvements to my teaching - after all the whole reason I'm here is to learn how to teach. But it can be very daunting having different people walking around and watching me. I've started to relax now and this week I was told I've already improved - so at least I'm getting better!

Something I have noticed in my time here, is that there is little to no disabled access, anywhere. There are endless flights of stairs (I'm going to be very fit when I get back), and there's only escalators to ease congestion. And, I don't want to go into too much detail, but anyone with a bad back or knees would not be able to use public toilets! Upon reflection, I haven't met anyone considered 'disabled'. No one in wheelchairs, with walking sticks or who looks like they're struggling. The older generation seem very sprightly as well.
I did have a conversation with one of the tutors back at the training centre about this. He said that sadly it seems more like a lack of tolerance. If you can't fit in with society, you end up having to stay in certain areas away from everyone else. I find this incredibly sad. I'm proud that in the UK there is an emphasis on making sure everyone is included regardless of any physical or mental health conditions. I hope we never lose that.

Today is Saturday and my flatmates and I had a nice surprise when Amy, the Grade 2 class teacher (who is also our neighbour) knocked on the door and asked us out for lunch! She took us to this lovely restaurant (couldn't tell you the name for the life of me - it was down a little side street near the mall), and we ate the most amazing meal I've had since I got here! The most tender pork and delicious dumplings! We tried to pay and she flat out refused to let us. Then she helped us get some shopping (not understanding Chinese writing means that it's always a bit of a gamble when buying products!). After, we walked with her to pick up her son from kindergarten who just looked at us suspiciously the whole time. He impressed us with his counting to ten in English though (he's only two years old!) She mentioned she had not socialised with any previous interns and wanted to be friends. It was the sweetest thing I've heard here! Whilst everyone has been nice to us, we haven't really spent time with any Chinese people because a) we don't know that many and b) most people in Xiaolan don't speak English! We felt like we've been accepted into their culture. Plus, our teaching can't be that bad if she wants to spend time with us (she is one of the many who observes us!)

Can you see the feet?!

A few other things I have noticed:

• Health and safety is not a thing >
• Sick bags are on every bus - this should give you some indication of the quality of driving
• Mosquitoes are everywhere and you will get bitten! Taz takes great delight in trying (and successfully) swatting them whilst in the office. At first I wasn't fussed, but then I got a lot of bites on my legs and now I cheer him on.
• If you ask for water, it will be warm. This is partially a practical matter; you can't drink water straight out of the taps (you will be very sick). So it needs to be boiled first. But the Chinese also like warm water as it's better for digestion. It's also unlikely you will have to ask for water, it's standard that they keep topping up your glass without having to ask.
• The beds here are hard! The worst was in Harbin where it felt like I was sleeping on a piece of wood. Here in Xiaolan it's not so bad but I am sleeping on top of the duvet because it's so hot.
• You must take tissue and hand sanitiser with you everywhere. Again, I don't want to go into too much detail, but guaranteed there will be no tissue or soap in public toilets.

So there we go. I'm four weeks in and that time has just flown by! I'm slowly getting used to the heat here as well. Before I know it I'll be back in the UK and suffering from shock at the low temperatures!

I'm hoping the next blog will be up in a week but it may be longer - I'm working on something special!

H :)