Life on campus is interesting. It reminds me of University a lot except everyone is making lots of money instead. The living arrangement is also a lot like living in residence, except you have lots of space and privacy. There are always things to do if that is what you want. Lots of teachers sports teams, book clubs and eating out is more often than not a social event.
I was pleased to find in my first week here that the cafeteria is absolutely fantastic. The building has four huge levels, with between one and two dozen serving stations per floor. This is of course necessary to accommodate 2500 people eating lunch in the span of one hour. Each serving station has between 12 and 20 unique dishes. Most stations start you out with a huge heaping plate of rice, then (being unable to order using the power of speech) you walk down the line pointing through the window at the buffet style dishes, which are scooped onto your rice. Many of the dishes are insanely good. I excited to send pics. This has cost me between 7 and 12 RMB a meal (or between $1.00 and $1.75). Since the teachers can’t read the menus, we have to guess at what we are ordering, and never know the cost until it has been rung in.
Teachers do not have their own classrooms here, instead both teachers and students move from class to class. A number of rooms are set aside as teacher offices in which 10 – 20 teachers will have their desks. I would prefer to have my own classroom double as my office space, but it’s not a huge deal. The physical layout of the classrooms are also a lot more ghetto than what I am used to.
The students are definitely different than back home. They are most definitely still teenagers, but it’s clear that they have a whole different respect for authority, and take education much more seriously than do the majority of their Canadian counterparts.
Side note: I just heard some fireworks going off outside. There are fireworks here almost every night, usually a display lasting for about 5 min, comparable to a Canada day celebration in a small city or large town (like the Miramich). However some nights the fireworks are CRAZY!!! It’s funny that private citizens here will put on a bigger display than GP for a beach party.
I know I’m getting a little scatterbrained here, but such is my thought process. The beach is about 10-15 minutes’ walk from my place (depending on whether a relaxed or a quick walk is undertaken). The beach is great; really sandy. Never super crowded (like the pictures that Dad sent me) but more crowded than home. More like Kouchibouguac (not sure on the spelling…) There is however more garbage on the beach. Not ludicrous amounts, but more than is nice to see or than what I am used to. I think it’s because the Chinese pay people to pick up the trash so people think “oh, someone else will take care of it”, and they do, which is the only reason the beach does not look like a dump. The water is warm and really salty. The pic is of me and some fellow staff.
I’ve got only two different classes (chemistry 11 and math 10), which keeps planning manageable. However, with four sections of chem and two of math, I have a lot of students. This means a lot of marking, and a ton of names. I don’t know most of my kids names yet, but hope to know them all by the end of the month. I’ve started Mandarin classes, and plan to get back into the pimselur audio lessons soon. I would really love to able to communicate with the locals.
Though I still do not have a camera, I do have a phone. My cell phone number is 158-4081-4007. China’s country code is 86. If you’re not sure how to make an international call, you can always call the operator and give her my number. I have a house phone as well but am not sure how to call in or out using it. I would have called already on my cell phone, but I am told direct international calls are fantastically expensive. You’re supposed to use special calling cards. I’ve bought three, but the instructions on the card are all in Chinese. I have a friend here who knows how to use them though, and will be getting him to hook me up with the info soon (apparently it’s complicated).
School days are longer here than back home, but we have more prep time during the day. My understanding is that we teach the same number of hours in a school year as do regular teachers in BC. I think we get our crazy x-mas holiday because of all the four day weeks we miss or something like that. Personally I think the 5 weeks of vacation time in the middle of the school year is wicked!!!! My School year Calendar is posted on the blog (all updated and everything), so you can see when I work and when I don’t. If you decide to call me PLEASE remember the time difference. I’m in school from 7:00 to 5:00 each day. I will be calling everyone as soon as I get the whole card thing figured out though.
There is so much more that I could write, but I’m getting a little tired. I have new stories and adventures to share, but they will have to wait. I know Mom was really interested in hearing about the first week of school, so that’s what I tried to concentrate on for this post.
I am enjoying myself. I like my job. The staff is absolutely fantastic. And the opportunities for adventure are abundant. I am looking into arranging a trip to the country side to harvest reeds with some locals farmers (or some other “yea I’m a tourist, but I want to experience the REAL China” type of get away).
By the way I took my first motorcycle taxi yesterday. Much cheaper than a regular taxi and also more exciting. Dave and I split it. Yep, Three people on one bike here is no problem :). I have yet to see a motorcycle helmet in this country though…. Also there’s a story about some of us teachers getting our cabs into a high speed race on the highway… I’ll tell that one another time.
I love and miss you all
Daniel Mark Andrew Standring
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