So wow. Sorry for the lack of blog the last week and a bit, we have kind of been dead to the world because school has taken up all our time. It has been crazy with multiple freak outs, more illness and extremely long to do lists. Very glad it is Saturday, and we survived. So we are at the school from 7am to 5pm at least, but there were a couple days we were there until 9pm, and if we do go home we are working at home until we go to bed, usually. They tell us in a month things will get better and settle down, which I think only applies to the stress. Pretty sure we will be working at least 10 hours a day 6 days most weeks. Good news is, the kids are pretty great. Even the ones you think are a bit annoying or disrespectful are nothing compared to what there is to deal with in Canada. They are all very externally motivated, because their parents are paying for them to go there so they can get into university abroad. The only ‘trouble‘ kids we get are the ones who are there only because their parents want them to and they could really care less about school.They all have quite a bit of money even by Canadian standards. As much as we have to work, I do feel bad for the kids because they are at the school from 7am until 9pm, have to take classes in English, which most of them just barely know enough to get by and then they have Chinese school mixed in there as well. Basically, the biggest behavioral issue is kids falling asleep in class, and I don’t blame them, most of them are very tired.
The kids Michele teaches vary immensely in ability to understand and speak English. They are all the ones who did not make it into full BC grade 10. It is kind of funny because you give them simple directions like ‘get up and move to the back of the class’ and maybe one kid kind of gets up but second guesses himself because no one else is. Then they all turn and start chatting furiously in Mandarin to find out if their friends understand, instead of watching me. This can get frustrating. So teaching involves a lot of visuals and body movements. Haha I guess that makes the class interesting sometimes, but you have to account for the extra time it takes to get everyone to do anything, including ‘take out a piece of paper’.
Danny’s classes are pretty good...the physics and math classes are challenging because the kids are incredible at math and can do most calculations (even algebra) in their heads. Danny does not have any behaviour issues so the classes are really great. Danny’s plan is to incorporate some fun English activities into every class so that the kids can pick up some skills where they need them the most. Anyone remember Heads up, seven up???!
There is an interesting dynamic between the Chinese teachers and the Canadian teachers. It is really unfortunate because as the school grows bigger they become more divided. The Chinese staff have their own offices and if they share with Canadians (like in Michele’s office) they speak mandarin all the time. Which is to be expected but it makes creating relationships slightly more difficult. One guy on the administration has noticed and is trying to make it better. I think it is important especially since the Chinese teachers get payed maybe a sixth of the Canadian ones.
Ok enough about school! Most of the people we work with are really great. There is a big group of us all around the same age and because we work so much we all also like to relax on the weekend. Which means there is usually a party every Friday, which leads to going out to a club or bar. It’s great to be able to get away from the bubble of school and just hang out. Beer and alcohol in general are much cheaper here. It depends but usually like 2-3 dollars a beer in a club. Also, there is no tipping here. People get offended when you offer, especially taxi drivers. I read somewhere that it implies they do not get payed enough for their job. Understandable, so I try not to feel strange not tipping.
OH also that thing about the kids just going to the bathroom on the street.... entirely true. You do not sit down, put anything down and for the love of god do not eat anything off the ground outside. You only need to see if happen once and you never forget.
